Moonquest: A Journey To The Stars

Chapter 42 - Citadel of Mithras

Holy shit, that little runt nearly got me killed!

Biting a humongous chunk off the cikolet, Lewis nearly choked himself to death after getting the huge dose of pure bitterness. Gagging near the sidewalk, he drew the irate glances of nearby adventurers and peddlers who were coming and going from the dungeon.

"Hey old man, you okay?" Concerned, Gonlina knelt down towards Lewis, patting his back. Although light in touch, it did warm up his heart. Ah, so the girl does have a heart after all...

After chugging some water to rinse off the taste from his mouth, Lewis headed towards the Guild.

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"Welcome back to the Guild! How may I help youuuu...?"

With the drawn-out question, the poster girl of the guild, Linda Cantra, a Katnil (they are this world's version of a catgirl, which Lewis found out the hard way...), held her two fingers at her cheeks, entertaining everyone with her ditzy looks. Men all around whistled out, some even fainting when she gave a kiss towards them. Rolling his eyes, Lewis manhandled his way to the counter.

"Hey Linda, I just got moved to Bronze. Can I please sign up for dungeon exploration?"

Seeing (a dashing) Lewis rest his arms on the counter, Linda blushed, evidently smitten by him. "Sure, no problem. H-hey, mister, i-is it possible for you to come on a date with me? No need to worry, it won't take long..."

Lowering her shirt, more of her cleavage was revealed, eliciting some catcalls from those behind Lewis. Smirking, she continued on. "Well, how 'bout da-"

Smack!

"Get away from him, you skank, otherwise you'll, you'll get the taste of Goblina's super stinky stinker!"'

Holding an ominous-looking glass vial, filled with a green liquid swirling toxic gases inside, Linda finally acknowledged the elephant in the room-

Goblina

"What'd you want, you little runt!? Do you know how much trouble you've caused the Guild, huh!? You're lucky that you've got that stupid face of yours! Did that whore of a mother of yours-"

Bang!

Lewis loudly thumped on the counter. In a gritted voice, he knelt close to her ear, and whispered. Goblina, being short and all, did not hear what was said, but saw Linda's face growing whiter than a banshee's bottom.

"You don't want me to say about some certain...'services' you offer to your fans, do you know? Good, I'll keep my mouth shut, and in exchange, never, ever, ever, do shit like this again now, kapeesh?"

Nodding her head furiously, Linda furiously tapped onto her board, typing away the permit needed to enter the dungeon. Seeing that she had given the permit, she bolted faster than a Thunder Mouse, tripping many times, before she escaped the counter.

Puzzled at their idol's frantic expression, the duo used this opportunity to escape the eyes of her (possibly rabid) fans.

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"Phew! Got what we came for. Hope none of those douchebags come after us..."

Wiping the sweat off his head, Lewis turned his gaze towards Goblina, who was quietly sniffing. "*Sniff*, *Sniff*, Dank yu sho mush. No one's ever done this before. People usually throw stones at me, or try to sell me to a brothel. Even my uncles wanted to sell me off to the slave traders because of my looks..."

His heart twinging in agony Lewis could not help but hug her in his arms. "There, there, no need to cry. I'll be here for you little girl. Now, how about you tell me about this dungeon of ours?"

Wiping off the few remaining tears, Goblina began explaining the dungeon they were about to visit.

"As you know, dungeons are basically-"

Here, Lewis cut her off, evident that he knew what dungeons were. "Yes, yes, yes, I know what they are. Now-"

"But you don't know that dungeons also have types, don't you?"

Stopping midway, Lewis face grew strange. "I know how they were created to seal and diminish the Demon God's army-"

"Yeah, but did you know that dungeons are also further classified into ranks-

1) Resource

2) Battle

3) Historical Recreation

Resource types are simple enough to understand - upon defeating the monsters in each level, you can get the corresponding rewards, which in this case, happen to be things such as metal ores and food. However, they tend to be on the shorter end of dungeons, typically going no higher than tier-4 in level, 5 in extreme cases. These are the most common dungeon types you can see, where even the most rural villages and shanties have them lying around.

Battle types are where you get transported to a level, and participate in challenges and whatnot. The rewards for completing them typically include what I've mentioned previously, but the reason they are more sought after than resource types are because they can give one additional reward that everyone yearns for:

Ability Orbs..."

Here, Goblina reveals an expression of yearning, greed visible in her face. Wiping off the drool, she continued on, this time more serious.

"The last type is the most sought out type - Historical Recreation. Unlike the previous two, this one's unique in that each and every floor present is linked to a piece of history that happened on the land they're situated on. The higher the tower, the older and more powerful they are. Now the reason they're so sought after is that, unlike the battle types, the ability orbs you get here are unique, in the case that any skill obtained cannot be obtained from any other dungeon, whereas battle types are common enough to be repeated in near most dungeons."

Clasping his hands, Lewis pointed out his observation. "So the dungeon in Mithrador is a Historical Recreation?" Goblina nodded in response. "Yep, and it's name is..."

Just then, a large shadow loomed over them. Casting his hand over his forehead, Lewis squinted his eyes.

In front of him lay a large citadel fortress. Vines and trees covered most of the known walls, presenting.. a dilapidated scene. Murals and etchings covered every inch of the base, each depicting scenes in history.

Some depicted stories of heroes slaying large monsters, armed with nothing except a sword and their trusty swords. Some depicted hunter-gatherers foraging in the area, battling foes with nothing other than sticks, stones and a few well-placed traps. Some even depicted wars of epic proportions, their tales forgotten in time...

Yet not all of them could be interpreted, for many of them were gone, smoothed out by the ravages of time.

Lewis stood in front of the dungeon, awed at the sight of the marvellous structure in front of him.

"...The Citadel Of Mithras."