The old quarry sat approximately two miles south of Valdris's main gates, a massive artificial pit where workers had mined building stone for the city's construction projects decades ago. The operation had been abandoned fifteen years back when a cheaper source of stone was discovered elsewhere, leaving behind just a huge hole in the ground gradually filling with rainwater and debris.
Except now there was something else in that hole. Something that definitely hadn't been there yesterday.
Kael stood at the quarry's edge in the early morning light, staring down at the dungeon portal. It looked like a vertical tear in reality itself—an oval of swirling purple and black energy approximately ten feet tall and six feet wide. Through the portal's surface, he could see nothing but absolute darkness, like staring into the pupil of some cosmic eye.
[DUNGEON DETECTED: Stone Depths] [Classification: Rank D - Moderate Danger Level][Status: Unclaimed - No party has successfully cleared][Entry Restriction: Level 10-18 recommended][WARNING: Entry is one-way until dungeon boss is defeated or entire party dies. There is no retreat option once you pass through the portal.]
"Last chance to reconsider," Lyra said from beside him. She'd insisted on accompanying him to the quarry entrance, though she couldn't actually enter herself. Dungeons had strict level requirements—too far below the recommended range and you couldn't enter at all, too far above and the dungeon refused you to prevent high-level people from farming easy rewards.
"I'm not reconsidering," Kael said firmly. He checked his supplies one final time—six healing potions capable of closing serious wounds and restoring blood loss, three days' worth of emergency rations in case he got trapped inside longer than expected, a basic map that would supposedly fill itself in magically as he explored, and various tools like rope, pitons, and a basic knife.
Everything Lyra's resources had been able to provide on short notice.
"Remember the basic rules," she said, going through the checklist they'd discussed last night. "Dungeons are adaptive. They respond to their challengers and adjust difficulty accordingly. The deeper you go, the harder it becomes. If you start feeling overwhelmed, if the monsters are too strong or too numerous, retreat to a safe room. Most dungeons have them scattered throughout—rest areas where monsters can't enter."
"Understood," Kael acknowledged.
"Don't touch anything that glows unless you're absolutely certain what it does. If something glows in a dungeon, nine times out of ten it's either trapped, cursed, or both. The loot isn't worth dying for."
"Got it."
"And don't get cocky just because you killed Vorcen. Dungeons kill overconfident people every single day. They're designed specifically to challenge people at your level, which means they'll push you to your absolute limits and beyond if you're not careful."
"Lyra, I'll be fine," Kael assured her, though he appreciated the concern in her voice. "I've fought armies of guards, killed a Level 18 mage, and absorbed an entire ley line's accumulated power. I can handle whatever a Rank D dungeon throws at me."
She smiled slightly, though worry still showed in her violet eyes. "Confidence is good. Overconfidence gets you killed. Try to remember the difference." She handed him a small crystal that glowed with soft blue light. "Communication stone. If you make it to one of the safe rooms, activate this briefly and I'll know you're still alive and making progress. Don't use it during combat though—the energy signature can attract monsters like blood in the water attracts sharks."
Kael pocketed the crystal carefully and turned to face the portal. Up close, he could feel it humming with strange energy. Different from Void power but somehow related, like a distant cousin of the force he wielded. The portal called to him, promised challenges and growth and power beyond anything the normal world could offer.
"See you in a few hours," he said.
Then he stepped through the swirling energy.
The transition was instantaneous and completely disorienting. One moment he stood in warm morning sunlight at the quarry's edge, birds singing and a gentle breeze carrying the scent of grass. The next moment, he was in absolute darkness so complete it felt like being buried alive, surrounded by cold stone that smelled of dampness and minerals and something else.
Something old. Something that had been waiting here for a very long time.
[ENTERING DUNGEON: Stone Depths][Scanning challenger... Complete][Difficulty scaling to challenger level...][Kael Draven - Level 14 - Void Sovereign Class][Dungeon Level Set: 12-16 with adaptive difficulty][Current Floor: 1 of 5][Objective: Reach Floor 5 and defeat the Dungeon Guardian to claim the Core]
Kael created a Void torch with a thought—one of the minor tricks he'd learned from absorbing Vorcen's decades of magical knowledge. It was a floating orb of Void energy that somehow produced actual light despite being made from darkness itself, a paradox that worked because the Void existed outside normal rules.
The light revealed a tunnel carved from solid stone, clearly artificial but ancient beyond measure. The walls were rough-cut but stable, the floor uneven with small puddles of water gathering in depressions. The ceiling was about eight feet high—tall enough to walk comfortably but low enough to feel slightly claustrophobic.
Water dripped from cracks in the ceiling, creating a constant rhythmic sound that echoed through the tunnel. The air smelled strongly of dampness and minerals, with an underlying metallic scent that Kael recognized immediately.
Blood. Old blood, dried and faded but definitely there.
His Void Sense expanded automatically, scanning the tunnel ahead for threats. He detected movement approximately fifty meters away—multiple life signatures, small but numerous and definitely hostile based on the aggressive emotional resonance.
Kael's hand moved to his side, ready to create a weapon at a moment's notice. He moved forward cautiously, Void torch floating ahead to light his path, every sense alert for danger.
The first monster emerged from the darkness ahead.
It was some kind of stone golem, roughly humanoid in shape but made entirely from rock. About six feet tall with a barrel chest, thick limbs, and absolutely no distinguishing features except for two glowing red eyes set in a featureless head. It moved with surprising speed for something made of solid stone, each footstep echoing in the confined tunnel.
[Stone Golem - Basic Type][Level: 12][HP: 300/300][Weaknesses: Heavy impact damage, Void energy corruption][Resistances: Slashing damage (90%), Piercing damage (80%), Fire (50%)]
Good thing Kael specialized in Void energy and could create whatever weapon type he needed.
The golem charged the moment it registered Kael as a threat, moving faster than something made of solid rock had any right to move. Kael created a Void warhammer and met the charge head-on rather than dodging. His weapon struck the golem's chest dead center, and where the Void energy made contact, the stone began to age and crumble as if centuries were passing in seconds.
The golem swung one massive fist in retaliation. Kael ducked under the blow and struck again, this time targeting the leg joint. More stone crumbled, the golem's mobility compromised.
Three more solid hits to the torso, each one accelerating the aging process, and the golem collapsed into a pile of rubble and dust.
[Stone Golem defeated][+50 EXP][Loot acquired: Stone Core Fragment (crafting material, minor quality)]
One down. But Kael's Void Sense detected many more ahead. The tunnel opened up into a larger space, and he could feel at least a dozen more golems waiting in the darkness.
Time to see what this dungeon really had to offer.