"Right, any guesses what type of room this is?" Alice asked the group when the final students passed through the pearlescent film. "It's a safe room, or zone," Hana quickly answered. "Bingo! You'll find these in pretty much any dungeon. This floor has rooms, but lower floors might have zones as they can be more open-ended. It usually depends on the type of dungeon, and the fact that this one has both types is part of its uniqueness." "Do they all have fountains?" Thomas asked. "A fountain, a bed, maybe some berry bushes, it really depends on the dungeon. The main way to identify one is that no monsters spawn in them, and they will refuse to enter them. We call it the rules of the dungeon, although nobody is entirely sure why they obey them. The fuzzball has hinted at knowing the real reason, but whether that's true or not is hidden behind layers of coyish smugness." For origınal chapters go to 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵 [The reason is actually quite simple. Dungeons want occupants to stay as long as possible in them, so providing guaranteed safe areas would allow any delvers to remain inside. Otherwise, they would be losing out on valuable income.] Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. She quickly channeled a little bit of Mana into both her hands, giving the subtle gesture for him to explain. [Dungeons gain… Well, let's just call it "Mana" from anyone within them. They treat this Mana as a universal resource that they use to sustain themselves, grow, spawn monsters, grant treasures, and so forth. If something perishes within its territory, it gains even more Mana. Greedy or starving dungeons will stupidly try to kill anyone who enters them, which leads them to be classified as perilous and only exacerbates their problem. Shrewder dungeons will instead opt to take the slow and steady approach for longer and more consistent sustainability.] Lily felt a nudge on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright? You're not really paying attention…" Lotte whispered. "Sorry, I'm good," Lily whispered back. "Right, I think we should move on to the first real room of the dungeon then. We will likely come into contact with a handful of monsters, so be on your guard," Alice said, moving past the fountain and toward the door. [I'd better avoid chiming in for now, or risk distracting you. We can talk in the evening if you have questions.] Everyone followed closely behind, with Lily now paying full attention after the gentle warning. Hana and Arthur were right on Alice's heels, the two of them far more eager than the rest of the group. She opened the door slightly ajar and peered in. Once she was happy with what she saw, she swung it open and entered. "Whoa! Skeletons!" Arthur exclaimed excitedly. "I thought they'd be more… rotten," Hana added. "They're spawned directly by the dungeon, not animated through necromancy," Alice answered. "There are four of them. I want the first four of you to each take one. Let them attack at least once before you attack back. I want to see a dodge or block from each of you. Quickly now." "Best class ever!" Arthur exclaimed and rushed forward. Hana was right on his tail, with two other students quickly following after they realized they were being left behind. The rest of the students finally made it into the room just in time to see the four students engaged with the skeletons. Lily immediately understood Hana's comment as the skeletons looked more like an anatomical model than something that had freshly crawled out of the ground. Clothed in rags and armed with rusty farming tools, the undead look hardly intimidating at all. This was further emphasized by how frail they appeared to be, as if they were about to fall apart into a clutter of bones. Hana and Arthur were dodging around their opponents as if it were a game, the undead being slow and quite deliberate in their attacks. I think the gremlins I fought were more fierce. After all four had met the requirements of a block or dodge, with some showboating more than they should have, they eventually cast a spell at the skeletons. A blade of wind, a beam of light, a spark of flame, a deluge of water, and suddenly there were four defeated skeletons on the ground. "Wait… that was it?" Arthur asked, looking extremely disappointed as the clutter of discarded bones began to disintegrate into black flecks. "This is the first room of the first floor. Did you really expect to fight a minotaur or something?" Alice asked with a cheeky smirk. "FYI, I'd call this floor zero since this is the cordoned off training area for you newbies. It's just enough to get your feet wet, since some of you are especially green." Arthur grumbled but didn't say anything, and the four of them walked back to join the group. "For those of you who have never seen a monster before, this is the result of them dying," Alice said, pointing at the black specks. "Pro tip: if you don't see them turning into charcoal dandruff, you probably haven't killed them yet! You'd be surprised how many rookies fall to a simple 'playing dead' trick." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelHub. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The students murmured and nodded. Given the number of people paying close attention, it was clear that many of them were unaware of this fact. "For those of you who missed it, as soon as you enter the room, the monsters inside activate. This is the case with any room-based dungeon, the only exception being if there are any lurker-style monsters, who will hide in wait to ambush you. If you're ever in a tight situation, you can retreat to the previous room, and they should stop following you. This isn't a golden rule, though, unless it's a safe room, so be careful." "How does it work with area dungeons?" Thomas inquired. "Good question. Instead of a dedicated room, they usually have a specific site they will stick to. If it's a forest dungeon, it might be an open glade, for example, but it can be tricky to tell. What makes area dungeons dangerous, however, is that if you lose your bearings, you might retreat into a new zone rather than the previous and stumble into more monsters. It's always good to keep a calm head on your shoulders." The students were murmuring and mumbling, with some even pulling out notebooks and scribbling notes. "Just bear in mind this is stuff you'll learn when we actually go down into the open floors of the dungeon. Focus on just rooms for now. Speaking of which, I want the front group to swap out for the next batch." The two eager beavers reluctantly moved to the back of the pack, and they headed towards the next door. There were two options in this room, and Alice chose the left one. Once again, she opened the door only slightly to peek before kicking it open and calling out a number of students to head in with her. This time, there were five skeletons, although Alice herself also went in. While the five students duked it out with their skeletal farmhands, Alice jumped up and attacked the roof with a powerful kick. The impact echoed throughout the room, and falling to the floor was a lump of greyish ooze that was rapidly turning into black debris. "Ambush slime," Alice explained. "Focus on your skeletons." The group had no issue dispatching them, and they were rotated out for the next batch in the next room. This continued on until eventually it was Lotte and Lily's turn at the front. Other than the one ambush slime, there hadn't been any need for Alice to intervene, and it had been nothing but the frail skeletons. When Alice opened the door, Lily finally got to see what she'd meant by them "activating" as the undead were hunched over and frozen in place. But as soon as they entered the room, the skeletons abruptly lurched to life. Lily went forward with Lotte and the other students, each marking their own. Lily cast her Nebula Veil, the starry cloak enveloping her in a blanket of safety. But, to her surprise, the skeleton, rather than moving towards her, instead went off to her side and swung its rusty sickle at Arakil. Despite Arakil evidently knowing the attack was coming, he didn't bother moving. Lily was more confused than panicked, as she'd repeatedly seen that his book was indestructible. But why was the skeleton attacking it? The sickle struck the floating book, not even nudging it backwards and certainly not leaving a mark. But if that wasn't strange enough, the other skeletons in the room appeared to be ignoring the students who had approached them and instead were also targeting the book. Alice looked like she was on the verge of intervening, as she was fully prepared for any oddities for the students' safety, but even she gave pause when she saw what was happening. Five skeletons were wailing their rusty implements against the floating book to no avail. They had ignored everyone and everything else; the book was the sole focus of their ire. "Uhh, Professor Alice, is that supposed to happen?" one of the girls asked. "I'm so confused, I'm going to give you a free pass on the 'Professor' slip," she replied. "Did you cast a spell or something, Lily?" Lotte asked. Lily shook her head in response. "I didn't do anything. I was getting ready to block with my cloak." "Did your Familiar do anything?" Alice asked. Lily looked to Arakil. [I've done nothing but follow after you. To be perfectly frank, even I'm befuddled by what is happening.] "No, he didn't," she replied. "Maybe the skeletons hate reading!" Arthur shouted in jest. That got a few chuckles from the students, but Alice wasn't laughing and looked like she was trying to figure out a reason. "Maybe Arakil should leave the room?" Lotte suggested. "Yeah, that will make the monsters go back to normal, right?" Thomas asked. "Under normal circumstances… yes," Alice agreed. "Okay. Everyone out of the room except for the book. Once we are all out, Lily, you can tell him to come with us." The students exited the room, followed finally by Alice. The entire time, the skeletons kept mindlessly wailing on Arakil's book. Once they were out, she nodded towards Lily. "You can out, Arakil," Lily said. [Right. Most perplexing… It is as if I'd somehow taunted them, or they were compelled to attack me. A worthless endeavor on their part, considering even a meteor couldn't dirty my book binding.] Arakil floated towards the exit, with the skeletons slowly chasing after him. Despite their vigorous animosity towards him, they were clearly still limited by their frail undead bodies. Once the book crossed the threshold into the next room, they halted and began to slowly walk back to their waiting spots. "What the heck is going on?" a student asked. "I'm not sure," Alice replied truthfully. "But at least you all got to see how monsters usually obey the room limits." "Should we try again?" Lotte asked. "I can ask Arakil to stay outside," Lily suggested. Alice crossed her arms as she tapped her foot against the floor, appearing to be mulling things over. "Okay, let's go with that idea. If they behave strangely again, then just take them out with a spell." The students nodded, and the same group went in again with Alice. The other students slowly filtered in, with Arakil waiting outside. This time, the skeletons behaved just like the previous rooms, going for the student who approached them. Lily let her Nebula Veil flare out to block the charging skeleton, and in doing so, actually knocked it to the ground. She expected it to get back up, but it was already turning into black flecks. "I thought I said to let them attack you," Alice scolded. "I did, though," Lily replied defensively. "I blocked it with my cloak, and it fell over and died." "Why didn't you dodge instead then?" Alice asked. "I'm better at blocking." "Dodging is important, though," Alice pressed. "I know… but blocking is my specialty." "I see…" Alice murmured, although she was still staring at Lily. "Uh, Alice?" Lotte interrupted, to Lily's relief. "We've defeated our skeletons." Alice shrugged. "To the next room, I guess…" While Alice and the students were moving to the next door, Lotte snuck up beside her. "Why was she giving you such a hard time?" Lotte whispered. "I have no idea… Is it because of Arakil being attacked by the skeletons?" "I mean, that's not exactly your fault… Weird." Speaking of Arakil, he floated to her side after the room was cleared. As evident by his lack of an answer, even in his seemingly infinite knowledge, he had no idea what had happened prior. Today is not going like I thought it would… Lily whined to herself.