The Moon Dog and the Dungeon

Dungeon. That was the only real name for the land they all lived in. In a massive underground complex, spanning one hundred and fifty "Floors", each larger and more treacherous than the last. In the center of each Floor, a large "City" could be found. Each was in ruins until the facilities were unlocked by the lucky adventurers that managed to make their way there. But first they had to face the endless horde of monsters roaming the fields, the traps in the "Stairways" and boss guarding the gate to each new floor. Deeper and deeper into the earth, these brave adventurers have explored only thirty of the floors in two hundred years.

Of course, this was all common knowledge. The last time a Floor had been activated was two years ago, and before that it had been five years in between. The getting from the first floor to the second had taken nearly a hundred years all on its own. After that, the next eight floors had fallen quickly one after another. Then the monsters started getting stronger and smarter and soon what had come to be known as the "Mighty Push" ended and the leading guilds fell into obscurity. New Adventure Guilds rose up and soon a new generation of explorers had begun delving into the Dungeon's depths.

But right now that wasn't the main concern of a certain Guild. The Moon Dogs had been a fairly strong guild for almost ten years, but two years ago after pushing through the Floor 29 Stairway and taking on the Boss on their own, they fell to obscurity when a freelance adventurer slipped past them as they tended to their wounded and unlocked the next City for himself. the Floor 30 City, Gelhast, was in a forest Zone, densely populated with toxic plants and monsters. And while most Adventurers on the Floor were around level 31, the Moon Dogs averaged around level 18. It had been over a month since they had finished even one job that had been brought to them concerning clearing out monsters or searching for the next Staircase. Their only two members of the Guild even close to the right level was the level 29 Berserk Werewolf class Guild Master (Currently dead) and level 25 Assassin Litner "Litz" Faindell. Currently, Litz was sitting at the bar of the guild. He pulled out a crust of bread and took a bite. The bread's HP gauge went down by half and his own HP gauge rose by a few points and his hunger gauge fell to just over three quarters. Although he wanted to take another bite, he didn't know when he would get more food, so he tucked it away for later.

Looking around the guild, most of his comrades were in a similar state. Their armor and weapons hadn't seen proper maintenance for a while and even the building was starting to look shoddy. The Guild Master, known to the Guild as Old Dog (And Mutt by Litz), was floating over a table admonishing the latest group of failures. Old Dog had been dead for two weeks because they didn't have enough money to take him to a shrine and revive him. That and they didn't have any healers in the group that were high enough in levels to have a revival spell. Litz sighed and shook his head. This was pathetic.

Jobs were just not coming in that they could handle anymore and they were all too stubborn to go back down to the lower floors and work on their levels. The Cities in the lower floors were still bustling with life and much safer since being cleared, but were still useful to Adventurers who needed the practice. Litz looked over at their bounty board, trying to decide if it was worth taking a job and decided against it. With another sigh, he got off his stool and headed for the door. Outside, a river ran, twisting through the town. He sat on the stone barrier and looked down into its dark waters, wishing the artificial sun on the floor would come up early and light the town. He heard the footsteps behind him, but didn't bother to turn around. This was a bad part of town, but he didn't care if someone tried to mug him right now. A chance to fight might raise his spirits. But then the footsteps stopped and whoever it was stood for a while. He still didn't turn to see who it was.

"Litner Faindell, I presume?"

Litz turned around at that. He didn't think anyone outside of the Moon Dogs knew his name anymore. Standing there, wearing a rare tier 3 dress was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She had a slender build, long raven colored hair, and tits the size of two small mountains. The beautiful dress was dark blue and silver, with a slit up one side to allow easy movement and showed off a nice view of her pleasant peaks. Judging by her appearance alone, she was a Dancer class. Not to mention she was pretty famous. She was the most powerful woman on the floor at level 35, Tianna Meadows. A blue fan materialized in her hand and opened it, covering the lower half of her face.

"Litner Faindell?"

"You ask, but you obviously know the answer already. Can I help you?"

"That was my hope. I've rallied some men and I want you to be part of our Party. I know the location of the next Stairway and I'm planning to take on the Boss and secure the next City for myself. Help me out and you will be paid handsomely. Do a good enough job, and I might be able to help the Moon Dogs get back on top."

"And you want a failure like me involved in taking on a Stairway? Why?"

"I know you Litner. Strong, fast, and courageous. Two years ago, the Boss would have shredded your Party if you hadn't pushed it back and given them time to regroup. All alone, you outmaneuvered a Crag Dragon and got its HP below three quarters. Without you, that Boss wouldn't have been beaten and this Floor would still be inaccessible."

"Well, I must say, I'm impressed. How did you learn all that?"

He couldn't see her smile behind the fan, but her eyes lit with humor. But she didn't answer. He could easily guess that with a rack like hers, she could get a great deal of information quickly and easily. He thought about it for a moment. Clearing another Staircase would be difficult at his level. But doable. If her team was half as powerful as her, then it shouldn't be too hard. But then again, it would really be a pain in his ass and she wasn't even asking the rest of the Guild, just him. Then there was her rack to consider....

Level 25:
XP to next Level: 600

HP:
950/1800

Gear:
Weapon: Ninja Scythe and chain (Blue Steel
Extra Weapons: Ninja throwing knives (10 count) (Blue Iron)
Body: Black Hooded Outfit (Green Cloth)

Potions:
Healing Potion: 2 (Heals 500 HP)
Enhancement Potion 2 (Attack increases by 5 for 3 attacks)

Food:
Half-Eaten Bread (Restores 5 HP, Relieves some hunger.)