Unbounded

**Fair warning**: I am trying to write this as a legitimate story with plot and some basic world building. The first couple of pages are not going to have much smut, but after that this story will turn into a cespool of parastic possession, manipulation, and corruption. Enjoy :)

"... a new dungeon in the north of Moonlight Grove"

My feet stopped before my ears caught up to what they were talking about. Rule number one of eavesdropping is to look like you’re not eavesdropping, so I plopped my back onto a nearby wall and started staring at the ceiling.

“My brother found it when he was out exploring with his party, he said it wasn’t in the dungeon log book of that area, so he was planning on reporting it tomorrow.”

Dungeons are mysterious things, nobody knows where they come from or when they decide to disappear. Scholars have tried to create a set of laws that the dungeons follow but so far nobody has succeeded. Because of their unpredictability, the Adventurer guild announced that all dungeons must be scouted and rated before anyone can enter.

I kept on listening for a bit to get a bit more information, then made my way out with a little hop and a skip in every other step I took.

Usually when people enter dungeons, everybody tends to get the same loot, somehow it just happens, but for the lucky few that can enter a dungeon first, they get rewarded with better loot. If the normal reward is a couple of gems, then the early bird reward could be something like magic stones, scrolls, or engraved weapons, stuff that adventurers like me could never afford.

“I need to get there first.” It took me a while before I realized I said that out loud, but I’m right. This is the break I need! I’m barely keeping myself afloat right now, and I know it’s the same with the rest of my party. I need to tell them.

The sun is still high up in the sky as rays of sunshine leak from the branches above me and onto my face. Those golden threads have never felt as nice on me before, the grass has never smelled so fragrant, before I knew it, I was galloping in the woods like a baby horse. Sitting between behind a couple of trees is a camouflage field holding our campsite.

I hop in and…nobody’s home, except for Esther.

“Hi Esther!”

“Hi Jasper! How did the quest report go?” She said with a soft smile on her face. Esther is our resident healer, she rocks a black veil and tunic, I actually don’t think I’ve seen her without it, but she can use cleanse magic, so it makes sense if she never takes it off. Her hair is like a stash of gold hidden beneath her veil, and her skin is soft and fair. Bringing her fit all together is a crucifix with a floral pattern sitting quaintly on her breasts, the symbol of a follower of Althea, the goddess of healing.

“It went fine, boring, and mundane. Hey, where are the others?” My eyes are darting from tent to tent, but it doesn't seem like anyone's here with us.

“Oh um…well Zarah and Oman went drinking, they wanted me to tell you that they'll be back by tomorrow, and Nia is caught up flirting with another guy…”

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

“The one time I need everyone altogether.” I say with part of my face covered with my hand.

“Oh dear, did something urgent happen?” Esther said with an adorable slight tilt of her head.

“Yeah, I found an unexplored dungeon, and we need to get there as soon as possible!”

Esther's eyebrows rose.

“That is definitely big news, Jasper! We need a breakthrough as a group as we want our party to rank up. Too bad we're the only one's here.”

“What if we are all we need?” I say while watching Esther's face grow confused. “The team that found the dungeon sent a familiar in to unofficially test for traps and monsters, but they couldn't find anything! They were going to report it to the Guild tomorrow, so we'd be the first people there!”

“Hmm…if that's true, I supposed we could try it out.” She replied with her hand holding her chin. “I've never been the first to go in a dungeon before, so I'm excited!”

“That's the spirit! Now let's pack our bags! I got the coordinates marked down on a teleportation scroll already!”