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The exploration would finally

begin. The group members were all properly fed and prepared.

Supervisors suggested that those who were unarmed should go to the

storage and grab some weapons and of course flash-lights. Percival

and Guino catched lanterns for the group. As there were only two, the

group could not be divided into more than two subgroups. Those who

were unarmed got spears from the storage. The exploration would begin

in the corridor, since the stone door could not be moved yet. The

sextet entered, armed with their flash-lights and weapons.

The hallway was covered with ice

up and down. Ceiling, walls and floors were extremely slippery.

Furthermore, imperfections in the surfaces made accidental cuts very

easy to occur.

Percival walked carefully. No

member of the group had footwear, shoes or sandals as they are

unusual and sometimes unnecessary in Fenária.

• Watch the ground, kids - said

Percival.

Bolico stepped on a floor

imperfection, which opened a small, but ardent, cut on his foot-paw.

He yelped and kept walking.

• I know - he said.

• Great - Percival continued.

Following the corridor, the

group came to a room. The room was large and had an exit to the

north. In the centre was a lever. The lever was very rusty and it was

made of solid iron. Mimo approached, curious about the effects that

the lever could trigger, but was held by Mático, which put a paw on

the shoulder of the young monkey.

• Negative; we do not know what

it can do - Mático said.

Mimo looked at Mático and

nodded. Guino took the lead and began to examine the lever. He also

looked around the lever, looking for possible trapdoors, very

carefully. He then glanced at the ceiling, which looked solid and

uniform.

• It seems safe - he said. - The

lever probably does not activate anything in this room.

• Still, let not fiddle with

something that does not deserve our attention yet - Percival

suggested, citing his father.

• It seems sensible - spoke

Sérica. - Let us continue, then ...

The group continued through the

north corridor. The corridor forked in the north and east.

• To where now? - Asked Mimo.

• Not so simple ... - Spoke

Mático.

Sérica took the lead, going

north.

• What do you think you're

doing? - Asked Mático.

• We will not get anywhere if we

stop to think at each fork - she said. - If you do not even know this

dungeon, the best we can do is to walk randomly and collect

information regarding it's functioning and ecology.

Mimo and Bolico did not

understood. Guino followed.

• I like that crazy chick - he

said.

• Please, I have no sense of

humour - Sérica replied.

Percival, Mimo and Bolico

followed. Mático sighed and followed too. The path would split

again, but the group persisted in going north, always, as it was more

difficult to get lost that way. If they found a dead end, they would

simply return to the previous fork or crossroads to follow another

path. Mático, which had the best memory among the group members,

secretly memorized the way they were going, in case of Sérica

becoming lost.

The group came to another room,

eventually. A low growl could be heard coming from one of the exits

of the room.

• It was not me - Mimo said.

• Well known - Guino replied.

Guino moved the flash-light from

left to right, trying to pinpoint the exact source of the sound,

when, suddenly, Percival shouted:

• My goodness!

• What is it? - Asked Sérica

while Guino kept moving the flash-light from one side to the other

again.

A huge silhouette could be seen

coming out of the east corridor of the room. It was a purple bear,

six feet tall, wearing black clothing, typical of perpetrator. Had

glowing red eyes without pupils, and wielded a bronze scythe with ice

blade. The muscle mass of the Bear allowed him to use the scythe,

that had three quarters of his size, with only one paw.

• An explorer? - Asked Percival.

• I'm afraid he is not - spoke

Mático, stepping forward. - He is obviously a supernatural entity.

The eyes are not at all normal and have no pupils. Still, he seems to

see us.

The bear stared fixedly at the

group, moving toward them slowly but gradually increasing speed.

Suddenly, he started running, lifting the scythe.

• Beware! - Shouted Guino.

Mimo jumped back, getting away.

The bear dropped his scythe with full force against Guino, who was

ahead with the lantern. The blow hit Guino's shoulder, forcing him to

scream in pain and drop the flash-light. The group had no light for a

while. Percival turned the second lantern on, attracting the

attention of the offender. Guino, furious because of the blow he had

received, bent down and stepped back carefully, taking the tip of the

scythe off the newly open wound, then brandished his sword against

the bear, trying to hit him, but the beast was faster than he looked

and dodged the attack with enough dexterity, hanging his weight to

the side. Bolico jumped back, undecided as to flee or try to be

helpful. Sérica approached the bear, getting to combat distance.

Mático stepped away.

The bear turned to Sérica,

which approached, and swung his scythe against her, but she dodged

taking a step backwards. Still, a long, though not very deep, cut was

made on her belly. Guino tried to strike again, targeting the chest

of the creature. But the bear could divide his attention between

Guino and Sérica, quickly turning the scythe and blocking the blow

with the blade. Bolico had an idea and called Mimo close. Sérica

tried to attack the bear again, but without success, the bear was

great at dodging and seemed to anticipate the moves of his opponents.

• What is it? - Mimo asked to

Bolico.

• We are small - Bolico

explained. - With luck, we can approach behind the bear and deliver

him a fatal blow.

• Risky ... but we at least have

spears ...

• We must try. I also fear, but

that bear wants to eliminate us ... We must eliminate it first!

The beast, after blocking

Guino's attack, decided to attack him again. Guino tried to defend

himself with his sword, but the blow was faster than his reaction.

Guino was hit in the chest, the scythe pierced it's right side. Since

Guino had a good amount of muscle mass, the cut was not deep enough

to kill him immediately, but the pain crippled the ox. The bear

pulled the scythe back. Guino cried, knelt, dropped his sword and

held his wound, which was bleeding profusely. Bolico, trembling,

crept across the room, waiting for the opportune time to strike.

Sérica tried to attack the beast again, but again he dodged nimbly

stepping back and getting out of the the dagger's reach.

• Ira! - Shouted Mimo before

biting the bear's leg.

The bear turned his attention to

the small one. Mimo was clinging to the leg of the bear like a bug,

reducing his evasion ability. The bear decided to ignore Mimo. Since

Guino was incapacitated, the last combatant, Sérica, was the last

obstacle between him and his goal, although said goal was a mystery.

He swung his scythe against Sérica and opened another cut, this time

on her wing. Percival, realizing that Mimo was grabbing the leg of

the bear, had an idea. He approached, reaching distance of wrestling.

• Ira too! - Bolico shouted,

grabbing the other leg of the bear.

The cat bit the leg of the bear,

as Mimo had done. Sérica, seeing that the cubs had mitigated the

bear's evasion, tried another attack. She stuck her dagger in the

chest of the beast, as deep as she could. A purple liquid leaked from

the open wound. Certainly it was not blood.

Mimo kept the bite, forcing his

teeth in the flesh of the creature. Some more of the liquid that

flowed in the veins of the beast leaked and Mimo could taste it. It

was bitter and concentrated. Since his evasion was impaired because

of the cubs grabbing his legs, the bear quickly moved his scythe

towards Mimo, who was hit on the ribs. The excruciating pain

experienced by the monkey forced him to release the bear's leg.

Percival readied his spear and, seizing the moment of distraction,

thrust the spear deep in the breast meat of the beast. Not a growl

was heard. Increasingly, the liquid flowed from the bear to the

ground. Bolico, trembling, freed one of his paws, prepared his own

spear and his own spear and shoved it in the leg of the bear while

still clinging. Suddenly the bear leg bent and he dropped to his

knees.

• Now, you unhappy thing -

Sérica spoke, raising her dagger. - Hell awaits you.

The dagger pierced the bear's

head, going deep, so deep that only the guard of the dagger was left

out. The bear then began to melt. The dumped their positions and bear

dissolved slowly in purple, thick and bitter liquid. The only thing

left of him was his scythe and a big puddle of whatever that liquid

was.

• Someone ... can you explain

what happened? - Asked Percival.

• Sure ... - Mático approached.

• The Great Dungeon houses exotic creatures that are not known at the

surface. Most of them are not actually living beings, but constructs

or summoned automata.

• Creatures ... that are not

alive? - Asked Mimo. - It seemed very much alive to me, that creature

...

• "Creature" is

perhaps not the right word ... - Continued Mático. - But the bear

was certainly not the last opponent. Now, we have to take back Guino

to recover.

Guino was on the floor, panting,

bleeding.

• He is not the only one - spoke

Sérica, covering the wound on her belly.

The group then decided to

return. As they walked, Percival patted Mimo's head. Mimo looked at

him.

• Good work there - said

Percival. - If you had not distracted the bear, we might have died.

• Ah, but it was not my idea;

Bolico gave the hint! - Mimo replied aloud, for all to hear.

Percival looked Bolico, who

looked away. Percival smiled and said:

• Thanks, Bolico, great idea -

but nothing more, not wanting to further embarrass the cat.

The group then arrived at the

camp. They went to the tent of rest where five moles were waiting,

three nurses and two summoners. The interior was equipped with three

beds and tables that sustained several vials. There was a globe of

light floating near the ceiling.

• Excuse - Sérica said.

The moles looked at the group

and immediately led Sérica, Mimo and Guino to the beds to be

treated.

They quickly took medical vials

with mysterious liquids and applied on the edges of the wounds, using

cottons. Sérica and Guino groaned in pain during the process, the

burning of the medicines bothering both. The edges of the wounds then

bubbled, new flesh gradually growing to close the open cuts. The

nurses then stopped to let the drugs act.

• They need rest - one of the

doctors said, approach to the group. - Leave them here for a few

hours.

• Thank you, ma'am - spoke

Mático.

• What happened during the

operation?

• We were attacked by a magical

bear - Mimo said from the bed.

A different medicine was being

used on Mimo and it didn't burn at all, though the effect was the

same.

The Mole smiled at Mimo, finding

his words funny.

• It was one of those magical

beasts? - She asked.

• Precisely - Mático said. -

Expected from underground fauna.

• You need to be better armed if

you want to continue in this job; sticks and stones do not hurt the

beasts.

• We noticed ... - Percival

said.

• Rest, please - ended the mole

before returning to her post as assistant.

Percival, Bolico and Mático sat

down and waited