Moonquest: A Journey To The Stars

Walking down the street, Megumi, Hina and Natsuki marvel at the sight before their eyes. 

Dwarves march down the streets, clustered together, hauling sacks and chests of tools and artifacts to their shops. Aviatrix's could be seen wandering through the air, twittering and clicking in their native language. Beastmen were witnessed lugging bodies of large monsters as they went to the Adventurer's Guild, ready to hand in the carcass for cash.

"Wow! Look, look, look! Hina-chan, look! So fluffy!"

Seeing a Catgirl, Megumi squealed in delight. Resisting the urge, Hina dragged back her rambunctious friend. "Megu-chan, we don't have time. We need to go and meet with the Guildmaster today, otherwise, if we are late, her Highness will be very disappointed with us..."

Puffing her cheeks in anger, she tries to counter back. "B-but Megumi, look at their tail! So fluf-" Sir Andrew coughed in, explaining "Uh, madame, we can't do that. This can only be done among their mates, as this is a very intimate form of communication for them. And no, they don't take highly to same-sex relationships..."

Blushing, Megumi stammered in response "W-w-well, I like Natsuki more! A thousand, million, trillion times more! So yeah!"

Embarrassed, she shut her mouth and journeyed to the Guild.

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"So, what do we have here, hmm? The chosen ones to save the world, hmm? But... you're all kids! Haah, anyway, we have no choice now. We're running out of time, and since the way forward has been blocked by the advent of that damned haunted castle, we have no choice but to take you to the dungeons to power-level you up! Damn those assholes to hell!"

Sir Proximus, an eight-tier magician, sighs in defeat, while the chosen trio stand in awkward silence. As they signal each other about what is happening, Proximus continues to explain anyway "Haah, anyways, I'd better tell you how dungeons work here..."

With a slight clap, he yells "Improdus Classis!", and a small classroom is magically generated there. 

Getting rid of the dizziness, the trio were treated to a giant blackboard, beside which an old man stood there with a chalkboard.

"Uhum, before you lot venture forth into dungeons, you must know these facts. I'm sure you must've learnt about the brief history of the world, so you should know about the Demon God and his army of Mecha Droids. Anyways, after sealing them, the Goddesses Illumia and Nyxis realised although they could not be killed and only sealed, the seal would not last forever. To ensure that they remained sealed for all eternity, the abominations that were created by the Demon God needed to be culled periodically; otherwise, once they reached a set amount, they could use their sheer numbers to destroy the seal and wreak havoc in the world once more."

Taking a sip of water, Proximus continued, "Anyways, that's all for the history. For the longer version, you should head to the academy, for they have a far more detailed history, and I ain't gonna through all that!" Chuckling here, he realised that none were listening at this point, so he coughed to regain their attention. "Now I'll explain how dungeons function, and what their rewards are. Dungeons work by absorbing and releasing the abominations, or monsters, in controlled manners, and releasing them inside their structures. By fighting and killing them, rewards can be obtained. They can range from raw materials to finished tools, known as artifacts, and even the coveted ability balls."

"Their structures are predetermined as well. Every dungeon has a minimum of ten floors, and this is a set concept, as every ten floors equals a tier. So if you are a tier-5 warrior, you can only access 50 floors in any dungeons. Oh, and trying your way to cheat through is not possible. Many have tried, and many have failed, being exiled for a week at best, viscerated at worst. Oh boy, the pictures they have.."

Imagining the scene, the trio barely managed to stop themselves from hurling. Ignoring this, Proximus continued on. Kids these days, weak as hell...

"The monster varies from level to level, species by species. The lower tier and the higher ones cannot interact or mix with one another, but there is one occasion they can:

The Hoard"

Shivering in fear, Proximus continued on nevertheless. "If a dungeon has not been cleared ordained for a very long time, the dungeon overflows with monsters. If the saturation level exceeds what the dungeon can bear, the dungeon's safety mechanisms get overridden, causing them to escape outside. Many a kingdom fell during these invasions, and many of the common monsters such as harpies and imps you see nowadays can be traced to a Hoard here and there."

Hearing this, the trio grew more and more depressed, feeling the weight of burden clearer than ever. Seeing that they were falling into depression, Proximus clapped his hands once again to attract their attention.

"Anyways, now I'll get to the juicy parts: the rewards. Rewards, as I've said before, vary from materials to artifacts, and the coveted skill orbs. The materials are simple enough, but the skills require more explanation. Ability orbs basically give you any and all abilities in existence. It basically all depends on your luck; your luck is good; you can get an ability that slays Gods or something like shovelling. All in all, you can get whatever skill you want. This is the key point, because the job you have basically limits in your acquisition of abilities, and the orbs are basically a loophole in getting them."

Just as he finished speaking, the classroom began dismantling itself, turning back into what it was: an old, rustic office filled with bookshelves of many kinds.

"I hope you've listened to what I've said. Oh, and most important of all, have fun!"