The first thing that happened was the prompt recovery of a woven basket full of lichen from the water. Most of the lichen had sunk below the surface, into the inky darkness below.


    “...Too slow-growing to be a dietary staple. The thallus growth form seems to be squamulose… the consistent low-level light in the dungeon seems to have positively affected the photosynthetic relationship of the mutualistic pair. Do they eat it as a delicacy? Or perhaps it has some use in medicine?” Sapphire muttered, fussing over the lichen cuttings.


    Gio bemusedly watched his older friend weave a few spells, adjusting various parameters as she continued her study.


    “I need a rock.” Sapphire stated.


    Puzzled yet amenable, Gio looked alongside the grotto walls, trailing the mostly sleek cliff-like stone faces as they passed. He found a small rock shelf half-submerged in the water, plucking a smooth stone from a sandy deposit. Drying the rock off on his sleeve, he handed it to Sapphire.


    Wordlessly thanking Gio, Sapphire held up a cutting of lichen and cast a spell. Ephemeral plant-like tendrils of mana in blue and green colors extended from her fingers, cradling the plant cutting. Instantly, the moss-like symbiote enveloped the stone, angling its fleshy outcroppings toward the sky.


    “Excellent. Getting the life-force to nutrient ratio can be a real pain. Can we stop the boat for a second?” Sapphire asked.


    “Sure, what’s up?” Jean asked.


    Sapphire stood up from her seat, angling herself towards the rocky wall to the left side of the boat. She held up another cutting of lichen, casting a larger version of the same spell.


    Gio watched as the growth crawled along the surface of the rock face, creating a giant sheet of biomass in less than a minute. The wave of pale green bloomed outward in a strange but beautiful display of magic.


    “I figured that if we mean to greet the dungeon’s residents peacefully, we should have an offering. They were gathering the lichen, so hopefully they will appreciate a surplus of it.” She said, smiling.


    The team spent a few moments harvesting before resuming their journey. By the time they were done, they had more than the telchine had dropped by several times over.


    “That’s done. Unfortunately, it doesn''t seem to be very useful for… well, anything.” Sapphire noted.


    Hatra reached over, grabbing a small sample of the lichen. She cast a spell that didn’t have much of a visual indication of magic, just causing her eyes to flash blue for the briefest moment. She gestured in the air, and a pane of conjured light appeared in front of her, eliciting a gasp from Sapphire.


    [Circineria Argofactorum - Common dungeon Lichen] - A common and mundane type of mutualistic lifeform dwelling in dungeon-based ecosystems. Thrives in partially aquatic environments free from obligate herbivores. Can be used as a source of natural pigments.


    “Is that [Identify]?” Jean asked.


    “Sure is. Pain to level, but absolutely crucial to being a primarily crafting-related class.” She replied.


    Jean cast a spell on the lichen, also causing his eyes to glow for a moment. A slight frown crossed his features.


    “My [Identify] isn’t giving me nearly as much information,” Jean said.


    “You have a written copy of an identification spell? How does that even work without a real system?” Hatra asked.


    “It depends on a lot of factors. I won’t claim to know a whole lot about the particulars of the spell, but I think it partly taps into the spirit networks that make up the system. I guess I more or less get what the spirits deign to give me on a given day.” Jean said.


    “Yeah, that’s the gist of how it works for a system mage, too… It’s just that we get to level up ours. The more you use identify, and the more challenging things you use it on, the more information you get. I spent weeks identifying every speck of dust I could find in my workshop just to get a baseline.” Hatra mentioned.


    “Leveling up sounds… cool.” Chandrika said.


    “It sounds very satisfying. I love the feeling of a skill ranking up, but that only happens when I reach a breakthrough point in my training. I imagine the feeling of progressing steadily with feedback from the system would be very affirming.” Jean said.


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    “It can be distracting at times. It is fun to power through the first few levels of a new spell, feeling the change in how it responds to you as it gets more levels… but you can also get lost in that sensation. If you focus too hard on trying to level up an ability, you forget the reasons why you wanted to get it in the first place. You start to focus more on how long it’s taking to make the number go up instead of how beneficial the ability is… I had a coworker mentor me on it when I unlocked my ingredient refining skill. I spent a long time grinding and trying to power-level the skill, without realizing that I had already gotten like ten times as good at it than I was when I started.” Hatra said.


    The rest of the boat contemplated her words.


    “I think I’m better off without that kind of reinforcement,”Gio said.


    “With your study habits, we would never see you again.” Chandrika quipped.


    “I would starve.” Gio concurred.


    After drifting further downstream, the channel opened up slightly. Ahead of them, an angular shape rose out of the water.


    “This is the boundary marker. We’re officially in monster territory.” Gio said.


    “Remember - for at least the first leg of this area, they won’t attack unless provoked.” Jean reminded.


    Gio studied the platform. A patina covered pagoda of some sort of alloy rose from below the surface of the water. In the middle of the pagoda, a wrought bench of some sort held a single gleaming dagger, thrust downward into a special holder.


    “It’s really just… sitting there. It’s no wonder he thought it was meant to be taken.” Gio said.


    According to Francisco’s notes, there would be periodic shrines placed throughout the dungeon bearing metal goods bearing a special enchantment.


    “Looter’s Bane.” Gio muttered.


    “I don’t get it. I don’t understand why the dungeon would produce items like this, but protect them with such a hostile curse.” Jean said.


    Looter’s Bane. A colloquial name that is used to refer to a type of curse that only applies to one who would remove an object from its resting place. In years of exploring the dungeon, Francisco nearly died only a mere three times before his final delve. The third time was due to poison from the Telchines. The second was due to attempting to explore underwater. The first was due to Looter’s Bane. He attempted to remove the dagger from this very boundary marker, being instantly met with a curse that nearly turned his blood into seawater and made his eyes bleed. After that point, Francisco made a point to check every item for curses, finding out that with no exception - anything made of metal in the dungeon would be cursed with a Looter’s Bane curse.


    “To discourage people from taking them, I guess,” Hatra said.


    “Yeah, but-”


    “Hold onto that thought. We’re here.” Chandrika said.


    Ahead of the boat, spherical huts lined the water. Several pairs of abyssal eyes peered out from slats inside the huts. A thin stone walkway carved into the side of the cliff face was dotted with farming plots, each of which seemed to be full of a single type of plant that Gio did not recognize.


    A particularly frightened-looking Telchine approached the boat, hissing.


    “That’s not good.” Hatra deadpanned.


    “Hold on!” Sapphire quietly yelled.


    Sapphire held out the woven basket, sending it across the surface of the water with some sort of buoyancy spell.


    The Telchine surveyed the mountain of lichen, with their eyes wide. They called out with some sort of noise somewhere between clicking and croaking, and the same telchine from earlier emerged from behind one of the huts.


    After sniffing the lichen several times, The dungeon creature took the basket, bowing towards the boat before retreating hastily.


    The other Telchine raised his head high, stepping to the side as if allowing the group through.


    But… what was he going to do if we decided to go anyway? It’s five versus one…


    “That plant… I think it’s rice.” Sapphire said, looking at the plant that they had growing all along the footpaths carved into the side of the cliff.


    “I mean… that’s cool, Saph… but is now really the time?”


    “We could make rice paper.” Sapphire cooed.


    Gio clawed at his heart in mock outrage.


    “My filthy traitor heart. Now that you’ve said it, I can’t think of anything else. Okay, how do we get to the rice plants without making them mad?” Gio asked.


    “Simple. We trade for it.” Sapphire said, smiling.


    Gio looked around, seeing a few scared-looking creatures in homes that seemed devoid of human warmth and sensibilities.


    “I don’t know about that,” Gio said.


    “The other option is that we take it by force and-”


    “Let’s try trading,” Gio said.