"-That's from level eight. Lightning is about the only way to hurt it."

"Damaging a dungeon is such a waste, it's- Almost unthinkable."

"So the dungeon was trying to kill you already," Mage says. "I'd say obliterating a whole level light's grace that's scary is a fair response."

It's not so much an 'ambush' as monsters continuously approaching from all sides without any semblance of coordination or strategy. They're almost at the stairway to the third floor now.

Eterni spikes cut down any monsters that get close. Eefina can launch them from the colorless glow in her hands at the speed of thought, and her thoughts are quicker than most.

"I was using lightning," she mentions between silver spikes. "It was almost enough, if it had just been the boss by itself. In retrospect that thing was way too tough to belong on the second floor, I should've run."

"Live and learn."

Back to jogging out of the dungeon. They can handle all the monsters that show up, but none of them relax just yet.

Eefina can keep this pace up pretty well. They can handle the third floor the same way, and then they can finally get a look at what Eefina did to the second floor.

Reality around here is a bit more stable now, but it's still very obviously... Ravaged.

They seem unnerved and at a gesture from the mage-leader jog a little faster, staying quiet.

Eefina brings up the rear, and hurries along with them.

First floor. She... did it? She got them out safely?

Looks like it. Monsters are still coming up behind them, but they're easily picked off. The mage is frowning seriously as they advance, she drops back a bit and speaks quietly.

"Hey. I'm Roselle. Have you been adventuring long, miss?"

"'Fina. Not long at all."

She spikes a last bunch of monsters, and... the exit!

They charge out the exit and straight past the two bewildered guards, who mill in confusion for long enough for the mage to whisper to Eefina, "From one foreigner to another, if I were you, I'd disappear soonest. Or the powers that be might decide you're inconvenient and you'll disappear for real, if you know what I mean. Screwing up a dungeon is big trouble."

"...right. That's probably good advice."

She eyes the guards.

"Don't know how well I'll be able to follow it, though."

She puts her hand on Eefina's shoulder and a sudden surge of healing rolls through her. "The dungeon was trying to kill you. Never underestimate them. They will kill you... Or a friend someday if you do. Remember that for me, please?" She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "And now my plans for the next week are fucked anyway, so. When I start arguing with those guards, you'll be invisible for maybe five, ten minutes. Understand?"

"Thank you, really, but... maybe you shouldn't? Won't I be in more trouble if I... don't take responsibility for my mistake?"

She seems startled. "I mean... That's up to you? I guess my first response to everything has always been to run away."

The guards are walking towards them now. One of them tells the other that the 'response team' is just two minutes away.

Maybe she'll end up regretting it, but it just feels wrong for Eefina to run away from this. She has ties here, new as they are, and this was legitimately her own mistake; she needs to make up for it.

Mage lets go of Eefina's shoulder and steps away, her eyes clearly asking 'why??'.

"She's alright, guys," she says.

The guard is a lot more deferential to the bronze-badge than to Eefina, and says, "I'm glad to hear it. We'd like everyone to stay here for a while. We can go over your loot, if you have any, in a bit. Uh, that's just procedure. But anything unusual with the dungeon is a serious incident and we want to get any information that could lead us to the cause." He does a side-eye at Eefina.

Eefina winces.

"I am prepared to explain to the best of my knowledge."

She details the events leading up to the destruction of the second floor as thoroughly as she can.

They take lots of notes and ask lots of clarifying questions, and repeat much of it to someone through that communication orb, reporting the cause as 'aggressive response to use of an unusual Skill'.

They want to know how her Skill works. The mage speaks up, "Hey, you can't just ask a girl that out of nowhere! Intel on Rare Skills is a huge vulnerability!"

Guards wince, then one tries, "If you'd like to tell us anything you might know about why there was such a dramatic response, it would help settle things as an accident."

"It's an ability used by and taught to my people," Eefina offers. "Its primary function is the destruction of magic, and there are a number of techniques that have very different effects. It normally is useless to use in dungeons, because the benefits of fighting in a dungeon are lost, destroyed along with the monster; the monster's death doesn't 'count'."

She already explained that it was a last-ditch effort to survive, after the dungeon stopped 'playing'.

"The dungeon, being so inherently magical, has no defense against it. In the heat of the moment I forgot that it would be so destructive to the dungeon itself."

At some point, a large group with some very magical gear and mixed silver and gold badges comes down the beach.

The leader of this group is apparently someone important in the Guild leadership. The guards are shocked to see him. He's wearing heavy armor that looks very serious indeed, has a large sword which he leaves sheathed, and has some vaguely-indefinable strength and presence.

He has a commanding voice and a stern glare, and spends a minute reassuring the guards and the three bronze-badges, who are mostly just happy to be alive.

Then he turns to Eefina. "Miss Eefina... I'd like to congratulate you on surviving something most adventurers do not, first of all. But I want to have a serious conversation with you. If you'll just step this way, I have an artifact that will give us a bit of privacy."

"Okay. Thank you, and I'm sorry for all the trouble."

The artifact spins an elaborate web of ulgu so quickly that she almost entirely misses what it's doing. A thin cloud of mist surrounds them about ten feet out - things can still be seen out there, but slightly indistinct. Only vague murmurs can be heard.

"We see a lot of unusual things around here, it comes of being a port city. But every single time, we have to evaluate the odd stranger, the strange Skill, as a threat. Because Trouble follows unique people. Either they cause it, or they attract it by having something that others want. It's almost inevitable, and the only way to avoid it is to become a hermit. Perhaps it's not unusual in wherever you're from, but I have never heard of this kind of Skill. If I haven't heard of it, neither has anyone else. So, you're all but certain to have interesting times. And so, I feel compelled to ask, what are your intentions towards us? The Adventurer's Guild, the city and the people?"

"I don't think I've been here long enough to form proper intentions. I just want to learn, and grow, and make friends, and pursue interesting things where I find them, and help wherever I can. I may be the only person able to cure dhar-corruption, so I jumped at the chance to do that, and will continue to."

"I also want to do what I can to make up for what was genuinely my own mistake. What's going to go wrong in the wider scope now that this has happened to the dungeon?"

"Dhar- Is magic. Of course."

He shakes his head.

"It is beyond your ability to fix alone. Making up for it... I will have to think about that. The dungeon will be closed for tomorrow, possibly longer, as we try to understand what it's doing in response. Many adventurers will have to take a break or use one of the other two dungeons the city of Rotula controls, both of which are more inconvenient to access. Ordinary people who have paid for supervised runs to level their Skills will have to reschedule, slowing their growth and causing a lot of fuss. The adventurers won't be bringing back drops, so all the people who make a living reselling them or making products from them will feel a pinch. It will be more dangerous for a time until most of its new tricks are sussed out. At minimum, we'll see a brief tension in the markets and a great amount of money will lost."

He sighs. "I've been told I am a pessimist. It probably won't by that bad. You say you were fighting for your life and you spoke the truth, but it was very foolish to grind a single skill at such a low level for so long. That's the kind of thing that provokes kill attempts. And I must do something to prevent this happening again. Therefore, Eefina, you are officially suspended from the Rotula Omali Adventurer's Guild pending a decision by the council of guild elders. You are also officially barred from entering any of the local dungeons during this time. You will not be charged dues during the suspension, and should a decision to restore you be reached, there will be no lasting consequences."

Eefina winces again, but nods in acceptance.

"I understand."

"It's not personal, it simply must be done. Please hand me your badge. I can keep it if you'd like, or simply mark it as invalid for now."