After looking over his tryout rosters a final time, Garath felt pretty good about his set up. He willed open his World Map, searching for suitable dungeons for each group. Garath noticed that since he had done his first dungeon search, several new dungeons had been added to the Map, most within a reasonable distance to make the flight from the stronghold. Garath wondered how many more dungeons would appear out of nowhere over the days to come.
The closest was on Hat Island, a small circular island only a few nautical miles west from HQ. Garath remembered watching a documentary about the tiny teardrop of land, known officially as Gedney Island, but he couldn’t recall anything specific about the history, other than its size of roughly 400 acres. The dungeon was called ‘Chuchusullay’, and the world Map informed him that it had a five-person maximum, with a suggested Level of 28 to 30. He decided that this particular dungeon would not be ideal for tryouts, but could definitely prove beneficial once the members of the Dungeon team were chosen, and they needed to make a final push to Level 30 before taking on the Tower.
Opposite Hat Island, about 100 miles east of their stronghold was another dungeon in a location that Garath recognized as Leavenworth, a Bavarian-styled town with a popular Oktoberfest. The system deemed the dungeon located there ‘Secret Level’. Garath wasn’t sure what to make of that, but because the Level requirement was between 21 and 23, the Necrologist marked it as a tryout location before scanning the map for more options.
North of the Leavenworth dungeon was another dungeon in place of what had been a national park in Glacier Peak. The dungeon’s name was ‘Molten Glacier Peak’, which Garath thought sounded like a bit of an oxymoron. The information provided by his world Map suggested Levels 19 to 21, and Garath marked Molten Glacier Peak as a definite tryout location.
To the east, between the poorly named Molten Glacier Peak and BoTH's inviolate Guild Hall, another dungeon icon caught Garath’s eye, ‘The Rolling Deep’. It also had a five-person maximum and suggested Levels 17 to 20. To Garath, based on the geographical location denoted on his Map, it looked to be near the Big Four Ice Caves, a group of gorgeous glacial crevices he remembered exploring as a kid. He marked this dungeon as another great option for tryouts.
In fact, he’d take both groups to The Rolling Deep the next day. They'd be safer traveling in a larger group anyways, and it would drastically cut down on Garath's next-day muscle soreness if he only had to make one trip. Even so, the iconic Ice Caves were a solid 50 miles or so to the east. If he helped everyone unlock their Osprey BeastScape forms, they'd be able to move much faster than they could in Crow form, but the trip would still take over an hour each way.
Garath went through the stockpile of canned food stored in his Items panel to make sure that he had enough on him to provide everyone with a lunch, considering it would be an all-day affair. A quick check showed he had more than enough to feed the group. That handled, Garath sent a message to each of the hopefuls that he'd selected for tomorrow's tryouts. He told them to meet him on his clifftop an hour after sunrise, right about 6:00AM as measured by what had been called Pacific Standard Time before the apocalypse. He was anything but a morning person, but an early start would be important if they hoped to complete the dungeon with the first group, then wait the mandatory one-hour period for the instance to reset, get through it again with the second group, and make it back to HQ all in a single day.
Garath's eyes were still tiredly watching the eastbound World Boss, the tall pillar of smoke ever in its wake barely distinguishable now in the twilight. There, on the branch of a tall cedar, within the protected 10-meter radius of the Guild Hall, he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eight – Rolling in the Deep
Garath opened his eyes, still heavy with sleep in the predawn blush just before the sun's emergence. What he saw didn't make any damn sense. He looked left to see the largest beetle he'd ever seen.
He glanced right, then down. Really far down. Everything was out of focus, including the brain trying in vain to process the nonsense information his eyes were sending it. Between his irrational fear of bugs and the vertigo blurring his peripherals, dizziness overtook him, and he lost his footing. He reached desperately to grab hold of a branch and slow his fall, then saw his outstretched wing. Instead of grasping with fingers he only spread feathers. With an internal eye roll, Garath realized that he must have fallen asleep on the branch, in Osprey form. It was a good thing, because a second later and no amount of coffee would have been able to salvage his morning. Garath pulled out of his freefall by arching his back and spreading his wings, then quickly pumped them to gain altitude. He felt a silent call within his mind, drawing him to the clifftop a few blocks to the north.
A quick look to the east let Garath know that the monstrous Rum’bah had continued his march inland through the night. A lush trail of vibrant green foliage traced his path, eventually meeting the pillar of smoke that obscured the turtle from view perhaps half a mile away. Garath made his way to his clifftop to get a start on the day.
After watering his egg at sunrise for the second time, Garath felt the new presence grow stronger within his mind. He could feel its roots growing beneath the damp earth, drinking in the high quality well water that Garath poured onto it. He smiled, feeling an affection for the
