"Uh... no...?"

"Maybe you should."

"Phones nowadays have those, you can probably just install an app for it."

She grabs her phone from the zippered pocket and starts tapping at it.

"...no 5g."

"We're in the middle of nowhere, unless you've got satellite internet of course you won't have internet."

Pout.

"I think it's worth getting if you do dungeons regularly."

"What would I... do with one?"

"Look things up? Price loot so you know what to prioritize?"

"Oh! Internet! Right, I thought you meant the acceleration thing."

"You could also download an accelerometer app! But that will probably only come up once."

Their destination is still somewhat short of the edge of the dungeon's influence, demarcated by yellow tape. There's already a team there of military who are much too high level for the dungeon, only stationed temporarily to keep an eye on anything abnormal or concerning that might crop up. So far nothing has, and Elisabel and her party are estimated to be the correct power level for the monsters that have been found outside the dungeon.

"Based on the escaped monsters, the first level of the dungeon seems to be mostly large reptiles and amphibians, so you should be aware of the possibility of a swamp level," says the soldier briefing them as he offers each of them an electromagnetic cage for their phones plus a smaller electronic device that's meant to detect whether the dungeon is the type that fries electronics without risking their personal belongings. "We do not know if it has a second level, but it's unlikely to have a third.

"We'll give you a map to the rough area where the entrance is, but its precise shape and location have not been determined. Do you have any questions?"

She cages her phone. "What do the reptiles and amphibans do, just be large or do they breathe fire or anything?"

"The ones that have escaped just be large and more agile than they look. It's not unheard of for them to have extra abilities they don't display out of their dungeons, though, especially the boss monster, so you must stay on your toes." He says this with the boring airs of someone who's probably said that exact sentence hundreds of times in their life.

Yes, of course, she knows the drill. She adjusts her ponytail and her hat, opens her binder and does the checklist in the front pocket, and says, "You guys want some buffs before we walk in?"

"Yes, please."

"Whatchu got? I only have the standard tank stuff."

"If we think there's a swamp level, contingent air bubble for if you go splash? Shield specifically for your six, for anything sneaky or bouncy. Also if either of you skipped your coffee I have a thing for that."

"Contingent? Hell yeah that sounds fancy."

"...is that, like, practical? I've never heard of that. And yes on the coffee, please."

"I wouldn't cast it inside, it's going to take a while and a couple spice jars, but yes, a guy at the University of Florida figured it out a couple months ago." She gets underway on prep.

"Okay that sounds super cool."

Chris does the standard tank stuff.

It is a widespread belief that dungeons possess some kind of intelligence. From taking monsters away from dungeons and observing their behaviour away from their parent dungeon to the way their layouts are set up (especially on subsequent runs of any individual dungeon), it seems pretty likely that there is some kind of mind running the show, making decisions about what to do and how.

And this is the reason why the concept of a "tank" makes sense. If the monsters were mere animals with the level of intelligence they demonstrate on their own, they would probably just attack all members of a raiding party, but the dungeon does notice that there are often advantages to focusing on that one specific party member: they are the anchor to a handful of buffs that, should they no longer be in effect, would make taking out the other party members a lot easier. So the "standard tank stuff", here, consists of buffs that redirect most damage Elisabel and Tom take to Chris, and also reduce the amount of said damage that they take in the first place. They're reasonably MP-efficient, and their main cost is in the tank's lifeforce when active, so tanks don't need to invest too much in MP for them.

There are other, more specialised tank skills that depend on the specific situation, but these buffs are pretty generally useful for the vast majority of dungeons.

And eventually they can all, smelling somewhat herbal, step into the magical radius of the dungeon, heading for the entrance.