Kapitel 8: Orcus Great Dungeon: The Beginning
After caring for the monsters in the morning and poking the twitching egg just to test for a reaction. Hōhei left to wait for everyone with his taming library holding those who would be to much space wise. Which him being up so early and seemingly a little different had surprised some of the knights. Meld however smiled at the sight of someone at least taking this serious without much fear. He did wonder about the change but Hōhei from what he knows does things with a purpose.
The students were all either used to him being up this early as he wandered the halls at the palace. Or like the few who don't get him, they wanted to ask what he is even doing half the time. But the guns on him, the monsters around him, and new appearance threw them off. Kouki, wanted to be Kouki and start shit.
Once everyone had assembled outside their lodgings in an orderly manner. They left for the dungeon while Hōhei occasionally looked at Hiyama thinking. Before eventually as if coming to a decision he smiled a unnoticed devils smiles for the hobgoblin thug. Everyone however wondered why Hōhei was only carrying his egg in a sling. Along with some of his momsters seemingly missing in action like Relic.
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Outside the lively entrance to the Orcus Great Dungeon everyone looked around shocked. They expected some depressing scene of certain doom but, instead its like a mini-market and there's even a receptionist! Meld and his knights softly chuckled at everyone's amazement while Meld did some paperwork. Once he was done the class followed like ducklings into a place of certain death. Hōhei drawing his HK417 and treading carefully. Boric riding his shoulder and Moonlight stalking in his shadow.
Once inside the atmosphere instantaneously changed from the lively bustle to dim and oppressive. The passage they were in was about five meters high and wide, it was possible to see to some extent even without any magical light or torches. As some special green stones, that were buried in the walls, emitted light to brighten the dungeon.
To people just entering Orcus Dungeon it seemed like it had a huge vein of these green stones. That were just ripe for mining and using as an alternative light source for somethings outside the dungeon, although trying isn't a good idea its a dungeon after all. Don't piss a possibly sentient dungeon off.
The knights spread out across the "heroes" with instructions for everyone. Getting into a rank formation with Kouki and his party at the very front because Kouki is an idiot. Hajime and Hōhei stuck near the middle with Hōhei having his gun ready and calmly checking it over. Seeing no problem with it while they moved he planned out his assassination.
Haha Hiyama is going to have his way but he'll also die for it~ and his way to "love tap" Kouki's ass with a bullet. After a while of nothing happening everyone had advanced into a certain hall. This hall was dome shaped and the ceiling looked to be around 7-8 meter high. Then, in front of the party in the circular hall, gray fluffy balls gushed out from the crevices in the wall once they had entered.
Meld: "Okay, Kouki's group, step forward! Everyone else fall back! Follow the instructions you received before setting off! Get ready! These Magic Beasts are called Ratmen. Their movements are quick, but they are not very strong. Just stay calm."
While the justice perverts advanced to face the Ratmen head on, Hōhei slightly aimed his gun at Kouki's rear as he started muffling the barrel with magic. Once he had a good shot an invisible shadow like bullet zipped across the room and nailed the pervert right between the ass crack! Kouki yelped in pain as he jumped in the air a Ratman biting his arm before the jump.
With a small smile Hōhei acted normal as if nothing happened and inspected his gun more closely, like he was preparing for his turn. While Kouki jumped once he got shot in the butt that his sword needlessly stabbed its self into a Ratmen's stomach as it bit his face in retaliation. Kaori who had a good view since she is the healer stifled a chuckle seeing exactly what happened before eventually healing Kouki.
Kaori: 'Ah there's the retaliation for Kouki's meddling and self imposing morals…. Kind of wish I could do that so boldly.'
As everyone was seemingly amazed and watching the fight closely a chant resounded as three people pointed their weapons forwards.
"Swirling Dark Flames, Incinerate My Enemies, Return them to the Earth as Ashes,
『Spiral Flame 』."
Once it was complete the spell shot forward and engulfed the Ratmen in a fiery hell. As the Ratmen let out their death cries the flames turned them to ashes. By the time everyone noticed a problem they realized they no longer had any prey to fight. Kouki's party had mopped up all of the first floor monsters with ease, well while their glorious leader got shot in the ass. A few woth grievances with him chuckling at the sneaky ass shot.
Meld: "Ahhh~ good job! Next time you guys give it a try as well, but don't lower your guard!"
With some outstanding students showing off, Commander Meld smiled bitterly as he warned the group not to let up. However, when they had successfully subdued Magic Beasts for the first time, it was unavoidable for them to feel excited. The student's faces broke out into smiles while our mc was tapping the egg he has been carrying. Teaching it Mors code? Commander Meld just shrugged his shoulders and said, "It can't be helped."
Meld: "Anyway, good job on your performance this time, don't forget to retrieve the Magic Stone. But still, wasn't that a bit overkill just now?"
Commander Meld was clearly admonishing the rear-support, the girls in Kaori's group knew they overdid it and began to blush.
After the first floor everyone got a turn and it was pretty smooth sailing just no one understood the verbal abuse from Hōhei expect for Hajime. Who watched with a chuckle as the young man literally was pulling a gamer on the monsters with a taunting smile on his face. All while cheating with transmutation and using every surface to his advantage, his monsters playing assassin as well.
Akuma: "Hey! I though you were a monster not a little kid! I mean what monster misses someone like me? I'm basically crippled yet you can't hit me?! Just give up and go home to fuck your rock pillow since your so pathetic with your aim. OH! That was a good try but why do you look so red? Are you constipated? Or are you just that happy to see me up close~? Nah your probably having sexual thoughts, kinda gross honestly."
Everyone just couldn't get why he'd purposefully anger the monsters who couldn't understand what he was saying to them. While the person himself was dancing like a ballerina around the attacks or into the attacks at times with his gun firing and sometimes caving in heads with a loud smack to the skull. Meld and his knights were the most confused, but interested in how he is luring the monsters around his group as they fought. Eventually, they arrived at the 20th floor, which is the mark of a first-class adventurer to the people of Tortus.
The highest level explored was the 65th floor, but this achievement was accomplished by adventurers over 100 years ago according to Meld and some records. Getting to the 40th level now is considered the work of an Elite Adventurer by basically everyone in this world. Any who passed the 20th level were considered first-class by most people that wanted to see if you were noteworthy. Since all the students were cheats, they easily broke through to just before the 20th level, even if they did not have much battle experience. Hōhei's egg during this all had been slowly cracking.
However, if you think of a dungeon then the traps were the scariest feature of a dungeon in almost every case. In some instances, the traps were lethal if triggered then your survival is up to pure luck and skill. Tortus though had a tool called the Fair Scope, it was the best countermeasure against traps. This is a gadget that detected traps by perceiving the flow of magic since in most cases traps are generally powered by magic. Which is why its used at Orcus, as most traps in the dungeon use magic, the Fair Scope can detect more than 80% of the traps. However, the detecting range was somewhat narrow, so in order to progress smoothly, experience or information was needed.
As they advanced smoothly much to the knights surprise, that they mainly were now just guiding the students. Meld however was mad and admonished them all; they weren't allowed to move in area's not confirmed to have traps or not. As some of the students had done so and triggered some minor traps and said "My bad" basically when they nearly died themselves or got someone else killed. Sighing Meld psyched himself up before getting everyone's attention and speaking to them.
Meld: "Alright, you guys. From this point on, not only will there be other types of Magic Beasts, but they will work together to attack us. Do not get careless just because it has been easy so far! The training for today will end after we clear the 20th floor! Get fired up!"
Captain Meld spoke very lowly but it resounded clearly along the dungeon walls as he looked at the students before him. While the students started getting more excited, Hōhei patted a rather down Hajime on the back to get him out of his self depressing thoughts. While the knights threw another weakened magic beast to Hajime who restrained it using his transmutating that ground before finishing it off. Hōhei though was pleased to see the kid having the will to improve. From "parasite" as most called him to "helpful" as were the knights who never expected a thing from the kid.
While this scene continued on with an obvious glance at each other from Hajime and Kaori. Hōhei teased the boy with some remarks about young love. Hajime was like a flustered puppy in trying to deny everything that it just seemed cute to Hōhei as he stifled his laughter or else he'd start crying. Meanwhile as he teased Hajime, Hajime couldn't find the weird stare he's had since the beginning. Although Hōhei looked directly at the one plotting murder and grinned.
Akuma: 'Be ready to die Hobgoblin.'
By the time they reached the 20th floor with the map they had currently as the explored the floor mapping out any blank places. Kouki's and Meld's groups stopped at the very front making everyone wonder what was going on up front. That was when the wall started to rise up and become discolored before Meld yelled out the monsters name. Everyone saw the body that was camouflaged was now dark brown, and the creature that appeared stood on two legs. It raised its chest and started to pound on it like a drum. It seemed like a Gorilla-type Magic Beast with chameleon's camouflage ability.
Meld: "They're Rockmounts! Be careful of their arms, they are strong!"
With Meld's shout the fighting broke out as he warned everyone to be carefully aware of the surroundings as they could be hiding anywhere. While everyone was focusing on fighting or finding the remaining monsters however, Hōhei touched the wall by him gently before it bleed and a monster fell down. A Rockmount riddled with holes from tiny spears of bone and rocks. With a smile he ripped the hand of the monster off and began eating it a little bit without anyone noticing his little snack.
Once done he chuckled and used the bones to make an axe like attachment for his gun before adding it onto it through transmutation. The blood around his mouth he cleaned off as the fighting finished around him completely. He felt rather glad he finally had a chance to eat something. So he took out his status plate to see if anything had changed on it at all or if it was still the same as before really.
『Status Plate
Name: Akuma Hōhei/Dakota Vargis
Age: 17 Years Old
Gender: Male
Level: 64
Class: Transmutation Artist (Synergist), Summon Tamer
Strength: 8753
Vitality: 5678
Resistance: 2643
Agility: 999
Magic: ????
Magic Resistance: 3521
Skills: Transmutation, Taming, Summoning, Language Comprehension, Marksman, Assassination, Chimera-Nomicon, Necromancy, Healing Light, Torture, Telepathy, Iron Stomach, Mana Manipulation, Colony, Silence, Thick Skin, Blend In』
The stats weren't really exciting but eating the whole hand seemed to have earned him two new skills which felt rude for some reason. While he focused on that up front a rather pissed person with a justice and hero complex to perverse levels actually cursed and screamed with righteous fury.
Kouki: "Fuckers... You dare treat them like that... I won't forgive you!"
Kouki seemed to have misunderstood something like usual because of his weird complex about shit. Thinking 'You dare to frighten the girls like that!' like that and Kouki got a little angry due to his misunderstanding. What caught everyones attention was his Holy Sword that seemed to shine in response to his feelings.
Kouki: "Myriad of Soaring Wings, Reach the Heavens,
『 Soaring Flash 』!"I
Meld: "Ah, you idiot, stop it now!"
Ignoring Commander Meld's voice, Kouki brandished his sword over his head and swung it down in one swift motion. His chant had made the sword emit an intense light, and the slash released a blade of light. Drawing a curve, the light bisected the Rockmount without encountering any resistance. The blade of light continued on until it destroyed the wall beyond. Seeing this Meld and our mc just sighed in utter exhaustion at the idiots thinking and rash behavior!
As debris lightly fell from the damaged wall that suffered an unneeded over kill attack from a pervert. Kouki exhaled and gave the girls a sparkling smile like he did something so grand, while just honestly doing something very dangerous. He had defeated the monster that scared them sure but he did something stupid.
Kouki: "It's alright now!"
Commander Meld approached him with a smile and smacked him.
Kouki: "Ow!?"
Meld: "You fool. I understand how you feel, but you shouldn't use a skill like that in such a narrow place! If the tunnel collapsed, what were you going to do?"
Facing Commander Meld's vehement rebuke, Kouki could only lower his head which got a few grins from people in the back. The girls approached him with a wry smile and tried to comfort him. 'Don't coddle the dumb fuck let him learn!' Was the thought of Hōhei. At that moment, the collapsed wall caught Kaori's attention completely.
Kaori: "...Eh? What is that? It's sparkling...?"
Hearing this, everyone looked at the wall Kaori was pointing at. Blooming on the wall were minerals that radiated pale light. It was like a crystal covered in indicolite. The girls were enchanted by the beautiful sight of the crystals. Hōhei was curious if he could make some nice accessories for his monsters out of the crystals unearthed by the pervert.
Meld: "Hoh~ That's Grantz Crystal. One this big in size is rare."
When talking about Grantz Crystal, it was an ore that looked like a jewel as recorded in a few books by artist and miners. The crystal did not have any special effects, but its gorgeous and sparkling appearance was popular among the ladies. Rings, earrings, pendants, and other jewelries processed from these crystal are very well received by women for a good reason. It was one of the top three choices as proposal rings apparently for men to pick so it was very pricey!
Kaori: "Lovely..."
Hearing Commander Meld's simple explanation, Kaori's cheeks blushed. But one idiot who wanted so bad to impress her in hopes for something. Walked out front with a confident walk like some random horny mutt trying to look all important to a female that doesn't even see him.
Hiyama: "If that's the case, we should retrieve it!"
The one who did such a thing with useless hopeful thoughts was Hiyama, the class thug and abuser of Hajime. He approached the wall that was embedded with Grantz Crystal, and climbed up with sounds of tiny rocks falling. Commander Meld shouted in panic as he realized what the idiot was doing a little to late.
Meld: "Hey-! Don't just do what you want! We haven't confirmed if it's safe!"
However, Hiyama pretended not to hear Meld and finally arrived in front of the crystal. Commander Meld chased after Hiyama to stop him. At that moment, one of the knights finished his analysis with the Fair Scope, and then his face turned pale.
"Commander! It's a trap!"
Hiyama: "Tsu!?"
However their warnings came a little too late from the knight who had hurriedly started studying the crystal. The moment Hiyama touched the Grantz Crystal, a magic circle started to spread from the crystal. The trap was set for people who became so fascinated with the crystal that they would touch it carelessly. Beautiful mushrooms tend to be poisonous, It's the way of the world after all beauty can mean death. Seriously if something is beautiful don't just instantly like it, it could kill you.
In a blink of an eye, the magic circle spread throughout the whole room, and it gradually became brighter. It was like a replication of the magic that summoned them which made the students nervous at the sight of the magic circle.
Meld: "Withdraw! Get out of the room this instant!"
At Commander Meld's command, everyone started to run towards the exit... but they weren't fast enough. When the light filled the room, everyone momentary felt a floating sensation with dread sinking into them the moment they failed to escape. Following that, they were slammed onto the ground with a thud after their abrupt teleportation.
Commander Meld, the knights, Kouki, and the vanguards quickly stood up and observed their surroundings. Seems like the magic earlier was a teleportation magic. A magic that the modern day mage couldn't even use was casted with ease, the magic from the Age of God was truly worthy to be called a cheat. The mc just blanked and looked at the center of the place they had be transported to with a lifeless eye from what he is seeing.
They were all transferred onto a huge bridge made of stone that suspended above a bottomless pit. It was about hundred meters in length in total if measured right. The ceiling looked to be about twenty meters tall. If they fell, it would probably feel like falling into hell and no one knew if they'd survive for certain if they fell.
The width of the bridge was about ten meters, but let's not say the handrails as they don't exist, even the edge was rounded. If you slipped there would be nothing to grab on to, and you would fall head-first. The group was right in the middle of the bridge. On both sides of the bridge, they could see a stairway that led to the upper levels. After confirming the exits, Commander Meld issued the orders with a grim expression.
Meld: "You guys, get up immediately! Go towards the stairs. Hurry!"
Hearing the thunderous orders from Commander Meld, the students who were on the ground got up immediately. However, the dungeon's trap was not only at this level, it wouldn't let them escape so easily. Magic Beasts emerged from the magic circles that appeared on both sides of the bridge. A huge Magic Beast appeared on one side of the passage. The other passage had a large amount of monsters.
At this time, Commander Meld stared at the huge Magic Beast with blank expression, his mumbles was transmitted loud and clear.
Meld: "This couldn't be... a Behemoth...?"
Akuma: "Meld we're going to suffer so cheer up at least we suffer together right?"
Hōhei made such a lifeless joke with his eye still seeming dead as he got up and grabbed a skeleton like monster that was appearing by the skull. Without looking at it much he bit into the skull with his eye still focused on the monster looming on the other side of the bridge. Once he chewed the bones and took a few more bites of the struggling monster he sent it over the edge to its death.
Raising his gun Hōhei surprised everyone even the knights by charging the Behemoth while firing. His mixed magical and physical bullets pelted the Behemoth causing it to flinch as blood was drawn. Reaching the monster he jumped and kicked it violently in the side of the head, muzzle to its face firing an explosive magic shot. Kicking off the monsters face he rode the explosion back to the others. The Behemoth was healing but had taken damage. Boric even managed to shiv it with an earth dagger in the ear drum.
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『Status Plate
Name: Akuma Hōhei/Dakota Vargis
Age: 17 Years Old
Gender: Male
Level: 64
Class: Transmutation Artist (Synergist), Summon Tamer
Strength: 8753
Vitality: 5678
Resistance: 2643
Agility: 999
Magic: ????
Magic Resistance: 3521
Skills: Transmutation, Taming, Summoning, Language Comprehension, Marksman, Assassination, Chimera-Nomicon, Necromancy, Healing Light, Torture, Telepathy, Iron Stomach, Mana Manipulation, Colony, Silence, Thick Skin, Blend In, Hardened Bones』
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein