บท 76: Beginner Dungeon [15]

[14th Everdusk 2103], Verdant Hollow dungeon, CGA branch.

"Well, these stats are good. Now I have to hunt some more of these monkeys, and it will be over." I said, reasoning that there shouldn't be too much difficulty in the first stage as it's meant for beginners, so it should be easy, right?

I started walking toward the next area to hunt more when two of my skeletons burst into sparkles, and their remains fell to the ground.

"Oh...., so you both have left me too, huh? No worries, I will continue my journey until I see the end." I said in a quite dramatic manner. I wiped my fake tears and walked away without looking back, with my last newly summoned Skeleton.

I checked my mana and found it sufficient, as a few skills could still be used with this amount. [43/160 MP]

I started walking deeper into jungle to find the last remaining monkeys, pondering how many students might have cleared the first stage and advanced to the next, and wondering about the progress of Lucas and Lyre.

'They should be in stage 2 or maybe stage 3 while I am still stuck here, but no worries, try to be quick as despair won't give me anything.' I thought, quickening my pace to find the monkeys. Perhaps it helped, as I heard the sound of many leaves crunching from above the trees.

And so, my work also began.

-----------------------------

While in another dungeon, Lucas was fighting a group of wolves but this time, they weren't running away as they had before. There was a different wolf among them, standing patiently and calmly.

'Shit, <Dragon Fear> effect is halved right now because of that Alpha wolf' Lucas thought as he looked at the calm wolf, who was the mini-boss of the dungeon's second stage. The wolf was clever, trying to wear Lucas out before starting its hunt. Lucas was just a level 7, while the mini-boss was already level 10. It was going to be a hard battle.

However, we know that the destined ones, or what we call the male lead, are quite the miracle-bringers, pulling themselves or others out of trouble while thwarting any enemy plan.

And that is what happened here. As Lucas started to get overpowered by the wolf group, both his offensive skills were upgraded in level while still in battle.

This helped him kill the wolves easily, and he then turned toward the alpha wolf, who was now growling at him with saliva dripping onto the ground.

"Huh feeling angry because of your packmates' deaths, huh? Just wait and you'll meet them in person." He said as he launched himself toward the wolf, which was also ready for battle.

The battle was intense and ongoing when the wolf finally used its skill for the first time.

It disappeared for a split second and reappeared in front of Lucas, who was shocked. Before the wolf could attack, Lucas used his Mana Shield skill and was saved. But he didn't stop there taking advantage of the shield, he first launched a Fireball into the wolf's mouth, and when the wolf still didn't die, he plunged his sword straight into its face using his skill <Aracne Strike>.

As the wolf fall behind and start acting like a mad dog, trying to knock out the sword from his mouth but it was pierced too much inside, and blood was flowing out like tap water.

And finally, the Wolf fell down onto the ground, shaking in pain and after few seconds gave away his life.

But Lucas still doesn't rest, and he first waited for the notification to appear.

{You've defeated the Mini boss~ Alpha Wolf and 8~ Lv.6 Forest Wolves. You've gained 380 EXP.} [540/400 EXP]

{You've levelled up, Lv.7 --> 8.}

{You've gained 10 Unassigned Stats.}

{You've completed the Second stage. The portal is being generated.}

After the notification, the rocks on the ground started moving and formed an oval by themselves. Two portals were generated, just like before.

"Hushhh, I was nearly dead because this boss used his dumb skill, which would be nice to have, but what can I do?" he said, referring to the skill the wolf used, <Shadow Pounce>, which he knew from his system.

He then looked towards the portals. One led to the next stage, and the other was an exit.

Obviously, he didn't choose the exit and decided to enter the next stage portal as he had the quest to become first.

"I will be the, no matter what. But where could Lyre be right now? Maybe still stuck in the second stage mobs, or perhaps in the third stage since her class is quite high. And what about that boy Evan, which stage could he be in? Maybe the second, given his class and talent." Lucas thought. After resting, he walked inside the portal, unaware that the person he thought was in the second stage was still stuck in the first, and for Lyre, it was different.

In her dungeon, she stood in front of the big flames, which were now getting lower as time passed.

Behind her was the charred body of already killed wolves.

She looked quite different from normal, with runes-like symbols glowing in golden yellow color around her eyes.

A big scratch was on her mage set, but there was no major damage to her body.

Finally, the flames in front of her extinguished, revealing the charred body of the Alpha wolf, now dead.

She continued to gaze with the intent to kill him, snapping out of her daze when the kill notification appeared.

The major event was that the rune-like symbols disappeared, and she returned to normal, looking around in confusion.

"Huh, what am I doing right now Wait, I was fighting the mini-boss Alpha wolf," she said, recalling that after seeing his fallen comrade, the boss used a skill to instantly appear in front of her and slashed at her. Her suit saved her, but her eyes went blank, and now she found herself here.

"What the hell happened to me, and why did the boss die?" she thought. The notification caught her eye, indicating she earned 330 Exp from the hunt and finally leveled up to Lv.9 after defeating the mini-boss.

After drinking the MP and HP potions, she walked toward the portal of the third stage and entered it.

Unbeknownst to her, she and Lucas's third stage light activated simultaneously, shocking everyone outside who expected Lyre to achieve it. Lucas, an E-grade class holder, was not considered capable.

Tess was delighted for him and decided to give him a little big surprise he would never forget tonight.

No one noticed that in the lower ranking, someone shifted from stage one to stage two, and there was nothing more to say to readers as everyone knew who it was.

-- To be continued --