"Let's go." Sarah said and stepped into the Dungeon gate. Varian took a breath and followed the team in.
The familiar plain sky without suns, the red soil and blue grass, reminded him of his first adventure a few weeks ago.
The moment they stepped in, his teammates restrained their aura to the minimum. Varian wasn't able to tell them apart.
"Varian." Sarah said in the front, startling everyone.
"Yes, captain?" Varian enquired. He was curious about why she allowed him to enter the team. Wasn't she afraid of Charles Xander?
She glanced back at him for a moment before turning ahead. "Don't die."
"Yes." Varian answered.
"Follow me. Even though the possibility is small, check for clues of Abyssals along the way." She said and waved her hand.
Two boards of water appeared beneath her and Varian. In the next moment, they took off at a high speed.
The world felt like it was put into fast forward, and dust rose into the air.
The hunky guy sprinted at a high speed without breaking a sweat.
'Controller or Enhanced.' Varian wondered.
The red-haired one just flew. However, his feet were only a few feet above the ground.
'Telekinetic!' Varian finally saw one.
A brown light covered the petite girl as her hands turned into claws and a tail appeared behind her. Her beast must be something similar to a leopard.
She ran with them and had no problems keeping up.
'Beast Morpher Level 5.' Varian was amazed.
This team was great.
The brunette stood still on the ground, but the piece of ground under her moved. It was a bizarre yet beautiful sight.
'Earth Awakener Level 5.'
The demon rabbits in the vicinity of their path were blown into pieces by the sheer speed.
Varian was nostalgic remembering how he struggled to kill this creature on his first time.
As they dashed to the Inner Zone of the Dungeon, Varian noticed a detail.
All the teammates kept a deliberate distance from Sarah. It was a sign of respect and they seemed to do it subconsciously.
This went beyond normal respect for a captain and approached revere. That was when it hit him.
Sarah. 56k mp.
Third on the Amethyst List.
It must be her!
To back his guess, there was another crucial evidence. Her own behaviour facing Charles. That day in front of the dormitory, she spoke to him as equals.
As his guess consolidated, Varian felt his head spin.
Just how the fuck did his tutor get her favor?
"Where are we going, captain? " Ivy, the petite and quiet girl of the team, asked with shining eyes as she sprinted. Her tail bounced in the air cutely, but it just strangled a few dozen demon rabbits.
"I arrived here yesterday and planted trackers on a few 'geniuses'. If Abyssals want to kill off the geniuses, following them was the best solution." Sarah said.
Varian frowned. He recalled the Inspector telling him this strategy failed.
"Dungeon Bureau already tried your method and failed." Crimson, the red-haired young man said.
Sarah snapped her fingers and a water hammer hit Luca. "Stupid. Do you think Abyssals' roots have not penetrated the Dungeon Bureau?"
'What?!' Varian felt an urge to throw up.
Even though he knew there were traitors within, realizing that even the officers betrayed their race made him angry.
"We didn't inform anyone of our arrival for the very reason. Plus, I received a secret report informing the adventure team 'Flame Dancers' are likely to be targeted." Sarah said as her short blue hair fluttered in the wind.
Her gaze, however, was on Varian. He looked normal on the surface, but he was in a mess as he recalled seeing the same information in the Red fief castle.
'Does she know I'm the one that submitted the info?'
"We'll follow the Flame Dancers." She said, and they entered the Inner Zone of the Dungeon.
The Level 2 monsters, dark lions, and rainbow snakes tried to attack them.
Varian could easily win them in a fight. He could even take on ten of them.
However, there was no need.
Crimson clenched his fist, and the beasts were crushed to flesh and bones.
"Hiss!" Varian took a cold breath.
Even though he was a lot stronger than a magic beast, he was still was a Level 2.
'Strength. Without strength, I will be like those magic beasts. Crushed without resistance.' Varian felt a longing from the bottom of his heart.
They took the shortest path to their moving target, and that meant passing through a forest of Level 2 magic beasts.
There was even a Level 3 beast which fell under one swipe from Ivy.
Varian got a short glimpse of what it meant to have power over others for the first time.
Soon, Sarah and others stopped.
'We'll keep our distance. Keep watch.' Sarah instructed with gestures.
Thankfully, Varian studied the basics and was able to follow.
He hid the farthest in the bushes. He could vaguely see a bunch of flames flickering in the distance.
Smoke filled the air. There was a vague yet unmistakable smell of roasted magic beast meat.
'These guys are having... barbecue?' Varian wondered.
He took out the binoculars from his space ring and saw through them.
Flame Dancers were all fire awakeners. They were all young and strong.
With a single shot, every flame dancer was able to injure a magic beast.
With each fight, they improved a little.
'These guys might advance to Level 3 before they turn 18.'
The fight continued as the group battled magic beasts, from demon apes to sleeping giants.
Soon, a few hours passed.
Even with his greater human physique, Varian felt his legs go numb.
"Gree"
A small roar sounded, and a beast covered in crystal armor appeared. It looked like a tortoise, but its speed was the opposite.
"Look! Crystal Beast!"
"Hunt it and we'll be rich!"
"Go!"
The Flame dancers' excited voices sounded even to the distant Varian.
Varian looked at the other teammates and saw they all had the same expression on their faces.
A frown.
Crystal Beasts weren't supposed to appear in this section of Dungeon at all. Their habit was at least a few hundred km away and they stayed in their territory. This was clearly mentioned in the Virgin Dungeon Manual that Varian studied for his first Dungeon adventure.
'Ah!' Something clicked in his mind and Varian message Sarah frantically.
At the moment, the flame dancers chased the crystal tortoise to a nearby mountain.
As they turned around, their eyes widened.
Sarah saw the message in her comm and yelled:
"It's a trap!"
"Boom!"