“Hey, let’s let ’em in. We have some new break challengers today.”
The second guard peeks his head around the corner of the box with a goofy grin across his face, making eye contact with me. This man is heavier set and has a body hardening skill, he’s most likely a tank.
“Is that right? Are you all facing the mid-town break or the mountain break?”
His silly grin turns into a more serious look as he walks from his post to stand by the other guard’s side.
I raise an eyebrow and respond.
“Well, what’s the difference? All I know is one’s worth more than double the gold to clear than the other.”
Both of the guards turn to each other and can’t help themselves from bursting into laughter. Eventually, they stop and the larger guard speaks up again.
“Let me see your status, I don’t feel comfortable sending you off on a death mission. You better be over level 300.”
I nod slowly, turning my concealed status towards the guard.
It shows a level 351 swordsman with various stat-boosting rings, but none of my actual powers.
His eyes widen as he reads everything allowed. Both of the guards become much more serious, then I reply.
“See, I’m not just messing around here. My teammates here are all at similar levels. Tell me about these breaks, we can handle it. Also, I’m smart enough to run away if I can’t.”
The guard that read my status allowed replies.
“Ya know what, you may be the kind of guy we need for that mountain break- I-“
His partner elbows him in the ribs, cutting him off.
“The mountain break is where those 4 casualties came from that I mentioned earlier. There’s… also only been 4 challengers. No one that enters that break makes it out alive… we don’t have much info on it.”
The other guard speaks, after clearing his throat from being elbowed in the gut.
“Y-Yeah. Sorry, you just wanted info on both breaks. I can’t tell ya much about that one. The one we’re guarding here is an old Griffin Dungeon. It used to be the perfect training ground for our higher-level 200s hunters to break into the 300s after farming the boss, but now it’s gone way out of control.”
He lets out a long sigh.
“No one has dared to face the mutant boss, our teams of 5 have trouble with the regular dungeon-spawned mutants. They have some nasty wind magic… According to a few of the break experts, the Boss is rumored to be almost level 400…”
An audible gulp comes from the other guard as he agrees.
I nod slowly, thinking this information over my head for a few seconds, then respond.
“I’d like to talk this over with my partners for a moment.”
I turn to Issac, motioning for him to come back over to my three teammates. They’re still standing together with their faces covered.
Maria is the first to make a comment once I get closer.
“You want to go off and face that mountain break by yourself don’t you?”
I let out a chuckle.
“You read my mind…”
I turn to look at the mountain range made of orange-red stone towering over the village for a moment then back to my team.
“You 3 handle this break, I want the one in the mountains. With a record of 4 attempts and 4 casualties… There’s something fishy going on, and I want to figure out exactly what it is…”
I get a firm nod from Arie as he responds.
“Finally, I’ll get to solo a mutant boss.”
Abby slaps him on the shoulder.
“Hey, I’ll be the one to take it out, just watch!”
Maria looks at me with a serious stare.
“Meet back at the Inn in 4 hours. If either of us doesn’t show up, go in to help the other with their break. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Issac butts in.
“H-Hey so what if- well, you don’t come out?”
Then he turns to me.
“And- you’re facing the Mountain break by yourself? Are you deaf-“
I cut him off.
“It’ll be fine.”
I turn away from my team and relay the news to the guards standing by.
“These 3 are going to handle this break. I’d like to take a crack at the one up in the mountains. Where is it?”
Not expecting these words to come out of my month, the tank chokes on his own breath before responding.
“Y-You’re not serious, are you? We were joking! Do you even have a signed bounty for it? A level 350 soloing the Mountain Break are you crazy? That’s suicide-“
I roll my eyes and turn to Issac.
He understands and shows them the signed paper with a worried look on his face. The fire user holds a second sheet of very small paper under the signed bounty.
The guard takes both of them, reads them carefully, then hands the bounty paper back to Issac.
The nervous gaze from Issac now transfers to the guard. The one on my right gulps then points to the highest mountain peak.
“Your- paperwork checks out… See that middle mountain?”
I shift my feet to face the mountain and cross my arms. The corners of my lips begin to curl upwards.
“Yeah, I see it.”
He continues.
“There’s a path all the way up to the top, you should see it about 3 quarters of the way up. It’s impossible to miss the break.”
I stare up at the peak, then reply.
“Alright, then how do I get inside? Are there more guards like you up there? And another one of these shielding contraptions?”
He looks over at Issac, then back at me.
“All of the guards were called down after yesterday’s challengers didn’t make it out. It’s basically just left up to whoever wants an earlier death sentence.”
He pauses.
“As I said, there’s no info on that break still… It shouldn’t be anywhere near as dangerous as it is. We lost a level 385 rogue the other day that attempted to challenge it. He’s known for taking about the toughest breaks, I didn’t even know that man could bleed…”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah? He didn’t make it out? What kind of dungeon is this anyway-“
Issac throws an arm around my shoulder and begins turning me away while whispering in my ear.
“Enough talking, you sound like an outsider more and more every second you keep running your mouth. You’ll blow your cover.”
I yell out.
“Hey!”
Issac cuts me off, but I can sense some urgency in his tone now. He must be serious…
I shift my gaze to see some wandering eyes and ears listening in, then shut my mouth. The fire user asks me another question.
“Your friends can handle themselves fine?”
I reply.
“Yeah, a Griffin break? They’ll be fine.”
While turning away, I see Maria’s lips mouth “4 hours”. I say “4 hours” back, confirming our deal, and wave the others off.
I think to myself as both Issac and I walk through the crowd of people in the mid-town village square.
This break shouldn’t be much harder than the one we just defeated. The three of them are more than competent enough to face a break on their own. If for whatever reason they’re not up to the challenge, I’ll be back in 4 hours to help.
I’d be very surprised if they don’t clear this dungeon without me.
Issac responds, breaking my train of thought.
“Whatever you say. The faster you clear these breaks the faster I get paid and can leave you crazies. I’ll be set for years off this payout!”
He murmurs under his breath as we make it through the crowd and head off toward the mountains.
“This will all be worth it in the end.”
The two of us walk in near silence again for what seems like a very long time. We make our way to the edge of town, step off the stone road, and begin walking on a much more sandy rugged one.
As we stray from town, the wavering transparent barrier is easy to walk through without any resistance. When I look back., the town is completely gone. I let out a light gasp at the sight, but Issac assures me we’ll be able to get back in without a problem.
The twisting sandy road winds up the side of the mountain, and after half an hour of walking I wish we brought those camels along.
I can see it in the fire user’s face too, he regrets leaving our rides behind. The hot sun is beating down on us overhead even though it’s still very early in the morning.
There is a slight breeze that comes through every few minutes, giving us a hint of cool air, but fading away before I’m fully satisfied every time.
We’re about halfway up the middle mountain, and I already see a glimmer of something up ahead on the trail. I squint my eyes and activate my All-Seeing Eye at the same time.
To my surprise, I pick up a faint mana reading….
Then, activate it even further and pick up the traces of an entire dungeon portal… The pulsing was too weak to sense from the town, but now that I’m focused on it, there’s definitely something here.
We trek upwards until it comes into full view.
I see a light red glowing dungeon portal sitting up on a high rocky ledge. It’s calmly swirling and completely unguarded. The entrance to my next break is about 200 meters away on the path ahead.
I whisper under my breath.
“This all seems way too easy. Something doesn’t feel right…”