The terrain of this dungeon was a cave at the start. It had a similar type of construction to the labyrinth type we had explored last time.
However, different from the labyrinth, the terrain of this dungeon was going to change. Since this was an artificial dungeon, this practical session involved adapting different scenarios. It was not like a staged dungeon, but it also wasn’t a normal one either.
However, if you asked the management why they put such a test, the answer you get would be simply, ‘We can never know if such a dungeon might exist in the future. It is better to be prepared rather than not knowing anything.’
In any case, the eight of the party walked through the cave, with everyone being alert. The formation was a classic one, with warriors on the front as vanguards, the mages and supporters in the middle, and lastly, we rangers at the back.
The Leon guy threw me some gazes from time to time, clearly annoyed at my attitude at the start. His eyes contained a distinct sense of superiority and contempt.
‘His muscles are not well developed, and he is showing symptoms of potion overuse. He is taking supplementary elements, mostly in order to stay in this academy and cope with the expectations. His clothes are clean and neat, but he lacks the sensitivity to keep them in such a manner, so it is safe to assume that he visits his home every week. From his gears alone, it seems he comes from a middle-grade family, probably a child of a low-mid-rank guild member.’
Finishing my analysis in a matter of seconds, I turned my attention to the front. Since he was not a named character and his rank wasn’t that high, he probably wasn’t an important figure in the game. Thus, there wasn’t any need to waste more time.
We arrived at a fork in the path, and a brief pause settled among us as we assessed our options.
Four paths diverged, each hinting at a potentially different challenge or surprise. This was also quite expected, and each path had its own difficulties. Of course, there was a path that was quite a lot easier than others, and with my eyes, I could see which path it was quite easily.
Thanks to the [Shadowborne], my eyes were not affected by the darkness at all.
After analyzing the options, I turned to face Irina. While she didn’t voice her thoughts, her eyes bore a clear sense of expectation. It seemed she wanted to see if I had the judgment and decisiveness to lead us in the right direction.
Of course, she had the expected eyes, but she didn’t say anything. And, since she didn’t say anything to me as the captain, I didn’t say anything either.
“Leon, what do you think?” Byron came to our side and asked his ranger. Since we were supposed to have a good perception, it was a common thing to ask rangers to act as scouts.
“I don’t know.”
Though, most of the rangers can’t see the way I am seeing in this place. The training I had been doing inside the Chrono Groove and my own skills make me pretty exceptional, differing me from others.
“I see,” Byron replied, nodding his head, and then turned his attention to Irina. “Do you have any idea, Irina? We can follow your lead if you have one.”
By saying that, he was innately implying that Irina was the leader and she would be the one bearing the responsibility.
Though the said person’s eyes were still on me, she was still looking at me with an expectant gaze. But I still didn’t say anything, refusing it until she asked me on her own.
The staring contest between Irina and me persisted for a few more moments, the atmosphere growing slightly tense. I could sense her irritation, but I held my ground, refusing to acquiesce to her unspoken expectation. 𝑶𝔳𝑳xt.𝓒𝗈
I knew she wanted me to take the lead, but the slight arrogance in her demeanor made me not want to do it.
Finally, unable to bear the silence any longer, she spoke, her tone grumpier than I had anticipated. “What do you think? Can your eyes see in the dark, or do they only work on women?”
Her words had an undercurrent of sarcasm coloring them, referring to those rumors. Since there were some rumors about me going to brothels when I had free time, it seemed she heard one of those.
It was clear she was annoyed by me and didn’t appreciate being kept waiting, but this world didn’t work according to people’s feelings but rather worked differently.
“They won’t work unless there is a woman worthy. I suggest you bring one if you want them to work .” I had no intention of backing down. Just because of a random rumor thing, we were back to square one now, and it was annoying.
Byron also seemed to sense the tension as he looked at me with a clear smirk.
“What can you even expect from a last ranker anyway? Trash is just trash.”
Byron’s attempt to undermine me and curry favor with Irina was as transparent as it was expected. He seized the opportunity to belittle my capabilities, using the last-ranker label as a means to assert his superiority.
“If you guys still don’t know, I think it is better to choose the right path.”
Irina, caught in this battle of egos, seemed to waver for a moment. She looked at me, then at Byron. I could see she was hesitating to follow his lead and wanted me to find the way, but her pride wouldn’t allow that.
‘This will be your last chance.’
I looked at her and waited for her decision. Is she going to put her pride, or will she choose an easy path?
It was a pivotal moment when I was going to adjust my opinion about her for the future.
“We will listen to you,” she said, her tone tinged with frustration, evidently trying to end the brewing conflict. “Lead the way.”
And in the end, she chose the wrong one.
Byron didn’t waste a moment, puffing out his chest with pride and confidently choosing the path on the right. “Of course, Irina. Trust me; I have a good feeling about this route. Follow me, everyone.”
‘You wasted it. Don’t beg me later.’
Just like that, we started the walk again, and I could see the victorious smirk on Byron’s face as if he had achieved something.
‘To think he chose the least optimal one, certainly, you can never leave the decision to an extra.’
I shook my head and started following the team without saying anything. After all, with the way I am right now, I certainly have the ability to deal with the monsters inside this place, even though it will be a little hard.
As we ventured down the right path, Byron continued his attempts to impress Irina. He’d share exaggerated stories of his exploits and victories, each tale aimed at capturing her attention and admiration.
Irina, however, seemed disinterested and unimpressed, her mind likely preoccupied with the task at hand.
Lizard-type monsters occupied this path; though slippery, they were not that hard to deal with. Since they were low-ranked mobs, the eight-person party didn’t have a hard time. I didn’t even move since everyone did my job for me.
Since Byron and his team were trying to impress Irina, they didn’t leave much for me.
However, as we advanced down the path, the oppressive atmosphere of the dungeon seemed to thicken while encountering monsters every time.
PAT! PAT! PAT!
The walls appeared to close in on us, and a heavy silence enveloped the group. The occasional dripping of water echoed ominously, amplifying the tension that hung in the air.
In fact, it was not only psychologically. The consternation of the oxygen and the mana around us were different.
‘A fire-type environment.’
Thanks to my increased mana sensitivity and my magical power, I could feel the different mana around us more clearly now, and it was easy to understand.
Byron, still attempting to maintain an air of confidence, was also growing uneasy.
His exaggerated tales had lost their luster, the bravado fading with each step deeper into the dungeon.
Irina remained silent as well, as she also probably felt the concentrated mana ahead.
With my eyes, I could see the color of red dancing around the front.
‘The first challenging monster is here.’
Since the type of monsters we encountered were lizards, and the environment was a fire type, it wasn’t hard to refer to what monster lay ahead even without directly seeing it.
‘Lesser Magma Wyrm.’
It was a monster of a low-rank 4 level and quite a strong one at that. It was probably the trigger that would make the artificial dungeons change the atmosphere.
Triggers were random things appearing in the dungeon that would make the landscapes change. It was controlled by the dungeon administrators who controlled and monitored this space, and they were special only to the artificial dungeons.
Even though they were supposed to be random, considering the amount of time we had walked and traveled, it was easy to assume that after facing the monster, the dungeon would change since this is the pattern the exams worked.
“This pressure…..” Irina mumbled, looking slightly irritated. For her, a fire mage, she must have understood being in an environment filled with fire mana.
Most might think when an environment has the same attributes as the Hunter mastered, it would be good, but that is not necessarily the case.
The monsters in that place would also be evolved according to that mana, which meant they would be actually resilient.
For instance, Time Guardian wouldn’t be affected by the Time-related skills that much since it itself evolved from that mana.
This rule is one of the most common ones in dungeons; it applies to monsters with strong defenses. Of course, if the monster is rather an offense type, this won’t be too negative, but it is very hard to find monsters with low defenses.
Of course, right now, I can easily inform the party, but why should I?
I gave this girl quite a lot of chances, but she refused to take it. I won’t do it once again. I hate it when I feel like all the effort I had put in suddenly became in vain. I really should just find that bastard who spread rumors about me and teach him/her a lesson.
The air grew hotter and thicker as we pressed forward, the fiery aura signaling our proximity to the Lesser Magma Wyrm. I continued to keep my observations to myself, allowing the tension in the party to mount. Irina’s irritation was palpable, but I remained steadfast in my resolve not to engage. Since she was a fire-specialized mage, she was also resilient to the fire, making her not sweat as much.
“This is so fucking hot!”
But that wasn’t the case for the other cadets. The members of Byron’s team were also sweating and losing a lot of water from their bodies.
‘They even started showing the signs of dehydration.’
You may think it should not be that easy for a Hunter who has superhuman strength to dehydrate this easily, but the faster or stronger you are, the more calories and water you will burn.
“Fuck this, why is this so hot?”
Same with the people using mana to fight. Thus, Hunters actually need to take care of their meals and water quite frequently, just like any other people.
“Guys, calm down.”
Seeing the state of the team, Byron tried to take the lead, attempting to mask his own growing unease.
He constantly looked at Irina, looking for her reaction. Since he was the one to lead us to that place, he naturally knew he was going to be responsible for whatever was going to happen. And I could see his face getting paler when he saw Irina’s irritated expression.
“What is this place?”
And finally, we were able to reach the place where the Lesser Magma Wyrm resided.
The corridor opened up into a large chamber, and the intense heat hit us like a wave.
“Get ready for the battle.”
It was the time to fight.
————————————
You can check my discord if you want. You can see the illustrations of characters there.
The link to the discord server is in the description of the book.