A Class Dungeon, Darkness Abomination

The next day on earth Noah looked at the Explore the Eternal App on his phone, as the teacher continued to talk in front of the class.

He had just gotten a notification that Moonlight had posted something. Other than him a few other people also checked their phones at the same time. The top guilds had already become a sensation. People who hadn't entered the Eternal Battlefield would go around surfing the Explore the Eternal App and follow them.

Moonlight had announced that they would be attempting an A Class dungeon. Noah who had been bored in the class sat up. Alice looked at his reaction and moved her head closer to see what he read.

"No way! Already?" Alice whispered in surprise. Noah had started doing B Class dungeons way before them, yet he hadn't entered an A Class dungeon yet.

The post had shaken everyone who had entered the Eternal Battlefield. Humanity was finally attempting the strongest dungeons. There were all types of opinions, some saying Moonlight was rushing while others praising them. It took the world by storm.

As for Moonlight attempting it, it wasn't that big a deal. It was possible to leave after you entered an A Class dungeon. It wouldn't close down to regenerate as long as the Dungeon Lord wasn't defeated. He wanted to go and test out Goblin Castle today but changed plans.

He sent an anonymous message to Valerie, "This is Silver Druid, if you have space, then let me join the A Class dungeon running team."

...

In the Eternal Battlefield, the Red Foxes had gathered.

Leona spoke, "Have you all heard that Moonlight will be attempting the Darkness Abomination today?"

Everyone on the table nodded.

"I was planning to go and watch, are you guys coming?" Tasha said to the others.

"This is the first large gathering in the Eternal Battlefield. Many people are going to go see Moonlight enter the Dungeon. Sadly we can't watch what would happen inside. I want to go and see if anyone is selling anything good at the stalls they're setting up there." Sofia said.

Kira shook her head, "I'm not that interested in watching, but I'll go if everyone's going."

Leona smiled hearing this, "Don't worry Kira, we won't just be watching."

The five looked at her.

"I applied to run the associate C Class dungeon and was approved for the Rose Foxes to join!" Leona said excitedly.

Noah looked at Alice who was excited. He had already decided on entering the A Class dungeon. But he didn't want to let Alice go alone into the C Class dungeon either.

The others were excited, this was a big opportunity for the guild. The associate dungeons were weaker than the A Class dungeons but had much better drops compared to normal ones. This would be their chance to fame.

Just like guilds small adventure groups were also getting popular and recruiting, just on a smaller scale. The Rose Foes would eventually need to have more people join, so this was a great chance to gain popularity.

"Moonlight will be letting a bunch of smaller groups in, letting the first group that reaches the Dungeon Lord the right to kill it. This will be a competition, so no holding back!"

They entered the Teleportation Hall in their carriage, directly teleporting to the town closest to the location of the A Class dungeon. In the hall, many other people were also teleporting, with them to go and watch.

The small outskirt town was populated as people all around the world had teleported in. As if reacting to this more inhabitants of the Eternal Battlefield had come over as well.

The Rose foxes followed the map to the location. People had arrived on horses and carriages. There were tents and stalls set up.

At a desk, Moonlight was approving the teams that were entering the Dungeon.

The actual dungeon was still a distance away as it gave off an intimidating aura that most people wouldn't be able to handle.

The Rose Foxes stopped, Leona went to get the passes they were giving to people who could enter.

"I registered under Rose Foxes."

"Yes, here you go." The man gave her five passes.

Leona looked at them and noticed one was missing. "I said we were six members, why did I get only five passes?"

"I'm sorry, your member 'Noah' didn't meet the criteria and wasn't approved to enter."

"Why? He is more-" She tried to argue but was shut down.

"The description you gave was inadequate for us to accept him. The passes have been finalised if you want him to enter, you can give him one of your friend's passes." The man said with a smile.

Rendered speechless, she walked back with five passes. She didn't know much about Noah. She just knew he was stronger them. So she had been vague on his description. Unlike Alice and Kira, he never fought at the front or full out.

"Guys, I'm sorry but I only got five passes. I didn't write in Noah's description properly so his was disapproved."

Alice and Kira both looked at Noah, wondering if they should give up their spot for him. Noah was a vital component of their fighting strength if he wasn't there it would be difficult for the whole team.

Alice looked at Noah about to say something.

"This is fine, you guys should go. I'll wait outside." Noah spoke before them. He had planned on abandoning the A Class dungeon, but now this had happened. He wasn't going to falter anymore.

He was worried but he knew she would be fine without him, he had been slowly decreasing the amount of support he gave so Alice would be able to adapt to the change. Now Kira was also there and in the worst-case scenario, she could summon him. Feeling reassured he added, "C Class dungeons aren't a challenge so even if I went I wouldn't gain anything from them. Anyone of you will gain a lot more from this than me."

"Okay." Alice gave Noah a hug and kiss as she bumped antlers from the mask.

Seeing Alice agree the others did too.

"I'll be back soon!" Alice waved as she left.

Noah waved back.

They finally left. They were going to directly enter the associate dungeon. He was going to walk back into the carriage when he saw someone walk towards him wearing the Moonlight guild insignia.

Noah recognised him. They had seen each other a few days ago, he was one of the few members that stood with Valerie.

"Our Guild Leader wants to meet you." The large brawny man, in his late thirties, informed him.

'She had read the message.' Following him, Noah was brought to a place where the Moonlight main dungeon running team sat.

Looking around Noah noticed there were only 9 members.

Valerie walked to him, "Greetings Silver Druid. You said you wanted to enter the dungeon with us, it just so happened we are a member short."

"Thank you," Noah then looked at the other here. They were all famous for one thing or the other on earth. One thing in common was they were renowned in the field they were in, from sports to music, the people here were one of the best. They weren't too old either, the man who had brought him here was the oldest, but even he looked young for his age.

Noah had run into all of them in large public events and parties that he had to attend as an actor. The people were rather social and greeted Noah with a smile.

"We'll do introductions on the way, do you need anything before we leave?" Valerie asked.

"No," Noah said.

She nodded and left. The others sitting got up. They gave Noah a slight greeting as they passed. Noah then followed them out and got on the large carriage waiting for him. It was going to take them to the dungeon entrance.

Along the way, everyone introduced themselves to Noah. Noah simply told them to call him Silver Druid, or Silver for short.

Valerie judged Silver as he spoke casually with everyone here. He blended right in. Savant the burly man from before asked, "Silver, so what role do you play in a team?"

"I act as support," Noah answered.

Everyone other than Noah was surprised by the answer. They had already been told by the guild leader that this person had been able to take down a B Class Elite in a few shots, and was even stronger than her. Yet he was a supporter?

Savant looked at Valerie, a little confused by why she chose him.

Valerie herself had been unsure, she had taken Silver in because of a gut feeling. Moonlight wanted the first clear for the dungeon but didn't have ten people completely equipped for it yet. Bloodhood and Fallen Heroes were catching up. After she had met Silver she had thought of recruiting someone to replace the last member who still hadn't gotten a D Class weapon.

Moonlight had gotten plenty of requests from people wanting to join, going through their profile no one was good enough so she ended having Silver who seemed stronger than her join. It was a bit of a gamble.

Seeing them confused, Noah explained, "I mainly use support skills since my weapon makes up most of my damage. I'll watch over the battle and support everyone as we fight."

"I see then I'll leave my back in your hands," Savant said.

"So Silver do you have any questions?" Valerie asked.

"How will the drops be divided?" Noah asked it straight out.

"We use the systems to divide the drops. Then trade with each other for the items we want afterwards."

He hadn't heard of it was a little surprised that it existed. It seemed like it only appeared for larger groups. This feature wasn't something the Red Foxes needed as they were a small team. No one fought over equipment or items.

"While inside teamwork is key so make sure to follow my commands," Valerie said as the carriage came to a stop.

Getting off, Noah saw the entrance. It was like a large pool of darkness in the ground. It gave off this intimidating energy as if it was some type of all-encompassing shadow.

Valerie walked forward and stepped into the pool of viscous fluid, "Follow me."

Noah took a step in, it was like walking into muddy water. The rest followed, by the seventh step, the fluid reached their waist as they took another. The ground gave out and they were sucked in.

...

They all appeared in a cave with three entrances in front of them. The system labelled them. The two on the side were B Class and C class dungeons. While the largest in the middle was the A Class.

"Everyone stay close and vigilant," Valerie was at the front of the group with two others. Four were in the middle and the back was Noah and the remaining two.

They entered a new world, it dimmed in comparison to the first cave. Dark orange flames were failing to light up the enormous cave. The terrain was rocky and dynamic, with stalagmites coming off the ground. There was also a darkness in the atmosphere that weighed on your senses, decreasing their range.

The mana density was the highest Noah had felt, it was to the point it was kind of pressuring on.

The group moved together like a unit, they all looked around for surprise attacks, while Xavier was the scouter and led them from the front. In his hand was a wooden bow, and he had arrows in a quiver on his back. He had a talent related to long-range sight so he normally led the team in dungeons.

Valerie and Savant were with him, they walked at the front in their knight styled armour. Valerie held her sword, Noah was able to get a better look at it and was impressed but its design. It was a one-handed double-edged sword with a thin blade. It was silver from top to bottom. It was close to being at the level of his Black Estoc.

Savant had a large rectangular body shield on his left arm. In his right, he held a sword. The shield was D Class, while the sword was E Class. The sword was even a little worn out, so Noah could tell Savant didn't have Sword Mastery.

Behind the three two magic users were in the centre. One was Anya, she held this thin metal staff with rings on it that lightly rung as she walked. She was the girl he had seen with the blue bird and healing skill that had come with Valerie. He had learned that she used water attack spells and had a few support skills.

The other was Sultan, he held a large thick wooden staff. He was a diverse elemental magic-user. He had a large repertoire of magic spells that covered all areas of combat.

Protecting the two from the side were, Seiko, who held a dark blue katana. Out of everyone here she spoke the least, only greeting him. She was also the one that made the greatest impression, from Moonlight she was the fastest member and most skilled at using the sword. On earth, she was probably as good as him, though she was a few years older.

The other was Graham. He held two daggers, and even wore a hat. He wore leather armour and moved silently. He was exactly the type of rogue you would see in RPGs.

Eric stood next to him, at the centre of the last row. He wore full red metal armour and held a matching spear. The armour was weird. It gave off this aura that made it hard to tell its rank. It was E Rank set equipment but had this mysteriousness to it. Noah had been surprised seeing it since he hadn't seen any drop and he had done all B Class dungeons multiple times.

The last person on the left of Eric was Lofen. He held a metal staff, it wasn't a magic staff, rather the physical version of it. Out of everyone here, he was the only person well trained in martial arts.

Noah followed behind on foot, holding the flintlock. He looked to the side as he sensed monsters.

Xavier at the front pulled back at his bow and turned to the right. "Three monsters of small size."

[Sonic Needle Scorpions]

C Class

Level 58

Three dog-sized black scorpions were moving together on a rock. They hadn't noticed the team near them yet.

"C Class, I'm taking them out." Xavier pulled back on his bow with an arrow of mana formed and let go. Doing this three times in succession, he killed the three scorpions. Taking down C Class with a D Class was easy.

"Their strength is at a similar level to other C Class monsters," Savant judged as he relaxed a little. This meant this wouldn't be some hell trap.

Anya had her eyes lit up seeing something next to the scorpions."Wait, I need to collect something!" She then broke out from the group and took out a box from her inventory. She cut the black grass growing on the rock and stored it.

Eric noticed that Noah was confused, "She collects all types of plants as a hobby."

"Ah," Noah nodded then turned to look forward. The Dungeon had this effect of lowering senses so he couldn't see or hear any monster. Even with his Spatial Sense, other than weak monsters like the scorpion he didn't sense anything like am A Class monster nearby.

But he suddenly felt his instincts warn of a threat approaching. The feeling was getting stronger, at the edge of his Spatial Sense he sensed something drop and sizzle on the ground.

The team moved back into formation as they moved forward. Noah had a clear sense for the monster Noah but didn't say anything yet. He wanted to see when Xavier would sense it. It took Xavier a dozen more steps and he pulled on his bow.

"There is something ahead, From its aura, it is likely an A Class monster."

"Light the area!" Valerie commanded.

Xavier formed two arrows of lights on his bow and shot them to the sidewalls of the cave. They burst out with light clearing up the darkness.

A large white and grey fluid monster stomped one of its front liquid limbs onto a B Class centipede. Its body had a total of four limbs with a hunched back and a dripping head with no features. The fluid dropped off like acid. The monster pushed the struggling centipede into its body, fully consuming it. Its flowing face then turned to look at the team.

[Abnormal Creation]

A Class

Level 88