Dive[2]

"Kiirk!"

'My first battle!'

A mixture of extreme nervousness and slight excitement welled up inside of me. Staring at the three goblins in front of us, my thoughts about this world got reaffirmed, it was truly a fantasy world.

"I'll take the lead, stand behind me!"

Bayyan ran out, wielding one sword in each hand, and engaged in the battle.

Even with three goblins rushing toward him, he held his composure and quite leisurely met them head-on.

It was truly a slaughter. The man attacked like a whirlwind, making full use of his dual-wielding style, and with silver mana enveloping his weapons, he killed the three enemies in a matter of minutes.

Watching the blood fly through the air, and guts falling to the ground, I felt a bit sick.

"[Healing Gust]!"

Although he had overwhelmed his enemies, he had still gotten a couple of scratches on his body, which Sarah instantly took care of with her spell.

Suddenly, our teacher came out from the portal behind us.

"Oh, looks like you already started. Well, keep going, I'll be in the vicinity."

"Let's go."

Bayyan took the initiative, and we moved further into the jungle.

Without having to move for a long time, another pack of goblins showed up. This time it was a group of five, with one of them being an archer.

In normal cases, I would be the one to deal with the archer, but because of Bayyan's mentality, he charged forward once again.

While both wanting to not get in the way, but also because I felt quite hesitant to actually kill something, I stayed put.

This time, though, Sarah also used her spells offensively, shooting arrows of wind against them, successfully dismantling the archer while Bayyan killed the rest.

Like this, we continued through the huge jungle, surrounded by tall trees and bushes, with Bayyan committing a massacre with the help of the succubus.

Even after an hour, I still hadn't fought once, and at this pace, I would truly be carried by my team.

'I have to do something, I don't want to waste this chance...'

With this thought in my mind, I resolved myself to make sure I fought with at least one goblin. Then, Bayyan opened his mouth,

"Isn't this a bit too easy? I know it's just F-ranked, but still. Hopefully, we can find a boss monster or something soon, this is just boring."

It did appear that this was a breeze for the two of them, but it was probably a product of them being too strong, rather than the dungeon being easy.

With Sarah, both keeping up ranged attacks and healing, and Bayyan having no problems faring against multiple enemies in melee, it wasn't a challenge for them.

'I wonder how I will match up with these monsters...'

I still had no idea about my actual strength, even with sparring against Mike, I had never tested my power in a real setting. This was supposed to be my chance to do that, also helping me prepare my mentality for tomorrow's duel, but at this point, it would be for naught.

All of a sudden, a chill went through the air and Bayyan stopped, signaling with his hand that we should too. He put his hand on the ground and sent out his mana, flowing out like a circle in all directions.

'I guess that's a detection spell, how nice would it be to be able to use that...'

Breaking my thoughts of envy, he spoke, "Something is wrong."

A nervous Sarah responded, taken a bit aback by his sudden shift in attitude, "What's wrong? Did you find anything with your spell?"

Shaking his head, he brought out a completely different piece of information,

"No, the problem is that I found no signs of life at all. It's like the entirety of the jungle is empty, I couldn't even sense our Mr. Borr."

"Oh, but maybe he is hiding his mana signature? He should be more than enough proficient to do so?"

"Why would he do that? We already know he dove in together with us, it shouldn't matter if we know where he is."

'Yes, that is true. But then, what is happening? There should be goblins almost everywhere around here, it is, after all, a practice dungeon made for students... Wait, is this one of the incidents in the game? Fuck! Shouldn't they just happen around James?!'

As I tried to make sense of what was happening, Bayyan continued with his conjecture, "We are most likely in an enclosed space, some kind of barrier magic. I think we should try to head back toward the portal, but there is a big chance that we are stuck."

Now almost shaking, our healer cried out, "Then what do we do?! Is this the work of a demonkin or something?"

"Calm down!"

Our spearhead instantly took control of the situation and forcibly stopped Sarah's panic from escalating.

"We will start by walking back, and while walking we will try to think about the reasons this could have happened. Who knows, it could even be a part of our teacher's test. Unfortunately, it appears that our DADs have stopped working as well, so we can't even contact anyone."

We started to head back toward the portal we came through in silence, keeping our senses sharp to react at a moment's notice.

One step at a time, we moved forward, and time passed.

Seconds became minutes, and minutes became hours. Yet, we still hadn't got to our destination, moreover, it looked as if we were in the exact same place we started.

All three of us had gotten weary from the tension, and at this point, I thought I could see some slight tears in Sarah's eyes.

"We are stuck, aren't we?"

"That is so. I think there is someone or something that we have to kill in order to break the barrier."

Once again, we had stopped to figure out the situation, and while my two party members were talking, my mind was racing on its own.

'So either this is a test by Mike or it's most likely outside interference from a party that wants to weaken the academy. The problem is, we are completely new students, if there is someone who wants to kill us, why don't they just do so?'

It didn't make sense for someone to keep us stuck here, wasting hours, just to end it by killing us later. There had to be something else.

'Maybe this barrier is in reality a part of the dungeon? What was it called, dungeon mutation? So, a creature in the dungeon mutated and got this ability, but why couldn't Bayyan find it when he searched the grounds?'

My quick thinking led me to the most plausible explanation in a heartbeat.

'There is something in the air!'

Having found my answer, I tried to share it with my teammates, "Guys, I think I know what is causing this."

Both of them turned around, wearing two very different expressions.

"Really?! What is it Miren?"

"Don't talk about things you don't know."

Accompanying their expressions, two very different responses followed. Thankfully, I had my golden-haired knight defending me, "Bayyan, stop. it. If Miren has an idea about what could have caused this, shouldn't we at least listen? It's not like we have any answers ourselves."

"Fine..."

"So, what do you think, Miren?"

Taking a second to collect my thoughts, "I think it's a dungeon monster causing this..."

As I spoke about my conclusion, they fell into deep thought. Bayyan was the first to pick up the stick, "So there is a mutant monster in the sky somewhere, which was able to erect this barrier?"

"Yes, I could be wrong, but that is the only reasonable answer in my head."

We all looked toward the sky, in an attempt to find something. Sarah was the first to find something out of place in the blue background,

"Guys, I think I see something..."

"What do you see?"

Pointing to a green orb high up in the air, me and Bayyan also saw what she had spotted.

"So we just have to kill that thing then?"

Speaking some rough words, Bayyan took out his swords from his sheath. Unfortunately for him, the orb appeared to be at least 25 meters up in the air.

'Is he gonna jump that high or what?'

"I'm not gonna be able to reach it..."

'No shit!'

"Sarah, think you can shoot it down?"

Sarah's face became a bit heavy, probably recognizing the accuracy needed to hit something that small, from so far away.

"I don't think so... I'm pretty sure my spells won't even reach him from here..."

Suddenly, they both looked at me.

"What?"

Irritated, Bayyan retorted, "What do you mean, what? Do you have something?"

'Didn't he want me to not get involved?'

Nevertheless, I did, indeed, have something I could do, but it wouldn't be pleasant.

"I can do it... But I'm gonna need you to do two things..."

A bit confused, he inquired, "What do you need me to do?"

*Haaa*

Accepting my fate, I let out a sigh, "I need you to launch me as high as possible into the air and..."

"And what?"

'I don't want to do this, but it seems I have no choice...'

In a low voice, I told him the second need, "I need you to catch me..."

"Sure."

An instant reply, and devoid of any hesitation he clasped his hands together and bent his knees.

"Let's go."

'He really is reliable when it comes down to it. If he doesn't hesitate, nor can I.'

I put my right foot in his hands and he launched me upwards. Keeping my sight on the green orb, I held my daggers ready to strike.

As my momentum slowed down, I stepped in the air using my skill and blurred another ten meters up.

I could now clearly see the small head of a goblin, covered in a radiant green flying around. Before my time ran out, I took another step, covering the remaining distance between us.

*Crzzt*

Imbuing my weapons with purple lightning, I slashed with all I had and the head fell in pieces.

'Now for the fun part...'

The moment my momentum disappeared, I started free falling towards the ground, having to believe that Bayyan would catch me unless I wanted to die.

The two figures on the ground became clearer, and I closed my eyes because of the wind pressure.

*Thud*

I had gotten saved, but with my eyes closed, I could still determine that the soft body that held me in a princess carry, wasn't that of Bayyan's.

Opening my eyes, I looked up to Sarah holding me in her arms, holding a warm smile.

"Good job!"

'I want to die...'