Lizardmen dungeon I: Entrance

A large number of students glanced upward at the headmaster of the academy, their gaze further hardening as they realized the time had come for the dungeon raid.

"As you have all been informed, this dungeon is filled with lizard-type monsters, specifically lizardmen, who are basically the more dominant species in the dungeon."

"Your goal during this raid will be to defeat the dungeon boss... And whichever team succeeds, they will be rewarded with their choice of skill runes and equipment," he stated, the eyes of the students glimmering slightly as they heard his words, their gaze traveling toward other students whom they now saw as competition.

"Three...two...one..." With the countdown now finished, teams in tens hurriedly dashed into the dungeon, a mix of greed in their eyes as they remembered the reward for killing the dungeon boss. But is the dungeon boss really that easy to kill?

One piece of information that the school administration had left out was that the dungeon was D-rank, a bit too high for those on the lowest end of the spectrum, iron-ranked system holders.

Allen, Jackie, and Emma watched as the students ran into the swirling portal, shaking their heads a bit as they quickly took notice of a difference. The mana emanating from the dungeon was of a higher degree than the E-rank dungeon they had previously entered, a foreboding feeling of skepticism creeping in.

"Let's just go," Jackie interrupted, snapping the overly sensitive two next to him. With the last of the students now heading in, they finally pursued, delving unhurriedly into the portal, their bodies swallowed as they finally entered.

Immediately arriving at a random spot far away from anyone else, Jackie began to tinker with his storage watch, tapping all sorts of buttons until a holographic arrow popped up above the watch, pointing in a particular direction.

"Jackie, what's that?" Allen asked, curious about the mysterious function Jackie seemed to have just unlocked.

"It's a grade two magitech watch. It is pointing in the direction of the densest and largest mana source, which means it points toward where the dungeon boss is," Jackie explained, a feeling of pride sparking in his mind as he explained.

"Ok, that's cool, but how did you get yours? I thought they were currently unavailable to the public," Allen questioned, feeling strange at Jackie's possession of a grade two magitech watch, a rarity among the people.

"Even Clarissa, who has the grade five magitech watch, could only put it on for a certain amount of time, showcasing the rarity of the watches, which were invented recently when they figured out how to make machines work by using magical materials in their makeup. But it wasn't so easy after all; the mana materials incorporated always ended up spoiling the machine."

"But now, after careful, long, and brilliant planning, they had broken through the blockage, though it was still limited, causing stunted production of the magitech watches."

"Uhh, I have my ways," Jackie answered, not being open to Allen as he stared in the direction where the arrow pointed before he quickly summoned his staff, his gaze sharp as he sensed something arriving.

With Jackie being able to sense the incoming danger, it naturally did not evade Allen's and Emma's profound senses, their bodies tensing up as they stood in a basic formation. Allen at the forefront with Emma in the middle, her role to provide assistance to Jackie.

In the next moment, the trees and vines made way as an army of lizardmen charged at them with crude spears in hand. Jackie, holding a serious gaze, waved his staff, and without a moment's delay, six stone golems appeared, with a metallic hint on their bodies, a show of Jackie's improved proficiency.

Half of the golems were bulky, with sharp spikes at each of their joints, while the other half had long, slim bodies, their flexibility noticeable at a moment's glance.

As the rampaging golems got closer, Allen tightened his grip on his sword, shining with a hint of light red, unnoticed by Allen who was too focused on the incoming monsters to notice the change in his mana signature.

Jackie took action, skillfully controlling three of his golems to slow down the advance of the lizardmen. While Allen raised his left hand, a ball of red flames appearing before it was launched at the incoming D-rank monsters, impeding their advance as smoke rose into the air.

Emma took her chance, charging up her skill, infusing it into her sword, which began to glow with bright gold light. Her focus apparent as her mind cleared of any other thoughts before she finally let out a heavy exhale, slashing with her sword, light exiting from the tip of the sword before quickly forming an arc that traveled towards the monsters, a slight silence descending in the aftermath.

"What skill was that?" Allen thought curiously. However, his attention still remained on the matter at hand. As the dust and smoke finally cleared, a pile of sliced bodies could be seen littered on the floor, green blood flowing in a pool.

Exp +77

Exp +78

Exp +75

Exp +79

Exp +71

Exp +74

Exp +77

Exp +78

Exp +78

Exp +72....

"Ok, let's move. We have to gain some ground before nighttime," Allen stated, glancing at the lizardmen corpses to find anything possibly valuable or useful.

Sighting the crude stone-headed spears and their lackluster scales the lizardmen possessed, he simply turned around toward Jackie.

"Come on, lead the way," Allen suggested. After all, only his watch possessed the tracking function. Jackie soon began to take the lead around twists and turns, with Allen right in tow, ready to face any danger.

While Emma could only stare at the two helplessly, acting as if she did not exist, a feeling of being left out chiming in.

"Emma, are you coming?" Allen inquired, glancing at the girl who seemed to be in deep thought. Hearing his words, she was quickly snapped out of her thoughts, quickly giving chase before she caught up, following silently at the back.

As they delved deeper into the dungeon, the surroundings continued to morph, travel becoming difficult as the surroundings slowly turned into a swamp, the soil muddy, with their feet caving into the soft soil.

Jackie, in response, quickly made small-sized golems, which they used as footing to raise their bodies above the sinking soil, before they found hard ground. Glancing at the body of water ahead, skepticism set in as an underlying sense of danger set in. Allen glanced intently at the body of water, yet he wasn't able to sense anything.

"Wait, Jackie, don't get close," Allen warned, before Jackie quickly stepped back. After all, he knew Allen's sense of danger was not to be ignored, having already learned from past experiences during previous dungeon raids.

"Allen, what's wrong?" Emma questioned with a furrowed gaze. Even though she had felt slight danger, it had quickly disappeared before she could feel threatened by it, her worry extinguished as soon as it arose.

"There's something in the water," Allen replied with a furrowed gaze, bending down with one knee before he placed one of his hands close to the body of water, channeling his mana into the ground before spreading it in all directions.

Bestowing upon him a newly acquired sense, he sensed the presence of multiple figures underwater, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Extending his mana senses further, he not only found tens but hundreds of them waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Sensing more movement, Allen extended his mana sense further, quickly pinpointing the lurking creature's location. He saw them dismembering and tearing bodies apart, limb from limb. From his senses, he easily guessed they were students who weren't cautious enough before entering the water.

A silent sigh escaped Allen. He struggled to contain his rising anger, but recalling Eisha and Jackie's words, he calmed down and composed himself before turning to the others.

"Let's find another way around this," Allen suggested. He was aware of his ability to transform and use his dragonic wings to fly across the vast river, potentially reaching the dungeon boss and avoiding most obstacles. However, even with feelings for Emma, he couldn't let it dictate his decision. Hesitant to reveal his transformation, he was unsure of Emma's reaction. Considering she might not be the Emma he knew, she could be an entirely different person.

"Okay," Jackie agreed without hesitation, trusting Allen's judgment.

Emma, however, was reluctant. She wanted to be on the first team to reach and defeat the dungeon boss, questioning Allen's decision for an alternate path. But remembering the Allen she knew, she quickly shrugged off her doubt and followed behind, reminding herself of her true purpose for joining the team.

Unbeknownst to the trio, a slithering creature stalked them, scanning the surroundings before locking onto its target. On the other side, a woman exuding an ominous air grinned wickedly, having finally found her target.

"My Great dark master, Necrothos, I have found the location of one of the fragment's hosts," she informed him, her gaze filled with worship and fanaticism.

"You have done well," he complimented before taking control of the slithering creature. "Now that I have found one of you, it's only a matter of time before the barrier you set to protect this world crumbles under my might." He grinned wickedly, his plans set in motion, soon to be accomplished.