Chapter 14: Mistral's Den II

ARTHUR LEYWIN'S POV:It felt as if I was suddenly thrown into a river from my dream as I opened my eyes and bolted upright, my heart racing as I struggled to catch my breath. My arms flailed at my sides as I tried to shake off the feeling of suffocation."What! What happened?" I shouted trying to figure out what the hell was going on.I woke up in the tent I had pitched the day before and noticed Jasmine next to me, wearing an amused smile and holding a leather bag. I could also hear laughter from outside the tent. I didn't need to be a genius to understand what had happened, and I gazed at her as if she had betrayed me."Well, Don't blame me. It was Noah's idea, but since you didn't want anyone to see your face, I took the role," Jasmine explained. I was genuinely bewildered by this. Noah has always come across as a very serious person, so the fact that he would engage in pranks like this completely caught me off guard."But that doesn't mean you should wake me up like that," I grumbled while putting on my mask and left the tent along with Jasmine. I witnessed Henry and Emma sharing laughter, and even William and Noah struggling to contain their amusement. I paid them no mind and instead focused on getting ready for today's raid, shooting Noah a disapproving look. Upon my return, I found everyone already prepared and enjoying breakfast by the campfire prior to heading out for the raid. I joined them and took a seat next to Jasmine."Good morning, sleepin- " Before Henry could even complete his sentence, I fired a small lightning spell at him which he barely dodged. I took a piece of seasoned jerky from my bag and started eating. "Well, looks like someone is quite grumpy by a casual prank," Noah remarked in a mocking tone. His aura was different from yesterday, now you can see him being playful and enthusiastic just like William. "Yeah, by suggesting throwing water at someone who is sleeping, a casual prank, indeed." I rebuked with sarcasm. "Hmm, The lady seems to be having a problem so I just gave her the idea. And it seems to work quite well," "Okay guys jokes aside, let's get ready to go to the next floor." William stopped us and ordered everyone to get ready. We needed a couple of minutes to get everything packed, and before long, we arrived at the fifth floor. Upon arrival, we encountered a group of Sonic Hawks, which are B-class mana beasts with an affinity for wind and sound.Sonic Hawks, as opposed to Sonic Bats, do not suffer from poor eyesight and are exceptionally fast in flight, as well as displaying a certain level of intelligence. Unlike other B-class mana beasts, Sonic Hawks do not cohabit with species other than their own.I could spot around 25-30 Sonic Hawks. It seems they have also sensed us with their acute hearing. Before we even had the chance to do anything, they immediately started to fly towards us at incredible speed."Augmenters make the line of defense, conjurers focus on diverting their attention, and Henry, you have to defend the conjurers." William gave orders, and Jasmine and I immediately Sprung into action. I channeled the power of fire mana to envelop my blades, using it to prevent the hawks from swarming around me. Despite my efforts to slash at them, they agilely dodged every strike. I glanced over at Jasmine, who was holding her own remarkably well, having already taken down two of the hawks. It appeared that she was using the wind mana to enhance her speed, enabling her to keep up with the swift movements of the hawks.As I assessed the situation, it became clear that I needed a speed boost. However, unlike Jasmine, I didn't have access to Wind Mana. I opted to use one of my go-to spells, the {Tunderclap impulse}. As I channeled the spell, I experienced a familiar sensation as my pupils contracted and my senses sharpened to an extraordinary degree. Now, with my heightened perception, I could discern the swift movements of the Sonic Hawks.With a swift and precise swing, I deftly slashed my sword, cleaving a hawk in two. Thankfully, Emma and Noah provided invaluable support by fending off the approaching hawks with a barrage of sound and ice techniques. Their relentless assault visibly sapped the hawks' strength, causing their movements to slow down significantly, thus making them more vulnerable to our counterattacks.I eliminated an additional four adversaries, bringing my total to five. Jasmine took down 6 hawks, William scored 10, and Noah managed to snipe 4, with Emma and Henry supporting all of us. The battle didn't drag on like previous levels, but we used a notably larger amount of mana compared to before. Even though I had become accustomed to my new body, I still had limited experience in battling mana beasts. This wasn't surprising given that for most of my life, I had only engaged in combat with and killed humans."Alright let's gather and restore our mana before going forward." As usual, William provided instructions. While utilizing the mana from beast cores we acquired from C-class beasts on the preceding floor, we took a break for approximately 20 minutes.Upon reaching the sixth floor, we found it to be similar to the fifth floor, with the only notable difference being that there were nearly three times as many mana beasts. After navigating through this challenging level, we eventually arrived at the 7th and final floor of the Dungeon. "Alright everybody, according to reports there should be Two A-class mana beasts guarding the boss gate while the boss itself is an AA-class mana beast," William informed everyone about this floor. Before long, we stood facing the gate and saw two Wind Leopards, A-class mana beasts, which were nearly as large as fully grown adults."Grrrrrr!!" "Grrrr!!"They soon noticed us as well, but instead of attacking, they simply growled and bared their teeth, as if cautioning us not to approach."Emma and Henry follow me we will take on the right one. Note, Jasmine, and Noah, you guys will take care of the left one. Everyone, understood?" Willam gave us the instructions. The teams were evenly balanced so no one had any complaints. We split into two groups and went in opposite directions. The Wind leopard spotted us approaching and hurled a small wind tornado in our direction. Just in time, Jasmine countered with a wind spell, conjuring a raging tornado that intercepted the attack and cleaved it in two. Giving Noah a nod, I also followed after Jasmine Imbuing my sword with fire and activating {Tunderclap impulse}. The Wind Leopards are supposed to be much faster than Sonic Hawks, so not using {Thunderclap impulse} would be foolish. Jasmine went for a frontal attack, and taking it as an opportunity I aimed to slash at its back limbs, unfortunately, my sword only met thin air. I spotted him 5 meters away to my right. The leopard had seemingly disappeared, no rather it was so fast that even with {Thunderclap Impulse} active, I was not able to see its movement. While it was not as fast as Grandpa Virion its speed was almost close to him.This repeated for some time but we were able to deal some damage as a few slashes appeared on its body with Noah's Ice spell. Having experienced this type of speed firsthand with that old coot, I knew it was the best strategy that could take away its advantage of speed. "Jasmine try to stay as close to it as possible. It can't travel very short distances at high speed." I informed Jasmine. I was aware of this information because Virion had consistently utilized his beast will to either create distance or close the gap between us, and like him, this Wind Leopard was employing comparable tactics. I understood that covering a very brief distance was significantly more mentally draining due to the need to handle sudden bursts of speed.Jasmine looked confused, but she trusted me and nodded. She attacked the leopard from the front again, and this time I waited for Noah to attack. The leopard dodged again, but I had already predicted its next move by observing its leg's direction. Using {Piston Stamp}, I launched myself towards where it would reappear and slashed my sword through the air. Instead of passing through empty space, my slash hit its mark, cutting through the leopard's limbs and creating a deep wound.The creature snarled furiously and swiped its claws in my direction. I had no time to evade the attack, so I created a sheet of ice near my shoulder, hoping to shield the vital area where my core was located. Regrettably, the ice proved insufficient against the strength of an A-class creature, and it swiftly broke through."Note!!" Noah and Jasmine both yelled when I got hit by the assault. It felt as though I had been struck by a very weighty object and launched into the air towards a wall.After I was hurled through the air, I immediately channeled a significant amount of mana to enhance the fortification of my body. I wasn't much worried about hitting the wall, because upon assimilating with Sylvia's will, my physicality had greatly improved, so I wasn't expected to sustain much damage from the impact. The more disconcerting aspect was that the Leopard's claw slash landed directly on my core, and sustaining damage to one of my cores would be a significant setback to my mana reserve.(A/n: I swear, I am not trying to make him masochistic. It just came naturally for me to write it like this.)I struck the wall after a brief moment and, as I anticipated, the impact didn't register much. My first action was to inspect the spot where the claws made contact with me. I observed some damage as a section of my cloak was torn. However, what seemed unusual was the absence of any scratches on my skin. While I certainly felt the pain of the strike, the beast's claws were sharp enough to lacerate my skin so considering I had no wounds was extremely surprising."Are you okay?" Before I was even able to asses the situation, Jasmine came to ask how I was. I could see Noah trying to hold the Wind Leopard back. "I am okay. Let's go, and kill him first." I reassured Jasmine and got up there will be time to think about how no damage was taken once we are out of the dungeon. "Are you sure? You were hit pretty hard, I am sure Noah and I can handle him now." Jasmine kept on insisting that I should take a rest but after a few seconds, I convinced her to allow me to join the fight again. I glanced over to where Noah was battling the Wind Leopard. With a wound on its limb, the creature had lost much of its mobility and could only engage in a long-range fight against Noah and his AA-rank conjuring abilities were a definite advantage in this case.I nodded at Jasmine before moving closer to the Leopard and attacking with my sword. The slash connected and a cut appeared on its right side. Jasmine joined me, and together we quickly overpowered the Leopard. At the same time, Noah froze its limbs, preventing any further movement.Upon the conclusion of our battle, William, Henry, and Emma joined our group. We rested at William's command in preparation for the boss room. Although Henry sustained a few cuts, William and Emma were largely unharmed. During the confrontation with the Wind leopard, Henry and the creature engaged in close combat, leaving Henry vulnerable due to his large size, but fortunately, we had bandages to tend to his wounds. We recounted our experience to them, leading to Emma expressing concern for my well-being. I assured them that I didn't have any injuries, which astonished everyone as I had been hit directly by the mana-enhanced claws. It was puzzling even to me, but I intended to investigate this enigma once we left the dungeon.After resting for about an hour we got ready to face the Boss of this dungeon who is supposed to be an AA-class mana beast."Okay listen carefully everyone, while the mana beasts thus far have been the same as in records, the boss is noticed to have changed after every raid so we cannot be sure of which mana beast is in there. Let's be cautious and complete this raid without any casualties," William warned everyone one last time as we stood before the gate.As everyone gave a nod of affirmation, William ordered Henry to open the gate. Henry exerted force on the massive gate, which was nearly 7 meters long. The gate swung open effortlessly, allowing everyone to enter the room. Although the room was not completely dark, it lacked sufficient lighting. It was incredibly spacious, taking about 5 minutes to reach the center. Positioned at the center of the room was a towering mana beast, standing at a height of approximately 4 meters. Its upper body resembled an eagle, while its lower body was reminiscent of a large cat. It possessed wings that were almost as large as its body, unmistakably a Wind Griffin.In general, Griffin is a lower-level S-class mana creature that measures 6-8 meters in size. However, if they are very young or have limited access to mana cores, there is a chance for them to be classified as AA-class. This has been observed in several lower-level S-class mana creatures. Judging by the size of this griffin, it was evident that it was also an AA-class mana creature. Nevertheless, the Griffin still appears massive.[Sreeeech!!}The griffin emitted a piercing screech, clearly indicating its heavy intent as it fixated on us with an overtly hostile gaze, cautioning us to keep our distance. William looked and said, "Jasmine and Note will distract it from close, while Emma will use sound spells to disrupt its focus. Noah, I want you to prepare a spell to freeze its wings or legs. I will face him directly, and Henry I want you to block its long-range attack as much as possible."I made my way to Griffin's right side, Jasmine positioned herself to his left, and Emma and Noah remained at the back. William and Henry advanced to the center. Throughout, Griffin's gaze remained fixed on all of us.While Griffin was distracted by Jasmine's attack, Emma cast a spell that produced a loud noise. This distracted Griffin from Jasmine. After momentarily losing focus, Griffin managed to dodge Jasmine's attack and flew into the air. I then used {Piston Stamp} to propel myself into the air and attempted to strike its wings. However, Griffin retaliated by using its wings to send wind-blades at me, prompting me to defend myself.We diverted its focus towards us, William utilized wind mana to launch himself into the air and attempted to slash it. However, the Grephin swiftly evaded the attack.Without giving it time to prepare I launched myself again, this time trying to aim for its body, and the Griffin dodged again, Jasmine also tried slashing at him but he just kept dodging while flying from place to place. His flying ability was definitely annoying as it was outside our reach. Fortunately, Noah seemed to have the spell prepared, so deciding to distract him for Noah's spell to be successful, Jasmine and I decided to distract it from the back. I launched myself into the air again and conjured icicles to attract its attention, while Jasmine prepared a wind tornado to support me during the fall. At the same time, I could see Noah aiming his wand directly towards the wings. The griffin blocked the icicles with wind blades and launched a sonic blast from its mouth toward me. I could not block it in the state I was in but Henry swiftly created a pillar of earth obstructing the attack and with Jasmine's tornado spell I was able to land without any harm. Luckily, Noah's spell was successful as the wings of Griffin were frozen. Not able to use its wings he began to fall, taking this opportunity William dashed towards it landing a decent attack and shattering the Wingds into pieces. [SCREEEEEEECH!!!!]The Griffin let out a painful cry as its wings were destroyed, due to losing its wings he lost his senses and started Sonic blast from everywhere. Fortunately, none of them managed to reach any members as Henry kept blocking every one of the attacks. With Griffin in a state of pain, it took some time for us to overpower it with William delivering the final blow. With Griffin dead, everyone started to look for anything valuable in the room to take and sell it. I also started searching the place, and while looking around I noticed one of the sides a little much darker than usual. Going towards it, I conjured a small fireball to light the space for clear vision. At the very corner of the space, there was a small design containing four elements in a circular form. I felt drawn towards it as if it was calling for me. Without even thinking I imbued my mana into it like it was the most natural thing to do. Immediately I came back to my senses and looked, but for a second nothing happened but soon an odd type of mist filled the room. One by one all the members fell asleep falling to the ground. Worried I was about to go toward them, but suddenly the ground started to shake and the wall near the symbol crumpled to dust. [Hoho~, Looks like we have a special guest here~] I heard a feminine voice, I instantly knew whoever the owner of this voice was, it was not an ordinary being.~~A/N: Well, here is the infamous cliffhanger. Try guessing who the owner of this voice is, although you won't be able to since it's not a character from the original. Also, the next chapter will probably be coming in the next week. it will be more than one chapter though so don't be disappointed. I am doing this because the next chapter will be important for the future plot and I don't want to mix and mess things up later on. Also, make sure to tell me how the chapter is in the comment section. Hope you enjoy it.