Joining a group

"A new Awakener? And I guess this is your first time entering a dungeon?"

"Yes, A talent Awakener and this is my first time here."

It was late afternoon in a restricted area of Megan City, a place off-limits to the general public.

People could be seen gathered there, some in groups, others alone. One thing was clear: everyone present was an Awakener.

Most were armed and well-prepared, clad in armor and equipped for the challenges ahead.

At the center of the area was a strange, circular black hole. This was none other than a dungeon, emanating an eerie energy that made the air feel heavy and oppressive.

This was a Level 0 dungeon, which meant the monsters inside weren't very strong. It was even called the 'Trainer's Ground' because it was a place where new Awakeners could go to train and improve their skills.

Normally, after a dungeon is cleared, it gets destroyed. But this one had been left intact due to its low threat level, containing only F-rank monsters for helping the new awakeners.

However, keeping a dungeon active for a long time is risky. New monsters would appear inside and sometimes monsters escape from it. But officials decided it was worth the risk to help the weak Awakeners.

"You can join my group into the dungeon, but at the same time, be extremely careful."

"Thanks, I promise I will behave myself."

With that, the two walked into the crowd to meet up with the others.

"Where have you been, Darian?" The complaint of a girl rang out when they walked up to three people grouped together—a boy and two girls.

"You kept us waiting for more than twenty minutes," the second girl, who looked younger, added in annoyance.

The three were looking at him in anger, as if they were about to jump on him at any moment.

"Look at who we have here!" Darian said with a carefree smile, unbothered by the piercing eyes of the three.

Immediately, the three turned to look at the person beside Darian. Their eyes roamed over his body for a few seconds before losing interest.

The first girl let out a hiss before turning her back on them. "We don't want anyone else to join us and now you're bringing this weak Level 1 Awakener to our group," she said loudly, not bothering to lower her voice.

It wasn't strange for her to know his level, as she was more powerful than him.

"You kept us waiting all this time because of him? He'll only slow us down in the dungeon," the boy added.

Out of the three, the youngest girl was the calmest when she saw the boy beside Darian. Her actions were completely opposite to the other two.

She walked forward with a smile. "Welcome to the group, dude. The name's Ember, a D-rank and Level 2 healer," she introduced herself.

She leaned closer to the boy and spoke in a low voice. "Don't mind her. She's cold to people who aren't her friends. You'll be surprised to find out she's actually kind and really interesting to those close to her. But for now, I suggest you stay away from the cold queen, or she might chew you up."

"And him? He's just angry because he didn't get to see his crush today before we came, and—"

"I heard you!" the other boy and girl said in unison, their faces twisting in annoyance as they stepped closer to her.

The younger girl immediately ran and hid behind Darian.

"Brother Darian, help me against them," she laughed, sticking her head out to look at the boy. "But I wasn't lying. You're angry because you didn't get to see your heartthrob. Who knows? Maybe she's in the arms of someone else right now."

Ember didn't back down as she continued teasing.

As expected, the boy's anger deepened. "Ember, shut your mouth, or I'll make you."

"You see? I told you. That's it," Ember said, turning to the boy beside Darian and laughing.

"Okay, now, everybody calm down," Darian, who had been silently watching the three, finally spoke out.

"My bad for keeping you all waiting for so long," he apologized before placing his hand on the shoulder of the boy beside him. "I came across Alden on my way here and actually I was the one who invited him to join our group."

"What!"

"Why invite him?"

The cold girl and the boy's voices rang out.

"Interesting. Brother Darian has never personally invited anyone to join our group before," Ember said, clearly shocked.

"You all know it's compulsory for a group to have five members before being allowed to venture into the dungeon, so I decided to invite Alden," Darian explained.

"We know the law, but there are other people who would want to join our group, like a Level 2 or 3. Bringing this guy is—"

"Storm, stop already," Darian interrupted before turning to Alden.

The boy beside Darian was originally Alden, who was now fully dressed in black cloth and flexible battle trousers, with a sword sheathed on his back.

He introduced himself as Alden instead of Sammy. From now on, he will begin to use his original name.

"Alden, meet Storm and Zara. Don't mind their attitude; you'll get used to them soon," Darian introduced the two.

Through his observation, Alden guessed the four were extremely close and had known each other for a long time.

The pink-haired girl, Zara, was cold and straightforward. With a good figure—tall and thin, she was attractive, her hair flowing freely in the air and her light green eyes sharp.

Storm was also tall, with an unhappy expression. He was clad in silver armor, a sharp saber in his hand.

The last, Ember, was a carefree girl. Her appearance and figure didn't lose out to Zara's, her white hair tied in a ponytail, giving her a striking look.

In this short while, Alden had already studied them. All of them seemed like good people to get along with and even Zara and Storm wouldn't be bad once he got to know them better. That was just their personality of treating those they weren't close to.

But that didn't mean he trusted them. It was better to always keep his guard up.

He had already used his character scan on them. Ember was D-rank, Zara was surprisingly B-rank, Darian was C-rank and Storm was the same rank as Ember.

"Nice to meet both of you," Alden said, extending his hand.

"You're not welcome," Zara said coldly before turning to walk away.

"Heh heh, Zara, you know you could at least smile and stop with the cold shoulder every time," Darian said with a casual laugh.

After a few seconds, Storm shook his hand. "Not exactly nice to meet you. I don't have a choice."

"What about your Talent?" Storm asked with interest.

Alden scratched his short blond hair sheepishly. "Forgive me, I still haven't discovered the Talent I've awakened," he lied.

Zara froze mid-step and let out a cold chuckle before continuing to walk away.

"Damn it," Storm cussed under his breath before following after Zara.

Ember turned to Darian with a questioning look.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't even know why I invited him to join our group. I saw him stranded with no one interested in him, so I felt pity for him."

"Strange. You've never felt pity for anyone before."

"Let's move out," Darian said, starting to walk away and ignoring her.

With no one else to talk to, Ember walked beside Alden. "Zara is already Level 4 with a B-rank and Storm is the same level but a D-rank. But Darian is the most powerful among us, a Level 5 and C-rank, a rank lower than Zara."

"They're actually helping me hone my skills here. Otherwise, they'd be in a higher-level dungeon, not this low one."

As they walked, Alden learned that the three at the front were a year older than him. Ember, however, was eighteen like him and had awakened only a month ago.

The surprising part was that she was Storm's younger sister and Darian and Zara were their cousins. They were family.

They had been here several times before.

The five were close to the dungeon, ready to enter, when a commotion broke out.

"Get out of the way!" a loud threatening voice came from behind.

People turned to look at the source of the arrogance, only to quickly step aside when they saw who it was.

"What's Ragnar doing here in this area? I heard he's already Level 6."

"Didn't you hear? Ragnar's younger brother awakened an A-rank Talent yesterday, so he must be here to accompany him into the dungeon."

"An A-rank Talent? That's insane! Tell me it's just a rumor."

Whispers spread through the crowd.

"Arrogant bastard," Zara cursed loudly, not lowering her voice or stepping out of the way.

Ragnar, who was rushing forward with his brother and three others following behind, stopped and locked eyes with her.

A hand pulled Zara aside out of the way—it was Darian's doing.

As Ragnar got closer, he stopped, glaring at her.

Alden's interest picked up when he heard that Ragnar's brother was an A-rank Talent Awakener.

[-CHARACTER INFO-]

NAME: Drakon Forrest

AGE: 18

LEVEL: 1

TALENT: A-rank [Wind Ability User]

SKILLS: Wind Control (B), Wind Speed (C)

[-CHARACTER INFO-]

[Does host wish to merge with this character? Yes/No]