I get up fairly early the next day.
As I exit the room after getting ready I notice Mother and Father already awake, albeit yawning, and just coming out of Arthur's room.
"They couldn't have left already could they?" Mother wondered.
"No, we fell asleep in Ellie's room. Only I woke up sometime in the night and moved to my room." I spoke, startling them.
"Did you two stay up with Ellie?" She asked.
"Yeah, we haven't really spent much time with her, so I decided to tell her some stories from the academy before we went on our trip. Anyways, I should wake Arthur up now, he needs to prepare for the trip." I move towards Ellie's room, while Mother keeps on looking with a smile.
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We were split in two teams upon arrival, Claire, Curtis , a guy called Owen, Brandon and me in one and Arthur, Lucas, Roland, Tessia and Clive in the other.
Don't kill him just yet will ya? I want a piece of him.
"Everyone get with the teams and get to know each other," Professor Glory brings me out of my musings.
And so I began walking towards my team.
You sure you wanna stay with me?
Yes.
Fine.
My team formed a circle, not unlike the other.
Curtis began, "My name is Curtis Glayder, I am a fire augmenter. My strengths are close and middle range, my weakness being long range."
Brandon went next, "I am Brandon Deepwing, a wind conjurer. I am a long distance fighter, my weakness is close range."
Owen, a black haired human, goes next ,"Owen Williams, a water augmenter specializing in scythes. My strength is close and mid range, my weakness, long range."
"My name is Claire Bladeheart, I am a dual elemental fire and wind augmenter using a rapier. I can handle close and mid range, even a bit of long range. Although long range is still a weakness to me."
I guess it's my turn now, "Fayden Leywin, water and earth dual elemental mage with deviancy in water. I can fight in any range, but I prefer long and close range."
"So, who's gonna be the leader?" Owen asked
"I say Claire,"
"So do I,"
Both Curtis and I spoke.
Seeing this Brandon agrees as well, "I second that."
Owen shrugs, "I'm fine with anyone,"
"It's decided then. Claire does have experience leading the DC." I finalize.
Claire meanwhile keeps whipping her head towards whoever spoke.
"Everyone ready?" Professor Glory said, "You all know each others abilities already, so make sure to utilize basic positioning and team tactics we learned in class. Let's go!"
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The inside of the dungeon was quite beautiful.
With stalactites and other crystals jutting out of the walls going from a blue hue to an amethyst one.
"Keep moving and stick with your teams!" Professor guides, "Remember to protect yourselves with mana at all times!"
Some of the students who were shaking in the cold relaxed visibly after augmenting themselves.
But I don't feel cold.
Did my temperature resistance increase when I assimilated with Noctis' will?
"Just in case you weren't listening in class," Professor began, "This is a D-Class dungeon called the Widows Crypt."
"We'll only be staying in the first two floors so the only mana beasts we'll have to worry about are Snarlers." She informs us.
"I heard it's pretty easy to spot a few groups in the first floor, since we haven't seen any yet I wonder if a team of adventurers came by recently." Curtis wondered out loud as he brings out his sword.
Glancing back I see Owen bringing out a black and blue scythe, and Brandon equipping gauntlets.
Wasn't he a conjurer?
"Professor Glory said she ordered the adventurers guild to restrict access to this dungeon for a few weeks for us. So it's weird not to have spotted one yet." Claire interrupted my line of thought
The feeling from last night came back.
As if something terrible is going to happen.
I shake my head to clear myself of these thoughts.
Judging from what happened in the Dire Tombs I should be ready for anything.
I'm not holding back this time.
I think as I summon Solaris in one hand and fill the veins of my other hand with mana.
I'll go as far to use Noctis' beast will if need be.
"Keep your eyes sharp everyone! Don't lower your guard just because we don't have visual on the beasts." Professor warns.
Owen raises an arm, "What if we don't find any in the first two floors, will we be going further?" He looks a bit excited at the prospect of venturing further.
Guess he's someone who loves adventure.
"Absolutely not! If we don't find any mana beasts in the first two levels, we will report our findings to the adventurers guild."
Good call.
A few steps later I sense a few dozen mana signatures right in front of us.
And seeing from how Professor Glory halted, she did too.
"... back." She mutters.
"Huh?"
"GET BACK!" She shouts, just as the Snarlers pounce.
And that's when I release the spell I prepared in my hand, killing a couple as icicles rain on them.
Infusing mana into Solaris I swing it, slicing 5 of them in one strike as a ice arc is unleashed from it.
Then I heed Professor's warning and jump away.
Within seconds she slices through all of them.
As she came back she glares at me for not following orders.
I scratch the back of my head nervously as I spoke, "Sorry, force of habit."
She raises an eyebrow but doesn't question it any further.
"Snarlers aren't hard to handle, but their behavior is concerning." She said, "Putting everyone's safety as priority I'm calling an end to this excursion."
"Everyone is to head back to-" She is interrupted as a fireball went past her head, missing it by an inch.
"Safety my ass," Lucas said, his staff still steaming, "Why would you bring us here, only to leave when things finally start to get interesting?"
You know what else would be interesting? Me shoving that stick up your ass.
"They did go down pretty easily." Owen said.
"I think we can still try to train here Professor," Curtis said with a determined expression on his face, and Claire nods.
She hesitates for a bit before relenting and stabbing her sword down, "Fine. Split into your teams and take different parts of the floor. We don't want any friendly fire happening in here."
"""""""Yes Ma'am!"""""""
"So I'm guessing we're gonna follow the diamond formation?" I ask, eliciting a nod from Claire.
"Since you are the most versatile you'll be the vanguard. Owen, Curtis you two will be on the left and right. Brandon you will be at the back, covering us with your long range spells, I'll stay in the middle."
And so we take our positions.
I infuse more ice attribute mana into Solaris, resulting in it being covered by a layer of frost. In my other hand earth attribute mana fills it's mana veins.
Owen activates his scythe and pressurized water covers the blade, making it a deadly weapon capable of rending through any of the mana beasts here.
Curtis sets his sword aflame, ready to burn away any who come near.
Claire's rapier has a mini fire tornado going around it.
And Brandon has a ball of condensed wind over his palm.
Let's show these snarlers what we're capable of.
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Nothing to say this chapter but, enjoy.