As he made his way past the portal, he arrived at an open plain surrounded by a thick forest.
A couple of minutes later, all the recruits of 1A entered the dungeon.
"Alright, this dungeon isn't very big but it's still possible to get lost. Just follow these marks if you ever get lost." Mr Hilt pointed at an 'X' mark with an arrow, "they will lead you to the exit."
After that, all the recruits were given a task. They were tasked to hunt several types of monsters. For Zane's group, they needed to hunt clear slime, stone spiders, and horned rabbits.
Clear slime is the weakest of all slime. They, like all slimes, will corrode their surroundings with their mucus body. They don't cause much harm but they reproduce or multiply faster than any other monster, making them a problem.
A stone spider is a spider made of stone. They are about the size of a rat. Their appearance is that of a stone, making it hard to identify them. They can produce a web that hardens into stone.
A horned rabbit is a rabbit-like creature with a horn sticking out of its forehead. They are twice the size of a normal rabbit and they are omnivores. Their horns are stronger than steel.
Zane's team needs to catch at least one of each monster.
"Let's head out," Eric said and led them into the forest.
The group walked in a straight line. Eric, as the leader, walked in front. Behind him was Ariel. Zane stood in the middle and behind him was Elora. Behind Elora is Mike. As a tank, Mike would protect the team if there are any dangers.
As they were walking, Zane closed his eyes. In his mind, he could see the whole area with a 500-metre radius around him.
'What does green mean?" With his skill, all humans and animals have a green glow but now the trees are glowing green.
'Could green mean life forms? Yes, that's it.' Zane figured it out. Any life form will glow green while using his skill.
'I haven't used scan in them.' Zane had forgotten to use scans on his teammates.
'Scan'
[Name: Eric Gratos
Species: Human
Mp: 100%
Stamina: 99%
Condition: healthy
Innate Skill:
>Electrokinesis
Skill:
>Swordsmanship
>Flash Steps
>Augmentation]
[Name: Ariel Azeas
Species: Human
Mp: 100%
Stamina: 88%
Condition: healthy
Innate Skill:
None
Skill:
>Marksmanship
>Homing]
[Name: Elora Alballot
Species: Human
Mp: 100%
Stamina: 92%
Condition: healthy
Innate Skill:
>Flash Vision
Skill:
>Spearmanship]
[Name: Mike Lothim
Species: Human
Mp: 100%
Stamina: 98%
Condition: healthy
Innate Skill:
None
Skill:
>Hand to hand Combat
>Aura]
He focused on Eric's skills.
[Electrokinesis:
The ability to control electricity.
Type: active]
[Flash Steps:
The user can move quickly for a short amount of time. To others, it looks like short-distance teleportation.
Type: active]
[Augmentation:
Increases one's strength, agility, durability and perception.
Type: passive]
Then he looked at Ariel's skill [Homing].
[Homing:
The user can lock onto a target with the application of mana. Any projectile coated with the same mana would follow the target.
Type: Active.]
Finally, Elora's innate skill [Flash Vision].
[Flash Vision:
The ability to see a few seconds into the future for a limited time. Danger can trigger the skill.
Type: active]
[Aura:
Coats one's body with a layer of mana forming an armour. The amount of mana determines its durability.
Type: active]
'Homing. Can I learn that?' Zane thought. It could be a useful skill.
Just then, Zane saw something. A rock was glowing in green.
"Wait." Zane stopped and said.
"Hey!" Flora who was walking behind Zane could stop fast enough and bump into Him.
"What is… is something wrong with your eyes?" Eric turned around and asked but he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Zane's eyes were closed.
"My eye?" Suddenly he remembered he had his eyes closed while using his skill. "Oh, they're fine. I just found a stone spider."
"Really? Where?" Mike was the first to speak up.
Zane pointed towards a pile of rock under a tree. They all looked towards it.
"Haaaaaaa!" Like rushed towards that direction and smashed towards a rock with his gauntlet. The rock cracked as soon as his fists connected.
"I don't think that's a stone spider," Elora stated.
"Not that one." Zane took his rifle and shot at the spider. The bullet hit a rock but only scratched it. The stone spider, sensing the danger, got up and ran.
*Thud* before it could get away, Mike slammed his fist down and squashed it.
'How strong is he? He just obliterated a rock."
"There was one. Are there more?" Elora asked.
"No. That was the only one." Zane replied.
"Too bad. Let's keep going." Eric said and they went deeper into the forest.
As they were walking, Zane had his skill activated.
'Are those worms?' Zane saw 'worms' moving under the ground. He didn't find them all that weird because he just saw a spider made of stone, why couldn't there be worms or snakes made of wood?
Suddenly, the 'worms' shot out of the ground surrounding all of them. Now on the surface, they looked like tree roots.
"Don't move!" Eric shouted, making everyone stop their movements.
"Huh?" Ariel glanced down and saw that her foot was grabbed by the roots.
"Ahhh!" Within seconds, more veins shot out of the ground and grabbed Ariel. Then, they pulled into the ground.
'What? What happened?" Zane was unable to comprehend what just happened. With his eyes, the veins pulled Ariel down into the ground and out of his range.
"What do we do?" Elora's eyes reddened.
"Don't move, they won't see us if we don't move," Eric replied.
"We can't just stand here forever! We need to save Ariel." Mike yelled. He then held his hand together and slammed it on the ground. As soon as his hands touched the ground, dozens of veins shot up. Kike before, they grabbed Mike and pulled him to the ground.
*Thud* Elora's legs gave out and she fell to the ground. Again, veins shot up and pulled her to the ground.
'Shit! What should I do?' Zane looked towards Eric who was struggling to stay still.
*Crack* the sound of something stepping on a tree branch was heard. Both Eric and Zane glanced in that direction. There, they saw three four-armed monkeys.
"Hell no." Eric let out.
"What? What are they?"
"See you on the other side."
"Wait what?"
Before Zane could get a reply, the monkey rushed toward them and pushed them on to the ground.
As he reached the ground, Zane felt that his arms, legs and waist were grabbed. Slowly, he felt himself being pulled into the ground.