"Ambush! More flying enemies at 6 o'clock!"
The surveillance officer reported. There was a tone of despair in his voice.
"Rargh! This is getting annoying!"
Lieutenant Shura roared. She increased the number of flame swords hovering around her. Manipulating twenty swords of flames would surely wore her out. But she had no other options. She had to continue exerting herself.
"N-new enemies incoming at 6 o'clock. I repeat, new enemies!"
The voice of the surveillance officer now carried despair. Numerous screeching sounds were approaching the platoon. The screeches this time did not belong to the bat-species.
Skree! Skree! SKKRREEE!!!
Spirit Rats. Another monster found in this particular dungeon. The species do share similar attributes with the spirit wolves and the spirit bats. However, Yoshino Aruven had never seen them cooperate with each other before.
Perhaps this only happed because the platoon was deemed too strong? That the different species decided to form an alliance?
Yoshino could not accept this reason. If threats of such a degree could force the different species to unite, then why did they not do this when the Dungeon Boss was being raided years ago?
Nonetheless, the current situation was no longer on the platoon's favor. If they insisted on holding their ground, they were all going to be run over by the alliance!
Fortunately, the so called Captain seemed to be aware of the struggles of his members. He then ordered,
"Move out! Lieutenant Adled, we are going to push through the front. Everyone shall forward. Go!"
The orange-colored flame wisps combined into a huge single fireball. It was then launched towards the Spirit Wolves at the front.
Boom!
The fireball bombarded the Spirit Wolves. Only around 40 of them remained after the clash with the vanguards. 10 were instantly vaporized upon the fireball's impact. The rest were blown away by the blast.
The platoon rushed forward. The members forced their way through the disoriented wolves. They ran as fast as they could.
"Damn it! Why am I running away from Tier 1 monsters?"
"Because we were outnumbered?"
The female officer grumbled while running. She was called Officer Budi. This was based from the conversations they had during the previous battle. The one who answered her was the surveillance officer.
"Officer Klein, do you really think Tier 1s could beat a group of Tier 2s?"
"Uhm, yes?"
"Of course not!"
The platoon had been running for 20 minutes. They decided to halt their steps to catch their breaths.
Officer Budi continued while panting,
"This only happened because we were suppressed."
"Suppressed?"
"Yes. This dungeon has some peculiar characteristics. One, it has some sort of anti-mapping functionality. Two, it could suppress the attributes of higher Tiers."
The surveillance officer who was apparently named Klein furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed to be confused on what he heard. He turned his head towards Officer Nawnu.
"Is this true, Sir?"
"Yes."
Nawnu nodded tersely. Officer Budi seemed irritated by the lack of trust.
"You brat! You don't believe me? If not for the suppression, we would have left you in the dust when we are running!"
That was indeed the truth. Each breakthrough would grant massive improvements on the parameters of an individual. The gap between a Tier 1 and Tier 2 could not be easily overcome by simple advantage in numbers. Add to the fact that there were two Tier 3s in their midst.
This was also the reason why Yoshino opted to do a 'rare-skill hunt' rather than cultivating to the next Tier. Because all skills and parameters will be suppressed down to Basic-Tier.
Yoshino was only able to distinguish the Tiers of the platoon members based on their degree of control to their skills.
Of course the Basic-Tier was unaffected by this suppression. That was probably why Officer Klein never noticed it. But he should have suspected this at the very least. Why would a platoon with heightened parameters rely on a Tier 1 for their surveillance?
"And number three, the monsters here would team up once their enemy is too strong."
The Scout named Toba added. The officer named Klein dropped his shoulders lower.
"It is. The third characteristic was too unfair."
"Agreed. This dungeon looks generic but is actually devious."
"Tch! No wonder the Guild never tried to clear this place! Too much hassle for a Basic-Tier!"
The other platoon members complained as well. The more they talked about it the more Yoshino considered the third characteristic as rubbish.
The dungeon would have never been cleared if that was the case. But perhaps this characteristics would only occur when a certain number of powerful explorers entered?
Yoshino never tested this scenario during the past two years. So he could not cross out this possibility. But what if this was not the case?
What if---
Yoshino's thoughts were pulled back to the current situation when someone spoke by his side.
"You were useless."
"Thanks."
"That was not a compliment! Rargh!"
"And my hands were tied. What did you expect me to do?"
"Rargh… be less useless?."
"But you're already strong enough to handle the monsters."
"Absolutely! I'm a Tier 3 after all."
Thanks again.
Yoshino smiled wryly. While the Lieutenant Shura grinned upon hearing the compliment.
She had just proven that his skill control for [Scanner] could sneak up against a Tier 3. Although Yoshino doubted that the case will no longer be true when the person of that level was unoccupied with other factors. Still the improvements were verified.
The female lieutenant had also confirmed that his estimation of their power levels was quite right. Thus he thanked her again in his mind.
"Everyone! Let us move out!"
The Captain ordered after a few minutes of rest. Officer Klein had just reported that the monsters were following them. The platoon had to run for now!
They kept on running for ten-odd minutes while resting from time to time. This continued for an hour and a half. The members were now drenched in sweat.
A Basic-Tier have parameters that was only slightly higher compared to the average humans before the world was transmigrated.
However the Trogans had adapted a militaristic system. The physical training their 'Officers' was subjected to had given them an edge. Their natural endurance was higher than an average person.
Thankfully Yoshino was able to keep up on their pace. He then asked when they were resting,
"Officer, why are we still not running towards the dungeon exit?"
"You can tell that we are not escaping?"
Officer Mink had noticed a detail. Yoshino wanted to slap his forehead. But he could not because his hands were tied.
He made a mistake. How could anyone notice where they were going when the dungeon had an anti-mapping function? If these people figured that he was familiar with this location, he shuddered to the idea.
His thoughts sped up to come up with an excuse,
"The Captain should have said 'retreat' or 'fall back' otherwise. Instead he kept on saying 'move out'."
"Oh? Very perceptive of you."
Officer Mink had a faint smile. She seemed to be surprised with what she heard. In truth Yoshino was also surprised with what he said. He never believed that he could think of that excuse under normal conditions.
Physical exercise does increase brain activity!
But then Officer Mink looked troubled,
"How can I explain this… we have a mission. Yes, that's it! It's because we have a mission."
She then explained. So she was just thinking of how she can explain the situation without leaking any information.
"What is this mission exactly?"
Yoshino inquired. Perhaps the fatigue from running would loosen the lips of this officer. Heck, if he was prone to making mistakes. Perhaps everyone does at this condition.
"Sorry. I will be in trouble if I answer that."
Was the reply he got. Yoshino raised his hopes for nothing. But chose to try again. When the platoon rested the next time, he approached Lieutenant Soura. He asked the same question.
"Rargh! None of your business!"
Was the reply he got. Yoshino raised his hopes for nothing… Again! He tried once more. The next time he approached Officer Klein. Perhaps a fellow Tier 1 would be more compassionate.
He asked the same question.
"Apologies. But I'm not allowed to talk about that."
Was the reply he got. Yoshino raised his hopes for nothing. Screw that compassion it never work!
But then,
"There is no use asking to anyone. Because the answer is with I."
The Captain said during their next rest time. He seemed to have purposely went to the back of the formation to talk with Yoshino.