"I forgot to ask, but what was its trait?"
"Water,"
"Ah, I guess you thought ahead of me," I chuckled before shaking my hands a bit, causing the feeling to return to them.
I was content with this new change, and now I could actually use some more assassination weapons without having to train my body… how nice.
As I walked out of the office, trails of thin string made from water leaked out of my fingertips.
…
"A-Are we allowed to be here?" Asger stuttered as we entered a long and dark alleyway with a long and narrow corridor leading straight down.
If you weren't careful with your steps, you would most likely just tumble down the entire flight of stairs with ease.
"It doesn't matter…."
"Hey, where'd you get this?" Mari asked, immediately suspicious as I told them to be very lowkey as they left campus for this little field trip of ours.
Thankfully, time is much slower within the dungeon, so we should've been able to make it back before the curfew for our dorms caught up to us.
And, this little dungeon of ours was provided by yours truly with a bit of research and a bit of expenses that truly hurt the money I had obtained from doing chores around the orphanage.
Though obviously, we were followed all the way here, so as I gestured for them to go ahead and continue down the flight of stairs, I looked back up at the entrance where a suspicious shadow loomed over me.
"It's your responsibility if they die. I'll say that and that only," The shadow muttered in a distorted voice before quickly disappearing from my sight. "Also, you owe me."
.
[You have entered The Dungeon: Toxic Rat Lake]
[Recommended Level: 10]
.
As soon as I got the confirming notification, I caught Petra from toppling over and took a few steps ahead of the group to check out the massive cavern that greeted us.
It was truly an amazing sight to see, as nobody would expect such a place to be under such a bustling and rampant city.
It was a massive purple lake that bubbled with toxic drops strong enough to corrode my skin; a truly intimidating sight and feeling.
"Alright… letting the fumes touch your skin is fine, but put on these gas masks," I muttered, handing the childish trio behind me three masks that looked absolutely stupid on them.
But, even if they blushed in embarrassment, it was still for their own good… and I was ready to see what these kids were capable of.
"Seal… This mask is too big," Asger complained.
"Just deal with it. You all agreed to get stronger with me, so here we are… once you start leveling up, you'll become addicted," I lightly gave an encouraging smile.
The lake was surrounded by a thin few meters of toxic dirt that were surprisingly soft to the touch, and if you stood on it for too long, you would sink into it like quicksand.
So, I had the trio behind me constantly walking but never told them of the dangers since that would only scare them more.
"D-Don't tell me we're diving into th-"
"Do you think I'm that insane?" I lightly chuckled, but the trio just darted their pupils toward each other, clearly laughing at me under my watch.
"We're just gonna be having some fun. Here, take this," I threw Asger a very small spear, but his still fragile body was just barely able to take the brunt of the weight.
"T-Too heavy…" Asger wheezed as he gripped the handle of the spear.
"Stop bitching and hold it straight… Now, I will teach you all of the importance of a party or raid team. Both don't really change besides the number of people… Now, listen closely because I won't be explaining this twice,"
"Aren't we going to learn this in school?" Mari raised her hand as both Asger and Petra were slightly entranced by the bubbling lake behind them.
"YOU TWO GET OVER HERE!" I shouted as I could see them slightly sinking into the dirt upon crouching down to get a further inspection. "And you, Mari… no, you will not be learning this in school as of now, but it's better to know this now than later. You can at least practice it with all of you've got right here,"
Mari obviously resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the trio continued to follow me along this dirt path.
I proceeded to explain the formation of the tanks at the front, weapon wielders right behind them, assassins at the wings in order to flank the enemy, and long-range damage dealers at the very back.
Then, I explained to them the importance of healers since they're especially rare and normally require intense attention.
They're the lifeline of the part or raid team, so if they die, everybody has to be either super careful or the entire raid is done. Simple as that.
"That's cool… now when can we start fighting? I thought dungeons were supposed to have monsters," Asger complained, and I just prayed to something that would listen to me out there… that these kids actually remembered their roles instead of rushing in.
Obviously, Asger was an assassin, and the two girls were the mages… while I, on the other hand, was going to serve as both the main damage dealer and tank.
"Now, stop walking…." I ordered, and the trio stopped, only to realize how we were all sinking into the dirt below. "Hold your breath, and don't panic… just trust me,"
They all looked at me with worried eyes, but upon hearing those last words, their expressions softened from their restless and tense faces and eventually just flat-out turned peaceful.
They closed their eyes and let the next few events unfold…
Fwip… Tuffff
We landed on soft sand after we squeezed through the quicksand-like dirt, and despite it being extremely soft, we at least didn't sink.
But, soon, we were greeted by disgusting purple rats with bloodshot eyes attempting to devour us.