Marco Frey.
An eagle spread its wings wide in the sky, relentlessly watching for any movement on the ground or among the densely packed trees in the dungeon.
The eagle was Marco's spirit beast.
Marco was also able to see with his spirit beast's sharp vision. He could also easily give orders to it, even from a distance.
Because of this shared vision ability, he was also good at scouting and pathfinding.
However, Marco was amazed at how good Nathan was at hiding himself. He hadn't stopped looking for Nathan, checking even the slightest movements in the forest. And so far, his efforts have not yielded results.
Several hours passed that way until he heard a monster's loud roar echo from inside the cave.
'A battle?' Marco thought.
The eagle swooped down quickly, its wide flapping wings making the leaves fall apart due to the fast and strong air pressure. It landed gently on the ground.
Because of the low entrance of the cave, the eagle had to step on the ground to get inside.
Marco, in his spirit beast body, found a Wild Boar carcass inside the cave. The monster had just died, killed by the sword.
Glancing deeper, Marco detected traces of human blood in some parts of the cave, as well as human footprints.
The spirit beast walked out of the cave and tried to find where the footprints led to, but soon realized that the footprints somehow disappeared without a trace.
'Why isn't anyone in the cave?' Marco thought.
'With such a low level, it's highly unlikely that his camouflage or invisibility can fool the eyes of my spirit beast. I'm sure he's still here.'
The eagle stepped back into the cave and continued to walk. And it quickly found that the cave wasn't deep enough for someone to hide.
'There's no one here. Had Nathan left before I came? That fast?'
The spirit beast walked out of the cave and flew back into the air.
Marco tried to find movement or other traces around the cave. And sure enough, he found nothing else.
'He shouldn't be far from here-'
Marco felt something wrap around his neck and found it difficult to breathe. He immediately returned to his body.
Zander strangled and pushed Marco against a tree.
"Don't play with me, kid."
"I… Found… Something…" Marco tried to answer, struggling with his neck being strangled.
"Tell me." Zander released him.
Marco coughed lightly as Zander let him go. He groaned slightly in pain, then answered. "There is a mark of a battle not far from here, in some cave. But I didn't find anyone there. I can't find him."
Zander immediately spat on Marco's face after hearing his explanation.
He glanced at the bar on Marco's wrist and realized the young man was running out of stamina. Then he walked away.
***
Nathan felt something approaching because of the magic detection he had.
He immediately looked for some gap in the cave wall and hid there.
At that moment, he saw an eagle spirit beast walking into the cave.
"Marco." He muttered in his mind.
Luna nodded in response to his words.
Nathan didn't really know if Marco was on his side or not.
Nathan had to be very careful in identifying who was friend and foe. Therefore, he temporarily held himself and tried to observe all possibilities that might occur with his very minimum information.
After a few minutes, the spirit beast went out of the cave and flew away.
Nathan only made a move after making sure he was already safe.
He activated the Camouflage skill and walked slowly to the mouth of the cave. He kept his Magic Detection skill active to make sure that nothing near him could harm him.
"I have to leave this place immediately," Nathan said, turning to Luna.
Luna nodded at his words.
Nathan looked up at the sky and tried to find out where Marco's eagle spirit beast was. After searching intensely for a few moments, he couldn't find anything flying there anymore.
"Can the eagle use camouflage too?"
"It's very unlikely that an eagle has such a skill, Master." Luna answered.
He nodded quickly, then walked slowly so as not to leave any traces. After distancing himself from the cave, he then ran between the large roots sticking out from the ground.
"Master Nathan, did you manage to think of another option to hide?" Luna asked, hovering, following where Nathan was moving.
"Another cave would probably be good, but I have to make sure to look for a place that has less chances for monsters to visit. So to that end, I will look for the smallest cave I can find." He answered.
After some time running, Nathan stopped near the large piles of rocks that made a suitable cover from the sky because of the trees growing around it.
After making sure that there were no beasts nearby, Nahan sat down by the rocks and leaned back.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his beating heart.
"I'm very lucky that I did not encounter any monsters on my way here." He said while taking out a water bottle from inventory and drinking its contents.
Luna nodded slowly and smiled at Nathan's words.
"Okay Luna, it's time for us to discuss the strategy we will take to get out of this problem." He continued with a smile even though his face still looked really stiff.
Luna nodded again. "Yes, Master. I will try to give my opinion as much as possible."
Nathan responded by nodding. "Okay, please explain the situation I'm in from your perspective, Luna."
"Okay. So, we are currently trapped in a dungeon with a higher level than yours. There are two other people in this dungeon as well. One person is called Zander, someone who sneaked in here and tried to harm you. And another one is Marco Frey, someone who originally accompanied you to clear this dungeon. But, for Marco, we don't really know whose side he's on yet." Luna closed her long explanation with a smile.
Nathan nodded. "Tell me, why do you think that way about Marco, Luna?" he asked again.
"Marco asked you to run, just as Zander appeared. The quick conclusion he drew might be because of his sense of caution. However, he did not run away when Zander appeared. It makes us suspect he is on the man's side. To be safe, it would be good to assume that he is not on our side until we can get confirmation proving otherwise." Luna continued.
Nathan nodded, hearing her long explanation. "Just as I thought, Luna."
"Any other opinion?" Nathan continued.
"Master Nathan, you can't get out of this dungeon from the entrance portal. Because there is a requirement that all three participants must be in the same place to activate the portal."
Nathan looked at Luna with a frown appearing on his forehead. "Then, Luna?"
Luna shook her head. "I can't go on, Master Nathan." She seemed to have a sad face.
"Are you saying that the only way for me to get out of this dungeon is by defeating at least Zander, and maybe Marco if he's after me too, Luna?" Nathan continued, asking slowly.
Luna nodded slowly in response to Nathan's question.
"The dungeon exit will only appear when the Dungeon's boss is defeated. It won't be easy either, because most likely they'll be waiting there too." She continued.
Nathan nodded, then sighed.
"Two people with levels 100 and 80. With the possibility that Zander also has a higher level in Yunatea, even though he is only level 100 in this place. But the equipment he has is definitely better than the one Marco has." Nathan said quietly, then sighed again.
He leaned his body against the boulder. Trying to think of other options he could take.
"Since waking up a few minutes ago. I've been thinking about some skill options I might make as well as what steps I might take." Nathan raised his face and looked at Luna with a more serious look than before.
Luna tilted her head at his words. "Yes, Master. May I know what it is?"
Nathan nodded. "First, I thought about a skill that can exchange the treasures I have, for example, the mountains of gold in the Crescent Moon Dimension for burst damage or stats, which I think will do a lot of damage, and hopefully kill them too."
Luna nodded slowly at Nathan's explanation.
"I was also thinking about using The Sword of Disidia. However, I'm not sure that I can hit that guy, considering that my speed is far less than his."
Luna nodded again, slowly.
Nathan lowered his head, silent for a moment.
He lifted his face again. His hands clenched into fists, pounding them lightly on the ground.
"I need to move around, hunt monsters, and hope to gain an additional level while trying to find out the skills that these two have." He continued.
Luna nodded quickly.
"Okay, Luna. Let's see first what I have, so far. Skill Creation System."
A digital screen immediately appeared in front of him.
[Skill Creation System]
[Skill Points: 595,270]
[Available Skill Slots: 4/14]
[Available Skill Tiers: 1, 2, 3, and 4]
[Available Skill Classes]
[Barbarian Champion: Berserker Form Tier 1 - Lv. 5, Self Mental Healing Tier 1 - Lv. 5]
[Treasure Hunter: Magic Detection Tier 1 - Lv. 5, Greed Empowerment Tier 1 - Lv. 5]
[Beast Tamer: Beast Companion Connection Tier 1 - Lv. 5, Wolf Riding Empowerment Tier 1 - Lv. 5, Tamed Beast's Skill Replication Tier 1 - Lv. 5]
[Flame Sword Warrior: Fire Cutting Waves Tier 1 - Lv. 5, Fire Blade Aura Tier 1 - Lv. 5]
[Dimensional Traveler: Emergency Escape Tier 1 - Lv. 5]
[Skill Creation Route Quests][+]
"I have 4 skill slots left. And I have to spend it optimally. And…"
Nathan fell silent and went back to reading the new Quest Route he had gotten.
"Dimensional Traveler? Does this mean there is another world or dimension other than Yunatea?"
He smiled. "It seems that the future will be very interesting."
His gaze turned sharp as it filled with enthusiasm. "Okay, Luna. Create a new Skill."