"You're finally up?" Alex asked as Nash hazily awoke.
Nash grit his teeth as he held his head. He quickly looked around himself. "Where are we?"
"We're still in the hole. The barrier? Remember?" Alex pointed to the still active barrier.
"R-Right." Nash held his head in pain as he remembered. He slowly got up and stared at the barrier.
"Do you have a way out?" Alex asked with a sigh. "I've already tried my strongest Skill, I couldn't even scratch the damn thing."
"You couldn't destroy it?" Nash raised his eyebrows in shock. 'This cannot be a normal hunting barrier. Whoever put this thing here must be a Master-rank or higher.'
"So, what can you do?" Alex asked. Nash had Master-rank knowledge, so he trusted that the boy would have a way out.
"Give me a second." Nash said as he checked his Mana. '72%...that should be enough time to inspect it.'
Nash endured the pain as he used his Mana Eyes to inspect the barrier. He could focus his attention on inspecting it now that the fight was over. Nash's jaw slowly dropped as he muttered, "Draconic Runes..."
"Draconic Runes? What does that mean?" Alex asked, slowly tensing up.
"Whoever made this trap made it for capturing a dragon..." Nash shivered at the thought. 'If the caster is using Draconic Runes, it might be him.'
"Looks like my trap has attracted some unwanted attention." a voice appeared inside the Dark World party's minds. Nash knew this voice very well, in fact he almost cried. He never thought being isolated from everyone he knew would be so hard.
'Finally, I'm saved from this nightmare.' Nash thought as he bit his lip tightly, stopping it from quivering.
"My name is Igris. It seems you have accidentally fallen into my trap, Dark Swordsman." the voice said. All the people present heard it loud and clear inside their heads.
"I-Igris?!" Rob started shaking in his boots. Igris was the only known person to escape from the actual Dark World party. Their naming would definitely land them in trouble!
"That's LORD Igris, scum!!" Nash berated the Dark Human.
"May I ask your name, young man?" Igris asked, everyone naturally knowing he was talking to Nash.
"I...I am Nash, Lord Igris." Nash said, happiness in his voice.
"Nash?" Igris repeated in confusion. He then chuckled. "Well, it seems like you're quite the talent. Find me when you've reached the Grandmaster-rank, I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about. Oh, and the weak point of the array is three nanometers to the right of the center. Feel free to destroy the whole thing."
"W-Wait!" Nash couldn't say anything before he felt the connection cut off. 'He knew...he definitely knew it was me! Why would he abandon me? I thought we were on good terms...I taught you! You ungrateful bastard!!'
As Nash grinded his teeth audibly, Shinrith took the liberty to destroy the barrier himself.
"Well...now that this is over with, let's go raid the Boss. A new one will evolve in a few hours. If we fail to kill it, we'll have to wait a month before another one evolves." Alex explained with a sigh. He helped the two young men get out of the hole. "I've already seen your performance. You should be able to hold your own against a Boss."
"Great. I really need to blow off some steam right now." Nash said through grit teeth.
-Goblin Crawler Dungeon's entrance-
At the entrance, everyone made space for the Dark World party, some of them even retreated from the dungeon. Unfortunately, some chose the wrong day to be idiots.
"You're that brat from the Teleportation Hall, right?" a man dressed in light blue leather armor approached the group and pointed at Nash. "I'll make this simple. Hand over the Gold and the item you got from the Race of the Races party and I'll let you walk away."
"Hans! Don't push it too far!" Natalie glared at the man.
"Natalie, are you really going to jeopardize your party's future for this Human?" Hans smirked at her. His party was the Silver Wolves party, the fourth strongest party in the area and numbered more than a hundred members! He could easily wipe them out. The Dark Swordsman, Alex, was well known for the fact that he was coldhearted to everyone. No matter how close you are, if it means trouble for him, he won't act.
Nash slowly approached the man.
"Good thing you came...I was looking for a punching bag to vent my anger." Nash's tone caused a frown to appear on Hans's face. Everyone was watching as this weakling humiliated him! He was a High-Tier Intermediate-rank Mage! He only needed the Gold to take his rank promotion test!!
'I need to humiliate him in his own field.' Hans smirked as he walked towards Nash. Usually, a Mage approaching an enemy Swordsman would be considered suicidal, but he was an Intermediate-rank, while Nash was a Novice-rank. A two rank difference was not one to be underestimated. Plus, Hans knew a body strengthening Beginner-rank Spell. While he might not be able to keep up with a Beginner-rank Swordsman, he was barely able to fight it out with a Novice-ranker. If he took into account his great amount of battle experience, he should be able to fight it out with a Novice-rank Swordsman up close.
As soon as Hans was within range, Nash immediately filled his fist with Mana and struck out at Hans's core.
Crack!
He had cracked his Mana core! That meant that his Class as a Mage would crippled for the foreseeable future! Hans fell to his knees, then glared at Nash. "W-What...WHAT DID YOU D-"
Smack!
Nash kicked him in the face.
Thud.
The man's head hit the ground, knocking him out.
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Nash kept kicking him in the gut over and over again.
'They think that just because they're stronger than me that they can ignore me when I'm of no value to them?!' Nash thought with hate in his mind. 'Screw them! Screw them all! I'll kill that bastard, Mark, alone!! I never needed their help and I'm not gonna need it now!'
Boom!!
Nash viciously kicked the man, sending him flying as he hit the door of the entrance into the dungeon.
Alex simply looked on with shock. 'Seems the brat is actually skilled in hand-to-hand combat. If I knew, I might've trained him without a weapon first.'
Rebecca felt a deep chill. She was a High-Tier Beginner-rank Summoner, a Magic Class. Hans was an opponent she simply wouldn't be able to beat, yet this boy that she openly mocked with her brother cracked his Mana core!! Cracking someone's Mana core meant that the Mana would keep leaking from the core until it is fixed. That meant that you'd constantly be at 0% Mana, which was a nightmare for Magical Classes!!
"Huff...huff...huff..." Nash simply stared at the bloodied Hans in front of him. He felt his Mana reserves fall from 48% to 40%. 'Shit...I went too far.'
"Alright, that's enough showing off. Let's move." Alex said with a clap of his hands. "The Boss isn't going to kill itself."
"R-Right." Natalie stuttered as she saw Nash utterly destroy Hans. Hans was someone even she couldn't take lightly. He might've done something stupid and entered close range combat with a Swordsman, but she wasn't delusional. She knew that no one in this area would've been able to react to that attack save for Alex.
The Dark World party slowly followed Alex as they started entering into monster territory.
Everyone knew that after you enter a dungeon's doors, the first area was a resting area that most adventurers cleared out. After walking for a few minutes or so, you'd find the guards commissioned by the Adventurers' Association. Past them is the active monster area that was unguarded. In that area, you'd find normal Tier-0 monsters and maybe Tier-1 monsters. After venturing deeper in, you'd naturally find the highest Tier monsters in this dungeon, Tier-2 monsters. You might even find the rare Special Tier-2 monsters. Eventually, you'd get a monster that evolves into a Boss. That's exactly why the Adventurers' Association commissions protection for low level parties to rest in this low level dungeon. If left alone, eventually this entire dungeon would be crawling with Bosses. It would be a nightmare if a group of Special Tier-2 Bosses teamed up. That would warrant calling in a six-man Master-rank party to this backwater Town.
"A-Are you okay?" Naetir asked Nash as he was practically seething.
"I'm fine." Nash said coldly. 'Damn it, I need to calm down, we're entering active monster territory soon.'
"Hey, Darkie." Nash called to Alex.
Rob immediately overflowed with anger, "You dare to insul-"
He was quickly interrupted by Nash, "I need to rest here. I need to refill on my Mana and calm down."
"HEY ASSHOLE! I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Rob glared as he gripped his sword. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Alex.
"Fine, you have 15 minutes. We'll move after that. It'll be good for the party to calm down too." Alex sighed. Alex then looked at Rob. "Sit."
"I-...Why...damn it..." Rob struggled to speak as he sat down reluctantly. The rest of the party also sat down.
Nash took out his Tier-0 Mana gathering array and sat on top of it and meditated. He slowly gathered Mana as the rest of the party sat down too.
Thud!
Thud!
Nash looked beside him as he saw Shinrith to his left and Naetir to his right, imitating his meditation.
"..." Nash simply looked at the two earnestly trying to meditate and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you two doing?"
"It's part of your routine isn't it?" Shinrith asked. "If you got Master-rank knowledge, then you must've trained as a Mage. That means that your weird old Human rituals help Mages."
"Well...it helps all Classes. Afterall, you need to reset your mindset before entering a dungeon. Always remember that every time you enter a dungeon, you're diving into a fight or flight state for the next few hours at least." Nash explained. He didn't have an issue with teaching, he was one of the fathers of Ashitoria's Humanity. "From my observations, Elves occasionally meditate themselves, though it's only when they enter the Holy Ruins of the Elf Domain. Demibeasts do not on the other hand. They focus on enhancing their Killing Intent rather than calm themselves to use it better. I'm not as familiar with Angels and Demons."
"T-Thanks for the wisdom." Shinrith simply thanked.
The rest of the party then sat down and meditated. Even Rob and Rebecca started to meditate, all except for Alex. He simply looked around as he sharpened his Dark Mana into a condensed ball.
After 15 minutes, Alex called out. "Alright, let's get moving."
Nash exhaled as he stood up. "What's the strongest monster in this dungeon?"
He was familiar with this area since this is the place he decided as his starting point for his new body, but he didn't account for the fact that he couldn't zoom through the ranks and go back to the Earth Alliance.
"It's the Goblin Lord, a Special Tier-2 monster." Alex nonchalantly said as he was walking at the front of the group, directly behind him was Leon. Behind Leon was Naetir and Rebecca. To their right was Natalie and to their left was Rob. Behind them was Shinrith and K. and behind them was Nash.
"A Goblin Lord?" Nash started to ponder. "They'll definitely be a pain if we fight them. I suggest we avoid them, it would be horrible if one of them evolved into a Boss. Especially since they're leader monsters that will have at least two Hobgoblins around them at all times. A minimum of 2 Tier-2 monsters and a Special Tier-2 Boss along with at least a dozen Tier-1 monsters. Even with you on this team, it will be a hard fight."
"No. We're not here to explore for treasures. We're here to train you in actual combat. If we find them, we kill them. If we don't, then that's that." Alex said as he unsheathed his sword. "At the ready, I can already see some Slimes."
The Goblin Crawler dungeon had a few types of monsters. First, the Tier-0 monsters, Slimes. They were particularly frustrating to fight since they just split into smaller parts. Unless you're familiar with Mana manipulation, fighting a Slime would be harder than even fighting a Tier-1 monster. As for Tier-1 monsters, there's the normal Goblin which is quite an opponent for Novice-rank Classes and a monster to take seriously even by Beginner-rank Classes. Adventurers should be especially careful of the Special Tier-1 monster, Kobold. The Kobolds were usually as quick as a Goblin while also packing quite a punch. Even someone of Natalie's level wouldn't approach a Kobold casually. It was an entirely different story if you had a party though.
That's what differentiated low Tier monsters from high Tier monsters. In Tier-4 and higher dungeons, it wouldn't be that weird to see an entire civilization within the dungeon. Raiding such a dungeon was more akin to wars. Some of the higher Tiered dungeons, such as the Lost Forest dungeon, a Tier-6 dungeon, were left alone and eventually turned into countries. The Lost Forest, for example, turned into a giant kingdom called the Great Forest of All. This great kingdom actually rules over the Elf Domain. Even the leader of the Great Forest of All agrees that another dungeon shouldn't be allowed to grow to such a level. Everyone was lucky since the Othos, the main type of monsters within the Lost Forest, were a somewhat peaceful type. If it had been Direwolves or Orcs, it would've been an unmatched war.
Even though Nash felt uncomfortable entering a dungeon with a party, he knew it was simply him being used to high Tiered dungeons. It would be overkill to the largest degree if you wanted to raid a dungeon like the Goblin Crawler dungeon with a legion. Seven somewhat experienced people like the Dark World party could make their way through this dungeon, they might even be able to kill a Boss monster. Now that Nash thought about it, rolling up to this dungeon with his Anti-Dark Legion of over 6,000 Advanced-rank Classes and almost 20 Master-rank Classes would definitely be overkill.
"What about the Tier-2 monsters?" Nash asked after returning to reality.
"There are three types." Alex started to explain as he motioned for Leon and Natalie to go and defeat the three Slimes in front of them. "The first is the most dangerous, the Special Tier-2 monster, Goblin Lord. They usually have 2-4 Hobgoblins around them and around 14 Goblins. That gets us to the second Tier-2 monsters, Hobgoblins. They are usually slow, but their hits pack a punch. Even I wouldn't want to take a direct hit from one of them. In a Boss fight, the Shieldmasters or skilled Swordsmen should take care of them while the rest of the party holds off the Boss. That comes to the third type, the Shadow Walkers."
"Excuse me?!" Nash turned to Alex with a fluster. "How can there be Shadow Walkers here?!"
"These Shadow Walkers are babies." Alex continued his explanation. "A few weeks ago, the Adventurers' Association called for a bounty. Apparently, some guy stole the eggs from a party that was raiding the Darkness Castle dungeon. While he was hiding here, the eggs hatched and the Shadow Walkers killed him in his sleep. There's a reward of 5 Gold Coins per head."
"..." Nash was truly astonished. He knew the Darkness Castle dungeon well. Afterall, he spent a year trying to figure out how to raid the damn place. It was a Tier-5 dungeon where the dungeon was clad in complete darkness. For you to see where you're going, you have to expose your position to the monsters there. "You realize how sketchy this sounds, right? It takes 2 months or so for a baby Shadow Walker to grow from Tier-2 to Tier-3 and 3 months after to become Tier-4. There's no way the Association is just letting them roam this dungeon where they have prime food for nurturing and growing."
"Of course. My personal guess is that they're trying to tame them. Traversing in the Darkness Castle dungeon would be 5 times easier if you had a few Shadow Walkers." Alex said as the Leon and Natalie went back to position. "Either way, we'll avoid Shadow Walkers unless necessary."
"I doubt they'll succeed. Shadow Walkers are especially vicious monsters that attack all they can see." Nash commented.
"You're quite knowledgeable about monsters." Natalie gave a side-eye glance towards Nash.
"My Monster Knowledge evaluation was A-rank." Nash said nonchalantly. Even someone without a Class can attain S-rank Monster Knowledge if they study enough. The reason Nash had such weak knowledge in comparison to his previous Master-rank was because he would spend a year or two on one dungeon that had maybe three or four different types of monsters. The only reason he has A-rank knowledge is because he had to teach most Humans after they started entering into Ashitoria. He was familiar with a lot of weak monsters and some powerful monsters like Shadow Walkers.
"That's impressive, I guess you studied to be a powerhouse Mage." Leon whispered underneath his breath.
Nash simply grit his teeth. He spent over 30 years learning to become a Mage. 'What a waste.'
"Alright, Mr. Genius Mage. Let's start your training." Alex said as he spotted three Goblins ahead. "I will hold off two of them, you kill the last one."
"Got it." Nash said as he unsheathed his longsword.
Alex suddenly disappeared as two of the Goblins got sent flying, none of them died though. The third Goblin looked flustered and shocked at the disappearance of his comrades. Nash quietly snuck up on the Goblin like he was the wind.
The Goblin barely had any time to unsheathe its dagger before Nash sent some Mana into his arms and swung at the Goblin's chest.
Slash!
Splurt!
Some blood gushed out as the Goblin blocked with its arm, causing the dagger to drop to the floor as the Goblin retreated.
"Tsk. Too shallow." Nash was disappointed in himself, he should've been able to chop off the Goblin's entire arm.
Bam!
He immediately rushed after the Goblin and swung his sword again. He chopped off that hand this time, then he swung again and chopped off the second arm. He quickly grabbed the Goblin and threw him to K..
"Heal him before he dies." Nash said.
"Excuse me?" K. was astonished. He could take it if he used his Mana to heal his companions, but healing a monster was definitely taking it too far.
"You heard me. If he dies, I'm not sharing Mana with you again." Nash said as he rushed off to Alex's side. While he was confident that an Advanced-rank Swordsman won't be done in by two Tier-1 monsters, you can't be too careful in a dungeon. What if a Shadow Walker showed up?
K. felt conflicted. 'Whatever, it's only 40 minutes worth of Mana. It's not like he wants me to heal it all the way.'
After two minutes, Alex and Nash returned to the party. Alex saw Leon holding down an armless Goblin and frowned. He turned to Nash, "I thought you said you killed it."
"I said I beat it." Nash replied with a few breaths. Alex had made him fight the remaining two Goblins on his own. It was definitely harder in a 2v1, especially since he couldn't surprise attack them. He only beat them after using Mana throughout his entire body and using the Novice-rank Spell, Wind Slash, to extend his reach when he missed a crucial chance against the first Goblin. After slaying the first one, he made quick work of the second one with his body fully enhanced with Mana.
"If we had an Intermediate-rank Hunter, this would be so much easier." Nash sighed as he wiped some mud on the Goblin's feet and started stabbing the tip of his sword into the Goblin, literally torturing it.
"W-What are you doing?" Rebecca asked with an uncomfortable expression. Her Class as a Summoner allowed her to have a bit of sympathy towards monsters. While she was okay with killing aggressive monsters like Goblins, torturing was too far.
"Give me a second." Nash said as he continued.
"You're messed up, kid." Alex said as he scoffed. He knew of this technique.
"Alright, let him go." Nash instructed Leon who was holding him down.
The Goblin immediately started running while screaming, its blood dripping in its path.
"Okay, let's not lose it." Nash said as Alex instructed the party to follow the Goblin's path.
After running into a few Goblins on the way, they reached their goal. In front of the party was a Tier-2 monster, a Hobgoblin. The armless Goblin was crying in front of it.
"Alright, everyone. Ready for battle!" Natalie said as she readied her rapier.