Rishi had been training with his guild members for two days, but today was particularly memorable. Jay was anticipating the evolution of his contract beast, which Rishi had already prepared.
He has reserved a lab at the academy for the evolution of the magic beast, and Rishi has asked Jay what kind of evolution he desires. They decided on the best evolution for them after much deliberation.
He took out all of the materials needed for evolution and asked Jay to feed them in the proper order. He then instructed the lab assistant to inject the serum.
"We need to wait five minutes," Rishi explained.
They all waited for five minutes to notice any change. When nothing happened, they all looked at Rishi; he checked the time and said, "It will occur at any moment."
A bright light appeared in the room a few seconds later, blinding everyone. They saw a completely different magic beast when they opened their eyes one by one.
It was similar to his previous form, with a few minor differences. It had a large crystal below its neck and another between its brows. Its four hooves were made of crystals as well.
"It looks cool; what is the name of this evolution?" Manu inquired. He had a thing for majestic, magic beasts that could be used as mounts.
"It's called Crystal Equidae, a magic beast with wind and crystal element," Jay explained.
"Oh, nice," Lalit said.
Jay was approached by the contract beast, who neighed. He first touched the head of his contract beast with his hand, and the contract beast licked his face in response.
"Everything is ready now, guys. Let's begin our first dungeon raid," Rishi said. The entire guild applauded.
They then proceeded to the academy dungeon area, where they decided to enter an advanced-stage level 5 dungeon.
"How do they determine the level of a dungeon?" Manu inquired.
"It's determined by the maximum level of the creatures found there," Dev explained. He has begun to converse with other guild members to establish himself as a capable and resourceful vice leader.
"Let's go! Remember the formation we discussed, "Rishi stated.
"But how can we enter without knowing anything about the dungeon? At the very least, we should know what we're going up against," Manu asked.
"We're preparing for the competition where we have to clear a dungeon without receiving any information about the dungeon; does anyone has any other questions?" he asked. Everyone remained silent, signaling to Rishi that they were now ready.
He was the first to enter the portal, followed by Ait. Jay stepped forward after gathering his courage and entered the portal.
"Please enter fast, Lalit," Dev said to Lalit, who had not yet entered the portal.
Lalit was terrified because he had never been inside a dungeon and had heard many stories about how dangerous they were. As he was about to take a step, his legs began to shake.
"Don't be afraid; you are not alone. We are all rooting for you. Do you not believe us? "According to Dev. Lalit took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began walking towards the portal; he came to a halt in front of it.
Manu and Dev wanted to give him more time, but Dilip was not a gentleman; he shoved Lalit into the portal and entered with him. Dev wanted to say something, but before he could, they vanished in front of him.
"Let's go; it's our turn," Dev said. Manu was also scared, but he trusted his friends and entered the dungeon.
Rishi entered the dungeon and found himself in a completely different environment. There were many trees around him, giving the impression that he was in a forest, but when he looked up, he noticed the sky was orange. He also looked closely at the trees and noticed they were unlike any other trees he had seen.
He decided to wait for all of the members before making a decision. After some time has passed, all of the members arrive, and Rishi addresses them. "We've entered the dungeon and don't know what kind of dungeon it is, so we'll gather information first."
"As we previously agreed, Jay and I will explore the dungeon while you camp and investigate the surrounding area. Remember to work as quietly as possible."
"Jay, you go this way while I go that way; let's meet after 15 minutes," Rishi said as he began walking in the direction he had previously indicated.
Rishi discovered numerous magic beasts, but they were all low levels. "They can't be the primary threats; there must be something else I'm overlooking."
He looked for another five minutes but couldn't find anything. When he was disappointed and wanted to return, he noticed a large footprint on the ground. It resembled a human footprint but was twice the size of an average adult human.
Rishi started looking for traces and soon discovered evidence of more footsteps similar to the ones he had previously discovered.
He followed it for a while and discovered that he had gone deep into the forest. He was looking around when he heard giant footsteps approaching him.
Rishi used his 'Shadow Walk' skill to enter the shadow of a tree, and after some time, a big humanoid creature became visible to him.
"Chii" it made a noise and smelled around for its prey, but when he couldn't find anyone, he stomped the ground in frustration and left the area.
Rishi quietly followed it and noticed that it was approaching a fenced-in area. He climbed a nearby tree and was astounded by what he saw.
He saw many creatures similar to the one he had just seen. He also identified the creature; It was an Orc.
Rishi decided to return to his friends before engaging in combat because there was an orc village, and there appeared to be many orcs.
He reached his friends and saw that Jay was already there.
"You are late," commented Ajit.
"I know, but there was a situation, and I couldn't come back without investigating it completely," replied Rishi.
"Jay found a safe place to camp and some fruit trees. What about you," said Dev.
"I found our opponents in this dungeon. There is an Orc village nearby," replied Rishi.
"What an Orc village! Aren't Orcs hard to deal with? How will we fight a whole village of them" asked Lalit?
"I can slaughter that much alone," replied Dilip.
"We can easily defeat them with strategy, but we will not be able to train properly if we do that. Let's fight them by only relying on our fighting power," suggested Dev.
"You are right; we will fight them fairly," replied Rishi.
"Let's firsts set up a camp in the area that Jay has found. We don't have to hurry," said Ajit.