Passing through the portal last second, Ren was lucky enough to make it. The feeling of passing through the portal was similar to that of passing through the dungeon portal, he wasn't used to it, but it also wasn't alien to him and he quickly adjusted once he came to the other side.
Looking around, the structure of the place seemed very weird. There were a lot of rocks of different sizes, shapes, and overall dimensions all over. It was just as described in the novel, but seeing it in person was even more fascinating.
Lacking time to enjoy the scenery or even think about it, Ren moved out. He was late, and no one was there at the other side of the portal when he arrived. The ground was also solid enough that it didn't leave footprints behind, so there were no tracks to follow. Luckily, Ren found a trail of blood, not a consistent one with much volume, but there were drops that led somewhere. With lightning impulse activated, his senses were also enhanced, and this was the first time he experienced the use of it as he could follow the blood through a faint smell.
Using his enhanced sense of smell, he could somewhat follow the smell of blood in places where the blood ceased and there was no trail.
Ren had no idea where they could have been, since it also wasn't detailed in the original story, the relief he had in his heart was that there were no wild beasts and monsters roaming the surroundings. In the original, it took about an hour and a half for people from the academy to show up because the students only got the opportunity to send a signal after they were done with the incident and had rescued the student. 'It should take shorter since Ash would handle that, I guess.'
The environment only resembled a maze but it was easier to maneuver through it. It wasn't too long before Ren heard the sound of fighting as rumbling and rock crashing sounds could be heard from afar.
Ren rushed to the site where the sounds came from, and once he got there, he could see what the current situation was.
'This is actually worse than I expected, what the fuck's going on?' Ren was confused.
Well, in the original, it didn't take too much beating for Ray to unleash his bloodline and use the unsealed power to fight against his enemies. 'Why does he look so bloodied and yet no bloodline activated?'
Ray was kneeling at the back with blood all over his body in different areas while Lucy and Damien covered him and were trying their best to defend themselves, because they weren't even able to lash out a single attack from what Ren could see. 'More importantly, where is the abducted girl and Dominic?' The only people he could see were Marcel and three others. He figured that Marcel was the strongest and the rest had to be goons.
'That must mean Dominic has used this opportunity to escape and these guys are only acting as decoy.' Ren was sure that the others had also noticed this but couldn't do anything about it.
The options Ren had were very limited. He could either allow them to beat the others up and then when they leave he could follow them, or he could go down and beat them up so when they leave he can follow them. 'But then again, I need Ray to unlock to bloodline and all…' The problem was the fact that Ray wasn't behaving like an MC at the moment, taking the back sit and all. He needed to be beaten to near death for him to activate his power, at least that was the conclusion Ren came to. 'Does it mean they have become stronger? Even though he raided one less dungeon?' Ren was actually surprised.
In this world there were two ways to raise stats, and the second option was widely used also. It was either one leveled up, or they exercised, and since levelling up wasn't so easy and gives only 5 stat points to be distributed, exercising to increase those stats was preferred as it was less dangerous and equally rewarding.
Of course, it was because Ren served the role of a rival in Ray's mind, that was why he put in so much effort, so factoring that in, Ren couldn't piece together why. Nevertheless, it was still amazing he was strong enough. 'But then, him being stronger than he was supposed to be means he isn't getting beaten as hard.' With that thought, Ren decided to wait a little bit longer to see how things play out. He could always help during the last minute.
Given the fact that no one had noticed his presence yet, Ren also gave thanks to his new technique [silent steps].
After about five minutes, it was looking like the battle was coming to the point Ren had been waiting for. It was more than boring to watch, but even then he couldn't let any of them die. As for the girl who was kidnaped, Ren didn't really care much. According to the original story, she wasn't important throughout the story and died a stupid death in the end. Well, maybe it was also because Ren didn't know it was Yulia who had been abducted, maybe if he knew he would have cared a little bit. Given the fact that he still had a bleeding heart, it was only natural for him to care about others. That was left to circumstance and time to know.
Ren jumped down from the rock top he was on, and choosing not to use his silent step technique so his steps make a sound, he landed on the ground with enough to make it form cracks underneath his feet.
Dragging attention to himself was just diversion to give Ray the opportunity to drink some potions. He did decide to help in the end, but he still needed Ray to awaken his bloodline here. Ren quickly went through his inventory and took out the Goblin chief's staff which he received as a reward after raiding the second dungeon.
Even though Ray was primarily a sword user, he was actually naturally proficient in many other weapons, and a staff was no different.
Ren tossed the staff to Rey who had just drank two potions for stamina recovery and health recovery. After drinking the potions and with a stronger weapon in hand, he bravely stepped forward in front of the others who looked beat to take on their enemies. Apart from the fact that they had wasted enough time fighting, they were still far away from their main goal of rescuing the girl that had been abducted.
"Take care of those guys, I'll look after them!" Ren quickly went behind to tend to Lucy and Damien. 'Not giving them any of my potions should be alright, Lucy should have for herself, and the people from the academy will also show up soon, nobody will die from injuries. Lucy looked beat and covered in a few scratches, while Damien looked even worse and also had a nasty cut on his back.
'Now, unlock that cheat, Ray ma boi!'