*Boom!*
'Hmm, such a loud noise… is someone fighting nearby?'
Jareth stared at the passage from where the loud voice came with narrowed eyes.
'Let's go and see what' going on there…'
…
Hidden floor of the dungeon.
"Hey you two, good work finding this place! Now I know why I used detection earlier, why did it not work properly…"
Shin glanced at Allen and Airin with a gentle smile on his face and praised them for their feats.
"Well I was also quite surprised to detect a minotaur suddenly appear and thus I came to your rescue as fast as possible…"
"But to think you were able to hold off against such a strong monster on your own, you really have some talent kid…"
'Now I understand why the principal specifically instructed me to keep an eye on student Allen personally, this little guy seems to have a better reaction time than other students… '
Indeed, with his plot armor, Allen already raised his favorability points for the principal by just meeting him one time. (This may sound weird but yes this is the truth, blame this on the thick plot armor…)
After helping the two students get up, Shin closed his eyes and tried to use his mana detection on this hidden floor.
But just as he was about to use his mana detection, his focus was interrupted by a sudden rain of arrows out of nowhere.
The place Shin and the three were standing was a large open area and those arrows rained from the dark passageways that were located in all directions of this open area.
[Grade-4 Frost magic: Spherical Frost Barrier!]
Before those arrows could land on the three, Shin cast a spherical frost barrier that covered the three of them from all sides and blocked those arrows easily.
When the arrow rain ended goblin archers walked out of several passages and surrounded the three from all directions.
'This was a coordinated attack…. Something is strange with this place… simple brain creatures like goblins don't have the ability to do such coordinated attacks…'
'They are behaving like disciplined army…'
Before Shin could continue his speculations a giant stone club came flying and collided with the barrier head-on.
'Another minotaur? No there's more...'
While Shin glanced around to better understand the situation, several more giant stone clubs came flying and collided with the barrier.
Although those clubs did no damage to that strong barrier Shin was surprised to see such a high number of Minotaur's in this dungeon.
Shin hurriedly used his mana detection and probed the situation.
'About five hundred goblins, fifty minotaurs, hundred orcs and….'
*KKRRRRRRRAAAAA!!!*
A gigantic monstrosity broke through the ground and smashed the ceiling of the upper floor with its height.
Covered in immense killing intent, the monstrosity had one eye on its face and a creepy smile hung over its mouth.
*Kekekeh, human meat kehkehkeh! It's been so long!*
Looking at that monster's tall body, a frown appeared on Shin's face.
"A Cyclops… Now I understand why my detection wasn't working properly... you were blocking it…"
*KUAAHAHAHA! YOU Intelligent pest!*
*You are nothing but my food now! krrrhahHahaha!*
That creepy laugh and that insane pressure created by its mere presence made all the students in the whole dungeon shudder in fear.
*It's a feast today! I finally will get to eat as many humans! As I want! Krahahah!*
Hearing that creepy laugh, Shin frowned even more.
'Cyclops is a Grade-3 monster, I could have killed him easily but this one is different… regular Cyclops are not intelligent enough to speak and use strategies to lure people…'
Just then Shin noticed a golden tattoo on the back of the Cyclops's hand.
'D*mn it! This thing is a remnant of the 'Giant's rebellion war', the situation has become trickier it seems…'
"How are you still alive! It's been a century since the war ended!"
Shin questioned the giant with a frustrated tone.
*Kraaahahaha, I went into hiding of course, and fell asleep! Sleeping for a century is nothing for us great giants!! Hahahah*
'From its aura alone, this beast is at least Grade-2, I used a lot of mana earlier to put barriers on the students, fighting a grade-2 monster will be difficult for me right now…'
Although Shin was a bit panicked from this situation, he didn't show it on his face at all. He is a genuine Grade-2 mage who has been through many difficult situations, there's no way he would lose his cool over something like this.
"I see, then I will make sure you go back to sleep for the eternity this time then!"
*Bahahah puny human! Die!*
The whole monster army under the giant's control rushed at Shin at once, hundreds of arrows rained on Shin continuously and several Minotaur's threw gigantic boulders at his barrier on the command of the Cyclops.
Ignoring all these, Shin glanced at the two students and said:
"You two get out of this place first… also stop any other students from coming here too, I can't fight that Cyclops while protecting you at the same time…"
[Grade-5 Frost magic: Hand of protection!]
A gigantic hand made up of ice appeared out of thin air and covered the two students in its grasp, it raised in the air and took the two of them back to the upper floor.
*Attack them!*
At the order of the Cyclops, the goblins aimed at the hand and fired arrows at it, but their arrows were ineffective against Shin's magic.
The frost hand safely carried the two students out of the dangerous place.
*I will kill you!*
The monstrosity got angry at the fact that its prey was going out of its grasp. The Cyclops kicked the ground with immense force and punched at the frost hand.
"Where do you think you are aiming! Your opponent is me!"
[Grade-2 Frost Magic: Wide area magic: Condensed Frost barrier!]
A frost barrier the size of the whole open area appeared and locked the whole monster army and the Cyclops inside itself, along with Shin.
'Good, now this beast can't go outside until I am out of mana, or this barrier gets smashed…. This way I don't have to worry about the students being harmed… now I can go all out…'
Shin's body floated in the air and the condensed frost element particles floated around him. Shin stopped suppressing his aura and fully revealed his might as a grade-2 mage.
His aura alone would have made all lower-ranked monsters shiver in fear if not for the Cyclops to block him.
*You are worth killing! human pest!!*
Shin's whole body shined with an icy glow and the condensed mana spiraled in his body, enhancing his capabilities to a higher level.
Shin's glowing eyes stared at the Cyclops and there was no fear in his eyes at all.
Shin brought out his magic cane from his space ring.
The cane looked like it was made from some ancient wood and there was only one line written on that cane.
[Isaz de Phantasm]
"It's been a while since I last went all out like this... prepare to die!"
…
(A brief introduction of the item…)
[Item name: Isaz de Phantasm]
[Item Grade: Grade-1]
[Item Description: This is the world-famous cane that was once used by Grade-1 Mage Raon Isaz.
This cane is made from the corpse of Raon's wife. If you try listening to it, you might actually hear the painful howls of her soul that is confined inside this cane…
It is said that Raon made this cane to keep his wife close to him forever, but he might not have considered how much her soul would have to suffer from this…]
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! Lately, I feel like the story is not dark enough, so I decided to introduce the twisted backstory of the items that are being used by the people of this world…
Question of the day.
Would you still use that cane after knowing this?
1. Yes (Go to therapy!)
2. No (I wouldn't want to hear a howling soul personally…)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones!!