"So far so good", Rio thought as he and Cain moved quickly through the mountain . They had only run into a few low level monsters but Cain had dispatched them quickly and their journey had progressed quite smoothly.
'He's doing surprisingly well', Cain thought. He had expected Rio to request for several breaks to rest but so far he has kept up with him every step of the way.
Cain also noticed that Rio had been subtly fortifying his body with mana.
"Isn't that difficult?", he asked.
"What do you mean?", Rio asked puzzled.
"I'm saying that you're currently pushing mana through your mana circuit with the condition your core is in, isn't it getting difficult?", he asked.
"It was difficult when I had started training some years ago", Rio replied.
"How long ago did he start training?", Cain thought.
Just then, both of them sensed the presence of a creature a few meters ahead.
"Let's move carefully from here. We've gotten deeper into the valley, we'll be seeing plenty of monsters from here on ", Cain said.
Just then a creature leapt towards them causing them to jump sideways. It was a grey horned jaguar, its kind is one of the strongest predators in any ecosystem, but this one had fresh scars and injuries all over.
"What could do this much damage to a top predator?", Rio wondered out loud for Cain to hear.
"let's hope we don't find out", Cain replied.
The jaguar studied both of them as though it was looking for the weaker of the two of them, after deciding on whom to attack, it lunged at Rio. Rio dodged just in time, the place he stood before cracked under the impact of the jaguar.
As Rio increased the distance between himself and the beast, he raised his hand and chanted "Bind", just then a symbol immediately appeared above the jaguar and transformed into white chains that wrapped around the beast.
"Pretty impressive", Cain said.
"You could have helped, you know", Rio grunted.
"Well it didn't seem like you needed it", Cain said.
"That's because it was already weakened from its injuries", Rio said.
"So are you gonna kill it and take its core?, you could get a really good price for it", Cain asked.
"Not interested, let's just move, the longer we stay here the higher the chance of the guilds getting to the dungeon before we do", Rio stated.
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Standing in the balcony of his hotel room, Rio's uncle admired the view of the city.
"It's been a while since I've been here, I wonder how much has changed", he thought.
"What are you doing day dreaming you're supposed to be looking for Rio", a woman spoke through his gauntlet.
"I know but it's not every day I get to leave the island", he said.
"Just don't get carried away, you're only there to check up on Rio, see how far he's progressed and bring him home if need be", she said.
"And remind me why you, his mother can't be here instead", He said.
"We both know he won't even look at me let alone speak to me", she replied.
"Can you really blame him?", he asked rhetorically.
"Please Seth, just make sure he's alright", Rio's mother said.
"Save it, Varis. This is a mission given by the family leader, so I was going regardless", He stated.
"Besides, I'm curious about Rio", Seth said.
" How so?", Varis asked.
"How did he manage to convince the family leader to let him go on this quest?", he wondered.
"I'm guessing the leader wants to see how far he can go", Varis said.
"Maybe he's hoping Rio would turn out like his older brother", he said.
"Hmm.... could that be it?", She wondered.
"Relax, how would we know what he's thinking", Seth said.
Seth turned back as the door to his room opened and one of his bodyguards entered.
"Everything is ready sir", the man said.
"That's my cue Varis, I'll give you an update after I've found him", Seth said as he ended the call.
"Have you found him?", Seth asked his guard.
"Yes sir, he's currently moving towards the dungeon and he's not alone", the man said.
"let's move", Seth ordered.
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Back at the hideout of the Serpents the final preparations for the attack on the guilds were being finished. They would divide their forces according to the information they had gotten from their spy and wait in ambush in different locations outside the dungeon.
"I really think we should go after the kid", Tif said.
"Don't worry about it, if what that goon said is true then the kid's probably working with one of the guilds meaning will see him at the dungeon ", Sloan replied.
"Besides why are you so freaked out about some kid's magic?", Claudia asked.
That question brought back painful memories to Tif's mind, memories of blood and death.
"Let's just say it's dangerous to let the kid go unchecked", She said.
"Nevertheless, we move at sunset", Orid their leader said as he practiced his swordsmanship.
"I'll definitely pay her back ", he said angrily.
"The boss is still obsessing over his loss", Sloan said.
"Well I'm not surprised, he did lose to the guild master of the Silver Talons", Claudia said.
"Well not this time, I've got something in store for her", Orid said with a wicked grin on his face.
The sun set in the horizon as Cain and Rio finally arrived at the dungeon domain.
Dungeons had a unique effect on the environment where they manifested and the creatures living there. Depending on the dominant element of the dungeon boss the natural environment would undergo changes to suit that of the dungeon though the speed of transformation usually depends on the amount and quality of mana in the dungeon.
The dominant elements of this particular one were wind and water, the surrounding area had already started to transform.
The dungeon itself looked like a giant misshapen hill with a giant black gate as its entrance. Blackish water formed a lake around it and the sky had started to darken.
The cries of several monsters could be heard in the distance.
"Buckle up kid", Cain said as their adventure would get extremely difficult from here.
"Let's go", Rio replied calmly.