Outskirts of Nova city, Mountain range,
A-rank dungeon.
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Several minutes before the alliance arrived, Rio and Cain step into the monster's lair.
The first thing the duo noticed was the landscape, more specifically the fact that it's completely different from the rest of the dungeon.
"Hey kid", Cain said quietly.
"What?", Rio asked feeling irritated at being called a kid.
"Throughout our trip down here, all we've seen has slimy rocks, mold and water", Cain said.
"Yeah, so?", Rio responded still puzzled.
"Lesson one; if the land scape of a dungeon changes or is different at any point in time during the raid...that means the monster in question doesn't like it's current habitat and is using its power to reshape the dungeon itself", Cain explained.
"So that's why dungeons ranked A and above have a high death toll. The monsters there are in a league of there own". Rio said.
"True but there's something different here", Cain stated.
"Different how?", Rio asked then immediately snapped his gaze towards the swamp ahead of them.
"I'll tell you if we survive. It seems our friend has noticed our presence", Cain smirked as tiny flames dances around his fingers.
In the murky depths of the swamp, a sinister silhouette begins to rise, its form obscured by the mist. With a hiss like steam escaping from a cauldron, the creature emerges, its many heads weaving and swaying in the thick, humid air. Each head drenched in the foul waters of the marsh, yet their eyes gleam with an eerie intelligence. As the creature slithers forward, the swampy ground trembles beneath its weight, and the air fills with the stench of decay.
"One, two, three...,.seven heads", Rio said after a quick count.
"Do you have a way hide yourself?", Cain asked to which Rio nodded.
"Stay hidden and keep moving. I'll settle this quick", He ordered.
Rio took a step back and quietly chanted ,"concealment". A symbol soon outlined itself on his hand then his body gradually turned incorporeal until he seemingly vanished.
As if triggered by the disappearance of one of the intruders the heads of the hydra lunged at Cain who responded by jumping high while concentrating a large amount of flames into his palm.
Throwing the ball of flame he chanted silently," Crimson scatter shot".
The flame immediately divided and hit every single head, the creature simply shook its heads and hissed. Five of the seven heads had scorch marks and burns that healed instantly, they hissed then lunged again this time from different directions while the remaining heads had smoke brewing in its mouth.
Cain realised the hydra was trying to entrap him with attacks from all sides but he couldn't help but feel like something was off.
'Although it's showing clear signs of high intelligence, it's not as aggressive as it can be', he thought.
A voice shouted from a distance,"Bind!".
Silver chains materialized and instantly enchained the two heads with smoke brewing causing a mini explosion in its mouths.
'Fire from a boss monster of a water dominated dungeon?', Cain's mind went overboard trying to think if similar cases had happened in the past when his eyes suddenly widened.
"Rio!. Let's retreat and wait for help, there's something strange about this situation",Cain shouted.
Although Rio heard the warning, his earlier involvement in the battle had revealed his position to the hydra which was fervently attacking the area he stood in.
'All it knows is that I'm at this side of the lake, it can't find me in my concealed state', He thought. He was very wrong.
Tendrils of blackish water shot out from the lake immediately striking and knocking Rio out of his concealed state. Rio crashed into the muddy floor struggling to catch his breath. He soon staggered back up only to see more tendrils of water swam his position. Trying his best to dodge the attack and move towards the exit at the same time a conflicting thought came to his mind,'why am I still fine?. Although the impact of the attack hurt a lot, wasn't that an attack from a boss monster?. I shouldn't have even survived that....is that why he said something's wrong?....i wond-'
Rio thoughts were interrupted by a series of explosions at the centre of the lake . He turned back to see the hydra or what was left of it as it crumbled into the lake while Cain landed with a thud beside him.
"Has it always been this easy in A-ranked dungeons?", Rio asked confused because he had heard stories of the high death toll that occurred in dungeons of this level.
"This wasn't a natural born mutant",Cain stated.
"It's mana seemed to be fighting with some other energy causing it to have poor control over its attacks", He explained.
"Now that you mention it, I can sense different energies coming from the lake. The obvious one is the natural water attribute mana from the hydra while the other is coming from the bottom of the lake", as Rio said this he closed his eyes to concentrate all the while walking closer to the lake stopping just on the edge.
Standing a few steps away, Cain was also trying to sense the strange mana Rio was talking about but after the hydra was killed he could only sense the reminant energy from the lake. "What does it feel like?", Cain asked not doubting Rio's words at all.
Rio muttered as if he had entered a trance "Chaos".
Cain's mind went numb not because if the absurdity of what he heard but the fact that he heard it from a kid who was barely fifteen years old.
'Chaos an element that was presumed to be used in the pale era which was said to have been an era where even gods perished. An element that is banned from all schools and research institutions by the the churches of Twilight, Stars and the church of the sea god', Cain wondered how the child in front of him even heard of magic that has been buried in history.
"How do you even know what chaos magic feels like?", Cain prodded.
Still in a trance Rio said,"I don't know....it just feels familiar".
Before either of them could even notice, a black water tendril in the shape of the palm grabbed Rio by his calf and dragged him into the lake pulling him down to the center that was glowing red .
Cain immediately moved back a few steps and observed the lake. He noticed the tendrils of water continuously rise up to form a circle around the lake then he saw seven long scaly heads rise up once again baring it teeth at him.
'So it wasn't completely dead or was dragging the kid down its goal from the beginning ', Cain wondered.
Suddenly silver chains bound two of the hydra's head together, the chains seemed to be held by invisible hands up in the air.
"That's right, rune based spells are branded on the body of the target and only disappear either by the consent of the caster or when the caster dies", Cain smirked glad to see that the kid was still alive and his fight was suddenly easier.
The next minutes followed a sequence of attacks by both Cain and the hydra. Tendrils of black water continuously charged towards Cain to which he responded by moving unpredictably all the while simultaneously hurling scarlet fire balls at the beast causing tiny but lethal explosions upon contact.
As their battle went on, they began the feel the presence of a group just at the entrance of the tunnel. 'Most likely the alliance Rio told me about. They sure took their time getting here', Cain thought.
Seven figures rapidly dashed out of the tunnel silently moving closer and analyzing the situation. Their faces turned grimmed after identifying the creature they would be facing, a creature all citizens of Nova city would never forget after a dungeon break incident five years ago- a hydra.
"Lyn inform the others about the situation and tell them to proceed with caution", Zyran ordered one of his guild members.
"I'm guessing the rest of us will join the mystery dude fighting the hydra?", Ryker asked rhetorically.
"Yeah but keep your guard up throughout the battle. We can't trust him until we find out his motives and his partner's whereabouts", Zyran answered.
"Do we have a chance to win?", Katrina asked while glancing at Cain who was still hurling flames at the beast.
"I can sense it as well. That man is at least at Tier-1", Zyran confirmed her guess.
"Let's focus on the hydra first ", he quickly added then leaped into the air as greenish mana radiated from his clenched fists.
A wave of heat emanated from Cain's palm vaporising two black water tendrils, more quickly followed but they were cleared away by what appeared to be a green claw.
Cain looked at the source of the claw and saw a man with black messy hair and feral blue eyes floating a few feet away from him.
Zyran simply nodded at Cain then turned to attack the hydra.
'Looks like I don't have to worry about them for a while. But more importantly, I can't sense the kid's mana anymore. His rune art is still active so he's not dead but he's no longer in this lake', Cain pondered then thought back to a simply case in the past.
"It couldn't be...", Cain muttered but quickly put it at the back of his mind to focus on the current battle.
.
.
.
Several miles below the dungeon as the battle against the hydra continues.
Rio found himself underground, the vegetation in the area dead, the ground scroched black as if it had been struck by lightning. He stood up and was surprised to find his clothes dry which was strange seeing as he was dragged under water.
'I wonder where I ended up', he thought.
"You're where you need to be at the moment", a voice spoke out.
Rio tensed up immediately. He instantly leaped from where he stood landing a few metres away.
"Not bad for a kid", the voice mused .
As soon as Rio heard that, he bolted wanting nothing to do with an entity that obviously found him amusing. One thing he had learnt on his trip over the years was that if you didn't know what you're facing in any situation -flee!.
Rio ran until his muscles were sore and his body filled with exhaustion, then he decided to settle down near the massive clusters of misshapen rocks around him. As he moved, he began to notice more and more clusters that weren't noticed before due to his panic.
Rio stood still before the massive structure confused and scared, not only did he discover that what he had mistaken to be huge rocks was actually a building, what frightened him the most was the type of building it was.
Structures like this have been used as the place of worship for several deities. They were used as gathering spots where people could go to seek solace in the places that represented the deity of their faith. Due to them being their place of worship, it was common to assume that they would be watched closely by the various deities.
Committing unsanctioned behaviour and violent acts on such grounds was paramount to suicide.
The ruins of a cathedral laid before Rio, it's once grand spores now crumbling and weathered by the passage of time. Despite its dilapidated state, the cathedral still retained a haunting beauty, it's skeletal form rising defiantly against the backdrop of the surrounding wilderness.
Rio took in the breathtaking scene feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if he'd been here before or rather it was like he was back in the comfort of his home. This feeling almost made to forget the hidden dangers of trespassing the worship place of a deity. He decided to leave despite the feeling of solace he had and as he turned to leave, he heard a question,"shall we venture into this together, my lord?".