"Alright so, with that I believe it sums up about everything. Conor, could you please go and inform the rest of the alliance?"
Conor, the right hand of Silenus and Co-Leader of the Alliance, simply nodded at his command.
Without as much as a word, he looked at the small pool of water at one of the corner's of the tent and simply dove right through.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that. How can he just go into that small puddle and just pop up elsewhere.. weirdo."
Said Vasil, in a bewildered tone.
"That's how his enigma works, huh.. it looks so.. simple yet complex at the same time."
Added on Loki, as he scratched his head in confusion.
"So that's [Water Gateway].. huh. That's such a convenient enigma to have…"
Lilith voiced her complaints, acting as if her own enigma wasn't on par with Conor's [Water Gateway].
Yoel could only shake his head at this comment. Lilith had to have been acting depressed, or she simply didn't know the true depths of her power..
Light Manipulation, comparing that to Conor's ability was so.. insanely stupid.
"His ability is alright I guess, compared to mine however it stands no chance!"
Brandon was quite energetic right now. He had been this way since Yoel and his group arrived at their camp today.
That must be really tiring, huh?
Although Yoel's memories of yesterday were quite hazy due to the immense fatigue and stress gained from their long battle, he hadn't failed to remember how Brandon wore a stoic face throughout their entire exchange.
"Well, Yoel, Cole, Vasil, Loki and Lilith. Make yourselves at home here. As you've heard, we're going to be moving further into the area soon. Be prepared for that, combat is sure to come our way."
While speaking, Silenus pointed at a specific place in the map presented to them on the table infront of them.
As he did, the map slowly vanished away, along with the table.
"To keep these effects in place, it utilizes a lot of Avon, Leader. I'd rather save it in case we need it."
Silenus shrugged and shooed him away.
"Well then, rest for today. Tomorrow is when the fight truly begins."
With a resolute nod, Yoel and his group walked out of the tent.
Silenus told them to rest, but in reality.. Yoel couldn't.
And he was sure that no one else from their group could.
So all he could do was arrange the information he had just received even more in his head..
An alliance.. consisting of three groups, the Attack, the Defense, and the Support.
The Attack, which was the one that did the most battles, the Defense, which mostly guarded their camps, other groups, and so on.
And the Support, which Brandon was the leader of. They took on all kinds of miscellaneous jobs.
The meaning of "support" covered a lot of things. Such as supporting the Attack in case of losses, injuries fatigue and even switching with them, fighting for them until they recovered.
It was all in all, the backbone of the Alliance. The job of scouting also fell on this group.
Surprisingly enough, however.. the group with the least people was also the Support.
In a sense, it signified the skill level of each group. With the biggest group being the Defense.
It also signified the amount of pressure each group had. Moments of respite were always present for the first two groups, but for the Support there were none.
There really were not many who could fulfill the role of this group.
And it also explains why Brandon and the other two girls were able to hold on so well even after Yoel's group arrived.
Most members of the Support possessed enigmas, too.. huh. Come to think of it, Lilith also was forced into that group by Silenus.
While on the topic of enigmas, Yoel also noticed that a great number of people had awakened their enigmas either during this instance or before entering this dungeon.
It was quite surprising, the awakening of an enigma so early signified that the user must have been graced by One Of The Above.
It was not a confirmed fact but rather believed far and wide.
Amongst the three groups, there existed six enigma users now.
Silenus, the leader of the Alliance, with the ability [Beast Master]. He is able to possess a monster's or an animal's single trait at a time. Further information is unknown.
Conor, the right hand of Silenus, with the ability [Water Gateway]. He is able to create portals in bodies of water and travel to previously explored locations, only if a mass of water is located nearby.
Brandon, the leader of the support group, with the ability [Form]. Able to form "effects" by saying them. He has not gone into too much detail, but he cannot create any effect he wishes. A versatile ability for his group.
Jason, the leader of the attack group, with the ability [Bone Control]. He is essentially able to control the bones in his body without any consequences to his actual bone structure. An ability with great attack power, fitting for his group.
Simon, the leader of the defense group, with the ability [Telesthesia]. He is able to sense any enemy that is unseen or disguised as long as they possess harmful motives to either himself or the group he is with. A perfect ability for the Defense, he also volunteers to scout with the support group.
And lastly, Lilith.. her ability being Light Manipulation. There is not much that she spoke about regarding it, only mentioning the skills she displayed to us during the parasite fight and the fight yesterday.
With this, maybe we have a chance. Maybe we can get out of here alive.
Yoel was unsure whether the dungeon exam really was as grueling as this or if there had been any error with it.. regardless of what it had been, he felt hopeful.
Hope appeared within Yoel's heart once more.
Looking around him, he also noticed that the teenagers around him wore carefree smiles, despite the situation they were in.
This further enhanced Yoel's weakening resolve.
He believed that all of them would be gloomy and that the morale would've been plummeted already, but despite their unbelievable situation, they still managed to smile.
It made him feel embarrassed. The sight of everyone enjoying themselves further lessened the weight and pressure on his mind.
He believed that he could truly stand beside them, and get out of the dungeon alive.
…
At that moment, a buzzing pain pierced Yoel's head.
Another headache had grasped Yoel, but this time instead of dissipating after a few seconds, it only increased.
It was as if a force was straining his body, begging to be released to the world.
Only being able to make a grunting sound, he fell to his knees.
Before his hands even reached the ground, his vision faded to black.
When he had regained it, he felt his body pinned to the ground, as if something invisible had been keeping him from moving his limbs.
His body was so heavy.
All he could see in front of him were two humanoid shadows standing beside each other waiting in anticipation.
They both stood amongst a ruined city. From what Yoel could see, it had been a city of a medieval age.
The thick smell of smoke reached his nostrils, and the air of death further enhanced the putrid smell.
Both of the shadows seemed to be looking somewhere, somewhere far away..
Yoel's head began to move on his own, which surprised him due to his own attempts to move even a muscle had all ended in failures. It felt as if someone else was moving his head for him.
Once his head adjusted, what presented itself to him was something that left him with a deep and primal feeling.
Fear.
What he saw was a gigantic sphere of darkness.
He didn't really understand why, but amongst his confusion, fear reigned absolute.
Amidst the chaos, all he could do was kneel in front of this phenomenon.
The last feeling he felt before his vision faded to black, was shame.
Immense shame.
His vision faded to black once again, with the sphere of darkness as the center.
Once he regained his consciousness, he found himself on the familiar earthy ground.
He could also tell that his eyes had gone watery and that tears slid down his face and onto the ground like waterfalls.
But nobody near him was looking at his sudden loss of balance.
Their eyes.. were directed at something completely different. As if engrossed in the scenery, they completely ignored him.
Beads of sweat ran down their faces, as they slowly started trembling one by one..
And Yoel felt what he had felt moments before, but from his own allies.
A deep, primeval fear had gripped their hearts.
When Yoel turned to look in the direction they had been looking..
One of the teenagers that had been casually chatting and laughing just a few moments ago, was lying lifelessly on top of a creature's gigantic claws.\