A large claws tearing the floor of the dungeon, six red eyes and three heads, a three meter body with four legs, a wolf monster.
Its teeth protruding from its jaw drooled constantly as the group looked at more than five of this same monster, a grade 9 monster, but after looking closely for a few seconds, it looked like a monster that was close to grade 8. So, it's a stronger monster than a normal grade 9 monster.
"I'll take care of this one," I spoke as I raised my sword and then started running as fast as I could.
"Whistle!"
The air hissed and I swung my sword. Then, the three-headed wolf looked up, but....
"Swhoss!"
This one moved at an incredible speed that I couldn't react to. So, its specialty is speed. I didn't take that into account.
"Muffled sound."
Then, the monster appeared behind my back. I shifted my gaze while gritting my teeth and turned my back as my sword swung towards the monster's body.
"Clank!"
Unfortunately, the monster blocked my attack with its large claws, but this monster doesn't know that my strength is not just this.
[Magic Aura]
Then, my sword was filled with a dark glow and became thicker.
"Crunch!"
That was when the monster's claws broke into pieces and my sword took a course towards the monster's body. Then, my sword zigzagged followed by a strong downward swing. Then, the monster's body split apart.
"Strike!"
The monster fell to the ground, but I quickly spun backwards. This wasn't over yet. Four three-headed wolves started coming at me with their large claws that looked like steel. Then, I stood up straight and raised my sword with one hand and closed my eyes.
"Sigh."
I opened them again after sighing lightly. Then, I lunged towards the four monsters coming towards me with their large claws.
***
-Scene change.
-Clara's perspective.
Asher's strength increased so much that I couldn't even recognize him. While we were in the dry forest and faced a "Fongoru" just the two of us, it was a very difficult situation. He planned everything perfectly and even knew at what point I should use my magic.
He is not only a swordsman, he is also a mage of the first circle, but how did he become a mage at that age?
Only heirs to the throne have the opportunity to be a first circle at the age of ten. That's because they are from the royal family and have been raised from a very young age and also start absorbing mana at a very young age. Not only that, the royal family also has one of the ten legendary mana absorption methods. Just using it once would advance so fast in obtaining mana.
The capabilities of one of those absorption methods are equivalent to a seventh circle mage, which means that in five years a child could be a first circle if he starts absorbing mana from the age of five. That's why I was thinking about something.
"Is he an heir to the throne?"
The ten heirs to the throne are well known on the continent. That's because one of them will be the next king. Each member of the royal family tends to have two shades of color in their hair. The first and best known is silver, but there is one hair color that very few heirs to the throne will have. Of course, that is the blue hair color.
"Starburst."
"Uh... What happened?"
I thought for a brief moment, but a dark colored mana appeared again. It's a mana I had seen on Asher in the dry forest, but I hadn't thought of it before. Now that I look at it, it is a mana that exudes a sense of fear and dread.
The place was enveloped in a curtain of dark mana as Asher cast a dark sphere.
"What is...?"
I couldn't think fast when, after looking for a few seconds at the monsters, something of them came out of his body.
"Its... Their shadow is coming out... What is that?"
Then, the monsters shadow began to disappear and something glowing came out of the monster's body, something that it is possible that no one could have seen, but....
"The monster's soul was absorbed by that sphere."
Not only did the shadow disappear from the monster, so did its soul, a glow that I could only see for a single second, but it was very low, almost imperceptible to normal eyes. This I was able to see thanks to the mana I had in my eyes and I could see things that anyone else could not see.
That mana not only destroys the monster's body from the inside, it also disintegrates it, eliminates the monsters shadow and, most terrifyingly, its soul is absorbed by the dark mana.
"W-what power is that? A mage who has dark mana, I've never heard that."
Even though Asher has very strange mana and its power is much greater than elemental mana, there is something that is unique about that mana, but I can't figure out what it is.
"It could be some kind of divine mana."
I wasn't sure what kind of mana that was, but I might as well not get involved in something I don't feel like.
"Starburst."
So, finally Asher killed all the wolf monsters. After a few minutes, we reached the end of the hallway and I looked at the bodies of the monsters.
Only one was left, but its body was almost gone. It looked like something was consuming it and it was slowly disintegrating because of that strange dark mana that surrounded it. Just the sight of it gave me chills. Then, I looked ahead and the group was still walking.
I quickly hurried and then we came to a large door that had a transparent sphere in the center. Looking closely, this one didn't have any way to open like dungeon doors normally open by just pushing on it. This door... It had something different that made it unique.
"Something is strange." Then, Alice was the first to speak after looking for a few seconds at the large door in front of us.
"It's true, you can't push it, nor can you open it like a normal door," I spoke.
"But what is that transparent sphere?", Asher spoke up.
I took a closer look at the sphere in the center of the door, then quickly realized something.
"It looks like it needs to be infused with mana."
"Are you sure? But... it looks suspicious this door."
Alicia had a strange instinct that made her unique in our group; of course, that was the sixth sense. It's something like an ability that helps her ward off some danger and she can detect it by pure instincts.
"So, what do we do? We can look for some passageway and avoid some danger this door has," I mentioned.
Dungeons usually have more than one entrance, such as a secret passageway that may be hidden somewhere in the dungeon entrance. Of course, these entrances lead to completely different places than the main entrance to the dungeon. There is also the possibility that entering through other parts will lead to a trap.
"It's risky, we'd better try infusing it with mana," Alice approached the sphere. It wasn't that high, so she put her hand on the sphere.
"Muffled sound."
A glow emanated from Alicia's hand and then quickly disappeared. Then, we waited a few seconds.
"Nothing happened."
Asher was the first to speak, but why did nothing happen? Clearly, this door was opening with mana, but nothing happened.
"I'll try."
It was then that I approached the sphere. I placed my hand and then my mana began to gently flow out of my hand and entered the sphere. Slowly, the mana entered and then again a glow appeared. We waited one more time and...
"Nothing, what the hell is going on?", Alicia spoke already being frustrated.
There had to be something different, maybe a mechanism to open the door, but where the hell would we find it? It was then that I looked at Asher.
"Maybe he can."
Dik was no help right now, as he has no mana in his body and that wouldn't do us any good to open the door somehow.
But what if this door opens only with some element of mana? Perhaps an element that we do not have at this moment. It is possible that only with some element the door will open.
"I'll try," then Asher took a step.
I stared at him without blinking. I had some suspicion that he would, but I wasn't entirely sure. It's like this door was made for only one mana, so that's why that popped into my head. Asher is the only one here who has a mana that is unknown to me. Maybe some mage knows that obscure mana, but I don't.
Then, Asher's mana started to come out of his hand. The same dark color of his mana began to enter the sphere, but this time the glow that normally came out when the mana entered the sphere did not emerge.
"Clak!"
Then, a sound echoed throughout the hallway we were in and the door began to open, but....
"W-what the hell, I can't see."
"Shit... Where's that damn light coming from?", Dik yelled as he covered his eyes with his forearm.
That's when a blinding light started coming from the door.
"W-what's going on."
Then, something strange started; our bodies, for some reason, began to move as if something was slowly sucking us in. The first one I managed to see come through the door where that blinding light was coming from was Asher.
I didn't have it in my head that something like this could happen. Then, we finally entered and I closed my eyes; a darkness invaded us all.
***
-Change of scene.
-Asher Frostblade's perspective.
Something strange felt at this door. So, I approached it and began to infuse it with mana. Slowly, my mana came out and the sphere was filled with darkness. Then, a strange sound echoed and the door creaked and slowly began to open, not before a light so strong reached my eyes that I felt it would burn them if I opened them.
Then, something strange began to be felt in my body. It was something as if an extra force was pulling me and slowly entering through the strange door. I opened my eyes just wide enough to keep out the light from the door. Then, I looked at the group.
They, too, were being pulled toward the door.
"What the hell...?"
"This is bad." Then Encrid finally spoke after a while of entering the dungeon.
Certainly, the entrance and the corridor that led us to this door, everything was simply strange. Although I hadn't noticed it before, now that this is all happening, it's strange.
"Shit... Do you know what the hell is going on?" I felt my breath catch and slowly closed my eyes.
"This... It's a dungeon of times."
"What the hell is that?"
I didn't even understand those words. I couldn't ask again as my eyes had closed and darkness emerged.
I felt nothing and simply had a feeling of being in total darkness. Then, my breathing came back and I quickly opened my eyes.
"W-where... am I?"
After opening my eyes, sunlight was the first thing I saw. How the hell was I outside the dungeon? This... Doesn't make any sense at all.
"It's a dungeon of times."
"What the hell is that?"
It was then that Encrid spoke to me again. I felt normal and was completely fine, but the scenery in front of me was like nothing I'd ever seen.
Floating islands, waterfalls falling from who knows where, birds of different breeds and large rainbows in the cloudless sky. Behind me was the same door as before and the ground was covered in grass with flowers....
"That... is the red flower." Then, I looked at the red flower that Alíz had talked about before.
Then, I quickly grabbed one from the ground and put it away. That's when I looked right in front of it and there was a not-so-large lake. The whole place was a floating island and there was not a tree in sight. Then, I looked up and saw more floating islands.
"What is this place?"
"A time dungeon is called that because it transports you to a different place, and this place should be one of those."
"So, it's like a teleportation dungeon, but.... where is this place? I've never heard of such a place before."
"That's why it's called a 'dungeon of times'. You may be in the past or in the future. This place may also be in some dimension, and also somewhere in the world. That's why a dungeon of times is very unknown."
"..."
"Shit... Why did this have to happen...? Damn."
Then I looked at the door behind me. I was simply in the middle of nowhere next to a door that could have taken me to the past, future, or even some unknown place in the world and worse, a dimension. Although I wasn't sure what the hell a dimension was.
"This is a big problem," Encrid spoke up.
Definitely, this... was a big problem....