Meliah led the way downtown. Through a forest. Their boots crunched on packed earth birds could be heard chirping and twittering in their nests. Sunlight barely slipped through the forest's thick canopy.
Meliah stopped before a dungeon.
Retnan stood behind her. She looked over her shoulder and asked the same question she had asked hours ago. "Are you sure you want to go dungeon diving? You just barely escaped one. Hours ago."
"Yes. I don't have time to waste. And don't worry I'm not planning on triggering any main dungeon."
Beside the dungeon entrance were two large nails wrapped in talismans, driven into the ground. They cast a net-like seal over the dungeon mouth, preventing beasts from escaping.
The nails responded to Meliah's presence. The seal released. The net drew back to the nails, giving access. Meliah then stepped aside.
Retnan didn't move at first. The mana pressure radiating from the dungeon was calming, weak not intense. Not like the six-horned beast he had faced. "What's this dungeon's rank?"
"C-Rank."
"You understand how the ranking system works?" Meliah asked.
"No."
"From weakest to strongest F, E, D, C, B, A, then S, SS, SSS. Nine ranks. Though it doesn't mean all the beasts here are C-rank. Just the strongest beast you can encounter."
"Tsk you had me thinking it was some impossibly strong dungeon. I changed my mind. I'll take the boss."
As he walked toward the threshold, Meliah grabbed his arm. She unhooked his sword from her hip and held it out to him. "Here. This belongs to you."
He took it and crossed the seal threshold. And was greeted with pin-drop silence. Cautiously, he scanned the walls of the dungeon. They were smooth, green moss crawling over the stone, glowing illuminating the entire dungeon. From outside the dungeon had seemed dark, but inside the sight was different.
Retnan drew his blade. He wasn't planning on being fooled by the calm appearance.
As he went deeper, he spotted a goat-like creature with grass growing on its back and vines tangled on it horns. Its eyes were shut like it was blind. But the moment he got closer, the beast froze mid-graze and faced him.
Sound reception. Easy kill. Let me save time and get this over with.
Retnan squatted, picked up a stone, and tossed it aside. The goat charged toward where the sound came from and smashed against the wall, hooking its horn. Retnan walked calmly to the beast. Swoosh one clean sweep. The head came off.
He wiped the blood from his blade.
[Goattep slain. +10 Flux]
"That was smart of you," Meliah said, impressed.
"Thanks. I just wanted to conserve my strength."
Retnan stretched his arm out. Freely, he let the flux from the beast flow to him like tiny particles drifting through his veins, around his body.
[Flux: 10/1000]
Out of one thousand. If that's my limit, I'm guessing that's the amount I'll need to start forming my Nexus. Tsk. I'll need hundreds of these creatures.
Let's get to work.
Retnan continued deeper. He met a herd of goats more than he could count. His boot crunched on a rock by mistake and they all turned to him at once. He sighed. Then walked forward, making more noise. The goats charged with their horns lowered.
Retnan took them one by one. Made a sound. When one charged he stepped aside and sliced its head off. He repeated it, changing his footing each time. Meliah watched from behind, arms crossed.
He kept swinging. His blade cut through bone and flesh easily. Their numbers gradually reduced. Retnan stopped moving around once there were four left. With four slashes he ended them. He stood heaving, then settled into a slow, steady rhythm to calm himself something he had learned on Earth. Someone who starts a marathon at full speed never wins.
His vision was spammed with notifications. Showing his kill count, and at the end, his running total.
[(20) Goattep slain. +200 Flux]
Retnan sheathed his sword and massaged his palm as his breathing steadied. 'Seriously, these goats aren't worth it.' He looked around him. Thirty headless goats lay scattered, the ground painted crimson.
Meliah approached with another compliment. "Well done. Another strategic win. I see you're conserving your strength saving it for the boss dungeon, I'm guessing."
"Yep. I can't begin using my wishes now…" He glanced around. "Come to think of it has anyone cleared this dungeon before?"
"Yes. But dungeons can't actually be cleared, because the beasts still spawn endlessly. Some can also evolve and grow strong enough to become the dungeon boss, replacing the former one." Meliah replied with the ease of someone who had explained it before.
That answered the question lingering in the back of his mind. Now he had a deeper picture of how dungeons worked. You know what I'm going for the boss dungeon.
Using mana pressure, he felt his way through the dungeon, moving toward the area with the highest concentration. That was how he arrived in a wide, open landscape trees, a stream, beasts grazing by the water. It seemed peaceful. The dungeon ceiling acted as a sun, radiating bright white light.
I bet this dungeon holds magical herbs or something.
Different varieties of trees and bushes surrounded him unknown leaves, monstrous sizes. Like he had stepped into another dimension's forest.
A skeletal-like creature stepped out of a bush. It wore leaves around its waist. Vines tangled across its body. It had the head of a ram, with huge horns.
[Guardian Giida (C-Rank)]
It pointed the spear it held in its hands, then gestured toward where Retnan had come from signifying him to turn back.
He walked forward instead.
You're calm. And presumably smart. Sorry, but your time has come to an end.
Giida hit his spear to the ground twice and the beasts all began to retreat back, clearing the area. When no other beast was close, Giida snorted steam from its nose.
It dragged its spear along the ground as it walked down toward Retnan.
Retnan flexed his shoulders. They stood face to face, locked on each other.