Marcus let out a low whistle when he stepped through the archway behind Joseph. He looked around, amazed at the sight.
“I’ve never been in a dungeon before.” He said in wonder.
“Neither have I.” Joseph replied as he looked around with crossed arms.
“Yet, you are so knowledgeable about them.” Marcus hummed.
“That is because I have spent a lot of time researching them. My family has a history of diving through dungeons and exploring newly emerged dungeons so I know a lot.” Joseph said and raised up the compass to his face. It had completely stopped shaking at this point because they had already reached the location it had been reacting to.
“This is where it truly begins. Are you all ready? I have to warn you, not everyone will return from this trip alive.” Joseph turned to the adventurers and asked again. He did not direct his question at Marcus, because the man had already assured him that he would participate no matter what.
A minute passed as the adventurers all individually voiced their willingness to continue with the mission. They had been promised good money by Joseph before joining, and even if they died, some of them had others to care about, so they money would go to them.
“Alright, since we are all on the same page, let us begin. Ling, please find out which path those who were here before us took.” Joseph turned to one of the adventurers. The man was not particularly strong, but he was an excellent scout, and herbalist. He was here for those two reasons. He could help them avoid unnecessary hassles by leading them around monster nests, or help them track down the monsters. He had also been the one in charge of their potion making. The herbs contained within the Island of Fate were of a very high grade, so the potions made from them were always stellar.
“Aye aye, sir.” Ling, a lanky, middle aged man gave a mock salute and stepped forward. He took in a deep breath and passed his right hand in front of his eyes, covering his eyes in a layer of mana. Next, he activated a skill, and the surroundings immediately changed in his vision.
A wispy layer of smoke covered everything from top to bottom, but several points stood out.
“I see something. Something not human…” Ling mumbled, tilting his head as he stepped forward and squatted by a foot print. “… Monsters… Insects? And a few humanoid ones too.” He went over the various foot prints and listed out what he suspected them to resemble.
“The humanoid one, do they resemble human foot prints?” Joseph asked, curious. “And which direction do they go in?”
“All except one of the humanoid footprints seem to be human. The last one is far too large for human feet. Maybe a Giant? As for the direction, they split up in all paths. The humanoid foot prints and some insect like prints head straight forward. But to the left and right, I would say only the insects went that way. It has been about two to three hours since then.” Ling quickly explained.
“Hmm, do we split up?” Marcus looked at Joseph for an answer.
p “No. We will head straight forward for now. If my hunches are correct, then there is a chance that the humans and insects are together. Maybe a summoner. So we will confront the summoner first.” Joseph adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
After quickly arranging everybody into a good role so that they would be able to fight seamlessly, they group set off. They walked for a while before reaching the first corner in the path. After making the bend, they immediately spotted burn marks, and the burnt up carcass of a spider.
“A dead creature. This should be an insect dungeon.” Joseph squatted by the carcass and examined it for a bit. “Ling, do the tracks left by the earlier insects match those from spiders?”
“No. Those had many more legs. Like a centipede or millipede.” Ling replied, and shivers ran down the backs of many people.
They tried to imagine how a normal person could live with having so many creatures with so many legs, but failed to understand the sense behind it. To those who were irritated, they only found such a thing disgusting.
“Let us keep moving. Whoever was here before us has a good lead, so we need to hurry.” Joseph said and stood up, his coat swaying around him. He adjusted his glasses once more before going to stand beside Marcus. He did not want to hide behind all of the others. He was a C rank fighter too, and had his pride.
The group took off once again, coming across numerous sets of burnt up spider carcasses. Some were sliced up into pieces as well, while others just looked as if they had been blown up by some explosive magic.
‘Whoever it is that came in here is clearly strong. Could they have been after the grand prize as well?’ Joseph thought to himself as they came across dozens of corpses. His gaze was hooded and he was deep in thought. That said, he was still on high alert for anything that might spring out a surprise on them.
After an hour of walking, they finally reached a large, wide hall that was circular in shape. On the other end of the door was a closed set of double doors. At the center of the hall laid a pitch black hole where a scratching sound rang out from.
“Prepare for battle!” Marcus yelled and held up his large great sword. A member at the back of the group held up his right index finger to his forehead and activated a skill. Beams of white light shot out of his forehead and landed on the foreheads of the others, turning into finger sized swords that were made up of white light.
This skill was called Sword Mind, and it was a strong support skill. It linked together the minds of all those that the lights touched, allowing them to be able to coordinate their thoughts and work together seamlessly.
With their thoughts aligned, the group waited for the monsters to make themselves known. Seconds ticked by as the sound of scratching got louder and stronger. It was then…
Boom!
A loud explosion shook the ground as dozens of spiders burst through the hole. At a single glance, it was clear that the spiders surpassed thirty.
“Fight!” Marcus yelled before he dashed forward and swung his sword in a horizontal arc. A blade of condensed wind shot out of his blade, slicing through the bodies of over five spiders at once. Several large balls of fire shot over his head, crashing into the back lines of the spiders and exploding, throwing legs and bodies in the air.
Three ice arrows whizzed through the air and stabbed into one living spider that had leapt into the air to pounce on Marcus. Water blades circled the hall and sliced spiders into bits, while earth spikes jutted up from the ground to impale spiders, leaving them as easy targets.
Sppppt!
A net made of webs shot forward, wrapping around Marcus’s sword and pinning it to the ground.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Marcus growled, pulling back his sword and swinging it over his head. The sword split a large spider in two, the force of the slash wedging the sword in the ground and throwing Marcus forward. His large body swam through the air as he reared back a punch to another spider that instantly died when his arm tore through its entire body, jutting out of the back end with its core in his grasp.
He quickly leapt back as nimbly as he could with his large body, dodging the stab of a leg that was as large as his arm, and twice as long. A spider that was at least twice as large as all the others had crawled out of the hole during all the chaos.
“Boss monster!” Marcus yelled as he retrieved his sword.
“Already on it!” Joseph called back as he watched the fight unravel from a distance. This was not the time for him to fight yet.
A massive wave of mana swirled through the room as a multiple mages pooled their efforts to create a massive spell. A tornado made of wind blades came into existence a few meters away from the spider. The wind blades tore into the body of the spider savagely, spilling murky green blood.
Boom!
After a few seconds, the tornado suddenly exploded into one made of fire, a combination of both wind and fire magic, to form a fire tornado. Blades of fire struck the spider mercilessly, turning the spider into a burning mass of sliced monster meat.
Booooom!
The spider lost its balance when multiple legs were sliced off, sending it slamming against the floor.
“Die, beast!” Marcus leapt into the air, his sword wrapped in a swirl of wind, before slamming down and stabbing his sword right into the spider’s face.