I woke with a jolt, the digital clock flashing 5:00 AM. No ti to waste. I swung my legs off the bed and launched into action, my body already buzzing with anticipation. I moved through my morning routine with practiced efficiency, ensuring I was fully ready for the day ahead.
As I laced up my boots, I asked Macaron who was sprawled on the bed. "Hey Macaron, you want to join for a little adventure?"
Macaron replied, his voice brimming with excitent. He fluttered about the room, eager to join in.
"Stormfire Mountain. et at the Academy entrance, although we’ll just be accompanying a friend of mine," I explained.
Macaron exclaid before flapping his wings with excitent and flying out the balcony.
I stepped out of my room and knocked on the room next door. It opened almost imdiately, revealing Cypher, looking just as ready as I was.
"Let’s go?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
He nodded in response, and we started walking, falling into easy conversation as we made our way through the quiet corridors.
"By the way, your presentation was amazing," he said, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Thanks. Your presentation was also great," I replied, returning the complint.
"Well not as great as yours. Everyone was full of praises for you," he said, a hint of admiration in his tone.
"Really?" I said although I already sensed it yesterday.
As we passed by the Academy entrance, I called out to Macaron, who promptly landed on my shoulder. "I hope you don’t mind, but can Macaron co with us?" I asked Cypher, my gaze shifting between them.
"Of course," Cypher replied with a nod, unbothered by the unexpected addition.
We boarded a bus that took us to Bohlo, the town closest to Stormfire Mountain. From there, we began our hike deep into the mountain’s embrace. The air grew cooler and the trees taller as we ventured further in. Stormfire Mountain was known for its high ranked beast-type monsters, so we were both on high alert, carefully scanning our surroundings to avoid any unwanted encounters.
"We are finally here," Cypher said, breaking the silence.
We had arrived at what appeared to be a dead end. Cypher pointed towards a tall, sturdy rock in front of us, almost entirely covered in moss and vines.
"...So this is why it hasn’t been discovered until now," I murmured, my eyes scanning the concealed entrance.
Even if soone knew the entrance was there, it would have been incredibly difficult to find. The dense vegetation completely concealed it, leaving only a tiny gap visible upon close inspection.
"Once we go in, it won’t be easy to escape. Are you prepared?" he asked, his eyes eting mine, a sense of concern in his voice.
"Of course," I replied without hesitation.
Cypher and I squeezed through the narrow gap. As we moved deeper, the opening widened, eventually transforming into a tunnel.
The interior of the Dungeon was shrouded in complete darkness. One could only see the path when they use light or they have amazing sight.
As Cypher reached out to grab his flashlight, I quickly held his arm to stop him.
"It’s dangerous to use any light when we are in complete darkness," I whispered urgently, my voice barely audible above the silence. "Shining a light unnecessarily could provoke any shadow-type monsters."
"I’ll guide you for now, so don’t ever let go of my hand," I said as I started to walk forward into the inky black surroundings.
"Macaron, shift into sothing small. I’m afraid there are also winged-type monsters here," I suggested to Macaron. He quickly shrunk down, transforming into a tiny, fluffy owl that fit comfortably into my bag.
We continued walking, my senses on high alert. After what felt like an eternity, I suddenly stopped, my eyes fixed on sothing in the distance. There were two pathways in front of us... which I know was not in my original novel.
This only confird my suspicions. Aside from altering the world with my own actions, the author seed to be actively working to make this world more difficult.
I heard footsteps approaching us, and I quickly pulled Cypher behind a large stone. The sudden movent clearly surprised him.
"Remi—" he started to say, but I cut him off by covering his mouth.
"Ssshh!" I gestured to him, my eyes intently focused on the approaching figures.
I stared at two individuals, listening to their conversation, I can sense that they were not entirely human.
"Hey, do you truly know the way out?" guy 1 said in a gruff voice.
"Of course! What do you think of ? An idiot?" guy 2 responded with a hint of anger.
"F*ck yeah! You’re like Rozo in Two Piece." said guy 3
"You f*cker! Then you lead instead!" retorted guy 2
"Give the map then!" demanded guy 3
What were they doing here? This was getting more complicated by the second.
I ntally reached out to the System. ’System, any new updates?’
[The Oblivion Labyrinth, which the Sapphire Blood Guild was supposed to conquer, has changed and switched to Stormfire Mountain Dungeon instead.]
I quickly checked the date in my mind. Today was the very day that the Sapphire Blood Guild was scheduled to conquer the Oblivion Labyrinth. That could only an those guys were Rogues.
Cypher gently removed my hand from his mouth and asked silently, "Is sothing wrong?"
I clenched my teeth in annoyance. The Sapphire Blood Guild are Rogues disguised as Heroes. Although we were capable of fighting them, I didn’t want to take the risk of being injured, especially when I don’t how many of them are here.
"We have company," I said to Cypher, my voice barely above a whisper.
For now, I decided to closely observe their movents, eavesdropping on their conversation to gather more information.
"You know what, instead of arguing here, we should go back first and report to the others," said guy 1, seemingly deciding on a new course of action.
"You’re right. I’m sick of this f*cker anyway, always being our guide," agreed guy 3, with a tone of annoyance.
"Well f*ck you!" retorted guy 2, clearly offended.
Thankfully, after confirming that there was indeed a dungeon here, they decided to head back, leaving us alone once more.
I quickly went out from our hiding place, dragging Cypher along with . "Let’s finish this quickly and return back. It seems that those guys are more dangerous than you think," I said, my voice low and urgent.
Cypher decided to stay quiet, wisely choosing not to argue with at that mont.
I concentrated on my ability, focusing my energy to activate my Spectral Seal. This allowed to see through the darkness, locking onto a specific location in the distance. With my eyes glowing softly, I took a good look to find the location of the Tenebris monster.
Not there. Not here. But my senses guided , and I saw where it was. I had finally found where it was residing. I took a mont to morize the direction, committing it to mory. Then I deactivated my Spectral Seal, I had a feeling that I would be saving my mana for later.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
On the other side of Stormfire Mountain, the rest of the Sapphire Blood Guild mbers were resting outside. The guild was close to conquering the dungeon, and the guild master was waiting for the three mbers he had sent to scout ahead, ensuring they hadn’t missed anything crucial.
"Novo, Xiao, Vibo, have you found anything?" The guild master contacted the three scouts using a communication device.
{Yes. It appears we have found a forked pathway. We must have missed it as we were busy slaying the shadow wraiths,} ca the reply from one of the scouts.
"Good. Have you looked to see which is the right path?" The guild master inquired.
{Not yet, but don’t worry, we’re going back now,} ca the response.
"No, that would waste too much of our ti. Instead, continue your search. We’ll find you guys soon enough."
{Understood,} the scout replied.
Magellan, a mber of the Nightjars Organization, was silently listening to their conversation, his expression unreadable. He had infiltrated the Sapphire Blood Guild as ordered by their boss.
He calmly looked around, counting the guild mbers. There were only eleven of them present. ’Now was the perfect ti to eliminate them,’ he thought grimly.
"It’s ti," he said into his hearing device on his ear as he prepared to activate his ability, Gateway of Ti, allows the user to teleport to a location they visited in the past, as long as it was within a day.
In an instant, a seal began to glow on the ground beneath Magellan’s feet. The surrounding Rogues looked at him nervously, sensing that sothing was amiss.
"Ferdinand, what are you doing?!" The guild master shouted at him, his voice filled with suspicion and alarm.
""...." Magellan didn’t answer, his focus entirely on activating his ability.
"Ferdinand, close that right now!" The guild master shouted again, more anxiously this ti, realizing the potential danger that Magellan posed.
"...." Magellan still remained silent, ignoring the guild master’s commands as he focused his mind, channeling his energy to activate Gateway of Ti.
Seeing that Magellan was ignoring him, the guild master turned to the other mbers, his voice filled with urgency. "What are you doing? Stop him before that portal gets completed!"
The rest of the guild mbers quickly followed his order, rushing towards Magellan with weapons drawn, determined to stop him before he could activate his ability. As their weapons were about to reach Magellan’s head, a shadowy tentacle erged from the ground, severing the hand holding the weapon that was about to strike him.
Everyone went silent.
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