"Anyways, what are you doing this weekend?" Seraphina asked, with faint expectation in her eyes.
"Me? I am going to Kragdeep Dungeon," Severin said.
"Isn’t that dangerous? You aren’t strong enough to enter that place safely." A frown appeared on her face.
Kragdeep is a small city near the Aethryndian Academy, with a total population of just a hundred thousand or so.
But near the academy, it’s also the only place that has a dungeon that is relatively safe. However, it still requires an S-ranker awakener (people who have at least two S-grade stats at level 1) to clear it.
"That dungeon has a total of five floors. I am only going to explore the earlier floors, which are safer for me," Severin explained. He didn’t want Sera to follow him.
After all, he didn’t care about himself, but he couldn’t be a scumbag.
As for him saying that he would play it safe, are you kidding? Every floor beyond the first floor in that dungeon would be dangerous, but his talent just worked better that way.
"Is that so?" Seraphina actually wanted to follow him, too, but she didn’t want to be labelled as a clingy person.
Not to mention, Severin had always seemed relatively mature in her eyes, so she didn’t say much on this matter.
And just like that, Severin finished his food and went to train, while Seraphina left for her own studies.
She wasn’t at ease with Ren going to such a place alone, so she decided to prepare some life-saving trump cards.
"How come there is a letter in my room?" Mira looked at the folded paper on the side table beside her bed with a frown.
"Is someone pranking me?" Unable to think of anything substantial, she decided to look at it first.
Picking up the letter, she noticed that it was made of very old paper. Unfolding it, she read what was written on it.
Weekend, Kragdeep Dungeon, Dead!!!, Stinky Boom!@, ***
They were simple words and a few symbols, but they brought a huge shock to Mira because she understood what the person who wrote them wanted to convey.
And this was what made it scary, because the only people who understood this pattern and way of speaking were her friend and her grandfather back at home.
For a moment, she even wondered if this was a dream, but after pinching her arm, she realized that it was no dream.
A ’***’ in her secret code represented extreme importance.
"What should I do?" She was totally confused. Should she tell the teachers? But who would trust her? In the end, this code thing was just something she had come up with on a whim as a child. It wasn’t some secret code used by a large or even a small organization.
Even if she tried to explain, they might just think that she was playing pranks. In fact, even she didn’t know if this thing was reliable.
What if all of this was really a prank by someone?
But who would prank her on the second day? Was she that hateful? And even if someone wanted to prank her, how did they know this code?
After all, they had specifically used this code and left a message.
Could the headmaster want to test her? After all, the headmaster was a powerful individual.
It was rumoured that she could peer into the past and future of any living being.
The dark, narrow corridor stretched endlessly into the distance, its rough stone walls barely visible under the faint light of the glowing crystals embedded in them. The air was cold and heavy, carrying the faint smell of damp earth. Yet, despite the eerie atmosphere, five figures walked through the corridor with relaxed expressions and confident steps.
They had no reason to be nervous.
After all, they were S-rankers, the strongest kind of awakeners one could find in Kragdeep. Each of them possessed extraordinary abilities that ordinary people could only dream of. Their names were well-known throughout the city, and whenever someone mentioned the strongest awakeners around the Aethryndian Academy, their names would inevitably come up.
Together, they were famously known as the Five Supers.
And today, just like many times before, they had entered the Kragdeep Dungeon to clear it once again.
Walking near the back of the group, one of the men glanced around the familiar corridor before letting out a casual laugh.
"So, what number is it now?"
A thin man walking beside him immediately responded. Wearing a smug expression, he raised his chin slightly and said, "Thirty or so, I guess. I stopped counting after twenty."
He spoke as though clearing a dungeon was nothing more than taking a leisurely stroll through a park.
Honestly, considering how many times they had done it, it was difficult to blame him for feeling that way.
The monsters on the earlier floors were hardly a challenge for them anymore. Even the stronger creatures that had once forced them to fight seriously could now be dealt with without much effort. They had memorized the dungeon’s layout, understood the monsters’ habits, and learned how to work together with almost perfect coordination.
To them, this dungeon had become a familiar place.
However, the man leading the group didn’t seem particularly amused by their conversation. He turned his head and glanced at his companions, his expression carrying a hint of disapproval.
"Get serious. Even if we’ve cleared this dungeon countless times, we’re still only Level 1. Don’t become careless just because things have gone smoothly so far."
His tone wasn’t particularly harsh, but it was enough to remind the others that he was still their captain.
The thin man shrugged, clearly not taking the warning too seriously, but he didn’t argue either.
After all, their captain wasn’t wrong. No matter how powerful their stats and abilities were, they were still Level 1 awakeners. There was a limit to what they could accomplish, and underestimating a dungeon was never a wise decision.
Still, the atmosphere remained light.
One of the other members, a broad-shouldered man with a cheerful expression, suddenly spoke up.
"Well, I’m going to level up after this run!"
His words immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
"Seriously?" the thin man asked, raising an eyebrow.
The broad-shouldered man grinned. "I’ve already met most of the requirements. I just need to finish this run, and I’ll finally be able to break through."
Hearing this, the other three members couldn’t help but look at him with a trace of envy.
They all wanted to level up as well. After all, reaching the next level meant more than just an increase in strength. It would open up new possibilities for their abilities and allow them to explore even more dangerous areas.
Unfortunately, leveling up wasn’t something they could force through sheer determination. Each of them still had certain requirements to fulfill, and until those conditions were met, they could only continue accumulating experience and improving themselves.
"You’re really lucky," one of them muttered.
"Don’t say that. You guys will get there soon enough," the broad-shouldered man replied, though the smile on his face made it clear that he was enjoying the attention.
Their conversation continued as they walked deeper into the corridor.
Then, suddenly, one of the men stopped.
His eyes narrowed as he stared at something ahead.
"Wait. What’s that?"