A glowing blue fungus illuminated the spacious walls of the dungeon. Salamanders chased beetles further into the depths, and the hunting cries of various magical beasts echoed from further within. The scent of magic fire tickled Sen’s nostrils, and the air was moist. The front of his uniform collected water with every step. He added an extra layer to his ward to stop that from happening. It was gross.
[Personally, I think your clothes could use a good wash.]
The early stretch was uneventful, though that hadn’t surprised Sen. Most dungeon-inhabiting creatures preferred it a little deeper. Further away from any penetrating sunlight and curious humans that would hunt them with magic. It wouldn’t be long before they crossed into the territory of one magic beast or another.
Milim’s excitement wavered with every step. “Do you think my dream magic will even work? Do monsters dream? What about nightmares? Oh my gosh, what if they don’t? I’ll look really dumb, and then I’ll get eaten. That would be so embarrassing.”
Girch looked over his shoulder and grumbled. “As long as they nibble on you somewhere that will kill you, you’ll teleport outside.”
Milim froze mid-step. “Oh my gosh, you just made this so much worse.”
Susanna stepped over and looped her arm in Milim’s. She offered a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep you safe,” she said. Sen felt Susanna’s eyes on him. She’d noticed the wards he’d placed on Milim. How long had she known? He nodded, and Susanna didn’t resist as he placed wards around her as a gesture of goodwill.
He needed to be more careful around his fellow students. It was easy to forget most of them were as devoted to magic as he was. Not to mention they’d grown up with a system much more generous with stat points.
Snake held a hand up, and Girch turned slowly to look at him. “Something wrong?”
Snake leaned forward, staring into the darkness. “Prey.”
Joseia swallowed. “Why do I feel like what Snake would consider prey is probably some kind of predator instead? He looks like he eats magical beast jerky or something.”
Snake turned and stared directly at Joseia.
The curly-haired third-year looked like he might piss himself.
“Areech!” a creature screeched and leapt from the darkness ahead.
Snake didn’t flinch. Girch reached out and grabbed the monster by its scrawny neck. It looked like a chicken. Its body was larger than normal, about the size of a big dog, and its legs and feet were like a dragon’s. It screeched again in Girch’s hand, scrabbling at him with its feet. “Aree—” Girch crushed its throat mid-screech.
“Quiet, bird,” he said. He dropped it and kept walking. Snake studied it, and for a moment Sen thought his eyes were slitted like a serpent’s, but his green pupils quickly returned, and the boy walked after Girch.
[I’m starting to wonder if his name is a bit too on the nose.]
After a while, they entered a large, wide room in the dungeon, and Sen immediately readied himself for combat. The aura of danger was thick here, and he picked up the strong stench of beast. He wasn’t the only one. Snake, Girch, and Susanna tensed as well. It was only after noticing them that Joseia and Milim realized something was going on.
The walls of the circular room were made of thick trees with short, small gaps between them. The gaps were impossibly dark, and even when Susanna sent a beam of golden light towards one to illuminate it, nothing changed. It looked as if they were in a large forest clearing. The tops of the trees formed a thick, leafy ceiling where all of their branches interwove and wrapped together. The leaves bristled as if by wind or something within. Sen was more concerned about the gaps between the trees. Something was lurking in those void-black spaces.
Several somethings.
The way back was clear, in the event someone needed to retreat. But the path before them was sealed off by the largest tree of all. It wouldn’t move until they’d cleared the room. Time to see whose territory this was.
Growls.
Joseia shivered next to him. Sen placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Black wolves emerged from the holes around them and waited on the sides of the room as more poured out. Their heads shot up, and they growled in unison, as if controlled by a hive mind. It was likely just a tactic to confuse prey.
[Black Wolves. Commoner class.]
In Sen’s time, they’d be around level ten. But by the power rankings of today, they were level one hundred.
Sen sighed. Magical inflation was just as troublesome as the economic kind, apparently. The wolves leapt, and his team surged into action. Snake was a blur of green and white as scaled hands slashed wolves that approached him in two. Girch swung powerful fists, turning furred predators into piles of meat with each swing. Susanna sent out golden creations; hands, feet, and various golden weapons took out large swathes of the pack and sealed shut the gaps from which more emerged. A wolf flanked Joseia and bit down on his leg. Its teeth broke on Sen’s wards.
“I’ve got you. Just fight,” Sen called out.
Joseia hesitated for only a second longer before nodding and vibrating in place. Sen’s protective ward gave him confidence, and he moved quickly, grabbing the limbs of wolves and running fast enough in the other direction to separate them from their owners. Milim focused on her dream magic; several of the wolves stood frozen where they were, entranced by her hold. It dampened the tide, and his allies continued fighting.
Sen waited for the creature he sensed above. No one else had reacted to it, but he could feel its eyes on them. As long as it stayed out of the fight, his friends would be able to handle this. But the only reason it hadn’t made a move was because of Sen. He sensed its impatience. The more wolves that fell, the more willing it became to throw aside caution. As Susanna formed a giant golden arm large enough to flatten a third of the wolves in the room, the creature could resist no longer.
A giant wolf descended from the treetops and bit down on the hand. Its large form forced Sen’s party to separate from one another. Susanna’s golden hand creation was knocked toward Joseia, and it smashed into him before she could dispel it.
Sen’s wards held, but quickly crumpled. Joseia didn’t know that, though. He rushed toward the giant wolf with the confidence of an immortal. Mana Encapsulation sprung around Sen like a cloak of wind, and Milim’s eyes shot open as well.
They moved as one.
Sen grabbed Joseia moments before the wolf’s jaws clamped down on the boy. Instead, its teeth wrapped around Sen. Milim was only a second behind him; she tackled the wolf’s neck and latched on. The wolf let go of Sen, and thankfully his wards held. Frantically, the monster began waving its neck in every direction to dislodge Milim. It seemed she hadn’t actually had a plan for what came after she affixed herself to the creature’s neck. Snake, Susanna, and Girch were too busy fighting the pack, and Joseia was exposed now. He didn’t have time to wrap the boy in wards again.
“Susanna! Cover Joseia!” Sen cried out. He grabbed Joseia, strengthening his body with Mana Aggression, spun, and threw him toward the girl. A golden hand caught Joseia and brought him closer. He was in her care now. Sen needed to focus on the threat at hand.
The wolf snarled, looked up, and jumped into the foliage above again. Taking Milim with it. Sen cursed and followed.
He emerged into a pitch-black space above the room they were in. There was no trace of Milim or the wolf. Whatever this space was, it dulled his senses, both physical and magical.
“Time Crawl Maxim. Enhanced Reflex Maxim.” Sen might not be able to track the wolf in real time, but he could enhance his ability to react to attacks. He abandoned Encapsulation and switched to Mana Protection. He thought quickly through his list of spells and wondered which one would be most appropriate. It hit in an instant.
“Perfect.”
The wolf growled, and Sen spun to meet it. But his instincts cried out a warning. The growl was a trick. He wheeled back around moments before teeth met his neck.
Under the effects of Time Crawl, he let his magic flash.
“One Thousand Thunders Maxim!” His hands clapped the sides of the wolf’s head and reverberated with a force so powerful that the head caved in.
Boom. Thunder ripped through the room, and Milim fell through the foliage below, covering her ears. His arms shook from the recoil, leaving him helpless to grab her. Luckily, Snake reacted. He plucked her from the sky like a child, lowered her, and dropped her.
Sen felt breath on his neck. He realized where the other growl had come from.
[Well, it was nice knowing you.]
He ducked, spun around, and pulled the magic artifact out of his pocket.
“Artifact of the Stone Tomb!” he shouted.
Ano
Ano floated lazily behind the rest of the members of Green Book. His elbows rested on his large floating pillow, and its aura allowed the rest of his body to float even while not supported directly by it. He was this close to taking a nap. They hadn’t encountered anything that required his help. Tonka and Mary made quick work of most of the creatures they encountered. Hell, Tonka had three or four chicken beast fastened to his belt for dinner later. He could definitely afford to take a quick nap. Just a little short one. He closed his eyes and drifted off.
And then he heard Tonka’s surprised yell. “Ah! Ghosts!” he said.
Ano opened an eye and peeked out. He flicked a finger, and his pillow floated to the right so he could see past his friends. There were hooded men in brown robes ahead. Definitely not ghosts.
“Are…you guys with the oversight committee?” Mary Candless asked. “I thought nobody else was supposed to be in here. Do you need to get past us or what?” she asked.
The hooded men exchanged a look before raising hands at them.
Ano was the first to realize. “Mary! Watch out!” His pillow ripped in two and went soaring through the air towards Tonka and Mary, pushing each of them out of the way of the attack. He landed with a thud and reached for the legs of his other companions, hoping to pull them down.
They disappeared into a beam of blue light. The runes had saved their lives, and that meant one thing.
These men had tried to kill them.
He snarled, stood up, and brushed his pajamas off. “I was just about to settle down for a nap.” He looked up at the runes above and double-checked something. “You know,” he said, as the feathers inside his pillow slowly sifted out and hardened. “…those runes only revive students. The rest of you? The rest of you are about to go to sleep. Forever.”
The feathers shot forward like knives.