-Mysterious Dungeon(3)-

“Wow! So that’s how it looks inside…” Chiba mumbled as she took in the scenery before her. Unlike what everyone thought, the insides weren’t all that gloomy. The surrounding was beautiful and filled with lush green vegetation. The sky above us was blue, not that different from earth.

“It was contrary to my expectations,” Matsuri mumbled while fiddling with her bow. The moment they teleported inside, she was the first one to brandish her weapon and assume a defensive stance. She was also surprised but quickly controlled her expression. The serious look resurfaced on her face.

“From what I heard from special sources, the monsters inside this dungeon are all prehistoric. I wonder if we will see a dinosaur!” Osamu voiced his thoughts.

Suddenly a buzzing sound was heard, attracting everyone’s attention. As they frantically searched for the source of the noise, Kenshin, who was at the extreme back, looked up with a frown. He felt the sound was coming from their overhead. The map also showed the same thing. A bunch of red dots, fast approaching them from above. From his experience, he could tell the creator of this buzzing noise was most probably insect-type monsters.

“Get ready. Our enemy is right above us now.” Kenshin unsheathed his sword and activated his fire skill. The embers of flame licked the edges of his word, giving a very ethereal appearance.

Soon a cluster of insects descended from the sky. They formed a black could above Kenshin and the others. Their buzzing noise somehow gave a very ominous feeling to everyone present. Although everyone gathered was beyond level 100 or extremely close to it, their heart still palpitated at the sight of the horrifying black cloud that was the insects. A few even subconsciously took a few steps back.

“Insects?” Joy asked incredulously. He also couldn’t believe it. He had expected something dangerous and mystical to pop out, but to think they would be insects. Joy felt very underwhelmed. However, even if they were insects, they were still monsters. Moreover, this dungeon was very special. He couldn’t let his guard down.

Followed by Kenshin, everyone readied their weapons. Joy equipped his special gauntlets. He applied a bit of his magic, suddenly sparks of red electricity flickered all over his metallic gauntlets. Kenshin gave him this item, something he had bought from his system for quite a sum of money. Of course, he took that money from Joy.

Chiba wore the special necklace Rejuvenate Pearl and a pair of earrings called Philosopher’s Earrings. The necklace increased MP regain speed while the earrings added 50 points of INT and WIS to her attributes. Moreover, these two were part of a Set Equipment. When worn together, it increased the magic damage of the user by 30%.

These items weren’t something Kenshin bought from the system store. They dropped from the monsters she had killed. Kenshin would have swapped them for better ones. But, it went well with her third piece of equipment, a bracelet. This bracelet was bought for her by Kenshin from the store. This bracelet had three functions. Aside from increasing max MP and power, it could also imprint upto 3 skills on it. These skills didn’t have to be her own skill too.

Currently, inside that bracelet, the skills imprinted were Kenshin’s Superior Concealing, Joy’s Boost, and her own Water Javelin. Before she imprinted her skill, she enhanced it once with an equipment boost. When she needed the use of it, she could boost it again with her equipment effect. The resulting effect was a 200% increase in her water skill. If she adds Joy’s skill too, it will be devastating.

Buzz!!!

“Everyone, get ready,” Kenshin shouted once again before waving his sword towards the sky. A crescent-shaped flaming sword wave sped towards the approaching insects and burned a handful of them in an instant.

Then Chiba sent bubbles of water that rained upon the insects and wetted them. Kenshin looked at her confusedly, together with others. Then Joy sent his fist upwards. With a booming noise, waves of electric sparks generated from his gauntlet before attacking the insects.

Kenshin may have killed a handful, but Joy and Chiba’s partnership wiped out the whole lot of them, clearing the sky. This left everyone, including Kenshin, in a daze. They couldn’t believe their eyes. Suddenly Kenshin laughed loudly, startling everyone. He was very much elated at this development.

The powers he was up against recently keep getting fiercer and fiercer. The pressure on him was immense. There were even times when he wanted to take every one of his loved ones and go into hiding. Joy and Chiba were his friends and partners. But they were too weak to be of any help.

Now, that won’t be any problem. Kenshin smiled while looking at them. Yes, even if they are not as strong as me, they can still help me. Kenshin thought so seriously. He believed in them, and now he was rewarded.

“Wow, you guys. You are hiding it from me, right?”

“Mhm, we are practicing our coordination all this while,” Chiba answered with a cute smile. She was indeed practicing with him and Ena. While Kenshin was busy with his own matters, they weren’t idle. They visited all kinds of dungeons or spots where monsters gather and practiced day and night to perfect their coordination. Now they even had the confidence to hold their own against a level 150 hunter.

Kenshin was really happy about this achievement of theirs.

But before the other hunters could commend over their achievement, the ground vibrated as if experiencing a mild earthquake. Followed by this, they heard a loud roar coming from somewhere. When they tracked the source, they saw a huge dust cloud in the distance. Some of the hunters with exceptional eyesight, like the assassin Toru, instantly knew the reason why.

“Shit! I saw a bunch of chameleons running towards us. Those are also bigger than normal ones, at least the size of dogs.”

Followed by Toru’s shout, Matsuri readied her bow. Her eyes sight was even better than him. She saw details far better than him. When she pulled the string of the bow, a red light shined as an arrow materialized.

“Everyone, get ready, I am making the first move.” Saying so, she let loose her arrow as it sailed across the open space. Suddenly, in mid-flight, it enlarged to epic proportions as its speed increased even further.

“What the hell!” Douglas was the one to shout in surprise. This girl’s ability gave him a huge scare.

“Mm. I can manipulate the size of the things I touch.” Matsuri said with a soft voice. She wasn’t afraid of revealing the secrets. It wasn’t her most used skill or even her trump card. She wasn’t afraid of others knowing it.

Meanwhile, the arrow crashed on the approaching monsters, killing a bunch of them instantly. Due to its increased size, the speed and sharpness had dropped considerably. It lost the lethality it had.

Osamu went forward and raised his door-like shield and banged it on the ground with a loud thud. Then he clapped his hands together like he was praying. The shield started to shine brightly before expanding wider and covering everyone. He looked back and smiled. “Everyone, I had the frontlines covered. Go and lay waste to these guys.”

Kenshin gave him a thumbs up before going into action, followed by everyone.