~3rd Person~

Out of all the heroes, only around 8 directly heard what the scout had to say. Most of them ignored the mob and continued to train. However, it didn't matter since word had spread fast.

There was a city-wide issue that was being addressed as a code word known as the [Uprising]. This name was given by the king and his consultants mostly because of Lorne, of as they knew him - Lucas.

None had expected the boy to survive, much less a drop down into the Atriarc Dungeon. Especially the Atriarc dungeon since it was the hardest discovered by the humans.

The knights that had personally 'gotten rid of' Lucas were thoroughly questioned, but they were eventually deemed as truthful.

While the kingdom was in distraught, the worst were the supposed Heroes who were responsible for this.

The ominous message left by Lucas notifying them that he would be coming for them as concerning, and sent chills down all their spines. The fact that Lucas had gained a very strong companion, alongside gaining strength himself was concerning. It was even possible that those two were not him, but friends of some sort.

The idea of a human becoming a demon was not in the air, thus they became even more worried as to who these two figures were.

Out of all the heroes, Josh was angered the most by far. He absolutely hated Lucas, especially since he knew Alyssa had feelings for him. After getting rid of Lucas, he had foolishly thought she would jump into his arms.

Yet, Lucas somehow survived and gained strength. Whether that demon was him or not, it doesn't matter. All that mattered was that there would be a time in the future where they would be fighting, and Josh was not strong enough yet.

After he ran out of the castle, he went to the barracks to group up with his friends. He told them everything he knew, and they became agitated as well. Seeing Lucas as nothing but a stubborn cockroach that refused to die.

Thus, Josh alongside his group left the city with a few of the city soldiers to farm and get stronger. Josh especially.

They went out in their own dispatch consisting of Josh, Susan (the girl who likes josh), Jacob, Connor, and Kyle. With this group of 5 and 5 other soldiers from the capital, they went out into the forest trail just outside the city.

Their goal was the Atriarc Dungeon. Josh knew that it was destroyed, but there were most likely still monsters around the area. They got on horses and rode off to the dungeon.

After not too long, their group reached the Dungeon, or what remained of it.

"Oh god..." (Susan)

Susan let out what everyone else was thinking.

What remained was a giant hole that was the size of the dungeon. The size of the hole was around 120 meters in a circular shape.

Josh got close to the hole, but was cautious as to not fall in, and looked down. It went down for a long period of time. He could barely see the bottom, and where the broken edges resided was a soft smoke.

The edges looked as if they were burned off by something so cold it left smoke just having the sun's rays on it. It was something none of the 'heroes' had ever seen before.

*Grrrrr*

Everyone turned their heads towards a large wolf-like creature coming out of the forest. It had pitch black fur and cold, red eyes. It was the size of a fully grown man in height, and gave off a dangerous aura.

Upon seeing it, Josh used [Identification], a skill which he had just recently learned.

Shadow Wolf Leader Variant: Blood Eyes - Level 44

Upon reading the information atop the wolf's head, Josh grew wary. He was just a bit over level 20, sitting at 23. His part members were all close to 20 as well, but none matched him.

Susan - Lv 19

Jacob - Lv 21

Kyle - Lv 18

Connor - Lv 19

The soldiers that accompanied them were all level 50 or above, but they were around as strong as one of Josh's companions. The boost in stats really helped Josh's group.

"Everyone get ready, take a / formation with tank in front, mages and healer in back." (Josh)

Josh yelled the command, and everyone responded without hesitation. Connor jumped in the front, and Josh and Kyle behind him alongside the soldiers. 3 of the mage soldiers and Susan went to the back.

This was one of the more basic formations that Josh was taught by the Pope. Since the Pope and the Goddess Illia seemed to have taken a liking to Josh as the 'chosen one' among the 'heroes', he was highly regarded.

The wolf howled, and from behind it 2 others appeared. They were smaller, but seemed to be companions of the wolf. Josh didn't bother [Identifying] them since they were most likely weaker, but he did take more caution.

"Watch out for attacks from the sides." (Josh)

The smaller ones were more agile so they had to watch their sides, but the 'Blood Eyes' variant worried him. He decided to not look them in the eyes. He didn't tell his party anything since he might end up learning what happens if you do. After all, they were just tools to him.

After Josh had shouted out his second order, the leading wolf roared, and its two companions darted off. They aimed for the weaker mages in the back, but the formation allowed for protection of this. The warriors closer to the mages surrounded them in protection, and when one of the wolves that was on the right tried to strike it was hit by two warriors, just barely dodging the 3rd.

(Explanation: 10 total. 3 mages, 7 warriors. Wolves went to hit the mages in the back, however 2 warriors surrounded the mages each with an extra on the right side, leaving the one tank (Connor) in the front to stall the wolf leader.)

The wolf that was on the left took note of the right's error and backed off. The wolf on the right had a deep gash near its snout and shoulder, but managed to get away.

The wolf leader attacked Connor, but being the tank he was he was able to stall it for a bit. This, however, changed instantly when the left wolf attacked Connor from the side, biting through his armor covered leg, and when the right wolf was about to join it looked to be Connor's end.

However, Josh sprinted forward and slashed the right wolf clean in two as it had let its guard down.

The other warriors ran forward, and the mages released their spells that they had been chanting. (Just added [Instant Chant] to Lorne's Status Window since I forgot)

A [Tracking Fireball] alongside a [Greater Harden] and [Greater Heal] were all casted. The offensive spell aimed at the wolf leader, and the heal aimed at Connor who had taken most of the damage, while the defense spell at the whole party.

The wolf leader was hit square in the face by the tracking fireball, and whimpered a bit. The second wolf who was still alive was also killed moderately easily with the now entire group after it.

All that remained was the wolf leader. Josh grabbed his sword tight and swung at its neck. He missed as the wolf leader jumped back. Josh was about to pursue before he noticed a red light glowing from the wolf's eyes.

"Don't look at it!" Was heard from one of the kingdom's warriors at the back just as the wolf activated its rather unusual skill. Nobody complained, and they all looked away and turned their backs towards the wolf while running forward, away from the wolf, so it didn't get any sneak attacks in.

The red light brightened quickly and flashed before disappearing, and everyone turned around again to see the wolf panting.

"That's its unique skill [Red Glare]. It takes a lot of mana to use, but it boils the blood of opponents who look into its eyes" A different soldier said. As to why they didn't say this earlier, none of the heroes knew, but that wasn't a concern at the current time.

Everyone bolted towards the now exhausted wolf and aimed to finish it off. The offensive mage from the back used another [Tracking Fireball] while the previous mage who had used [Greater Hardening] this time used [Rock Bullet], and Susan who healed Connor used a party-wide speed buff.

The two magic attacks hit the wolf, further lowering its hp before it was hit by Kyle and Jacob. It attempted to hit the two, but they both dodged and it received one hit to the front right leg, and another to the face. It was now crippled and severely damaged.

Josh ran up to it as the last to arrive due to his intentions to score the finishing blow, and he stabbed it with his sword straight in the head without hesitation.

*Shiing*

He pulled out his sword from the wolf and received a message showing he leveled up.

With that, Josh's party continued to look for more monsters to fight and to farm all the mobs around the area.

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Rewinding To Alyssa Leaving the Castle

Alyssa ran down the stairs and towards the barracks. She was overjoyed that Lucas was still alive. His situations wasn't much of a concern to him, she was just happy that he was alive.

She ran with all her strength back to the barracks to find her friend Jess. After painstakingly sprinting all the way there, she saw Jess who met her gaze.

Confusion filled Jess's face as Alyssa sprinted and showed no signs of stopping. Before Jess could dodge, Alyssa jumped and tackled her to the ground.

"He's alive! He's alive!!!" (Alyssa)

Jess was very confused. She hadn't been there when the scout told his story since she was in the back of the barracks/training area they were in where you couldn't see the streets.

"Wha?.." (Jess) With an ever growing confused face, Jess could only stare blankly at the happily crying Alyssa in her arms.

After some time was given for Alyssa to come back to her senses, she stopped crying and replied after a few sniffles.

"A scout just came back, and even though it was terrible news, Lucas is alive somehow!" (Alyssa)

"How can that be? He was thrown into the dungeon!" (Jess)

There was a brief pause before Alyssa continued.

"That giant pillar of darkness we saw is somehow related to him." (Alyssa)

She started to look around and noticed that there were a lot of people staring at both of them. Alyssa blushed in embarrassment and Jess similarly did the same.

"I'll tell you once we sit down." (Alyssa)

With that, Alyssa got up, and Jess followed her. They both went and sat down on one of the benches near the training area of the barracks that they were at.

Once calmed down, Alyssa told Jess most of the story of what the scout told. Obviously not as in-depth, but the main points were brought through.

Jess was distraught. Lucas was now a huge threat, and he would most likely be coming for everyone that raised their hands against him, or treated him badly. Even though Alyssa and Jess were friends, Jess had done nothing to help Lucas in the past. He had not come to particularly resent her, but it still worried her.

From the story that was told by Alyssa, then something happened to Lucas. Either he became some kind of amazing demon, or he gained a demon and dragon friend. Both of those possibilities were equally as terrifying.

To be able to kill all those soldiers, the dragon woman had to have been very strong. She did not even want to imagine how strong the demon/Lucas was.

While Jess was fighting with herself in her mind, Alyssa spoke out.

"Just calm down. I won't let him do anything to you. You haven't directly done anything to him so he shouldn't feel too bad against you." (Alyssa)

Jess just smiled at Alyssa, thinking things such as how kind she is, and that that kindness will hurt her in the end.

"Well, what do you want to do?" (Jess)

After a brief pause, Alyssa's eyes sparkled and she replied enthusiastically:

"Let's train!" (Alyssa)