Throughout the world, the big news of the month were about Irasal. More precisely about Winsor. Many nobles, [Merchants] and other highly influential individuals were taken aback at the city's fall. No one expected the city guard to fail this hard, and this was a big humiliation for the Draele empire.

The Mob's actions rippled through the world, and the [Emperor] was furious. Vitelius had scolded his son for allowing such a thing to happen. What if this emboldened the Drakes and their allies, the Lizardfolk and caused them to attack? Many conspiracies were spreading like wildfire, but they were mostly spread by bored [Lords] and [Ladies] gossiping.

After the [Heroes] had been freed from the Arcane Leech hive, many had become traumatized and simply decided to quit. They hadn't lost their classes, but they simply stopped training. Overall, ten had died in the dungeon, or at least that's what the [Heroes] believed.

Jaden, Joshua, Yvonne, Micheal, Paul, Bryce, Tony, Joel, Samuel, and Malcolm.

The name of the dead.

Vitelius held a funeral for them at the castle. It would have been a national event if the existence of the [Heroes] wasn't a secret. In any case, the [Emperor]'s appearance to save what people thought were adventurers made for interesting speculation. The cat was out of the bag and people were interested now.

The dungeon was still completely sealed, and it would be for a very long time. Since Dalos– the city built on top of the dungeon, was heavily reliant on the fees adventurers paid to go inside, their economy was rapidly collapsing. Many [Merchants] were already pushing for reopening, but the city [Mayor] was never going to listen to any [Merchants] after what happened to Serle.

Serle was the man who owned the Arcane Leech hive. Well, owned was a bit too generous. After all, the man had never been inside of it, and he just charged exorbitant prices for what the dungeon was worth. Unfortunately, he had disappeared the day the incident happened. No one could track him down, and it was as if he had never existed.

Arcane Leeches were usually not very rewarding to kill. Their meat could be sold, and some of their organs could be used in very low-level potions, but that was it. Most adventurers came for one thing and one thing only: leveling.

As soon as they leveled enough in their respective class, they'd never come back here again, so Dalos saw a lot of new faces every few weeks. No adventurer truly lived there except a few retired ones. But after the disaster that occurred, no one would ever want to go there again. The risk simply wasn't worth it. The dungeons where adventurers risked their life had thousands of gold coins to be made. Now that was worth it.

The poor [Mayor] had to try his best to offer an incentive for people to come back, but aside from heavily lowering the prices, which all the [Merchants] opposed, there wasn't much to be done.

Or that's what he thought until a giant golem made of flesh and blood burst through the reinforced changed doors with Malcolm behind it.

Let's go back a few weeks, right after everything went south. Right after Malcolm was left for dead.

-----------------------------------

Malcolm was completely and utterly lost.

But that was just stating the obvious. He was also terrified of going any further than he had already since the Leech swarm could be at any corner. Every time the [Mage] turned, he got ready to cast [Earth Wall]. Fortunately for him, after hours of wandering, it looked like the swarm had finally dissolved, now all he had to do was find the exit somehow.

He was thankful he had [Light], most of the torches were destroyed or simply gone. Malcolm wished his trusted golem Dune was still there, but there was nothing he could do to bring it back. The [Hero] had already tried making a new golem, but his fingers were trembling every time he stopped moving. All the stress was weighing him down, but Malcolm had no choice but to move forward. He hoped his earth spells would keep him safe.

The [Mage] couldn't attack very well without a golem, but he could defend himself very well. Or at least he hoped he could. Malcolm was hopelessly lost in his thoughts. He had to distract himself otherwise he would collapse from exhaustion. Or maybe from hunger.

Well, that was exaggerating. He had read online that the Human body could survive days without food. The bigger problem was water, which he had still not found, but this was all needed if and only if he didn't make it out of here. If he could just recognize one pathway or an intersection...

Fortunately for him, after a few hours of looking, Malcolm found the entrance.

It was sealed.

The [Hero] banged on the door calling for help. He stood there and called out for hours. Hitting the door until his hands bled and his nails were broken. He was helpless, the door wouldn't budge. Not even a little. What time was it outside? Maybe they had gone home and the [Guards] would be back tomorrow. Yes, that was it!

Malcolm still wasn't tired though, the main reason being that he had destroyed his sleep schedule studying Golemancy and other magic in his room until two in the morning most nights. The [Mage] had no choice though, so he decided he needed to lay down to pass the time.

He suddenly had an idea, however. Malcolm held out his hand and the earth around the door started moving.

"[Earth Manipulation]."

How had he not thought of this sooner? It was like trees you had to use cut on in Pokemon. He could simply go around and–

His spell stopped working after around one foot. It looked like some sort of enchantment against magic, his spell simply had no effect. Malcolm tried it again on the left side of the doors this time and it had the same result. It looked like he was stuck here until tomorrow... whenever that was.

The [Mage] walked down the corridor and dug a little human-sized hole for himself to keep him safe from any roaming Leeches. And so, Malcolm laid down and closed his eyes. The hole was uncomfortable but at least he was safe from harm. Hopefully.

That "night", he dreamed. He dreamed that he was back home. Not at the castle at Ankrea, but back on Earth. It was the first time he thought about it since... since he arrived in this world actually, and the [Hero] thought that was odd after he woke up crying.

Instead of forgetting the dream after a few minutes like usual, he remembered everything. Every single second hit him like a truck. He could finally remember his mom's and his dad's faces. His big sister's face. Their voice, their smell, and everything about them.

He felt sick to his stomach. Up until now, it was like he had completely forgotten about them... no, it was like his family never even existed in the first place. What could have caused this? Malcolm felt his heart beating faster and faster. His breathing got harder and his vision blurred. He was having a panic attack.

Or he thought so since he had never had one before. There was no way to really know. The [Mage] threw up in a corner and coughed a few times.

Malcolm was sobbing now, and his face was a complete mess. After a few minutes of sobbing quietly, he started making his way towards the door again. The [Hero] would get to the bottom of this. He knew this wasn't natural. One did not simply forget about their family.

He positioned himself in front of the door and started banging on it, and once again there was no response. Had he overslept? Or maybe he only slept for one hour? It was possible. Malcolm had no perception of what time it was in the dungeon. He screamed at the door.

"Someone help! I'm stuck in here!"

Still no response.

Malcolm had also realized that he was probably the last survivor in the dungeon, otherwise, he was sure he would have seen someone make it back here by now. Or wait... maybe they were just lost like him and they were struggling to find the exit.

Regardless, he needed to–

"Schreeeeeeee!"

Malcolm flinched and fell on his butt. It was an Arcane Leech! No, wait, there were four! The red oversized worms wriggled towards him. They had blue streaks of mana pulsating inside of their bodies. Did the screaming attract them here? He had been so dumb!

The [Mage] gagged and crawled backward, He couldn't beat them, certainly not without a golem by his side! His spells were purely defensive! He had to run–

In a surprising feat of mobility, the Leech jumped towards him with its jaw wide open.

"Ear– [Earth Wall]!"

Malcolm's hand glowed in a brown-yellowish light and the earth rose from the ground at neck-breaking speed. The Leech smashed into it and collapsed on the ground.

For once, Malcolm wished he had brought his sword with him. After all, he was still a level 4 [Warrior] with two sword skills. Unfortunately, he didn't bring it with him. The [Mage] had been arrogant, and he had thought that Dune would have been enough.

Walls would get him nowhere, he needed to be better.

"[Greater Earth Manipulation]."

With newfound confidence, the [Mage] ripped out pieces of mud and dirt from the ground and walls, solidified them and turned them into spikes, all of that in less than a second. He then thrust them into the leech that hit his wall. It screeched in agony and then it went limp. Its friends didn't seem to be shaken, and the four that were left rushed towards the [Hero].

Malcolm once again used [Greater Earth Manipulation], and this time he created two spikes for each Leech. He managed to kill three, but one dodged and made it past him. The monster jumped and bashed against the [Hero]'s side. Malcolm groaned in pain. He wasn't fast enough to pull up an [Earth Wall] to defend himself!

It felt like the Leech had broken some ribs, but he would live. The [Mage] used all the remaining strength he had in his legs to push the monster off of him and then used his new spike technique.

They were all dead now, and Malcolm was sure he would level next time he slept. If he had had faster reflexes, nothing bad would have happened to him. The [Mage] cursed silently at his own incompetence and slowly sat on the ground. He was useless. If only he was Blake or anyone else... he would have taken care of those Leeches in a few seconds without a scratch.

After a few minutes of weeping and self-hate, Malcolm got up again, and the right part of his chest was on fire. At least he could still walk, and the [Mage] was thankful for that fact. If the Leeches had gotten him in the legs... Malcolm didn't even want to think about it. Being crippled here would be a death sentence.

He had no potions he could use to mend his bones either.

Malcolm sighed. All the fighting had taken place next to the dungeon entrance and if no one heard it, then no one was ever going to open the door any time soon. He hadn't eaten in more than twenty-four hours... at least he thought so. He was in agony. It was like his stomach was collapsing on itself. Malcolm had never been this hungry before, and his throat was getting drier by the minute.

He looked at the Leeches.

No... he would never do such a thing. Those monsters were probably poisonous too. There was no way. Malcolm could only hope they'd find him before he died of dehydration.

The [Hero] contemplated looking for food or a source of water deeper in the dungeon. After all, these things had to drink and eat something right? Wait, no, they absorbed the ambient mana around their environment to live, so it was possible that no food was available anywhere...

That was the worst-case scenario. Surely someone would come any moment now, right? Any moment now... for now, Malcolm decided that he needed to sleep, not because he was tired, but because he needed to level up.

Level 10 in his mage class would bring him a much-needed boost. After all, it was common knowledge that the best skills came every ten levels. A level 40– or level 50 skill if you were unlucky, could propel you into a force that was able to threaten entire cities just by yourself! But first came level 10, and Malcolm would gladly take any skill that came with it. He closed his eyes and waited for the voice to do its thing.

[Mage: Level 10]

[Mage ––> Earth Mage]

[Skill: Earth Spike Obtained]

[Skill: Ground Liquefaction Obtained]