Ajax P.O.V

All sensations vanished for a moment as I was transported inside the dungeon. I was brought back to the time before my rebirth when I just floated in the void. As quickly as I lost my senses they returned to me as I landed on wobbly feet in the middle of a large clearing similar to the one we were just in minus the other people. Behind me stood an arch identical to the one I entered and around me was the rest of my team.

While the transition itself had no effect on me, I can’t say the same about the environment. I was used to catching the odd glimpse of mana here and there when other people or beings used it but this was something else. It was as if everything was imbued with mana: the trees, the grass , the earth, even the air was infused with mana.

“Easy there.” a soft hand caught on to my shoulder. “I know it's disorientating at first but you will get used to it. Just try to focus more on your other senses and have them overpower your mana sense.”

The caster of the group said as I realized she was propping me up from where I was about to fall. I did as she said and focused on my sight, hearing and smell. Surprisingly enough for me it worked. My mana senses were still overloaded but now I had a better view of everything. It was like only one gauge on the dashboard was showing something was wrong instead of it being the only information I had.

“What was that?” I asked, seeing how everybody else was fine. “Does that happen to everyone when they enter the dungeon?”

“No, only people who can sense mana. [Detect Mana] is not strong enough of a skill to make out mana presence in the environment. As for what happened, it's basic sensitivity.” The caster explained.

“Sensitivity? How so?” I was very much interested in a way to take me out of action like that.

“Imagine you live your entire life in a deep cave. You might occasionally get a glimpse of light here and there but not much. Then one day you fall through a passage and end up outside the caves in broad daylight. That’s what happened to you.”

Her explanation made sense. Mana was such a rarity in my everyday life when it came from outside sources that entering an environment with this much mana caused sensory overload.

“You alright?” Jones asked me.

“Yeah, I think I got a handle on it now.”

“Lets move out then, everybody in formation.” he called out.

I was in the middle of the formation next to the caster. As a porter I needed to be protected so I was given one of the safest spots. Sadly it also meant that if I tried to engage an enemy I would always have one team member blocking my line of attack.

The first group of hostile we encountered was a small pack of wolves with five members. Hardly anyone had to do anything as the scout informed us and Bobby and Donny charged together and made short work of them with only a few light scratch marks on their plate armor to mark the battle.

Unlike the beasts that exited the dungeon these ones didn’t disperse into mana once they died. It was surprising but I could figure out why that wouldn’t happen. The mana was everywhere so it was enough for the bodies not to return to a pure mana state now that there was nothing left to hold it together.

“How do you collect any remains?” I asked. “Anything you take outside will just disperse into mana as soon as the mana concentration in the surroundings drops.”

“Same way the beasts on the outside hold their mana.” Jones answered. “Every now and then one of them will have formed a mana core. They are slightly stronger and have all their mana focused in one point. That means that whatever we harvest from them once they are dead is good to be taken outside.”

“You think I could take part in a fight?” I ask. I was starting to get antsy about just being a porter.

“Not right now you won’t.” He quickly shot me down. “Anyone know what iteration we got?”

“I narrowed it down to two or six.” the scout called out.

Iterations were something that only applied to the first floors of a dungeon. While its theme was always constant there were also a limited number of iterations that could form around that theme. Since all iterations had been heavily explored,and since they were always the exact same layout, with it being the first floor people were able to know what to expect from it. The problem identifying which one you were in came from the fact that the starting position could be anywhere on the map.

“Two or six …” Jones murmured under his breath. “Once we clear out a decent chunk of this, you’ll have a chance against some of the deer. Those shouldn’t pose any real threat even if they outlevel you.

I wanted to argue but knew it wouldn’t do anything. They were right to be cautious, the only reason they took me with them without so much as a sparring session was because they could each solo this entire floor given enough time without any problem so I decided to pick my battles and see if I can’t get a boss all to myself once I show them I am competent.

The trek through the forest was quiet. The only interruptions were the warning of creatures being spotted and the ensuing fights to take them out. I got to see quite a few of the members in action but both the caster and Jones had yet to do anything and everyone else followed a rather common melee fighter path or a bow one.

“It’s the second iteration.” the scout returned from between some bushes.

“You’re sure?” Donny asked.

“Yeah I even know exactly where we are.”

“What landmark did you find?” Jones asked.

“Waterfall. It’s about a mile to our left.”

Once he pointed out and I focused I could make out the faint sounds of running water. This was a testament to how quiet the forest around us was that I was able to listen for something so far away without something closer blowing out my ear drums.

“How do you want to do this?” the caster asked Jones.

“Hmm. We’ll get to the waterfall then follow it upstream towards the obelisk. Around it should be a few wolf packs and quite a number of deer, including two deer bosses.” Jones answered after a few moments to think. “ We’ll clear out the wolf packs ourselves before we let Ajax take on a deer or two. Depending on how he does we might let him tackle a boss.”

“What about after?” Bobby asked.

“I think just doing that will take a good part of the day. So I think we should go to the cave and rest afterwards. Tomorrow we’ll let Ajax have a few more fights before we activate the obelisk and spend a few hours clearing out the whole floor as it comes.”

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” A few members looked unsure about this plan. Not so much about today but about tomorrow. “Isn’t that a bit dangerous for Ajax.”

“He’ll be perfectly fine.” Jones cut them off. “Think of this as a practice run for Tristan. Unlike Ajax he won’t have any physical stats and most of his magical expertise will come from healing. If anything can get past us now to Ajax we’ll need to train more for Tristan.”

The plan sounded a lot like I was the test dummy. I was more than fine with it however since I didn’t think any deer or wolf posed much of a threat to me. I also had gotten a look at all the iterations and knew the second didn’t possess any other type of creature. Some of the others had different types of eagles and hawks, others had bunnies and bears but two only had deer and wolves. It made up for lack of variety by being larger than other iterations and having a larger number of creatures.

Once we got to the river I was given a stern warning about drinking water from it. Apparently they knew what I had learnt the hard way, introducing mana into your body by eating it was a bad idea.

The trip upriver was more eventful. We ran into a few more groups of wolves and deer. Surprisingly the deer were just as aggressive as the wolves unlike their counterparts outside the dungeon, who would only fight as a last resort.

“Do you not know how to swim?” the caster asked me out of nowhere.

“I do.” I replied, confusion evident in my tone.

“Then why do you keep looking at the river like it will swallow whole?” she asked.

“Had a run in with a fish type monster not even a full month ago.” I explained. “It was a stealth ambush type.”

“You do know iteration two doesn’t have fish type monsters?” she asked.

“Oh I know but it’s not like I can override my instinct and accept that so soon after I almost got my head flattened by a surprise tail swipe.”

That got me a round of nods and I could feel them starting to accept me as something else other than a porter. All that was left was to prove to them I could fight when I got the chance later in the day.