The fall from the hole turned out to be shorter than expected, at most seven feet. Considering the enhanced physique all members of Team 0 already sported, it was no trouble.
Still, the fact that from the outside it had looked like a much higher jump, meant something. Indeed, looking around, James immediately noticed that it was unnaturally dark. Light streamed in only occasionally through grates, making the visibility minimal. Thankfully, the new suits had built-in torches, which would illuminate the way.
That was something he had expected and which was common enough in dungeons. The increase in mana density evolved monsters, which would change the environment, which the mana would further alter.
The squirrel dungeon had not been old enough for any particular change to happen beyond a dampening of the sound. The one he was in currently had been allowed to grow enough that a few atmospheric effects were to be expected.
“Clear!” James called out, having swept the nearby area with his senses.
Next to him, Lauren’s form was almost indistinguishable from the walls, her uniform and skills working in great synergy with the dungeon’s atmosphere. “I wouldn’t mind this place so much if it didn’t stink.” She commented, looking in distaste at the flow of dirty waters in the canal next to them.
Thankfully, they could avoid walking through the worst of it, as a concrete platform ran the whole course of the sewers. Still, rats’ droppings and grime were everywhere, especially on the path they needed to take, and they wouldn’t be able to avoid them.
“Ugh, and we just got these! We’re gonna have to burn them once we clear this place.” Maria complained, her boots already dirty with unspeakable things.
James chuckled. He was unsurprised that this dungeon business was not as glamorous as movies made it out to be, having already been in one, but for some of his companions, this would be a first.
All of them had fought monsters, having a minimum level of 5, but battling them out in the open, in the middle of a grain field or on the beach, was much different than going into their den. They had all studied and trained hard for this moment, but he expected a few hiccups to still happen along the way.
Well, that’s the reason they are sending all five of us to clear a H-rank dungeon. I don’t think I’d be able to solo it, especially not in just one go, but now that we have learned how to work together decently well, this shouldn’t be too hard.
The image of Sally’s foot being bit off and swallowed by a rat, the feeling of its brain pulping under his fists all sobered James up. He wouldn’t lower his guard just because they should be superior on paper.
“Alright people, let’s get this party started.” He said, taking point, closely followed by Daniel, who as their Tank would be the one to gather the monster’s attention while James and the others attacked.
It might have seemed counterproductive for a person never to deal direct damage to monsters, but the System was constructed well enough to deal with things like that. When fighting in a group, experience points were divided by contribution. Since that was decided by the System itself, no one could complain. Tanks were known to gather quite a decent amount by bearing the brunt of a monster’s attacks. It was the reason support mages like Ezekiel also gained experience from buffing more damage-oriented teammates.
They had to walk only for a few minutes before the first enemy came into sight. A rat the size of the first one James had killed came from around a corner, sniffing the air as if looking for something that didn’t belong. A cold hand gripped his heart for a moment, before he refocused on the present, gritting his teeth and banishing the shadow.
Thankfully, they had known about it beforehand thanks to James’ Awareness, and it was quickly dispatched by a singular knife blow to the back of its neck. “It’d be a pity to dull these pretty knives so soon, and their skulls are surprisingly strong.” Lauren explained as she cleaned her weapon with a flick, inspecting it for damage. Since it was D-rank, James sincerely doubted it would dull so easily.
When she was satisfied, they kept going, carefully avoiding making too much noise.
The one with the least AGI, Ezekiel, was especially circumspect. He was walking at the back of the group alongside Maria, the two mages having decided to cover them from any sneak attack thanks to the boy’s buffs and debuffs.
Once he gets a bit stronger and has more mana to work with, he should be a game changer. For now, it’s better if he keeps his power for when it’s strictly necessary.
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The sound of angry squeaking from the back alerted the team that a group of rats had found the corpse they had left behind. James cursed under his breath, annoyed that his sensory range was short enough that he hadn’t felt them coming, and hurried there, their entire formation shifting.
Three rats, bigger and meaner-looking than the first, came bounding from the corner they had just left behind, their forms barely visible in the unnatural darkness.
A bolt of otherwise harmless blinding light coming from Ezekiel seared the rats’ eyes, attuned as they were to the shadows, while the rest of Team 0 used the moment to quickly end the fight before it could even begin.
James activated Thakinetic Empowerment, strength flooding his limbs. He was on the first rat in three quick steps, a heavy overhand punch to the cranium flattening it to the ground. He didn’t allow it any time to recover, two quick stomps with his monster leather-reinforced boots ending its life.
Meanwhile, Daniel had sent another one flying with a charge, placing it right next to where Lauren was blending in the shadows. A flick of her knife saw its belly split open, the insanely sharp D-rank mana steel doing short work of the monster’s resilience.
The last rat died gruesomely, blinded, deafened and slowed by Ezekiel’s curses, and then burned alive by one well-placed fireball. Maria pumped her fist in glee, delighted that she had managed to hit her target without any collateral damage.
Though the beast had been damp and dirty, the oily residue on its skin worked against it, instantly catching fire and accelerating its death. It took only a minute before it was gone, after which the redhead extinguished the blaze with a wave of her hand.
“Oh, I leveled up!” Ezekiel exclaimed, bouncing on his heels in excitement.
“Do it now before we meet another group. Something tells me these things might be more numerous than we expected.”
James nodded to Lauren, showing that he agreed. Though mana changed much of an animal’s basic functioning, rats were very well known for their ability to proliferate quickly. Since the dungeon had been mostly left to itself, with only a few initial cullings on record, they should expect a pretty long dive.
“As we said before in the briefing, depending on the conditions we might have to retreat and finish this tomorrow.” He commented, getting a look of displeasure from everyone. “Hey, I’m just being the voice of reason here.” James defended himself, feeling it was just a little ironic, considering his previous dungeon experience.
“It’s so annoying having to leave all these mana stones behind. We could quickly open them up and take them.” Lauren groused, poking the rat closest to her with her boot.
“You know the rules.” Daniel sighed. This was an old argument between them, but nothing could be done about it. Team 0 was not about to break regulations on their first-ever mission. They’d pick up the mana stones once they had cleared the dungeon and not a moment sooner.
While they bickered, Ezekiel assigned his stat points, massaging his head as the changes to his MIND gave him a headache. Once that was done and the boy was combat-ready again, they resumed their trek in the semi-darkness.
James took point again, carefully keeping Thakinetic Awareness in its active state to prevent an ambush and train the skill.
A minute later, they came to a fork in the road, but James felt another group of rats approaching from the left before they could choose which one to take. He quickly relayed this to the others, who all took position around the path’s entrance.
Five rats, grimier than the last ones but thankfully no bigger, plodded out. The first of them just had the time to let out a confused squeak at the unfamiliar smell before they were set upon.
Since the monsters were clumped together, the first shot was left to Maria, who gleefully conjured one of her larger fireballs, igniting their oily fur.
With confusion and pain scattering them and with debuffs applied by Ezekiel from the back, the team made short work of the monsters. James ended up killing two. One in a single blow, his fist sending it crashing against a block of broken concrete with a rusted iron bar sticking out, which speared the rat through.
The second, he put out of its misery. It had been badly hurt by the fire, but had managed to throw itself in the sewer waters, putting out the fire. With burned flesh and blood leaking from where it had scratched itself, it took only two stomps to end it.
By the time the fight was over, everyone but Ezekiel had leveled up, and they quietly cheered the accomplishment. James placed his two points in STR and SENSE, bringing them to nine and eight respectively. The weird sensation of his muscles and mind twisting and reforming passed quickly, and he felt he was slowly becoming more used to it.
Ezekiel, who had served as a lookout while they assigned the points, whispered “All done?”.
James nodded, joining him in his guard while the others finished. “Yeah, it’s getting easier. Also, the additional mana is always helpful.”
“Now that I can get behind. It’s so annoying having to stop what you are doing because mana is running out, but if you hit rock bottom and try to push for more, you can actually hurt yourself badly.” The curly-haired boy groused.
James was about to respond when Thakinetic Awareness alerted him that something was coming. He barely had the time to push Ezekiel to the side when a rat, smaller but faster than the others, jumped out of the sewers, its form entirely black, almost indistinguishable within the darkness.
Knowing that his companions were still incapable of defending themselves, James scrambled up and, in a surprising move, bodily threw himself at it, forcing the rat to jump back with a squeak.
Before it could resume its attack, he felt his strength and speed increasing even further than his Empowerment allowed, the distinct soft white glow of a buff telling him that Ezekiel had joined in.
The rat was taken by surprise by his burst of speed, and once he was on it, he didn’t let it run. James grabbed its tail, using it to launch it against the wall with enough strength to daze it. Then, with a powerful kick, he ruptured its insides. The rat then did something to disappear from sight, likely engaging in a stealth skill similar to Lauren’s, but James’ senses told him it was merely crawling toward the dirty water.
A stomp later, the boy was busy scraping off rat grime from his boots, not wanting it to cake and stain.
The notification telling him that he had defeated a [Mutated Sewer Rat - Assassin] and that it had given him a whopping [50 EXP] was surprising, but he quickly concluded that the monster must have had a pretty high level, with skills completely focused on stealth. His skill countered it entirely, which had made the fight so easy, especially with the buff Ezekiel added on top.
Not one to look into a gift horse’s mouth, James gratefully accepted the prize, especially since it had already put him a third of the way to level eight.
“Thank you for that, you saved me.” The curly haired boy recognized, patting James on the shoulder “I would have hated having to waste so much mana to heal myself so soon.”
“No worries. Now, if we’re all done, we can continue. Which way should we take?”