Located at the tip of the South Fork peninsula of Long Island, Montauk was a Hamlet of East Hampton. It had served as a major tourist destination and prized fishing spot for more than a century, holding more world saltwater fishing records than any other port in the world.

It was also home to a US Coast Guard station, which technically should have taken care of the dungeon by itself. Still, considering the poor conditions that particular branch of the military was in, it was no wonder it had been left to the Guilds and AA.

If there is a federal organization more underfunded than the AA, it’s the Coast Guard. Considering how little the US population cares about the rest of the world and how dangerous treading the oceans without extremely powerful Awakeners is, its duties are just what the Navy doesn't want to bother with.

Generally, the US Armed Forces were quick to take control of any dungeon that sprung up in their vicinity, using them to train their own elite teams. The Coast Guard, however, simply didn’t have the prestige nor the money to attract any Awakener of significant Talent, which meant that it was almost entirely staffed by ordinary people.

Even then, a H-rank dungeon should have still been within its capabilities. Guns worked just as well against monsters as they did against humans, as long as they were below a C-rank.

But the Coast Guard simply didn’t have the influence and political power to attempt to requisition the dungeon from a Guild or even the AA, which meant that as long as there was no monster out in the streets actively hunting people, they couldn’t do anything.

It was why James was unsurprised to find that roadblocks had been set up. They were made to go through a lengthy inspection, meant only to slow them down and remind them that they couldn’t do as they pleased.

Team 0, however, had been taught exactly how to deal with this kind of interaction and managed to get through by simply answering any question the very annoyed Lieutenant asked them in monosyllables. He looked to be the typical frustrated military man who had believed he’d have an amazing career facing down cartels and gaining glory, but whose path had been irrevocably changed by the introduction of Awakeners in the ranks. His hair was shaved, he had a thin brow and flinty black eyes. He couldn’t have been older than thirty, but his stern expression made him look at least forty.

“Do you understand that if anything, and I repeat anything, happens to the people of this town that we have been sworn to protect, even while you are inside the dungeon, the authority will revert back to us?” The man asked. He was tall and would have been intimidating if even Ezekiel, who was at least five inches shorter, couldn’t tie him up in knots with his bare hands.

“Yes, sir.” James answered clearly. The question had been meant to provoke him, but he wouldn’t give in so easily.

With a frustrated sigh, the Lieutenant finally gestured for them to go ahead, and they piled back into the van, keeping quiet until they were well away from the roadblock.

“What an ass.” Lauren commented, getting a snort from everyone.

James had been afraid that she would get too riled up by the seamen’s behavior, but luckily, she had managed to keep her snark to herself until they were out of earshot.

“There was no need to make us go through all of that. For a while, I thought they were about to try and test our potions for illicit substances.” Ezekiel agreed, also looking very annoyed.

“They were trying to get a reaction out of us. An excuse.” Daniel said in a low voice, looking out of the window pensively.

They were prevented from further talk when they finally got to the beach’s parking, where the van stopped. “Alright, this is as far as I can take you. I’ll be waiting for you here the whole time. Good luck.” Mr. Thompson said, getting thank yous from everyone.

The fresh sea breeze, coupled with the absolute silence of the off-season, made the beach look peaceful. Nothing to do with a den of monsters waiting for them to enter.

“Let’s get this thing started!” Maria exclaimed, trying to sound cheerful. The redhead had been depressed ever since finding out that, once again, her fire magic would be mostly countered by the environment, but she wasn’t one to stay down for too long.

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They approached the sea, following the shoreline until something became visible in the distance. A natural harbor leading all the way to the bottom of a hill. At its base, the mouth of a grotto.

Thanks to their D-rank suits, they didn’t have to fear getting wet, but their movements would still slow down while in the water, so they took up a more defensive formation.

Miss Walker’s papers made it very clear that they should expect three different types of monsters. The most common were the giant crabs, creatures the size of a large dog whose pincers could easily shear through bone if given the opportunity. These, however, were not the most insidious of the enemies.

The seaweed within the dungeon had mutated enough that they could attack any intruder, and their slimy coating protected them against most direct hits. The usual method of dealing with plant monsters - fire, fire and even more fire - was not applicable because of their constantly submerged bodies.

Maria had floated the idea of trying to boil them alive, but James had shot it down. It had been a valid tactic against the Boss crocodile because it was just one creature. Doing it against the dozens of seaweed monsters they’d encounter was simply not feasible.

“Remember, we don’t know if I’ll be able to pick them up with Awareness since they are plants. So be careful of sneak attacks. Also, try to keep the first you find alive long enough so that we can experiment with different methods.” James said as they arrived at the mouth of the cave.

They were standing in knee-high water, which would severely hamper their agility, but even more, it would make Lauren’s stealth almost entirely useless.

The last monster of this dungeon was the Boss, which was an entirely different can of worms. But they’d get there in time. First, they needed to assess how much they could actually do. It was important they be objective, since risking their lives even further than what they were already doing would be simply stupid.

Entering the dungeon proper, James cast out his senses, seeking to find anything hiding in the waters. Sunlight still streamed in through the opening, and deeper in, glowing seaweed seemed to illuminate the way, as was written in Miss Walker’s report.

Focusing on his skill, James felt a faint presence ahead of them. It was different than any he had encountered before. Much simpler and entirely single-minded.

Even the average dungeon monster, made more aggressive by the influx of mana it had been subjected to, was not as focused on one task. The being James was sensing now, which he strongly suspected to be a seaweed monster, was simple-minded enough that its only focus was on reaching them. “A monster’s coming! I think it’s a seaweed!” He called, mana flooding his legs to give him an AGI boost.

A long green vine, looking like a tentacle, breached the water soon after, slapping down on where he had been a moment before with enough strength to break bone.

A second one crashed onto Daniel’s shield, though he held without much problem.

Lauren sped over, her knives out and scoring a hit before she was forced to retreat as rather than expressing any pain, the seaweed shrugged off having a part of itself cut off and reached toward her.

The monster wasn’t particularly fast, which was why they were able to keep it at bay. A fireball from Maria failed to ignite it and didn’t cause enough damage to be worth the expenditure. Therefore, she was reduced to smaller, faster ones whose explosions at least made the vines deviate in their paths.

The final blow was delivered by Lauren, who thanks to Daniel and James taking the brunt of the thing’s attention, managed to get close enough to its main body and shred it to ribbons.

The notification proclaimed the monster as [Mutated seaweed - Whip], which was simple and to the point. It gave them [+50 EXP], which was less than expected, but considering its overall fragility, it felt fair. Their difficulty in dealing with it stemmed more from a lousy match-up than from it being at a high level.

They met two more of the Whip Seaweed, this time working together. They didn’t have any strategy, but the simple tactic of using all their ‘tentacles’ at once to force them on the backfoot was effective enough that they didn’t need it.

Thanks to Ezekiel buffing them, no one took any damage, and Lauren was able to weave through the vines to reach the main bodies, cutting them up and ending the fight.

“I feel like this should be more difficult. But these knives are just so damn sharp that it’s almost unfair.” The brunette commented, observing the floating pieces of monster.

“Considering how stacked against us the odds are, I’d say we should take every advantage we can get.” Daniel responded, having been the one to take the brunt of the whip attacks.

His skills and build made him much more resilient than his teammates, and he usually didn’t mind serving as the focal point for the enemy’s attention, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed being constantly hit.

Their third fight was much different since their opponent this time was not an Seaweed, but a real monster. Sensing the crab in advance, James almost let out a breath of relief. He had gotten used enough to fighting creatures that he had been a bit unsettled with the almost brainless seaweed.

The crab was faster than expected as it scuttled around, speeding toward them with murderous intent. Its claws were wickedly sharp, and its armor was thick enough that James doubted Lauren’s knives would damage it, even if they got through on sharpness alone.

Fortunately, he knew just the thing to do about it. When cutting didn’t work, and with fire magic once again out of the picture, since the crab was half submersed in water, James shot forward, Thakinetic Empowerment flooding his limbs with strength.

In a surprising move, he jumped out of the water entirely, his head almost touching the cave ceiling, and fell down upon the crab like a meteor, his reinforced boot crashing onto the crab’s head with enough strength to crack it.

Not letting the monster have time to defend itself, James hopped off the creature and pushed all his Empowerment into his fist, punching it down and ending its life in one blow.

“Now, this is what you call a fight. None of that whipping nonsense. I don’t like monsters without a visible brain.” He said, earning snorts of laughter from all the others.

They left the crab’s corpse behind, Maria ignoring James’ request that she boil it just a little so that he could have a taste with a shake of her head and an amused smile.

That levity left them soon after, as they came upon a dozen seaweed monsters strategically placed around the path so that they couldn’t avoid any, even if they wanted to.

“This might be a problem.” James gulped.