"My name is Sullas, a young man, average I'd say, but I know how to handle a dungeon !"
"No..."
"My name is Sullas, a promising young man, while I may seem average, I am a great adventurer !"
"Would it work ..?"
"My name is Sullas, a promising young man, but hey ! Don't be deceived by my average looks, not only am I an amazing adventurer, I am an even better explorer, ready to- ouch !" Bitting his tongue, Sullas, a black haired young man looked at himself in the mirror of his house, meeting with his own black eyes.
"..." Embarassed, he did not know what to say, repeating in front of a mirror awkward enough.
Having reached the fourth line of the Lead Body, Sullas was an Aura User, still a long way from the title of Aura Veteran.
Repeating like this, he tried everyday to find a party of adventurers to tag along with, to go exploring the dungeon of Goultavart, a true money maker for any adventurer.
"Maybe one day I'll struck it rich !" Hoping, he finished preparing himself to another long journey of failure.
His leather armor on, he exhaled deeply, before opening his mouth.
"[Status] !" Shouting half-assed, a window of light illuminated his vision.
Name : Sullas Age : 17 Level : 10 Title : Aura User HP : 28 / 28 MP : 8 / 8 STR : 14 AGI : 12 DEF : 14 INT : 4
Passive Skills :
[Deceit] : (lvl 1)
[Hand to hand combat] : (lvl 2)
[Swordsmanship] : (lvl 1)
[Spearmanship] : (lvl 1)
Active Skills :
[Appraisal] : (lvl MAX)
"Same old, same old..."
Exiting his house, he did not forget to lock the door, heading out to the center of the city, a large plaza filled to the brim with activity.
His brown bag rustling, his armor light, he took one step after the other, walking calmly.
Once at the open space the plaza was, he waited around the middle, patience oozing out, as he had experienced this very moment countless times already.
'Hmmm~ ?'
Noticing a party of decent looking adventurers, he immediately made his move, accosting them with a bright smile.
"Hello ! My name is Sullas, and I must say I am a great adventurer, but unfortunately, I have no party for the day, why not let me join in ? As an expert, I don't mind giving you rookies a helping hand !"
Staring at the shameless young man, the entire party looked at Sullas with disappointment and disgust.
"Piss off !"
"Ew~ !"
His eyes wide, Sullas stumbled backward, feeling the rage of the leading man, along the disheartening sound of the woman behind.
Watching them leave, he dusted himself, changing spot.
'No need to be so rude...'
His head down, Sullas waited like this until night came.
Back home empty handed, he sulked in his bed, his stomach empty.
"Again today..." Going to sleep, Sullas' mind started to drift into his imaginary wonderland.
The next morning, he did the same, but once again to no avail.
A few weeks later, as he had lost hope, wondering how he would pay the rent, he saw a group of adventurers aboard him.
"Friend over here ! Hahaha ! Hello fellow adventurer, we are lacking a party member, and would like to ask if you would be interested by any chance ?"
Vitality filling his body, Sullas caught the young man's hands with despair.
"Yes ! Yes ! Don't worry about it ! I'm a jack of all trades ! No matter what position is needed to be filled, I'll do my role like no other !"
Chuckling, the young man, his light brown hair short, started to depart, indicating at Sullas to follow him and his party.
Following them, he assessed the party.
'That young man is the sole man... that's... peculiar ? And what's with the looks inside the three women's eyes ? Is it that kind of party ?'
Shaking his head, Sullas' thoughts organized themselves, his resolve steeled to continue despite the obvious dangers, such parties being often annihilated inside the dungeon.
-----
Arriving at the dungeon's entrance, a small cave opening in the middle of the forest, its insides betraying its outward look, being a gigantic network of tunnels and rooms, Sullas and the four others did not waste time, entering the dungeon after paying a small fee.
Deeper inside, the group passed through many pathways, as if a maze. Following a map, the brown haired youth was clearly enthusiastic, marching forward in wide strides, uncaring of the potential dangers.
An hour later, now hundreds of meters underground, the group stopped.
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Unsheathing his sword, the leader took a stance, his steel sword in front.
"Goblins !! Stay in formation !! They are nothing but mere F-Rank trash !" Kicking the ground, the leader's sword struck down, slicing apart a green humanoid, killing it in the process. Ignoring the yellow blood spurting on him, the leader rotated his torso right, his arms following along, his next target cut in half from the waistline.
*Splatter !*
"Jack !" A screaming young woman startled Sullas, watching with disbelief as the frail woman took out a wooden staff, Mana flowing from her body directly inside the staff, the temperature rising sharply all around.
"[Fireball] !!" A lump of ever burning fire suddenly shot out from the woman's staff, its two meters diameter crashing onto a jumping goblin, burning it in a heartbeat.
"Gyyyaaaah !!" Hearing the goblin scream in suffering, the fear of death permeating its now charred body, the leader smiled, his life saved by his trusted companion.
"Great job Lena !" His thumb up, he smiled even more, his eyes locked with Lena's, her blonde hair under a witch hat fluttering in happiness.
Gritting her teeth, a beautiful woman with long black hair started running, catching up with her beloved crush in seconds, using her own curved sword to slash goblins, her katana now tempered in blood, or so she thought.
Sullas was quite shocked by their powerful abilities, already gauging them to be Aura Users past the sixth line.
'Especially that black haired woman, she is scaring me...' His attitude that of a wimp, especially for his battle prowess, Sullas did not mind being looked down upon, his pride having already reached rock bottom.
"Your party is truly strong ! You guys' teamwork is quite the sight to behold !" Turning to his left, Sullas initiated a conversation with a red haired woman, trying to be friendly.
"..." Clearly being ignored, Sullas did not dare contest.
-----
Done with the goblins, the group continued to march for hours on end, sometimes taking breaks, setting up camps in wide rooms.
Still advancing, Sullas had a dark, sleepy expression, his head hung low.
'Can't they be any quieter ? Is this man trying to piss me off ? I couldn't catch a wink of sleep with how loud they were ! I knew it was that kind of lackluster party in the end !'
Annoyed, Sullas did not dare make his thoughts known however.
"Enemies !" The brown haired leader shouting, he gathered everyone's attention. This time, the opponents were not F-Rank goblins, but E-Rank hobgoblins, a much stronger version of the small green humanoids.
Sweat visible, the leader coordinated his attacks with his teammates, successfully clearing this trial. But hesitation was seen on his face.
"Let's go a little further, then go back ! What do you guys say ?" Guilt building up, the leader could not help his own greed from corrupting his mind, choosing to go deeper while aware of his and his party's limitations.
'A little more would not hurt ? Even if we have to cross blows with a middle D-Rank monster, I'm confident in all of us escaping intact !'
Not catching onto the leader's dilema, the three women along Sullas nodded their heads, following their party's leader with blind trust.
-----
Now days inside, the leader was truly starting to feel his nerves get to him.
"Haha... We... we did not find worthy opponents again... I'm sure we'll find a final target soon !"
*Rumble !*
As if listening to his words, the leader's expression sank, his feet turning cold as a powerful eruption of Mana drowned the party.
"W-W-What is t-that ?!" Scared beyond belief, the leader took a few steps back, holding his breath, hoping for this unusually powerful aura to simply leave.
Unfortunately, it clearly did not, an humanoid barely 1.8 meters tall now in sight.
Not feeling the powerful aura from before however, made the leader's already disrupted state of mind explode.
"Die !" Kicking the ground, the leader jumped at the humanoid figure, now able to see its light brown color.
'Wood ?' Surprised, the leader collected himself, shouting to the women behind, his sword already attempting to slay the humanoid below.
"Fire ! It's a wooden monster ! Use fire !!" Calmly listening to her leader's commands, the blonde magician started to inject Mana within her staff, a lump of fire forming.
"[Fireball] !!" Shouting ahead, the round lump of fire shot out in the wooden humanoid figure's direction.
Trying to dodge, the leader was soon caught by surprise.
'?!!' His foot grabbed by the humanoid's right hand, he was thrown directly to the flying lump of fire, crashing on it.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH !!!!!" His cries of agony reverberating inside the cave's tunnels, the blonde woman watched in horror as her loved one was charred by her own spell.
"Nooooo !!!"
Sweating profusely, Sullas did not know what to do, as he was not confident in running away, having to then survive all alone past the dungeon's terrific means.
Trying to keep his distance, he witnessed the black haired woman jump at the humanoid figure, tears of grief trickling down her fair skin.
"Die !!" Screaming at the top of her lungs, she brandished her katana down, aiming at the humanoid's left arm.
The humanoid responding, it blocked the sword with its left forearm.
"You're too arrogant !" Expecting this outcome, the woman's katana collided with the frail wooden arm.
'?!' Her facial expression blank and confused, she saw with wide eyes, her katana snap in two, the flying blade slashing her right clavicle, blood spurting out like a fountain.
Unable to process the impossible outcome, Sullas watched her be sent crashing on the ground by the humanoid's right leg, kicking her from above, her bones shattered on the rocky terrain below.
*Crack !*
The ground around the black haired woman now filled with spiderweb cracks, Sullas almost fell on his knees.
'What is this ?!! [Appraisal] !!' Trying his best to understand the nightmare-ish situation, he used his maxed out appraisal skill.
Name : Wooden Puppet N°3 Age : 7 814 Level : 33 Title : Aura Expert HP : 998 / 998 MP : 998 / 998 STR : 499 AGI : 499 DEF : 499 INT : 0
His mind in chaos, Sullas was completely lost.
'How can we beat this ?! This is the peak of the C-Rank !! And how does it even have 'mp' without any intelligence point ?!' Despair turning his stomach, Sullas suddenly saw the red haired woman kick the ground.
'!!' The puppet reacting to a menacing aura, it ignored the two corpses, sending a punch with its left arm, colliding with the red haired woman's right fist.
*Rumble !*
Shockwaves exploding, Sullas watched the incredible fighting scene ahead, barely 15 meters away.
'She can contend with it !!' Curious, he used his appraisal once more, but this time aiming at the young woman.
Name : Marguerite Lowplace Age : 19 Level : 29 Title : Aura Expert HP : 202 / 400 MP : 87 / 100 STR : 200 AGI : 250 DEF : 200 INT : 50
Scared, Sullas had not expected the woman to be losing by such a huge margin, her collected expression betrayed by her alarming status.
'She only collided with two of the puppet's blow and lost almost half of her health ?!' Now truly understanding the hopeless situation, Sullas tried to escape, but soon saw other puppets appear from behind.
'Shit !' Scared, he could only attempt to go forward and hide.
Running, he managed to pass by the red haired woman, who was shocked by his move. Now behind the strong puppet, Sullas ran forward, dodging any F-Rank enemies he came across, not intending in slowing down.
Having left behind the two women still alive, he did not feel guilty, in the dungeon, surviving was the top priority !