I peer down into the desolate landscape behind the stone wall that blocks the dark continent from the rest of the world.

There are rolling hills or sand and jagged pillars of rock that stick out in seemingly random formations. Abandoned dirt roads lead off in all directions and the hint of civilization still lingers... barely...

I can feel the slight buzzing vibrations of a strong mana shield not too far away both on my left and right sides.

What Charolette said about the wall earlier makes sense To keep monsters inside these walls, a very strong barrier needs to be built in place. I just don't understand how exactly this massive structure was made.

That'll be a question for another time I guess.

Looking out into the desert before me, I see multiple plumes of smoke way off in the distance, and approaching are smaller clouds of dust and sand.

Their movements are definitely not human, the amount of material being stirred up is way too large. They must be monsters.

I whisper under my breath.

"There's at least half a dozen monster's coming our way right now."

I smirk, looking down at the light golden brown dust clouds and swirling sand below. Activating my Inspect and Appraisal skills, I scope out the targets approaching right away. They're under 200 meters from us and incoming fast.

[Lv. 395]

[Lv. 395]

[Lv. 395]

[Lv. 395]

[Lv. 395]

[Lv. 395]

_____________________________

Active Items:

[Enchanted Sand Golem's Core] +88% Mental Strength

Active Skills:

Combat Magic [Earth Summoning]

______________________________

The closer I look, the clearer those 6 clouds of dust flying up into the air distinctively become. I smile, looking over at my teammates, I see their excited looks as well.

"Golems, I've never fought one of these before."

Arie reaches into his item box to take out his bow.

Maria's hands begin to glow light blue, while Abby's feet glow a deep emerald green.

The orange-haired bartender that led us out here speaks up in a cheerful tone after she lets out a chuckle.

"Well, you four look ready for battle already. I assume the Association received the copy of that map I sent over."

Abby nods, and Char continues.

"This is the closest break to the wall, there are no towns or people nearby. It was all abandoned years ago. This one should be one of the easiest breaks. Golems may be tricky at first, but once you get used to them they aren't much trouble to take out... Well... that's what some of the Elites that pass through have told me."

I nod, trying to get a good view of one of them, but the 40-meter drop and long distance are making it difficult to see.

Charlotte continues while pointing out into the desert.

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"The break shouldn't be more than a kilometer or so that way. On a clear day, you can usually see the portal from atop the wall. This whole week the desert has been acting up. More sandstorms and dungeon breaks than ever before. The visibility has decreased a lot. I'm sure you'll all manage to find it though."

She smiles, crossing her arms as the ominous dust clouds get closer and closer to the base of the wall that we're standing on.

I look down, seeing no ladder on this side of the wall...

I could float us all down with my wind magic, but I'm not looking to do that with the Association's charming lookout right behind me.

Abby speaks up.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Enough sitting around, let's go kill some monsters!"

She jumps off the side of the wall without a moment of hesitation and begins to glow bright green.

My eyes widen as I watch stone materialize beneath her feet. A floating staircase leads downwards behind her as she gracefully jumps from step to step.

"Follow me, I've learned a few tricks since we all fought together. It's time to show off!"

Maria lets out a laugh and jumps off the high ledge as well, following closer behind on Abby's staircase of stone.

Arie smirks and jumps after them, making his way down to the desert floor too.

I turn to Charlotte and she nods, giving me a word of goodbye.

"Best of luck down there. Come on back to the tavern whenever you all need a break. I'm sure there's lodging in some of the smaller towns deeper into the Dark Continent. Staying there will make your travels easier, but my bar is always open to ya if you need to come back! May your hunt be bountiful!"

I give her a firm nod, then jump off the wall to land on the first stone step made by Abby's Advanced Earth Summoning.

"Appreciate it. We'll be back before you know it!"

I turn and follow my team downward while reaching into my item box and pulling out my flaming sword.

I sense the stone staircase rumbling behind me. I turn my head to watch it begin disintegrating just a few meters from my steps, giving me just enough room for comfortable strides.

I think to myself as I make my way down.

Materializing stairs like this is a neat trick, I'll have to test out something similar with my own earth magic soon.

Bursting into flames, I run down the steps and make it all the way to the desert floor mere seconds later.

The 4 of us land on the ground with a thud. I look forward, activating my enemy detection skill to scope out the monsters ahead.

The wide grins can be found across all of our faces. It feels like forever since I've been in a real battle. This is going to be good.

[60m]

[60m]

[100m]

[100m]

[150m]

[170m]

I call out.

"They'll be attacking in groups of 2. Let's split up and take them out. Then, we'll make a game plan for the actual break."

A unanimous firm nod is my response as Maria and Abby start running towards the enemies without a moment of pause.

I watch the green-haired healer take out two Black daggers, then they begin to glow to match her aura.

Maria takes out a long thin silver sword, one I've never seen before.

It begins to glisten and glow a similar color to her ice magic...

I use Appraisal on the two items out of curiosity.

[Enchanted Daggers [Q]][Earth Aspect][+89% Strength][+81% Agility][+81% Speed]

[Enchanted Long Sword [Q]][Ice Aspect][+93% Strength][+79% Agility][+79% Speed]

I do a double take, but it's exactly as expected. They've managed to get element-imbued weapons, most likely a treat from the Director. Their stats are pretty good, almost on par with some of my gear. The only thing that I'm unsure of is that "[Q]" marking on both of them...

The girl's blue and green auras grow brighter and brighter as I watch the ground ripple beneath Abby's feet and the sand and air around Maria freeze solid, leaving a 5m wide path of pure glistening ice behind her.

Arie looks over to me, drawing his bow and creating a thin white arrow. I activate my All-Seeing Eye and am thoroughly surprised by the precision at which it is being summoned.

His unique skill allows him to draw "Spirit imbued Mana" just like my fire magic has "Fire or Elemental imbued Mana". It's formed into a dense and thin arrow with similar qualities to the attacks I release from my sword and dagger.

It's hard to tell its exact power from just a glance, but if I had to guess... It seems to be thin and dense enough to break through a Berserker's shielding.

This is most likely not his full power... Was he hiding his strength before? Was I too weak to tell? Or was his training that intense...?

Arie speaks up.

"Hey, you ready?"

I shake my head, then smirk, igniting my entire body into a dark ball of dark fire.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

We both turn and run toward the approaching dust clouds with our eyes locked on the towering shadows of the approaching enemies.

I know they're golems... I've even read about these creatures before...

Massive stone semi-humanoid creatures without a soul. The power within them must come from their cores. I'm betting on that being their weak spot. Other than that, this is completely new territory for me.

I've never seen one before. I thought my first golem encounter would be in a dungeon, but I guess I'll be facing them out here in the real world.

My battle-ready smile grows as I begin to hear and feel the rumbling sound of large beasts approaching.

The first two massive monsters begin to finally come into my visual range.

[18m]

[20m]

Maria and Abby lunge straight into battle 10m ahead of us. My gaze begins to rise upwards as the monsters we're about to face finally come into full view.

This is it...

Our first team battle in the Dark Continent is getting started.