Kairos followed the party he joined out of the inn towards the crystal dome across the exit. He had gotten acquainted with the team very quickly and had to admit that this is a group that can deal with a monster outbreak, even without him.

Leading the group are five instructors from the Royal Elf Institution. Four of which are Circle 7 Spellsingers and one head instructor who is a Circle 8 Arcane Swordsman. There are five other divers recruited to protect the students and while they are only between Circle 4 and 5, they will be sufficient to clear out weaker monsters and most importantly, in a dungeon where anything could happen these veterans might provide valuable advice. The ten students they are bringing are only Circle 1 apprentice mages, but Kairos could tell this lot is vastly talented.

As the group proceeded, the children quickly gathered around Kairos. Not for any other reason but because he is simply pleasing to look at. One must know that he is now amongst elves, a race considered to be the most beautiful of all the core races on Axis Mundi, yet Kairos looked gorgeous even by their standards.

The instructors and divers, though not as direct, also looked over every now and then, and it was through their actions that Kairos finally realised the cause of this minor commotion. Perhaps the leader of this group, the head instructor, allowed him to tag along despite his inexperience because of his looks.

Thinking of that, Kairos smiled bemusedly. He had heard that elves had a strange passion for pleasing aesthetics but to be welcomed because of his looks is something quite unexpected. Even in another world, good-looking people still receive preferential treatment. Thinking back, Kairos’ looks had major improvements since he started practicing the Origin Cultivation method. It is nothing surprising since it revolves around life energy. Just looking healthier would make anyone better looking, but of course there are more things at work here that made Kairos look almost ethereal at times. But because of his popularity and empyreal appearance, one of the children, a little girl called Lunaria Frowth Cecifia had a spiteful look on her face.

Dressed like a little princess, Lunaria folded her arms and sighed condescendingly.

“A mere half-breed round ear, and a weakling to boot. When have we stooped so low to walk with dirty blood?”

Not many know but the elves considered humans of inferior blood simply because they are a race of lesser beauty and elegance. However, sometimes love transcends logic and race, and the children of elf and human descend appears occasionally. For some reason, these children are all pleasing to look at, and some are even more handsome than pureblood elves. Years passed, now many humans have elven blood in them, and the term half-blood become used by elves on the more good-looking ones amongst the humans. Half-breed, which means the same thing but derogatory, is a term only used by elf purists.

The children looked at each other, then quickly stepped away from Kairos, as though they do not want to cross Lunaria.

“I thought so,” the child said triumphantly. She smugly walked pass as if a person like Kairos did not deserve another look.

Kairos shook his head with a smile on his face. The girl’s arrogance is lost on him. If she feels that by stepping on him, she can elevate herself, then indeed she has the mind of a child.

Of course, getting angry is also out of the question, after all Kairos is already sixteen, and this girl is only in her twenties… Wait. She is technically only around twelve in her mind.

Then, would Lyner’s mental age be around sixteen?

Kairos decided to push those unnecessary thoughts out. He looked at the group, now respectfully keeping a distance away from him and know that this is once again similar to how he and his brothers were treated when they first entered the Saint Cadets Academy.

Shrugging it off, Kairos quickly caught up with the rest of the party. The group of eleven adults and ten children are considerably large for a dungeon party, but during monster season, this amount might not be enough.

As they traverse into the first level of the dungeon, the air quickly cooled, forming light mists that swirls about their ankles. The smell of rot and death quickly overpowered the cool evening breeze they brought from above.

The leader of this group, the head instructor of the royal elf institute started pointing out the intricacies to watch out in such a dangerous place. Although, he is not a veteran of the local dungeon, the professor’s knowledge far outstrips anyone here and so the whole party listened intently. Of course, this knowledge is most beneficial for Kairos who is on his first dive, and the elf also knowingly kept his words understandable for a newcomer. Granted, it is also safer for everyone if Kairos knows how to keep his toes in check.

“Always remember that the usual methods in the wilderness will not work in a dungeon. Any dungeon. Here, no matter how many times we enter, we will be pioneers searching for the rules of survival because the rules are constantly changing. Fortunately, we are still at the upper levels, so the rules in this place will be barely altered and mostly on the physical aspect.”

Just a few words threw Kairos’ head into a spin. Rules? What rules?

The head instructor did not bother to pause and breathe.

“For example, the weight of your weapons might suddenly become lighter or heavier, or the armour you so trust would turn softer or harder. That is why the first thing we do when we dive is to check our equipment and not foolishly die to carelessness.”

Any good warrior will know that a slight difference in their gear will require several changes to their fighting forms. A softer armour, for example, means that a blow that would glance them in the past will become crippling. An armour that became harder might not be a good thing either if it means that it has lost malleability and cannot absorb a blow.

The head instructor turns in the direction of Kairos and considering the lad, he continued, “In the dungeons, we divide the floors up as the upper floors – which is where we are, the middle floors, and the lower floors. Beyond that is a place for only the truly powerful, a place known as the depths. There are more levels below that, the unknown floors where no one had ever returned and the abyss that is supposed to be at the lowest level.”

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The elf paused a little. Usually at this point, a good teacher would have stopped. Even xianxia genre stories would refrain from giving the stages from the nascent stage all the way to Supreme Golden Immortal stage at one shot.

The head instructor’s lips twitched, but he decidedly continued, if only to satisfy his own habit of lecturing, “The upper floors slightly changes the rules of Axis Mundi, but once you make it to the middle floors, you will see the true fangs of this otherworldly place and you will find out why so many divers quit and never to return.”

The elf did not say one thing, that many instructors – be it elf, human or any other race – were part of the quitters he mentioned.

“At the middle floors, zones will be formed, each a different biome. At the lower floors, concepts that you are familiar will become strange and dangerous. At the depths, you will no longer be able to use Aura and magic, and your physical body will start mutating. Below that, the unknown floors, although no one has returned, it is speculated that reality will become blurred, and the abyss that is thought to be at the bottom of the dungeon is theorised to be a whole different universe.”

Now satisfied, the head instructor smiled and declared, “But fear not, we will only stay on the upper floors today. Our task is to capture five kinds of creatures and study their biology and mana paths. Everyone, pay attention now because we are arriving at the first-floor border. Check your gear, and don’t forget your flammability tests.”

First-floor border? Kairos looked around and quickly confirmed his thoughts. The location they are at now is similar to how far the gates of the dungeon town in the dwarf mountain would be placed. This means that the dungeons are truly another world’s intrusion into Axis Mundi, and the first-floor border is where the rules of two worlds clashes.

Kairos removed his weapons and carefully checked them in compliance. Just when he was thinking hard on what he needed to do, the head instructor came over and handed him a checklist. Thanking the elf, Kairos immediately noticed that the very first sentence reaffirmed his speculations. Through a compilation of experience, the divers believe that the border is indeed a clash of rules between two worlds. He did not notice anything the previous time when he went into a dungeon to save Relestia, because he had overturned the dungeon ceiling and this in turn changed the boundary. Of course, he would not know from Relestia either, since Sparrow would have never taught her. Otherwise, with his Veritable Sight it would have been obvious that everything would be tinted as though watching things through a coloured glass in the dweller dungeon’s upper floors. Unfortunately, the crawler dungeon where Kairos is at now, is not as friendly as just making everything appear dim and creepy.

The checklist listed the common changes one will encounter at the upper floors, and it illustrated what to do. The others in the party only took a glance at the checklist and kept it or threw it away, uninterested. When the head instructor saw that Kairos only took one look like the rest, he shook his head slightly and looked away.

However, the child, Lunaria, saw the elf leader’s disappointment and did not miss the chance.

“Hey old man,” the twenty-year-old brat abruptly called Kairos, “where did you keep the head instructor’s checklist?”

At her hollering, everyone else looked over and soon many of them are shooting dirty looks at Kairos. How much time has passed since this human had received the checklist? Is there even time for him to take a glimpse? If he went on ignorantly, he could have jeopardised everyone.

Of course, the truth is not as terrible as the students thought, otherwise the head instructor would have stepped in. With everyone checking their equipment, it is a matter of time before they conclude what rules had been changed at this level. In fact, most dungeon parties left the checking to one member. It is different here because this is a school excursion, and the students are expected to fully participate. The instructors and veteran divers looked on without a word. Like Kairos, they had put away their checklist, and most did not bother to perform any checks since the students are already doing so. Unfortunately, no one spoke for him when he was singled out.

Lunaria is not done, she smirked and proudly said, “My lord father, a most esteemed high elf, had warned me about peasants like you. Your smarts and efforts are spent on pretence, you are too lazy to work for yourself but will whine and complain the moment others get ahead of you.”

She looked around like an experienced presenter then added, “We have a leech in our midst.”

Kairos is impressed with the girl’s ability to spark off the crowd. Like before, he did not bother to reply. This is not because he has become matured enough to shrug it off or that he felt the accusations beneath his attention, but simply because the years of being targeted in school had taught Kairos one truth. Don’t ever give weight to the mockers.

They might think your inaction is inability, but it is better to be mysterious than let them have the reaction they wanted from you. After all, every good warrior knows that the best battlefield is of your choosing. With the group stirred by Lunaria’s notions, any rebuke will appear pale and weak.

Kairos suddenly smiled, “Are you envious of my appearance? I will let you in on a secret. I am not born this way but became so after practicing a cultivation method.”

The elves love of beauty met an opportunity today. Unfortunately, the owner of the mysterious method met the eyes of Lunaria and then the rest of the elves one by one, and he appeared unhappy. Asking for his beauty secrets is now out of question. Lunaria fell silent. The battlefield had changed, and the fight is now on his terms.

Kairos no longer spoke while the others also finished their checks. The group whispered amongst themselves before setting off. If anyone found what rules had changed, they did not bother to share it with Kairos.

Unbothered, Kairos quickly ran through the checks on the list with a speed that matched any veteran’s. He had taken a single glance at the checklist, because that is all he needed. Unfortunately, he did not find anything strange about this place. Unfazed, Kairos caught up with the group. The moment he moved his brows knitted together.

Shrugging it off, he thought that perhaps he is too sensitive to the surroundings because it is his first time here.

No one noticed, not even the veteran divers and the instructors, that the straight path they believed they are going in is instead in random chaotic directions, until it is too late.

“Stop!” the head instructor commanded before taking a careful look around.

“L… Leader! The way we came from, doesn’t look recognisable!”

The elves turned back with frightening haste, and what they saw made everyone turn pale. The path they took had disappeared. No, not even their footsteps can be found behind them.

“Leader! In front of us, there’s a village!”

“A village? There wasn’t anything in front of us before!”

“Something’s wrong, we should back away.”

“Let’s leave now.”

The group warily moved away from the strange village that appeared out of nowhere, but they quickly found themselves returning again to the same place no matter which direction they took.

They tried a dozen times, and ten times that, but they seem to be running in circles and always returning to the same place.

Suddenly, from the village, a quaint and quiet bell rang.

*Ding ding ding*

*Ding ding ding*

*Ding ding ding*

A raspy voice that sounds like it was by an older lady came from deep between the houses, “Close your windows, lock your doors. When night falls, beasts roar. Stay out late and you will die. Die! Die! DIE!!”