"Whatthefuckdoyoumeaneighthundredgoldcoins? WhywouldIspendthatmuchonlodging.Whatthehelliswrongwiththisplace?!It'sascam,ascamItellyou.Everythinghereisascam,fromtherooms,tothefood,tothetrainingroom,totheswimmingpools,theirfancypools,massages!Allofit.Andwhythehelldidthatcoacmantakemehere,hewantedmetospendmoneythat'sit.HeknewIhatedspendingyethestilltookushere.Yesit'shisfault,thisisrevengeformeeatinghiscrackersinthecarriage.I'mgonnagethim,hebetternotletmeseehissmugfaceagainorI'llburnhis..."

'He's been mumbling for an hour straight.' Seated on the couch next to the sulking teenager, Hiram stared at Adonis.

{Shut up or you'll do nothing but martial arts training today.}

"Sorry." Prompted by the deity's telepathic message Adonis shut his mouth and frowned.

"You okay?" Hiram asked.

"Yeah..." Remembering how much money he spent, the boy shivered.

"I'm ready to leave if you are, or do you still need some time?"

"We can leave now." Adonis abruptly stood up.

"Okay."

***

(The next day)

After Hiram managed to successfully acquire her ranger's license, the two were ready to head out to the dungeons, all they had to do now was book one.

The place they went to book said dungeon was the Caelum's Rangers Association branch, a mutual spot for rangers from all guilds to carry out various tasks such as booking dungeons or paying taxes.

"What level dungeon are you looking for?" The man asked.

Dungeon levels are measured in levels:

Level one- Clear, White and weaker Pink Rank monsters.

Level two- White and stronger Pink Rank monsters.

Level three- Pink and Purple Rank monsters.

Level four- Purple and Blue Rank monsters.

Level five- Blue and Green Rank monsters.

"Level one." Adonis answered.

"Okay..." The man input the answer into the magic ball.

"The dungeons available to independent rangers are limited, but there's one nearby as long as you're okay with clearing it with other rangers." The man said.

"That's okay."

"Good. As you know all magic crystals acquired from the dungeon must be reported and ten percent of your dungeon earnings should be given to the state. All other drops belong to you. Do you accept these terms and conditions?" He asked.

"Yeah." "Yes." Hiram and Adonis answered.

"Then good luck!" The man wrote up a ticket and handed it to the two.

***

Dungeons are born from a dense concentration of mana in a single location, creating malevolent entities and providing a habitat for said creatures.

Externally, dungeons appear as small portals, typically no larger than a house. However, internally, they can expand to the size of continents. The size of the portal inversely correlates with the space inside and the dungeon's level of danger. (The smaller the portal the larger and more dangerous the dungeon)

Should dungeons remain uncleared, they reach a critical point known as a dungeon break, triggering an explosive release of mana from the portal.

This explosion inflicts devastating damage, releasing the trapped monsters into the world. This is where rangers step in; their role is to clear dungeons before they reach this critical stage. The stability of a dungeon's portal serves as a gauge for its proximity to breaking: the less stable the portal, the closer the dungeon is to collapse.

"You ready?" Standing in a plane field, Adonis and Hiram stared at a massive white portal.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

'I hope Minnie doesn't bring too much attention to himself at the hotel.'

"Yeah." Holding her magic staff with a pink magic crystal, Hiram straightened her face.

"Let's go then." Wielding his steel gladius, Adonis led Hiram into the dungeon.

"AHHHH!" As every particle in her body was condensed and transported into the dungeon, Hiram squealed in pain.

"Argh." Enduring the pain with a soft grunt, Adonis gripped his gladius for dear life.

'This is worse than being transported to the Black Market.'

{I'm surprised you aren't screaming your lungs out.}

'That torture you put my soul through is way worse than this.'

{Kukuku, that's only the beginning.}

'Wait, really?!'

{Be careful, you're in the dungeon now.}

'Answer me!' With his body reconstructed, Adonis staggered out of the swirl of mana.

"A-adonis?" Hiram stared at the dozens of dead goblins on the floor.

The dungeon the two found themselves in took the shape of a massive underground cavern with four tunnels.

"You scared?" He asked.

"O-of course not, but you go first." Hiram scurried behind the magic knight.

"You do realize you're stronger than me right?" Adonis sighed.

"I'm not scared!" She pushed the teenager forward.

"Hehe, whatever you say." The two walked forward, carefully avoiding the goblin corpses.

"Ew!" She squealed.

"How're you a mage?" Trudging forward, Adonis frowned.

"I-"

"AG AG AG!" Escaping from a rocky crevice, a single goblin lunged at the two.

'I haven't missed that sound one bit.' Adonis severed the monster in half.

SLASH

Middair, Adonis sunk his fingers into the goblin's chest and ripped out a clear magic crystal.

SPLURT

WHOOSH

As soon as the crystal exited the corpse, the ranger ring on his finger absorbed it.

"Let's go, we can't let them beat us." Adonis turned around and smiled.

"That's disgust-" Hiram coldly stared at the boy's blood fingers.

Before she could finish her sentence, Adonis raised his hand and smeared the blood on her forehead.

"Now we're both disgusting." He chuckled.

"Adonis..."

"I-I was just kidding...It was a joke." Detecting a sudden surge in mana, all the hairs on the boy's body stood up.

"Ice magic:..."

"Hiram wait!" Adonis turned his back and sprinted toward one of the tunnels.

"Hehe." Dismissing her magic circle, Hiram put her hand to her mouth and giggled softly.

"Wait for me!" Realizing she was all alone, Hiram chased after the magic knight.

The other side of the rocky tunnel was an open space with a small green lake concluding with another tunnel that led deeper into the dungeon.

"Ke kee ke kee ke!" Escaping from the cloudy lake were six brown humanoid figures that landed before the pair.

The monsters to emerge were slightly taller than goblins, wielded bronze spears and had frills that accentuated their aquatic nature.

"Lirates..." Identifying the monsters immediately, Adonis prepared for battle.

"Ice magic: Frost bullets" Hiram pointed her staff at the monsters and used a frothy magic circle to eliminate the monsters.

SPLURT, SPLURT, SPLURT, SPLURT, SPLURT, SPLURT

"You should've left some for me." Adonis pouted.

"You should've been faster." She grinned.

"Oh, it's on!" He chuckled.

"Ke Kee ke kee ke kee!" On cue, five more Lirates escaped.

"Dag dag dag dag!" Following closely behind the Lirates was one more monster, this one being much larger.

Slithering out of the lake was a massive Pink Rank Dagon. The gruesome creature possessed ugly bulging eyes and razor-sharp teeth supported by a frightening scaled abdomen and a massive slimy tail.

"Repulsive," Hiram said flatly.

"DAG DAG DAG DAG DAG DAG!" The dark green Dagon opened its hands and readied its claws to tear apart the two combatants.

"Hiram support me from the back." Leading the assault, Adonis dashed at the lake monsters.

"Got it." The pink magic crystal in the magic staff glowed radiantly as it assisted the mage in creating a magic crystal.

Ice magic: Frost bullets

Although the familiar bullets eliminated the new Lirates as they did the previous ones, they failed to defeat the Dagon; the Pink Rank magic beast merely swatted the spell away, treating it as a mere inconvenience.

'Dagons are on the weaker end of Pink Rank, we should be able to deal with it.' Adonis clenched tightened his grip on the gladius and leaped into the air.

'Although, even with Hiram's help this isn't going to be easy.' The magic knight descended with a vertical slash to the on-guard lake monster.

***

*Extra Information:

(Reminder that Hiram is an Expert level Mage)

Rank: Pink rank

Edible?: No

Drops: magic crystal

Weaknesses: It's tail.

Behaviour: Extremely aggressive, as soon as it detects life in its vicinity it'll leap out of the pond. Sometimes, it leads armies of other weaker monsters like Lirates.

Habitat: Freshwater.

Attacking style: Extremely aggressive, uses its tail to attack faster and grab its prey. Also uses its claws to rip apart opponents.

Abilities: Aqua breath, the monster ejects highspeed water from its mouth (Mach 4) this water has magical properties that inhibit spell casting and decrease stamina and movement speed.

Description:

The monster's upper body is characterized by its tough, slimy scales that emphasize its imposing muscles. Its skin, a deep shade of green, boasts noticeable gills. Its face, relatively small in proportion to its body, showcases massive ugly yellow eyes and crooked razor-sharp teeth set within a formidable jaw. Below the waist, the creature lacks legs, instead sporting a powerful, slime-covered tail twice the size of its upper body. Notably, the monster features several aquatic attributes, including webbed hands and claws.

Reminder of monster/magic beast rankings relative to magic knights:

Black- Stronger than Transcendants

Red- Transcendent Level

Orange- A gap, stronger than tier ones and weaker than tier 0s. Percy can beat

Yellow- Tier 1

Green- Tier 2 to Tier 3

Blue- Gap

Purple- Tier 4 to Tier 5

Pink- Tier 6 to Tier 8

White- Tier 9 to Tier 10

Clear- Sub tier 10

Reminder of Knight and Mage ranking relative to magic knights.

Grandmaster= Tier 5-4

Master= Tier 6

Expert= Tier 7

Intermediate= Tier 8

Novice= Tier 10-9