“Practitioners, keep channelling. Archers, focus on the fliers. Target their wings!” I dashed forwards and pushed the wavering warrior back into the fray. “You run, you die. Where are you going to escape to, huh?”

The man blinked several times before he nodded and turned back to the battle. The lines, which had been on the verge of breaking, formed up again at my words. The Holy Practitioners had focused their healing on the Warriors affected by the poisonous bites, but it was clear their mana wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Practitioners, arc your shots. Aim in front of the warriors, ten feet! Warriors, defend!”

The Practitioners followed my orders. Their attacks were varied, but the effect of each blow was similar. Arcs of plasma, balls of fire and even a ghostly skull flew through the air and slammed into the ground behind the ant’s front line.

The warriors had pre-emptively defended against the backblast, but the same couldn’t be said for the ants who had piled up in front of them. The damage blew a massive swathe of them to pieces as the various effects combined to form a larger explosion. One warrior was launched off her feet as a wall of ants slammed into them, but her comrade caught her as another member moved to take her place.

The ants who had been blasted forward were stunned by the assault, which gave the warriors a chance to lay into them without any danger of counterattacks. After they had finished them off, a wall of ants towered around four feet high in front of our group. The ants had protected us from the blast, though that had clearly not been their intent.

“Practitioners, single target. Focus the fliers!”

The Practitioners grit their teeth as they forced more mana to form between their hands. The attacks had lost some of their brilliance, but the damage was still noticeable as various rays and spikes of light slammed into the swarm of flying ants.

The ground forces wouldn’t be held back for too long, especially after the archers had switched their targets. If they overran the warriors, our fight would end in short order. The pile of defeated ants still sat before us as they slowly cooled.

“Warriors, move forwards.” I yelled as I dashed to the top of the pile. “We hold here!”

The warriors roared as they ran up to join me. The ants had formed an impromptu barricade, which had been reinforced when their bodies twisted together during the insane barrage of magic. From my new height, the full extent of the damage was made clear.

Only a third of the land-based ants remained, but they were less than a second from reaching us. Arrows and flares of light flashed by our heads as the ranged members bombarded the ants above. Most of them had been knocked out of the sky, but the rest were held back by the constant stream of attacks.

“HOLD!” I yelled as I planted my feet on the ant below me. The soldier ants clawed their way up the wall formed by their companions without any mercy. My staff, along with the weapons wielded by the warriors beside me, fell down on them in unison.

“We’re out, captain!” One of the Holy Practitioners yelled out. I hadn’t felt the touch of their heals in the slightest, but there was no time to complain. The warriors beside me shifted nervously as they heard the warning from behind.

“Focus their legs, knock them down!” I smashed my staff on an ant which had made its way to the top of the pile. The blow dislodged it and knocked it back to the ground. “Defense, then offence. We’re almost through this!”

The warrior's confidence was boosted once more as they laid into the ants. Most of the ground-based creatures were in various states of injury, which made it easier to keep them at bay. After several minutes, the last flying ant dropped to the ground as a perfectly aimed arrow blasted both its wing to pieces.

“Warriors, charge! Everyone else, move up and cover us!” I leapt off the wall and slammed my staff onto the back of a weakened ant. “Buffed strike!”

My blow caved its back in as it collapsed to the ground. The ants around me turned to face their new target, but they didn’t get a chance to move in before a line of Warriors slammed into them from the side. The archers and Practitioners moved onto the barricade and launched their final shots on the stragglers below.

And, just like that, it was over. I half expected a large, boss-type ant to appear at the last second, but even this dungeon wasn’t that cruel.

“Yeah! We won!” One of the warriors yelled out as the last ant collapsed into the dirt. The rest of the team cheered in victory as they patted each other on the back.

“That was amazing, captain.” Leah moved forwards and hugged me tightly. “We would have never made it through without you.”

“Yeah, she’s right. The captains amazing.” One of the Holy Practitioners spoke up from the back of the group. As the rest of the team started to bombard me with compliments, a nostalgic voice spoke out in my mind.

**Congratulations, you have levelled up.**

“Woah, congrats, captain.” Leah stepped back and gave me an weird grin. “You really need to share your levelling secret with me...”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Her compliment was one of the hardest to take. She was level twenty-one, and I had only just reached level nine. If she knew the truth, how would she react? Several other members had levelled up at the same time, but they ignored their growth as they congratulated me.

“OK, that’s enough.” I stepped back and folded my arms. The team quietened down as they formed ranks in front of me. “First, we deal with the injured. Anyone who hides any injuries from me will get no loot.”

The squad glanced at each other in confusion before several people stepped out. Most of the serious injuries had been patched in mid-battle, but two people still sported large bite marks on their legs. With the fact that the Holy Practitioners would take several minutes before they could use a basic heal, it was possible these minor wounds could prove fatal.

The worst thing was, one of those who had been injured was my second-in-command, Leah.

“Here.” I reached into my bag and pulled out two vials. I had summoned them from my actual inventory, but there was no need to reveal that fact. “Drink this, it should keep you alive until you can be healed up.”

“Wait… are those potions?” Leah glanced at the two glass bottles. “How did you get those? Are you sure you want to use them on-”

“Leah, be quiet. You said when I gave an order, it needs to be followed.” I shoved the bottle into her hand and tossed one to the other injured warrior. “Drink it, or I’ll chuck you out of the squad.”

The two injured Warriors gave me thankful looks as they chugged down the vials. Technically, they weren’t actually mine. I had looted a nice amount of potions from the bandit treasury, but I would have to hold back from showing my hand too much. Two potions could be explained, but if I threw them out like candy questions would be asked.

“These ants must have been around level twenty-five at the highest.” Leah leant down to peer at one of the flying ants. “This is insane, how could this be what it throws at us in the first battle?”

“Yeah, we aren’t anywhere near the major regions. This sort of thing should be impossible.” One of the Practitioners prodded an ant with his foot. “If this is the first room, what will the next one be like?”

“Calm down. We beat this, so we can do the same with whatever else it throws at us.” I grabbed one of the ants and flipped it over. “Come on, if you can talk, you can loot. Get everything you can while your mana recovers.”

The rest of the group nodded and split up. Even with all of us working together, it would still take us hours to clear-

Gather!

I focused my mind on the nearest ant. As it had been defeated in my battle, the was technically owned by me. My skill absorbed all of the useful pieces of loot from the corpse, which disappeared a moment later. Several members of my group spotted the oddity, so I moved on as quickly as I could.

Gather! Gather! Gather!

Ant after ant disappeared. Everyone had stopped in their tracks as they watched our hard-earned loot disappear before their eyes. Before their anger could explode, I spoke out loud as though I had realised what was going on.

“Oh, I heard about this. The dungeon will store our loot for us, we should get it back when we leave.” I continued to absorb the ants as I gave an explanation for their disappearance. “Let’s wait until it finishes, just in case.”

The group didn’t seem too convinced by my words, but they didn’t have much of a choice. Whenever someone moved towards an ant corpse, I focused my attention on their target and robbed it from under their grasp. After a few failed attempts, the group got the point and gave up on the loot.

“Are you sure about this?” Leah moved next to me as she spoke in a quiet tone. “One of the main benefits of a natural dungeon is the loot from the first run. If we don’t get anything, people will be angry after we leave.”

“What other choice do we have? We might as well think optimistically, right?” I gave her a sunny smile as I continued my pilfering uninterrupted. It took me around five minutes to clear the battlefield of ant corpses. Luckily, I had the foresight to store the materials in a separate area of my inventory, so it wouldn’t be too hard to drop it when we left.

Well, most of it. I guess I can take a slice off the top. My skill is more efficient anyway.

It wasn’t a nice thought, but my stay with the bandits was bound to end sooner or later. The more I gained, the easier my path would be in the future. It was unlikely I would get a chance like this again.

“Right, is everyone recovered?” I looked over the members of the group. The Practitioners had higher mana regeneration than I did, and the others had used their skills sparingly. After another ten minutes, everyone was back on full mana and ready for the next battle.

Other than me, that is.

It was awkward, but my regeneration was still limited. I now have one hundred and forty mana, but that had only increased the amount gained per minute to one point four. Each buff, along with the group augment, had used up sixty mana. Plus the use of my buffed strike, it had eaten up one hundred and thirty mana in total.

That would take more than an hour and a half to go back to full. There was no way we could wait for that long without questions being asked. I had to come up with an excuse, some reason that we needed to take a break.

“OK, before we move into the next room… we need to practice.” I moved to the wall and rested against it. “Pick a sparring partner. One defends, one attacks. Two minute duel, attacker wins on the third touch. When you're done, swap partners.”

The group grumbled, but they followed my instructions. Warriors went against Warriors, ranger against ranger. even the Practitioners squared off, though their battles would be far less interesting without the use of skills.

“Anyone who wins both an attack and a defence duel, you’ll get a prize. After that, you can take turns to challenge me. You win, you get the jackpot.”

“What's the reward?” Leah grinned as she faced her opponent. It was clear she wanted whatever she could get, but I didn’t feel any greed in her expression.

“Two silver for those who win both duels. If you lose more than once, you're out. You beat me, you get twenty shiny silver coins, all to yourself. That enough for you lot?” Before the crowd could react, I held up my hand and spoke one final caution. “Oh, if you injure your opponent, you forfeit your reward and have to pay for their treatment. I have one more potion, which you’ll pay double the cost for if I have to use it.”

“Sounds fair.” Leah nodded. The crowd was amped up as they faced their opponents. This would keep them happy for a while, and the lack of skill usage should keep them safe.

I guess this is what it feels like to be a teacher with some rowdy students. Hopefully, this will keep them entertained for long enough.