“Choose which difficulty you are going to challenge."

Difficulty Recommended Stats Easy Initiate S Normal Sentinel C Hard Sentinel S Extreme Vanguard B Nightmare Champion A

"Note that this is a five-man party dungeon. To create an unofficial party, you can enter the dungeon while holding hands. If you do not do so, you will be teleported to different instances.”

Roy read through the wall of text in front of him with incredulous eyes. He looked at Robb and the both of them had the same dumbfounded expression.

“Should we even be surprised anymore? Let’s just go with the flow.”

Roy shrugged his shoulders at Robb’s words. “Guess you’re right. Let’s hide these vipers and check it out.”

The two started digging through the ground. After a few minutes, they dug out a meter-deep hole and pushed the corpses of the vipers inside. They then covered the hole with dirt, leaves, and branches before walking back to the cave.

After some thinking, Roy chose the Easy difficulty. The two held hands and hesitantly entered the cave. Instead of the invisible wall, they passed through what felt like a translucent film.

After Roy put both of his feet inside the cave, he tried to go out but he was stopped by the same invisible wall.

“Do you want to exit the dungeon? Please remember that you can only challenge a difficulty once per day.”

Roy stepped back and remarked, “So we can still go out even if we don’t finish it.”

“We wouldn’t need that,” Robb announced with a grin. “If we can’t do the job of 5 Initiate ranks, we should really consider changing careers.”

“What career?” Roy chuckled. “Killing goblins and hunting ogres?”

“Hey, you can add wolves and foxes to it now too,” Robb rebutted with a mischievous smile.

Roy laughed before taking out his sword and looking deeper into the cave, “Well, let’s focus for now. Don’t want to be beaten by a bunch of overgrown dogs.”

Robb shrugged his shoulders, “Well, if you say so.”

The two walked through the ever-tightening cave. As a couple of minutes went by, there was only enough space for four men to walk side by side. Moreover, since the entrance was so far away, there was barely any light that reached them.

As Roy continuously walked in the damp, dark, and tight cave, his mind wandered back to the floating words that he saw when they tried entering the dungeon. More specifically, he couldn’t understand the last sentence: “If you do not do so, you will be teleported to different instances.”

Roy understood neither the word teleport nor instance. However, the context of the sentence told him that if he did not hold hands with Robb, they would end up separated. But how could that be possible? They were going inside the same cave and through the same entrance.

As the young man’s mind was racing with thoughts, Robb tapped his shoulder and took a stance with his sword, “Careful, we have some guests.”

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Even through the darkness, Roy could see the golden eyes of the two wolves. The beasts howled and growled before pouncing at the two young men.

With no space to properly dodge, Roy blocked the wolf’s charge with his sword. The steel of the blade and the beast’s claws clashed putting the two in a stalemate. The wolf bared its fangs, pushed its head above the sword, and tried to bite Roy’s face off.

The young man jumped back to create some distance before dashing back in with incredible speed. Before the beast could react, Roy plunged his sword through its neck.

“You took some time with that one, you had me worried there for a second.” Robb walked toward Roy with a smug look on his face. Behind him sat the decapitated corpse of the wolf he fought; its head had already rolled over and disappeared into the dark cave.

Roy rolled his eyes at Robb’s attitude. “If I used my Fireball, I would have torched its face in a second.”

Robb tilted his head and continued his teasing, “Oh really, it’s a shame that you couldn’t do it. First of all, what kind of magician can use their spell only four times before fainting?”

“The kind that can burn Boss monsters to a crisp,” Roy retorted. “Should I remind you what happened with the blue ogre?”

Robb covered his chin and pursed his lips. “If I remember correctly, I was fighting against it to a standstill and gave you an opening to use your spell.”

“You were sent flying with one punch,” Roy replied with an unimpressed expression.

“Exactly, all part of the plan. I lured it into a false sense of security.”

Roy shook his head and passed by Robb without saying anything. The latter let out a small laugh at his friend’s reaction before following after him.

The two fought another four grey wolves before the cave started expanding. Soon they could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It took their eyes a couple of seconds to adjust, but they could see large blue crystals embedded in the wall that emitted a bright light.

Roy and Robb looked at each other before the latter said what was in both their minds, “Can we take those?”

“Let’s try.” Roy shrugged his shoulders. They walked toward some of the crystals and grabbed them, but no matter how much Roy yanked, they would not budge.

“Wait, let me try something.” Robb took out his sword and hit the rocks surrounding the crystal. Unfortunately, that yielded no result; no matter how much Robb struck the wall, there were no cracks.

As Robb continuously struck with his weapon, Roy calmed him down. “Stop, you’re gonna break your blade.”

“Shit, is there no weak spot in these rocks?” Robb gritted his teeth and shook his head in disappointment.

“This place probably has some magical properties.”

Robb looked up with a confused expression. “Why do you say that?”

Roy put his hand on one of the crystals and felt its touch. “I mean, doesn’t it make sense? You have to go through an invisible wall to enter it, and the rocks are insanely strong. If it was outside, just a punch from you should have cracked it.”

Robb clicked his tongue at Roy’s explanation. “Weird ass place.”

The two continued on their way through the cave, when they reached a massive chamber. With the light from the crystal, they immediately spotted a pack of five wolves. Four of them were regular grey ones, but the fifth was a massive black wolf.

With the massive space inside the chamber, Roy didn’t feel as claustrophobic as in his earlier fights. This time, he could use his incredible speed to its highest potential.

The pack of wolves growled and slowly encircled the two while keeping intense eye contact. However, Roy and Robb were not going to let them do as they pleased. The two dashed in different directions and pounced at their targets.

The beast opened its jaws to bite at Roy’s arm, but the latter quickly changed the direction of his sword and plunged the tip of his blade through the wolf’s mouth and out of its nape. With sharp movements, Roy took out his sword from its flesh sheath and slashed at the wolf that was pouncing at him from the side.

The beast growled and whimpered as blood gushed out of its front legs. However, Roy showed no sympathy and slashed off its head like a guillotine.

Just as the young man was about to catch his breath, the black beast growled and howled at the rocky ceiling. Its black fur shone with a silvery white aura. If Roy didn’t know that there was no opening in the cave ceiling, he would have thought the wolf was basking in the moonlight.

As the silver aura covered the beast, it grew in size. Its claws grew longer, its fangs became sharper, and its height grew by at least four inches.

The wolf suddenly disappeared. Roy hastily looked around the chamber only for it to reappear right beside him. The young man did not have any time to think and cut up with his sword. The wolf smashed Roy’s chest with its paw and slashed it open, leaving three gnarly wounds across it.

Just as it was about to charge once again, Robb pounced at it from the side and slashed its torso open. With a ghostly speed, the young man stabbed the beast multiple times leaving it like swiss cheese.