“So this is a dungeon.”

“It doesn't look so impressive, though.”

“Are you an idiot? There is so much magic power flowing in there.”

“It looks very dark. Should we have brought torches?”

Ark stared cautiously at the entrance, ignoring the others as they excitedly conversed amongst themselves.

Before taking the entire force, they sent a scouting team to survey the first floor and estimate the threat level. While the rest are training to fight in cooperation, Ark took the lead to guarantee the scouts' safety and also use his own unique scouting ability.

The entrance was a staircase leading underground. It was too narrow for a party of five to enter at once. Only two could enter each time, leaving a lot of room for traps.

“Form a line and follow me. Try to walk where I step to avoid traps.”

Had Ark been the type to charge ahead without a plan, he wouldn't have lived long. He immediately considered the option of traps and came up with a safe formation.

Then again, he isn't that smart. His plans usually involve gathering resources and blasting his enemies with the strongest attack. In fact, it could be said that he is a simpleton pretending to be smart.

Even this plan basically relies on Ark brute-forcing his way through traps in case they are triggered.

For now, the staircase is trap-free. As it got darker, their steps were more cautious.

“It's bright,” Ark muttered, his voice laced with a grumle.

After the last stair, the dungeon came to life, lit in artificial light from the ceiling.

The scout team looked at Ark, deeply impressed.

“Did you know the dungeon would be artificially lit like this, leader?”

“Amazing. It feels like you know everything, leader!”

“How did you know?”

As he silently surveyed the area without answering their questions, the scouts took it as confirmation.

A misunderstanding.

(Damn, this blasted dungeon! I stayed up till late to finish designing the automatically-maintained fireball spell, and it was for nothing.)

He had prepared an effective and efficient solution to the lighting problem, not expecting his efforts to turn out in vain.

On the bright side, he could now conserve the mana he had planned to use on the fireballs.

“What can you see with your scouting skills? Tell me everything, including gut feelings.”

It was impossible to gauge the scale of the first floor from the entrance. They were immediately blocked by a wall three meters after the final stair. On a glance, their only option was right, as the left was also blocked.

Three of them scratched their heads in confusion, but one hesitantly raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“I think the structure of the floor is like this.” He drew a shape on the floor.

From this, it could be said that the structure is simple. One needs to take a long walk to the right, then make the same distance to the left after a turn, only to get a little farther than where you started.

“Actually, with my Mapping skill, I can't see that far ahead, but I just get the feeling the dungeon has this structure to tire us.”

“I see. Why, exactly, can't you see that far ahead? I've heard that your skill maps the area in a rather wide range.”

“I am conserving magic power for now.”

Ark nodded. It was reasonable to save as much as you could when it was only the beginning. Magic power is rather slow to recover, and the knight didn't have vast reserves of it.

Still, it hasn't been that long, but Ark has already liberated himself from the constraints of his mana pool.

He grabbed the knight's shoulder. “I will give you some of mine, so use your skill to your heart's content. Synchronize.”

Forming a sync, Ark pours a vast amount of magic power into the knight. It was over tenfold more than what the knight originally had.

Ignoring the surprised reaction of the knight, Ark leaned on a wall with his eyes closed as if waiting. He absorbed magic power directly from the wall, completely replenishing his reserves.

“So?”

“Ah! Yes, it goes with that pattern at least five times. I still couldn't reach the end, though.”

“Good job, Peter Belford,” Ark complimented Peter, calling his name for the first time. “I will have you help me map every floor, so be ready.”

It was an effective trick. Not referring to someone by name, only until you compliment them. This induces the feeling of recognition that everyone seeks to a certain extent.

“Yes!”

And poor Peter fell for it easily.

What a disgusting leader Ark is, not that you could expect proper humane behavior from this psychopath.

“So, shouldn't we start walking?”

“It might take hours, so we should get going.”

As they looked at the hallway, Ark went to the left wall and pushed a tile.

One of the scouts, the one with the Detection skill, shouted, “Don't! It's a trap!”

However, it was too late.

“Huh? What is that?”

Expecting a trap, the scouts prepared themselves for a hit. Instead, the wall simply went down, revealing a new path.

“Detection, was it? You used it to discover the mechanism, but rather than a trap, it was a key to opening a better path.” Ark walked over to see a straight path.

While normal explorers would waste time going the long way, there was a shortcut that simply needed to be found.

“May I ask how you knew it wasn't a trap, sir?”

“My skill, obviously.” Ark felt the intent behind the mechanism. “I won't bother explaining the details, just that it is detecting hostile stuff.”

With the abilities of Phantom, Ark originally wanted to take on the role of a scout on his own. Since that is no longer necessary, he preferred to have a small group work together and form an all-discerning field. That would take a massive burden off his shoulders. Hence, the scout team was created.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Directing his attention to the hallway, there seemed to be a different composition. While the floor on the other route was made of many small tiles, the path here was made of increasingly longer rectangles.

“The end is about 50 meters ahead.”

“I detect a trap in the rectangles. Just stepping on it would trigger it, but I think more people would lead to an increase in difficulty.”

“How many?”

“Um... Ten.”

The knights making the scouting team were very capable in that area, even having a corresponding skill. It left Ark very satisfied, as he didn't need to strain himself.

Strain is put nicely. It's more accurate to say he enjoyed doing nothing.

But now it's time to work.

“We can't avoid the traps, so enter a formation and cast a barrier. I will break everything that comes in the way.”

With Ark in the lead, they began marching down the path.

For the first three rectangle tiles, there were a few arrows composed of hardened sand. Every arrow was conjured from the two walls or ceiling surrounding them, so Ark fell back to watch out for the scouts from behind. Regardless, he easily intercepted each one.

Things got rougher from the fourth to the seventh. The number of projectiles increased considerably, and they accelerated as well.

In order to keep up with enough leeway, Ark activated Boost. However, as some started to reach him, he had cast a defensive spell.

“The eighth tile.”

It became even more dangerous as the arrows were now conjured from the floor, increasing the quantity of projectiles while making every step a gamble. They increased their pace.

“Ventus Potentia.”

Ark had forsaken the defensive spell, letting only tempestuous green energy shield him as more arrows threatened the group.

Silverstar formed countless trajectories as it destroyed everything in its path.

Slowly increasing his concentration, seconds turned into minutes in a colorless world. Ark barely noticed any difference from the ninth tile as he focused solely on the task in front of him.

But the tenth tile was of a different dimension. Everywhere one would look, they would see a storm of arrows, arranged in a way to pack as many as possible without interrupting one another.

(Mind Acceleration!)

The green energy dissipated, but there was no choice. Ark increased his spirit output significantly and pushed everyone to run with all their might as he protected them.

More and more arrows bore into his body, but he gritted his teeth and allowed his spirit to expand and explode.

“W-we made it!”

They all sighed in relief as they passed this ridiculous hurdle. It was obvious that if this was the level of danger from the very start, even excellent adventurers would easily die.

“Are you fine, sir?" They asked as Ark's clothes were stained with blood.

“Perfectly. Don't worry.”

(Useless fucks.)

Yup, he is fine.

Holding back a frown, he sat down to recover magic power and started casting healing spells on himself. Luckily, the wounds were shallow, as the arrows couldn't pierce much of the strengthened flesh and skin.

The scouts were assailed by a sense of guilt.

Ark had cut down everything that came in their path, even from the floor. As a result of his efforts, they were unharmed, but the same was not true for their leader, who hadn't attempted to defend himself as he prioritized them.

It was even worse, as they knew Ark could travel that short distance in an instant. They had only slowed him down. They had only been a burden.

“It seems like it won't trigger for those who have already passed it.” Standing up, Ark began by stepping on the tenth tile, only for it to show no response. “Look around, but don't touch anything. I am going to take the long route in case it leads somewhere else.”

With those words, Ark disappeared like the wind. It took a single step to cross the 50 meter passage.

Acute pain tormented Ark, as his mental strength was greatly exhausted. Even so, he attempted to ruminate about the challenge he had just faced.

He had chosen people with scouting skills to aid in exploring the dungeon. Their combat ability is not bad for noncombatants, but it was still just average. They didn't contribute anything and were helpless.

The trap itself was of no threat to Ark alone, but anyone below S-class would be dead.

“I will let Silvia try it alone. If nothing changes, we would have to escort everyone individually.”

Sand arrows hard enough to break bones flew at Ark, who dodged leisurely. Without anyone in need of protection, he advanced on the long path easily. The overall intensity was also lower, and it took only a few seconds to traverse the path.

“This time, the traps do activate, huh?”

It meant that one could choose to break through the shortcut once and have it shorten the time considerably, or take the normal path and break through the traps every time.

In the first place, that is under the assumption that the party involved managed to find the shortcut and had the ability to survive it.

After reuniting with the scouts, he shared with them the information about the normal path. “We will have everyone go through the shortcut to save time.”

They nodded, and Peter Belford stepped forward to speak. He shared the information they found.

“We thought it was an altar, but it seems to operate some mechanism. Ah, but we didn't touch it yet!”

Ark looked at the room. It was mostly empty, with the exception of the pedestal and the crystal it held. Recognition flashed on his face, causing him to wear a frown.

“Good job. That will be all for the day.”

“What is that, then?”

“Obviously, that's how we will get to the next level. For now, it's a priority to let everyone pass through the shortcut once. That will save us time in the long run.”

It was only the beginning. There was no need to rush. Haste makes waste, and Ark was planning to take his time to achieve perfect results.

They left for the entrance, starting to climb the staircase. It was the fourth one to notice Ark was standing still below.

“Aren't you coming, sir?”

“I want to check a few more things. Call for Silvia, and put the green-haired girl, Wendy, in charge of the practice instead.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ark sighed after they left. He wanted Silvia to come, as she is the only one who can handle the arrows without injuries. Putting Wendy in charge of the practice was solely to make certain she wouldn't join in.

Honestly, he didn't like Wendy one bit, but she joined due to the recommendation of the sage. What did Elizabeth see in her? Ark wanted to know, even if he might return to witness a disaster of a practice.

“She would probably say something like, 'did you call?' With her sparkling lavender eyes. Misread the situation. It kinda reminds me of...” His voice trailed, never to finish the sentence.

The flash of memory deepened the crease between his brows. His hands trembled, and frustration built inside.

He reached for his sword. Silverstar was unsheathed, glowing silver. It was gripped tightly.

Concentrating on the wall, Ark only thought of cutting it in half. Enacting his vision, the wall was ruptured by the slash that cuts all.

It took him a moment to realize the mistake.

“Well, shit.”

Everywhere, arrows of sand flew like a storm. The power and speed, incomparable to before, pressured Ark as he hurriedly manifested his spirit.

“Shield! Boost! Mind Acceleration!”

Arrows engulfed him. Every step he tried to make towards the exit was interrupted by the projectiles conjured at the worst possible timing.

As he attempted to see through the chaos and break through, his nose ran bloody. His vision started to blur as he used the taxing ancient spell for the second time today.

“Fuck!”

The fact that the entrance was sealed was only registered after he reached for the stone, where there shouldn't have been anything. Blocked by the stream of arrows, he was forced to go all the way to the other side.

Death loomed over Ark's head as the unceasing flow of arrows whittled his defense. He breathed pure rage and determination: “Quadra Elementum Potentia.”

Four colors flowed erratically around his body, surging inside and bringing pain.

Dashing to the other end with the full brilliance of an S-rank was a show of overwhelming force, but Ark still desperately struggled to keep his body and mind intact.

He had exhausted himself earlier to protect the scouts. Despite the excellence of Mind Acceleration, even after years of daily use, it had the clear limit of being safe to use once per day. Even a second use might cause Ark to faint while standing.

Moreover, it took a lot of willpower to even move as the Quadra Elementum Potentia devestated his body. Ark greatly lacks control over this spell, which led him to the brink of death countless times from practice alone.

“Ack!” Ark groaned as a burst of magic power from the crack he created pushed him back.

The accumulated mental fatigue, the damage from his strengthening spell, and the second use of the ancient spell might endanger Ark even more than the traps.

Just barely hanging on to his life, pushing with sheer determination close to madness, he pushed past the arrows and entered the room.

No traps awaited, but the lighting flickered, as if affected by the damage he had caused.

It was then that the spells were released, and his body collapsed.

Coughing blood, Ark dragged his wrecked body to the crystal.

In his current state, it was a herculean task to try standing on both feet. Only by abusing his injured body and bulldozing with the strength that comes with spirit did he manage.

The last thing he wanted to do was think, but he mustered the last bit of rationality left in him and tried to understand the mechanism.

The crystal embedded on the pedestal had no clear features, and Ark could only guess.

“Maybe if I... turn it around...” He said that and failed to suppress a laugh.

Despite becoming stronger, the frequency of almost dying only increased. It was ridiculous, as S-rank was considered a powerhouse everywhere. You won't be treated badly no matter where you go, even in the Valencia Empire.

But for Ark, increasing his strength appeared to have the effect of enhancing the magnet of his misfortunes. He felt it as the seemingly random arrows that were fired as a malfunction showcased patterns strictly meant to kill him. It was an incredible power, in a sense.

He turned the crystal counterclockwise once. A second later, light enveloped him.

Even as the light became distorted and Ark felt there was another malfunction, he still laughed.

It's old news that Ark never has it easy. He didn't know why he was thinking this would be any different.

In spite of the laughter, unrestrained killing intent exploded in vain, reaching no one. He was not happy with the situation.

Regardless, he will survive. He vowed so to himself, sealing the vow with the clad of the intent to survive.

Ark, his pupil as heavy as lead, forced himself awake as he was teleported into the unknown.