"What the hell is that?!"

Malcolm's classmates all looked at Dune in awe. He had been the last one to arrive. In fact, he was fifteen minutes late, and they were about to leave without him.

"Sorry I'm late, I was... working on him."

He still couldn't believe that he had only made it in two hours. He had some difficulty squeezing him through the door frame, but after that, it was all smooth sailing. The [Mage] also made Dune run through the castle and noticed the pace was good. He could run a tiny bit slower than him, but that was all he needed.

Malcolm couldn't wait to get to the dungeon. Dune would make short work of the leeches and other monsters inside of it. He was sure. Malcolm Noticed Pauline walking up to him.

"Dude! That is so badass."

"Yeah. I made him right after breakfast."

"Does it have a name? Can it think?"

"No, he can't. But his name is Dune."

"Cool name. Uh, anyway, how is he going to keep up with us? We're going on carriages y'know."

Malcolm looked at her blankly.

"I hadn't thought about that. We're going on horses?"

Malcolm couldn't see any. He was confused but then figured that they must be waiting outside the city. One of their teachers yelled and asked the [Heroes] to gather up, and they finally left the castle for the first time since coming to this world. He was a bit scared really, which proved how sheltered he had become. He was walking in the back of the group, and Dune followed closely behind him. Ankrea was grand, or at least the parts that surrounded the castle was. His golem terrified the people that were just going about their day.

"M-monster attack! Help!"

Malcolm sighed. He wished he could just dispell Dune and instantly bring him back later when they got to the dungeon. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.

The further they got from the castle the less wealthy the neighborhoods became. He passed the Adventurers Guild and he heard Blake jokingly saying they should all sign up and do some jobs. Speaking of guilds, there were many guilds in this city. A Mage Guild, a Messenger Guild... even a Merchant Guild, but for a big city like Ankrea, this was just the basics. Malcolm had learned that smaller cities usually only had an Adventurers Guild.

When they passed the huge walls, Malcolm noticed that they were way taller and thicker than he had noticed when watching from one of the many balconies of the castle. They looked impenetrable, and they probably had many magic enchantments on them too. The city didn't end at the walls, however. Many houses and farms sat outside of it, and a second wall was being built all around them. The second line of defense. Malcolm deemed this pretty unnecessary though. Didn't the Draele Empire control all of... well, Draele? There was no risk of any warfare on the continent any time soon. This was just a waste of money and time.

They finally reached the outskirts of the city. He had to think of how to get Dune there with him right now. He took a deep breath and strode towards one of the [Knights] accompanying them.

"E-excuse me."

"Yes?"

"How long will the journey to the dungeon take?"

"In carriage? Around two hours. Don't worry about your... thing. We weren't going to ride at our full speed. This will be a slow trip. Around walking pace. We don't want to mistreat the horses for a situation that's not an emergency."

Malcolm nodded. Good. He looked back at Dune and just noticed a blank 'stare'. He couldn't really stare since he had no eyes, but it was just something about him. He wondered if he'd change if he improved him more tonight. He turned back and to his horror, he needed to get on a carriage. With a group. God.

He peeked around the carriages for a little while. None was empty. Of course. He then tried to find the one Pauline was on but it was full.

"Sorry Malcolm, you were too late. Some other time."

Damn. They were all full now. He should have just jumped in one of them when he could. Oh well, he could walk. Or he thought he would walk, but one of the [Healers] called out to him.

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"You! There's a spot in this carriage!"

Malcolm turned. Thank god. Walking for two hours would be way too long. His endurance wasn't too good. The young [Mage] walked towards the carriage and then looked inside. To his horror, the ones occupying it were Blake, Sarah, Claus, Steven, Skye, and Monica. They grimaced when they saw him.

This was not going to be fun.

-----------------------------------

Malcolm was gazing on the horizon. Farms. More farms. Occasionally there was a small village, and he even saw a river once. He sighed. He hated this. He refocused his hearing and snooped in on the conversation.

"Monica, what do you think the dungeon will be like?"

"Well it does, maybe, have 'leech' in its name Blake. I don't know, maybe it has, like, leeches?"

"No need to be all sarcastic about it. I'm excited!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm scared."

Sarah interjected.

"Come on Monica. They told us it was a beginner dungeon! Nothing is going to happen."

"Yeah, she's right. We even have the [Knights] and [Healers] with us. And me!"

Blake flexed his muscles in his armor and kissed his bicep.

"You're such a dork! Stop it, you're making me cringe."

"Hey, come on babe. You're talking to a [Knight] here!"

Right. Blake had gotten the [Knight] class yesterday. And he had leveled his Hero class earlier in the week. It was hard to miss with how much he bragged about it all day. He was the first of the class to reach level 20, and contrary to what logic dictated, his growth was exponential. How could he be blessed by so much luck? Did his leveling correlate with his [Hero] class? It did make it faster, so maybe the more it leveled, the faster Blake would level as well? That was busted.

Dune was still walking next to them. Malcolm smiled. At least he was good at one thing.

"Hey. You."

Malcolm snapped his head towards the inquirer. It was Monica.

"Yeah?"

"Your monster. Get it away from me."

"He's not- Why?"

"It's freaking me out, man? Why else? Do you use your head?"

Blake and Sarah chuckled, which felt like a thousand needles pierced Malcolm's heart.

"Right, sorry."

The girl repeated 'right, sorry' in a joking manner, which made the entire carriage laugh. Malcolm sunk a bit into his seat. He messed up again. He ordered Dune to walk a bit further back, and more outwards. The golem instantly listened.

Monica didn't even say thank you. She just sneered at him.

One hour left.

-----------------------------------

Everyone was surprised when they made it to the dungeon, including Malcolm. They expected an abandoned dark cave, or a crypt. Instead, around it was a full-fledged town, with people living there. There was a big central building that looked like a bank.

The [Heroes] got off the carriage, and waited for the [Knights] to talk to one of the [Guards] stationed outside the city. The [Guard] looked flustered and instantly bowed to the class. They were let in. The town was bustling, but the biggest building apart from the 'bank' Malcolm had noticed a few minutes earlier was the Adventurers Guild. Fitting for a city built on a dungeon.

They were led into an inn and they were all excited at how luxurious it was. The town was apparently called Dalos, and this was their best inn. Malcolm heard one of his classmates talking.

"It's like we're on a field trip!"

It really was. It reminded Malcolm of the time in middle school where his class went to D.C. Except now they were going to kill monsters in a dungeon, instead of visiting museums and landmarks.

The entire class checked in for rooms. They were going to have roommates. Malcolm just hated this entire day and wished he would have stayed on the castle to train. He probably would have made more progress that way. He had parked Dune outside the city. The golem was unsurprisingly easy to hide with camouflage since he was made of earth and stone.

Malcolm couldn't find himself anyone to share a room with. Well, he didn't even try. He couldn't find Pauline, and he doubted she'd say yes. Sarah was obviously going with Blake and the [Mage] didn't notice, but [Claus] was secretly fuming. The [Knights] told Malcolm he would be assigned a roommate randomly with someone who didn't have one. There were a few. Soon, they returned to the lobby.

"Listen up!"

All of them looked at their guides.

"We will spend one week in Dalos. Every day we will go in the dungeon in groups. Since we have a recommendation from [Emperor] Vitelius, we can go in for free."

For free? Did you have to pay to go into the Dungeon? Weird. They started moving and slowly walked towards the central building of the town. It wasn't a bank. It was like... a dungeon registry? That was the best way to put it. Malcolm mentally called Dune.

The [Mage] saw adventurers lining up, handing out money and going in the dungeon. Their names were written and they signed some sort of contract? He couldn't really tell from afar.

"Group up in groups of six!"

Not again.

"Each group will have one [Knight] and one [Healer] going with them."

Blake interjected jokingly.

"I'm already a [Knight]! That means you don't have to come right?"

"One veteran [Knight] then."

"Killjoy."

Malcolm looked around. He saw finally saw Pauline. He took a deep breath, nodded, and walked towards her. He asked her if he could join her group. She said yes.

The first group was going in now, going through what could only be the priority queue. The normal adventurers cursed under their breath. It reminded Malcolm a lot of Disney land. Pay more and get shorter queues. Damn.

Soon it was his turn to go in. His group walked down the stairs. It wasn't dark. The place had already been lit up with candles. Malcolm thought he would need to cast [Light], but it looked like it never was going to be needed.

Dune was behind him, walking slowly. Malcolm knew this was safe, but he was still anxious. The [Healer] spoke and pointed.

"The kill zone we rented is this way."

After a short trip, Malcolm watched disgustingly as dozens of huge leeches crawled on the ground. Pauline recoiled.

"Ew."

"Yeah. That."

"I will engage the arcane leeches! Anyone with [Warrior] as their primary class, with me. The rest can stand back and attack from afar. Don't worry, they're extremely weakened in the light.

This was it! Malcolm sent his golem forward with the [Knight]. The [Healer] just stood back and watched. He made Dune punch a leech and...