Before us, the open chasm of an entrance descended from the base of the volcano, straight into the searing heat of the lava below.

This was our last chance to back down.

Everything was good and all when said, but it's a different matter once things were up close. I was more than determined, but that wasn't necessarily true for the rest.

Casting a glance, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly in relief. They were dead set on stepping foot into this underground labyrinth of a dungeon, readying themselves with their equipment.

Daniel held a massive shield almost as tall as himself, along with a small hammer.

I choked back my laughter. I knew it was best to use a small weapon when using heavy shields, but that was too funny.

Yena, Sebastian, and Samantha brandished their wands. Yena's wand was adorned with a petite blue crystal at its tip, while Sebastian's and Samantha's were more substantial reaching to the ground, each adorned with a red and green crystal at their ends respectively. Seth, similarly to me had his sword drawn and his guard up.

With one last glance at one another and a nod, we took the first step inside. The increase in temperature was immediate, and it kept increasing the further we descended. What's more, the terrain also began to change. While at the entrance, it was pitch black; now, it took on a reddish hue. Due to the rising temperature, occasional droplets of water could be heard echoing faintly through the multiple cave corridors.

That was something Sebastian failed to mention, however, it was more crucial than anything else. The constant dripping put us on edge, and even further than that, it messed with our perception of time.

When present in an alien environment, it's key to remain calm and level-headed. In our case, once the track of time was lost, panic would rise, and rational thinking would be thrown away.

Fortunately, there was an easy enough solution...

"Sebastian, how far away are we from the first level of the dungeon?"

...Talking.

The reason Sebastian failed to mention anything was because he didn't face such a problem to begin with. He came here with a group that knew each other, and their chat was more than enough to overlay the echoing droplets. The problem with our group was that we simply didn't know, nor trusted, every member of our group. Having Sebastian talk was all I needed to ensure everyone's mental health.

Sebastian raised a questioning eyebrow.

Of course he did...

Weirded out, he answered my question. " We're not that far off. Remember, the most common beasts on this level are Lavaspur, Batriders, and Infernanders. Lavaspur and Batriders stand at the high end of Lesser rank, while the Infernanders are on the borderline of Formidable."

"Haha, don't worry, if the beasts aren't of the Great rank, they won't be-" Cutting Daniel's overconfident sentence was Seth, quickly grabbing and pushing him out of the way.

"What the!?" Daniel blurted out.

Back to where Daniel stood was a black spike the size of an adult finger pinned to the ground. It was targeted at his head; If Seth hadn't moved on time, he would have died before realizing it.

"We've reached it," I said in a low voice.

At that moment, a barrage of the same spikes launched at us from all directions. While the first was a surprise attack, when they came in bulk, it was easy to fend off.

Lighting my sword in fire, I charged in, blocking and deflecting the onslaught. Seth covered the rear, while, on one side, Daniel blocked every spike with his shield, and on the other, Yena conjured a wall of water, catching spikes inside. In the middle, Samantha began chanting her spell, while Sebastian held his staff high until a small orb of fire came, lighting the area.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

‘What does he think he is doing!? Has he gone mad!?’

By lighting the hall, he put a target on us. If before only a few beasts knew of our presence, now it was every single one of this level. Was he trying to kill us all?

As light traveled, the creatures came into view. Their bodies were sleek and sinuous like molten lava, and their back were filled with the same spikes as the ones launched at us.

"Lavaspur!" Sebastian shouted.

Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!

My eyes widened when dozens of shrieks descended.

Lavaspurs croaked, didn't shriek…

Sebastian came to the same realization faster than me, and by the time it took me to turn, his pale face had turned pure white, and his mouth trembled in shock, looking high above.

Following his gaze, my shoulders dropped.

‘This... is going to be harder than I thought…’ I thought to myself but another word escaped my lips.

"Fuck."

I was wrong. It wasn't dozens...

From the stalactites, hundreds of red, bloodthirsty eyes were fixated on us, with more opening by the second.

"B-Batriders..." Sebastian mumbled, bewildered.

The first bat-like beasts leaped and there was a moment of silence.

...

Shriek!

The Batrider squealed, and all hell broke loose.

A tsunami of Batriders followed behind it, hundreds of shrieks echoing the cavern in their cacophony.

At the same time, the Lavaspur sent another wave of spikes.

Momentarily deafened, time seemed to slow down as the Batstriders and the spikes reached closer.

As the initial Batrider was entering our circle, a precise thin wind attack cut it in two, and my ears unclogged.

Seth had used a Wind bullet.

Regaining focus, I ignited my sword further, slicing at the spikes. A horizontal wave of fire came forth, cutting every spike right then and there.

"Focus! Get into formation!" Seth shouted, jolting everyone else from their stupor.

Samantha was the first to react, restarting her incantation. Daniel moved only a second later, smashing his shield to the ground, raising an earthen wall to cover his side, while Yena and Sebastian launched spell after spell onto the Batriders who were rapidly closing the distance.

Seth unleashed another Wind bullet, passing right next to me onto a Lavaspur. He looked at me and smiled cheekily. "Two..." He said, already moved for his next target.

‘This fucker... You want a competition?’

At that time, Samantha finished her incantation, and all of a sudden, the temperature dropped and I felt a lot lighter.

‘Bet!’

Holding my sword with two hands launched myself at the nearest target. Before the Lavaspur could react, it had already been sliced in half.

"One..." I murmured, its blood dripping from my beard, already looking for my next target.

Their numbers were too many to count, but they were only that. Numbers. Their strength lies in stealth and surprise attacks. Once that is out of the way, there isn't much difference between them and unranked beasts.

After the initial shock died down, it didn't seem like we'd have many casualties. With Daniel defending and Samantha supporting, Yena and Sebastian got some breathing room and managed to unleash higher spells capable of killing multiple Batriders at once.

As Evokers, they drew quint from the atmosphere and could perform spells that required much more quint than their cores had to offer. That's one of the primary reasons why people believed Evokers were superior to Augmenters. Contrary to common belief, however, that was not the case. Just because something was flashier than the other didn't mean it was better.

Igniting my sword further once more, I pierced another Lavaspur, fire spreading from its back, killing two more behind it.

"Eighty-seven..."

Augmenters have strength and agility an Evoker can never match. Of course, an Evoker can enhance their body, but it will never match the level of enhancement an Augmenter has. The same goes the other way around too. The two classes were balanced this way.

I slashed, hacked, and cut everything in my path, but that path was becoming narrower. Around us in a circle, pilled up were the fallen beasts and their scattered cores. While this provided a physical barrier, we were also trapping ourselves, limiting our space of movement.

Hisssss!

Atop the wall of dead beasts, large lizard-like creatures emerged, their long tongue already aimed at us.

"Infernanders!" Daniel screamed.

"Ember's dance, tempest's might, rise, twirl, engulf in light! Blaze Vortex!" A familiar voice filled with worry screamed, and I realized it was Sebastian who cast his spell.

Suddenly, two twisters of fire swirled to life, one in front and the other behind us, filling the cavern with a wave of heat.

As the fiery cyclones spread out, sharp screeches and pained whimpers echoed from the beasts.

Every beast that had been engulfed by the fire tornadoes, was charred to ashes, leaving only their cores behind. The ones that were fortunate enough to not be in the spell's range fled in terror without looking back.

We all turned and looked at Sebastian.

His face bore an ugly expression of anger, fear, and disgust that didn't look much different from the corpse next to me. He breathed heavily, and once he noticed our gazes, he put on a plaster smile.

"Ah, sorry for that. I was afraid that we'd waste too much quint, so I thought if I defeated them in one go, I could save everyone else's. Besides, I won't be much of a help against the UniQue..."

"That makes sense! Good thinking, Sebastian!" Daniel was quick to reassure him, but I wasn't convinced.

The attack he performed now wasn't something to scoff at...

"One hundred and forty-two," Seth said, interrupting my thoughts.

I blinked and smiled from ear to ear. "Ha! One hundred and forty-four! I win!"

"The dungeon isn't over." He smiled mischievously.