After a while, one of the soldiers from Nanawak’s army came to pick us up. They escorted us to the inn where we would be staying for the night. We will continue our trip tomorrow morning.

The room was spacious, the bed comfy. Nanawak was kind enough to give all four of us our own rooms. It was a bit too large for a single person, actually.

The rest of the journey would be around ten hours on ship, hence why,

I could sleep on the ship anyway.

It was a waste, considering just how comfortable the inn was. But, like Emori had said, I had one thing on my mind. Grinding. The monsters in Nanawak were different compared to the ones back home. It would do me good to familiarize myself with the enemies here.

The people at the Hunters’ Union, this country’s version of the Adventurers’ Guild, were kind enough to provide me with a little guide on the monsters of Nanawak.

I opened the guidebook and looked for the closest dungeon. One of the interesting things about dungeons in Nanawak was that sandstorms often covered a part of the dungeon, hiding the entrance behind it.

This meant some of the dungeons would be hidden, while others exposed. Unfortunately, this meant I needed to check them one by one, with no way of confirming which dungeons were open. Add to that the fact that the dungeons might not be occupied, and that resulted is a pretty bad grinding experience.

I could imagine the headache if the game takes place on this continent.

The fact that the dungeons weren’t filled quickly enough already resulted in many complaints. Add a random sandstorm on top of that, and the game would be dead.

There was only one dungeon within walking distance from Kokunachen. I couldn’t use teleportation, as I had yet to memorize any of the locations in this country, so I couldn’t go too far.

Uhh… this is a pain.

Walking on sand was harder than I thought. There were no specific roads leading to these dungeons. Hardly anyone visited them, after all. When we went around dungeons in Syla, Emori borrowed a castle carriage, and we would be dropped off right at the entrance. We then used teleport to head back.

“I couldn’t use a carriage here, I couldn’t use Teleport here, the sand’s hard to walk on…” I fired my complaints to the dead of night, no one close enough to hear me. I only had my fire spell casting light on my surroundings. The cloudy skies only served to make the night darker.

It’s freezing out here…

As I walked further into the desert, more doubts began piling on my mind.

“I wonder what the others are doing…”

They’re probably sleeping, I know that. It’s just, without anything interesting to think about, my thoughts went around, wandering on its own with no sense of direction.

“If I… Ahh… I must sound like a weirdo right now.”

Not that anyone could hear me. Still, speaking to myself in the middle of the night, in the middle of a barren desert…

I began regretting my decision to leave. I almost reached the entrance, though. I could pop my head in, take a quick look around, then leave.

Hopefully there are monsters or something interesting. Anything, really.

I would be really disappointed if I arrived there only to find the dungeon’s entrance covered by sand. I checked the map again, then searched for points of interest. There was nothing, all I could do was rely on the compass the union gave me to guide my way.

Did they know about us being exchange students? Or do they just hand over compasses to any new member?

Guidebooks were relatively cheap to make. They contained the bare minimum an adventurer, or hunter, should know in this desert. They’re not expensive, at least I don’t think so.

Compasses, on the other hand, were gadgets made with metal and magnet. It should cost a bit more.

Or maybe they realized I wasn’t from around here, so they wanted to make my trip comfortable.

Luckily, one of the union staff could speak Syilaian. I would be lost in more ways than one had none of them could speak Syilaian.

After a bit more of walking, the shine of my fire finally hit something that wasn't a cactus.

I’m finally here.

Standing before me was a large open gate. I stuffed my belongings inside my bag and stood underneath the entrance. It was said that an ancient civilization built most of the dungeons in this world. A large block of text decorated the top part of the gate. I tried reading its letters, but couldn’t recognize a single word. The language was entirely foreign to me.

I ventured deeper. While I’m not immune to dangers, being a level 100 meant that most things couldn’t harm me. Most things that weren’t on my level, to be exact. Lizards and snakes-like monsters occupied the first few floors of the dungeon and I dealt with them without exercising much effort.

Even the magic stones are different…

I kneeled next to one. The stones didn’t have the demons’ symbols, much to my relief. They were colored brown, with a bit of sandy feeling to them, different from the hard crystal-like feel found in Syla. I stuffed them into my bag, planning on selling them later. I could only hope that magic stones fetch as high of a price in this country as in Syla.

As I went deeper, the monsters grew larger, but there was no change in variation until I reached the sixth level.

A massive salamander patrolled the floor, going from one room to the other. Magic dripped from the visible wounds on the salamander’s body. The floor was littered with massive amounts of magic stones.

What the… Monsters don’t normally attack other monsters, though…

It had something to do with the fact that monsters were all created by magic irregularities. They share some traits with the ‘templates’ they were based on, but they didn’t feed on other animals, nor did they feel threatened by their fellow monsters. There shouldn’t be a reason for the salamander to go around killing its fellows, unless…

I heard panting coming from one of the rooms. I turned my hand their way, letting my fire light up the entryway.

“Huff… Huff…”

A pair appeared from the damaged door frame. They saw me and stopped, panting heavily.

“What happened to you?” I asked, approaching the two. I noticed the symbol on their chest and the familiar style of their yellow and red uniforms. “Eastern Wolves?”

The Eastern Wolves was a mercenary organization that was formed not long before the demon war. They participated in the war along with Nanawak’s troops.

“You… what are you doing here?” The boy with short black hair asked. Despite his young face, he had a heavy voice, and it didn’t look any prettier with all the sweat running down his face.

At first, I was confused to see them. “Wait, if you're here… oh…”

They must have come from another entrance, as I encountered monsters on my way down. I wonder where this second entrance was…

“Kid, we don't have… much time to explain… we should get out of here!” said the girl with short yellow hair. She looked a bit older than the boy.

The ground began vibrating. We looked toward one of the entrances, the salamander coming our way. The girl then glanced toward the boy, and the boy gave her a fierce nod.

“Kid! Run!”

“We'll hold them back!”

This must be one powerful monster. The Eastern Wolves weren't pushovers. In the game, only players on level fifty and above could complete one of their quests. These members must be at least that level.

I aimed my two wands, one metal and one rock. The fire went out. I could hear surprised gasps, but it took no more than a second for another fire to replace mine.

These people are professionals.

I painted two separate circles in my eyes. I merged the two circles, painting the symbol for Steel Spear and Cliff in them.

I only succeeded once before, but here goes!

A silver spear appeared at the end of my wand, its surface coated with the sharp rocks. I adjusted its path. The spear passed right above the two mercenaries, slicing through the sky and stabbing straight into the salamander’s head.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The salamander collapsed, sliding across the ground, before disappearing and turning into a magic stone.

I lit up my fire and approached the stone.

Sure enough, there was a demon symbol on it.

“Wh- Wh- Who are you?”

“Huh?”

I turned back to find the two Eastern Wolves cowering in fear.

Are they more scared of me compared to the salamander?

“The salamander was already weakened. I just happened to take the last shot.”

I threw the stone toward them. One of them stepped forward to catch it.

“That's yours.”

“Thank you… Umm… can we… come with you?”

“Come… with me?”

* ••

The sandy sands… the tumbling tumbleweeds.

The open air, the starry skies…

Well, it was cloudy right now, but that's just a minor detail.

The two horses ran through the night, their legs kicking up desert sand.

We ride through the night at blitzing speeds. My name? Fortisbel Baskator. Professional cowboy. People fear my name around these parts.

…

… Yeah, I definitely need to pick better lines for my cowboy impressions.

Plus, maybe I should have fetched some wild west style clothes before venturing out, because my clothes looked way too unprofessional for this.

Me defeating the salamander with a single attack struck fear and awe in these people. How did that happen? I had no idea. I hadn't even learned their names yet. Wanting to see more, they offered to take me to other dungeons. One of them could use Teleport, and I'll pick that over walking back any time.

Even if something went wrong, I could use Connect to call Emori and the rest.

“Here we are.”

I rode with the boy. He pulled the reins, the horse stopping right in front of the entrance to a different dungeon.

“You stay here, okay?” The man that rode with me patted the horse’s side.

“Why not use Teleport?” I asked.

“I don’t visit these dungeons often, so I don’t have a clear image of them.”

“Everyone ready?” The girl checked.

“Ready.”

“Ready when you are.”

It's just another night for me, but in their eyes, I probably looked like some kind of hero or something. Their eyes practically sparkled as they waited for me. I stepped into the dungeon. Unlike other dungeons, this one still had its front door intact, but not locked.

It's a bit heavy, but I could still move it. The insides were dark as expected. I noticed the numerous torches on the walls.

Will it work? No pain in trying, I guess.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I painted the symbol for Light All in my vision, a spell that allowed me to light up all torches and light sources in a given area.

One by one, the torches lit up, lighting up the path.

“Awesome…” The two clapped at my spell.

“It's a reguler spell, though?” Light All was commonly used to light up cities and buildings, so I didn't understand what was so cool about it.

Together we went inside. While built under different conditions, the dungeons in Nanawak looked similar to the ones back in Syla. It being built by the same civilization may be a factor, but it made me more curious. Just what secrets do these empty buildings hide?

“Something big must have passed through here…” The boy remarked. On the wall right of me were claw marks. Four lines, each around twenty meters long and a meter deep.

I touched the damaged walls. “This must be bigger than that salamander.”

“But Fortisbel here will handle it, right?”

Ah, right. I did introduce myself. I did that because I didn't want them to think of me as a child, but they hadn't told me their names.

They also spoke to me in Syilaian. The Eastern Wolves handled many commissions from Syla, so while being able to speak Syilaian wasn’t a requirement, it could help in the recruitment.

“You're thinking too highly of me…”

I hadn't told them my level yet. Based on my strength, though, they could already guess that I'm higher.

Plus the reason they struggled against the salamander was because they had fought a lot of monsters from the entrance they entered, so they had lost most of their energy. Even if I didn't come with them, I could tell.

Deep inside, I worried that I might disappoint. I did try to warn them multiple times that I wasn't as strong as they thought I am. If they were disappointed…. I guess that's their fault.

We proceeded deeper into the dungeon. The first floor didn’t have any enemies, nor did the second floor. The third floor was crawling with lizards-like monsters.

“Monsters!” One of them called out. With a single fireball, I burnt through half of the monsters guarding the dungeon.

“Woah!”

“Awesome!”

The rest watched me with sparkling eyes.

You all are adults, right? Right?

Not saying that adults couldn’t feel happy, but surely they’ve seen someone stronger than me?

We made our way deeper and deeper, taking out many monsters along our path, until we reached the seventh floor.

I always wondered what these facilities are used for…

The seventh floor was twice as tall compared to the other floors. Unlike the other floors, this floor only had three different rooms spanning the entire length of the dungeon, all in one straight line. Standing in the middle was our target, surrounded by four lizard monsters.

“That’s massive…”

“Is that…”

“...”

The one standing before us was a tortoise.

Yes, a literal tortoise.

A red tortoise maybe four… five times a regular one? Definitely way bigger than normal. Unlike other tortoises, this one had four sharp claws on each feat.

“... Could you take it on?” One of them asked.

Why are you excluding yourself from the battle?

“Not sure…” I held my four wands. Metal, fire, and rock, nature. I had yet to learn quad-casting. I still struggled in just using double casting. Triple casting would be much more difficult.

But I needed to be able to cast four elements at the same time to win against the demon king. That was why Asytelar chose me, after all.

And this particular tortoise seemed perfect for my practice run.

I painted a large, dark green circle engulfing all five monsters, followed by a red circle around the four lizards, a brown circle on the tortoise’s legs, and finally a silver circle on the tortoise’s head.

Bind! Fireball! Stalagmites! Steel Spear!

I painted their symbols in order, but I messed up. I didn’t complete the spell for Bind, and I accidentally completed the symbol for Stalagmites before the rest, causing the spell to be triggered. The circles must have moved in my mind, as Stalagmites shot up from the ground, slicing right through the lizard monsters, killing them in an instant.

Then, fire burst from those stalagmites, shooting upward. From my sides, steel spears shot at the tortoise. Some of them hit the flames on their way there, causing the flames to dance, before striking the tortoise. The tortoise’s shell managed to block all the attacks, the spears deflecting off its surface.

“Damnit!”

“Damn… what?” The two stared at me in surprise.

“That’s not how the spell was supposed to go.” The more spells you cast, the more your thoughts come into play. I could mix them together into one attack, like what I did with Steel Spear and Cliff, or I could make them strike separately. My original plan was to have Bind hold them in place, Fireball decimate the four lizards, then Stalagmites to strike the tortoise’s legs, finally Steel Spear to punch through the tortoise’s head.

I guess I still managed to get decent results, considering the four lizards were dead, but the damage wasn’t as much as I hoped.

I tried triple casting again, foregoing the nature wand. This time, I attempted to merge the three elements into one.

I formed three circles. One red, one brown, and one silver, then joined them in the middle. Remembering the way the colors go, mixing and stuff, was hard. The tortoise began moving toward us, opening its mouth. I placed the circle right at its opening.

Trying my best to stabilize the three colors, I painted the symbol of Steel Spear, Cliff, and Fireball in one go in an attempt to merge the three spells.

What resulted was a flaming spear, but with no rocky surface. The spear struck its target, causing flames to spew from the tortoise’s mouth. The attack knocked the tortoise back. The tortoise swung its head and let out a breath of fire, the attack missing us.

We’re facing a fire breathing tortoise now? What the heck?

Well, it is red, so I guess fire? Yeay?

My pathetic display didn’t lessen the excitement from my spectators one bit, though.

“Amazing!”

“Are you really just sixteen?”

“How are you not part of the royal guard or something?”

“Come join us!”

Personally recruited by the Eastern Wolves… who would have thought? Not like I could join them, though. My home is in Syla.

“My, my. Prilus is certainly underselling you.” I heard a familiar voice. Nayala came out from the shadows, a smile on her face.

“Nayala- Princess… I mean, Your Imperial Highness!”

“Oh, Prilus did mention you being quite rude.”

“Sorry!”

“Haha, I’m just joking. I don’t care what you call me.” She pulled out a dagger from her waist, a musket from her back. “I did ask for your help, after all.”

“Boss? You know him?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Nayala swung her hand over my back. “We go a long way back.”

“We met a few days ago.”

“Aww… don’t be so distant,” she pouted as she armed her musket.

You have Prilus, remember?

Nayala let go, swinging her dagger in the air like it was some toy. “Anyway, I’m surprised to see you all here.”

“I'm surprised to see you here, Boss.”

“Heard some rumors, decided to check them out.”

Nayala then glanced my way.

“Ah, about that-”

“Don't worry, explain it back at base. We'll deal with that monster first.” She gave me a wink. I wasn't sure what she meant, but should she be winking at other boys like this when she already has a future husband?

“I'll keep its attention, you strike it as hard as you can.”

“You sure?” She didn't have anything that suggested her role as a tank. No armor, no shield, just a little dagger and a musket.

“Relax. I'll make sure it won't harm you. It'll be a troublesome political affair if something happens to you.”

“I'm more worried about you… but fine, just be careful.” I had made the mistake of doubting others before. I won't make the same mistake twice.

“Roger that!” Nayala gave me a quick salute before sprinting straight toward the tortoise. The tortoise’s eyes tracked her approaching figure, its head swinging toward her. It opened its mouth, about to open fire when my steel spears struck it again and again.

My relentless attacks did little damage thanks to the heavy armor this tortoise had. Nayala managed to close the gap. Using her dagger, she slashed at the tortoise's head and followed up with a musket strike at point blank. The monster reeled in pain, trying to use its massive claws to strike the princess. The tortoise kicked up sand, making it hard for me to see where Nayala was.

“Your Highness, don’t jump!” I shouted, sending spears over our heads.

“Okay!” She replied.

Much like an artillery barrage, the spears slammed into the tortoise’s upper body, causing it to roar louder. The tortoise began thumping harder, kicking up more sand and shaking the ruins.

This must be a tank of some kind.

High armor and low mobility, it would be the one standing in the forefront of the battlefield, taking most of the attacks. Its size also made it an ideal weapon against large structures like walls and fortresses. Even despite being a level 100 mage, I wasn’t doing much damage.

I decided to change strategy, taking my nature wand and my steel wand.

Rose Tower! Chains!

I made four green circles on the ground, then painted the symbol for Rose Tower in my vision.

“Your Highness, watch out!” I called out, before completing the symbol. Massive roses rose from the ground. Keeping that symbol alive, I painted a total of eight silver circles, four on the roses and four on the tortoise’s legs.

“We need to support them!” One of the Eastern Wolves declared.

“But what can we do?”

I couldn't see what they were doing behind me, my mind concentrating on keeping up the spells. “Your Highness, stay away for a moment!”

“Alright!” Nayala replied from within the dust. I then painted the symbol for Chains, and the steel chains emerged, holding the tortoise down. The tortoise let out an ear-deafening roar. I concentrated my hardest, keeping the chains and roses intact.

“ROAR!” The tortoise fought against my chains, struggling hard to break free.

“Wo- Wow…”

“Such massive chains…”

If you can comment, please help instead! I wanted to say, but saying so might break my concentration.

“Everyone, come on! This is our chance!” Nayala urged, prompting the Wolves to move.

“Yes!” The two mercenaries plunged into the fight. The three struck the tortoise, using whatever weapon and magic they had to do as much damage as possible. True to its size, the tortoise stood strong, even if magic began leaking from its wounds. The roses threatened to fall apart, but I kept reinforcing it by duplicating the symbols in my vision.

My sight was practically filled with symbols and circles. The many spells began draining my mana.

Damn… I must be using a lot.

I didn’t normally feel my mana being drained. This tortoise must be extra strong.

I risk collapsing if I overworked my body, and me being unconscious would mean much more trouble, so I decided to stop.

“Get away, I’m breaking the chains!”

The three leaped back. I turned off the chains, the tortoise breaking free, then I reduced the strength of my Rose Tower. The unknowing tortoise knocked one down, causing it to fall on its head.

Even the rose’s sharp thorns didn’t do any notable damage.

“We need a different strategy.” Nayala said, standing on my right, the other two behind her.

“We need something that can hit it hard.” The ship’s cannon came into mind. Someone could go and teleport it here, but dismounting it off a ship would take too long, and I doubt they had a couple unused ones lying around.

What to do… what to do… hold on…

Emori’s White Void would kill it instantly, and White Spring could probably take care of the tortoise with a strike or two.

“Can someone teleport to the inn?” I turned to Nayala.

“Regus here can.”

“You need to teleport somewhere?” The person called Regus asked. It was the boy.

“I need you to get someone here. Go to the inn, and look for someone with silver hair. Her name is Emori-what-what-Syla. I’ll contact her now.”

“... what?” Nayala looked at me, confused. “Oh, you mean Emori!”

“Yeah, I can't remember her middle name.”

Both of the mercs all gasped. “Emori Kirro Ozare Syla? From the Kingdom of Syla?”

Sorry Emori, but that name is way too complicated for me.

“You know Her Highness? Just who are you?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Quick!”

“Which inn are they in?” Regus asked.

“The one on fifth street.” Nayala answered.

“Alright!”

Regus turned to the wall, probably trying to memorize the dungeon.

“Your Highness, we’ll hold it off, buy him time.”

“Leave that to me!”

Nayala rushed forward, using her musket to fire at the tortoise, making it angry. As the tortoise tried stomping her out, I utilized the spells in my arsenal to attack the tortoise from all directions. Using her sword, the girl came with us, making multiple slashes against the tortoise’s leg.

“Regus, are you done?” The girl yelled, dodging an attack from the tortoise’s leg.

“We can give him a bit more time!” Nayala said.

“A bit more… I can do it now!” A symbol for Teleport appeared in Regus’ right eye and he disappeared.

“... Just making sure, but he can return, right?”

He is a mercenary, highly trained I assume. I could also remember new locations if I were given enough time.

Nayala waved her hand. “Relax. If he failed, the trip here won’t took long by horse.”

“I do not like that idea…”

The tortoise continued chasing after us. I needed to buy him more time, but the complex Rose Tower and Chains set up wouldn’t be able to hold for long, not with the amount of Mana I exhausted.

I used Steel Poles instead. I painted the ground between us and the tortoise with numerous circles, all going around it. Tall steel poles rose from the ground, blocking its way like a prison. The tortoise began barging into one, using its head to repeatedly punch at the poles.

“This should hold out for a while.” Unlike Rose Tower, Steel Poles were stronger. But it took more mana to reinforce, so I could only make one run of the spell.

“I’ll help.” Nayala took out a steel wand from her waist. The same symbol appeared. More Steel Poles appeared before us.

“I’ll start shooting.” The girl took a step back and sheathed her sword. She took her musket and loaded ammo and shot. The musket did little damage to the tortoise, but since it didn’t use mana, I welcomed it nonetheless.

Nayala joined in, using her musket to fire at the tortoise from a distance.

While maintaining the spell, I used Connect to call Emori. It took a while, but eventually she picked up.

“Fortis…? What is it?”

“I need help.”

“Huh, where? Where are you? I’ll- Ouch!”

I couldn’t see what was happening, nor could I hear anything other than her mind, but I could tell that something was happening.

“Emori, what happened?”

“I fell from bed… Anyway, where are you?”

“I’m in a dungeon. Someone will come to pick you up. His name is Regus, he’s with the Eastern Wolves. He’ll take you to me.”

“Okay!”

I cut the Connect, returning my mind to the Steel Poles spell. I could hear musket shots coming off on my right and left. The ball shot straight at the tortoise, hitting it from both sides. The tortoise grunted everytime a ball hit.

“You only carry one with you?” Nayala asked.

“Yes. Should I have brought more?”

Wait, do these people dual wield muskets?

That would be an interesting sight.

“Had these demon-tempered monsters not existed, you wouldn't have needed to.”

She let out a gasp.

“Demons?”

“You haven’t told them?” I asked Nayala, keeping my eyes on the space in front of me.

“Not yet. I plan to talk about it after your arrival in the capital. I’ll explain it later.”

The tortoise pushed through the poles, bending them and destroying them. It got closer and closer. To concentrate the firepower, Nayala and the girl came to my side. Together they fired, trying their best to slow the tortoise down.

“Fortis!” Emori called out. I turned to her, disabling the spell.

“Emori! That one!” I pointed toward the tortoise. She stepped forward and nodded, a familiar symbol appearing on her right eye.

“Here I go!”