"Wow, that shit was easy!" Albert hummed with humor. They had collectively pressed on with their respective attacks which overwhelmed the poor Mountain Lion. However, Grace couldn't help but feel a little bit ticked off.
"Get yourselves together," Grace glared. "Mountain Lions are insignificant in the face of real danger. They are akin to bugs to what is existing beyond it."
Ivan chimed in.
"I... have to agree," he sighed. "I get that you two are stronger than me, but... we have to be able to work with each other more efficiently. Can you two... like... get along for just a day?"
"That'll depend entirely on Ice-man."
"How rich coming from you."
Anne looked at Grace.
"Is... Rufus regularly like this?" She asked him. Grace glanced at Anne before shaking his head at her.
"This is their first time really interacting. However, it's safe to just assume that opposites can oppose each other rather than attract."
Rufus and Albert bickered a little bit more before they finally managed to get a move on.
~~~
Calvin, leaning on one of the buses observing the students, suddenly furrowed his brows. For a while now he had been sensing every little change in the vicinity.
And during that period of constant sensing, he begun to notice that there were a few students that were beginning to stray away from the forest grounds.
The base of the mountain. No... they're already nearing the half-way. And they were progressively going further into the mountain. Calvin gritting his teeth, getting out of his idle state and going towards one of the assistant professors.
Even though he did not say that they couldn't go up the mountain trail--they weren't ready to go deeper into the mountain. That was something certain for Calvin.
The students are treasures.
"Ray," he called out to a man slightly shorter than himself, but held a keen and calculated gaze of black that was amplified by his glasses. His black hair was tightly-kept and so was his assistant professor uniform.
"Yes?" He questioned.
"There are a few students attempting to go up the mountain," Calvin sighed. "Do you mind bringing them back? It's too early for them to attempt something so dangerous." Ray nodded, not objecting the order.
"Yes, sir."
Inwardly, Ray had to sigh.
Fetching students was not something he was fond of doing. As that was really all he had been doing all this time as an assistant professor.
"Mundane and repetitive," he muttered. But, if it's an order - an important one at that - then he had no reason to deny such a request. After all, if he's to be a teacher one day himself, he had to learn how to be patient and be quick to act regardless of the situation.
But going up the mountain--do they have a death wish? He didn't want to call them idiots - whoever they were - but they could not totally right in the head if they thought going deeper into the mountain was a good idea.
"Whatever... I'll get them back quickly."
~~~
Rufus shot a basic bullet at a wandering Earth Deer, which leapt to the side, dodging the bullet of fire just narrowly. However, flanking from the side, Ivan skewered the Earth Deer with a bullet of water, opposing Rufus' bullet of fire that he had previously shot out.
The Earth Deer fell from the air and dropped down to the inclined terrain roughly, rolling down the steep pathway before Anne planted herself in front of the Earth Deer's path.
"Hey," Ivan huffed slightly. "More and more of the Earth Deers and Mountain Lions are appearing. How should we approach it now when too many come around?"
The formation worked well as of right now, but when the numbers would begin to stack up against them, merely diverting their attention and attacking would prove to be inefficient.
"Maintain the formation, but depending on the amount of encounters we have, then we'll need to split our assignments up. However, this will probably be best once we do encounter such a chance."
On the other hand...
We're taking too long going up the mountain. The dungeon itself was not that far away from them, but their pacing was incredibly sluggish. Even though caution was important, he needed them to maintain it but also maintain a faster pace.
We're going to be caught before we even sniff the dungeon gate! Inwardly, Grace was awry. Though he still maintained a patient perspective--there was no used complaining about it.
But... It wouldn't hurt trying to fasten these people up. Grace thought, looking at the rest.
"We've been attacking everything... we shouldn't attack anything if they don't directly charge at us." Even though merely fighting them and using their abilities, they were actively drawing closer to the next Grade.
Even if it's rather slow.
"Very well," Rufus responded. "I was getting tired of beating up everything. Too much unnecessary mana usage." Grace was keeping his reserves tightly watched, only using one dagger of light for each target and making sure he did not maintain for too long.
After all, it was unnecessary to maintain multiple and for long durations when there were others present that can supplement for the lackluster usage.
For there on, they were able to move up the mountain at a faster pace. While they were still cautious, there was a noticeable difference between their pace before and then.
Before they knew it, the air around them gained a large shift.
"The mana!" Ivan exclaimed. "Much denser than before!" Grace nodded his head, fully knowing that the dungeon was incredibly close.
"How did Mr. Pinch not sense such density?!" Anne muttered. Grace shrugged, but inwardly, he knew the exact reason as to why he didn't see this coming.
They wouldn't know, but Calvin has below-average mana sensitivity. When sensing mana, he'll have a difficult time separating densities. So to him... unless he's fully focus from the range he is at--the density may appear as normal. Even then, it's already difficult to sense the dungeon gate with good mana sensitivity. What an unfortunate thing to be born with, frankly.
But... where is the gate? Did the location change? Grace mused.
"HEY!" From afar, atop a cliff, stood the assistant professor that was assigned to catch such rebellious kids. They looked up, catching the gaze of the assistant professor.
"Uhhh... hi?" Ivan scratched the back of his neck.
In a panic, Ray's gaze intensified.
"GET AWAY FROM THERE!!!"
FWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
Grace was wrong.
The location of the gate never changed. And the only thing that changed was the timing.
"Shit!" Grace yelled.
It was below us the entire time! The ground crumbled as a vortex of azure blue came rushing from below. Ray jumped from the cliff, his heart dancing like damning explosions.
Save them--! Ray's body flushed, the speed of an intermediate-grade rushing as if wind. However, it was not enough to overcome the distance between the portal and the students.
That meant only one thing, however.
It was to enter the portal!
Grace.
Ivan.
Anne.
Rufus.
Albert.
And finally, Ray.
As their bodies slowly submerged itself into the jaws of the dungeon, the color of the gate shifted wildly.
The azure blue turned into a deep crimson.
Their eyes widened as their perception contorted.
Right in front of their eyes...
"A 4-star gate!" Rufus yelled.
The point in which the dungeons no longer become mere dungeons.
They start to become expansive worlds.