The next morning, I woke up nice and early to properly prepare myself. Nazeem would often wake up late so I decided to let him sleep a bit longer. I walked into the bathroom and began brushing my teeth. By the time I woke up, Ginelle was already getting herself prepared for the rest of the day. By the time I finished brushing my teeth she opened the door, walked outside, and closed it behind her. I walked out of the bathroom and over to Nazeem's bed. I inhaled a deep breath and released a shout, "Nazeem, wake upp!" His eyes shot open. "What the hell Kil? Why are you waking me up?" I turned away from him, "You needa get ready. We're gonna meet up with Lura and Nyleah soon." That prompted Nazeem to get out of bed and walk into the bathroom, closing its door behind him. I walked over to my backpack and pulled out my training clothes. I walked into a closet located next to the bathroom and began changing. Once Nazeem and I were done preparing , the two of us left the hotel, and began walking towards the palace courtyard.
Once we made it to the palace courtyard's entrance, Lura walked outside and waved to us. "Hey guys! Why don't ya come inside?" Nazeem and I walked inside the courtyard's main house. Lura was standing by a door. She spoke up and said, "Nyleah and I will come out in a moment. Just wait for us." She opened the door and left the room. Nazeem and I sat down onto the couch and began waiting.
After a few minutes, the door where Lura had made her exit, opened. Lura walked out, with Nyleah right behind her. The two of them wore training attire, similar to the ones me and Nazeem were wearing, except ours are obviously of lower quality. I couldn't stop looking at Nyleah. She was glowing in my eyes, I thought of nothing but her beauty the whole way through the city. Eventually, we made it to the city's gate and Lura took us to the same spot we'd used to get out of the city a year ago. Lura started heading North, closer to the mountains which surrounded Zuri'el's capital. We continued walking for nearly an hour before Lura stopped right in front of a giant rock. She turned back, holding her book, to face the three of us, "Alright we're here. Get situated cuz once we're in, it'll be chaos." The four of us began warming up. Nyleah took out a bow, Nazeem was stretching his legs, Lura was swinging her sword, and I was stretching my chest muscles.
Lura sheathed her sword and cleared her throat, "Ahem! Are you guys ready?" We all nodded. Lura walked up to the giant stone and stuck out her hand. "Alright everyone… stand next to me and put your hand on the rock. Once we're all ready, begin channeling mana through your hand and into the stone." The four of us placed our hands on the stone and began to focus on channeling mana. Once my mana began flowing into the stone, a circle of light began emanating from where my hand was placed. I turned to face my three friends, their hands were also covered in a blue circle of light. Lura spoke up, "Don't worry. This is a magic circle. In a few seconds we'll be transported inside the dungeon, so prepare yourselves." A magic circle? I think father's spoken of these things before. He has a lot of experience with going through dungeons so I guess magic circles are common when dealing with things like this. I looked forward, in preparation. I waited for a few seconds, then suddenly, my vision went completely black. Not long after my vision went blank, I heard Lura's voice, "Get your ass up moron!" My eyes reopened to see a rocky ceiling. Stalactites were covering the rock above us. I was laying on the ground. Nazeem took out his hand and helped me up. Lura and Nyleah were waiting for us farther up. We were now inside a cave. The atmosphere was wet and hot but not humid. The air was dry but the rocks surrounding us emanated a watery substance, probably a type of mana residual. Lura led our group further into the cave. She had her sword drawn and was walking with caution. I guess we were already amidst danger. I drew my sword and readied myself for danger. I turned to face Nazeem, but before I could ask him a question a loud clang ran through the cave. I shot my head back to find Lura clashing swords with a skeleton. "S-shit! Nazeem ready yourself" I said. Nyleah readied her bow and shot an arrow into the skeleton torso. The skeleton staggered which gave an opening for Lura to cut it down. But once the skeleton fell to the floor, three more appeared through an opening in the cave. I began to channel mana through my body and charged towards the skeletons. Each of them held brittle iron swords which were worn out. Their blades were rusted but I could tell one blow from them could wound me. I raised my sword and swung downwards. The skeleton blocked my attack and countered. Its movements were well-timed but slow. I dodged left and slashed through the skeleton's torso, ripping it in two. I turned to face my friends. Lura was occupied with the skeleton but Nyleah and Nazeem had beaten the third one with magic. I ran over to help Lura but before I could do anything, she chopped the skeleton's head off. Lura readied herself once more, "Don't let your guard down, we gotta keep going!" The four of us began running deeper into the dungeon.
I ran in front of Lura, taking a sharp left turn. An aura hit my body, making me hesitate slightly. As I turned the corner, my eyes met with a giant humanoid. Its body was covered in silver armor. At first I suspected it was another adventurer but realized quickly that whatever it was, wasn't human. That thing was almost 8 feet tall and had glowing red eyes emanating from inside its helmet. From behind me I heard Lura yell, "Watch yourself, That's an undead knight! They fight in the North Sword style and are highly skilled in comparison to the skeletons." I readied my sword. But before I could swing, the undead knight lunged his sword in my direction. I was barely able to parry the attack, and my balance had shifted too far to the right. I tried to regain my balance but the knight reset his stance and took another swing at me. Before I could react, Lura blocked his attack and countered with a swing to its breastplate. The knight was able to step back and dodge most of Lura's attack. I regained my footing and lunged at the knight, with Lura to my left doing the same. The knight raised its sword and swung down at me. I raised my sword above my head and redirected the knight's swing to hit the ground. Lura used a Veteran tier sword skill and cut the knight's leg off. It fell to the ground, holding itself up by its arms. I pulled my sword to my waist and slashed its head off. Lura walked over its corpse and pointed behind me, "Nazeem and Nyleah need our help." I turned around and found the two of them fending off skeletons. Lura ran over with me following shortly behind her. There were five skeletons in total. Each of them wore light leather armor and iron shortswords. Their equipment had improved from the ones we'd encountered earlier in the dungeon. I guess things are going to get harder as we progress. The four of us took down each skeleton with ease. I was getting warmed up. Lura and I were acclimating easily to the dangerous situation but Nazeem and Nyleah were having a harder time trying to adjust. Nazeem was shaking and Nyleah was stiff from fear. I was about to speak up but Lura spoke over me, "Nazeem, Nyleah… don't worry. I know this is probably a bit scary since your lives are in danger, but you have nothing to worry about. This dungeon shouldn't be too hard for us." Lura gave them a big smile. Nazeem smiled back awkwardly, and Nyleah rubbed her shoulders, casting her gaze onto the cave's bone-covered ground.
Lura continued to walk deeper into the cave, with me by her side. Nyleah and Nazeem were following behind us. Their role was to give us support and take out the lesser mobs while Lura and I focused on the toughest enemies. For a few hours, the dungeon's mobs weren't very difficult. We hacked our way through small hordes of skeletons and would occasionally run into an undead knight. But once we had made it roughly 3 hours into the dungeon, the caveway cut off, leaving a massive hole the only way to go deeper into the dungeon. Lura peered down the hole and sighed, "Phew. Alright let's take a break and prepare." The four of us sat down. My arms were tired and my feet felt a bit worn out. Everyone was tired, but we knew the dungeon wasn't over yet. "Hey Lura, how far in do ya think we are?" She put a finger to her lip, "Well, if I had to guess. Then this hole right here will lead us to the mini boss. But since this is a cave dungeon, we're probably like 80 percent done." Wow, already 80%? That went by kinda fast. Lura frowned, "However, the rest of the dungeon is going to get a lot harder. After this mini boss I bet each mob will get more powerful. So don't get yourself injured… or else." Her gaze scared me. I knew that this excursion meant a lot for her pride, and if I ruined this for her my head would be at stake.
After a few minutes of rest, Lura grew agitated. She stood up, "Alright, you guys ready?" The three of us nodded and stood up as well. Lura took a deep breath in, and jumped down the hole. I followed behind her, with Nazeem and Nyleah dropping down after. The room we dropped down into was circular. Its walls were covered in blue crystals. I looked around and noticed an abundance of mana flowing through each crystal. I grew hesitant and asked Lura, "Uh, Lura? What's going on? I thought you said the mini boss was here." She snapped back at me, "Don't let your guard down! The boss is definitely in this room. It just hasn't shown itself yet." I continued looking around, but the only thing in the room were crystals, and a hallway which led out of the room. After a few more seconds of waiting, I sensed a malicious aura appear from the hallway. I turned to face it. My eyes were met with the gaze of a giant arachnid. It was a four legged spider, the size of a small house. Lura wasted no time in lunging at its legs. She swung at it, but the spider swatted her away with its leg. Lura blocked the spider's attack, but it sent her flying behind me. This thing is fast and strong. Let's try magic. I channeled mana into my hand and unleashed a large fireball. It hurled towards the spider, making direct contact and setting it ablaze. I knew this wasn't enough to kill it so I ran towards it with my sword readied. The spider dissipated my fire and unleashed a huge string of silk. I dodged right and swung my sword at its leg. The spider whipped itself forwards, kicking up a large dust cloud and knocking me on my back. I got up to find Nazeem also swinging at it. The spider evaded every attack and countered, but before Nazeem to a hit, Nyleah shot an arrow encased with mana which pierced the spider's leg. That triggered it to retreat backwards. I began another charge at the spider, looking to my right I noticed Lura charging a sword attack. She was going to use a veteran tier skill which I would most likely get caught up in, so I decided to hold off on my attack. Lura yelled, "Sweeping Clever!" And swung her sword sideways. A bolt of light shot outwards and cut off one of the spider's legs. Nyleah and Nazeem unleashed magic which staggered it, this allowed me to run in and channel my mana into its blade. I jumped upwards and plunged my sword into its skull, twisting my blade and killing it. The spider fell to the ground. I grabbed my sword and walked away from my corpse. I hadn't noticed it, but the crystals around the room began to glow. Lura's eyes widened and she stretched out her arm while yelling, "Kil, get back!" I sensed a huge aura pulse behind me. I shot my head back and saw a huge spider leg smack me with enough force to knock me out. I was sent flying across the room and hit the wall on the opposite side. My vision began to fade and I blacked out.
When I had awoken, we were in a different room. I felt a warmth by my left side. "Ooh what a nice sensation… mhm, am I in heaven?" I was still dazed. Nyleah's voice spoke back to me, "Uh… thanks for the compliment… I think." My eyes shot open and I turned to my left. I was laying on Nyleah's lap. My head went bright red and I shot back up. I turned to face Nyleah, her face was blushing. Oh shit… that was so creepy! "O-oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were acting as my pillow heh…heh." I laughed awkwardly. Lura and Nazeem were waiting a bit deeper into the hallway. Lura spoke up, "Are you done!? We got a dungeon to complete." I nodded and walked over to them, with Nyleah by my side. We continued walking for a bit and I chose to strike up a conversation with Nyleah, "Hey… can I ask what happened after I lost consciousness?" "O-oh right. Well after you killed the spider, all the mana which was collected in the crystals channeled into the spider's corpse and unleashed one final attack. After it knocked you out, the spider began to glow and Lura yelled, it's about to blow, so I grabbed you and ran out of the room before it exploded." Damn that makes sense. I should've realized that the crystals had something to do with the boss. I let my guard down for only a moment, and still I paid the price. I feel fine now, but if things went even a little bit different, I might be dead right now. This just goes to show how dangerous dungeons can be. "Geez, sounds like I messed up heh… I won't make the same mistake again though." Nyleah giggled, "Don't worry about it." Ohh my god… she's making me blush! I can't say things can get any better than this. I'm clearing a dungeon with my friends and a really cute girl. My daydreaming came to an end when I heard another clang ring through the cave. Lura was facing off against another undead knight, but this time there were two of them. She was clashing with one but the second was preparing an attack to her side. Nazeem launched wind magic which made the knight stumble. I rushed in, channeling mana into my sword. Nyleah's magic arrow whizzed past my head and pierced the knight's breastplate, making a small explosion on impact. I chopped the knight's sword arm off and turned back to face Lura. She was holding her own for now, so all I gotta do is take care of this one. But before I could unleash the killing blow, a third knight jumped out of the shadows and swung its sword my way. I was caught off-guard but barely managed to block it. My footing was off but I kept my balance. Nyleah and Nazeem shot magic at the third knight which sent it flying into the cave's wall. By then, the second knight threw a punch at my shoulder. Its fist landed perfectly onto my skin and pushed me to the ground. The knight raised its leg and began stomping on my stomach. I pushed myself across the ground, dodging its attacks. The knight took a step back and grabbed its sword with its left hand. That gave me enough time to stand back up and prepare another attack. But before I could charge in, Lura's voice echoed through the cave, "There's another!" I turned to face her. She was right, a fourth knight was clashing with Lura. She had taken out the previous one but I could tell her stamina was running out. If I don't finish things off fast, we could be in serious trouble. Nazeem's voice responded, "Lura get back! Fireball!" He had a giant fireball at the ready, which was sent hurling towards the knight, engulfing it in flames. Nyleah had taken out their knight, which only left mine. I parried the knight's attacks and countered, slicing its breastplate clean in half. It staggered back as I continued my barrage of swings. It took no time at all until the knight's corpse fell to the ground. I wiped off my sword and the four of us continued through the dungeon. We encountered more undead knights but they weren't much of a problem for us. We made it another half an hour before Lura stopped us all, "Alright we're here. The boss room should be right up ahead. Take a few minutes and rest." Wow… I don't know why, but this dungeon didn't feel very long. Maybe that was just because it was Advanced tier or maybe it was because I'm just super strong. No, now isn't the time to toot my own horn. We've gotta prepare for the boss battle. I looked over at Nyleah, "H-hey… how're you doing? You're not hurt are you?" Nyleah smiled and shook her head, "No I'm doing just fine. What about you though? You've been taking a bit of a beating." I made a triumphant smirk and declared, "Nothing these monsters can do could ever hurt me! I'm doing just fine, don't worry." Nyleah giggled and went back to cleaning her bow. I turned to face Nazeem, he was having a conversation with Lura. Now that I think about it, they've been talking a lot more recently. I guess that's good since Nazeem has a hard time making friends. I'll just focus on preparing for myself since everyone seems to be doing well.
After a few minutes, Lura stood up and unsheathed her sword, raising it in the air, "Ready yourselves! This will be the final battle of the dungeon, so don't let your guard down for even a second… Kiliano." Yeah I deserve that, heehee. We all stood up and readied our weapons. Lura charged through the hallway with me by her side. Once the hallway ended, we found ourselves in a giant room nearly twice the size of the mini boss'. Inch tall water covered the floor, and I could feel mana flowing within it. "Guys we should be wary of the water, I can sense mana flowing through it so my guess is it'll probably have something to do with the boss." Lura nodded her head. The two of us slowly walked further through the room, paying close attention to our surroundings. I felt no presence aside from the four of us, until a sudden flash of blue light raised from beneath us. The water had begun glowing a bright blue. Its mana was collecting right by our feet, "Lura, run!" The two of us bolted outside the mana's radius just in time for a giant vortex to form behind us. We managed to escape it, but that wasn't the real issue. I began to sense a large reserve of mana emerge from the point of singularity. A humanoid figure emerged from the water. It was a woman, who wore white cloth which wrapped around her torso and upper legs. Her entire body was radiating white mana. My eyes widened, "Watch yourselves, that's a Naiad! I've read about them in some books, they're not physically strong but their water magic is probably way beyond ours." Lura wasted no time and lunged, full speed towards the spirit. The Naiad raised an arm and a giant wave of water crashed into Lura, sending her into the wall. I doubt we're gonna reach her with our swords, so I sheathed it and decided to focus on magic. Nyleah began charging all her mana into a single arrow, while Nazeem and I began shooting fire magic towards the Naiad. It was easily able to counter our spells with the accumulated water surrounding the area. Lura got up and began another charge towards the Naiad. At that same moment, Nyleah launched her arrow which was sent flying past Lura and made direct contact with the spirit. Vraaaa! It made a loud screech and stammered to the ground. Lura raised her sword and swung downwards, piercing its skin and triggering blood to spew out from it. The Naiad dropped to the ground, limp as a corpse. Lura jumped back, as we continued to sense mana emanate from its corpse. My eyes widened. An arm shot out from the scar which Lura made. The Naiad had a third arm inside its body? No… a fourth shot out from it as well, as if another creature was trapped inside its corpse. The arms grabbed its body and ripped the spirit, opening its wound and revealing a contorted humanoid figure. The naiad was split in two, flopping back onto the ground, but out came another creature. It had fish-like features but stood on two legs, and had arms much like ours. Its head resembled a fish, with long sharp teeth. Its body was black and covered in blood. My body began to shake. What the hell is that? I've never seen or heard of anything like that in my life. The creature stood up, its body and limbs were skinny, but it stood almost 8 feet tall, similar to the undead knights we had fought earlier. I readied my sword, but a wave of fear hit me hard. I could tell this thing was dangerous. It was dripping blood and had a feral aura to it which made its next moves unpredictable. Lura was closer to it than anyone else, so she took it upon herself to make the first move. "Gale strike!" She swung her sword down, unleashing a slash of wind magic towards the new boss. It struck the monster at full force, sending it flying into the wall behind. Lura charged at it once more. She swung down, but the monster grabbed her sword with its bare hand. She froze out of fear. Realizing this, I charged in at full speed. Crap, am I going to make it in time!? The monster raised its other arm and swung down. A spurt of blood came from Lura's torso. I jumped above them and plunged my sword into the monster's shoulder. It didn't flinch, but instead grabbed my sword and shook me off. Now I didn't have a weapon, and Lura was injured. She tightened her grip and jumped backwards, freeing her sword from the monster's grasp. Nyleah shot an arrow at the monster, hitting its chest, but the arrow didn't pierce it. Instead, the arrow bounced off like it hit a huge steel wall. This thing isn't going down easily. It set its eyes on Nyleah, and lunged at her. Nazeem shoved her aside and took the force of the hit. Its head made contact with Nazeem's stomach and sent him flying into a wall. I turned back and ran at it. I channeled magic into my hand and unleashed a fireball. The monster noticed this, turning its eyes to face me. It lunged at my fireball and completely dissipated it. I heard Lura's voice behind me, "Physical attacks won't hurt it… not unless you can weaken its defenses first." Okay, so we just gotta hold off for long enough and that thing will eventually run out of stamina. The only problem was that I was the only close-ranger fighter since Lura was injured, but I didn't have my sword. Nyleah doesn't have the defensive capabilities to stand her own against this thing, and I'm unarmed. "We're at a severe disadvantage here! Nazeem, if you can, heal yourself and Lura! I'll be able to hold this thing off for a little while but not for long. Nyleah, I want you to cover me, got it!?" She nodded and readied her bow. I began channeling mana at maximum output. If I'm able to maximize my defenses, I should be able to take a few hits from this thing without much problem. The monster stood up with a slouched back. It ran at me swinging its arms. I dodged most of them but the water under my feet made my footwork slow, which led the monster to hit my side and sent me flying onto the ground. I stood up as fast as I could, but it was too late. The monster was already in front of me, getting ready to pound me into minced meat. But then I heard Nyleah's voice, "Mana Piercer!" She shot an arrow which penetrated the monster's back, sending a small puddle of blood spewing from it. The monster staggered which gave me enough time to get up and channel mana into my fist. I unleashed a punch full force at its stomach while simultaneously generating fire magic around my fist. The force was enough to send the monster flying back at least a few dozen feet. My fist was stinging and the skin on my knuckles was gone. I turned to face Nazeem, he was done healing himself and had already gotten started on Lura. I looked closer and noticed my sword in the corner of the boss room. "Nyleah cover me! I found my sword!" I ran towards the corner, but the monster had no intention of letting me go. It lunged at me at incredible speeds, but before it could reach me, Nyleah sent an arrow flying into its eye. Greeeeah! The monster fell to the ground screeching in pain. I made it to my sword and picked it up. The monster stood back up, holding its pierced eye. I lunged at it and swung my sword sideways, aiming at its torso. The monster jumped back, dodging my attack and countered with a kick to my stomach. I got sent flying ten, no twenty feet into the air. I lost all oxygen in my body and fell to the ground, gasping for breath. I looked up to find the monster running towards Nyleah. If I don't get up now, she could die. I tried to regain my strength but I couldn't breathe. That was when I saw Lura run past me. She lunged at the monster, with her sword enveloped in flames. She slashed the monster's back, forcing it to wince in pain, Screee! She continued her onslaught by beginning the chant, "Set ablaze my weapon and bring down my foe, Fireblast!" Her sword shot out a large burst of flames which encased the boss. Nazeem grabbed my arm and helped me up, "Get ready Kil, this ain't over." I chuckled, "Well shit, I don't know how much more I have in me." I looked at Nazeem's face. He had sweat running down his cheeks and he was gasping for breath. I tapped Nazeem on the shoulder, "I'm all good." He let go of me. The four of us had surrounded the boss, which was still engulfed in flames. I looked closer, and a red light shined through the fire and shot into Nazeem's chest. Time slowed down, I turned my eyes to see Nazeem coughing up blood as his body shot backwards. I didn't have time to react before I felt a warm pain shoot through my leg. I fell to one knee, with my right leg losing blood. "With this offering allow my wounds to heal!" I used an advanced tier healing spell to try and close up my wound. Lura and Nyleah continued their battle. With loud clangs running through the boss' arena. My vision was fading but I could tell the two of them weren't winning. The monster smacked Lura across the room and charged at Nyleah. It raised its arm in preparation for an attack. If that hits Nyleah, it could be fatal! I shot up and focused all the mana in my body to channel into my legs, with that power, I launched towards the monster at faster speeds than I thought possible. My blade connected with the monster's arm in less than a second, chopping it clean off. I was still in the air, but landed in the wall beside Nyleah. With the remaining leverage, I launched myself off the wall and swung my sword across the monster's torso, with a trail of spewing blood following behind my blade. Greeah! The monster shrieked and jumped back. I turned to face Nyleah, "Are you alright!? You're not hurt are you?" She shook her head, and I brought my attention back towards the boss. It was losing large amounts of blood, but I could tell it wouldn't die from them. My senses are on an all-time high, I've gotta take advantage of this! I lunged towards the monster, it swung at me with its left arm but I dodged right. Aiming at its exposed side, I plunged my sword into its ribs and twisted my blade before pulling it out and jumping above its head. The monster swatted at my previous location, but I was already in the air preparing another attack. I channeled more mana into my blade and twisted my body, getting ready to swing at its neck. I released all the power I had left and my blade made contact with the back of the monster's neck. My blade cut clean through, sending its head falling downwards and onto the ground. My body went numb and I didn't have enough strength left to catch my fall. I landed onto the ground with a thud, losing consciousness.
My vision was still black but I had regained consciousness. "Uh… guys? I'm not dead right?" Lura scoffed, "Don't be stupid, why would you think that!?" "W-well… I can't see anything." Lura scoffed again, "Open your eyes idiot!" Oh… I opened my eyes and light flooded into my vision. I was laying down again. Oooh, this sensation is familiar. Is this Nyleah's lap? I turned to my left and saw Nyleah smiling with tears in her eyes, "Oh good, I was worried for a second there." She was worried about me? I can't lie, that makes me feel pretty good heheh. "Get up will ya!" Lura said, with a disgusted sound in her voice. I sat up and took a look around. We were back outside. The giant rock was nowhere to be seen but I'm sure this was the exact same place we were before. "O-oh right! How's Nazeem, where is he?" Nyleah spoke up, "Don't worry. He's doing fine." "Oh, o-okay. But where is he?" Lura laughed, "Haha, he's someone taking a dump. Right after we left the dungeon he said uh oh, I got a major case of diarrhea, and ran off behind some rocks." Yikes! Diarrhea? I don't think we brought anything to wipe his ass with. I guess he'll have to do with water, womp womp. I stood up and began stretching. My head was a bit fuzzy and my muscles were sore, but for the most part I was completely fine. We had completed our first dungeon, and nobody suffered any major injuries. "W-wait a minute. How did Nazeem heal? I saw him get hit through his chest, he was coughing up a lot of blood, wasn't he?" "Teehee…" Nyleah seemed to be overjoyed, "...Well I'm able to use Saint tier healing spells, so his wound was treatable with a bit of effort." "W-wow. You can use Saint tier healing spells? That's really impressive Nyleah, I gotta say, I don't think even my master was able to use healing spells that advanced." Lura seemed confused, "Wait a minute, Kaiser can use Lord tier healing spells." "Oh sorry, I meant my first master. He was my first formal teacher of magic. He was a Lord tier mage named Fuijin. He taught me and Nazeem magic until we were separated after our village burned to the ground. I haven't seen or heard of him since." Nyleah stood up, "Oh wow I didn't know you had a different master other than Kaiser." Before I could answer Nazeem walked out from a patch of rocks, "Hey Kil, seems you're doing fine." I smiled, "Yeah I'm doing good. What about you, is your butt okay from all that diarrhea? Hahaha!" Nazeem sighed and put his head down. The four of us packed our things and began walking back to the city. By the time we made it out of the dungeon, it was beginning to get dark outside. I don't think father or mother are going to get mad if we make it back to the hotel after dark, but I'm more concerned about master Kaiser. I doubt he'll be too happy that we skipped training practice today, but I don't think his anger will stay once he hears about our triumphant victory in the dungeon.
We continued walking for a few minutes before I began to smell a toxic aroma. It reminded me of something, and instilled anxiety into me. I turned to face Nazeem, he was staring up ahead. His eyes were wide, his mouth was open and his overall expression was one of distraught and despair. I turned my head to see what he was looking at. It was the capital, completely covered in flames.
The aroma I smelled was smoke! Lura ran towards the city at full speed, Nyleah followed behind her. Nazeem and I were too scared to move. I knew the dangers of these flames. And I also knew that there was no hope for recovery. The size of these flames were too much for any amount of water.
Lura and Nyleah ran through the city gates and made their way towards the palace. Sounds of metal clanging covered the streets. Guards fought with soldiers, magic was being thrown around, and dead bodies littered the ground. It was an assault against Zuri'el. Lura and Nyleah were able to recognize the soldiers' outfits. These were soldiers from Thyndhime. I guess king Piule not only went against his word, but completely betrayed the trust that king Julius had given him. The two girls made it to the palace courtyard, but it was a battlefield. They snuck around the battle and made it inside the palace. Its interior wasn't in flames but things were in complete chaos. Zuri'el royal guards were fending off Thyndhime soldiers, while Kaiser was clashing blades with another swordsman, who's abilities were obviously formidable. Suddenly a man noticed the two girls, and ran to their aid. It was Gregori. He had no wounds, but his blade was stained with blood. "Are you girls safe!? We gotta get y'all out of here now!" He sheathed his blade and grabbed their hands, leading them towards the palace exit. "I'm gonna have to protect you two, so stay by me and don't stray far!" He opened the palace doors and unsheathed his blade, preparing for battle. Multiple Thyndhime soldiers charged towards them. Gregori readied his blade and unleashed a sword skill so clean it hit all the soldiers, killing them immediately. He continued running towards the city's main gate, cutting down any Thyndhime soldiers who got in his way. They turned a corner and the main gate was within sight, only a few hundred meters away. But before they could reach it, Clang! Gregori was clashing with another swordsman. The swordsman wore a red scarf and white robes. He was obviously a high ranking fighter. Gregori yelled out to the two girls, "Get out of here now! I'll hold this one off! Your safety is of top priority, got it!?" Lura nodded, and continued running towards the gate. It was now a clean shot to the exit. Lura and Nyleah narrowly escaped the capital and continued running until they met back up with Kiliano and Nazeem.