"Alright, let's go." As the four Essen-Users, prepared to raid the dungeon, two individuals stepped up to them..
"Not so fast." The two individuals — tall, muscular men clothed with an iron armoured vest, brown pants and boots with a set of shield and swords in their hands, approached them with a slight grin.
"Who are you?" Aiden wasted no time interrogating them, they thought just because they were kids they could bully them into acquiring the rights to raid the dungeon.
"Settle down kid." The site manager walked up to them with a cigarette in his mouth. "I called in a favor and asked them to tag along with you four. This is Ryka and Zeke, despite their bulky appearance, they are both experienced C-rank Essen-Mages."
"We appreciate your help sir, but we don't need them, moreover why are you helping us, it's just a D-rank dungeon and asides Kazuki, we are all C-rank and above?" Mira asked, politely turning down the site manager's help.
The manager sighed.
"Listen kid, the more you venture into this, the more you'll discover that it's not everything the Essen-Mage's association will inform you about. I'm also a member of the Essen-Mage's association, dungeons are highly unpredictable, trust me, for this kind of dungeon, you'll be needing these two."
The four Essen-Users exchanged glances with each other, and after a moment of consideration, they agreed.
"Fine, but we will decide how to split the reward money."
The two Essen-Mages nodded in agreement, after all this was merely a favour they were doing.
"Alright, good luck boys." When the manager spoke his final word, they stepped through the gate, and with a single, harmonious whoosh, they were gone.
As they emerged from the other side of the gate, their eyes met with the interior of the D-rank dungeon.
It was a dark, damp cave with water dripping from the ceiling, and the rocky walls rough and cold to the touch. Dim blue moss gave off a soft glow, just enough to see the path ahead, and the air smelled old and musty, with a hint of something rotten.
Bones lay scattered on the ground, and strange sounds echoed in the distance, making it feel like the cave was alive.
"Alright listen up." Zeke began, keeping his voice down to the lowest possible volume while remaining audible as they ventured deep into the dungeon.
"I assume you know the only way to clear a dungeon is to defeat the dungeon's boss, after we accomplish that, we'll have a minimum of thirty minutes to gather enough essence stones."
"Just like the manager said, dungeons are unpredictable, so regardless of your ranks, do exercise caution." Ryka chimed in as they prepared a plan of action.
Kazuki's eyes trailed across the cave, he could feel it, the animosity within the walls, a bone chilling aura that left him shaking in his boots. All he had was a basic knife and his enhanced physical abilities, but it remained to be seen just how far it would get him.
"Man, you're practically shaking." Aiden chuckled softly, Kazuki didn't realize it yet, but he was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"Seriously?" Even his voice was shaken up.
Being naturally weaker than his three friends, the aura the dungeon gave off sent chills down his spine, the level of essence he had was far below the recommended level that would have protected him from the dungeon's malicious aura.
"Damn it, it's my first time so I'm still trying to get used to -"
"Watch out! Kazuki!"
Before he could turn, a jagged blade plunged into the back of his shoulder with a sickening crunch. Pain exploded through his body as a small and green beast hissed in triumph, its sharp teeth bared in a wicked grin.
"GAHHHHH!" The stab forced Kazuki to his knees, breath catching as warm blood soaked his shirt.
Zeke plunged forward, unsheathing his sword and drove into through the chest of the green beast, he pinned it to the ground before relentlessly smashing it's head to little chunks.
"Kazuki!" Mira and Kael rushed towards his side.
"There are here! Don't let your guard down!" Ryka cried out, unsheathing his sword as the dungeon raid had officially begun.
From the shadows, several pairs of glowing red eyes emerged, all with devious grins that easily foretold their desire for their blood.
"What the hell are those things!?" Kael shouted at the top of his voice as he forced the rusty knife out of Kazuki's back.
"Cave goblins, typical F-Rank beasts." As Zeke replied, a horde of goblins rushed them at once from every corner, in total, they were about fifty in number.
"How dare you." Zeke's eyes widened momentarily as the temperature flared behind him, he turned around immediately, only to find an absurd amount of flames engulfing Aiden's right fist.
"Hurt my friend!" With a powerful leap, Aiden lunged forward, his fists blazing with fire. He struck the lead goblin head-on, and the moment his fiery blow landed, a burst of flames exploded outward. The dispersion swept through the horde, instantly burning every goblin in its path to ash.
"Damn kid!" Ryka brought two fingers to his lips and let out a sharp, clear whistle that echoed through the cave. He couldn't imagine getting caught in such an attack and escaping unscathed.
"Alright, it's our turn." The two Essen-Mages clutched the hilt of the swords tightly and in a single motion, they vanished, leaving behind a cloud of dust in their wake.
"Twin Blade Slice!"
Almost immediately, all the goblins in sight dropped to the ground, their heads rolled slowly off their shoulders, and their limbs dropped to the ground in a matter of seconds as the Essen-Mages appeared right behind Kazuki.
"A-awesome.." Kael muttered as Zeke immediately attended to Kazuki injuries.
"Hey kid!" Ryka called out to Aiden with a satisfactory smile curled up the side of his lips, unable to contain his excitement. "What was that technique just now!?"
"I don't know, I just cooked it up on the spot." Aiden stared as his fists, puzzled at the extent of flame energy he could utilize, it was more than he hoped for.
"I see you still have a lot to learn about your powers, I'd be more than happy to take you under my wing! What do you call that technique?"
"The technique? I don't know, maybe I'll call it Flame Essence: Infernal Fist."
Ryka's smile extended all the way to the other side of his lips, he could feel it, every inch of him bursting with excitement. "I like this kid."
"There are three rules when raiding a dungeon." Zeke began after he was done applying the bandages to Kazuki's back.
"The first rule is the relationship between the beasts and the Essen-Mages, once you enter into a dungeon, that relationship takes effect immediately, that relationship is referred to as hunt. Either the beast or the Essen-Mage becomes the hunter or the hunted."
"What's the second rule?" Mira asked.
"The second rule." Zeke turned his sights to Kazuki who still writhed in pain from the stab. "If you call yourself the hunter, then you must be prepared to be hunted as well. In a dungeon anything can happen, tough calls can be made, If you can't do much as defend yourself from a mere F-Rank beast, then I suggest you leave now."
In Kazuki's eyes, he was too scared to go on, he realized it in that split second, the moment he couldn't sense the goblin, that this dungeon was way beyond him.
"No.." Despite the odds stacked against him, he rose to his feet knowing what's at stake, clutching the dagger given to him in his other hand. "I can still fight."
The determination in his eyes said it all, he was willing to risk it, even if it meant death.
"Tch, whatever kid, don't come crying to me when you're dead. Let's go, that fireworks the flame user set off should have alerted the boss."
They pressed on, moving deeper into the cave. The eerie sounds grew louder with each step—the growls turning to roars, echoing off the stone walls. Then, at last, they stood before a massive gate, its surface worn and ancient, pulsing with a dark, heavy energy.
"W-what is this..." Kael stammered, the energy the gates gave off were beyond imaginable, it was indescribable.
"Judging from it's appearance, I'd say it's an ancient tomb. We are here, the boss's lair."
"What's that?" Aiden pointed toward a small statue shaped like a virgin figure. In its hands rested a stone tablet, covered in strange inscriptions carved deep into its surface.
The three Essen-Users glanced at the tablet for a moment, but none of them could make out what it said.
"Runic inscriptions, there's no point pestering about what it-"
"Beware the clause of life, for it's bind is everlasting."
All eyes turned to Kazuki as he translated the inscriptions on the tablet.
"Huh!?" They were all confused, all baffled that he was even able to translate it.
"You can read that language Kazuki!?"
"No, not exactly, I only understood the first line because it has some elements of greek, other than that I don't know what the rest says."
"Beware the clause of life... What's that supposed to mean." Kael muttered, pondering hard on what the translations meant.
A loud roar came from behind them in the distance, disrupting their thoughts.
"We have to move now." Wasting no time, they gathered their combined physically enhanced strength and pushed the heavy door open with a deep, grinding groan.
As the gates creaked open, their eyes widened in surprise—the sight before them was nothing like they had expected.
The interior of the tomb was vast and silent, its walls lined with towering statues of magical beasts and creatures unknown, frozen in fierce, lifelike poses.
Their eyes seemed to follow every movement, casting long, eerie shadows across the stone floor. At the center of the chamber stood an ancient altar, and resting atop it was a glowing stone, pulsing softly with a light that filled the room with an otherworldly glow.
"U-unbelivable..." The four Essen-Users muttered in sync, it was an otherworldly sight to behold.
"What is this place..."
"More importantly, what's that?"
All eyes were focused at the stone that rested in the center of the room, it was unlike any other ever seen. The energy that pulsed from it, was even more powerful than that of the Talent Awakening Orb.
The power behind the stone was consuming, sparkling to life, almost as if it was alive within.
"Hm?" As they all approached the altar, Kazuki discovered another tablet mounted just at the base of the altar.
Unlike the other tablet, the inscriptions on this one was written in English and it read [Balance through exchange, harmony through sacrifice.]
"With that essence stone... Imagine the reward we'd be able to get." Consumed by it's raw power, Mira ran towards the stone and without thinking twice, grabbed it off the altar.
"Wait! Mira!"