Ten seconds had come and gone.
"She only said a few seconds. Let's get in there." Ryker stepped into the Dungeon Gate without an ounce of hesitation.
Traversing this gate, Ryker felt, was unlike the cosmic void of an expanse his first solo trip took him. The dimensional rift to the Earth was highly unstable, yet feigned a mysterious connection that reflected back his planet like a dirty, fisheye lens.
Reality—not his—soon came into focus all around him as his surroundings were replaced by the interior of a gloomy cave. Instinctively, Ryker turned around to give one last glance back to home before the gate sealed behind him. A pang of uncertainty hit him, although he was unsure of why.
Reality tore in three separate places around Ryker, the dimensional fabric splitting for just a moment to spit out a confused Yuri, Logan, and Lauren.
"W-wait, this isn't right!" Logan stammered, running past Ryker to press his hands against the Lens' frame reflecting their home. "Where's the exit gate?! There's supposed to be one before the boss room!"
"Calm down." Ryker's voice was low, brow furrowing with clear frustration. "We have Hera. We'll be okay."
Yuri and Lauren exchanged concerned looks amongst themselves but ultimately agreed, nodding confidently. Ryker's concern grew as he took in the cave's stillness, eyes narrowing.
That's odd. I remember now, only Advanced class or higher dungeons can close early. I've got a bad feeling…
Logan's mumbling soon cut through the silence, his worry leaving Yuri and Lauren uncertain. Ryker sighed, approaching the distraught man from behind. In spite of stopping just behind him, Logan didn't acknowledge his presence. He was too lost in his panic.
He's not prepared for this, so I don't blame him. Still, everybody's gonna need to keep their head on straight for what happens next.
"Logan." Ryker beckoned, clasping a firm hand on the trembling man's shoulder. Logan nearly folded at Ryker's contact, but quickly stowed his terror to glance back at Ryker with an expression of layered fear.
"H-huh?" Logan managed, trying his best to sound composed.
"Keep point at the entrance here. Me and Yuri will split and look for Hera."
For a brief second, Logan's expression was unreadable, but Ryker's words seemingly abated the terror he was masking.
"You want to split up? Don't you think that's a bad idea right now? We'd be safer if we stuck together, don't you think?"
"Logan's right," Lauren added, stepping forward. "Save for you, Ryker, we're all pretty similar in levels."
Yuri, visibly annoyed, cut a glare at Lauren before searching Ryker's face for similar emotion. Her expression softened when she noticed he didn't even flinch. "Moving as a group would be the safest bet."
Undeterred, Ryker held up his fist.
"I'm also the fastest. Whatever the level of the enemies may be on this floor alone, it would still take me less time than all of you to clear them with my Intervention never deactivating."
Lauren appeared hesitant at first and was about to interject when Ryker opened his fist to a dismissive palm at her. "Besides, you're not about to like what I'm about to say next. Although, it's just a theory of mine."
The three of them nodded.
"This isn't a beginner-friendly dungeon," Ryker said, gesturing to the lens behind Logan. "You were right when you said the gate shouldn't have closed behind us. This only happens in Advanced-rank or higher gates."
The realization hit the group in waves, stunned looks quickly mulling over into abject terror.
"I'm sorry to say this, but it looks like we've been duped into stepping into a military-grade dungeon. RUMCA wouldn't just send us to the grinder, so there's some foul play going on."
He continued, trying his best to ignore Lauren's growing terror.
"In all honesty, I think you're all just necessary sacrifices to them. This is obviously meant to kill me. Or Hera," Ryker added, turning his gaze to the vast, dark cave network before them.
"Why Hera?" Logan asked. "She got valedictorian last year and came out first place in her preliminaries. She's perfect for this college."
"She's technically a princess," Yuri interjected, crossing her arms. "Her father is next in line to take over Ranfield's high court when her uncle dies. Which—he doesn't have much time left."
"What? No way—" Logan started.
"More on that later. We're not alone." Yuri clasped her hands together. "Miralune!"
Her mana materialized in the form of water streams that coiled around her hands like snakes.
"Aerysin..." Ryker whispered, his mana bursting with emerald aura.
"Pyronix—" Logan chanted with practiced precision despite his blatant anxiety.
Lauren refrained from summoning her mana stores, instead stepping between Ryker and Yuri.
"Where am I needed?" she asked, pressing a palm against Yuri's back, her mana empowering Yuri.
"Nowhere." Ryker said, placing a finger over his lips. "Listen..."
The distant tapping of dripping water echoed throughout the cave. Ryker's ears couldn't help but focus exclusively on that. He licked his lips, feeling for moisture.
Bone dry.
"Logan. Fire a plasma bolt straight ahead," he asked, raising his hand to follow up.
Logan nodded, raised his hands forward, and chanted—
"Cinder Lance!"
A ball of flame formed between his palms that rapidly stretched out into a long spear of orange flames. It exploded from his hands, lasering down the hall at barely fathomable speeds.
As it did, the walls were littered with a reflective blood red. Eyes—slit at the pupils—a dozen pairs of them.
"Cleave!" Ryker shouted, a blade of wind taller than Yuri rocketing from his fingertips.
Logan and Lauren both froze at the sight.
"Take left, Yuri. Split it down the middle with Frost Veil!" Ryker shouted, casting two more Cleave spells as he advanced.
All of his spells hit true, gashing deep into the figures now covered again with darkness. Three pained howls erupted from somewhere close to them in the advanced darkness ahead. Ryker hadn't noticed until now, but it seemed less like a lack of light and more like the consumption of it.
Yuri's Frost Veil came out, forging a brittle but long wall of ice that reached the ceiling. Trusting Ryker's every command, she leapt left, placing herself squarely in the path of the concealed enemies.
"Bane Hounds! They can see in the dark!" Lauren shouted, drawing a dagger from her heel. "They're wind types—this is all you, Ryker!"
Ryker didn't hesitate. "Logan! Cast another Cinder Lance down Yuri's lane!"
While Logan did just that, Ryker charged into the darkness, every stride ripping chunks out of the dense earth beneath him. The thin ice caught the light from Logan's spell, reflecting it clearly onto the eyes of Ryker's targets.
He leapt to the ceiling, jamming his foot into the rock right as one charged him. He could only see their eyes, and that was plenty.
"Tervor—Spike Wall!"
The ceiling at his feet caved inward, then erupted with thin spikes of compressed cave wall. The Bane Hound beneath him yelped as it was pierced with a dozen sharp protrusions, stapling it to the floor.
Ryker kicked off, splattering its skull matter across the wall upon landing.
"They're all my rank. This'll be easy." He smirked, letting the ensuing battle on the other side of the wall illuminate his enemies. "Lauren! Shadow me! Collect these cores." Ryker barked, raising his hand forward. "Cleave!"
Another spell ripped through the cave, hitting a charging Hound.
Nine on my side. Four on theirs. Yuri's got this in the bag, he thought, chanting another Cleave spell.
Right as Lauren peeked around his end, Ryker crouched down, digging his feet into the dense rocks.
"Woah..." she murmured.
His eyes went wide, flashing a purple glow an instant before he kicked off. The sheer kinetic energy shook the entire cave, rocking Lauren and Logan. He burst through the wall of Hounds, his legs kicking through them like a wrecking ball.
One after the other fell as Ryker's shins ripped them in half. The last one managed to bite his leg the moment he landed.
"That's it?" He laughed, lifting his leg with the Hound still attached. He hopped into a backflip, slamming the demonic dog onto the cave floor, instantly splattering it into a red puddle.
Ryker turned back, catching the last remains of Yuri's ice wall. She emerged, covered in Hound blood.
"That's not your blood, right?" Ryker asked. He tore his sleeve off to wipe her face.
"No. These things could never." She leaned into his hand.
Logan and Lauren stood there, absolutely shocked.
"Ryker!" Lauren shouted, half amazed and equally terrified.
"What?" He tossed the bloodied sleeve aside.
"How the hell did you just do that?! That was insane!" She ran up to him, a little too close for Yuri's comfort. "I've never seen anybody fight without magic like that!"
"He clearly used magic, bimbo. Back up," Yuri commanded, nudging Lauren back with a finger to her forehead.
"No, he didn't. At least not when he kicked them! Wind magic can't do that—I'm pretty sure only Tervor magic can. How'd you do that?" Any lingering fear had left her, replaced by awe.
"Uhm...I just... kicked them really hard? I don't understand why this is so special," he said, genuinely confused.
Logan, being the buzzkill he tended to be, finally joined them with a pocket full of small, corified hearts.
"I hate to interrupt you, but half of the cores disappeared." He pulled the contents of his pockets out. "I only count six, and we definitely fought thirteen."
"Lauren," Ryker started.
"I know you asked me to. I'm sorry...I was just so shocked by that power. Physical power like that is unheard of at our level," she said, averting her gaze and playing with her sleeves.
"It's probably got something to do with my Helios genetics. We are, after all, descendants of angels," he said with a smile.
"Ryker, Eiría mou." Yuri tugged at his hand.
"I know. Hera, now. Let's get going," Ryker said, starting down the hallway. "We're not going into the boss room without her, no matter what."
Logan and Lauren followed with a newfound sense of security, knowing this freak of nature was on their side. Logan lit up a fireball spell in his hand and met Ryker at the front of the group, illuminating the path ahead a short distance.