They were locked in place, unable to move.
==========
Ready to teleport
==========
A flash of light and Taeman city disappeared. The mid-morning turned into late afternoon as the grand city was replaced with the simple Chonglu city.
Erik and Rugrat pulled on cloaks. Delilah followed their actions and they headed into the city. A roving patrol made to stop them but Erik held up a medallion from Lord Chonglu and continued on their way.
“Pretty useful, that,” Rugrat said as they headed out of the closest gate as the last farmers and traders were making it into the city.
“All right, hold on.” Erik bent down and beckoned Delilah to get on his back.
“Teacher,” Delilah said.
“You’ll be too slow otherwise and he’s got more strength, even if he is a short bastard,” Rugrat said.
Delilah reluctantly got on Erik’s back.
Erik and Rugrat took off at a run with the setting of the sun. Their speed was impressive as two moons started to illuminate the ground below.
Two shadows flashed along the ground, unseen by others. Beasts that felt their auras bowed down and stayed out of the way.
***
Storbon and his people only slowed at night. The distance from Chonglu to Alva Dungeon wasn’t something that could be crossed in a day.
It was late afternoon of the second day when four archers stepped out of the trees.
“Looks like you’ve grown.” The leader of the archers pulled back his hood.
From around the group, others stepped out of the forest.
“Sergeant Choi.” Storbon pulled back his hood with a wide smile.
The others pulled back their hoods.
They weren’t wearing the same uniform, but they all came from the same place.
Just seeing their smiling faces, for the first time in a long time, Storbon and the others all relaxed their guard as they greeted the others that they had grown up around and trained with.
“Welcome back.” Choi shook Storbon’s hand.
“It’s good to be back.” Storbon smiled, then he lowered his voice. “Erik and Rugrat?”
Choi shook his head, his smile dimming a bit.
“They’ll be back. I’m sure of it,” Storbon said.
Choi nodded and started to walk in the direction of Alva Dungeon. “So what level are you now?” Choi said, changing the subject.
“Ian, Yuli, Setsuko, and I are nearly nineteen. Yao Meng and Tian Cui are mid-eighteen,” Storbon said. Asking someone’s levels in higher realms was a huge taboo and a quick way to offend. For the people of Alva Dungeon, it was nothing big.
“You beat out Blaze and Glosil—they’re going to be upset.” Choi laughed.
“How has the dungeon been?” Storbon asked.
“We had some trouble, but we took care of it. We’ve got people stationed in most of the larger trading outposts where we can sell our different products slowly and get resources. The dungeon hasn’t had much more building happen because of power concerns, but people have been able to increase their skills a lot. We’ve got a lot of Apprentices and a few have reached Journeyman. Though they need more information and teaching to become Journeyman level in their skills. There are people heading out to the first and some are debating heading to the Second Realm in search of information.” Choi shrugged.
Storbon nodded. “Well, we’ve got a bunch of books so hopefully that can help. Got some forging designs as well. We tried to go for scalable ones.”
Scalable forging designs could be used with multiple different resources. The item’s ability and strength relied more on the crafter instead of the forging design. It allowed greater tinkering but as they could be stronger, there was a greater chance the items made wouldn’t be as strong as a specially made forging blueprint.
“You’re going to be a popular sight for the academy eggheads.” Choi clapped him on the back.
“What about the formations and getting to the lower levels of the dungeon?” Storbon asked.
“The formation students have been looking into them, and they’ve had some success, but they’re not at the stage where they can put together all of the formations. Though we can teleport to the other levels, it’s not worth going down there when we don’t have a high chance of being able to do anything—wasted effort,” Choi said.
“And high power usage,” Storbon said.
“Yeah, but we’ve made some progress. The alchemists and the farmers got together and started to make Alchemy gardens that have a symbiotic relationship.” Choi could see Storbon’s confused look and continued on.
“The plants are arranged so that they create a good environment for one another and allow them to grow faster. Included there are a number of plants that are sources of Mana. People have taken to growing these in their gardens and around the dungeon in every open and unused plot of dirt they can find to try to increase the Mana density of the dungeon. Also, there is a plan in place to use small Mana gathering formations in sequence to draw Mana from outside of the dungeon in small amounts and direct it inward. Also to be used to reinforce the different defensive posts so that mages stand on a formation and they increase their Mana Regeneration so they can cast larger spells quicker.”
“Looks like your gains haven’t been small,” Storbon said.
“Wait till you see Roska’s team. They’ve been hustling their asses to learn as much from the academy, the beast stables, and the barrack’s training grounds,” Choi said, not without a little bit of pride.
Storbon smiled, pleased that everyone was getting stronger and feeling reassured that everyone was safe.
***
Roska heard the reports with everyone else: Special Team One had returned from the Second Realm.
She stood in front of a mirror, looking at her battle dress, making sure everything was properly hooked together.
She wore plate armor with leather bindings across her body. She looked more of a veteran soldier from Earth as her armor had been styled off the body armor that Rugrat had given Taran.
She wore a thin style helmet as well. On her fingers, she wore a number of rings and a talisman hung from her neck underneath her armor.
On her chest, there was a sheathed blade; on her hip, a scaled-down crossbow loaded with an enchanted arrow.
The entire suit of armor was made as one, creating a set that separately were Apprentice-level items. Together, they could rival a Journeyman set of armor.
It had cost her most of her earnings with hunting in the Beast Mountain, but wearing it, she could feel her Mana circulation increase, her Agility rise, and power flood through her body.
She felt untouchable, a juggernaut ready to wade into battle.
“You know, if others found out how carefully you prepared, they might start thinking you like Storbon.” Imani rested against the wall, grinning, in her fully black leather armor. Twin daggers lay at her hips while a crossbow was slung over her shoulder.
Roska pouted and flicked in Imani’s direction.
Imani dodged to the side with ease, as if she had meant the action all along. A small lightning bolt struck the wall, leaving a burn mark behind.
“If you keep on stealthing into people’s rooms, they’re going to start calling you a voyeur,” Roska complained.
Imani laughed and sat down on the table. “Good to see you coming out of your shell more, though I do think a dress would be better. You and Storbon are both fighting fanatics.”
“I want to see how strong he’s become.” A rare smile appeared on Roska’s face at the thought of the challenge.
Imani rolled her eyes and let out a laugh.
Roska might have had deluded romantic fantasies when she was a little girl, but when she had been crippled, she gave up on that. Her contorted looks and the cold look on her face drove many away. She had known Storbon at that time; he had even looked out for her a few times,
but she refused his help, wanting to do it on her own. Still, she found a brotherly care toward him.
Her wanting to challenge him was not only to see whether her strength had increased, but to see whether his had as well. She wanted to make sure that he was safe.
For the two of them, the purpose of their lives was to follow Erik and Rugrat, to care for the people in their teams and to grow stronger.
It was why they had been named as leaders of the first two special teams over the other people who had been fighters and leaders in the past. They would push themselves and those in their team harder than anyone else could. They were willing to try out new tactics, to learn and evolve. Looking at the armor and weapons that they were wearing, Roska was a mage, but she had trained with her blade and crossbow in case she ran out of magic power. She wore armor that protected her vital points so a single attack wouldn’t drop her like mages who wore simple robes to look more mystical.
“Is everyone ready?” Roska asked.
“All ready and waiting. They’ve passed through the first checkpoint and they should be here soon,” Imani said.
Roska nodded and half jumped, checking that everything was secure and moving the weight around so it was more equal. “Let’s go and say hello.” Roska walked out of the room.
Imani trailed behind. Her footsteps were light, requiring no conscious effort from Imani.
They headed out of the block of rooms they had been given. Sitting on a few crates and talking to one another was the rest of the team: Yang Zan—their healer and ranger; Han Wu— trap and explosive expert, second only in stealth to Imani; Tully—their straight-up spear wielder; and Gong Jin—the iron tank. Everyone but Han Wu and Gong Jin was wearing armor in similar design to Roska. Han Wu wore heavily padded light armor with metal plates layered on top of one another. If he wore plate armor and he was near an explosion then the force transmitted through the armor would have been immense, having the layers of padding, allowing him to deal with the pressure waves that came with explosives. Gon Jin’s wore massive armor plates that covered his body and a helmet that locked into place. He focused nearly entirely on Strength, Stamina, and Agility. Even in the metal citadel armor, he was able to move nimbly after having trained in it for days. He had a second name—Iron Bear: he had taken on a bear in a one-on-one and won. As the bear attacked, he would dodge out of the way and land powerful hits.
He worked on his own armor and was an Apprentice smith under Tan Xue and Taran’s guidance. He fought with his forging hammer and shield, bringing destruction to the battlefield.
“Tank! Don’t sit on that!” Han Wu said.
Gong Jin nearly jumped a meter. When Han Wu said to not do something, it was probably because he had laid explosives all over the place.
“Did you rig it?” Yang Zan sounded more tired than alarmed.
“No! But it’s full of tender boar steaks for Tully to cook!” Han Wu said.
“Good call,” Gong Jin said in a serious voice. He looked to Tully, who stood there leaning on her staff, looking half asleep.
“No,” she said without opening her eyes.
“But—” Gong Jin pleaded.
“No.” She cracked half an eye open and Gong Jin slumped in his armor, looking like a stroppy iron giant as he kicked at the dirt.
“I am not making a second meal just for you. You can have the leftovers or go get it from the cookhouse,” Tully said.
“I already spent all my money at the cookhouse,” Gong Jin muttered.
“Thank the stars you spent your money on tuition before you found the cooking department. Otherwise you wouldn’t even have armor,” Yang Zan said.
The group looked over as Roska and Imani approached and straightened up.
“Boss—” Gong Jin started in a wheedling tone.
“No. Now let’s get moving and go and see the other special team,” Roska said, not sparing a second breath on Gong Jin.
She led the way, her team following behind here.
Han Wu patted Gong Jin’s arm. “Don’t worry. We can go hunting later and get some good foods. Also, with the first team back we can go to the Second Realm. Think of all the different foods they’ll have there.”
Gong Jin’s eyes seemed to brighten as he stood straighter. “But hunting with explosives, the meat can’t be used.”
“Well, I’ve been working on this new explosive.”
The team collectively groaned as they left the barrack’s training ground.
“Hey, I only need to do a few tests!”
“I am not taking you to the doctors,” Imani shot back.
“I just need—”
“I’m not healing you,” Yang Zan shot back.
“Come on! It’s for research!” Han Wu said, with tears down his face.
“Then go get some healing concoctions.” Tully yawned and rested her arms on her spear that was across the top of her shoulders.
“Healing powders? Do you know how expensive they are? The hospital gets the most amount, and Roska won’t give me any.” It was Han Wu’s turn to pout.
When did I get such a bunch of misfits? Roska thought. All of them were a bit…touched, one could say, but their fighting strength wasn’t something to be denied easily.
They walked down the path to the last checkpoint before entering Alva Dungeon. Although the rest of Alva Dungeon hadn’t been built up more, the defenses had only increased in size and complexity.
***
Storbon looked at the approaching party. His wild smile started to transform as the corner of his mouth pulled up into a hungry arch. His blood boiled.
“Well, it looks like they’ve been able to upgrade their gear,” Yao Meng said as the soldiers who were walking them into the first level of the dungeon looked to one another and then the two special teams.
“Full battle dress? Are they going to fight it out right now?” one asked.
“The two special teams are not normal. Can we expect them to act like we would?”
“Both of them have grown a lot in the time they’ve been away. They might be special teams but Special Team Two can’t find much to challenge their strength anymore. Their stage is the Second Realm now. If you had reached that level, wouldn’t you want to challenge others and test your strength?” Another laughed.
The two teams looked at one another, confident in their skills and gear. Their weapons, armor, and gear was all well used and worked in, an odd assortment mixed together to allow them to fight better.
It was well maintained. The stains and scratches only served to show the tight situations they had been in and survived. They were no longer new to battle.
The two groups stopped in front of one another, looking at each other, two alphas ready to fight it out.
“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Storbon said.
“Looks like you’ve been muddy,” Roska said.
Storbon laughed and broke the tension. They both wanted to fight and test their skills but it was to improve their own skills and grow stronger. The two groups intermingled, talking to one another, brothers and sisters welcoming the other home.
“You owe me a duel!” Yao Meng told Han Wu.
“I got a new spear that I’ve been wanting to try out,” Tully said, her tired expression showing a smile as she talked to Setsuko Ket.
“What kind of food did you find in the Second Realm!” Gong Jin asked Ian Koshi, the metal giant rubbing his hands together in excitement.
“No!” Ian yelled back.
“Come on, just a bite!” Gong Jin moved forward.
Tully’s spear smacked Gong Jin on his helmeted head with a loud noise.
Gong Jin looked over with a pout on his face as he rubbed his helmet.
“Go buy it with your own money, you glutton!”
So the first team returned to Alva Dungeon.
***
Erik and Rugrat had been talking nonstop: about their worries, their hopes, and fears whe
n they returned to Alva Dungeon.
“I hope that Jia Feng hasn’t been overrun with people. There were a lot of applicants to the cooking department,” Rugrat said.
“Yes, but she’s not one to take shit from anyone. I think that she should be all right. We should see if we can’t get Elise in on some cooking lessons. We’ve been kind of bad making her work all this time. We should see if we can’t get her someone to date,” Erik said.
“Pah, love life—only someone who recently got some would say that! Also, I think Zhou Heng should find a nice girl. He spends so much time working on his designs—it would be good if he has someone to look after him.”
So it went, back and forth, the two no longer sounding like military men but expectant fathers figuring out their children’s lives.
Delilah wanted to yell at them to shut up but she didn’t dare to open her mouth or else she might bite her tongue off at the rough journey.
There was a rustling in the leaves. The atmosphere changed in a moment as Erik pulled Delilah from his shoulders, his Agility allowing him to control her fall while he moved her with ease with his strength. A crossbow appeared in his one hand as Mana started to rush into his body.
Rugrat had two crossbows in his hands, aiming at two distinct places.
“Boss Rugrat, Boss Erik.” A woman came out of the trees.
Delilah was on the ground, not sure really on how she had got there as the woman took a knee in the forest.
Around them, several other figures appeared and took a knee.
“Dammit, Clarissa! You guys are getting sneaky as hell!” Erik put away his crossbow and relaxed.
Clarissa smiled as she continued to kneel in the dirt.
“Well done.” Rugrat winked at her and helped her to her feet, his crossbows disappearing into his storage ring. “All right you lot, get up out of the dirt!”
“Do you wish an escort back?” Clarissa asked.
Delilah looked at the woman. Even though they were in the First Realm, she was a level fifteen. With that kind of strength, she probably had the ability to contend with the old monsters that upheld some of the kingdoms in the First Realm.
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