Lucius threw the body of a massive tiger-like beast to the ground, clutching his chest.
"That one was really strong," he muttered under his breath, trying to calm himself. He had wounds all over his body. They weren't that serious, but they were there.
He looked at the Rank E Mana Mark on his hand and smiled. 'Maybe it'll be enough to win that bet, but you can never be too confident.'
He looked up and saw a cave before him. This tiger had been protecting it and fought him to the death, just for that.
'There must be something great inside,' he thought, and began walking toward it.
A cave in a rocky area like this wasn't unusual; there were quite a few around. However, none had an E-Rank tiger guarding its entrance, and none were as deep as this one appeared to be.
That's why Lucius had to investigate it. Places like this often hold some kind of treasure, so it was a good idea to venture inside.
The cave extended deep into the earth and seemed to slope gently downward toward the depths. It was dark, musty, and damp. However, it didn't smell bad.
'No beast lives here.' He was sure of it because there was no waste. The entire cave was clean.
And that was strange.
'If no beast lives here, what the hell was that tiger protecting? I originally thought it was its cubs, but there's no such thing here…' His thoughts stopped at that moment, when he saw a glow coming from inside.
He hid immediately, pressing himself against the wall. The mold clung to his back.
He slowly peeked around the corner of a rock and looked across to the other side. His eyes glowed with a bluish hue. It wasn't the glow of his eyes, but that of what lay on the other side.
A crystal-clear, bluish lake, completely frozen underground. Above it was a hand-shaped rock, and resting on the palm of the hand was a peculiar rock of a grayish-brown color with strange golden patterns.
Lucius made sure no one was around and that the place was safe, then stepped out.
He tried placing his feet on the ice covering the lake and pushing down… it didn't break. That gave him the confidence to walk across it.
Then he reached the rock shaped like a hand and the rock with golden patterns. He grabbed the latter.
'What is a Dungeon Rock doing in this place?' he wondered.
Just then, a flash of light shot from the rock down to his feet and struck the frozen lake below him.
Lucius thought he was going to fall because of the sudden, violent churning of the water, but in an instant, the small lake began to dry up, and in less than 20 seconds it was completely dry. Only the ice remained, and it was intact.
It happened so fast that he couldn't comprehend what had happened.
'Did it have a trigger mechanism? And what was that strange lake? I'd never seen a lake dry up in such a short time, leaving no trace of moisture…'
He would have thought it was an illusion if he hadn't personally seen the water on the other side.
He held the Dungeon Rock in his hand and looked around carefully. However, even 15 minutes later, there was no further change.
Everything was silent; not even the distant beasts could be heard.
That was stranger than if there had been any movement at all, but somehow he didn't care. There wasn't a hint of movement nearby, so he wasn't going to stay here.
'I managed to farm over 200 credits in these first few hours. So I can continue without too many worries.'
He left the cave a few seconds later and began to venture deeper into this Wasteland.
-
"I knew my good cousin Joe and Young Master Robert were amazing, but this…" Joan stared in shock at the enormous snake beneath them. It had just been killed by Joe and Robert.
Three meters away from it lay the body of a Bengal tiger with steel-like fangs.
"This is…" Joan stammered again and forced himself to say something. "Just as I expected from you guys…"
In a single fight, Joe and Robert had managed to kill two fairly strong E-Rank beasts with relative ease. Just how strong were these guys now?
Joe burst out laughing. "You're not bad yourself, Joan. Earlier, you managed to kill that Earth Crocodile all on your own. It's a strong Rank E! You've already passed the test—you even won that bet, and it hasn't even been six hours." He praised him.
"Joe's right. I thought you'd have some trouble, but I was surprised by how efficiently you killed it."
The wave of praise made Joan feel like he was on cloud nine… He smiled proudly and puffed out his chest.
"I worked hard!"
Trumble!
Trumble!
Just then, a tremor shook the ground.
Immediately afterward, a mighty roar startled all the students. "ROOARRR!"
Every hair on their bodies stood on end at that very moment. Fear coursed through every part of their bodies, and even the bravest among them trembled.
That roar… wasn't normal.
The birds flew off in all directions, fleeing in terror.
Even the powerful beasts began to back away cautiously.
Everyone froze, except for the trembling.
Joe and Robert were immediately on alert.
"What the hell is that?" Joe leaped onto a rock, trying to look over the treetops. He could see a bunch of trees being shattered by a powerful force.
He also watched hundreds of students running while screaming, as if they had seen the devil himself.
It was Robert who came up with the answer.
"It's the Obsidian Gorilla!" he roared; his face full of fear.
Joe shuddered and turned to look at Joan… "Run…!" he shouted.
But Joan was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh? That bastard left us on our own," he said, bewildered…
In fact, Joan had run for his life the moment he sensed the danger.
He wasn't the only one who had done so. Suddenly, the spot where Joe and Robert were standing became the epicenter of a massive exodus of students.
From the surrounding woods, they poured out in droves, running while screaming for help.
"It's a monster! A damn monster came to get us!"
"Run, don't look back!"
Joe watched several members of his family running… Some beautiful women too.
For a brief moment, he wanted to stand in front of them all and protect them. To fight the Obsidian Gorilla he hadn't even seen.
"Don't be foolish." Robert noticed his intentions and stopped him immediately. "Look over there." He pointed in a direction where trees were falling one after another.
There, a massive gorilla was about to swallow the first group whole… It was gigantic.
It stood over six meters tall. Its muscles were so massive they looked like they were made of wrought iron. Its imposing figure struck terror into the hearts of all who laid eyes on it.
[Obsidian Badlands Mutant Boss, Obsidian Gorilla: Rank D+]
The system's announcement struck terror into their hearts.
Some mages tried to strike it from a distance, casting their spells. They mistakenly believed that together they could fight it… But nothing worked.
Things like lightning, fire, or any kind of magic had no effect on a being whose core ability is called: [Projectile Nullification]
The academy's mages are useless against them.
"We have to run," Robert said, and began pulling him along. They couldn't afford to let it catch up to them.
They knew the Obsidian Gorilla wouldn't stray too far from its cave, so it would calm down soon and they could go inside.
As Joe was being dragged and running in the opposite direction of the Obsidian Gorilla, his eyes caught sight of a strange figure moving nimbly among the fleeing students and heading deeper into the crowd.
'Did a veteran come to help us?' he thought, noticing the figure's exquisite footwork.