"Ready our flanks, we're about to enter into the main dungeon."
A young male dressed in shiny golden armor, shimmering in the dungeon despite the lack of light, spoke out, raising his hand. He stood tall, his sword gleamed from the sheath, and he carried a golden shield slung behind his back as he walked.
His name? Reon Vergüenza. He was actually the one everyone came to see—the golden boy. He was the son of one of the richest individuals in the capital. That's why his gear looked shiny and new—because he could afford it.
In fact, everyone standing there could afford it, because they were all elites, the best of the best. Either they were rich individuals or belonged to rich families in the city. That's why they were handpicked for this dungeon raid.
But Kael? He was just an extra whose assigned mission was to carry the extra load trailing behind them, making sure he didn't take the spotlight.
'If this is all I was assigned to do, I don't actually mind so long as the pay is good.'
Like they would actually give him good pay. This wasn't his first raid. In fact, Kael was known across the guilds as an extra whose only job was simply to carry the extra load or the precious items after the raid.
No one saw him as anything more important than that. That's why the capital handpicked him based on the rumors everyone had spread—not like he cared anyway.
This mission was a Class A, Rank C mission, which normally he wouldn't be found in. But the amount they offered—and the number of people who volunteered to take it on—gave him the courage to accept it. Otherwise, he would have definitely rejected it. It was way above his class.
His class? He was Kael, a simple E-Rank hunter who made a simple living to feed himself—because he'd been kicked out by his father after the man found out he wasn't actually his father, and that Kael's mother had him with his best friend.
After that, Kael dropped out of school and joined the hunter academy just to make some money to take care of his daily needs. It started with a little mission here, another mission there. Soon, he ranked up from F-Zero to E+, which was a good thing for him.
He stopped leading mini dungeon raids after the day his group took on a make-believe Rank F+ dungeon—just because of a rich bully who hated the way they ranked up faster than normal clans and groups.
They had to take on Level 5 beasts who were nothing close to their level at the time, and they lost two members. The scar from that caused them to break apart, and everyone went their separate ways.
From then on, Kael started joining different groups as an extra to earn money, because it was way easier than leading dungeon raids. All he had to do was carry stuff and protect himself while hiding behind them.
"Hey, you!!" A man's voice echoed, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He turned sharply. "Yes?!"
"Stop being lost in thought and go help those on the left with the healing potions," the man ordered, pointing toward the left flank.
At that moment, Kael noticed they had arrived in the main dungeon and had already started fighting the beasts.
'How lost in thought was I?'
He ran toward the left flank immediately, attending to the injured. It was hard, because they all acted arrogant due to his status as the extra, clearly disgusted by his presence.
"Why was this fool even allowed on this raid? Is he supposed to be the meat shield?"
A man in his mid-thirties spoke out as Kael fed an injured lady a potion to heal her leg injury.
"I thought the same, but it doesn't matter anyway. He's just here to be the extra as usual. We're the main guys here—come on!" another man said, resting on a small hill behind Kael.
He ignored their comments. It wasn't the first time he had been on a raid like this.
"All done here, I'll head over to the other side of the battle."
He ran toward the other side, erasing their words from his mind as hard as he could.
'Was I really only meant to be an extra and nothing else? Was that all there is to my life?'
Kael reached the other side on time, where injured individuals lay on the ground, battered by Ender Goblins—a little bit larger in population than usual, though no one seemed bothered by it.
"What took you so long?!" a female barked at him as he arrived at their station.
"I was helping the oth—" he was cut off mid-sentence.
"I don't want to hear your useless excuses. Hand me the blue vial and leave my sight."
He glanced at her before reaching for the blue vial in the bag slung over his shoulder. He pulled it out and handed it to her. Without another word, he left to help the others.
As he bandaged a young female who ranted like the others, he noticed the air in the dungeon wasn't the same as when they first entered.
He glanced around, curious, but everyone seemed unaware. Probably because he was the weakest—it was easier for him to notice it.
'If I point out the suffocating aura I just felt, they'd probably backlash me again, so I'm just gonna let it go.'
Kael turned back to the young lady. "I'm all done. You can head back out to the front lines."
He stood up and ran toward the front lines, noticing some soldiers heavily injured. He rushed quickly, trying to avoid another backlash.
But as he reached the front, he suddenly fell to the ground, vomiting blood.
"Hey, you idiot. Head over here quickly and help me out!"
A voice rang out, ignoring his current situation.
But Kael wasn't concerned about what they said—he was concerned about the sudden aura he felt moving toward them. It felt like that of a Level 25 beast.
Moments later, a figure emerged from a hole in the dungeon, moving slowly toward them.
'A battle ogre!' he screamed in his mind.
He glanced at the others, but they all seemed calm. Probably because they were elites—but he wasn't.
His legs trembled at the sight. Was this real? Or was he just dreaming again?
Reon, who didn't seem tired after fighting a full army of goblins, moved swiftly toward the ogre with practiced precision.
The ogre was just as trained, dodging his strike with a clean move. Reon gasped as he landed behind it, sliding meters away.
"What? That's impossible! An ogre shouldn't be able to dodge that so cleanly!"
Kael glanced at their expressions. It was obvious—they never once opened their monster guild manual.
'This is what happens when you're strong but ignorant.'
A battle ogre was a different class of ogre—a breed between a human and an ogre. It had been trained mentally and physically, adapting to the human way of fighting before it was finally allowed to leave the nest.
And yet, as they said, this ogre dodged very cleanly. Though it was Kael's first time seeing one in person—he had never taken on any dungeon raid higher than E+.
'It's mesmerizing!'
The ogre sprinted toward the front lines, ignoring Reon—probably because it saw him as a threat and knew it'd lose against him—or maybe it had another idea in mind. One none of them knew.
He decided to observe the ogre from the distance, covering his nose as he watched because he was allergic to ominous aura as a weak hunter.
The ogre swept through the flanks easily, smashing through their strong hold as easily as it came. Some died from the short battle, the rest survived but were heavily injured but Kael didn't leave the spot.
'If I rush over there as per their requests, I'll definitely be crushed by that thing'
'Observing the scenario right now is my only way out of here, that thing is definitely not human!'
He turned and glanced at the others who looked equally as terrified as he was, 'We'd have to fall back soon or there would be too many casualties'
Reon who suddenly became the knight in shining armor in front of Kael, sprinted toward the ogre aiming for a backstabbing attack.
'That ought to work'
But to his surprise, the ogre noticed him and swiftly dodged in response landing with grace.
'What the hell is that thing? That reaction was definitely not stated in the beast manual!'
The ogre rose to its feet and glared at the young hero with killing intent visible in its eyes.
'Shit, it's going to kill him!, if he dies everyone else dies!'
Kael stood up at the thought of it, and darted across the dungeon toward Reon.
The ogre took a death stance, dark circles surrounding it as it dropped one knee to the ground.
Kael noticed the increase in pressure and shifted his vision toward the ogre, 'No! Its about to use the blizzard spell'
He turned toward the Reon calling out, continously "Move away from there!, it's about to use the blizzard spell!"
But he took one long glanced at kael as he sprinted forward, then back at the ogre and took his stance like he didn't hear a damn thing he just said!.
The ogre was done chanting, then rose to its feet observing his kill which was Reon, then vanished in a cold blurr.
Lights flashed and a loud bang was heard, causing the dungeon to reverberate.
Everyone turned toward the dust in shocked expression, "Is he dead?!"