Ignoring the pain in his shoulders, he lowered himself onto a patch of mossy rock. His right hand hurt when he balled it into a fist, and his uniform coat was cut and burned, but not enough to make a difference.
I should count myself lucky Ian doesn't need a staff.
The others moved around him, subdued. Karis pulled out the rations he'd been saving in his inventory and passed them around. Mina was shaking dirt from her boots. Alec muttered something about the temperature dropping.
Little Julien was the only one who didn't look tired. He stood a few feet ahead of the group, watching their surroundings with determined eyes. The sun was nearly down now, but there were still no shadows. The sky above them was dark, yet in a way Julien's mind couldn't comprehend, the mana fog both lit and dulled everything, smearing the forest into a flat wash of brightness. It seemed wrong, like the world had forgotten how to dim.
Julien listened to the quiet conversations of the first years from the other groups. Some sounded like they were in denial. Others seemed like they'd already lost all hope.
This is definitely not the exciting expedition they were expecting.
Haley rose first. "We won't wait long, will we? The less time we stand around the better."
Julien shook his head. "We won't. Ten minutes at most. You're right, there's no point in wasting time."
She murmured an agreement and went to go check on other students. She announced something to them, and Julien watched some of them shake their heads, while others nodded vigorously.
Haley turned back to where he was sitting. "I've got some volunteers to go along with us."
"Me too," Amara said, returning from her own group. "I think we should stay together at first, then split up if we find anything. Might be safer."
Julien rose too. "Okay. Let's get moving."
His four quickly hurried to come with him. Little Julien was determined, and Alec, Karis, and Mina followed his lead.
They began their search as the last of the natural sunlight pushed through the trees. The ground had changed--there was less soil, more stone. Long cracks spread beneath their feet, and cliffs began to rise to either side.
It was Mina who spotted the cave.
"There." She pointed up toward an overhang. Behind the jagged rocks, an entrance yawned open. Wide, flat, and deep enough that even Julien couldn't see the back from here.
Karis squinted at it. "Looks like something's been through here already. It might be another group hiding."
Alec frowned. "Are we going in?"
"We have to. It's too late to circle around now, and if this is really is where some of the other groups ended up, we might find a trail."
Julien ventured closer to the mouth of the cave. There were separate paths going deeper. He stopped and turned back.
"We'll split here. Haley, Amara, you guys go down the left. We'll head down the right."
They agreed without hesitation. Haley gripped her bow tightly, and Amara readied her staff. They motioned for their students to follow, and went down the tunnel.
Julien nodded to the others. "Be ready for monsters. We have no idea what could be down here."
The cave swallowed them quickly.
The light from visible mana bounced off the stone, leaving not a single shadow to be found across the jagged walls. It was colder underground. It was damp, too--Julien could feel moisture clinging to the air, to his skin, a mist that hadn't condensed.
They kept close together. Karis had one hand on the hilt of his sword, and Alec stayed near the back, glancing behind them now and then. Only Little Julien seemed at ease, squinting at the rocks like he could read them.
"I can see scratches along the walls," he said. "Claw marks. Big ones."
Julien leaned in for a better look. The grooves were deep and spaced wide. Whatever had made them was big--and claws the size of a grown man's hand.
Wonderful.
"Keep going," he said quietly. "But slowly."
The tunnel forked once, then again. Each time, Julien paused, checking for signs--scrapes on the ground, disturbed dust, broken stones. The rightmost paths seemed the most recently traveled, and so he followed them, until…
A far-off noise sounded. Everyone stopped.
The sound came again, closer this time. Then came a low, almost mechanical growl.
As they kept going, the tunnel gradually opened up into a massive cavern, high-ceilinged and strangely circular. In the center was a large monster.
[Gate Boss Discovered: Wingless Draconian]
[Rank: S-Tier]
A Wingless Draconian… better than an actual dragon, but those are still much too dangerous to fight without a proper team. So much for finding people.
The Draconian stood in the center of the boss chamber like a statue.
It stood fifteen feet tall and had a body and tail length of thirty feet. It was muscular and covered in shiny red-orange scales. From the rear of its skull to the tip of its tail, jagged spikes extended downward. The creature had no wings or horns, but it still had a menacing appearance, and its long arms were tipped with claws sharp enough to scrape along the stone.
They took it in, speechless.
Hmm, looks like a fire type. On one hand, that's good for me. It can't burn me with its skills. On the other… that's also true vice-versa. Gods, elemental immunity really is a double edged sword.
Before anyone could say anything, they heard footsteps from behind them.
"...Haley! Ugh, stop pushing me--"
"I'm not! You're in the way!"
Arguing, Haley and Amara emerged from a small tunnel to the left, followed by their four first-year volunteers. They froze when they saw Julien and his group.
Amara's voice dropped to just a whisper. "Huh? How're you guys here? I thought we split up."
Julien looked over, shrugging. "I could say the same thing about you."
Amara moved closer to where the tunnel opened up. "A Wingless Draconian… Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
The first-years behind Amara all reacted at once. One sucked in a breath. Another instinctively stepped back. The boy nearest to her whispered, "You're joking…"
"We have to leave it for now," Julien said. "It'll destroy us. We can come back when we find the last groups."
Amara glanced at the creature. It still hadn't stirred. "Is it a passive one?"
"Probably, seeing as how we're still standing," Julien said. "Anyway, let's just back out the way we came. Slow and silent."
"But what if it wakes up while we're walking away?" one of the volunteers whispered.
"Then we run," Haley said. "But you'll be fine. Just don't panic, and follow our lead."
Julien's gaze remained on the Draconian. It hasn't turned its head. That's good. It's aware, but not reactive. Yet.
"I hate this," Alec muttered near the back. "I really, really hate this."
"You and me both," Karis replied.
"Alright, just follow me," Julien said, speaking to the whole group.
No one argued. They turned together, filing back into the tunnel in a tight, silent line. The only sound was the light scrape of boots over stone. The orb of dimmed gold light hovered low between them, casting the barest illumination across their path.
The path was completely straight. No forks or curves, only a long stretch of stone corridor.
Wait--this isn't the way we came.
Julien squinted ahead, frowning.
Shouldn't we be near a junction by now?
Then the tunnel opened up again. Julien stopped, and so did everyone else.
The same circular chamber lay ahead. The same jagged ceiling. The same blackened scarring along the walls. The same mossy cracks lining the ground. And in the middle, exactly where they'd left it, was the Draconian.
"Wait," Karis said under his breath. "We… didn't turn."
Alec's voice was tight. "How is this the same room?"
Julien's chest tightened. "We must've looped."
Little Julien stepped closer to him nervously. "Is the Gate Amplification affecting the terrain now, too?"
Amara's face had gone pale. "It has to be. A D-tier gate never has tricks or curses in it."
Julien looked back at the Draconian. It hadn't moved.
Then all of a sudden, it did.
Its head turned just slightly, and its glowing amber eyes locked on them. No one screamed or one moved. They were too scared to.
Then a wave of something unnatural swept through the chamber like a silent roar.
Julien staggered, grabbing the wall. Before he could stop them, he felt his knees buckling. His chest felt hollow, like something had reached inside and ripped his lungs out.
He wasn't alone. Karis dropped to one knee, squeezing his blade like it could anchor him. Alec gasped like he couldn't breathe. Haley cursed under her breath, hands trembling. Amara looked as if every ounce of energy had drained out of her at once.
The other first-years were worse. Two had fallen completely, shaking with wide eyes and no sound. One whimpered. Another backed up into the wall, mouth open but silent.
[You are being affected by the "Terror" debuff.]
Julien gritted his teeth. This is bad. It's directly targeting us, and we don't have the forces to subdue it!
He tried to move, but his legs resisted, heavy with cold dread. Then came the sound, like air being torn apart--he didn't even have time to speak. Crimson light was flaring across the chamber, and then, they were gone from the tunnel.
Teleportation…!
The group found themselves in a circle on the chamber floor, no more than twenty feet from the Draconian itself. The creature loomed above them.
Julien's vision reeled. He could barely hear over the sound of his own heartbeat.
The Draconian opened its mouth. Its voice was deep, like the experienced elder priests of the Church… but none of the warmth.
"Hello there, feeble humans."