Chapter 5: Expedition

“Now remember, our goal is scouting the dungeon, not killing the Dragons”
A tall silver haired man, bulked in just the right proportions, yelled, addressing the 19 people before his pair of golden eyes.
“Yeah Yeah, we get it Clover”
A woman with crimson hair adorning her head, who seemed to be in her 20s responded with disinterest.
The others were in the same boat, getting more impatient as every second passed.
Seeing that the haughty woman’s attitude was shared by most if not all of the group, Clover sighed.
He knew the woman. How could he not when her name was known far and wide.
Emberhand, the most talented Human magician alive, with power rivalling even the Archmages of the Elven Kingdom, who were known to be second only to the King.
“Alright then. Just remember what I said, especially you Xavier”
“Hmph. I’m not dumb enough to kill some Dragons in a Sovereign’s territory”
Xavier dismissed Clover’s advice just as he always did.
Clover Grandvale was known as ‘The Champion’, a title held only by 3 throughout history.
Not all Heroes were from a foreign world.
Some of this world who had immense might, approaching the domain of the Dragons and the late Phoenixes were also heralded as such, with their proper title being ‘Champion.’
Clover is the only human to hold that title, and one of the two that are still alive.
However, most S-ranked adventurers were awfully prideful. It was the reason why they didn’t acknowledge Clover’s directions out loud.
This was an expedition to scout the Dark Dungeon, the most dangerous to be ever known.
Since the group was briefed about the situation, they didn’t have a choice, nor would they have rejected even if they had one.
Everyone had something dear to them, and to protect that, they had to participate in this.
Before the huge gate that seemed to the entrance of the Blaze Continent, they stepped through.
“Damn it’s hot”
Emberhand grumbled.
“Of course it is you damn witch, where do you think we are?!”
Xavier was the only one in the group who had experienced battling and even killing a dragon, which made it quite clear that he was not unfamiliar to the Fire Breath most of them possess, nor the heat that they usually lived in.
Their eyes were met with the auburn sky, teeming with dragons circling above their very heads.
Xavier’s eyes narrowed, before letting out a deep sigh and loosening his grasp on the oversized broad Sword resting on his back.
“They aren’t going to attack, dumbasses”
He said, as he kept walking. Several disapproving gazes were sent his way, but remaining undisturbed, he kept on walking.
After a couple of moments of Clover calming them, or at least trying to, they resumed their journey, with Dragon Slayer in lead.
They kept walking, with a few of them life Emberhand complaining about the heat every now and then.
This prompted another Magician, going by the name of Dewi, to cast a water spell to keep them hydrated and cool.
!!!
Suddenly a distant roar reverberated, stopping everyone in their place, their weapons drawn.
“Huh?”
A confused huff escaped them, seeing the dragons overhead behaving the farthest than what they envisaged.
Hearing the roar that had shook the lands, they had predicted that the dragons would came crashing down.
But instead, they wailed vociferously before fleeing their sight.
“What the hell?”
Emberhand couldn’t help but let out a frustrated huff.
It didn’t take a bright mind to realize just what had just transpired.
That roar, so terrifying that even Clover shuddered, could only belong to the ones reigning over this land—A Dragon Sovereign or perhaps… the Dragon King himself.
If the Sovereign had so wished, they would have been killed in an instant.
Clover was earlier confident that he could at least survive against a Sovereign, but this belief was instantly shattered.
He already knew that there were stronger people back in his home, he wasn’t arrogant enough to consider himself the best.
He already knew that a Sovereign is an existence that no ordinary human could defeat, but this Aura, it was so menacing.
The sheer coercion that Aura placed on him made it clear; he may perhaps never be someone capable to fighting them.
Taking in deep breaths, he calmed himself down, before continuing on the journey.
They could see a predefined path, which they were informed to be the path to the dungeon.
The group wondered why the path was so clean and uniform, but decided not to question it.
Continuing on their journey they knew would take days, Clover proposed setting up camp.
This was not a bad idea, even if they had nigh-limitless stamina, they had to be at their peak when storming the dungeon.
After all, that was the only way they could ensure the highest chances of success, and avoid casualties.
They may be prideful, but not stupid.
Given that all of them had raided dungeons numerous times, they were aware of the hazard posed.
And the Dark Dungeon was stated to be an anomaly even amongst them.
No matter how confident you are, a sane person would never dismiss such a threat, even if it wasn’t considered anything more than a ‘myth’.
As the sky dimmed with the setting sun, the group stopped before plonking up a camp.
While none from the group seemed to possess a spatial ability, a mage among them did open up a “Spatial Pouch”, taking out a bunch of wood for them to burn.
Though the authorities couldn’t be blamed since Spatial attribute was rarer even among the Dragons. The last human, elf or a dwarf to have that attribute had perished 200 years ago.
While they can just form a flame with their magic, a campfire like this would make it unnecessary to have someone keeping it alive all night long.
“Thanks Arthur”
The mage, no, Arthur nodded at the Champion.
It was quite unexpected for a mage to carry such an expensive item, but the top rankers are filthy rich.
As for the food, everyone had their own supplies, except Clover who had no need for physical nutrition.
After the sun set, he volunteered to keep watch, to which almost everyone agreed though Arthur joined him.
…
“So, Arthur… you seem like a pretty talented mage”
“Thank you”
The said mage’s lips adorned a shy smile.
“Where are you from?”
“It’s just a small village at the edge of the Empire. You probably haven’t heard about it”
“Hahahaha, Maybe you’re right”
“HEY GIVE THAT BACK”
The two turned around to see Emberhand who seemed to be trying to reach up to something like a blue orb that was held by the taller Xavier.
Seeing this, Clover flashed a slight smile like always.
“I noticed earlier, you cast a concealing barrier over us a while back. Won’t your mana be drained if you keep it up?”
Arthur had a wry smile.
“Don’t worry, I have enough mana to last the dungeon”
Clover wanted to tell him but stopped after seeing the mage’s smile.
There isn’t a single dragon in the sky—Clover and Arthur noted.
After a while, seeing the rest of the group either meditating or sleeping, Clover voiced, or rather, muttered his thoughts.
“This went better than I expected”
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The next few weeks went by uneventfully, walking during the day, while resting during the night.
Just as they were told, the Blaze Continent was definitely a place much larger than it seemed, consider the time they were travelling for was enough to cross most Kingdoms multiple times over.
The group was getting restless. It had almost been a month since they began.
They could not kill a dragon here, so they sparred on their way, though not wandering off too far from the group.
However, the ominous feeling was getting closer and closer, making them both nervous and relieved at the same time.
“Hmm?”
Arthur spotted a mountain, or something that seemed to be such, in the edge of his vision.
He gave Clover a nudge, who also picked up on it, though a bit later than the timid mage.
“We’re almost there everyone”
His statement did not take more than a moment to at once heighten the adrenaline in the group.
“THEN WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!”
Xavier dashed forwards, followed by the others while Clover just looked at them with his mouth agape.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told them that”
“I think we should we follow them”
“Yeah”
Clover dashed behind the group at blinding speed, catching up to them in mere seconds.
Huh? —Looking back, he saw Arthur just behind him.
Seeing this, Clover couldn’t hide his surprise.
Clover’s speed was supposed to be leagues ahead of anyone in the group, but Arthur was keeping up with him.
Sure, it may not be his full speed but he could see that Arthur didn’t even seem to struggle while not even using mana to augment himself.
What the mage showed was his pure physical prowess.
Honestly, it was a bit frightening. Arthur had earlier described himself as a mage who only knew magic and did not know any physical combat moves.
However, even if he was lying, if he could use Magic to the point of an A-ranked mage with that physical ability, he would easily be one of the strongest to ever live.
That was not even considering his titanic mana pool he possessed, which seemed endless.
Forcefully shrugging those thoughts away, he stood before the Dungeon’s entrance, which seemed to be a large hole covered with a scarlet barrier.
The Aura imposed on them was overwhelming, but they weren’t any ordinary adventures.
Arming themselves effusively, they shot into the pit that seemed to lead into the abyss.
THUD…
Landing one after the other, they stooped into what seemed to be a rock-strewn platform that fronted the way in to a cave of sorts.
While the group found the appearance a bit… underwhelming, they couldn’t deny the fierce Aura present in the very air they inhaled, which kept them wary.
Cautiously, they took the formation they had planned out before.
In the lead was the towering Motam, a hulking giant of a man with skin said to be ever more durable than a monster’s hide.
Alongside this, on him had also been cast multitude of spells increasing his defense and speed his necessary even more.
Behind him was the one and only Clover, which the others where in a position that kept mages in the middle while the others protected them.
Carefully encroaching into the cave, they remained silent, though they had a mental link cast created by Arthur’s Magic besides the one that hid their presence even more so than they had done by themselves before.
It shared their senses along with the others, making their awareness amplified.
Reaching the end of the cave, they were met with a rocky floor with numerous red glowing crystals lying everywhere on the ground.
Picking them up, Clover muttered.
“Core Crystals”
The others’ eyes widen as their suspicions come true.
The Core crystals are what’s left of a Trenith after that is killed. Them being here, along with the number of spears that laid on the floor and the marks of imprinted shoes on the walls made it obvious—
Someone had killed the Treniths. Not a monster, but someone with a humanoid shape and a creation ability.
Clove tried to think of why someone would come here, and how could they, since the gateways to the Continent are guarded at all times.
“Arthur”
Arthur nodded, before casting a Wind spell that made the Core crystals come crashing into his Spatial Pouch.
There were also some weapons lying there, which had not been lifted by the spell cast just prior.
Xavier took one in his arms before carefully analyzing it.
“There were Damn Ogres”
The weapons, or in this case, axes were the primary weapons used by the said race.
This also left them stumped.
Ogres are B+ ranked monsters. However, the Trenith Ogres from the Dungeons are A-ranked monsters.
Taking even 20 on would require at least an Average S-class to fight, and the number of crystals were approaching a hundred.
And from the looks of it, only one person had done all this.
However, Clover still had doubts about the person.
After all, it could be a new humanoid monster that could’ve done so.
These thoughts were shared by the others, who then proceeded to follow Clover cautiously ahead.
Moving ahead, even with their enhanced senses and Magic, they could not detect anything but themselves.
Roaming around for about an hour, they found a bit similar to the entrance but a miniature one.
However, before they could even decide what to do, they felt a presence below getting closer.
They jumped back in surprise, swiftly preparing themselves for an attack that may come from the new arrival.
DUM…
“Huh?”
They looked stupefied at the one that had just jumped out from the pit.
It was just a kid, looking no older than 20. His long white hair which reached the waist and that figure made it clear that he was a ‘human.’
The kid looked stupefied for a bit before opening his mouth.
“FINALLY, SOMEONE CAME”
“Eh?”

Chapter end