Chapter 243 – Academy Arc (17) – Ruins Dungeon 2
244. Academy Arc (17) – Ruins Dungeon 2
Whether it was a show of their determination to advance first, Ferris’s party was rapidly cutting down monsters as they moved forward.
The adventurers, who had been watching their progress, slowly followed behind, taking care of the stragglers. Although there were many veterans among them, they were relatively weaker than the academy side, and it seemed they didn’t want to waste their energy from the start. It might seem petty, but pride wouldn’t fill their bellies.
‘Ferris fights well too.’
Despite being in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, Ferris was displaying a high level of swordsmanship, befitting a member of a prestigious sword family. She wasn’t exactly leading the charge, but she skillfully cut down anything that came near her, coordinating her party members.
In this way, all the monsters on the outskirts of the ruins were eliminated, and Ferris’s party discovered the entrance to an underground ruin in an abandoned building. The full-fledged underground dungeon was now revealed.
We followed behind, descending the long staircase and checking out the underground.
The air was murky.
The surroundings were lit by the vanguard’s lanterns and torches, but it wasn’t so dark that you couldn’t see anything in the areas where the light didn’t reach, as if there were luminescent substances inside the dungeon.
The interior was quite spacious, with thick pillars sparsely placed to support the ceiling. Irregularly sized rectangular stones formed the walls and floor, giving it a mysterious and artificial feel.
As the full-scale dungeon exploration began, the adventurers’ steps became more hurried. From here on, the fastest party would be the winner. The dungeon had branching paths here and there, which gave hope to small and medium-sized adventurer parties. If they were lucky, they might find something good.
The atmosphere was chaotic as the parties scattered.
Taking advantage of the lull while everyone was regrouping, Charlotte subtly approached me and spoke.
“Hehe. How was my performance earlier, Raul?”
Charlotte puffed out her chest confidently, making a cute w-shaped cat mouth. It seemed she had graciously given me a chance to praise her.
“I was smitten.”
“Hehe… Right. That’s… What, what?”
Her eyes widened as she looked at me, taken aback by my sudden remark. I continued, maintaining a nonchalant attitude as I watched her pupils tremble.
“By your magic, haha. It seems to be on a different level from what I usually learn from you, Charlotte.”
“N-no, not that. …I don’t like your relaxed attitude. You’re teasing me right now, aren’t you?”
“Haha, no, I’m not.”
“Hmph~ You were shamelessly peeking at my chest not too long ago…”
“Ugh. Why are we bringing that up now?”
As I pretended to be flustered and turned my head, Charlotte finally smiled contentedly. Charlotte had been incredibly seductive just now. After poking her like that, she would try to find something to tease me back with, not realizing that she had just said something that made her sound like a loose woman.
“Alright. Let’s move on now.”
Once the regrouping was done, our party moved to an area where no one else was and began exploring the dungeon.
Just like there were dungeon guards outside, we encountered many inside as well. Overall, the monsters inside were of a higher level than those outside. There were nimble ghouls crawling on all fours, and muscular monsters in heavy armor wielding iron maces.
There were also faceless mages wearing robes, who hurled threatening fireballs and electric orbs.
With such a variety of monsters, it was usually necessary to change tactics for each battle, but our party was a little different.
We would start by unleashing a powerful attack spell, and then the swordsmen would take care of the rest. If that didn’t finish them off, we’d hit them with another spell. And if that didn’t work, we’d do it again. If monsters came to support them, we should have retreated strategically, but instead, we just blasted them again and wiped them out.
The powerful firepower of our mage-focused party was lowering the difficulty of the dungeon.
For reference, the arcane magic Charlotte had shown was so explosive that it could collapse the ceiling, so it was temporarily sealed away.
Of course, fighting like this would deplete the mages’ mana. Charlotte had brought plenty of mana potions, but they weren’t unlimited. Besides, mana potions were incredibly expensive. We had never seen them at Cecilia’s general store, and if we drank them like water, the cost would be more than the gain.
In fact, it wasn’t just about mana; stamina management was also important, as it took a lot of mental energy.
In terms of endurance, the swordsmen were the ones who really shined.
As we continued to fight, the three swordsmen’s performance improved in the later stages, and they were easily cutting down most of the mid-to-low-level monsters without much stamina loss. The third-year swordsman fighting alongside us was also slicing through monsters with fluid movements.
-Whoosh!
-Ggrrr…!!
As we fought in our respective areas, stepping in as agreed beforehand, ice spikes would fly in from non-overlapping positions, piercing the monsters’ heads. Finally, Lewin and I would work together to bring down a large monster, ending the situation.
A short regrouping time.
“Good teamwork, Lewin.”
“Hehe… …Aah.”
I absentmindedly stroked Lewin’s head, a habit from our dorm. When she made a suggestive sound as if she was feeling good, I realized what I had done and quietly took my hand away. Lewin also snapped back to her senses with a ‘gasp,’ but a few female mages behind us were looking at us with sparkling eyes, as if they were intrigued. One woman was covering her mouth and nose, as if she was about to have a nosebleed.
-T-that kind of scene is nice too… Do guys usually do that much?
-I guess they’re not ordinary… gulp.
I didn’t want this kind of misunderstanding!
…………
Powerful monsters had various body parts that made good materials.
Besides monster materials, there were other gains.
As we went deeper, valuable magic stones and ores were discovered, and each time, we brought in the workers who were waiting outside to mine them. Of course, the adventurers would have to do the work themselves, and the amount they could carry at once would be small. They would also have to worry about being robbed along the way… At first, I thought that even academy students wouldn’t get any special treatment, but in these practical aspects, we were much freer.
No one would be crazy enough to touch anything that had the Allturn family’s mark on it. That alone was a benefit. It minimized manpower loss and reduced risk. Indeed, there was a reason to be on the right side. It seemed Ferris’s side was also smoothly recovering high-quality resources.
We retreated to a safe area of the dungeon and decided to set up camp there. After the hired porters pitched the tents, we separated into male, female, and Charlotte’s tents.
I wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep early, but my biological clock was reliable. Of course, I’m not talking about mealtime… It was always at this time that I had Lewin suck my dick.
“…………”
“………………Ah…”
My lower body was automatically itching, so I turned my body slightly to the side to see how Lewin was doing, and she was also looking at me, drooling like crazy. It seemed that she had completely internalized that this was the time to suck my dick. Her body was also slowly wriggling, but she wasn’t masturbating; she was just twisting her body while lost in sweet fantasies.
I had a sudden urge, but I decided to refrain from sexual activity since there were other men around.
I told her to sleep, and her face turned red with embarrassment as she turned away.
Even if I used hypnosis to enjoy myself, the smell of a female would be strong when we woke up, and getting rid of the smell would be a problem.
And water was usually scarce.
In this way, our party had a considerable harvest after two days of defeating monsters and recovering various high-quality resources. It was a shame that we hadn’t found any great treasures yet, but this alone gave a good enough reason to explore the dungeon. We also gained practical experience.
Just when things seemed to be going smoothly…
The problem erupted on the third day.
…………
…………
“You said the atmosphere on the other side is strange?”
“Yes, yes. The atmosphere of the adventurers in that direction was unusual. Their expressions were uneasy, or rather, chaotic.”
On the third day of the dungeon exploration, the workers who had come to collect resources told Charlotte this. There hadn’t been any special devices in the areas we had explored so far. We had also mined almost all the resources in the vicinity, so if the adventurers on the other side had found some clue, there was no reason not to move.
We quickly finished our preparations and followed the worker to the place he had mentioned.
There were markings on the numerous forks in the road, and we used them as signposts to find our way. After walking for a while, the dungeon corridor was getting narrower, and at the end, we saw a group of adventurers. They all had anxious expressions in front of a large door.
When we asked what was going on, they said that their companions who had gone in as the vanguard hadn’t come out for several hours.
Charlotte touched the door and muttered.
“There’s a powerful magic on it.”
“Yes, that’s right. We’ve tried everything, but we can’t open the door, damn it…!!”
“Just a moment, I’ll try to concentrate.”
Charlotte placed her hand on the door with a serious expression. Soon, a wave of energy began to emanate from her hand, and it seemed she was trying to break the magic. After a few minutes, the magic that had been flickering on the door disappeared.
Everyone exclaimed, ‘Ohh…’ in admiration, but Charlotte’s expression was strange.
She looked very uneasy.
“…It didn’t break because of my mana flow. The magic just disappeared automatically. Maybe even if I wasn’t here… But why?”
Charlotte pondered for a moment and then spoke to the waiting adventurers.
“It could be more dangerous, so we’ll go in first and check the situation. Leave the door open.”
“Understood. But if too much time passes, we’ll go in too.”
“Do as you wish.”
Regardless of their concern for their companions, they couldn’t let us monopolize any treasures that might be inside. The adventurers nodded slightly and decided to wait for now. It was better to leave the door open in case we had to run away.
Inside the door, the path continued straight ahead, just like the corridor we had just come from.
And after walking for a short while, we came to another door that looked exactly the same.
-Creak…
As the swordsmen and I opened the door, the entire party walked inside.
A huge, hemispherical room.
In this wide and empty room, the corpses of adventurers were scattered everywhere.
Seven corpses were scattered haphazardly, some of them horribly mutilated. Some were still bleeding, as if they had died not too long ago.
“Ugh…!!”
“W-what is this…”
Those with weak stomachs put their hands on the wall and dry-heaved. I felt nauseous like the others, but I had to figure out the situation first. Charlotte, as the leader, was also trying her best to stay focused and look around.
But there were no clues to be found.
There were no monsters.
There were no other doors besides the entrance.
The walls were the same as the ones outside, so it didn’t seem like there were any traps. The only strange thing was that there were cracks here and there.
There was literally nothing.
Then what were these corpses?
The mutilation of the corpses varied, so it was hard to believe that they had been caught up in some supernatural phenomenon.
As I was thinking this, a female mage behind me shouted in a terrified voice.
-T-the door won’t open! It seems to be under the influence of magic again!
Several people clung to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.
Charlotte had said earlier that the magic had automatically disappeared. But if the magic was back on as soon as we entered, then we could roughly guess what was going on. The magic had been released when the adventurers inside had died, and it would automatically activate again when new guests entered.
‘Surely I won’t die in a place like this…’
As everyone was unable to hide their tension,
-Wooooooom…!!
Suddenly, a yellow energy mass began to form in the very center of the empty room.
