Here be dungeon

Mike's mouth curled in disgust that he didn't try to hide. He looked at the boy, what's his name again? He looked so weak and pathetic. "Have you send it?"

Jael fished out his cheap plastic phone from his pocket, and with a few swipes, he brought out his notification message. "See? I've sent the four thousand dollars."

Mike leaned forward, tilting his sunglasses up to read it as if his super inhumane eyes hadn't picked it up already. Mike nodded and smirked. "That's what I'm talking about! This guy knows the real deal!"

The 'real deal' is Jael paying so they would carry him through a Dungeon and he could gather his essence for full Awakening. He worked for years, since he was fifteen, doing odd humiliating jobs to gather the money he needed. And he finally did.

He could barely control himself; his hands trembled a bit, either from excitement or hunger, and he silently promised himself. 'I won't ever go hungry after this'

Jael shook his head as he remembered when he first read about what happened to the world– "Some hundred years ago, the world underwent what was now called Global Awakening when Dungeon appeared on earth and monsters came forth from those dungeons in the thousands. Almost half of the human population was wiped out in the days that followed this. The only thing that helped and stopped it were the Awakeners– full Awakeners.

The Dungeon wasn't the worst of it; it was one dungeon in particular that caused the earth's core to tremble and earthquakes to shatter cities and seas.

It was called the Tower Dungeon.

The Tower appeared in the middle of the earth, made of unknown black material and stretched up far into the heavens. It triggered something. Awakening of humans.

But there were a lot of things that went into being properly Awakened and getting your Codex."

"Hey! Are you daydreaming?" Mike is a tall, burly man with muscles that look like iron, and he might be strong like one, too, because he's bronze Rank Awakener. "This is why I don't like taking Half-Awakened with me. They are always weird."

Half-Awakened. That was what Jael was. An incomplete Awakening. It was the beginning of all Awakened states, and to turn to full Awakener, you need to gather monsters' essence. It's easy because you can buy them in magic stores all over the country for a couple of thousand dollars.

It would have been easy for him to complete his Awakening then if not for a small little fact. Threshold. A natural barrier of potential that meant an Awakener couldn't advance again, and it seems Jael had hit his even before he was properly Awakened.

Jael clenched his hands. At first, he had worked only to buy cheap essence to complete his Awakening, but nothing worked. The only thing that could help him now is to try raw essence from killing monsters from the Dungeon. He heard rumors that it could get him to at least bronze rank. And maybe if he grind for the rest of his life– Iron rank.

For Jael, that is enough to live a normal life. But it wasn't really what he wanted. He looked up at the Tower that stretched up into the heavens. 'I want this to work' because his goal is up there.

And that was why he was paying the bronze rank Awakened party around him to carry him. It's not unheard of. It's not like the three-member party would be doing anything out of the ordinary; they just have to go through their normal dungeon-clearing routine, but Jael will be the one to do the monsters' final killings.

"Hey, let's go." The female member said. Jael didn't remember her nameI but she has blonde hair and seems to be a healer. Apart from Mike, there's also a middle-aged man who carried sword with him.

They had packed where the car trail ended and now walked through the forest. The Dungeon they were after manifested a bit off the road. It was a weak Dungeon, measured even lower than bronze rank, that party was contracted to clear.

Jael asked question for the first time; this was the first time he would be so close to fully Awakened, even if they were bronze, the weakest rank. They still stood upper on the food chain compared to him. "Why are you not climbing the Tower Dungeon?"

Mike scoffed. "You think it's something a low life like you can do? Climbing the Tower is for those with powerful Codex! Well, we climbed up to the one-hundredth and two floor." His eyes clouded and he shook his head.

"From one hundred and three, we climbed to one hundred and two when we failed its test. There's not much potential for bronze rank. Better be Iron rank before you start climbing." The healer girl said. There are one hundred and three floors in the Tower Dungeon. Although the real climbing won't start until the one-hundredth floor.

The soft dull yellow light announced the dungeon. It has manifested in front of a big tree, the portal swirling gently. Mike turned to him. "You must follow everything I say inside the dungeon. I don't like carrying Halfs like you but the small money will pay for my cigarettes."

Awakeners, even bronze rank, like to live extravagant lives. Jael knew this because he had been obsessively devouring any information he could get his hands on about them. Even non combat Awakeners get to live a better life. But what Jael wanted was the combat one. So he could climb. And seek answers.

"...do you hear me Geal?" Mike adjusted the battle axe on his back.

Jael didn't bother to correct him. He just nodded and drew his sword. It was the cheapest he could get; he even had to sharpen it against a stone, but it made him feel better holding it. As Half-Awakened, he's still stronger than a human but utterly powerless against a fully Awakened and monsters.

"Let's go." Mike entered first and the healer gestured for Jael to follow. He did so with a deep sigh, his red hair catching the last rays of sunlight.

Inside the Dungeon was damp, a tunnel that stretched into the distance and it was cold. Jael was instantly glad he wore the green coat he was putting on. It matched the colors of his eyes, a deep green.

"Don't get in my way," Mike said. The big man was holding his axe. His team members fanned out behind him and they started to walk into the tunnel, leaving Jael in the back to catch up.

Jael's heart beat fast, this was his first time in a dungeon. Every shadow that moved or created by the crumbled rocks made him jump, and the shrill sounds of small insects and monsters made his blood run cold.

But despite that, he felt a thrill, and he smiled. A full clenched mouth open smile. This was what he wanted, to enter a dungeon and fight monsters. Ever since that night, it was what consumed his dream and compelled him to work. Well, maybe it was secondary because to do that he must first survive.

All in all, his future and dreams are tied to this.

Then the monsters started to appear; they were undead monsters of low-ranks, and easily taken care of by the Awakeners; they didn't even use their skills or techniques. But that wasn't the deal. "Hey! I'm supposed to do the final killing while you just injure them!"

Mike stopped and looked back with a frown; he flickered his axe where a bone from the undead's was stuck. "You say something?"

Jael was in front of Mike now, his sword held tightly. "Have you forgotten you're carrying me?" He did not like the way the party was looking at him. It made his skin crawl.

"Huh? Well, you think the...." Mike began with a growl but he didn't finish.

A snare that sounded more like a groan sounded and an undead monster rose from the nearby shadows, dog-like but made of bones and fur held together by unholy magic. It paused as it saw the bronze rank Awakened, its eyes surveying them with half intelligence. Then it picked out the weakest and jumped.

Jael expected Mike to jump in and defend him. But oh boy was he wrong.

*******

So it begins. If you like this, add it to your library, support with power stones and let's follow Jael's story together as he climbs the Tower Dungeon.