17) Last Forks Dungeon Dive......

The next morning everyone was slow to wake up, school was out so they didn't need to rush anywhere, they were awoken though by a happy Artemis who crawled into bed with them. Today was going to be her first time going in the dungeon with them since the had never let her until today, she was finally going to be able to train her healing magic.

Since the last dive they were now on floor 75 which was just another wilderness one nothing to special, but since they haven't explored it yet they didn't know what to expect inside. They got out of bed and did their morning routine before going down to breakfast, his dad was already there waiting with excitement, he was always the most eager to go.

He couldn't judge it since it has been awhile since they have been in the magical world but from he told Cory, him and his mom should be either just below or equal to Dumbledore in magical ability. He was happy for them since it meant that they had nothing to fear when it came to the magical world and if his parents decided to join the war then it would help that side more.

Though his dad had said that no matter what they would be on the light side but that they wouldn't join the order and instead they would do their own thing, he didn't agree with the no killing. Cory could understand that it just let murders go free by not actually killing them and just allowing them to rot in jail, little good that did for them.

Getting back to breakfast his mother came down shaking her head seeing her husband act like a big kid, she wondered what he would do while Cory was at Hogwarts. Ignoring that for now she greeted Artemis and the rest before having her breakfast, after she had hers and they relaxed for awhile to let her food settle then they would go into the Dungeon.

After resting for and hour with the combined puppy dog eyes of his dad and Artemis they decided to go ahead and go, this was the last and only thing they were doing today before leaving. Opening the basement door the group walked into the dungeon, 'Thing 1' and '2' automatically coming out and standing at the sides of Artemis.

They were only in for a moment before seeing a creature walk out of the woods it was easy to tell what it was seeing the ten foot body and the face of an owl, your typical owlbear. It stopped seeing them two no doubt it was hunting before it ran into them, his dad didn't wait before he started to attack it with a bombardment of spells.

Artemis was amazed seeing the fight in action, though his dad had level up a lot it still slowed down the higher he got in levels. After letting the dust settle they all saw that while it was badly injured it wasn't fully dead, his dads jaw dropped but it just made him that much more excited to fight it.

"Artemis when we are in here we usually split up to find the boss do you want to go with your grandparents or us?" Cory asked ignoring his dads antics.

She put on a thoughtful look but didn't hesitate to answer, "You and mommy, grandpa seems to like to hog things so I don't want to go with them."

His dad who had finished and heard that almost tripped while walking back over to them but the rest laughed and had to agree he was to eager to fight in here and tended to do that. "How about this, since we want to finish this today Artemis and I along with 'Thing 1' and '2' take one way by ourselves. I'm already good enough with the sword and they are extra protection." Rosalie said after getting her bearings back.

Cory was going to say something but seeing them look so hopeful he could only sigh at that, "Fine but run if it gets to hard they can watch your back while you run son don't worry." They both cheered and the groups took off, it was true they wanted to finish this run by today and he was only three percent away from being level 100.

He started walking in the East and came across a pack of Owlbears, these were to easy for him to kill though since they were weak to elemental magic. After wiping them out he continued up the mountain part of the forest, the terrain was rocky but also a great place for ambushes.

The Owlbears would pop out at random places but that didn't really help much seeing as he made simple earth spike wherever they would land. It was more of a leisure walk at this moment, he was checking in on Artemis and Rosalie too to make sure that they were okay luckily she was right and the fight was easy.

He didn't know how his parents were doing but he knew they would be fine, their magical power was nearly endless now so they could fight all day without tiring out themselves. After awhile Cory made it to a place where he saw the bones of Owlbears, he tilted his head curiously, it looked like he had made it to where something stronger lived.

Walking forward there was an open area and sitting in the middle of it was a giant, feeling Cory's presence his eyes snapped open. It was almost like he was in meditation before Cory had showed up, the two stared before the giant picked up the great sword sitting next to him, though to him it was probably just a sword.

After a moment when he got himself together and standing at full height which seemed to be fifteen feet, he let out a loud roar before pointing his sword at Cory. Cory sent a simple fireball at him it was compressed and when it impacted a big explosion took place, he went to move on but stopped feeling the ground shake.

The giant that he thought was dead was rushing him and swept his sword out at him, Cory nearly was beheaded luckily he got his sword up in time to block the attack that came. His body flew for a moment before his back hit the mountain wall, he let out a groan it had been awhile since he was toyed with like this and it seems like this Giant's strength was a little better than his.

Standing back up he looked at the giant who was waiting for him to stand again, the spot where the fireball hit only had a small scorch mark other than that it was fine. His jaw almost hit the floor seeing that apparently it was immune to magic some, or all the way since that did nothing but push it back some before it fought him.

Nodding his head he knew this was going to be a sword fight and that the boss was probably waiting on the top of the mountain, this was enough to stop him but not seriously injure him. That told him one thing and that was that this one wasn't the strongest on the mountain if anything it was the weakest since it was so low on the bottom.

Before he engaged the giant again he took out a flare gun and shot it into the sky, they each had one of these just incase they were the ones who ran into the boss without the others. Everyone else saw the flare and started to rush over but Cory wasn't going to wait and started fighting the giant with pure sword play, by the time he killed it they were half way up.

Panting he took a moment so they could join him, no doubt these things were beyond level one hundred even if they weren't that far past it since he couldn't quickly kill it. While healing and resting the rest finally made it to him and seeing the giants body they were stunned for a moment before regaining themselves.

"Well this wasn't exactly the boss but it was the first different monster I have seen so I'm assuming the boss is up there in the clouds, waiting for us." Cory said changing into a new shirt that wasn't torn, but seeing that it might just happen again he went shirtless.

"Anything else we should know since it seems like this was actually a challenge for you." his dad said looking between the two.

"Yeah, I don't know about others but elemental magic just doesn't work on them so avoid it." he added other than that it was just like fighting a really tall person so he had nothing else to add.

They all nodded in understanding, Artemis skipped over to him and a white light took over his body healing him, though he used potions they weren't as effective as this was. He rubbed her head making her smile in delight before she went back over to Rosalie taking her hand.

For the next three hours they didn't rest and each took a turn taking down the giants, luckily there was only five after the first before they reached the summit where the boss was. When they got to the top the air was thinner and everyone but Artemis and Rosalie was effected, though Cory was immortal he was still effected by the altitude.

Standing fifty yards away was a giant that was taller than the rest standing at nearly twenty feet tall with dark gray skin and a sword that shone in the sunlight glaring at them. It wasn't alone though standing next to it was what looked like a dragon but that couldn't be true since it was smaller, it also only had two legs to stand on rather than four.

It seems it was a Wyvern the lesser of the dragon species but it still looked fierce, this was the first time he had even come across this type of beast in the Dungeon. The Wyvern stared at them before it went back to sleep it seemed like it didn't want to mess with them, he also noticed it looked at the giant in disdain.

"Well looks like it is two this time, how about we split this up we will take down the giant first them focus on the Wyvern, seeing as it can fly and all." His mom stated and everyone nodded in agreement with her.

They all walked forward but before they could get close the giant rushed them so they didn't get a chance to circle it like they planned, it went straight for his mom who it saw as the weakest. His dad wasn't going to let that happen though and sent as hex to make the giant slip, it lost balance for a moment before it used its sword and corrected itself.

Seeing that it couldn't get to its prey the giant leaped back and watched them again, it didn't think these little ants would have been able to stop itself. The wyvern though looking to be asleep saw what happen but didn't put much thought into it, one breath from it and they would all be dead.

Since it failed they were able to make a circle around it while Artemis waited near the exit with 'Thing 1' and '2' guarding her, it looked more like they were playing though. Getting back focused Cory rushed first he was going to distract it while they attacked from different angles, the giant felt the threat and defended itself against him.

What they thought was going to be a big fight ended quicker with each taking a side and tearing it down, Rosalie was able to make a cut in its thick skin which help his parents spells cut it deeper. When it finally fell there was a silver orb sitting there it looked just like the others he had gotten, Rosalie was excited and was the first to rush over and pick it up.

She shot him a wink and put it in her inventory, they both knew it was going to him so they didn't stand on ceremony, he had actually gotten five more copies of the other three. He planned to give them to his parents later first he wanted to see if there was a correct order before giving them to his parents.

Seeing as there were no stairs to the next floor they all looked over at the Wyvern who slightly shivered at their threatening glares, but also because his dad was drooling while muttering "So much experience points waiting for me!" They could only shake their heads at that.

Cory quickly sent Earth, Fire, and Water spikes into it's wings and while if it was only one it wouldn't have been enough, the help of the other two pushed into the wings making them disabled. The wyvern not being able to feel its wings panicked and looked at them with hostility it quickly shot out fire but it was just being desperate at this point.

Surprisingly before his dad could his mom had already sent a cutting hex slicing right through the head of it killing it instantly, it wasn't even as half as strong as the giant was. When its body turned into lights it left behind a red ruby looking object and a golden slip of paper.

[Minor Dragon Heart (1/5)- When all five are put together someone may get the heart of a dragon increasing their lifespan by a thousand years. Body will be enhanced and they have the potential to be as strong as an elder dragon.]

[Lottery Ticket- Use to get a chance to win a SSS-Rank monster. Warning! There is also the chance to only get garbage depending on your luck.]

His dad read them out loud after getting them and looked longingly at the heart, Cory didn't mind him having it seeing as he wasn't really trying to become a dragon or anything. "Why don't you start collecting the hearts dad while mom keeps the ticket." he offered, his mom snatched them both and smiled at him while putting them in her inventory.

"I will wait until I can make Felix Felicis," his mom said, "It is liquid luck." she added seeing Rosalie's confusion.

"Wait you can make luck?" Rosalie shouted looking at his mom.

"Yup I was going to teach you later when we started on your potions class, first I wanted to get new books though I'm not a potions master so I can't teach you that much at the moment, But with the help of my Int. Stat increasing I can teach you better." she said happily the two walking off to the now appeared door with Artemis following along riding 'Thing 2' the panther was close to reaching Marshal grade though it was still a little off.

When he went to follow he didn't see his dad so he looked back, he quickly turned and walked out though. His dad was still looking over the mountain tears streaming out of his eyes, "My dragon heart, maybe I should just jump from here and end it all." he kept muttering while looking down the mountain.

(A/N: Check out the Status page for skills and an update on what they gained, some might be one chapter ahead but you will see it in the next chapter anyway.)