Instance Dungeon

Nial was a little bit embarrassed about his earlier behavior because Melvin had no idea what had been going on or that his father had threatened his best friend's family.

As such, his friend's reaction had been perfectly normal.

Nevertheless, the tension that had accumulated within Nial was unintentionally released when his friend started to complain.

Fortunately, Melvin didn't seem to be that bothered about his outburst anymore and it even seemed that he had realized that his family was involved, somehow.

At least that was what Nial assumed after he noticed Melvin's change in attitude.

Instead of trying to force Nial to accept money, he quickly adjusted his stance during lunch, changing to speaking about dungeons.

It was not weird for Melvin to enter dungeons, and with Nial's awakening as an Original, it wouldn't look suspicious if they were to enter any kind of dungeon together.

"You should be at the 1st Origin stage, right? Can you already visualize things in your mind? If so, how far is the range up to which you can do that?"

Dragged out of his train of thoughts by Melvin's sudden questions, Nial took a moment to answer them, while simultaneously running after Melvin.

This was more difficult than Nial had expected because his friend seemed to be much faster than he was, and only by using his entire focus on sensing his mana fluctuations could he follow him.

"Slow down first!" Nial thus shouted, which Melvin immediately did upon realizing that he had been running too fast.

Nial reached him while gasping for breath as he added,

"I awoke my Origin not too long ago, and without absorbing an origin crystal or owning a mana gathering technique, it will take a while before my mana core is filled! My range of visualization is around two meters, so it's decent!"

Nial refrained from mentioning his Odyssey seed, or the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability for now.

He didn't think that was really necessary because the ability was not something that would help in their combat.

It was just for completing their daily tasks...at least for now.

Melvin had slowed down, nodding his head in approval of Nial's visualization range which was exceptional in his opinion.

Meanwhile, Nial decided to focus more on perceiving everything in his surroundings.

He didn't want to be lost, which was only logical when roaming through an unknown place.

Meanwhile, Melvin had forgotten that Nial was blind for a moment because he had acted just like anyone who could see.

However, he didn't comment on that, and neither did he mention his family again.

The way Nial had abruptly stopped himself from revealing more was proof enough that his family had done something to make Nial and his parents feel reluctant to accept his financial help, despite their desperate situation!

The dungeon was thus the best choice, and he had become too eager to conquer any kind of dungeon as long as he could help Sabrina!

However, helping Sabrina by risking their life and limb would result in more loss than gains. As such, Melvin began to bombard Nial with a series of questions that would help them to fight later.

"What's your talent? How many beasts have you killed yet? You don't have any martial art training or technique yet, right? You shouldn't have an ability either...Maybe we should just enter the first floor of the dungeon, otherwise, it will be too dangerous.."

Nial was glad that Melvin had let go of their previous quarrel and was discussing things with a rational mind.

Rather, he had grown increasingly positive, and his determination to enter a dungeon further increased the more he spoke.

In the end, Melvin didn't notice that his words had indirectly indicated that Nial was poor and did not have the necessary resources to grow strong either.

The moment he realized this, he bit back his tongue, but before Melvin was able to say anything, Nial answered the questions.

"My mana veins are superior and have still not matured, which is why I can visualize everything in a radius of around two meters. Unfortunately, my mana core limit is three enlarging processes, so it's just the average. As for the rest, you know it already.

Nevertheless, I got an ability crystal for the first slime I killed so I have th-...."

Before Nial could even finish his sentence, Melvin cut him abruptly as he exclaimed in surprise.

"You didn't bind the ability that dropped from one of the slimes in the Lowest Rookie dungeon that manifested in your backyard, right? Please don't tell me that's true...you would have wasted your precious ability spot if you did so!!!"

Now that they were running slowly, there was no problem for Nial to speak while moving, but that didn't help him in enduring his friend's sudden lecture.

However, Nial could only smile as he realized his friend's concern and reassured him.

"My ability slot for the Origin stage is still there, don't worry! Either way, even without sufficient combat experience, I shouldn't have too many issues fighting weaker beasts in close combat.

My reflexes are decent and I have a good weapon to make use of! By the way, what's your talent, and current rank?"

At this, Melvin sighed in relief before he nodded his head and answered Nial's question with a pride-filled voice.

"I'm at the 3rd Origin stage, and I have a high talent for my mana core limit and mana vein. I already have an ability, but let me surprise you later...hehe!"

Melvin sounded much more joyous than before and eager to reveal his ability to Nial in a dramatic way.

His joy and excitement were infectious and Nial couldn't help but feel the same.

However, in his case, it had multiple reasons.

First, his friend had returned from a far away shelter to meet him after a long time, and second, they were about to enter a large Instance dungeon with active respawn times.

It would be extremely dangerous if too many beasts were to be lurking inside the dungeon at a time.

But it was actively regulated by the government so the chances of this scenario occurring was a lot less.

With that in mind, Nial hoped that he would be able to make a huge fortune in the next few hours, even more so with Melvin's help.

His friend had always been exceptional at everything he did. As such, he must have a great ability too, while his combat prowess should be extremely high as well!

"The Viper Spear is a Myth Weapon, so you won't have too many problems killing slower beasts, but tackling long-range attacks will be quite a hassle… I should take care of everything that can attack us via long-range before they can react. That's probably the best!"

Melvin was mumbling all the ideas popping up in his head as he shared the tactics and other stuff he was preparing in order to advance through the dungeon at a rapid speed.

Meanwhile, Nial was only listening to him half-heartedly while he simultaneously tried to use his mana more efficiently.

With the Viper spear in one hand, he tried to time his moves so that the blade would be released and retracted when he wanted it to.

Fighting with a rod was exceptionally useful, even more so if he released a hidden blade that could create a second impact.

It had not been difficult for Nial to realize that the force and speed at which the blade was normally released was several times more than what Nial would currently execute with his entire strength combined.

As such, using the rod, while subtly controlling the release and retraction process of the spear's blade would allow him to fight much more efficiently.

Only the focus he had to use to actively retract and release the blade was a little bit high.

Thus, Nial had to either let it be or train it.

Because both young men were in their own world, they didn't even notice how much time had passed as they reached the district that lay between Nial's home and the central district.

Only when Melvin was done computing a plan allowing his mind to stop working furiously did he realize that they were near their destination.

Thus, Melvin tapped gently on his shoulder to make him change his direction to take a shortcut, dragging him out of his thoughts.

In the end, it took them more than an hour to reach the dungeon, and they could have taken a shuttle to shorten the time to a large extent.

Yet, the time was well spent as, during their journey on foot, the two of them were able to make up their mind about everything they had been thinking about.

As such, by the time they reached the front of the gate, Nial was sweating profusely, while Melvin took a heavy breath as he tried to raise his friend's spirits.

"Let's first earn as much as possible for Sabrina. Afterward, you should really increase your strength, while I will try to find out as much as I can about her disease!"

Nial knew that Melvin liked Sabrina, but for him to be so concerned about her meant that she was probably more important to his friend than Nial had expected.

Even if he didn't assume it, that was not something Nial could be bothered about right now...maybe later if Melvin's family would bother them once again, but definitely not right now.

As such, he just nodded his head before thanking Melvin for his kindness.

It had been almost a year since he had last seen him. And, sometimes friendships could change within days or even hours.

Despite that and the fact that they had had a small scuffle, Melvin was still eager to be of some assistance. There was no need for him to help their entire family, after all.

However, Melvin just shook his head before he mumbled.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help earlier...but my family would have probably prevented me from doing something either way…"

Sighing deeply, Melvin was growing increasingly sure that someone from his family must have visited Nial's family, and threatened them to not ask for favors.

Otherwise, they would have definitely told him that Sabrina was ill!

Anger for his own family, particularly his own father, flared up within him, but he knew that there was no way for him to do anything.

Rather, if he were to throw a tantrum and disobey the family, his father would send him away, which was definitely not something that could help Sabrina!

As such, they had to act passively, which prevented Melvin from sending a doctor straight away to check Sabrina.

Even if it was annoying, the most he could do was to search for a cure and earn a fortune by entering dungeons!

Nial didn't say anything to Melvin's apology, knowing that it was not his fault and he had been in the dark all this time.

Instead, he slapped his friend's back before smiling brightly and spoke in a determined voice,

"You're the best friend I could ever get, and I think Sabrina will be happy to see you too, once she wakes up.

Let's earn a fortune and find a way to allow her to stay awake longer!"

Both were determined to give their all to protect and heal Sabrina, even if that meant they had to exceed their limits and enter dangerous fields.

Yet, what both didn't know was that the dungeon was currently used to train newly awakened teenagers of the military middle school.

A new batch of young teenagers of the military was currently approaching the gate.

They were led by their extremely young instructor, who looked at Melvin and Nial with doubt as she mumbled while shaking her head.

"They're gonna die!"