Family Outing in a Dungeon

AN: Sorry for the late updates; I was rather busy, so enjoy today's chapter.

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Kara and Aerys were outside the dungeon gate that appeared within Avant Heim's commercial district, along with her family. At first, Kara wanted to go solo, but after a round of thinking. Kara made it a family outing of sorts.

Yes, Kara is the only person who would think of a raid as a family outing. "Girls, let Papa be at the front. I'll show you how a Professional Hunter does it." Thomas said proudly.

It was the first raid they were going to do as a family. Technically, they are the first family raiding a dungeon. Usually, a sole member of a family gets awakened, not an entire family.

Anyway, the daughters and wife only nodded at his words. Even if they were strong, they didn't want to douse on Thomas' moment, after all.

There were quite a few spectators, mainly from the residents and some touring Hunters. There weren't any reporters since they weren't allowed within the grounds. Hell, electronic gadgets of the sort don't even work because of a particular someone.

Since electronics don't work, no one apart from those who have physically seen Avant Heim has seen its appearance. They could only rely on the people who have seen it to describe it in words.

While the family would be raiding the dungeon, some residents of Avant Heim will also look around inside of it. Probably curious of all the dungeon talk they hear from Human Hunters.

Without further waiting, the family stepped inside the gate without much suspense. However, it became further from the truth.

As the separate group was supposed to follow Kara, the gate suddenly turned into an eery red color, making them halt their movement. Hunters on the scene immediately called it a Red Gate, making them the center of attention for residents in their barrage of questions.

"QUIET!" a familiar voice shouted; she was Think Nirvalen, one of the personal assistants of Kara. She was somewhat nervous for her savior but still kept a calm mind about it.

"You!" pointing towards the Hunter, "Speak about your knowledge regarding this phenomenon!" she ordered swiftly, with all the residents clamoring for answers before; she heard no proper answers.

"A red gate is when a dungeon traps whoever enters it. There are only three ways to exit it. Defeating the boss, the party gets wiped out, or a dungeon break occurs.

"The environment within these types of gates are random but are always extreme. They can range from lava-like temperatures, toxic swamps, or even inside a blizzard.

"However, the main characteristic of a red gate is that their difficulty immediately rises a rank in danger. Since this was an A-Rank gate previously, we can now consider it an S-Rank dungeon!

"Another thing to note is that an hour outside is a day inside the dungeon!"

The Hunter said without a stutter; he was afraid of the consequence of even stuttering.

After some thinking, Think asked another question. "And what's your Hunter rank?" She wanted to know whether the man in front of her was strong or weak, in this world's standard at least.

At least, in her eyes, the man in front of her wasn't much. He'd at least be a Marquis leveled Noble back in Barithea.

"An S-Rank!" He proudly said, but all he received from Think was an emotionless face. "Oh, I see. Dear residents, carry on with your day, false alarm!"

Her words immediately traveled through everyone present, but this confused Earth's Hunters. Isn't this an S-Rank dungeon in difficulty?

AN: Monsters aren't more dangerous; the terrain makes it more difficult.

'The Humans may think of it as dangerous, and maybe even for some of us. But for Lady Kara? Impossible!' Think thought and went on with her day, leaving the baffled Hunters alone.

Inside the dungeon, the family looked around in a daze and annoyance. Apparently, the gate led them into a swamp-like world.

"Ugh! It's so humid in here. Bapa, Mama, I think we're in a Red Gate," Aela said and looked at her parents.

"Mn. It seems we have, Princess. But there's nothing to worry about; Your Papa can handle anything." Thomas flexed his broad muscles but was actually somewhat nervous.

[Papa, Mama, you don't have to worry; I sensed the monsters here; there are many B-Ranks, but the strongest is an A-Rank. I think what makes this place dangerous is the environment.]

While sensing the surroundings, Kara noticed her Parent's heart rate was faster than usual. So, she sent a mental transmission to calm their worries.

Once everyone got settled, Kara situated herself near Aela. "Aela, remember, if you're raiding, you must always erect a barrier around you at all times.

Since you aren't like a tank like Papa, you must always protect yourself first whenever possible. But, good job on sensing enemies. I noticed you trying to find enemies around us."

Aela, hearing this, immediately went and erected one around herself then around everyone. "Hn, thanks for the reminder and praise, Big Sis!"

Kara does not have enough legitimate experience as a Hunter, but reading the experience of other Hunters made her know the dos and don'ts.

The parents looking at this only smiled and praised themselves for raising their children properly, maybe.

Meanwhile, Aerys walked around with his spear in hand, ready to pierce anything that even breathes.

"Baba, Mama, monsters in the front!" Aela shouted; she may not have the mastery yet to tell the numbers, but her skill as of now is praiseworthy!

Kara already sensed it earlier but didn't say anything; she didn't want to hog to spotlight, after all. Today's raid was a family outing, a weird one, but still one; no need for show-offs.

However, even if Aela's words were only for Thomas and Laura, everyone still prepared themselves. And like what Aela said, something did appear from the murky waters.

*SPLASH!*

What erupted from the waters were numerous massive crocodiles. But not just any crocodiles. These had a different set of skin. Instead of the usual roughened skin, these appeared to have a metallic sheen.

Seeing them, Thomas went to work. He sent one punch each for one crocodile and remembered to go easy. After all, he didn't want to show gore in front of his kids.

Well, unknown to him, Kara has already done her fair share of a massacre. But, no one in her family needs to know that.

*Crack!*

Once Thomas' burly knuckles landed their impact on the crocs, their scales couldn't even stop them one bit. His attacks breezed through whatever armor they could muster.

While Thomas went physical, Laura became the support for her husband. She didn't have much experience fighting; hence she resorted to holding the monsters in place. A perfect duo!

"Wow! Baba and Mama are so cool! Big sis, look! Baba is all Pow! Pow! Pow! While Mama is holding them into place!" Aela felt whatever was happening in front of her was amazing.

Because of that, Aela had the itch to fight too! But as she was about to dash off and join in, she was held by her shoulders.

"Wait till you're older, Aela. For now, follow what Mama does. You can even shoot a block of barrier, almost like punching too!" Kara said and immediately doused Aela's thoughts of going Leroy Jenkins on the horde of crocodiles.

"What!? But I want to fight too! Don't you see how Baba is smiling so bright?" Aela was basically pointing at Thomas' blood-thirsty smile.

Kara seeing this, only shook her head, 'I don't want Aela to be a muscle head like Papa! One muscle head in the family is enough!'

"Well, Papa may look like he's rushing blindly, but he's not. Papa knows his limits, which is why he's confident to charge inside that horde.

"However, you, on the other hand, still don't have fighting experience. So, you should never rush blindly, okay?"

Kara wanted to erase such habits early on. Good and bad habits form during the early stages of learning, so, might as well nip the bad ones in the bud.

Aela may still be young and immature, but she understood her big sisters' reasoning and ultimately nodded. "Awww. Fine, I'll use a big box then!"

Sticking true to her words, Aela erected a massive cube on top of the rushing reptiles and quickly smashed it down!

*BLASH!*

With the commotion she caused, Laura and Thomas immediately shifted their heads to what caused it. And once they did, they were shocked at what Aela could pull off!

Half of the monsters were still alive, but what she did was still astonishing nonetheless.

"Haha! Take that! Everyone, look!" Aela was on cloud nine after what she did. She even did a victory pose!

'Sigh. I'll correct that at a later time. But, let's have some fun, shall we?' Kara thought and breathed in heavily.

"[FUS RO!]"

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(CHEERS!)