XVI

"You really think, bringing him was a good idea?" a young man asked.

"Yes, Gregor." a female voice responded. "He might be a little distant, but I think he's cute."

"Emily asked him to join, so just trust her." 

"Hey!" Emily resounded. "Don't talk like I'm not standing here, and don't get any ideas, Jane."

"Grain is my friend, so don't try and seduce him."

"No promises." Jane answered in a seductive tone.

"I'm not sure he would like being talked about like this guys." A timid male voice said.

"It's okay Reckon," Emily responded. "It's only natural for us to discuss a new team member."

The group was currently walking through a wide cavern.

Glossy, black rock surrounded them, creating a tunnel that reflected the light of their lanterns.

Dylan was about twenty meters deeper into the Dungeon, using his darkness skill to play vantage, and make sure they didn't run in to any surprises.

The mission Emily had invited him on, was to explore an abandoned mine. This mine had been left alone for hundreds of years, turning into what people referred to as a Dungeon.

Dungeons housed packs of beasts, ranging from low-tier adventurer realm to low-tier ancestor realm. Only officers or soldiers ranked in the mid adventurer realm, could be given missions to explore these places. The deeper one travelled in the dungeon, the more powerful the beasts became. Until reaching the home of the Den Lord.

The Den Lord was a mid-tier ancestor realm beast, that governed the dungeon.

Dylan and his party were tasked with defeating this beast.

His comrades were all ranked in the high-tier of the hero realm. Emily being in the low-tier ancestor realm.

Much more powerful than Dylan had expected.

He himself would most likely be ranked mid-tier ancestor realm, but was only officially recognized as high-tier hero realm.

With all his boosts, he could easily make the jump of two maybe three levels. He could even potentially fight against those ranked above the realms, such as the kings or chosen warriors of the kingdoms.

These few select people, were considered the most powerful of the humans. Their ranks were unknown, due to most never reaching that power. 

It's said that once one surpasses the ancestor realm, they receive immortality.

This theory was backed by the insane longevity of the kings and their chosen warriors. Most kingdoms were under the same rule for a few hundred years. Only changing due to one of the current kings offspring reaching the same realm.

There were a few previous kings still alive, but most people wouldn't even know of their existence. 

-

The party arrived at the entrance of a large open room.

They had travelled into the dungeon for hours, defeating weak beasts along the way. Most of which Dylan never even participated in, and when he did, he only assisted with elemental bombs, and one of his new abilities.

Not only had he received ten thousand mana stones for his exam mission, he also was rewarded a new accessory.

The Mask of Fear.

Upon recieving this item, he immediately wanted to know what it did.

"Inspect."

-SYSTEM DATA-

Name: Mask of Fear

Category: major-item

Skill: Intimidate

Passive: aura masking

Description: This mask once belonged to the warlord Killmaris. It strikes fear into the target, reducing their over-all stats, and inflicting a slight paralysis. The mask also conceals the users aura, making their power level harder to detect.

Combining the Intimidate with his Will, he was able to essentially freeze his target in place.

He didn't garner any EXP from doing this, but he knew the real target would be more than a challenge, so he remained vigilant and conserved his strength.

Dylan stood in the entrance of the large area in a laxed position,

With his newfound funds, he was able to upgrade his armor. 

No longer was he clad in all black, but a white layer across his chest in contrast to the other wise black attire, resembling the white mana his focus burst released from the pitch-black Harbinger.

He had removed most of the straps and chains, choosing to adopt a more simple look. A black scarf hanging from his neck and a wide collar spewing from top of it.

He donned arm-guards, made of black steel, and hard leather boots. 

The large black blade, hidden behind the cape-like scarf.

Overall, he looked more sophisticated. Less like a hungry beast, and now resembling a powerful officer of the Dawn Guard. The only difference being, his preference for black over gold, and the mask resembling a wolf.

Looking down at a large, powerful looking, fully-armed ogre, he was trying to formulate a plan.

He knew Emily brought him along for this crucial moment.

Up until now, the four of them would have been fine. Granted, Dylan made the journey much easier with his assistance.

"I think I have a plan," Dylan told the party.

"Shoot," Gregor responded.

"I'll be honest with you guys," Dylan continued. "I have an ability that allows me to hit really hard, one time."

"That being said, I'm fairly confident in sneaking up on the beast and doing just that."

"I'm not saying I won't need any help, I'm more or less saying be ready to finish it off, just in case."

"No, it's to risky," Emily interjected. "There's a huge chance you'll get detected, and be a sitting duck out there."

"I invited you along to help, not get yourself killed."

Dylan stared at her plainly, thinking a second before responding.

"So?" he said.

"Honestly, I could handle this alone either way. I actually prefer to work solo, and only came along as a favor."

"So you got two options, let me take the lead and handle this my way, or I sit out and you pay me for escorting you guys here.

The four were shocked.

Where had this attitude came from?

He was such a quiet guy up until now, even helping from the sidelines.

Dylan knew how the group currently felt.

Nevertheless, he had to put his foot down. He had no intention of being a part of this party for the long term. After accompanying them this far, he realized why he preferred to work alone.

He couldn't gain any EXP while making sure his group was safe. He had no healing capabilities, so he had to make sure they never got injured.

Granted, one could say he was being over protected, but he couldn't shake the feeling of responsibility, and that made him uncomfortable.

After as long pause, one of them responded an surprised the others.

"I think we should do what he says," Reckon muttered.

"What?!!" Gregor bellowed. "Why?"

"He has a point Gregor," Jane interrupted. "He's obviously the only reason it was so easy making it this far."

"Reckon is right," Emily said. "I'm sorry Grain, I should have acknowledged it sooner."

"You're the only reason we can complete this mission safely. I'm willing to temporarily, give you leadership.

"However, you wont always be stronger than me."

With the newfound understanding, it was time to get the show started.

Dylan simply nodded, disappearing in a black smoke.

-

The ogre had lived a long life.

It was well over two hundred years old, and had never once been contested for his spot.

Not since he gained it from defeating the previous Den Lord.

A few humans had tried to vanquish it over the years, only to meet their demise under his large club.

He was currently laid out, relaxing in his usual spot.

From here, the only way to sneak up on him, was from above.

No sane creature would fall a hundred meters to a sleeping giant. Leaving the ogre to nap in peace in the center of this wide room.

Just as he was having these thoughts, a beam of lightning smacked his nose, causing him to scream in pain.

"AHHHHHHHH"

The human like roar, hid the words uttered by the assailant.

"Berserk!"

"Braver!"

Sadly there was no concentration of mana, however Dylan was sure the combined strength of Berserk and Braver would be enough.

"Focus Burst!"

A white light enveloped the entire cavern.

Waves of powerful mana made the surrounding air thick with dense energy, causing the walls and ceiling of the mine to begin crumbling.

After the blast dissipated, Dylan landed gracefully on his feet.

The ogre had been reduced to only a torso and head.

Parts of its body, strung about the remaining walls of the mine, and its belongings were thrown about.

It held no life, and was only the corpse of its previous self.

Dylan looked to his party as they descended to his location.

"Holy fuck dude," Gregor whispered.

"Yeah I'll be honest," Jane added. "I wasn't expecting that."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

Dylan only stared up at them with an expressionless face.

"Well," Reckon spoke up. "I think he should get whatever the Den Lord left behind."

"He killed it after all."

The group descended and Emily went to tell Dylan about their agreement.

"Grain," she started. "If it's okay with you, you take it's things."

"We don't mind splitting the mana stones five ways, even if you get something valuable from the ogre."

Dylan didn't really mind either way, because he had already received the real reward.

(Host received 1800 experience for defeating mid-tier ancestor ogre)

-SYSTEM DATA-

Name: Dylan/Grain Wolf Silver

Age: 15 years 5 months (post-Gate)

Race: Human/???

Level: 11

Skills: Focus Burst(lv.5) Darkness(lv.4) Lightning(lv.3) Berserk (lv.2) Devour(lv1.) Intimidate(lv.2)

Strength: 36

Agility: 33

Intelligence: 39

Dexterity: 31

Faith: 10

EXP: 2850/5500

Dylan couldn't complain, he gained a decent amount of EXP, and managed to level up his Darkness and Intimidate skills.

After searching around the ogre's den, he only found one thing he deemed useful.

It appeared to be an egg of some kind.

Warm to the touch, and a soft purple color, it resembled a dragon egg he remembered from movies on earth.

At least, he thought it did.

The memory was a bit hazy.

"Hey that's a beast egg." Emily chirped.

"Awh, lucky bastard." Gregor complained.

Dylan wasn't sure why the party was behaving this way, but he decided to find out about the egg anyways.

"Inspect."

-SYSTEM DATA-

Name: Basilisk (egg)

Category: majestic-beast

Description: Beast of legend, know for its snake like appearance, and its ability to turn its foe to stone. The egg appears to have life, but may require a large amount of mana to hatch. System recommends creating a bond, and supplying the egg with mana until it hatches.

(Would host like to initiate the SoulBond ritual?)

Yes/No?