Regional Dungeon

"Only seven people?" Sean glanced at the assembled group and sighed in resignation.

He knew he wasn't an excellent commander or general who could deliver inspiring speeches to boost morale. 

In the past, when he led teams, the members were elite individuals selected through layers of screening by families and guilds. 

Moreover, since it was a game, death didn't carry significant consequences. 

Wipes in dungeons were barely a concern, sometimes even stoking players' competitive spirit.

But this was reality, where everything was different. 

Among the seven present, five were middle-aged, and only two were young. 

The young man who had dared to openly question Sean's command capabilities the previous day was among them.

From their expressions, Sean could clearly discern their general thoughts. 

The five middle-aged individuals were clearly here to redeem their honor, and as for why they harbored such thoughts, Sean didn't care. 

The other young man was here for fame; his eyes held a clear desire for recognition and a strong urge for adventure. 

The final young man, who had doubted Sean's abilities, was full of hatred and had a look of grim determination on his face.

Sean liked people with desires because desires provided motivation. The results, however, depended on what they were willing to sacrifice to fulfill their desires.

"I won't waste words on this. You're all aware of the number of Dogheads," Sean said in a serious tone when it came to matters of command. "I need to inform you that the mist in the Starfall Forest has strong interference capabilities. The closer you get to the forest's interior, the stronger the interference. Once you're lost in the mist, it's practically impossible to come out alive."

Sean's words sent a shiver through them. 

They remembered when the Guild launched an attack earlier, the team was scattered and surrounded, and when the real battle broke out, a quarter of the attacking force was missing.

With the passage of time, more people also failed to reach their designated attack points according to the plan. 

At the time, they hadn't realized the seriousness of the issue and assumed these individuals had been killed by the Dogheads.

"So, how do we get in?" The young man in the group, driven by his desire for fame, asked nervously.

"Just follow me," Sean glanced at him. He was a third-tier Thief, a critical role for this mission. Sean wouldn't let him run off. "In the mist, our visibility is limited to five meters. However, the Dogheads are in the same situation. So, unless necessary, they won't leave their camp to engage us."

"We're going to lure them out of their camp in our battle?" a middle-aged man suddenly brightened. "That's a good strategy. In our previous encounters, we always directly attacked their camp, but..."

"First, tell me, what's our mission?" Sean glanced at him, his tone casual.

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before blurting out, "Aren't we supposed to kill these Dogheads?"

"Will killing them make us rich?" Sean asked in return.

Based on the loot principles in the original *Miracle* game, Dogheads were humanoid creatures that wouldn't drop any material items; they would only drop finished equipment. However, these Dogheads were low-level monsters, so they couldn't possibly drop anything valuable. At best, they might drop high-quality equipment, but such items were of no use to Sean.

And as for currency...

Did Dogheads even use it?

The real value lay in the Medusa Guild's magician who enslaved these Dogheads.

"Our mission isn't to exterminate all these Dogheads," Sean said when he saw the middle-aged man looking bewildered. "Our mission is to retrieve the Prismatic Crystal. That's our primary objective. The Dogheads are merely obstacles preventing us from recovering it. So, if we can find a simpler way to get the Prismatic Crystal, why not take it?"

"But..." The young man who had previously doubted Sean panicked upon hearing that they weren't going to destroy the entire Dogheads tribe.

"Your name."

The young man hesitated for a moment and then said, "Ansel."

"Alright, Ansel. I don't know what grudge you have against these Dogheads, and I don't want to know whether they killed your family or friends," Sean's words made Ansel turn pale. "What I can tell you is that our mission this time is to eliminate two Dogheads magicians. This isn't a real Dogheads tribe; it's a group of enslaved Dogheads. That's why there are no Dogheads leaders here. Otherwise, we'd need a Child of God just to retrieve the Prismatic Crystal."

Sean's tone shifted as he looked at Ansel. 

"However, I'll give you a chance for revenge. There's a human magician in this Dogheads camp, and he's the true mastermind behind these Dogheads."

With just that sentence, the young Shieldbearer's eyes regained their vitality.

Next, without the need for Sean to waste words, the team quickly organized themselves, and a group of nine people set out towards the mist within the Starfallen Forest.

Among the nine members, except for Sean and Cecilia, who were both second-tier professions, the others were all third-tier professions: one each of [Shieldbearers] and [Guards], experts in defense; one [Thief]; two [Swordsmen] wielding various sword-type weapons; and two [Spearmen], primarily armed with long spears. This was the composition of the entire team.

Such a lineup would be considered bizarre in the game, impossible for any dungeon. 

But in the talent-scarce Miracle Continent, Sean had learned to accept even the most peculiar configurations. Of course, he wouldn't take action without the critical core professions. 

It was similar to how the Starfallen Forest required at least two players skilled in archery, and the current "Dogheads Gathering Ground" needed at least one Thief.

Without these core professions, Sean would absolutely not take action.

The "Dogheads Gathering Ground" differed significantly from typical dungeons. This was the first regional dungeon that Kingdom of Portoroa players had access to in the game.

A regional dungeon referred to the unique dungeon within a regional-level area.

For instance, the current Tindes Territory where Sean was located belonged to the Grisien region of the Kingdom of Portoroa. 

In the event of an external war, the soldiers dispatched from the Tindes Territory would bear the banner of "Grisien · Tindes."

This contrasted starkly with the situation in the Kingdom of Seria.

In the Kingdom of Seria, the lords governing a region added the word "Power" before their titles. 

For example, the Serian noble who ruled the Hivell Territory, where Sean had been previously, belonged to the Surian region and was known as the Power Marquis Nortus. 

Even Marquis Damien of the Hivell Territory was subject to Nortus's control to some extent. 

In the event of war, soldiers from the Hivell Territory would not bear the banner of "Surian · Hivell" but would directly display the "Surian" banner, indicating their direct obedience to Power Marquis Nortus.

However, not every region had regional dungeons.

Only specific regions had regional dungeons, and these dungeons usually had higher drop rates. 

The items that dropped were often rare, but the downside was that these dungeons had extremely long cooldown times.

In the game, all regional dungeons shared a public cooldown time. 

In other words, once a regional dungeon was cleared, the cooldown time varied from one week to several months, depending on the dungeon's scale and historical background. 

Some regional dungeons might even never reset once they were refreshed.

The so-called public refresh cooldown meant that in a dungeon where many teams might enter, once one team killed a BOSS, other teams would no longer encounter that BOSS in the dungeon. 

Furthermore, once one team cleared the dungeon, all other teams still inside would be kicked out.

Sean remembered when his elite team and another guild's elite team simultaneously entered a regional dungeon. 

The first BOSS had only 2% of its health remaining when it suddenly disappeared because the other elite team had killed it. 

However, the other team needed some rest, so Sean took the lead and quickly killed the remaining BOSSes, clearing the dungeon. 

As a result, the other team was promptly expelled from the dungeon map.

For this reason, competition for regional dungeons in the game was fierce.

However, now on Miracle Continent, no one would compete with Sean for dungeons. 

But similarly, all dungeons had become one-time-use consumable dungeons.

As for the current Dogheads Gathering Ground, the challenge level had increased significantly due to its status as a regional dungeon. 

The main reason was the large number of Dogheads inside. Any slight mistake could lead to an attack by all the Dogheads in the camp. 

These Dogheads shared a common hatred. 

If a confrontation with Dogheads lasted longer than thirty seconds without a resolution, all the Dogheads in the camp would mobilize.

This was why they needed a Thief, as Thieves had many skills for luring and stunning. 

When used effectively, they could employ a method of cutting and killing.

Moreover, reality was not a game. In games, monsters had health points, but here, they did not. 

A well-placed strike to a vital spot would be deadly. 

That's why Sean didn't follow the three Thieves configuration required for dungeons in the past.

What he needed now was a team that could move as silently as possible.

Based on the current results, this was indeed a well-trained and satisfactory team.