Hidden Dungeon-3, First Challenge, And...Bad news.

In the next trap path, Aren saw two blessings and got one for himself.

[ You have received a temporary blessing: Umbra Thunder Cloud. ]

<Umbra Thunder Cloud>

-Once activated, a dark cloud will be conjured and follow you for one minute.

-Effect 1: The cloud will release a bolt of black lightning to whoever you hit with your own attack or skill, dealing dark damage. The enemies damaged by these bolts of lightning will have their movement and attack speed decreasing along with a slight reduction of their overall defense.

-Effect 2: The cloud will constantly empower you with its black lightning, increasing your movement speed, attack speed, and power of all senses drastically.

-Note 1: You can activate this blessing by thinking about it, and once activated, it will only last for one minute.

-Note 2: This blessing will only work while you are inside the hidden dungeon: Demon Yakum's Underground Temple.

...

After reaching the safe zone, Aren decided to give his mother the second blessing and told her his plan.

Aren--, "Mom, when you get the blessing, pause and make it evident that you received the blessing."

Lorain--, "Got it."

Afterward, Aren led his mother to the blessing while avoiding the traps and led her to the safe zone.

When Lorain's foot touched the golden sparky area, she heard the voice and got a notification, but she turned stiff for a moment and acted according to Aren's instruction.

Seeing that, Reto, who was focusing on the trap path, noticed it instantly shouted, "Stop!"

Lorain turned around with panicking expression and hurriedly said, "I-I received a blessing called Birds of Frosty Doom."

"Tsk..." Kozark grunted and tsked with displeasure but didn't say anything.

On the other hand, Reto looked at Lorain and asked with a serious expression, "Tell me the details of that blessing."

Lorain nodded as she told Reto the details of the blessing she got.

[ You have received a temporary blessing: Herald Bird of Frosty Doom. ]

<Herald Bird of Frosty Doom>

-Upon activation, summons a Herald Bird of Frosty Doom.

-Effect 1: The bird will attack the enemy you tell it to with its mystical icy attacks. Skills: Frost Shards, Icy Gaze, Dome of Frost.

-Effect 2: Upon dying, the Herald Bird will turn into one hundred smaller birds and chaotically attack the enemy by self-destructing.

-Note 1: You can activate this blessing by thinking about it, and once activated, it will only last for one minute.

-Note 2: This blessing will only work while you are inside the hidden dungeon: Demon Yakum's Underground Temple.

...

"Since you received the blessing, then I might as well tell you that you can use that to attack us, but don't make that foolish decision. After all, without that blessing, we can't clear this hidden dungeon and return to the surface."

After saying that, Reto glanced at Quinn and Luna before speaking with a sneer, "Also, if you try to be smart and use that blessing to attack us then, I also have a blessing, and I will kill these two first before killing you. So...hehe, it's better to co-operate rather than mutual self-destruction."

"No! We will co-operate," Lorain said as she worriedly looked at Luna and Quinn.

Aren nodded and also agreed to co-operate before he continued to lead his mother to the safe zone.

Afterward, He led auntie Hemila to the safe zone while thinking, 'It's clear that blessings are necessary to clear this dungeon from Reto's words. Then next, I'll let auntie Hemila take a blessing and make her seem important in the eyes of Reto and the group.'

'If only I could find a way to let Luna and Quinn get a blessing each...Also, Reto said that we wouldn't be able to return to the surface without beating the hidden dungeon, but...this sounds bull shit. If that was the case, then how did they come to know about this dungeon? Hmmm...Maybe they got some clues from outside? Anyway, I have to find a way to make Quinn and Luna safe as well.'

"Alright, follow me," Reto said as he started moving after Hemila reached the other side.

Others also followed him as they reached the safe zone.

As they walked in this zone and continued forward, they encountered a different scenery than usual. In front of them was a large demonic gate, but the gate entrance was covered in thick mist, and they couldn't see anything except for the border and outline of the gate.

"Stop!" Reto said with a frown as he took out a scroll from his inventory and looked at its content.

After a minute, he put back the scroll in his inventory as he looked at the demonic gates and said with a grimace, "Our first challenge is here."

"You five, stay behind us and don't try to be a smartass while we are fighting," Reto then looked at Kozark and Lamila before saying, " I will keep an eye on them while you two fight. According to the scroll, the first challenge is not that hard and doesn't require the use of blessing."

Lamila and Reto nodded, "Alright, leave it to us."

Afterward, Lamila and Kozark entered the gate first while Reto told Aren and others to go next.

Reto himself stayed at the back and entered last.

...

Once everyone passed through the gate, they saw a large round hall with bright purple fire lanterns hanging on the ceiling that was six meters above the floor.

Once Reto entered the gate, The gate disappeared from behind them, making Reto frown a bit.

He also didn't know everything about this since not all details about this hidden dungeon were mentioned in the scroll.

"It looks like we will only be able to move forward if we clear this."

Right after he finished speaking and the remaining mist of the gate completely disappeared, several roars sounded as the bright purple fireball appeared in front of them.

The bright purple fireball expanded before its shape started to change. After five seconds, it became a four-meter tall monster with its upper body looking like a cobra snake burning in a purple fire while its lower body was that of a giant human.

Aren's eyes looked at the monster and got its rough information.

[ Samrin Snake Demon ]

-Type: Demon Monster.

-Rank: Supreme-1

-Health: [200,000]

-Attack: Physical [1250] Fire [3540].

-???

-???

-???

Lamila and Kozark started attacking the monster as per the plan, while Reto told Aren and others to turn around and face him.

Aren felt unfortunate since he wouldn't be able to watch the fight this way.

On the other hand, Reto also didn't look at the fight but looked at Aren and others with absolute focus and severe expression on his face.

After ten minutes, the fight seemed to be over as Aren and others didn't hear any more sounds of blasts and strange cries of that purple fire snake demon.

"Turn around and continue moving," Reto said.

Aren and others turned around and saw a misty gate appearing at the center of this large round hall.

Once everyone passed through the gate, they arrived at the safe zone and saw a trap path ahead of them.

But...Aren's face turned exceptionally dark because...he couldn't see the traps anymore.

He couldn't see those dark blue sparks of traps anymore! Well, he could still see the blessing as there were two on this trap path, but...he couldn't see blue sparks of traps.

"What are you waiting for? Start moving already," Reto said as he frowned.

"I...can't see the traps anymore," Aren uttered as he turned around with a grimace on his face.