Vol.02: Ch.05: The Competition Begins

A few hours later,

The people of the town watched curiously and the small children excitedly pointed as they looked at the students who hurried their way to the dungeon entrance.

Athena's gaze roamed on every student and they straightened their posture when her gaze passed through them.

After every student had arrived, she began instructing, "Before I begin instructing all of you, I want to remind each and every one of you to read the rules inscribed on the stone tablet again. Because if you are caught breaking any rule, we won't care whether you are a Duke's son or daughter or a commoner, you are going to kicked out. Plain and simple. Did everybody get that?"

"Yes, Instructor Athena!" The students chorused.

She continued, "First, ensure that your equipment and armor are in pristine condition. Your armor will be your life saver and give you a second life during dangerous situations. Always remember that. Make sure that your armor is good because even a mere rank 01 goblin can seriously injure you if your armor is subpar. Second, always have your potions at the ready. Never ever underestimate them. If you can't continue and are surrounded by a horde, they will give you the extra kick - the extra push that you would need to save yourself. I hope you have stocked up on the different types of potions because you never know when you may need them. Third, never ever let your guard down in a fight. If you relax, even for a split second, that's it. You're gone. Your life is over. You would be dead. Don't underestimate beasts. Some of them are intelligent enough to attack you even they see your lapse in judgement.

Fourth, remain cautious of traps. This dungeon is full of them. So, keep your eyes open and be vigilant. Fifth, you are a team and the team moves forward as a whole. If a member is injured, the other members must ensure his safety and bring him to the surface. If you find a beast is too difficult for you to handle, retreat. There's no shame in that. Sixth, and this is something that most forget to do. Always think before you act. Don't let your pride get in the way of your judgment. Sometimes, it's better to live to fight another day. You never know what's lurking around the corner.

Seventh, do not engage the boss unless you are ready. It's the biggest challenge that a dungeon has and there is a reason why. They are powerful and have the ability to change the layout of the room and the type of beasts they have. Eighth, be aware of the people around you. You must be able to help or save them if you can. Ninth, remember to breathe and use your heads. Don't lose your temper and go wild."

She paused for a moment. She then looked at the students with a hard gaze.

"This is your last chance to back out. If any of you feel that you want to quit, tell me right now."

There was no response.

"Good. Remember everything I've said. And lastly," she tucked a strand of her pink hair behind her ear and said in the most caring voice she could speak in while smiling sweetly, "Take care of yourselves... please. And, return safely. Don't die. Because if you do, I... will very sad because I care for all of you. So please, return safely."

The students, including the girls, stared at her, their mouths agape, some even blushed a little. The male students were invigorated by Athena's 'performance' and shouted excitedly, "Yessss, Ma'aaaaam!!"

"I love this side of Lady Athena more!!"

"I love all of her!!"

"I will return safely and confess my love!!"

They were more than ready to go into the dungeon and prove their worth and their power.

"I wish all of you the best of luck!", She said and stepped aside as the entrance of the dungeon began opening slowly.

Athena clasped her hands behind her back and stood straight, nodding her head in satisfaction. 'Oh yes, they're hooked.'

Walter was standing among the crowd of people from the town and smirked while staring at Athena.

'You sneaky woman!', He thought, 'This woman truly knows what kind of power she has over the students. It is simply astonishing. I've underestimated her. She knows how to use her beauty and her sweet talking to manipulate the students into doing what she wants.'

He could hear some of the students talk to each other who passed by him.

"Hey, man. Isn't Instructor Athena so pretty? I mean, she is like the prettiest instructor here! And, she has the best rack among all of the instructors."

"And, she is so strong!! Man, did you see how she kicked the hell out of those two brats yesterday? It was beautiful! The look on their faces was hilarious. She is the strongest among the instructors, I'd say."

"Did you see her smile and hear her say she cares about us? I almost went weak at the knees, I tell ya."

"Me too, bro."

"She is such a goddess."

'Yeah, she really is something. She is a manipulative bitch.', Walter thought while chuckling inwardly, shaking his head.

He looked back at Athena and sighed while thinking, 'But... I have to say she sure sounded sweet and caring. Too bad, that sweet and caring side of hers is only a performance.'

The students cheered enthusiastically and walked toward the dungeon entrance as it opened wide. The crowd, the children and the townspeople, the adventurers, watched silently as the students disappeared into the dungeon.

Darell's group remained back, fully equipped with equipped with armor and weapons. They didn't need to carry huge backpacks or other stuff like the rest of the students because all of their additional supplies, such as potions, tents, and food, were stored by Darell using his skill [Space Arsenal] - his innate skill that allowed him to create a space that he can store and access at will. The space was big enough to store everything they needed.

When the initial rush of students subsided and the number dwindled, Darell turned to his friends asked excitedly, "Ready?"

"Of course, we are! Let's go. We need to make a name for ourselves!", Lilith replied.

"Hahaha, yeah. Let's go and make our parents proud!", Darell said and ran into the dungeon.

Emma, Eric, Ariel, and Lilith laughed and ran after him.

When Darell stepped foot in the dungeon, he received a notification from the system.

[DING!]

[Special Quest - First Time Dungeon Exploration

- Every time you explore a dungeon for the first time, you will be given a quest. Complete the quest to gain rewards.

- Conquer the dungeon

- Become a Dungeon Conqueror since the beginning

Hint : A dungeon can be a gold mine for some and a land mine for others. ]

Darell felt even more excited than before after seeing the quest and he thought, 'No reward? Hehehe! It seems that the system deliberately hid the reward for the quest. Interesting. I will definitely try my best to complete the quest.'

After walking for some time, they arrived at a corridor within the dungeon and found some students lingering in the corridor, either fearful of proceeding or double-checking their equipment and supplies. They glanced around their surroundings and noticed eerie elements within the corridor. The walls were adorned with demonic faces carved into the stone, while the floor was covered in a labyrinth of tiles. Skeletons dangled from chains and manacles against the walls, exuding a moldy odor and a faint hissing noise. The corridor was dimly lit, with only sparse illumination to guide their way. Geometric patterns adorned the walls, further adding to the unsettling atmosphere.

"Wow, this is creepy.", Lilith commented.

Ariel replied, "This is just the start."

"I'm sure the other students have already reached the first room. So, let's go.", Emma said and stepped forward.

As soon as she took her first step, the ground where she had placed her feet lit up, and a click resounded from beneath them.

* BOOM *

A wall appeared out of nowhere, blocking the path and trapping the students who were behind them in the corridor. The students who were still in the corridor were alarmed and started to panic.

"What was that?!"

"Is it a trap?! Did we trigger a trap?!"

"Calm down. Don't panic. Let's take a moment and calm down."

"I didn't know that the dungeon has traps."

"Everyone, calm down. We can do this. All we need is to pay attention."

Emma frowned. She quickly inspected her surroundings and noticed something on the wall near the trap she had just triggered. A plaque, decorated with gold and gems, was fixed on the wall near the trapped tile. The plaque had some writing on it and Emma read it out loud,

"First rule of the dungeon - Be alert.

For every one who dies here, it is their own fault.

Do not blame others."

Lilith's eyebrows rose and she looked at the others, "What does it mean by that?"

Ariel shrugged and said, "Well, it is obvious. It is the dungeon's way of telling us that there are traps everywhere and we have to be alert."

"I didn't even know the dungeon could communicate with us like this. This is new.", Eric remarked.

Darell nodded. "Let's continue."

* BOOM *

Darell turned to look back and noticed that others had taken care of the wall. He thought as he walked ahead, 'They can take care of themselves.'

They remained cautious of traps and exited the corridor. A few steps later, they approached a room and stopped in front of the door.

"Should we go in?", Emma asked.

"Yes, but...", Eric observed the symbols on the door and said, "It says this is Room 01."

"So? What does it matter?", Lilith asked.

"It matters because there might be many rooms. Who knows how far the dungeon is. Maybe we will reach a point where the numbers will reach a thousand. We have to be careful.", Eric replied.

Darell nodded and said, "True, but we should at least go in and take a look. We have to go through all the rooms. If we don't, we will not complete the dungeon, right?"

Ariel said, "Yeah, you're right. We should take a look."

Everybody looked at Darell who sighed and stepped forward, "Alright, here goes."

He grabbed the doorknob and turned it, slowly pushing the door open.

'The room is empty. That's odd.', Darell thought as he looked inside and entered followed by the rest.

They walked further inside and stood in the middle of the room, gazing around. There was nothing inside except for a strange-looking rock. Darell approached the rock and examined it closely.

'This doesn't seem dangerous. I'll try touching it.', he thought and placed his hand on top of the rock.

When nothing happened, he turned to the others and said, "This room is empty. Even, this rock is just that. A rock. There is nothing here. There is no beast either. Haha, maybe the dungeon is trying to trick us?"

The rest of the team smiled, feeling relaxed, and walked towards him.bJust as the others were about to reach him, Darell's expression suddenly changed. He was alarmed and his face filled with fear.

"STOP! GET AWAY! DON'T COME NEAR ME!", Darell shouted, looking at the others while backing away.

The rest were shocked and they halted, confused.

"What's going on, Darell?", Lilith asked, looking at him.

"IT'S A TRA-!"

Before Darell could complete his sentence, the rock suddenly opened its eyes and jumped up from the ground. It transformed into a hideous creature with eight long tentacles and a large mouth that resembled a lamprey's.

* SCREEEEEEECH *

It was a gigantic octopus-like creature. It screeched loudly, emitting an ear-piercing sound that was unbearable to hear.

"W-W-What the hell is th-h-hat thing?", Eric shouted as the rest stared in shock at the beast while covering their ears.

"I-I-I d-don't know, b-b-but it's dangerous! G-G-Get away!", Darell shouted and quickly pulled his sword from his scabbard and analyzed the beast with his Inspect skill.

'Oh! A rank 03 RockOctopus! With a strength stat of 50! It should be easy for me, then!', He thought and charged toward it. At the same time, he received a quest from the system which gave him XP as the reward for killing the beast.

The beast was stunned for a moment when it saw Darell's sword. Then, it became furious and its tentacles extended towards Darell.

Darell swatted away the incoming tentacles with his sword.

* SHING *

* SCHICKK *

Darell shouted, "Ugh!! You ugly bastard! Take this!"

* SLASH *

A tentacle was cut off by his sword, and the beast screeched in pain. Darell didn't waste the opportunity and continued attacking the beast with his sword while shouting, "You damn octopus!"

* SLASH *

* SCHICKK *

* SPLURT *

Blood spurted out from the wounds created by the sword, and the beast became enraged.

* SCREEEEEEECH *

More tentacles attacked Darell, and they wrapped around his body. The beast lifted him up and opened its enormous mouth, showing its sharp teeth. However, Darell wasn't afraid. He smirked and teleported above it's head and drove his sword down, stabbing the beast's brain.

* SPLURT *

* SCREECH *

* THUD *

The beast shrieked in pain. Its tentacles released their grip and the beast fell to the ground, its blood leaking onto the floor. Darell jumped off the beast's body and landed on the ground safely.

"Hehe! It's dead.", He said and looked at the others.

Ariel's face scrunched in disgust when she looked at the beast and said, "Come on, let's take it's core and get the fuck out of here!"

They quickly cut it open and grabbed the beast core, and walked to the doors in front of them.

"Which one should we pick?", Emma asked.

Ariel pointed at the door which had Room 02 written on it and said, "This one."

Darell pushed open the doors and the group entered the next room. This room was really empty and had nothing else. So, they decided to enter Room 03. Here, the same thing happened and the room turned out to be empty. So, they continued entering the empty rooms and were soon standing in front of Room 05.

"What are the odds of getting beasts this time?", Ariel said.

"Well, we haven't been lucky so far. Maybe the odds will be in our favor this time.", Lilith replied.

Darell opened the door and the group entered.

"Another empty room. Well, I am starting to get bored of these.", Eric said.

"Maybe the dungeon wants us to learn patience or something.", Ariel commented.

"Or maybe the dungeon wants us to die by going insane and killing ourselves. Because we are all bored out of our minds right now!", Lilith exclaimed and rolled her eyes.

Darell chuckled and said, "Come on, let's just get over with it and go on."

But, as soon as they stepped in the middle of the room, they heard the familiar click beneath their feet.

* BOOM *

* SHATTER *

"W-W-Wait a minute. What's that sound?", Ariel asked nervously, her gaze fixed on the floor around them

"It's coming from above us. Look.", Emma answered and pointed towards the ceiling.

Suddenly, eight pairs of red eyes fluttered in the dark ceiling.

"Oh, shit. Oh, shit. OH SHIT!!!", Lilith exclaimed in a panic and began backing away.

The others had a similar reaction. Their faces were filled with horror when they realized who those eight pairs of eyes belonged to.

* BANG *

* THUD *

They hurriedly leaped backward as the beast landed on the floor. It was a giant spider. A Rank 02 RedWidow, to be exact.

* SCREECH *

"Fuck this shit!", Emma screamed and activated her skill.

"Light Breath!"

* BOOM *

* SCREEECH *

A vaporizing beam of radiant light erupted from Emma's open mouth which instantly transformed the RedWidow to ashes.

"Damn, Emma! That was some badass shit right there!", Lilith cheered.

Emma was panting heavily and she had a wide grin on her face, "Hah, that felt so good. I didn't want that thing to be alive one more second. I think I'm going to like this place!"

"Phew! Let's keep going. And, be careful. There might be more of these bastards waiting for us in the other rooms.", Darell said and led the group through the doors.

But, suddenly, the floor shook under their feet and they saw a platform emerged from underneath the floor. They walked toward the platform cautiously and saw coins and a few potions scattered on the platform.

"It's a reward from the dungeon for killing the beast in the room!", Eric said.

"Really? Cool!", Lilith exclaimed and walked over to the platform, picked up the coins and the potions and put them into the storage bag.

"Come on, guys!", She said excitedly and the group left the room.

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