Training dungeon…

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It's been a month since I started Lumin, nothing exceptional happening between start and now besides the little terrorism thing. Lined up and in front of a cave with a door, our teacher begins yelling at us.

"Here's the deal, students," Bran shouts, pacing from the front of the line to the back. "This will be your first official test of skill. I felt that you have had long enough to handle the weakest of the weak!"

I stand in line, looking forward. We're treated more like soldiers than students most of the time, honestly. Either way, not all of the friend group is here to participate. Variel doesn't actually have a combat class, physical or otherwise. 

But we do have me, Pridwen, Gram and... I guess Pierce, if we're including him. A stacked cast for the assignment... although we probably won't be paired together. 

Bran walks to the beginning of the line and begins numbering people 1 to 9, restarting back to 1 when he reaches 9. He's dividing us into 9 groups... great. It's not like it was required to get in a group with them, but it would've been preferred.

I get numbered 2, whilst Gram and Pierce are labeled 1. Pridwen is labeled 3 further down the line, meaning I will be with none of the people I suspect as prophesied. No biggie, no biggie... I just wish I had known this was happening today. I would've worn better pants than these hella baggy sweatpants.

We get sorted into our groups and I get acquainted with group 2. Elizabeth Tanren the beast tamer, Johnathon Tanren the archer, Terrance Brawn the shield bearer and Joshua Hunt the sword... guy. Average team for an average first assignment.

Elizabeth Tanren, short blonde hair with blue eyes. Elizabeth has a bird on her shoulder, although I feel some unusual mana from it. Johnathon Tanren, the second Tanren twin, has short blonde hair and blue eyes as well.

Terrance is fairly tall with brown hair and eyes, stocky and strong with a shield on his back. Joshua stands out the most because he actually has the least identifiable features: curly black hair, blue eyes and average stature.

"It's nice to meet you all," I say, extending my hand for a handshake a few times. This handshake goes far better than my attempt with Pierce, connecting with every person. 

We go through introductions from everyone before returning to attention, waiting for the next instructions from Bran. Eventually, all the other groups do the same.

"Now that all of you have gotten to know each other, off you go," He says, stepping to the side and gesturing to the door. "Group 1 first."

Wait, that's… it? The very first dungeon we ever go into, even though it's just a training dungeon of unranked difficulty, is so easy that we don't even need proper instructions?!?

"And just in case anyone somehow gets hurt during this, we have 2 teachers inside who will survey and keep you from any permanent harm," He tacks that on later than I was hoping.

After waiting for group 1 to finish, I touch the door and temporarily black out.

* * *

Entering the training dungeon, I find myself disoriented. I fell on my face, getting grass in my mouth. It's a green and open meadow with no indicator of where or how we entered. Magic stuff, I guess.

I have all my stuff… which is honestly just my clothes and my sword, but whatever. I hear something impact the ground behind me, so I turn around. Joshua is laid on the ground, face down. Well there's 1 of my teammates… now where are the rest?

I watch as the rest of my teammates form a few feet too high above the ground and fall on their faces as I have. I turn away to spare them the dignity that I could take by witnessing their minor humiliation.

"Who's ready for a dungeon?" I ask, already tired. I feel like we're a clown troupe right now.

I hear a few groans from them as they stand up, but whatever. Maybe I can just sit back and let them lead... probably not. They pat themselves off after standing up, attempting to regain their pride. They're teens, so I can't really blame them.

"I-I'm ready!" Elizabeth says, raising her hand. 

"Yeah, whatever..." Terrance says, shrugging slightly. "Who gets to lead?"

I look at everyone in the group 1 by 1. Liz doesn't seem like the leading type, Joshua is too quiet and Terrance is too... gifted in imbecility, I suppose. Leaving me or Johnathon, I choose to vote for him.

"Let's go with John as the leader," I say, looking for an objection from anyone.

Terrance seems to want to object, but he doesn't. Joshua nods, whilst Liz gives a thumbs up.

"Then it's decided, I suppose," He says, nodding softly. He looks between all of us for a moment before speaking once again. "I will be taking the back lines alongside my sister, Terrance will be the bulwark, Joshua and Arthur will be the vanguard."

Well... he organized that surprisingly quickly. It's not like it was that hard, but he thinks faster than I expected. Everyone nods, seemingly agreeing on the structure of our attack plan.

"Now, let's choose a direction and hope we're going the right way," Johnathon declares, pointing towards the first logical place. His finger points towards the forest in the dungeon, an obvious setting.

"Very well," I remark, turning and beginning the march with no second thoughts.

Liz high fives her brother, to which he half-heartedly returns. She's happy that he's leading, I guess. Walking forward, I notice the Joshua kid stand a foot off to my side and back. His curly hair blocks me from seeing his eyes properly, but he can definitely see me.

He hasn't said a word yet... like he's suspiciously inconspicuous. Quiet kid mentality, not that I care. Each step takes us closer to the forest, until... a sound emerges from the woods. A loud thump. I watch as many birds from various spots begin to fly away.

A part of me wants to immediately run off and go see what it was... but I now that it's probably not what the team wants-

In the next second, I spot Johnathon and Terrance running away from the group and into the forest. I get being hot-blooded, but come on!

"Guys! Where are you going?!?" I yell to no response, my voice taken in vain. "We're supposed to stick together!!"

That... that pisses me off. They're just going to run off to see what's happening without saying a single word?!?! Assholes! I turn back and look at Liz and Joshua, my face clearly confused and disappointed.

"I'm sorry... he's always been a little hyper and..." She sighs, looking at the ground. Disappointment is prevalent in her face as well, whereas Joshua just looks... neutral. "I didn't expect him to just... up and run off..."

"Something about this forest..." Joshua mutters it quietly, a volume hard for me to catch. "Is strange."

"Huh?" I ask, looking over at him. He hadn't spoken yet, so I'm interested. "What do you mean?"

He looks at me, his eyes just barely visible for a second. It feels like he's calculating every action, although he probably isn't.

"When we entered, I felt the strange desire to run off and investigate..." He says, looking forward and past me. "Yet I would never feel such a thing if not for outside influence."

I click my tongue slightly. That's sound reasoning, come to think of it. For a moment, even I felt that strange ping of wanderlust and need to investigate.

"That's smart... good job, Joshua."

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