First Dungeon II: Arrival

Just before I could step through the portal I heard a screech behind me, I turned around to see Tri running across the hangar, three guards or sorry a whole slew of facility guards on her tail as they tried to stop her from getting to me. It was confusing how she was able to get out of the containment unit they had kept her, this test was supposed to be carried out by my lonesome without any help or tools, and in retrospect that also meant that I couldn't go into this dungeon with my terminal beast, but it seems Tri had different plans in mind as she evaded the guards with more speed than even I thought her capable off. But in return for that speed she couldn't bring herself to slow down as she unhesitatingly barreled into me and we both fell back into the portal to the dungeon.

The first feeling I got was one of extreme cold, but the chill was so peculiar in a manner that I couldn't even react to the stimuli. I couldn't shiver or even move my arms so that I could wrap them around myself. Even my thoughts seem frozen in time, lost in a void that made it too slow to string a coherent thought, the only thing that seemed constant was the chill I felt. and it seemed to last for an eternity, dragging forwards, pulling me along into an endless river of infinity and coldness, a point of nonexistence that neither mind nor soul could comprehend. It seemed like eternity, but in actuality…. It only lasted a moment.

I was thrown onto a hard rock floor, the cold a forgotten memory as the feeling of becoming unraveled seemed to die down. I let out a soft cough and raised my head as tri nuzzled into me. I leaned on her for support as her larger frame supported me for the few seconds my shaking legs needed to calm down. I raised my head up to see that I was in a cave, and in front of me was an arch similar to the one that had brought us here, except of course this one didn't have the light show the other did. So obviously I couldn't go back the same way I just came in.

[Welcome to the Instance Dungeon of Beetelus Abraxus Cormis! Clear the first floor to regain access to the return portal, Happy Diving!]

{What do we do now?} Tri asked, her childish voice having a teary tone to it. I shook my head as I patted her neck, feeling her smooth yet sturdy scales underneath my fingers.

"Unfortunately Tri I lost the book that was supposed to give us information about this dungeon, however loosing that to have you around is a much better scenario. I don't know much about dungeons but I know you get a certain amount of credits for every dungeon monster slain, while also getting beast cards and ability cards for decks and skills. As long as we have enough credits we can purchase what we need from the system shop, we can survive here on our own until we at least clear the entire dungeon. Now though where are we?" I asked to no one in particular as I moved towards the entrance of the cave.

I noticed the opening was lined with green and orange crystals that were glowing softly, providing lighting for the dungeon. And beyond it I could see that there was a tunnel leading forwards that was littered to the brim with the same crystals, lighting the place up as if it was electricity. However, something else caught my attention; it was the bugs or rather the beetles that were spread across the entire cave.

{Well what do you make of that John?}

Hearing her call my name was somewhat refreshing, it was like an invisible weight had been lifted off my shoulder as she did that. it wasn't as if she didn't call me John before this, it was just different to hear it without the number 7 being thrown back or yelled at my face every second. For the first time since I woke up, I was myself again, and it felt really good. I crouched down low and motioned for Tri to take a step back as we both observed the beetles in the tunnel ahead of us.

They seemed oblivious to our presence and were busy moving about chewing on tiny green moss and mushrooms that were growing out of the wall of the tunnel. They were black, however the carapace that hid their wings or whatever it's called was a metallic grey that seemed to shimmer. The way I saw it, those wings were actually made of metal, and would probably help a lot in their defense. A naturally formed armor over their brittle shells.

"Do you think you can break through? From observation I've already established that they probably have really good defense, don't know much about speed, power, attack and mobility. With that metal looking wing, I doubt they can lift their own weight, however I'm not exactly sure about it. What do you think Tri?" I asked as I looked up at the Compound Raptor.

{Honestly John we won't know unless we attack, there's three of them in sight, do we face them individually or utilize the [Infusion]}

I shook my head in disagreement with her, I didn't want to always rely on the infusion, getting reliant on it would not allow me to progress in ability. And while most battles are carried between terminals, there are times when the masters would have to be on the forefront, at least that's what I believe. The over one year of training that I have received from the caliphate was not for nothing, I knew well enough how to anticipate the states of things.

"We should take them on and see just how resilient they are, no need for a glancing or testing attacks. Let's hit them with everything we've got, a proper measure of how strong we are in regards to them would let us know how to deal with them."

{You do know they're just beetles the size of a dog right?" I raised my head to look up at Triumphant.

"It's a giant bug Tri, we're not underestimating the damn thing, prepare for combat."

{Yes Master John!}