Chapter 53: Gone With The Wind
The Knight commander got into position in front of the old man in purple robes. With a little lift of his brown staff, the knight commander was enshrouded in a mist of heavy mana before completely disappearing from sight.
As soon as she did, the old man gasped for air for a couple of minutes while one of the guards present rushed to bring him a seat as he sat down to recollect himself.
Now, all the heroes understand why they needed to be teleported one person at a time, every hour.
It seems the old man is quite famous in the kingdom as the only person with a special skill that lets him teleport others to a marked location.
Though from the looks of things and how exhausted the man appears, he requires an hour to recharge enough mana to carry out another use of his skill.
Still, Zorat wondered why this person didn’t just use an artifact like the blue mana stone, but then he recalled how expensive they actually are.
Maybe there was some other reason, but that one seemed logical enough.
The teleportation proceeded that way every hour.
Following the same order the knight commander had called out, all the heroes were being teleported out of the kingdom.
The dignitaries up on the bleachers watched patiently like people sending their loved ones off to war.
Soon, it was Zorat’s turn, and he was like the others, enshrouded in the midst of blue mana, and soon found himself in a clearing, right at the entrance of the catacombs of permafrost.
Back again. hehehe.
Everyone being accounted for and ready, the knight commander began one of her usual speeches.
"Now that everyone is here. Remember to follow all the rules of engagement in combat I taught you all."
"Do not try to be a hero... well... do try...but always play the roles that have been assigned to you during our combat exercises."
"We will be fighting our way down to the mid-lower floors of this dungeon, and after every two floors, the level of the monsters you encounter will also rise..."
"But, fret not, you all will definitely be able to easily pull through if you apply all that you’ve learned."
"Now, go on ahead, and stay close together; the moment you step into that open cave, the monsters in there will be alerted to your presence, and you will be attacked..."
"Good luck, and don’t die."
The knight commander finished speaking and steadily stepped back to give way for the heroes.
Julia took the lead, with Andrew and Roberto in tow. Broddy followed closely while occasionally looking back guiltily at Jacob, who simply nodded assuringly at him.
Erica and Zorat moved from the side to the middle. Zorat had, of course, chosen to stick close to her for obvious reasons.
Ariana, Lily, Ava, and Jacob all followed from the back, and the knight commander was the last in the lineup, just there to offer assistance when needed.
Julia and the heroes, stepping into the first floor of the dungeon, were first met with a sudden drop in temperature.
But before they had the time to adjust to that, three ice wolves charged from the depths of the sparsely lit floor...
One slammed heavily into Julia as she blocked with her shield, feeling the strain in her arms and legs as she was pushed back a couple of feet.
The other two ran into the group, and Andrew immediately welcomed one, while the other was intercepted by Roberto.
The students were at first scared out of their minds at seeing the so-called monster for the first time.
But after a couple of exchanges, with Julia pushing back her wolf, Andrew cleaving through the hind legs of the one he was engaged with, and Roberto punching holes in a flurry into his own wolf’s body. They and the other heroes began feeling a sense of assurance in their growth and capabilities.
The assault continued with four more ice wolves appearing. The long-range dealers, now more relaxed in their roles, released their attacks from behind the group.
Erica, with her precise aim, caught one wolf in the eye with her arrow before it got any closer to the group.
Ariana, conjuring a fireball, launches it at one of the ice wolves in the distance, setting it ablaze.
Jacob, gathering lightning in his hands and fingertips, stretches out his hands as charged lightning spirals out violently, frying a charging ice wolf in his line of sight to a crisp.
Broddy pummelled the last one gruesomely after a bit of tossing and biting from the wolf that didn’t seem to be able to penetrate his tough skin.
Ava was not engaging, standing only behind Zorat, who was watching the whole battle unfold with dwindling interest.
Ava was almost completely blended with her surroundings at this point that if it were not for the concentrated gaze she had on Zorat, even he would not have noticed her in his current state.
right. I remember now.
She said she was going to protect me. Oh dear.
Zorat sighed. This over-charismatic young lady might just use her unnecessary care to cost him dearly today.
The assault continued, and more and more ice wolves charged in to attack the group. Dismantling them was becoming increasingly easy for the heroes, as most of them were visibly growing stronger, faster, and more coordinated.
Lily was almost as passive in the battle as Zorat. Still, she did use her staff to bash the head of a crippled wolf at one time.
The MVP so far, surprisingly, was not Andrew; though Zorat saw he intentionally stepped back to give that role to Roberto, who was weirdly enjoying dispatching the ice wolves as he cursed them out loudly for daring to stand in his way.
The other heroes watched, unsurprisingly, and allowed him his fun. There would be stronger monsters below and enough exp to go around.
Ava suddenly noticed a wolf that had broken through their ranks at the front and was headed in Zorat’s direction.
She burst at speeds that made the wind seem slow, brandishing twin blades from her sides, her entire demeanor transformed into something lethal.
Surprisingly to Zorat, he never knew Ava was that fast. Well, he did miss a whole seven days of their training, only coming around to observe half-hearted practices.
If Robert and Andrew were considered fast, Ava would be considered a literal jet engine.
Zorat was tempted to watch her engage the foe, but chose to steal this opportunity to get away with Erica.
"Erica, look over there, what’s that ?" Zorat, who had been carefully leading the two of them toward the corner where he had inscribed his mark, suddenly said to Erica in a concerned tone.
"Some sort of marking ?. Maybe a hidden path ?" he said with deep interest as he started walking towards it. Erica, of course, followed, curious to see what it was.
However, as she joined Zorat in stepping on the large markings on the floor, Zorat pulled on his mental will, as a purple vortex materialized beneath them both.
The last image Zorat saw was the screaming face of Ava as she was darting at incredible speeds in Zorat’s direction...
But it was already too late.
In an instant, faster than even the paragon-level knight commander could react. Both the hero of bow, and the hero of item box disappeared from sight.