Darkness didn't greet us.
The System did.
And the System did what it does best:
Deliver anxiety.
A cold blue screen slapped itself in front of our faces with all the emotional warmth of a tax collector.
---
SYSTEM MISSION
TEAM OBJECTIVE:
> Defeat 1,000 Monsters
INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVES:
> Lenna Ironcreed: Defeat 100 Monsters solo (Any Stage)
Alfred Eswald: Defeat 25 Monsters without using Magic or Aura (Stage 0: Mid)
Arial Seabreath: Defeat 25 Monsters without using Skills (Stage 0: Mid)
Augustus Ironcreed: Appraise the Boss Monster
DUNGEON CLEAR CONDITION:
> Slay the Dungeon Boss: Gale Hound (Stage 1: Early)
---
I stared.
"Great," I said flatly. "Welcome to our thousand-monster slaughterhouse. Truly a team-building experience."
Lenna didn't blink. "Standard F-rank requirements for a team."
"Standard for who? Saints on vacation? Dragons taking a stroll?"
Alfred, polite as always even while handing out despair:
"Under normal dungeon rules, every participant is scattered, Alone. The System increases difficulty if a team is deployed."
"So we avoided one death sentence by substituting a different death sentence. Fantastic."
He nodded. "Correct."
Arial adjusted her grip on her staff. "At least we start together…"
Yes, because nothing bonds people like a shared burial site.
Before I could fully spiral, the dungeon formed around us—vision snapping into place.
A jungle.
But wrong.
Trees towered overhead with silver-streaked bark and leaves shaped like razors. Wind cut through the branches hard enough to sting. Not normal wind — this felt like something angry was breathing on the world.
Deep claw marks scarred the bark, long and sharp enough to peel stone.
A territory claimed.
"Formation," Lenna ordered, lifting a hand.
Alfred moved right.
I took left.
Arial centered herself behind us.
The wind screamed again, pelting grit against my armor. "Why does it feel like nature hates me?"
"This wind is unnatural," Arial murmured. "A beast… or several."
Wonderful. Even the atmosphere is trying to mug me.
We advanced cautiously—Alfred watching the trees, Lenna reading the wind, me appraising every suspicious leaf because paranoia is cheaper than funerals.
"Augustus," Lenna coldly reprimanded. "Move."
"One second—this leaf looks murderous."
"It is a leaf."
"You don't know that."
"It is a leaf."
Higher Appraisel
---
Blade-Leaf Tree / Rankless
Sharp, but not dangerous. Even a scared cat could handle it.
---
"It's mocking me," I whispered.
Everyone ignored me.
We pushed deeper into the windstorm until Arial stiffened suddenly.
"Something's coming!" Her voice quivered. "Its life signature is strong—too strong!"
"Direction?" Alfred asked.
"I can't—wind is scattering everything!"
That was when my Survival Instinct detonated in my skull.
ABOVE.
"Iron Guard!"
Metalic Aura snapped across my skin; at the same time, a film of water wrapped around me—Arial's reflex.
A weight slammed down onto my shoulders—like a boulder covered in fur and blades.
THUD—SKRRRCH!
Claws screeched across my armor, shoving me back hard enough to plow a trench.
The beast landed low in front of us, snarling.
Wind wrapped around its limbs like living blades.
Yellow eyes glowed with cold hunger.
Teeth hooked like metal.
I didn't hesitate.
Higher Appraisel
---
MONSTER: Air Hound
TYPE: Beast
STAGE: 0 - Late
PATH: Wind Canine
STATS:
Authority – 9
STR - 270
AGI - 315
INT - 288
Luck - 40
Charm - 35
SKILLS:
Wind Camouflage, AAA
Wind Walk, A
Wind Cannon, A
Wind Casting, A
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Wind
---
"What the hell is this thing?" My voice cracked. "Its stats & skills are way over the top."
The hound's lip curled. The wind around it sharpened.
Then it vanished.
"Wind Walk!" I snapped.
It reappeared at my side, jaws lunging for my neck. Arial's water film thickened instinctively; the bite still hit like a truck.
Pain spiked down my shoulder.
Iron Guard rang like struck metal.
My boots gouged earth as I slid.
"Master!" Arial shouted, channeling more mana.
Alfred had already moved.
Quiet step.
No wasted motion.
A tri-colored circle bloomed beneath the hound's feet—orange, gray, and green threads spiraling.
The hound tried to escape, kicking off for the canopy—
A curved wall of water rose above it.
It slammed into Arial's Water Wall; the barrier flexed, wobbled—held.
Chains burst from Alfred's circle:
The first glowed orange, as intense as fire.
The second swirled gray, wind spiraling along its length.
The third pulsed green, calm and stubborn like living wood.
They wrapped the hound mid-air, arresting its momentum, strangling its wind.
It thrashed—
Lenna moved.
She didn't waste time announcing her move or posing.
One jump.
One arc through the air.
One sword.
Aura flared around her blade, white as fresh snow, dense enough that even I could feel it cutting the wind.
She swung once.
No fancy technique name. No extra motion.
Just clean execution.
SHRING—
The Air Hound split in half from jaw to tail.
Blood misted. The wind shredded it apart before it hit the ground.
The chains vanished. The circle faded. The water wall dropped back into a harmless splash.
Lenna landed lightly, exhaled once.
"One," she said.
Our first kill towards the thousand.
I stood there, Iron Guard fading, shoulder throbbing, brain quietly screaming.
"Okay," I said slowly. "Cool. That was just a Stage 0—Late. Totally fine. Absolutely normal. Only 999 monsters left. I am not panicking at all."
Arial stepped closer, her hand hovering near my arm. "Are you hurt, Master?"
"Just my ego," I said. "Physically, I think I'll live."
Alfred watched the corpse—or what was left of it—as the wind scattered it.
"That wasn't a regular low dungeon spawn," he said quietly. "If Stage 0 mobs are this strong… Then the Gale Hound is going to be annoying,"
Lenna finished. "Good."
She turned deeper into the jungle, sword resting casually on her shoulder like she hadn't just cut a air Hound 10 times stronger then her in half.
"Formation," she said. "We continue."
And so we did.
Because apparently, this was just the warm-up.