Chương 58: (B2 Chapter 9)

With pulsing violet edges and a perfectly circular void as its center, what felt like a break in reality hung in the air, filling up the entire alley. The whole thing was perhaps eight feet across, with its edges bleeding inside both buildings on either side. Yeah… that's definitely a portal… I stared at Lucas beside me, who continued to stare slack-jawed at the portal. I was mesmerized too, but I didn't want to waste this golden opportunity.

Taking a couple steps back till I was behind him, I carefully surveyed the area around us to make sure we were alone, before undoing concealed presence. I clapped my hand on his shoulder with force, and loudly spoke at the same time, "What're you looking at?" Lucas jumped about a foot in the air while turning around with eyes wide in shock. As he landed, his expression turned from surprise, to relief, to annoyance.

"It's you," he said in a deadpan voice.

"Who did you expect, a…" I stopped myself just before I spoke the next words. I had planned on saying 'a beautiful woman', but instead said, "… a handsome hunk coming to rescue you? Because that sounds exactly like me!" I think he noticed my slight pause, but didn't mention it. Instead, he rolled his eyes and gave me a quick hug, whispering "It's good to see you," in my ear.

"You too," I replied, before we both turned to look at the portal still swirling in the air.

"So, what's this?"

"No clue. I just got here about two or three minutes ago," he answered. I had an idea for what it could be, which I voiced to him.

"I think it could be a dungeon."

"Dungeon… like in those games we used to play?" he asked.

"Exactly." He went into a thoughtful silence, as we both stood there staring at the silently swirling portal. I stepped forward, intending to go near the portal, but Lucas immediately caught my shoulder and stopped me.

"What do you think you're doing?" he questioned, staring at me like I was some kind of an idiot.

"Just taking a closer look. Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to go inside," I replied. He nodded reluctantly, and I stepped forward, before pausing once again.

"What're you doing?" I looked down at his hand still on my shoulder.

"I'm going with you. If something happens, we'll face it together," he said solemnly.

"Don't be so dramatic, I'm just taking a closer look." I stepped forward again, and Lucas moved with me, still holding onto my shoulder. Internally chuckling but grateful for his concern nonetheless, I moved towards the portal slowly. I was about five feet away from the portal when a system screen showed up, confirming my suspicions. Would you like to enter the Dungeon: The Hollowed Maw (E-Grade)? I declined and took a few careful steps back, mirrored by Lucas.

Once we were back in the center of the road, we turned towards each other.

"You got the message too?" I questioned. He nodded in confirmation. I turned and started moving back towards the base, "Let's go," I called out over my shoulder.

"What…? We're not going inside?" he asked, hurrying to catch up to me.

"You want to go inside?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, no. I think it's a big risk. But I thought you would want to go inside," he responded.

"I really do want to go inside, but not with just the two of us. We at least need a healer, and if we're going to go get Marcus, might as well get everyone else, am I right?" He took a few seconds to think and nodded, and we silently started moving towards the base. Lucas seemed unusually quiet, like he was deep in thought.

"So, what have you been up to since we were dumped here? I have to say I'm glad I found you; I was afraid some terrible monster had taken you down. A terrible monster for you that is, like a kitten, or a puppy," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. He let out a short snort, but otherwise remained silent for a few seconds before he responded, "I wanted to be alone for a bit…" I nodded, not saying anything in response but I squeezed his shoulder a little to show I understood.

"I actually saw some people earlier, I think Marcus was with them. Instead of going out to greet them, I hid. I don't know why, but I just felt like not being responsible for a bunch of others for a while," he said after a few minutes of silence. I stopped walking and turned to him, "Hey, you don't have to explain to me of all people about wanting to be alone. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. If you want, I can help you find a place to stay for a couple days, I'll pretend I'm still looking for you."

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"No," he shook his head, "but thanks for the offer. I think I should be amongst people now."

"Good, because you make a seriously ugly brooder. I mean, you aren't very nice to look at on a normal day, but man do things get ugly when you brood," I replied. He laughed, slapped me on the back, and we continued towards the base, making a few light jokes along the way. I knew I wasn't the best at comforting others, but I think I did okay here…

It was evening by the time we reached back at base. People were running all around doing one thing or the other, while Mason was busy making sure everything was right where he wanted it. It looked like they were fortifying all the entrances and the windows of the ground floor. Lucas's arrival halted all activity, as he was treated like a celebrity. People swarmed him immediately, asking if he was okay or where had he been and if he needed anything.

I was able to sneak away fairly easily, not even needing to use my skill. I entered the building for the first time, and saw that the cleaning was in process. It would probably take a few days to get this entire building to Omar's cleaning standards, but it was a work in process. There was a grand room right when you entered, luxuriously furnished with opulent desks and large center tables with exquisite vases and decoration pieces on them.

The floor was what I imagined had once been highly polished off-white marble, and the ceiling I think once matched the grandeur, but was currently in a state of disrepair and full of dirt. The floor in comparison was much cleaner. Shouldn't they have cleaned the roof first…? I mentally shrugged, then reached the wide stairs and started climbing. I knew that the first three floors were offices, so I went straight to the fourth.

Opening the first door, I found an empty, dusty apartment that would suit my needs just fine. I opened the window and settled down next to it, mentally preparing myself. Once I was in the right frame of mind, I started my experimentation. The goal for today: finally get an actual skill for my crude wind bullet spell. I wanted to have an actual attack skill for magic, which I thought would be enough to potentially get a class upgrade.

Even if I didn't get a class upgrade, I wanted to have a ranged attack option that was an actual skill before we attempted the dungeon. I switched on Mana Sense, and took in the mesmerizing sights of the mana swirls for a few moments before I started Internal Mana Manipulation. With practiced ease, the wind bullet formed and sailed away into the open air. I frowned. I still couldn't tell why the system refused to acknowledge the skill. Do I need more perception…? I racked my brain before I got an idea.

I opened the apartment door and backed into the hallway till my back was at the opposite wall. Then, I used Quick Step to move back inside the apartment towards the open window, and as soon as my perception sharpened, I focused all my attention on the wind bullet I was forming. I had kept Mana Sense active, and this time my enhanced perception allowed me to see the slowly forming bullet in much greater detail. Quick Step ended, I reached the window, and once again the wind bullet sailed out the window.

The result: I still had no idea what I was doing. I was a little frustrated, but I knew what I could do to improve my chances at getting the skill. Time to expand my understanding.

"So, we are your lab rats?" asked Marcus.

"No! Not at all. Why would I refer to you as a lab rat when you are so much more. More like a guinea pig…" I replied with a deadpan expression. I had gathered Omar, Marcus, and Madelline in the apartment I had been experimenting in. My plan was to see them use their spells and try to understand what was missing with mine. Madelline had agreed easily, and Omar was always eager to show off his magic. Marcus was being his usual pain in the behind, but I knew it was in jest, so I played along.

After a bit more sarcastic back and forth, we were finally in position. As expected, Omar wanted to go first, and I focused on him as he started making his mana bolt spell as slowly as possible. I had told him to make just a basic mana bolt, like he had started with, instead of adding the numerous different flairs he had added with his class. He reluctantly obliged, with the result being a very basic mana bolt firing from him off into the air. Hmmm… that spell looked… so much better formed than mine.

It looked as if the mana in the spell had been neatly arranged and packed together without gaps. I made a wind bullet, and saw that the mana within my spell was smashed together with force and it looked messy. Time passed, and my understanding kept growing. Marcus's healing spell and Madelline's hex spell were similar to Omar's mana bolt – neatly formed with no gaps whatsoever. The more I understood, the more I tried to fix my spell, and the better my wind bullet spell got.

It took numerous attempts and easily more than an hour, but Omar's excitement, Madelline's patience, and Marcus's sarcastic quips at me being too slow finally paid off. Ding! Congratulations! You have acquired a new Skill: Wind Bolt Finally! I was forming a bolt I guess, not a bullet, but who cares about that, it worked! I let out a whoop of excitement and immediately tried out the skill. It took an instant for a green glowing wind bolt to form and launch off at sheer speed through the window.

I turned around and saw my excitement mirrored in three different pairs of eyes. After the four of us had done celebrating, we launched into an intense magic discussion that lasted for about another half an hour. Putting all our heads together had helped each one of us immensely, and we soon went our separate ways to continue our experimenting. I had also informed them about the dungeon me and Lucas had seen, and they had also seemed eager to get some shiny new spells before going inside there.

Found you! I had snuck away from the base to find something to fight with. I was itching to try my new skill out in combat as not only did I want to see how it fared against an actual enemy, but I also suspected that using it in combat could possibly let me unlock a class upgrade. After about ten minutes of searching, I had finally found something to fight against – a fox. I knew it was probably going to use fire magic against me, but I wasn't going to give it a chance.

I started off by using Critical Sense, learning of the weak points. Then, I went as close as I could under concealed presence, before I thought of my plan. Tactical Insight agreed, so I immediately put it into action. I used my ability to make a sound in the opposite direction, making the fox become alert and focus its attention there. Quick Step launched me at speed, during which I raised the dagger in my right hand and formed the wind bolt in my left.

My dagger sunk into the oblivious fox's neck, while the wind bolt released at point-blank range tore through its ear and blasted apart its brain in all directions. Even though I was showered in blood and brain matter, I let out a short, excited shout. Everything had clicked together, and I finally felt like my build was making sense. A sentiment that the system apparently shared as well. Ding! Congratulations! You have a Class upgrade available.