Satoshi couldn't believe that he and Emma were actually in another world right now. After all, the atmosphere of the surroundings felt like it belonged to Earth. The only difference was— there were unfamiliar creatures roaming the forest where they currently were.
Once they reached the edge of the forest, they arrived at a city with a huge dome in the middle of it. Jean Grey explained to Satoshi and Emma the purpose of the dome, telling them that that's where the Lead Researcher, Professor Oakland, does his research. He didn't need to explain what type of research the Professor was doing since it was obviously about Beast and Beast Taming in general.
In that small time frame where Jean Grey led Satoshi to the Dome to meet Professor Oakland, Satoshi was introduced to the lifestyle of this world. He came to know about the Beast Experts— eight of them— and how other Beast Tamers challenge them so they could qualify for the Beast Tamer Tournament. The Beast Tamers who qualified in the Beast Tournament then have a chance in challenging one of the Elite Eight, powerful beast tamers that are a level higher than Beast Experts. And if they were beaten, one could have a clear shot at challenging the Master Beast Tamer to steal the title from him. "That's me," Jean Grey jerked his thumb towards his chest. "And that pretty much sums up the journey of a Beast Tamer. Still, only those who show potential in a Beast Tamer School would be chosen as one of the Professor's Assistants. If you want to take a shot at becoming the Master Beast Tamer, that's one of the necessary steps."
Satoshi and Emma nodded along as Jean Grey continued to explain the life of a Beast Trainer. While Emma was listening for the heck of it, Satoshi was actually taking everything in. He was just amazed that such a world existed, and furthermore, he couldn't believe the fact that there were countless Familiars in this world, waiting to be a part of his team.
"And here we are! The Dome!" Jean Grey extended his hands in the air as if presenting a masterpiece.
"Oh, Jean, Ash, you're back!" Professor Oakland called out as the sliding doors by the entrance of the Dome opened. "And who's this with you?"
"They're Beast Trainers, from the other dimension!"
.....
"Let's stay here for now," Tatsuki said after they've settled on the staircase that leads to the twenty-first floor.
It was almost the end of the day and they managed to clear twenty floors without taking a single break. Compared to their previous dungeon runs, this particular dungeon was more challenging than usual. Tatsuki could clearly see that the difficulty level of the dungeon was over the top. It was just the twentieth floor and yet they could barely clear it with everyone's help.
Even the eleventh floor was hard enough for Tatsuki, it was a clear gauge of how formidable the monsters on floor twenty were. They should've been easy pickings, the golems they are, but they were too defensive and much faster than normal golems. When they managed to clear it, the healers and the staff-wielders already ran out of energy, and those on the front lines were severely wounded. Even Tatsuki could barely get up after the fight. For the second time in his career as a professional superhero, he had to expend every ounce of his energy, driving himself past his limit just to defeat floor twenty. (The first time was during the Boosting Incident when he almost lost his life fighting numerous villains with boosted superpowers.)
"Is everyone all right?" Tatsuki asked. Of course, he already knew the answer, he just wanted to start up a conversation while they prepared for dinner.
"Yeah, I'm still here," Technomarine responded, panting in-between breaths. "Those golems really did us in, huh."
"Yeah, if it weren't for Splatoon here and his robot army, we'd have been wiped out." Light Angel pointed his mouth at Splatoon who was sprawled on the ground, about to doze off due to exhaustion.
"Please, if it weren't for you and Death Angel here protecting me, I wouldn't have been able to continuously control my army."
"We've all worked hard. Our teamwork is pretty smooth as well. I'm expecting the same thing tomorrow. I know it would be hard but let's try to aim for the thirtieth floor."
One of the low-ranking superheroes, a man that goes by the superhero name Troppus, started passing bowls of stew toward Tatsuki and the others.
While he was only a low-ranking superhero, not even in the top one hundred of the SAO Rankings, he decided to join the Dungeon Exploration to earn extra money. His little girl was sick and hospitalized, so he decided to join the crew. Of course, he was accepted into the expedition, not because he was formidable, but because he's a support-type and a team could never have enough support-type superheroes. Also, he's well-versed in healing skills... and his cooking is pretty savory so that's a huge plus.
"Um... Midoriyama-san..." Troppus called out, pursing his lips. He knew just how powerful Plunder was and he thought to himself that he doesn't even deserve to talk to him. Nevertheless, he just had to ask the question.
"You can just call me Plunder, or Tatsuki," Tatsuki called out.
"I'm sorry, but um, Tatsuki-san." Troppus hesitantly continued.
"What is it?" Tatsuki patiently asked back. Based on Troppus's expression, Tatsuki could tell that he has an important question in mind.
"I heard the other high-ranking superheroes talk about it and I wasn't sure whether to believe them or not. That's why I decided to ask you... is it true that America is taking over Dungeon Spire if we can't clear it in a span of one week?"
"WHAT?! That's ridiculous! Dungeon Spire is in Japan's territory. They can't just call the shots like that. You know what, don't believe everything you hear in the SAO." Technomarine brushed off Troppus's question.
"That's right, those are just rumors." Splatoon put it more nicely compared to Technomarine's way of speaking. "Those are just rumors right, Tatsuki?"
Tatsuki shook his head before forcing a smile on his face. "No, the young man's right." Tatsuki continued. "They really are taking over... if we can't clear this Dungeon in one week, that is."
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