Chapter 74: 74 | Fight! First Wave
The moment the five candidates stepped through the portal, the world around them changed.
The sensation was indescribable.
Dexter felt as though his body had been torn apart into countless tiny fragments before being stitched back together again.
It wasn’t painful like Dexter had thought, but it was deeply unsettling. For a brief moment, it felt as though something foreign was probing his body, his mind, and even his soul.
Then as the feeling appeared, it vanished.
Just like that.
His feet touched solid ground.
"Blurgh!"
Before Dexter could properly regain his balance, his stomach twisted violently. He turned aside and vomited onto the grass. Some of the legendary food he had eaten, wasted just like that. Luckily there essence had been absorbed.
Not far away, the quiet swordswoman, Lena Park, was experiencing exactly the same thing.
Dexter wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His face slightly flushed and his stomach was still churning but it was bearable.
Lena looked even worse. Her face was completely white. She gripped her sword with one hand while holding her stomach with the other. Her lips were pressed tightly together as though she was fighting a second wave.
Marcus burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Seriously? You two are vomiting from portal sickness?"
He shook his head with obvious contempt.
"Pathetic."
Fiona rolled her eyes.
"Not everyone has the opportunity to enter a dungeon early like us, Marcus. Im pretty sure yours was words than this."
Gregor merely grunted and said nothing.
Dexter wiped his mouth and took a deep breath.
So this was dungeon transfer sickness.
He had read countless things about heroes and monsters, but somehow nobody had mentioned portal sickness.
’Maybe it’s a running joke between heroes.’
He raised his head and finally looked around.
The dungeon had fully materialized around them.
The air was thick with so much mana it was denser, heavier, and strangely alive. Like breathing in air that had weight.
Each breath filled his lungs with energy that was more potent than anything back in earth.
The five of them stood in the center of a large clearing about 300 meters in radius.
But that clearing was surrounded by towering trees. Thetrees themselves had dense fog covering the forest in every direction.
Tall grass reached all the way to their waists, swaying gently beneath an invisible wind.
Above them hung a single silver moon.
Its pale light illuminated the clearing while leaving the surrounding forest hidden beneath darkness and mist.
Everyone’s expression became solemn.
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
"I’ll take point."
His voice carried unquestionable confidence.
"Gregor, take the rear."
"Fiona, left flank."
"Lena, right flank."
Marcus finally turned toward Dexter, his eyes landing on the F-Rank symbol displayed on Dexter’s temporary badge.
Open contempt flashed across his face. "And you." He smirked.
"Stay in the center."
His tone became colder.
"And try not to get in our way."
The others moved into formation almost immediately. Fiona looked as if she wanted to say something, her mouth opening, then closing.
She glanced at Dexter with an apologetic expression before moving to her position.
Lena frowned slightly, not agreeing with Marcus’s attitude, but she was too quiet to object.
Neither of them spoke up.
Dexter simply stood in the center of the formation.
He was not surprised.
Marcus was a Tier 3 Superhuman, Gregor was Tier 2, Fiona and Lena were Tier One.
Meanwhile, his displayed rank was merely F-Rank.
From Marcus’s perspective, placing the weakest member in the safest position was the logical choice, actually good leadership: protect the weakest link, maximize the team’s effectiveness, play to everyone’s strengths.
’Fine by me.’
The less attention he drew, the better.
The dungeon wasted no time. A long howl suddenly echoed through the fog-covered forest.
"Awooooo!"
A second howl answered it. "Awooooo!"
Then a third. The sounds surrounded them from every direction, not from one point but from everywhere.
The pack was already circling, already hunting, already deciding who would be the first to fall.
Everyone immediately tensed up as rustling sounds came from the tall grass.
Then.
Figures burst from the fog, they were Grey Wolves and 12 of them.
Each stood nearly as tall as a horse and possessed glowing yellow eyes filled with hunger and pure rage.
Their brown fur blended almost perfectly with the darkness. If not for their glowing eyes, they might have been invisible.
[Monster Classification: Mutated Class (1 - 12), Fiend Class (1 - 12), Transcendent Class (1-12), Abomination Class (1 to 4 stars), Calamity Class (1 to 4 stars) and Ender Class (1 to 4 stars) ]
[Hero Classification: Awakened Hero also called Meta Heroes (1 to 12), Super Hero (1 to 12), Ultra Hero (1 to 12), Transcendent (Initial, Mid, Advance, Peak), Supreme (Initial, Mid, Advance, Peak), and Legend.]
Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Fiend Class, Level 1 Grey Wolves."
"Graaah!"
The creatures spread out, slowly circling the group as they growled, revealing fangs as spit drooled down their faces.
The wolves continued circling them, strangely waiting and watching.
Suddenly, a louder and sharper howl echoed from deeper within the forest.
"AWOOOOO!"
"Awoo!" "Awoo!" "Awoo!"
Instantly, the entire pack attacked, the wolves exploding forward from all directions.
Marcus face hardened as he roared.
"Kill them!"
The first wolf bristled towards him and Marcus smirked as he clenched his hand.
Immediately, his talent erupted and blue flames exploded in his fist as he struck first at the first Wolf.
"BOOM!"
His fist smashed directly into the skull of the leading wolf, the creature’s head exploding instantly as its body crashed lifelessly into the grass.
Without pausing, Marcus drew his sword, silver flash arced through the air.
"Slash!"
Another wolf collapsed. "Slash!" Then another.
At the same time, Fiona moved like flowing water. Her twin daggers danced through the battlefield.
One wolf lunged toward her throat.
Clang!
She redirected its claws with one dagger while the second blade sliced cleanly across its neck.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Before the body even hit the ground, she had already spun toward another target.
Slash!
A second wolf fell. In the blink of an eye, four out of twelve grey wolves were dead.
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