Outworld: Awakening

Among the seventy Awakened who reacted quickest, Adam led the lot. With a majority of his stats placed in agility, his speed surpassed and surprised his fellow Awakened.

'The ground is getting hot. Is it actually turning to a real volcano? Or this is still an illusion?'

Adam could barely see what lay in front of him, and despite his mask, the black ash from the volcano assaulted his nose. The fiery glow of magma were his only source of illumination at the vent of the volcano.

'Nah... this is definitely not an illusion. Who had the bright idea to create a dungeon here?'

Below, at the center of the volcano, Adam's gaze fell on a small black tower surrounded by magma. Despite being a fair distance away, he could feel the scorching heat on skin.

He could see a colorless portal on the tower's rectangular pinnacle. If one looked closely enough, they would notice a tinge of yellow on the portal. Easily missed due to the magma's glow.

His eyebrows creased. He finally understood why the Valar Pits had claimed the lives of hundreds of Awakened.

Anyone who sought entry into the dungeon would have to plunge directly into the portal. If they missed, death awaited them, and a painful one at that.

"Hahaha... You ran like a madman earlier. What's the matter? Are you scared after seeing the location of the dungeon?"

Adam didn't need to turn his head to know it was Chadwick who spoke. He wasn't in the mood to bicker with someone like him.

Like Adam, the other Awakened donned different types of masks. Not only would it protect them from breathing related issues, they didn't want anything to impede their sights when they made the jump.

With each passing second, the number of Awakened at the edge of the volcano's vent increased. While each party made their preparations, a baritone voice filled their ears.

"Friends. My name is Gallien, and I'm from Raventhorn."

Initially, no one paid attention to Gallien, however, their disposition changed when they knew the name of his guild.

Financed by the Armstrongs'—one of the ric.h.e.s.t family in Dratol, Raventhorn's fame had spread beyond the Eastern region of Dratol. No guild in Targarth came close to its size, and on the basis of higher ranked Awakened, none of them could challenge Raventhorn.

Gallien's lips curved into a smirk underneath his tiger mask. In a small nation like Targarth, Raventhorn was a force to reckon with.

"Friends. I know that the Valar Pits is considered a neutral dungeon in Targarth. However, Just for today, I would like you all to abstain from hunting the Baccarras. You can do whatever you want with the other creatures and treasures, but leave the Baccarras to us."

"Sir, how can you say that? We have been preparing for ages to—"

"You have two options. Hunt them and die, or leave them alone and keep your insignificant life. It's your call." Gallien interjected.

His companions from Raventhorn—twenty-man strong unsheathed their weapons.

The Awakened from earlier lowered his head, his party didn't have the guts to offend Raventhorn.

"Thanks for your cooperation. Do have a nice hunt."

Those who had plans to hunt the Baccarras donned scowls underneath their mask. Although they were the most difficult monster to kill in the dungeon, their lair had rare treasures which would fetch a wonderful price in the markets. The bones of the Baccarras themselves were known to attract a good price in the black market, due to its medicinal properties.

"Gallien, we have concluded our preparations."

"Good. Let's descend. No matter the cost, we have to kill the Baccarra Queen. Master Dominic needs it to recover. Is the item ready? We should..."

Dominic paused. He didn't know when or why, but he noticed Adam looking in their direction.

"What are you looking at? Do we look like clowns to you?"

His words drew the attention of the other Awakened. Adam said nothing, only silently turning his head to the side.

'Those f.u.c.k.i.n.g Varidan students. They think the world revolves around them. It pisses me off anytime I see one.'

"Gallien, we are ready. Don't bother yourself with him. If he's here, then he's nothing special."

With his Companion's reminder, Gallien averted his gaze. In light steps they walked closer to the edge of the cliff.

'Seems today is my lucky day. Not only do I get to screw over that weasel, Dominic. I get to mess with Raventhorn again. Hahaha... I can't wait.'

Adam stared at the members of Raventhorn like a predator observing his prey. Unbeknownst to him, Curtis and Cale's party had a similar look in their eyes, albeit, all Varidan students shared the title of prey with Adam.

"All right, men. You know what to do once you... huh?"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Gallien noticed a party comprising three Awakened plunge towards the portal.

"You bastards are dead! Do you know who you're messing with?!" Despite Gallien's bellows, he didn't charge after them.

When most dungeons opened, Awakened would try their best to get in before others. With limited resources in a dungeon, those who delayed usually ended up with nothing.

Since Gallien had made known the intentions of his party earlier, the logical thing to do was to allow them enter the dungeon first. However, the actions of the party had defiled common sense.

"Shoot those bastards down! Hurry!"

Three archers step forward, with an arrow nocked on their longbow. With a twang, the three arrows approached their targets like heat seeking missiles on a mission to destroy.

None of the arrows accelerated or acted the same. The first arrow glowed green while twisting in midair like a living snake. The second arrow disappeared and reappeared at intervals. Each time it reappeared, it's speed doubled. Meanwhile, the last arrow broke in midair. Disintegrating into hundreds of needles.

The Blessings of the three archers drew oohs and ahhs from the Awakened.

'I will use these idiots to let everyone know the consequences of messing...'

Midthought, the cliff vibrated. A heat wave blew from nowhere. Before anyone could react, three pillars of magma shot into the air, obliterating the arrows and the masked men. They didn't even have time to scream before they died.

"What the hell was that?!" A random Awakened blurted out.

All the Awakened had the same thought in mind. For most of them, this wasn't the first time they raided the Valar Pits. However, they had never seen or heard of such a phenomenon.

Adam's eyes widened underneath his mask, albeit for a different reason.

[Anomaly Detected In Dungeon!]

[Anomaly Detected In Dungeon!]

[Anomaly Detected In Dungeon!]

'An anomaly? What kind?'

The system ignored Adam's question; instead, it repeated the same message over and over.

A few seconds later, calm return to the magma sea. However, none of the Awakened dared to approach it.

[Arranging Data...]

[Data Arranged]

[Portal will close in one minute!]

[Unranked Demonkin Detected]

Name: Magma Salamander

Current State: Awakening from slumber.

Estimate time before completion: One minute.

For a moment, Adam's mind went blank. He never would have thought an unranked Demonkin lived in the magma.

[Establishing Connection to The Omen...]

[Connection Successfully Established.]

[Title: Manipulator activated!]

"Gallien, what do we do?"

"Let me think. Something is definitely wrong with..." Gallien's words trialed off as a blur passed him.

By the time his eyes readjusted, he saw someone diving towards the portal.

'Is he insane?' Gallien mused.

He couldn't believe someone had the guts to challenge the Valar Pits after what they saw. The other Awakened also had the same thought in mind.

"I knew that guy was an idiot. Hahaha... let's see how the magma will turn him to ash." Chadwick sneered.

He couldn't wait for the moment the magma pillar would turn Adam to nothing but ash.

He faced Hendrix, "Hendrix, look at the idiot you wanted to—"

"Look." Hendrix pointed towards the tower.

Although annoyed from Hendrix's interjection, Chadwick followed Hendrix's finger.

"What are you pointing... huh? How did he make it?"

Hendrix and the nearby Awakened could hear the disbelief in Chadwick's voice. They too couldn't believe the sight in front of their eyes.

Earlier, while Adam descended towards the portal, another heatwave blew from the magma sea. The Awakened retreated in anticipation for another magma pillar, however, it never arrived.

Instead, the heatwave had thrown Adam off course. Rather than the portal, his new trajectory suggested he would land in the fiery pits below.

While they anticipated his demise, two rocks which appeared out of nowhere hit Adam on his back, readjusting his falling trajectory.

Within seconds, he landed on the tower's surface not covered by the portal. Without sparing the stunned crowd a glance, Adam divided into the portal.

"Who the hell is that guy? Is he raiding the Valar Pits solo?" Chadwick couldn't mask his disbelief.

A spilt second after Adam's dive, Gallien and his men followed. While they descended, Curtis and Cale's group followed.

"Are they mad? What if—"

"If you're scared, you can wait here for us. Let's go everyone."

Before Chadwick could retort, his party members divided.

'Hendrix, you think you're special because you're the leader. A mere support class looking down on me. Just you wait, I will surely pay you back.'

Chadwick and some other Awakened followed after Hendrix.

Due to what happened to the first group, many guilds still hesitated. They could only watch as the portal swallowed Chadwick and some other Awakened.

"Huooooo... If they can do it, so can I. What am I scared of? I'm Fulke the great, damn it!"

The hesitant Awakened turned their attention to a burly man. He twisted his h.i.p.s and stretched his limbs in preparation for the dive.

Motivated by his words, some Awakened took the plunge before him. Truly, if Adam and the others could do it, why couldn't they?

Fulke and his party retreated slightly, they needed to build up momentum for the jump. A split second later, they broke into a race. At that same moment, however, the earth rumbled and the magma sea churned.

Before anyone could react, fifteen magma pillars rose into the air, obliterating everything in its path.

Everyone stared with their mouths opened, cold sweat covering their faces. At that moment, a familiar voice reached them.

"Pull me up! Please, pull me up. By the gods, there is a monster in the magma. Pull me up!"

'Isn't that the great Fulke? Monster in the magma?'

They lowered their gaze only to see Fulke's hands grabbing a rock, holding on for dear life. Some hurried to assisted him from his misery. After the demise of Fulke's party, none of the Awakened had any intentions of diving. Most of them turned around to leave.

"Huh? The portal has closed. How is that possible?!"

Those who had intentions of leaving returned to the edge of the cliff once more, to their surprise, the portal had disappeared. An already weird day got weirder for them. Saying nothing further, the Awakened descended the mountain. Only Fulke's voice echoed. He explained to anyone who cared to listen that a monster lurked in the magma.

Nobody believed his words. What sort of monster could live in magma, they thought. They believed he made things up to hide his embarrassment after his initial gusto.