BOOOM! CLAAASH! CRAAASH!
Mark slowly started to wake up by the sound of explosions and the smell of fire. Once his eyes opened and he saw what was happening around him, he quickly panicked.
A young man around his age, with fiery red hair was fighting a large army of dozens of chimeric zombie monsters, made up of many body parts.
His flames unleashed powerful blazing attacks, which seemed to have a divine-like aura to them similar to the power Elayne held with her [Pathway], although much lesser.
"GRAHHH…!"
"STOP HIM… GRYAAA!"
"GRUUAAAHH…"
The screams of the zombies as they were blown up into bits and pieces didn't helped in this situation, Mark was completely surprised. His mind was in shambles too, but after standing up and beginning to fight almost automatically, he quickly began to learn what was happening.
He had been sucked into a Dungeon alongside Elayne and Rita, but all of them ended being separated. The young fighting the zombies and protecting him was a complete stranger, yet he recalls seeing him before they were all absorbed into the Gate.
"Finally awake, sleeping beauty?" Asked the stranger with a smirk. "Good thing you're good to adapt, these things have been swarming us since we got here!"
"We're inside a dungeon?!" Wondered Mark. "Shit, this can't be real… Elayne and Rita! A-Are they even alright?!"
"Worried about your friends?" Wondered Mark's new companion. "Well I also lost my two friends, Rose and Albert. What's your name, cowboy? Mine's Josuke."
"Wait what?!" Asked Mark. "I've heard that name before… Like that Jojo character?!"
"I am tired of being told that." Sighed Josuke, unleashing an explosion of flames which shaped as countless smaller birds, exploding and engulfing three zombies at once.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!
Meanwhile, Mark used his magical knife to slice and burn the zombies with ease, while covering his body with his own Wooden Armor and at the same time, punching the zombies down whenever they tried to sneak into him.
BAAAM! BAAAM! SLAAASH!
"You're not half bad at this." Josuke said. "And that insane magic power you've got there… Are you an outlaw or something?"
"Outlaw?!" Wondered Mark. "Just a week ago I was just a normal human. I've been… acquiring magic powers by beating down monsters and then absorbing their magic crystals. We've been trying to protect our town for a while."
"W-Wait, you know magic capable of letting you absorb magic crystals, yet you're just part of the recent wave of Awakeners?!" Josuke was thrilled.
"Yep!" Mark said.
Both manly men that wielded flames suddenly combined their power, punching and burning the last Chimeric Zombie, whose entire body exploded into pieces.
BAAAAM!
"Nice to meet you then, name's Josuke." Said Josuke, giving Mark his hand for a handshake. "Now are you going to tell me your name?"
"Hahhh… I guess it would be rude if I didn't say it." Sighed Mark. "Name's Mark, nice to meet you Josuke."
Both men made a handshake after slaying over thirty Undead together, there were piles of these monsters all around them, yet they seemed rather unfazed.
"You must be the magicians we sensed some time ago." Said Josuke. "I suppose you must be Awakeners that tried to protect your town, right? That magic knife you have, and the rest of your equipment all seems magically enchanted. That's a process that takes a while normally, but you did it with simple clothes as well. I can already assume you and your friends got a lot of abilities, huh?"
"Yeah, more or less…" Mark said. "(I see. So these people must know about Awakened people that have gained magical powers already? But his way of speech and how easy he uses his magic, he's most likely not an "Awakener" but something else, isn't it?)"
"You're probably wondering what the hell I am. Let's say I just became the vessel of a really old and grumpy spiritual bird." Sighed the young man. "I am an agent of the Supernatural Agency, SWORD."
"Sword…?" Mark felt perplexed. "I was guessing there must be something to deal with Hollows if they existed before the First Contact, but this is surprising. Isn't this like… confidential information? I am not going to get killed, right?"
"It is but at this point its useless to hide it. The Awakeners are slowly becoming a major part of our population. Just this week, more than ten million people presenting the awakening of magical abilities have been reported all around the world, and this number keeps increasing by the thousands every day." Josuke sighed. "To maintain order in the countries, the government is already planning on setting up special Hunter Guilds to manage the Awakened people and also to manage the ever-growing population of monsters. Most of us, already supernatural people will probably be made into instructors to lead the new generation of superhumans, it's such a pain though."
"I-I see…" Mark was flabbergasted by all these news. Perhaps in a week or a few more days from now, things would only change much, much more than he had expected. Society as a whole would begin a transition. "Well, whatever's the case, we must focus on our current situation. I have… a connection with one of my friends, I can sense her, and she seems to be hurriedly coming here with someone else. Though, it seems they stopped midway through. We should focus on finding her and then destroying this dungeon."
"You know how? This is the second time a Gate has ever opened in the world." Josuke seemed confused. "Or are you just theorizing?"
"I am not simply theorizing. Can't you feel the waves of Mana which are like roots in this Dungeon? They all lead to a single large mass of Mana. If we destroy such a mass, which could be said to be like the Dungeon Boss and its Core at the same time, it would crumble apart." Said Mark.
"Interesting…" Josuke said while rubbing his chin. "I am not all that worried about my friends, they can handle it themselves pretty well, but you who were just civilians a week ago are more in danger. I'll go with you then."
"Thanks, let's go then!" Mark said, right after having finished to take out the magic crystals from the zombies and carrying them in a leather bag.
"Wait, what are those for?" Wondered Josuke.
"Let's say they're like MP Potions." Mark smiled.
TRUUUUMMMM…!
However, as the two moved forward, something suddenly emerged in their path. It was no longer just zombies this time, but something much bigger and terrifying, a gigantic beast made up of hundreds of corpses stitched together, with several heads and a grotesque appearance.
"GRUOOOOOHHHHHH…!"
"W-What the heck is that thing?!" Josuke was shocked. "A high ranked Undead?! It looks like a fusion of the zombies we smashed back then…"
"A Mid-Boss, most likely." Mark said, squinting his eyes and getting into position to fight.
"Fresh human flesh… A delightful meal this is…" The entity began roaring. "Ahhhh~ Lord Phantasmos sent me here to stop you, but I will have a nice time enjoying your flesh as I devour it!"
"This thing can even speak!" Josuke was surprised.
"Focus, it's coming!" Mark said.
CLAAAAASH!
