The five Apprentices had a short discussion before they entered the first battle room. There, they noticed that it was a large circular cavern with many doors spread out all around them, and a large double-door directly opposite the entrance to the room.
Once they entered, the door behind them closed shut. This was a compromise Xela had to make in order to follow the rules of Dungeon Cores, which was that of mutual benefit.
The adventurers got rest stations, so the monsters got a nice 1-on-1 time with the adventures where they could not retreat unless they cleared the waves.
If one did not have enough teammates, or had pig teammates, it was likely that instead of reaping rewards, one would reap a quick death.
The group of students took the battle formation that they had used against Gunner immediately, Ash with his sword, Reina with her bow, Jonathan with his broadsword, James with his dagger, and Anthony with his bo-staff and nimbus cloud.
Right away, many of the doors in the cavern opened to reveal various Wood element monsters of various shapes and sizes. They roared and shrieked in their own ways as they rushed towards the lads quite quickly.
Immediately, their faces paled seeing over 30 monsters rushing at them in the first wave alone, but they gritted their teeth and attacked as well.
Unsurprisingly, the formation quickly crumbled as it was designed to fight against a single overpowered foe, not many weaker ones.
However, the students suffered no damage. In fact, to their collective shock they discovered that the hits from the monsters they expected to injure them did nothing more than tickle them.
Ash tilted his head and then swung his sword, surprised to see it bisect a monster so easily. The rest also attacked and noticed that they were able to mow down the monsters with complete ease.
They shared uncertain looks, not comprehending what was going on.
Was it that there was something wrong with the monsters?
After all, many people entered in large numbers and there were even talks of casualties so they had all been prepared to lose a limb and be healed by Xela when she came back.
Even as the next wave came, and the wave after that, no matter the numbers of monsters that attacked them, the Apprentices were able to kill them with ease.
Once they cleared this room and entered the second rest stop, they sat together and discussed the issue at hand.
Even though they were limited by inexperience, with their high Intellect they were able to understand what was going on. It was not that the monsters were too weak, it was they that were too strong.
Honestly, this realization gave them mixed feelings.
They felt like they now understood why Darius had given them this mission. It was for them to realize that it wasn't that they were weak trash that couldn't even make their instructor take a step, it was that their half-giant instructor had been someone far stronger than common sense allowed.
By training with someone like that, they had reached a level of strength that surpassed their peers most likely.
Could it really be that they might be as strong as some Journeymen? This was a scandalous thought to them as the power hierarchy in Faust was very strict.
Fighting across stages and that kind of nonsense was normally an express ticket to meet your ancestors. Exceptions might occur concerning different races with different strengths and weaknesses.
However, within the same race, it was impossible and that was a universally accepted law!
They were correct, Darius had indeed told them to challenge the dungeon, to shatter their 'common sense'.
He, like Xela, had gazed at their progress and could see their stats, so he knew that if he didn't give them a point of comparison to Gunner's training, they might never be able to raise their heads in the future.
They hadn't fought anyone before Darius had allowed them to awaken, so how could they know the standards of battle?
They could not see stats, so how could they measure their rapid growth in this short span of half a year?
How were they to know that they had exceeded the progress of what their peers might achieve after a decade or two?
With this clearing their minds, they were able to look back into the memories and see the scenes of their training. Those moments where they had failed and fell to their knees in anguish, thinking that Gunner was disdaining them cleared up.
Now, they were able to see that the half-giant had a slight smile trying to break out on his lips and a slight look of affection which he quickly smothered once the next fight began. There was always a light of approval in his eyes that they had failed to see before today.
Realizing this left the five very emotional, even Reina began sobbing silently, as they felt that they were blessed to have such teachers who had invested so much into them.
As one, the five Apprentices swore that they would not let them down.
...............….
Darius appeared in front of a forest that hid a great secret within, his two Branded Servants behind him. They did not enter this forest, for the secret was already known to them.
It was their very exclusive home, the Divine Glade!
It was practically habit at this point to begin a journey first by passing through here, so they made a quick stop. After a day of rest in this wonderful slice of reality filled with a unique ambiance, they felt ready to take on the world.
"Where to?" Xela asked curiously. Gunner also looked over, wondering what Darius had in mind this time.
"I'm beginning to think Fallon is a bit dull for my tastes." Darius commented with a shake of his head.
Gunner and Xela didn't say anything, but they slightly agreed. On this so-called weakest continent, they had Master-level power despite being classified as Journeymen, which was indeed quite dull.
"Well, since we need to find a suitable place to fight for experience to reach our level caps, what better place than the forsaken continent with the most plentiful enemies…" Darius hinted with a smile, mouthing a name that both Branded Servants had never expected to hear.
"Pokterr."
