Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 108

Hunters all around us are separating into groups, readying their gear to climb the towering peak before us.

I turn to my team and draw my sword, it crackles and flickers with flames waiting patiently for battle.

"Ready to do this?"

Bruce and Nessa lead the way. Abby and Maria follow close behind. Arie and I take the rear.

About two dozen hunters make the trek upwards before us in groups ranging from three to six. I don't see any larger, or smaller.

A good amount of the exam participants stay back at the lined-up wooden tables to continue readying their weapons and potions, while others seem to be watching the entrance nervously waiting for their fellow hunters to arrive.

I point my sword in the air and let a wide grin appear across my face.

"Let's face this final dungeon!"

With that, we begin trekking forward.

There's a flat trail about 5m wide that twists and turns up the mountain. It's lined with a dark red jagged rock wall on both sides. There are occasional gaps every 50m or so falling off into either massive pools of lava flowing in from above, or an endless ravine leading into an abyss further than I can even see.

As soon as we leave the resting area, the temperature rises immediately.

Beads of sweat start rolling down my forehead, but I'm more concentrated on examining the bizarre dungeon around me.

The air gets thicker the higher we climb, and the sweat starts flowing more and more down the sides of my face. Now, it is starting to get annoying, but I'll manage... It's been about 20 minutes, and there's still no sign of any threats.

I hear a yell from the front of the group, it's Nessa.

"Hey! Which way should we go?"

The six of us come to a standstill lined up in a row. I cross my arms and look at the path in front of us split into three separate trails.

"Hmmm."

I place my hand on my chin and think while activating enemy detection. I let the radius of my search stretch all the way to the end of the dungeon.

It seems like the teams ahead of us all picked separate paths, and there are also enemies to fight on every one of them.

"I don't think there's a wrong decision here."

I grin as a team of 4 high-level targets pops onto my radar closest to us on the right side. The teams ahead of us have been picking off all the monsters, these are new spawns...

"I think turning right would be our best bet for now."

I point my sword down the twisting trail to the right.

Arie shrugs while Abby and Maria nod in unison. Nessa turns to lead the way as Bruce lets out a laugh.

"Sounds good to me!"

We continue onward right toward the danger. I give them a warning.

"Keep your weapons at the ready, our first fight could be around any corner."

Plumes of steam and smoke rose from our left side indicating a lava pool must have shifted or burned up some type of organic matter.

Other than the crackle of fire from my sword, the only noise stimulating our senses are our own footsteps. We march forward for another 5 minutes or so.

The trail In front of us begins to widen and turn slightly to the right side, then makes a sharp left twisting around the backside of the mountain. This is the exact location of those high-level monsters I was sensing earlier.