I stare into the cave in front of me, and it stares back...
The buzz of mana fills the air, even audible for those that don't have advanced mana detection abilities like myself.
The yellow light from within the cave reflects off its orange walls, shining out with a warm inviting hue.
I take out my sword, and Maria follows behind me.
Arie and Abby start to walk close behind.
I peer into the open cave's mouth. Rubble lines the walls and steam fills the air, pushing out hot waves of energy even more uncomfortable than the desert sun.
The bright light from the back of the cave gives off a denser mana signature than anything we've seen all day.
As I begin to stretch my perception skill out even more, one of the base-level red-skinned creatures comes sprinting out toward me.
I reflexively charge my blade up and slice it in half before it can even take a step out of the cave.
I hear Danny's quivering voice speak up from behind me.
"H-Hey ya know.. if you all go in there, I'm not so sure I can fend for myself. And- uhm. I told you all this before, but the only hunters that are even able to enter the dungeon break so far have been ones with the fire aptitude skills. Apparently, it's not a matter of how strong you are, just the heat can only be withstood by those that can wield it themselves."
I think to myself for a moment, doubting that these creatures could produce enough molten rock or flames to actually defeat a hunter with higher mana control...
Then again, the whole concept of mana control was alien to me until very recently. Most people never find out about it their entire lives. Danny is most likely clueless when it comes to the higher-ranking hunter's abilities.
It's better I don't make too much of a big deal here, ignorance is bliss.
"Well, I have a Fire Summoning Skill. So I'll be able to withstand their heat, no problem."
Then turn to Maria, then back to Danny.
"She has an Ice Summoning skill, It's a fairly effective counter to lower-powered Fire magic. Especially with the extreme level gap."
Maria nods proudly, putting both hands on her waist and responding.
"Yeah, I can handle it."
Danny turns to Arie and Abby.
The archer is the first to reply to his worried gaze.
"I don't mind staying back."
"Jay, you and Maria can handle this one. I don't think it'll be too tough anyways."
I give him a firm nod.
Abby wipes sweat from her forehead, backing up from the steam-spewing cave.
"I'll... agree with Aire on this one. If you want to handle it, by all means, this dungeon is yours."
I chuckle, then reply.
"Great. You two take care of Danny outside, Maria and I will clear this break before you know it."
I turn to Maria, watching her start to glow light blue while taking out her long silver sword.
She nods, turning to the cave opening while the ground beneath her feet starts to become covered in ice.
We wave the 3 others off and walk towards the opening of the cave. The light from inside shines bright, but seems to be inching further away every step forward we take.
It's almost like the cave itself is begging for us to walk deeper into it. Or maybe there's a creature inside controlling the light.
I happily do as it wants, drinking an MP potion and expanding the range of my perception and detection skills.
Once Maria and I cross the border and enter the mouth of the rocky tunnel, a lot becomes much more clear to me...
At the same time, there's so much more that becomes unknown.
My mind's eye starts to fill up with a mapped-out version of the cave system we've just entered. It's like the inside of a scattered and broken ant hill.
Twists and turns of narrow tunnels fill my vision. Some lead to dead ends, while others go dark before I can make out where they even lead. Portions of the twisting mazes are blinding me with dense mana readings while others are dead and cold.
Out here in the real world, my All-Seeing Eye and Detection skills have a much harder time mapping out my environment.
They're efficient at detecting mana. In dungeons, everything is made from mana so it's easy to see all of my surroundings.
Out here in these caves, areas that are lacking mana all seem the same. Dark and undetectable.
I whisper under my breath.
"This... may be a bit harder than I initially thought."
There are 3 main large sources of energy that I'm sensing. These must be dungeon entrances. There are over 100 smaller slow-moving readings. They're most likely monsters that have escaped from the break.
There's one, deepest in the cave, that is giving off an incredible amount of energy. This is most likely the heat source and epicenter of the break.
I smirk as we come to a crossroads. One path is light while the other is as dark as night.
"Let's head this way."
Maria and I head off to the right, following the yellow-orange glow.
Level 250-270 Salamander mobs line the walls the further in we travel. Easily being able to cut them down with a single slice from our blades, this doesn't slow us down in the slightest.
The only problem is, the small amount of light that comes off the base mobs tails is definitely not enough to make the large yellow glow that we're following. The denser mana that is creating it keeps moving further away the closer we get.
Maria and I speed up, running through the cave and cutting down mobs at double the pace.
The glow we've been following becomes brighter and brighter.
Finally, we take a turn and find what we're looking for.
Standing before us, glowing yellow and orange, reflecting light off the cave walls, another mutant Salamander stares us down. This one is level 314.
Before I even have time to think, it lunges at us and I watch its back begin to glow a much deeper orange hue while dripping molten rock.
Maria acts fast and creates a massive wall of ice.
The moment the monster makes contact with the blue magic It quickly encapsulates the entire mutant and smothers out its flame in a matter of seconds.
The light that had been illuminating the cave dies down and we're left in near darkness. The only thing lighting the way is the dim glow of another yellow light at the far end of the tunnel before us.
With a loud thud, the body of a frozen solid 4.5-meter-long Salamander falls to the floor, blocking our path. Maria hits it with the tip of her sword and it fractures into hundreds of tiny pieces.
To my surprise, there's no fiery explosion.
We're also outside of a dungeon, so there's no hope of any rare drops just yet...
I speak up while igniting my sword into flames for a but of light.
"Huh, well that makes things a lot easier."
We continue forward, following the dim glow of the next mutant salamander.
My mind begins to wander.
One thing that troubles me as we walk and farm lower-level mobs is the fact that the fire user at the guild yesterday brought in an element stone to sell...
I assume he went diving here, but none of the mutants we've faced dropped a thing. Maybe he's strong enough to enter the dungeon, that would be the only explanation.
It's the one I'm most hoping for, actually.
If that grunt can pull off farming a Firestone, then we've struck gold. I wouldn't mind taking home a few stones home myself before we clear the whole break.
A grin creeps across my face as we near the first hyper-dense energy source on my radar.
The tunnels are getting hotter, the light is getting dimmer, and the air is getting denser and denser with mana.
Before we turn the next dark corner to see what it is, I turn my head back and call out.
"Hey, Maria. How ya holding up?"
Glowing bright with her magic, she gives me a bright smile.
"Fine so far, I can tell it's getting hotter, but my Ice is blocking it out fine."
"Good. I think we're about a third of the way there. If I'm not mistaken, there's a dungeon around this bend... It's not the break, but It wouldn't hurt to check it out."
We both step around a large pile of hot rubble and defeat 3 lower-level base mobs as we round the bend.
My prediction was spot on.
We both stop and stare, mesmerized by the sight of a large light blue twisting dungeon entrance portal...