66 Beginning of a Nightmare (2/2)
\”Be careful. This is a new development. This might be what Lord Clay had detected and the monster we're hunting would come from there.\” Caltec warned everyone. He was the vanguard along with Jon, so both easily transitioned into the formation they have practiced together in training immediately. Isaac and Mor also took their position in the formation. Isaac was a magic user more suited to be the rear-guard and Mor was focusing his training on being a magic swordsman, which offers a balance between the front and the back, so he was assigned to be the switcher at the middle of the formation. All they needed now was a scout and long-range pin-point accuracy shooter to complete their party. Although, that is the ideal, their party is still rather formidable as with the strength they possessed, it was useless to divide themselves into a party. Conquering this dungeon was a piece of cake for them individually, now that they formed a party, their fighting power shot up exponentially in proportion to their number. So, if Caltec's fighting strength was quantified, he would be equal to 1000 elite knights. Multiply that with his magic reinforcement and weight, he should be able to withstand an army of more than 50,000 strong, alone. An average soldier's fighting strength should be around that of a Wild Wolf. A Wild Wolf is ranked at E; third to the lowest rank in the adventurer guild's ranking criteria. A Black Ant Colony numbering in the 10,000s is ranked as C as a whole and ranked F individually. Its elites in the colony would rank high at D close to C, but those elite individuals still can't beat 10,000 of their kind alone and so Caltec's fighting strength should be at about rank A, closer to Double A's. As they are in a party, their strength should be at Triple A.
A monster that can threaten a Triple A rank team, should be as scary as the monsters above Moribor that're still not being dealt with by Clay. They don't know what their Lord is thinking in not cleaning it up yet, but they trust him to be able to handle things that come from above without sweat.
Seeing as there were no movements from the hole, they came closer and investigated it, finding what looked like a stairway downwards. This was the first time they saw a stair down the dungeon, and it made them cautious but curious as well. They went down it and moved for about another 20 minutes.
Caltec led they way with Jon directly behind him. Each one of them were able to cast simple spells to illuminate the place better so they each casted illumination spells above their head. The spells took form in spheres of light above their head which did not hinder their sight, moving close to the ceiling of the dungeon.
\”Do you feel any presence up front?\” Isaac asked as he was at the rear.
\”I don't. Not yet.\” Caltec answered then turned to Jon and asked, \”How about you?\”
\”Nothin'.\” He shook his head.
\”Would it be good to cast a Search Spell?\” Mor asked them. Out of all of them, Mor had been entrusted by Clay the most \”knowledge\” of spells and practical application of magic in a booklet he wrote for him. He had high hopes for Mor as he was the template that most Earthling \”knowledge\” holder would want to become. It was romance to become a magic swordsman. However, Clay would not be able to become just a magic swordsman and gave up on it; giving the opportunity to Mor instead. And one of those spells he was taught was the Search Spell. It was a spell that spread out a thin blanket of magic power over a vast area surrounding the caster. Like a sonar of some kind. Clay also just took the idea form his \”knowledge.\” With it, Mor would be an effective semi-scout in a team and would be fine on his own as well. That was how Overpowered Magic Swordsmen are.
Without waiting for their answer, Mor casted the search spell and not a moment later, received a feedback from it and his face paled progressively. Their target for this hunt was found in that previous search spell and it was supposed to be good news.
\”Hey, what's up with you? Did you find it?\” Jon was confused over Mor's sudden silence and waved his arm towards him.
\”Did you use up a lot of magic energy? You're getting paler. Hey!\” Caltec was getting nervous from Mor's reaction.
\”S-Shit! Lord Clay was right. This thing's going to be a challenge even for all of us.\” Mor stuttered and struggled to calm himself after getting the response from his search.
\”Well, what is it?\” Isaac asked the right question. To him who did, Mor turned his head and said gravely, \”We were wrong. We thought only those up top the peak of Moribor can give us a challenge, we never considered other places as well. And now, we are about to face something that would probably give us nightmares for a long time…\” Mor paused and continued in an abysmally low spirit.
\”We're facing one of the Demon Realm's scourge that even one of the Demon Realm generals get frustrated about, that General Agamemkeru get's flustered about this monster even with his strength.\”
When Mor mentioned Agamemkeru, the all too well-known general of the Demon Realm who rules over the swamps there, they all got goosebumps on their body, however, further thinking about the creature that can give Agamemkeru frustrations… their faces also paled quicker than Mor's. Mor then announced the name of the monster they were about to face. It was also a monster of the swamp's vessel of immense magical power. A creature of well-known varied origins admired and dreaded by all. It was,
\”The Hydra!\” Mor exclaimed.