“Cole, hang in there.”

“Haha, a small cut like this won’t take me out. Don’t worry Becca. I’m fine. Really.” Cole was acting tough but the small cut was actually a large gash that went from his belly button to the opposite side on his back. It didn’t pierce all the way through but it did cut the skin and a thin layer of muscle. The problem was that although they managed to staunch the bleeding, they couldn’t heal it properly. Their healer was killed in the fight earlier.

Only seven people from the assault party of twelve were still left alive. The 18 miners that came in with them were all dead as well. Their party was able to make it to the mini-boss room with only a few cuts and bruises, but the moment they entered, they were overwhelmed. They didn’t expect the mini-boss and his guards to be so powerful.

It was a major miscalculation on their part. There were signs that things were going to be difficult but it's easy to mistake instinct with paranoia.

They were forced to retreat after two of the assault party members died, including the one healer they had brought in. But in the process the guards around the mini-boss followed them out harassing them. Three more of the assault team died in their retreat before they dealt enough damage to scare them off. They retreated into a small room off of the main channel. The entryway was narrow so it would be impossible for the enemy to surround them or attack altogether.

“Stop flirting. This cut is really bad and we don’t have much in the medical kit.” Lucy was treating Cole’s injury as best she could with what little they had. The medical kit was a backup for the healer in the party, it wasn’t meant to treat major injuries like this.

Cole coughed in embarrassment at Lucy’s comment, which only turned into him hacking. He finally stopped a couple minutes later. “Were you able to send out the distress signal?” He asked with a great deal of trouble. The pain was taking over and he was short on breath.

The distress signal was a small device powered by a Mana Crystal. It was crude in it’s design but effective. One simply had to throw it at the gateway to their realm and it would activate, sending a single pulse with a unique frequency through the seal.

“Yah, we got it out.” Rebecca replied as light tears started to fill her eyes.

“Becca…” Harry called out softly. He didn’t know what to do. He felt concerned for her but also saddened now that he figured out that her heart was somewhere else.

“Don’t you dare cry. We’re still alive right? Save your tears until after we’re all dead and haunting those bastards.” Cole attempted a laugh but instead went into another coughing fit. Blood leaked out of the sides of his lips.

“Don’t try to be funny. You’ll only make it worse.” Rebecca frantically took out a small cloth and dabbed the blood away.

“Worse huh?” Cole looked at her teasingly as he smiled softly at her.

Rebecca let out a light chuckle, despite doing her best to hold it in. It was no time to be joking around. But she still managed a slight smile in return.

The other surviving members of the assault team had stupid grins as they pretended they didn’t see anything. Lucy turned away, not being able to stand their lovey-dovey attitude. One of the other survivors was about to suggest that they can leave the two of them alone for a while when he suddenly heard a loud blast from outside. It sounded like someone just shot a cannon. The others also heard it and they all jumped up to get ready for another fight.

Lucy got up and pulled out her weapon, standing in front of Cole and Rebecca protectively. Harry followed suit and stood next to her.

Rebecca grabbed her staff as she held it in both hands pointed at the entryway. She would blast whatever monster came looking for trouble. Her face was fierce but her heart was struggling. So much pain, so much sorrow. Is this the world now? She wondered.

First she lost her little brother and now when she finally found a sliver of happiness, she was going to lose it too. It wasn’t fair. She wanted to live and she had so many regrets.

Outside of the dungeon, Alexander beat on the sealed gate. But nothing happened.

“Gaia, open this gate.” He called out.

“Bull****! That brat just went in and you let him. Now open up.” He yelled out in a commanding voice.

But the only response he received was a shock as his fist landed on the sealed gate once more. Alexander reeled back as he felt his arm go numb.

“Ouch!” He screeched out as he held his arm.

He looked up to glare at the gate. He couldn’t understand it. Who was that brat and how did he get Gaia to open a sealed dungeon gate. He has to figure out how he can acquire such a power.

“Hey, you. Go find out that boy’s identity. Now!” Alexander called out to one of the guild members standing nearby watching him. “Uh… Yes sir.”

As the guild member ran off, Alexander seemed to recall some people calling out to the boy and him speaking to them in turn. His eyes darted around looking at everyone’s faces. He had a good memory so it wasn’t hard to locate Kailan’s family.

Elias had already walked over to his parents who were standing there stunned. Their son somehow opened a sealed dungeon gate and just... walked in. Maria was losing her grip. First her daughter now her youngest son that she had just got back.

“Mom, it’ll be ok. Kailan knew what he was doing.” Elias tried to persuade her. He didn’t really know if Kailan actually knew what he was doing but he clearly planned this all out.

Maria’s face crumpled up as she looked at him angrily. “And you just went along with his selfishness?!” She snapped with a sharp high-pitched tone.

Elias knew he was in for it. He hoped Kailan would be able to pull off another miracle and return or he didn’t know how he would prevent his mother from burning down the world around him.

“Hey, you.” Alexander called out loudly in a commanding tone.

Elias turned and frowned when he recognized who was addressing them so rudely. He had a bit of a history with this guy. And it wasn’t a good history.

“Elias Jones of the Sacred Paladins. I should have known.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Alexander Taylor, VP of Twilight Garden?” Elias responded disdainfully.

“Still as disrespectful as ever. Who was that kid that just went into the dungeon and what is he to you?” Alexander pressed with a commanding tone again.

“I have no obligation to tell you. And who’s the one acting disrespectful?” Elias was not in the mood for this, yet this annoying bully had to show up.

“You…”

“Hey! I don’t know who the hell you think you are but you had best back off my son.” Maria snapped as she stepped out interrupting Alexander before he could speak. She was thoroughly annoyed with this man. And he had stepped into a minefield with how Maria was feeling right now.

Alexander examined Maria up and down, what was with everyone annoying him suddenly today. “A Normie?” He asked. Elias gnashed his teeth. He was about to deck this guy when someone called out to them.

“What’s going on here? Is there a problem?” A female voice sounded out as it drew closer.

“Hunters Bureau? This is none of your concern.” Alexander turned to look at the person who had just spoke out. His headache just got worse.

“The hell it isn’t. Alexander Taylor, I’ll only say this once, back off.” Eva had arrived and she was showing her business side. Douglas of course was tailing behind her looking imposing and stoic as always. He acted like a childish ruffian normally but when it came to work he would often become serious.

Eva and Douglas positioned themselves between Alexander and the Jones family.

“And what does this have to do with you?” Alexander demanded.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but it is something you can look up online. The Jones family is under Bureau jurisdiction currently as their youngest son Kailan is our latest Returnee. We’re his watchers. Therefore if you have a problem with the Jones family you should go through the appropriate channels. Us.” Eva gave a short explanation before turning her back on Alexander and greeting Maria, Edward and Elias.

“The latest Returnee?” Alexander thought questioningly to himself. “It couldn’t have been.” There’s no way a fresh Returnee could be stupid enough to head into a dungeon so recklessly.

“Alex, come here.” The beautiful woman he was talking to earlier called out to him gently but with a tone that brooked no refusal. Alexander reluctantly walked away after giving one last calculative glance.

“Jerk.” Elias cursed.

“Yeah, he’s always been like that.” Douglas watched Alexander as he moved away from them. He didn’t like the shiny Jones family with their depressingly good looks, but he liked that guy far less.

“We heard about Rebecca and came as fast as we could, our condolences. If there’s anything you need please let us know.” Eva deeply felt sorry for them. They just got their son back only to lose a daughter.

“Thank you.” Edward replied.

Eva looked around a bit at a loss. “Where is Kailan?” She asked.

Elias and Edward looked at each other like they didn’t quite know what to say. Maria’s face crumpled once again as tears threatened to flow down profusely.

“That boy… He rushed into that dungeon gate and left us all out here. I can’t believe how selfish he’s become.” Maria went off. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. There was sadness and despair, but there was also anger, the kind of anger a parent feels when their child disobeys them.

“Wait, he what? What gate?” Douglas asked in confusion. Eva also looked at Maria, confused. They hadn’t heard about a new dungeon forming nearby and they would have been towards the top of the list to be informed of such information.

“Well… it’s kind of hard to explain. Basically, Kai ran up to the gate, told Gaia to unseal it and walked right in. The gate re-sealed itself right after he entered. So he’s now in that dungeon.” Elias didn’t understand it either but it was a fact that his little brother somehow entered a sealed dungeon.

“He what? How… no, wait.” Eva was startled but soon thought of something. Kailan had communicated with Gaia before. Now he directed Gaia to open a sealed dungeon gate. Maybe it’s not that Kailan can communicate with Gaia but rather that he has some level of control over her. He did say that the Gods were responsible for creating Gaia, and with Kailan being a God it did make some sense. Eva was starting to piece some things together.

This wasn’t the time to get fixated though, they had to plan what comes next. Kailan just showed off an ability that simply doesn’t exist and a lot of people would have seen it. They needed to prepare for the fall out.

“For now, let's move to a better location. I’ll call the Director and update him. Douglas, keep that arrogant bastard away from them.” It was obvious which arrogant bastard she was talking about.

“Got it.” Douglas agreed resolutely.

They all moved to another tent that was setup for the Hunters Bureau. Several other people tried to approach the Jones family, but Douglas scared them all away. There were a lot of angry scowls pointed at him in a short amount of time.

~ Inside Dungeon C12 ~

“Well now I’ve done it, haven’t I Gaia?” Kailan exclaimed as he took in a deep breath.

“I simply meant, I probably just made my family worry to death, not to mention I just revealed the fact that I can open dungeon gates to this world. Things are going to be troublesome after I leave here.” Kailan replied gently as he stared into space as if searching for Gaia’s face.

“Heh! Whatever. I’ll worry about it after I leave this place. Gaia, can you confirm the survival of my sister?” Kailan patted his cheeks as he straightened his posture in preparation.

“Good. I was worried there for a moment. So, it’s a cavern? Must be a Dark-World.” Kailan said to himself as he looked around. There were no other creatures in the area and the environment appeared to be a dark cave system.

Dark-World was a term used to describe worlds with primarily nocturnal or underground species. They were worlds where light was deficient so the species there were weak to light but very powerful in the darkened environment they evolved in. Unfortunately Kailan didn’t know Light Magic.

“Guess now's as good a time as any.” He thought as he glanced at the still flashing icon to confirm his status.

“Status - Statistics.” Kailan communicated with his will.

Kailan’s face fell like a weight in the ocean. He was literally starting from square one. His stats had been reset and so had his level, it’s no wonder he felt so weak when he woke up.

“I have believers? Must be the people who heard Gaia call me a God.” Kailan was a little surprised but he was able to rationalise it.

Believers and Worshippers were a common trait of Gods. Every God who was known by a mortal species had Worshippers, those who honored and prayed to them. As for others, even if they don’t pray to that God it doesn’t mean they don’t believe in them. There’s a fine difference between the two.

“I even have a little bit of Divine Power. I wonder what good that will do me…” He chuckled derisively.

“Status - Skills.” Kailan once again exerted his will. The best thing about Gaia was her indirect communication. Everything is automatic and can simply be willed to happen. Like the status screens. Opening them or changing them was as simple as willing it to happen and Gaia would do the rest.

“Scroll Down”

“Scroll Down”

“Well this sucks. All of my God skills are sealed so the Divine Power is totally useless until level 10. My magic and combat skills are also sealed. Only 1st tier is available and all of my active combat skills are gone aside from Plebeian ranks. I guess at least with this much I’m not entirely at square one. Maybe square 3, or 4.” Kailan tried to cheer himself up but it didn’t work as well as he had hoped.

“Scroll Up”

Kailan read down the skill list once more just to confirm. One particular skill stood out to him.

“Achievement Shop? That’s new.” Kailan saw one skill that he didn’t have before. Reaching out with his will he opened the skill’s information pane.

“Wow, a Returnee perk. So I can buy things with points and I earn points from combat and various other tasks. Might be useful, I’ll have to check it out later.” Kailan closed his status menu. He more or less understood his present condition so now it was time to look for the raid team that had entered the dungeon.

Kailan looked around the cavern room he was in, it was hard to see but luckily his eyes were able to adjust to some extent. “This is going to make combat hard.”

He was beginning to realize how reckless he had been. He should have requested more information about the dungeon before he entered it, then he would have known to bring a flashlight. The only upside was that there was a small amount of mana crystal lining the walls which gave off a soft glow. It at least gave a low level of light that made it easier to see the boundaries of the cavern.

He finally discovered the path forward in the form of a shaft that looked like it was dug out by a giant worm. There was more mana crystal along the shaft walls so Kailan didn’t have too much trouble finding his way.

He continued down the corridor for several hundred feet when he noticed a figure in the distance. It wasn’t human, but human shaped. It had a tail and was tall. Kailan got a bit closer, leaning up against the wall to try and blend in. He knew it wouldn’t be too helpful to camouflage himself, after all these are creatures that were born for this type of environment. But at least it might hide him temporarily.

It worked too. The creature didn’t seem to notice him yet. After a closer inspection he could tell it definitely wasn’t human, which meant it was an enemy.

“No other creatures around. The shaft continues on straight and there don’t appear to be any creatures down there as well. So it’s alone… But why is it standing out in the open alone, and what is it staring at?” Kailan thought it was strange. Tactics were a big part of invasion and defending. No creature should ever travel alone and they should never make themselves wide open like this. These were the basics.

“I guess it’s my gain then.” He grinned slightly as his blood started pumping hard.

He slowed his breathing and focused his thoughts solely on the target in front of him. He was about 15 meters away. He could make that in a mere second. He was turned to his side, so there was a chance he would be spotted if he moved, but the creature will have a delay in spotting him also. He can rush to the far side of the shaft in order to move in from his blind spot maximizing the timing of his stealth. His body doesn’t look agile, but it does appear sturdy. Meaning he will need to hit hard. Kailan analyzed every point to build a plan for success.

“He doesn't appear weak, which is strange. This should only be a Plebeian ranked dungeon but this guy appears to be higher than Mortal rank.” Kailan didn’t have the ability to see the true talent of this creature yet, but his battle instincts told him to be cautious.

He thought quickly and then acted. Pushing with great force off the ground, he propelled himself to the opposite wall. Then kick off of it at an angle using his right foot to launch himself at the creature’s blindspot. He was slowed slightly due to moving to the opposite wall, but he still made it to within a few inches of the creature in less than a second.

The creature noticed the presence of something coming at him fast and turned to see what it was. He was faster than Kailan had predicted but it was too late.

“Destruction Palm.” Kailan thought as he pulled his right arm back, slowing his forward momentum with his left leg before stepping forward with his right to add even more power into his strike. His hand formed a palm with his fingers gripped like claws, his arm moved forward like lightning as it struck the center of the creature's chest. A loud boom like a cannon sounded out as a large hole was gouged out of what was once the creature’s flesh.

“Critical Strike!”

“The special ability of Divine Martial Arts is activated. Penetration effect successful.”

Several lines of text appeared in front of Kailan’s vision.

A loud screech came out of it’s throat as it wailed in agony. It’s chest had been completely destroyed. It’s heart and lungs were the main organs in this area so it didn’t take long for it to fall down, silenced forever. The force of the impact cauterized the hole, so no blood leaked out, but the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

Suddenly, several more lines of text appeared in front of him.

“You have killed a level 4 Salarion Guardian.”

“You have gained 6 experience.”

“You have gained 4 AP.”

Kailan took a deep breath to steady himself. He was finally able to see what this creature was. It looked part lizard and part man. He had seen similar creatures before but he wasn’t certain what this one was called. The time flow in this dungeon was 1:1 with Earth, which meant it was connected to a realm that was relatively close to Midgard. The only realms Kailan had been to were Midgard and Asgard. So it wasn’t like he could identify every single species.

“Oh, wow. A critical strike. And the special effect from Divine Martial Arts activated. I must be really lucky today.” He grinned as he read each of the lines of text in front of him.

“So it’s called a Salarion? 6 experience isn’t too bad and I guess AP are the Achievement Points. Do I get 1 for every level the opponent has?” Kailan guessed that the Achievement Points must have their own calculations much like experience.

Turning to where the Salarion lizard man was looking, Kailan became a bit curious.

“I wonder what’s down this corridor?”