Walking into the Monster Dungeon, they each took turns to step on the Blue Magic Circle. The Two-Way Magic Circle teleported them onto a floor and, the moment they appeared, they realised something; there were strong monsters occupying the floor.

“Wow! There are a lot of them!” Rumble said and he punched his fists together and grinned broadly.

“Ten Hobgoblins and Fifteen Dire wolves! That’s quite the number!” Darian said as he glanced at them.

Lakshman and others stared at the monsters in amazement. The Hobgoblins were wielding large bulky wooden weapons and were slapping them on their hands. The Dire Wolves were growling with their fanged bared and their tails standing up.

Judging from their behaviour, Lakshman realised this will be an all-out attack. There would not be enough time to setup defence because of how many there are.

“So? What do we do?” Marilia asked as she stood beside him.

“We attack! Grind them all to dust!” Rumble said energetically and he made a wide wicked smile.

Darian nodded and said “For once, I agree. Let’s do this!”

He let out his last words into a shout and they charged forward. The moment they moved, the monsters also moved. Roaring like wild beasts, the Hobgoblins and Dire Wolves began their assault on the group.

“Fighting Frenzy!” Rumble shouted and the air around him began glowing wild and he began glowing in a golden aura.

“Striking Slash!” Darian shouted and he unleashed a slicing energy at the monsters.

Rumble began his close-combat battle against the monsters while Darian’s energy attack cut down the monsters. The energy the two were released amazed Lakshman and he realised he has to do the same to keep up with them.

“Spirits of ice, form into a formidable ball of ice and launch! Ice Buster!”

With the incantation completed, a large ball of ice formed above him. Then he instantly pointed his staff towards the monsters and it flew directly at them. On impact, it exploded and froze all the monsters solid.

“Master! Now isn’t the time to use full worded incantations! You need to shorten them! You’re taking too long saying the words and then activating the spell!” Ondine said sharply as she cut down several monsters

“Stop complaining and focus on your enemies, Ondine!” Tetra said as she also

She aimed at the frozen monsters and shouted “Striking Blades!”

Swords materialised where her hand was and flew straight at the monsters. With each strike of the sword, the frozen monsters shattered into a thousand pieces.

Satisfied with the result, Tetra turned to Ondine and said “See! Master attacks and I finish the job. Works, doesn’t it?”

Ondine snorted and said “Unlike master, I’m not a magician! I’m a swordsman. More precisely, I’m a North Sword Sage since I’ve become stronger than my Saint ranked state! Watch!”

With that, she began charging her sword with Energy Force and it glowed brightly. Then she jumped high into the air and shouted “Frozen Slayer!”

The next instance, she swung her sword and released an energy wave. The attack soared straight at the monsters and instantly froze them in ice statues. Then the ice began cracking until they were shattered into tiny pieces.

“There! That’s how it’s done! Transferring my water nature into my sword and freezing my opponents!” Ondine said proudly.

“Show off!” Tetra said and began releasing a barrage of swords and fired them at the monsters.

Like that, the group made their way to the other end of the dungeon. It was a slow progress because the Monster Magic Circle, which was the violet coloured magic circles, constantly summoned the monsters.

“Damn! These are only D-Ranked monsters, but it feels like they are C-Ranked!” Ondine complained after a relentless attack on them.

“Didn’t I say the monsters will get a power up and power boost with the Boss Mode active in the dungeon? We’re just lucky it isn’t something far more powerful than these!” Darian said when he cut down three monsters with one slice of his sword.

“Yet, it feels like we’re not making much progress against them!” Marilia said from the back as she cast healing magic on them.

Just then, Monster Magic Circles began appearing on the side walls. Seeing that, Rumble asked “What? Getting summoned from the walls?”

Black creatures began crawling out of the magic circles. Seeing them, Lakshman and Ondine exclaimed in shocked as they remembered what they were.

“Dungeon Crawlers!” Lakshman and Ondine shouted at the same time as more and more Dungeon Crawlers appeared.

“What?! They are Dungeon Crawlers?!” Darian asked quickly as he looked at the disgusting monsters.

“Yes! I could never forget such disastrous monsters even if I wanted to!” Ondine said and she shivered.

“That’s right. We got caught in a Trip Magic Circle during one of our training exercises into the Monster Dungeon that was on near the town we lived at,” Tetra said to help them believe Ondine’s words.

“Alright! If they are Dungeon Crawlers, then make sure not to touch them! Destroy them with your swords, magic spells or energy attacks! That means no physical attacks, Rumble!” Darian said as he channelled energy into his sword.

“Ah...! Such a pain!” Rumble said with a irritated look on his face as he glanced around at the Dungeon Crawlers.

“Stop complaining and do it!” Darian said angrily and Rumble had no chance to put up a fight.

“Fine! Here I go!” Rumble shouted and he screamed “URRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

He put his hands together and gathered a quick amount of energy in them. Then he aimed at the remainder of Hobgoblins and shouted “Ballistic Cannon!”

The next instance, he released the energy in a massive wave. It soared across the ground and destroyed everything in its way. This also destroyed most of the dungeon crawlers while many more continued to get spawned in by the Monster Magic Circles.

“Here we go!” Rumble shouted and he began releasing a massive load of energy blasts at the black creatures.

The amount of destruction he and Darian were creating amazed Lakshman and Ondine. The two of them watched them in awe as their combined attacks disseminated the monsters in front of them.

Lakshman felt angry, but at himself. Watching them constantly releasing quick attacks that destroyed the monsters made him feel angry at himself.

“If only I could use Voiceless Incantations...! If only I could use more powerful attacks when I’m a Sage ranked warrior in both magic and sword...!”

“Master, watch out!” Tetra shouted and she destroyed several Dungeon Crawlers that were crawling his way.

“Thanks Tetra...!” he said with a smile, but looked unhappy.

Tetra destroyed several of them and then looked at him. Her face was expressionless as she stared at his face. It seemed like she was thinking about doing something because she suddenly transformed into her sword form and flew into his hand.

“Wha? Tetra?” Lakshman said in surprise when he found himself onto the handle of the Phoenix Blade.

“I can understand your desire to be able to use stronger powers since you have become strong, master. Let me assist you as your Contract Spirit and as the Phoenix Blade!”

He heard Tetra’s voice in his mind and, the next instance, he saw flashing of images. Knowledge suddenly flooded his mind so quickly that his brain suddenly began throbbing painfully. His body knelt down as he clutched his head with his left hand.

“Lakshman!” Marilia said in surprise at seeing him go down.

“Master! What’s wrong?!” Ondine asked anxiously as she reached his side and looked at him with a concerned expression on her face.

“No. I’m fine,” Lakshman told them and he gradually got back to his feet.

“Master, all knowledge of the Saint ranked skills have now been shared with you. Please do with them how you like and lead us to victory!” Tetra told him in his mind.

“I see...” he said slowly and he hung his head tiredly. Then he said “I was foolish to think what I knew would be enough! I needed to study more and what I knew didn’t match my strength! I see my fault, but I’ll change! I’ll live and protect everyone important to me!”

“Um... Master, what are you saying?” Ondine asked with a confused expression on her face.

“Don’t worry, Ondine. I just rambled randomly, but I get it! I’m strong, but lacked the discipline to learn new things on my own!”

“Oh...! So what will you do now then, master?”

“I’ll do my best and keep on fighting!” Lakshman said and he flashed a grin at her which amazed her.

That was the first time she had seen him that excited in a long while. The last time he was this excited was when they fought a gigantic monster at their village. This marked the second time and she knew he will do something amazing.

“Power Up!” he shouted and he was suddenly pumped with pure energy.

The energy coursing through his body became stronger as he began glowing in a brilliant red light. This allowed him to use stronger attack spells, but that was not the only thing he could do.

“Master, everyone else is raising their powers, but you’re keeping your energy constant. While that is good, it won’t let you do some things and that includes Voiceless Incantations!” Tetra told him in his mind.

“Eh? So I should be constantly hyper with my energy like Rumble and Darian?” Lakshman asked her by thinking about it.

“That’s right! Go wild with your power and you will get used to constantly using it. Then, when you begin your training to learn Voiceless Incantations, it’ll work out well. It’s true that learning Voiceless Incantations is difficult, but it’s the easiest thing you could use with your high power and energy!”

“So... I can’t use Voiceless Incantations right now?”

“You’re power has risen due to Power Up and the knowledge of the Sage ranked skills also help! All that’s left is for you to imagine your attack and go with it!”

“Alright! Now that’s more like it!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” he began screaming and his power began growing stronger and stronger. Then he shouted “Frozen Cannon!”

He aimed his sword in a direction and a brilliant amount of light gathered there. It transformed into a rotating ball of ice. Seeing this, Ondine and Marilia was amazed. Only Rumble and Darian looked around with satisfied smiles on their faces as if they had expected this development.

The next moment, Lakshman exerted his energy and the ball of rotating ice was released in a wave of energy. It flowed straight ahead and froze the black creatures in ice. Then he swung his sword around and caused the others to get frozen as well.

Then he swung the sword in a full circle twice and shouted “Burning Cutter!”

His sword began coated in fire and he unleased it like a whip. It soared around and destroyed all the frozen monsters along with others that got in its way.

“Wow...!” Ondine said in awe as she watched him destroy the monster with ease.

“V-Voiceless Incantation, but how? I thought you couldn’t do it!” Marilia said in a voice filled with amazement.

“I don’t know how master is doing it, but that’s good news for us!” Ondine said and she shouted “Go destroy them, master!”

“You got it!” Lakshman shouted and they began advancing forward.

Due to the amount of attack, their formation fell apart, but it was still fine. Right now Lakshman lead them while the rest defeated stray monsters that he did not prefer to fight.

They were making easy progress through the floor thanks to how powerful Lakshman was with his use of techniques.

“Ah! I can see the Boss Magic Circle up ahead!” Rumble said and the group cheered happily.

Just then, there was a loud screeching noise and multiple Monster Magic Circles began appearing around them.

“Dammit and we’re so close to reaching the boss room!” Rumble said in a frustrated voice.

“It’s fine! We’ll just have to fight out through again,” Darian said bracingly.

“Yeah, right and by the time we reach the boss rom, we’ll all be tired!” Rumble complained as he stared around at the magic circles angrily.

Just then, Lakshman held his sword high in the air. The sword suddenly began glowing brightly and it caught all of their attention. They all turned their heads and looked curiously at the glowing sword.

“Master... What are you doing?” Ondine asked curiously as she walked over to him.

“I’m going to seal the Monster Magic Circles,” Lakshman said to her. The next moment, he shouted “Sealing Blades!”

From out of the glowing sword multiple swords flew out. They soared through the air and stabbed in the centre of the Monster Magic Circles. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the magic circles glowed and shattered into pieces.

“Wow!” they all exclaimed in amazement as all the Monster Magic Circles were destroyed o0nce the swords stabbed them in the centre.

“So you’re finally you’re serious about this!” Rumble said with a wide smile on his face.

Lakshman turned around and was surprised to see them all smiling at him. Then he shrugged and also smiled as he said “I feel I have no choice, but to do my best to save people from an unfortunate death!”

“Good choice of words!” Darian said firmly. Then he loudly said “Let’s keep going!”

“Right!” they all said together and ran forward.

Once they reached the Boss Magic Circle, they stepped on it. The moment they did, they disappeared in a flash of red light. In the next flash, they appeared in a square room with scratches and destruction around.

The room was large and well lit for near visibility, but they could not find any lamps or fire on brackets. It was as if the room was illuminated on its own from an unknown source.

As they looked around, Ondine suddenly noticed the group of adventurers imprisoned in a ball of light. They seemed to be unconscious as their bodies slowly floated around inside the ball.

“Okay. We found the adventurers, but where’s the boss?” Rumble asked curiously.

As soon as he finished, they heard a loud grunting noise. They heard the sound of rasping noise as it drew closer to them from the darkness. The monster suddenly loomed out of the darkness and scared Marilia and Ondine into screaming.

“Quiet down, you two!” Darian said as he rubbed his ears from their sudden loud screams.

Rumble looked at it and quietly said “Damn...! Our day just gets worse and worse!”

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