We were already in position for our plan, with Ro Ji-Sung in front of Lee Ha-Yun and me, Choi Minseo right behind us with her daggers ready to attack, and both sharpshooters waiting for the moments the monsters enter in their range.

We first will separate the fire slashers from salamanders, which isn’t that hard as they basically run one in lines, one in front of the other. The first being faster than the latter.

The slashers are basically like big cats, with black fur and a few streaks of red fur around their back. The difference from a normal cat and them, apart from the size that’s close to a big dog, is their tail, which is long and has a blade at the end, it is also really flexible and they can move it at will. If that wasn’t all, they can imbue the blade on the tail with fire, and do the same with their front claws, which is what gets them the name of Fire Slashers.

They are barely low-intermediate rank 7, and only because of their fire damage, their lethal tail blade, and their somewhat high speed, not that they are impossible to avoid for cadets or trained heroes, but you still have to be careful around a group of them. In terms of defense, they are basically made of glass for anyone who can reinforce their weapon with mana. Even mana bullets past through them really easy with enough accuracy.

{Well, this is only the first part of this Artificial Dungeon, so I guess it’s normal for it to be that easy.}

When I finished that thought, the group of enemies was already close enough. Which made Adrian and Park Min-Ho start their attacks. One with mana arrows, and the other one with mana-enchanted bolts.

Looking at Park Min-Ho’s attacks, a question came to me. {Why he doesn’t use mana bolts? I mean… They should be easier to make than arrows, smaller even. Maybe he can’t concentrate his mana to make powerful enough bolts, or is it that there’s something I don’t know about the crossbows here? Oh well, it could be that he just wants to keep his power concealed.}

After a few attacks, the salamanders kind of stayed a little further back, while the slashers started to run even faster towards us while evading the magic arrows and the magic reinforced bolts.

“Let’s go. We’ll meet them in the middle so they focus all their attention on us. If any of you can get a clean hit. Do it. Forget about targeting their heads, just reduce their movement if possible.”-Said a talkative Choi Minseo.

“Roger.”-Adrian answered.

“Got it!”-And Park Min-Ho did too.

“Let’s go!!!”-Shouted pinky, while she and Ro Ji-Yun started running forwards. I following closely behind. {They do know how to work together. Mm… Maybe they have matching personalities.}-I thought while running behind them and in front of Choi Minseo and both sharpshooters.

While we were getting closer to the monsters, Rachel and Mark followed behind us, trying to keep their distance and passing by our side to evade the slashers’ attention.

Adrian and Park Min-Ho got better accuracy as they got closer to the big cats, connecting a few arrows and bolts and even killing two of them after a few hits. Though they couldn’t do much, as we had 4 salamanders shooting fire breaths from the distance, making us evade almost every 5 seconds.

“Going for impact!”-Ro Ji-Sung shouted while running with his shield up towards the first three fire slashers, just after evading the last fire breath.

Before long, he made contact with the cats. Sending one of them back, while the other two scratched his shield as fire appeared in their claws. Thankfully, they're weaker than the real version, so they only have their speed. Not like Shield-guy would let them hit him directly for testing purposes.

“Retreat.”-Shouted Choi Minseo as she dashed towards the two distracted cats attacking Ro Jin-Sung, while the latter kept his defense up while walking back towards his team leader.

Meanwhile, Lee Ha-Yun did something really good for the plan, she started making sweeping attacks at the left flank to try and grab as much attention to herself with the long reach of her spear. She was doing a great job, as 5 of the slashers went towards her. Thankfully Adrian was perfectly supporting her, not letting any slasher get close to her with his arrows. So, she only needed to focus on evading any incoming fire breath and not letting any tail close to her neck.

I, on the other, went towards the right flank to confront that side of the kitties. This time I used as little mana as possible, so my sword wouldn’t break while fighting. I dashed towards the rightmost slasher, and that got the attention of at least 5 of them towards me, one of which was already hurt, so it could barely fight.

I dispatched my first target evading his thrusting tail that was used as some kind of spear and cutting it while passing by. That made the cat scream in pain, but the bastard is a monster, and as any enraged monster, or animal for that matter, does, it attacked me with his next best weapon, its claw. It threw itself towards with its right claw covered in flames. But well… Fire doesn’t actually work against me… And even if it did, this is a weak monster, even for Hajin. So, I just evade it with a small movement and cut its head.

{Damn… I would love to tame one of these and bring it back home, I’m sure Sasha would love it, it’s just like a little fire panther with a blade. That brat sure has a soft spot for any cat…}-I thought while jumping to further to my right to evade a fire breath coming towards me. {Better not let people know that fire does shit against me.}

Just as I finish evading the fire breath, I see the other 4 cats, including the hurt one, running towards me. So, I run right towards them.

I was counting on fire support from the rear, after all.

I concentrate mana in my legs and do a little rush towards the first one, beheading it as soon as I pass by. Then I went right towards the injured one.

You see, the funny thing is. That the fire support I was counting on, didn’t come. The bastard Park Min-Ho thought it was better to help the girls than help me, who is his original teammate.

This left me in an awkward spot, between one injured cat, and two enraged ones. All three of them coming for my neck with their tails.

It isn’t a problem, they’re weaker and slower than me. But man… What’s the point in hiding your abilities if you have to demonstrate them anytime a sucker decides to troll?

“*sigh…*”-I sighed while lowering my head to evade the enraged cats’ tails while parrying the tail of the injured one with a raising swing of my sword. I then just continued the movement while slightly jumping forwards, ending in what was basically me flying in the middle of the attacks, spinning horizontally, and using the sword to cut the two tails I evade before.

Sadly, that made me slide on the sand. Not like it was hot or anything, but I didn’t like when sand entered your clothes… Not to the point of hating sand-like Mark, but it surely wasn’t a pleasant sensation.

I quickly turned myself while rolling and stood up. In time to receive a fire claw from an, even more, enrage cat with my sword, parrying it and then punching the monster in the face with enough to send throw him back without killing him. The slashing cat actually crashed with the injured one, while the other one rushed forward trying to jump at me, so I just threw my sword to its forehead, making it falls dead in the sand.

{I hope that fucker at least finishes easier that side in exchange for leaving this side all to myself…}-I thought while I rushed towards the death fire slasher to retrieve my sword, in time for the returning two that I sent flying before.

With just two of them, this could barely be called “work” It was just me cutting both their necks after evading their desperate attacks.

I turned to look at the rest of my teammates, to see how Choi Minseo finished killing the last one while piercing its neck with both daggers after Ro Ji-Sung parried its tail with his shield.

On a side note. Rachel lived up to her rank, already finishing the four salamanders with Mark. So, I just went towards them, who were waiting for us in what I suppose is the direction we should keep walking to go towards the next part of the dungeon.

“Yo, finished already?”- I said while raising my hand.

“Sure. You too huh? That was fast.”-Mark answered while putting away his weapon.

“Of course. We were more. And they were just some Fire Slashers.”-I said to him.

“You were fighting alone.”-Rachel said while looking at my eyes.

“You must have seen things. Also, some of them were already injured.”-I answer her.

“Man!! How did you finish so fast!?”-Shouted Adrian while getting here with the rest of the team. “We were trying to hurry up things and go help you, but when we finished you were already putting away your sword…”

“They were injured.”-I said while shrugging. Right on time to hear a little clicking of the tongue. I didn’t even have to look where it comes from, I could perfectly sense the fucker clicking his tongue. {Now what’s wrong with him? We barely talk to each other, why would he be angry with me?}

“Still. You did save us a lot of time killing them so fast.”-Said Choi Minseo.

“Yes… Maybe you’re not only a weird-hair guy and an idiot.”-Pinky said.

“Sure, let’s keep going, shall we?”-I said, hoping to change the conversation, and ignoring the look that Rachel is giving me.

{That one is just like Yoo Yeonha in that sense… Better avoid her outside of Combat Trainings.}

After everyone agreed, we resumed our march. Of course, the only clue we had was to go towards where the monster came from, and it didn’t pass much time until the scenery around also changed. Thankfully there weren’t traps. I was waiting for some moving sands, sandpits, or something suddenly coming out of nowhere.

The next stage of the dungeon was apparently a burning cave. And I say burning because it’s burning. Not lava, just fire all around the place. Thankfully, that gives us a clear path to follow, the only path available for those who didn’t want to get burned.

“Want to go back to the dessert?”-I ask Mark, who is sweeping the sweat off his face.

“*sigh…* Shitty dungeon…”-He murmurs to himself before looking at me. “You sure got the best one huh…”

“Exactly. Other than the environment, we haven’t had any problem with monsters, right?”

“…”-He just stared at me blankly.

“Now, let’s go. But before, do you see anything?”-Choi Minseo asks me.

“Not for the moments, only the path, it’s curved in front, so I don’t know if there would be monsters ahead.”-I lied a little bit there. The path indeed curved ahead, but I could sense the monsters ahead of there, it was funny, it was like a little lizard, covered in a sphere of fire that worked like a shield. Peanut Flames if I’m not wrong. The same monsters that Hajin had to fight the first time.

“Well, let’s go. Everyone be alert, it’s better if no one falls to a trap.”- Said Choi Minseo while urging everyone to go.

{She doesn’t talk too much, but she sure likes to give orders. While Rachel being the introverted type she is doesn’t help that much…}-I thought while walking ahead, being nominally the pathfinder of the team.

Just as we turned around the corner, I motioned for everyone to stop.

“What? Do you see something?”-Choi Minseo asked.

“Yeah… Does anyone have some kind of sun cream? Or cream for burns? Or anything that would stop us from becoming a barbecue?”-I asked my team while looking ahead.

“Why would you ask?”-Rachel asks

“Well… There’s a lot of Peanut Flames ahead…”

“Ha! Those are weaklings!”-Shouted Pinky.

One funny thing about this stage of the dungeon is, that even if the Peanut Flames are weak, there are a lot of them here. 45 to be precise. A few of them are even covered by the fire of the dungeon, making them impossible to see if you don’t have good eyes like me or Hajin.

So, even if the monsters are weak, barely low-rank 2, in big groups, they can be a problem for normal cadets. Thankfully, they’re mana puppets, so they won’t have too much power.

Still, being in this closed space, surrounded by peanut flames isn’t something good for the team.

“Sure, though, I don’t know what you think of it, but I certainly won’t like to have more than forty fireballs coming towards me at once.”-I said while shrugging.

“…”-She just stared at me. “Forty? Like… a four and zero together? That number?”

“Yeap, like a four and a zero together, forty, well, let me more specific, like a four and a five together, maybe more ahead.”-I said while shrugging. “Also… They’re separated into groups. But the groups are too close to each other, so once we start fighting, they would all come towards us.”

“Thankfully those are slow…”-Adrian murmured.

“Yes, they are. But they also have ranged attacks. So even those far away can still attack us.”-Said Choi Minseo. “*sigh…* We need a plan for this…”

“Well, why don’t we do the same? I mean. I can kill these monsters easily just shooting them with my crossbow.”-Park Min-Ho intervened.

“If you know where all of them are. Sure, that would be good.”-I answered without looking at him, just before I pointed to a wall covered in fire. “See that fire over there? Well, there’re two peanut flames there. The little will-o-wisp doppelgangers are hiding in the flames. And they’re not the only ones.”

“You mean… That there are more of them waiting inside the fires over the walls?”-Rachel asked.

“Exactly. I guess they are there for a nice ambush, though, sadly for them, I can perfectly see them.”

“Well, can’t you just tell us in which fires they are? That way we could shot them, right?”-Adrian asked.

“Sure, I could tell you where they are, but sadly, the fire is spread too wide, and they’re small, so that means you won’t know where to hit exactly in the walls of fire unless they attack you first.”-I said. “For now, I think that the best thing we could do is go with the sharpshooters in the middle, protecting them while they shoot any peanut flame they see, starting with the ones far away.”

“And us?”-Rachel asked.

“Well, we just need to kill those closest to us, leaving the ones further away to the sharpshooters. Any leftover from their attack, we finished them up. I’ll take care of any hiding one, they’re not that much either.”- I said while taking out my sword.

“Okay. Get on formation. Lee Ha-Yun and I will cover the rear. The sharpshooters will be in the middle, while the rest will be covering the front. It’s that good?”-Choi Minseo asked.

“Sure.”-I shrugged.

“Okay”-Pinky answered while Ro Ji-Sung only nodded.

“Good.”-Rachel answered shortly.

“I’m a supporter, why would I go at the front?”-Mark asked.

“You have a mid-range weapon. You can easily attack a little further away than any warrior. So, putting yourself in front is the best choice. Do you have a problem with that?”-Choi Minseo answered.

“*sigh…* Fine… No problem…”-Mark finally agreed, so we all started going to our position, this time a weird 4-2-2.

I do have a problem here, and that’s the fact that pinky should be in front of giving her weapon’s reach. Though, that would mean sending either the shield or Rachel back. Meaning, sending the first line of defense, or sending our best warrior behind. I, of course, have to be in front in order to see the ones in hiding. Oh well, this will work still.

“Well. Let’s move.”-Choi Minseo said. And we all started going.

Right now, I feel like playing a tower defense game. But this time me being the wave of monsters and the peanut flames being the towers. Thankfully, this is a TD game where the monsters can attack and destroy the towers.

I took care of any hiding one, while both sharpshooters attacked those in sight far away, the ones that got to us alive were eliminated by either Mark, Rachel, or me, while Ro Ji-Sung focused all his efforts in shielding any incoming fireball. We also did the same, but it was mostly him who took care of the fireballs.

Using this strategy, we went through a few corridors, each time we turned in a corner, a new batch of these little lizards waited for us. Once we went through the fourth one and turned at the corner, we finally saw a long corridor without any monster or fire, which means that we finished this stage.

“*sigh…* We are finally of that oven…”-Said one tired Mark.

“Yeah… I’m sweating everywhere!”-Pinky answered.

“How come you’re not sweating man!?”-Adrian asked me while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“My gift.”-I answered shortly.

“What? You don’t sweat because of your gift!? What does it do?”-Pinky asked.

“Why would I tell you? That’s personal after all.”

“Oh… Right! I forgot. Still… I’m little envious that you didn’t sweat at all…”-She said while pouting.

I mean… It’s not like I can’t sweat. It’s just that heat won’t make me sweat…

“What good would a gift that doesn’t let you sweat be? I’m sure that it’s barely useful for anything else… *tch…*”-Murmured Park Min-Ho.

{Really… What’s wrong with the guy? Did I steal his girlfriend or something? Jeez…}-I thought.

“Everyone, stop playing. We don’t know what waits for us in the next stage. This may be a fake dungeon filled with mana puppets, but we still need to be alert.”-Said Choi Minseo.

We kept walking forward in the corridor until we got to a corner that was somewhat illuminated from the other side.

“Mm?”

“Huh?”

“What’s that?”

The dark corridor suddenly got illuminated, so it would only attract some attention.

“Oh, man… Not again a fucking oven…”-Whined Mark while dropping his head and arms.

“That doesn’t seem to be the same kind of oven you’re thinking about…”-I said to him.

“Mm? Why do you say so? Did you notice something?”-Choi Minseo asked.

“You’ll see…”

And exactly as I said. It was an oven. But not the same kind we have been going through.

“Just… What’s this…?”-Asked Rachel while looking around.

After turning at the corner, I stopped everyone with my hand. We saw what could perfectly be some big chamber, or maybe a hall at the end of the corridor, with big rock columns going all through it. The place was tall and really wide. You could also see two lava rivers flowing at both sides of the hall.

“Why did you ask us to stop?”-Choi Minseo asked me. “Did you see something?”

“Not precisely, but I have this little sensation that we should first rest. Everyone is tired from the last run. And we don’t know what waits for us in here. So, I would actually recommend a little bit of rest. What do you all say?”-I ask everyone.

“…”-Rachel starts pondering a bit before answering. “I don’t particularly feel too tired, but if anyone needs to, I would agree.”

“I’m not tired too.”-Answered Choi Minseo. Of course, she barely did something apart from running and “protecting” the sharpshooters…

“I’m also fine!”-Said Pinky.

“Well… I’m indeed a little bit tired, I would like to catch my breath for a moment…”-Said Mark.

“Me too…”-The same answered Ro Ji-Sung, after all, he was the one to receive most of the attacks.

“Well… I could have a bit of rest, I used too much mana before to kill as much peanut flames as I could…”-Adrian answered.

“I’m fine. I don’t need to rest as I’m really resistant!”-Park Min-Ho answered while somehow giving me a scowling sight. {Really… What’s wrong with this guy?}

“Well… That should be 5 against 3, as Rachel said that she would agree to rest in case someone did need it.”-I started. “So, what about a 10 minutes rest?”

“Fine for me.”-Rachel answered.

“No problem here to…”-Choi Minseo also agreed.

“Great.”-I said before giving one more look towards the place in front and then sitting while leaning towards one of the walls of the corridor.

That hall has a bigger concentration of mana that the places we were before. And that’s something that gives me a weird feeling. So better have everyone in peak condition.