Chapter 50 Mission... Complete?
The more time passed the less comfortable Nial felt about the situation inside the two-element dungeon.
Because of that, he quickly retreated to the last intersection, where he took one of the other tunnels and entered it.
Moving without any hesitation, he briskly walked ahead making the three students feel astonished as they hadn't expected him to recover so quickly from the shocking things he had heard.
Their bodies seemed to have frozen on the spot after what they had just witnessed.
However, considering that Nial didn't see what they had seen, the description of the scene might not have been as harrowing as the scene itself allowing him to be relatively unaffected.
With that in mind, it was logical that Nial recovered faster than them.
Yet, it was their ignorance that made them gloss over the possibility that Nial was aware how dangerous the situation was, and that it was exactly because of this fact that he moved so fast.
He began actively using the [Mana Perception(poorest)] ability up to the point at which the surrounding mana could barely maintain a balance between using mana, absorbing and annexing it.
Worried about the summoning that could occur at any moment, if the description of the young male student was succinct, Nial moved through the empty tunnel, and the moment the earth beneath them began to shake, he broke into a run.
Moving faster and faster, Nial started circulating mana through his body, enhancing his entire being, including his senses which he used to rush through the tunnel.
With each passing second, he felt that something bad could happen, and unbeknownst to him, his feet carried him faster than the others, increasing the distance from himself to the three students that followed him considerably.
But seeing this made them forget their fear of the surrounding, and the ritual as the fear of losing Nial took over their minds.
They believed him to be the only person who would bring them outside the cave and two-element dungeon.
It was just something the three of them felt to be the case, and even if Nial was at a lower rank, he was, in fact, much stronger than them.
Thus, the young female student let out an anxious shriek and shouted after Nial, who was forced to halt.
He would have never expected the female student to be stupid enough to shout out his name loudly, at least, not after she had witnessed how Originals had been tied and their wrists slit open to sacrifice them.
Because of that, he forced himself to slow down, which caused the young female student to fall silent.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, several voices from the opposite direction to the one he was rushing at could be heard.
This astonished Nial a little bit, but at the same time, it told him that it had not been that disastrous for the young female student to shout after him.
Otherwise, the few voices in front of him would have already been attacked by petrification rats or the Ratmen.
Fortunately, it looked like the Ratmen and petrification rats were currently all occupied with sacrificing the Originals that had already been caught.
And this was also the most important topic the Originals that he and the other three students approached were talking about.
"We have to save the other students and Originals! They will die if we do nothing, don't you know that Jack!?"
A young female student asked indignantly, as the young man, presumably Jack, sounded firm, and disciplined as if he was ready to do everything if he was ordered to.
"I think the last five days you spent in the cave caused your brain to get too little oxygen. Who the hell do you think is strong enough to defeat dozens of these…Ratmen and thousands of petrification rats?
Do you think the military would send out one of their elite military units?! Even if they did, what would apprentices of their elite units at or below the 3rd Origin rank do about so many opponents?
I've been sent to save everyone, but if you think that I would needlessly sacrifice my life for dead people, you are wrong…no thanks!"
Saying so, the young man, called Jack, made his stance clear.
Nial concluded that he was one of the older men of the military that had been sent to save everyone.
According to his origin rank and age that was around Nial's, Jack must have been a late bloomer.
Thus, he was able to think more rationally than almost everyone around them, which Nial found to be a pleasant sight.
With that in mind, he cleared his throat to announce his arrival.
Upon seeing Nial and the other three students, the small group of students and the junior unit of the military tensed for a moment, only to calm down when they saw that they weren't being pursued by any kinds of beasts.
Jack and the others had already heard them from further away, and it was fortunate that there was no petrification rat nearby.
Because of that, he could calm down as he introduced himself.
"Hello, my name is Jack Namid, I belong to the Junior Military Unit 8562. Pleased to meet you!"
Staring at Nial, Jack immediately noticed that the young man was blind.
However, that didn't mean he was weak, even less because the three students that were all at the 2nd or 3rd Origin rank seemed to huddle behind him, believing him to be their savior after their confidence had been shaken by something.
Seeing that a blind young man was strong and as old as he was, Jack sighed inwardly, relieved to finally encounter someone who was able to think clearly.
Introducing himself quickly, he revealed his identity and the three students behind him got to know his name for the first time, which was noticed by the others, clearly showing that they didn't know each other.
Yet, at that moment, a flabbergasted voice could be heard from behind the group Nial had encountered.
"Nial..?! What are you doing here…?"
Confused about the sudden appearance of the young and blind man she had assessed only a few weeks ago at the Originals association, Shana stepped forward.
Perceiving Shana's outlines and her familiar mana fluctuations he smiled lightly before he countered her.
"I could ask you the same! Don't you know that your old man is worried? Even to the extent of sending someone blind at the 1st Origin stage into the two-element dungeon!"
Hearing the short summary that explained the reason why Nial had entered the dungeon, the Originals couldn't help but look at Shana, wondering how her father could be cruel enough to send a blind person in a dangerous dungeon!
Furthermore, Nial seemed to be a late bloomer, and he was barely at the 1st Origin rank, indicating that he had recently awoken his origin.
From the way he walked around, Nial didn't seem to be professionally trained either, even if his movements were smooth.
As such, Jack was momentarily confused because he had not expected someone to enter the dungeon with so many bad prospects only to save someone, who was supposed to be much stronger, and neither could he comprehend why the military didn't send more units to rescue those who had been stuck in the dungeon.
Did nobody return to the surface, and ask for help?
He was sent to the dungeon four days ago, and until now, there was no sight of other military units!
That was the case if one were to exclude the useless brats that behaved like powerful Originals, only to be heavily injured the moment they faced a group of less than 50 petrification rats.
If that was all, the military's situation or intel was much worse than they could find out themselves.
However, Jack was the most worried about the situation beneath them because the ground was shaking, and he was able to sense tremendous waves of transmuted mana from there.
Because of that, he assumed that the boss monster was lurking below them and would pounce upon them at any moment.
This gave them the necessary time to flee under the condition that everyone agreed to leave.
Unfortunately, this was not the case because almost half of their group wanted to rescue their classmates and friends and not just save themselves.
Jack gave this thought lots of credit, and he respected their opinion even more than before.
However, what use would it be to die while rescuing others?
With that thought, he hoped that Nial and the students behind him had more intel than them about the situation below.
"By chance, do you guys know what is going on below us?"
The moment Jack asked this question, he knew that the newly arrived group knew more than they were showing.
This was evident based on how the three students frowned deeply while turning pale, and Nial let out a sigh.
While answering the question thoroughly, the young man who had described everything he had seen in the hall to him earlier didn't leave out anything.
Rather, he described it in harrowing details than before, owing to the fact that he wanted to leave the cave, or to be precise, the entire two-element dungeon as quickly as possible.
There had been no need to be so explicit because it was already devastating enough, but Nial had to acknowledge that the young man's storytelling skills were exceptional.
Even he couldn't help but feel a little bit intimidated about the situation, even though he was aware of it!
At that moment, just as everyone had lowered their guard to intently listen to the story the young man told, Nial flinched as he sensed something nearby.
Compressed mana in the shape of an earth spike was shooting towards them, or to be precise, Shana, who stood in the center of the group, along with the others.
The velocity at which the projectile zoomed at them exceeded everything Nial had seen until now, and he knew that he was not fast enough to move.
Yet, knowing that his senses had perceived the attack earlier than everyone else, he couldn't help but force his entire being to move just fast enough to protect the person for whom he had risked entering the two-element dungeon.
Not only would it be a waste of his time and efforts if Shana were to die right now, but also the knowledge of the rituals being carried out in the deeper parts needed to be told to the concerned authorities.
Rather, it would be a shame if Shana were to die just as he found her, right in front of him, without him being able to do something against it.
Feeling that he had to move, his mana shot through his veins, coursing through his entire body, and allowed him to take a small but important step that was followed by him thrusting the Fang glaive forward despite barely touching its lower end.
Meanwhile, Jack had already begun to move, as he sensed Nial's movement followed by him perceiving the sudden attack.
Making use of his exceptional martial art talent, and superior instincts, he figured out the situation in a moment, allowing him to realize that Nial's glaive thrust would block the earth spike.
Yet, at the same time, it would fling the glaive out of Nial's hand, rendering him defenseless and without a weapon.
The glaive could possibly injure others too.
Thus, Jack circulated a large amount of mana through his body with the majority directed towards his leg as he kicked out, hitting the flat end of the glaive's rod just a fraction of a second after Nial had thrust it out.
A moment later the earth spike impacted on the glaive's blade.
'How…did he know?' He wondered how Jack was able to comprehend the situation so quickly. But there was no time to think about it as he turned around and activated the [Mana Perception(poorest)] ability that targeted the direction from where the earth spike had been shot towards them.
When he sensed who, or rather what had attacked them, Nial clearly understood that he had no time to waste on the abilities of Jack, or anyone else because the beast that emerged in front of them was the biggest problem.
That was because it was the boss of the dungeon that had just emerged in front of them.