Skill Creation in the Fantasy World

Roven and Felix made their way to the gathering of the teams while choosing to ignore the embarrassing scene they had seen earlier.

Around a tent, a few teams of four to five members were discussing amongst themselves.

Felix noticed some familiar faces there, including Selena, and some others who had joined the scouting task.

Roven went up to the man leading this patrol task group, a Rank 3 executive from their Twilight Chaos guild.

He wore a half-sleeved light armour on his burly body and had short spiky brown hair with a thick beard.

"Sir Hiddon, this is one of my teammates, Felix. We'll be joining the patrol task along with our other two teammates. I hope you can guide us."

Hiddon glanced at the two and nodded as he let out a raspy laugh.

"Hahaha, I know about you two. Both of you joined the scouting task too, right? You youngsters sure are lively, it's good to know that the future of our guild is in such good hands."

Roven and Felix smiled at each other as Hiddon continued to explain a few things to them.

"There'll be 8 teams joining the patrol task, with four Rank 3 executives. Our objective is to map out the different tunnels and their routes around the base, including finding any groups of monsters nearby...."

The two of them listened attentively to the man, remembering the instructions and orders.

"That's it for now. We'll be leaving in thirty minutes, make sure you're ready by then.", Hiddon gave them a quick nod before turning to address a different team.

"We still have some time left. What do you propose we do, Felix?", Roven asked as he looked in the direction of their tent in slight worry.

Felix noticed his gaze and replied with a sigh.

"Are you worried about Steve and Eric in the patrol task? We can exclude them if you want, you know?"

"Right?", Roven slightly frowned. "Maybe we should do it like that...."

The two of them nodded at each other, deciding to leave behind the two troublemakers again.

"Hmm? Isn't that Selena? She's joining the patrol task too.", Roven glanced at the purple-haired girl who was making her way towards them.

"And it seems she's here for trouble?", Felix groaned tiredly.

Selena wore an annoyed look on her face as she arrived before them and stared at the two, who had been her previous temporary teammates.

"Can't you guys take a break? Why are you joining the patrol task after barely surviving the scouting mission?", she said, as if troubled by the mere notion of tagging along with them again.

"We can say the same to you.", Felix shrugged, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"Also, weren't you the one who was finding it hard to kill any of those monsters?"

"Y-You..!"

Selena huffed in anger, her cheeks turning a shade of red while Roven smiled wryly at Felix's jab at her.

"It was because you stole all my kills at the last moment, you bastard! Ugh.. You're so annoying!!", Selena snapped at him and walked away, not in the mood to talk anymore.

Roven stared speechlessly at Felix for a moment before he sighed.

"You're not that experienced with women, are you?"

Felix raised a brow, amused at his words, but also agreeing, as even though he had lived for more than twenty years, he never knew how to interact with girls.

"You speak as if you're any different.", Felix smirked and chided. "Who was it that trembled in fear every time his sister stared at him?"

"That's... That's not the same!", Roven retorted quickly in protest. "You know how Elsa can be! She's a demon in human sk-"

A hand moved fast to cover Roven's mouth, surprising him as Felix hastily checked their surroundings and released a sigh of relief.

He released his hand as Roven realised why he had done so.

"Really man... You wanna die or something? What if Miss Elsa had heard you?", Felix shook his head with a 'serious' face.

"S-Sorry...", Roven swallowed hard, knowing better than to speak ill of his sister in the open, as he knew she'd torture him if she heard it.

After exchanging a few jokes and enjoying a moment of humour, the pair joined the other teams in the vicinity who were also a part of the patrol task.

Half an hour later, all the members partaking in the patrol task stood together as Sir Hiddon of Twilight Chaos faced them with a huge grin.

"Alright, everyone! Let's get to patrolling, shall we? Hahahaha," he called out with wild enthusiasm and let out a bellow of laughter.

The group responded with silent nods, most puzzled by his energy, while those who knew him could only offer a wry smile.

Felix naturally turned to Roven, who whispered with an awkward face.

"Sir Hiddon can be a bit... eccentric from what I've heard. Especially during missions," Roven said, his voice slowing. "Greater the danger, wilder he becomes."

"Sounds like trouble.", Felix groaned, knowing something bad was bound to happen.

With Sir Hiddon taking the lead, the patrol task members started to move out of the base, through one of the tunnels.

Just as Roven and Felix, who were at the rear of the group, stepped into the tunnel, two urgent shouts rang out behind them.

"Wait wait wait! I'm coming too!"

"Felix, Roven! Don't leave me behind with this guy!"

Upon hearing the familiar voices, Felix and Roven shared a resigned glance before turning to look behind at their two teammates.

Steve had a slight frown on his face, and Eric was busy straightening the clothes he had removed for the earlier performance, as they both caught up to them.

"Guys! Were you really going to leave the two of us behind and go off on a mission? I can't believe it!", Steve exclaimed in slight anger.

"I can't believe it too...", Eric trailed off as he noticed something strange with Roven, thanks to his high perception of mana.

"Wait- Roven! Did you...?!"

As Steve glanced at the two in confusion and was about to question them about what they were getting surprised about, Roven nodded and replied with a smile.

"Yeah. I've broken through to Rank 2."

The two boys remained silent for a few seconds, staring at Roven's face in shock, before jumping up in joy.

"HELL YEAH! ROVEN!"

"That's amazing!"

Under his grin, Steve hid his regretful expression as he thought.

'I wonder if I'll ever be able to get anywhere further from Rank 1....'

He remembered his body's terrible condition, Damaged nerves, which were caused by using the forbidden technique of forcibly manifesting Aura.

The only hope left for him was to seek better treatment or medicines at the Capital of the Drakovia Kingdom, except for the few temporarily useful potions that Miss Samantha from the Underworld had given.

"So how did you do it? Was it like..."

Before Eric could complete bombarding Roven with some curious questions of his, Felix interrupted by pointing behind them.

"Guys, let's do this later or we'll be left behind by the others..."

Steve and Eric stared at the group of the patrol task getting further, prompting Roven to nod at him and give them instructions.

"I had thought of leaving you two behind, but if you insist on coming, then you're welcome to join. But remember!"

Roven stared at the two boys with a serious face and muttered two words, which they had been hearing quite regularly now.

"No troubles!"

Seeing them nod their heads quickly, Roven gave a silent sigh and turned around.

"Alright. Here we go."

The four teammates stepped into the tunnel, the darkness swallowing them as they left the base and marched into uncharted territories, following behind the other patrol task groups.

*****

"So this is a dungeon gate..."

Falcon muttered as he stared at the huge blue colored portal-like gate.

Bellard and Crystal stood beside him silently, along with a huge group of people from the Underworld.

Their entire force had silently sneaked into the Duke's castle using a secret path that Sir Howard had leaked to them, without alerting any of the guards or the Duke himself.

At the front of the group were the five Underworld Council Members, Mr.Dealer, Graham, Shura, Oberon and Viona, along with the Duke's brother Sir Howard Ryeagon.

"This portal leads to the Edenmont Dungeon.", Howard said to them with an excited smile.

"We know."

Viona cut him off with an expressionless face, making his smile turn awkward.

"I assume the other guilds have already been inside for a day now, correct, Sir Howard?", Oberon asked with a hint of flash in his eyes.

"You're well informed.", Howard nodded, then continued. "The two groups, the Six Guild Alliance and the Two Guilds, that the others refer to them as, have already entered the dungeon through two different portals."

He pointed at the portal before them and explained.

"This portal is a different one from those two portals, so it'll be better if you enter from here."

"Hmm...", Graham stared curiously at the portal as he asked. "I've never been to a dungeon before. By the way, how many portals are there for this dungeon in total?"

Seeing the strongest man of the Underworld ask him a question, Howard became a bit eager and nervous as he answered.

"Oh, there are six portals in total. This one's a bit hidden from the rest as it's below the ground, but I can guarantee that-"

"I get it. I'm going in."

Howard couldn't finish his sentence as he was interrupted rudely by Graham, who waved his hand off to them and stepped towards the dungeon portal.

Giving them a last glance and nodding at his subordinates behind them, Graham was the first to enter the dungeon.

"Off we go too.", Viona muttered as she and Shura briskly followed Graham into the portal.

"Well then, Sir Howard. I hope we meet again.", Oberon gave his salutations as he too disappeared into the portal.

Mr.Dealer gave the large group behind him a signal as they too started entering the portal in order.

As Howard watched the people of the Underworld step into the dungeon, his head was filled with thoughts of getting his profits and success.

"Did you bring the thing?", Mr.Dealer suddenly asked.

Turning to the ever-smiling man to his side, Howard nodded as he took out a parchment of paper from his ring.

"Here. The map of the Edenmont dungeon.", he handed the map to Mr.Dealer and said.

"But I have to warn you that this map is old and may not be accurate, as the dungeon has been closed for a few years, during which it may have changed."

Mr.Dealer nodded and replied with a shrug.

"This will do."

Keeping the map away in his ring without even checking it, he turned to Howard and asked seriously.

"So, have you figured out where the Dark Guilds will be entering the dungeon from?"

Howard shook his head with a regretful expression.

"I couldn't find out any information regarding them, unfortunately. It seems my brother is keeping everything related to the Dark Guilds tightly under wraps."

As he looked at the men entering the dungeon one by one, he said with a frown.

"But I hope they won't enter from this same portal. It'll be difficult for you guys to handle them so suddenly."

Hearing his cautious words, Mr.Dealer turned his head away, the corner of his lips raising as he muttered under his breath.

"Well, I certainly hope they do."