Grey and Aurora appeared from nowhere, hand in hand, finding themselves in a cave.
With just a thought, a ball of Light appeared in Grey's hand. He was more worried about living than being found out.
The Light illuminated the dark cave well, letting them see to the edges of the room, and letting them spot the way out. A single snaking path. They scanned both the dome that covered them, and the floor underneath them, finding that they were made of a blood-red marble. The cave was about 10 meters in diameter, giving it a circumference of 31 and a half meters.
"Grey, are we?" Aurora asked.
"Yeah, we are." He replied.
Grey thought back to his lessons on Mana Dungeons.
'They can spawn anywhere, though most often they are in the Beast Domain, they lead to a hidden area, not of this world, so the flora and fauna are important, and there are requirements.' Dungeons all had requirements, some needing only people with the Light Element, and some needing a certain amount of people.
The requirements of this Dungeon were unknown, but if they stayed still, they'd eventually be rescued.
"Aurora, if we wait an hour or 2, we'll be rescued. It isn't safe to go out when we know nothing about the Dungeon. If no one comes by then, it's safe to assume that we're on our own."
"Agreed."
---
Back on Arkusia, in the Elven Domain, the King and Queen of the Elves were being briefed on the Mana Dungeon.
"So you mean to say that this Dungeon has a single requirement; only 2 people allowed?" The King scoffed. "That's the most absurd requirement I've ever heard! Besides, can't they just leave?"
"I apologize, your Majesty, but I am speaking the truth." An elf with glasses spoke. "This is a Locked Mana Dungeon at C Rank, meaning that those inside can't leave, and it has a capacity of 2 people."
"Okay, how about the time scale? There's not a substantial difference, is there?" The Queen asked, both impatient and worried.
"We are completely unable to tell, your Majesty. Since we are unable to send anyone in, we are unable to verify."
"So they're trapped with no way to help, and all we can do is wait and pray?"
"Pretty much, your Majesty."
---
An hour passed, and then another, and before long, so did a third. The 2 chose not to sit in silence, discussing even the most random of things.
'Fallen Star, what's the time like?' Grey asked. This was the most important part that they were taught in their lessons; they needed to know how long they would be in there compared to the real world.
- 1 hour here is 2 hours outside. - It informed him.
'Damn, we'd best hurry then. Though it's not too big, it's still substantial.' Most recorded Mana Dungeons only had a time scale only a few minutes apart, so being so large was odd.
Once the clock passed hour 3, they debated waiting for a fourth but decided against it.
"It seems the requirement means that no one can come. We'll have to solve it ourselves." Grey said, getting up off the floor, and walking toward the exit. "Come on."
Aurora followed close behind, alert.
The rocky tunnel out of the cave was long and dark, but Grey's Light protected them from the inky depths of the shadows, showing them where to go. Their guide, the ball of Light, scoured just ahead of them, ensuring there were no traps that would catch them unaware.
They walked for a while, coming into another chamber.
The room was identical to the first, except for what lived there. On the floor lay a single Beast.
Grey and Aurora stood at the edge of the tunnel, their toes touching the floor of the cave. Grey commanded the Light to shoot forth, into the cave, to allow them to examine the Beast.
The Beast was a golden lion, but much larger, standing at least 3 meters tall. However, 2 additions seemed off. On its back was a set of 2 bat-like wings, completely black, and on its hind was a snake a meter and a bit long. It had a snake for a tail!
'What is that? It reminds me of a Manticore, but Manticores aren't so... well... real. They're myths.'
- That is very much a real Manticore. However, I wouldn't let its looks fool you, this Beast is, on the human scale, at most D Rank. -
'Well, that's a surprise. But, if that's a D Rank, then is this a C Rank Dungeon?' Dungeons, Mana or not, followed the same pattern. All Beasts besides the boss, alpha, or whatever, were the same rank, and the main one was 1 major rank above. Dungeons were graded on the strength of the boss.
Once Grey got a good look at the Beast and understood the situation, he snuffed out the ball of Light. Whilst it was useful, it could potentially wake the Manticore.
He turned to Aurora, informing her of what he learned.
"It's a Manticore, D Rank, and it's asleep. We'll kill it like that." He whispered.
"Understood." She replied.
Aurora was a little down hearing that. She liked to fight, but not only were they going to assassinate it, she wouldn't be much help.
As you got stronger, your body would get tougher, meaning that it would be harder for those of lower rank to hurt you, meaning Aurora wouldn't do much. However, as if to balance that, as you got stronger and accumulated more Mana, you could do more damage. The amount of Mana in an attack directly correlated to its strength.
Just like Aurora was useless against the Manticore, Grey would be useless against the boss.
1 or 2 minor ranks could be crossed with skill, this being more apparent at the lower ranks, but beating something a major rank ahead was impossible. There were no cases before them, and there would be no cases after them. It was just that hard.
Grey crept up to the Manticore, awed by its size and beauty. The Beast was a work of art, but it had to die.
'I'll keep the damage to a minimum.' Grey thought.
Mana Dungeons led to places that didn't exist on Arkusia, so it was imperative that the Beasts inside were killed as smoothly as possible, and that the area wasn't damaged too badly. After a Mana Dungeon was cleared, the portal would stay in existence for 24 hours before dissipating. That meant they had a day to bring out the valuables to study.
Grey created a small needle of poison, pumping at least 2,000 Mana into it. Unlike its human counterparts, the Beast was certain to have a much stronger body. What Beasts under C Rank lacked in intelligence, they had in resilience. Of course, higher-ranked Beasts had both, but...
He placed the needle just before the Manticore's neck, controlling it to enter the Beast's bloodstream.
There was no sound as the needle entered and spread around the creature's bloodstream, which made it seem unbothered, but Grey immediately ran away, back to where Aurora was.
He used a strong, fast-acting Poison, but it would take a minute or so for a Beast of that size. Were he to pump more of the Poison in, it would be quicker, but that was dangerous. Also, one side effect of the Poison was that it made the affected go insane, so there was no need.
"There's a high chance the Beast wakes up and goes on a rampage. We just have to last a minute." He informed Aurora with a whisper.
She nodded in response, and they readied themselves to run from the Manticore. She, just like Grey, knew the importance of preserving the corpse.
A second passed, and then another, and before long, 15 had passed since Grey injected the creature.
Suddenly, its eye snapped open, revealing a feline eyeball colored red, the black pupil darting all over.
It stood up, sniffing the air. Just a second later, its eyes locked on to Grey and Aurora. In the same second, its tail curved around, revealing a serpentine maw that seemed very, very alive.
As they stared at the Beast, Grey had only one question. 'How does that work?'
However, he knew better than to let scientific curiosity take the lead in a fight.
He signaled for Aurora to go one way whilst he went another. They ran around the Beast, waiting for it to attack.
Just as expected, the Beast lunged toward Grey, trying to eat him whole. There was a 5-meter gap between the 2, so it should have taken a second or 2, yet the Manticore reached him in an instant, snapping its jaws at him.
He dodged the lunge with a leap of his own, rolling to catch himself.
'D Rank? It covered that distance far too fast.' Grey though whilst running. 'Fallen Star, are you sure?'
- 100% -
'Alright then. I guess it's just really strong for its level.'
The Manticore jumped up, flapping its wings. The room was a little small, but it could still maneuver.
It flew toward Grey, dropping on top of him.
Again, he dodged with a roll. This time, however, the Beast learned. It suddenly whipped itself around, letting its tail get at him.
The snake coiled in preparation for leaping, and its mouth was wide open.
'Damn!' Grey was rolling, so he was unable to get out of the way in time.
The snake uncoiled itself, shooting forward, ready to devour him.
THUD!