Chapter 118 - Eyes Without Vision

Thompson looked at Sylvia in surprise. "Is this the man that you talked about? The one that saved you?"

"Yes. Yes, he is." Sylvia nodded his head vigorously.

Thompson approached Basil, then bowed at him. "Thank you for saving my sister." He righted himself back up, then extended his hand. "I am Sylvia's foster brother, Thompson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Basil grabbed Thompson's hand, and replied simply, "Basil Pacifer."

"Woah! Another one with insane grip. Do you have any thought on becoming a Knight?" Thompson chuckled, then released Basil's hand.

"You will never know," Basil replied neutrally.

The answer was a little bit off. However, Thompson decided to not pursue it any further.

"If the information given to me was not wrong, Death Howl Dungeon should be that way." Whitney pointed to the east. "Why are you guys here?" He was confused, since they were currently in the west.

Thompson turned to Whitney. "About that, the entrance is completely sealed off."

"What do you mean?"

"The cave collapsed, and the rubbles completely shut the entrance. So, we were looking for another entrance, before meeting you guys here."

Whitney frowned his forehead. "Collapsed? Another entrance? I've never heard of this before."

"Oh, it's normal for Mage to not know it. Exploration is mostly done by Knight, after all." Thompson nodded his head in understanding. "Since Dungeon are located in the underground, their entrance is not definite."

"How is that even possible?" Cray asked in puzzlement.

"The same reason as how we can find Dungeon—"

"Natural phenomenon," finished Whitney.

Thompson nodded his head in confirmation.

The building technique used to create Dungeon was still unknown up till this day. They had been built intricately and hidden so well, it was hard to find its entrance.

Furthermore, there was no guarantee a Dungeon could keep its entrance open. Once the entrance was closed, one might never get out of it. Therefore, a research on the structure of a Dungeon, that took a long time, could never be conducted.

Thus, Exploration was the farthest everyone could do to Dungeon.

"Anyway, we haven't introduced ourselves yet," Thompson suddenly said. "I will introduce you my party members one by one."

Thompson pointed his hand to a 198 centimeters tall man with muscular build, bald head, and bushy reddish brown beard.

"This is Jake. Although he looks intimidating, he is a good man."

True to Thompson's word, Jake smiled, then waved his hand amiably. "Hello, everyone!" His voice was as heavy as his body.

Thompson moved his hand toward a figure covered in black robe. Judging by their stature, they were ultimately a woman. She was 170 centimeters tall, and that was all that could be described about her.

"This is Effie. She is very introverted. So, she doesn't talk much."

Effie nodded her head, and muttered, "Nice to meet you, everyone." Her voice was as faint as her presence.

Thompson moved his hand once again. He pointed it toward a skinny man with a blond hair, and a height of 183 centimeters tall. He had a sharp gaze, and a scowl etched on his face.

"This is Norman. He grumbles all day, but he is actually just too happy socializing."

"Shut your bloody hole, Thompson! Do you think I'm having fun? Dream on!" Norman's scowl turned deeper.

Thompson completely tuned Norman out, then moved his hand toward the next person. It was an average looking young man, whose face didn't suit to be a Knight. Although he was 181 centimeters tall, it was considered average amongst Knight.

"This guy is Steven. Though he doesn't look like it, he is the ace of our party."

"Hello, everyone. I am Steven! You can call me Steve or Stevie. Nice to meet you!" Steven smiled brightly.

Cray's eyes lit up. He felt like he had just met his kind. "Can I call you Stevie?! I am Cray, by the way!" Steven turned to Cray, then scurried over him. "Of course, Cray!" He quickly took hold of Cray's hands and shook them vigorously.

Whitney slapped his forehead, then sighed. "Ahh... There will be no peace after this."

"Aha-ha-ha. I understand that feeling well." Thompson smiled rather awkwardly.

"Thompson! What about me?" Sylvia pointed herself. Thompson nodded his, and introduced her simply. "This is Sylvia."

"That's all?" Sylvia frowned.

"Yeah."

"What about my distinct trait or something?"

Thompson nodded his head in realization. "Right! Everyone, Sylvia is a crybaby!"

"Thompson!"

While Sylvia was angrily looking at Thompson, everyone was laughing. Even Norman lost his scowl for a moment, due to the smile forming on his face.

Surely, Basil wasn't included in "everyone". He had never paid attention to the people's introduction since the beginning. He was focusing on the 5 meters in wide pit, that was the entrance of Death Howl Dungeon.

He could feel the "stare". Although he was ashamed to admit it, his skin had crawled briefly upon being exposed to it.

Whitney and Cray had just introduced themselves, and it was time for Basil to introduce himself. However, when they looked to the side, Basil wasn't with them anymore.

None of them had noticed when had Basil scurried over to the 5 meters wide pit on the ground.

"I am sorry about him. He is not very sociable with people." Whitney smiled apologetically at Thompson.

"Who cares? At least, we already know his name." Thompson turned his head to his party members. "Right?" All of them nodded their head.

Well, all of them, except Norman. "Tsk! We have another weirdo on board." He stayed in character, and kept grumbling.

Sylvia turned her head at Norman, and laughed in disbelief. "Considering it came from you, I don't know who is weirder. You or him?" Norman didn't reply, and merely grumbled.

Woong!

Upon hearing the sound, everyone's eyes turned to the pit. Wind had just passed through it, and it produced a sound that was loud enough to be heard for as far as 2 kilometers radius.

"That is creepy." Sylvia shuddered slightly.

"Indeed. But, don't worry. You guys have me and Steven. We will pass through it together!" Thompson said optimistically.

Cray's eyes lit up. "Woah... Whitney! Can you do that for us too?!"

"Shut it, Cray!"

Whitney was reluctant to admit it. But, he was indeed less charismatic than Thompson. He didn't know how to motivate people. All he knew was the correct way to finish a fight quickly.

"It has moved."

"Huh?"

"Moved? What has moved?"

"Wait, what?"

Everyone's attention turned to Basil once again. He had managed to attract their attention by just saying three words. Everyone approached him, then circled around the pit.

They looked down at the pit to see what Basil meant. Surely enough, they could see nothing but darkness.

"What is it, Basil?" Whitney looked at Basil.

"The habitant of this Dungeon."

"Do you mean the monster?"

At Sylvia's question, Basil merely glanced at her briefly, before returning his eyes back to the entrance. He didn't have any intention to cause unnecessary panic.

Pointing his finger to the pit, he drew his Mana to it.

"[Lumen]!" A Spell was uttered.

Basil's tip of finger slowly lighting up, before a blinding light completely condensed on the tip of his finger. Then, it shot forward like a bullet.

The tunnel of the pit, that connected the outside world with the Dungeon was lit by the light, and everyone could finally see it clearly. The bullet of light kept shooting forward, before eventually touching the ground, stuck on it, and became the source of light.

Cray looked at Basil with gaping mouth, and Whitney looked at Basil in disbelief.

"You... You have light affinity?" Whitney was flustered.

Not just anyone could possess light affinity. Normally, only people associated with Church could have light affinity. After all, light was considered Miracle, rather than Magic.

"It doesn't matter. The depth of this tunnel is 250 meters, and the light will die down in 3 minutes." Basil paused, then looked at the bewildered people.

"We have to reach inside before we lose our vision. The Dungeon has a [Shadow Entrapment] Rune set on the entire entrance. We can't see anything with normal eyes, until we completely enter the Dungeon."

Right after he said that, without a care, he jumped inside.

"Wait, Basil! No moving alone, remember?!" Whitney was beyond bewildered.

Basil had just jumped without any care of his safety. Considering the depth of the tunnel, as a Mage, he would definitely die!

Surely, he quickly changed his thought upon seeing what Basil did next.

Drawing Kusanagi out, Basil stabbed it to the wall of the tunnel, slowly stopping his fall. Right after seeing that, Whitney was reminded of one fact.

Basil was a Battle Mage, and an excellent one at that.

"Well. Your friend is good. Do we need to carry you with us?" Thompson looked at Whitney.

Whitney sighed, and shook his head. "No. We are fine by ourselves." He looked to Thompson, and said, "We'll be going first then. We can't let our friend alone down there."

Thompson looked at Whitney doubtfully. He wasn't sure how Whitney and Cray would go down there without their help, a Knight, whose body was far stronger than any Mage.

Still, he didn't have any right to stop them.

Whitney muttered something under his breath, and the earth below him covered his feet. Then, the earth moved, while carrying his body sliding down the tunnel horizontally, defying the gravity.

Cray smirked to himself, before also jumping in the pit. He shot through the tunnel like a bullet, due to the set of wings made from wind on his back.

The six Knights on the surface looked at each other, before exclaiming in bewilderment. "What the heck just happened?"

A Mage? Are they even a Mage with that insane stunt? Shouldn't Mage be an extremely careful individual?!

They couldn't believe what they had just seen.