Chapter 34 Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Nathan opened his eyes and immediately found himself in a completely new environment that was not so different from outside the dungeon.

A jungle.

The location of the dungeon they came to this time was a mix of low and highlands, with trees and wilderness on various sides.

Additionally, the monsters in this dungeon were very weak against the fire element. Muramoto really chose the best dungeon Nathan could work on.

Nathan immediately activated his Magic Detection skill and ensured no threats were close enough to threaten him at his current position.

Nathan turned to the side when someone else appeared and stood beside him.

It was Marco, who waved and smiled faintly at him. "First time doing a dungeon expedition with other humans?" He asked with a faint smile.

"Ah, yes. This feels weird, but I'll get used to it easily. Doing dungeons alone was really boring." Nathan replied with a smile of his own.

Actually, he hadn't really done dungeons alone before. There was a Luna who seemed completely incapable of not talking, who always accompanied him.

'That's right. Doing dungeons with party members doesn't seem bad either. Although this time I will still fight against all the monsters on myself.' He thought to himself.

[Dungeon Participants]

[Nathan Unranked Lv. 31]

[Marco Beginner Lv. 80]

Notification of who was in the dungeon appeared in the corner of his eye.

"Let's wait for Muramoto first." Marco said.

Nathan nodded. Then he saw a ray of light on Marco's shoulder, after which a golden yellow eagle nearly twice the size of a normal eagle flew low, not far from him.

"A spirit beast?"

Marco nodded to answer Nathan's question.

The eagle flew lightly and quickly shot into the air.

"So you have a spirit beast too, Marco?"

"Sure yes, even though I'm sure that your little wolf is still many times more useful than mine." Marco answered with a faint smile.

Fang, who was running around Nathan, then jumped into his hands. "Woof… Woof…"

"Thanks. Let me learn more about a spirit beast while we were doing this dungeon."

[Zander Beginner Lv. 100 join the dungeon expedition]

Another notification appeared in front of the two of them. Nathan raised his eyebrows after seeing that the name that emerged was not Muramoto but someone else. "Who is Zander?"

"Run."

Nathan turned to Marco, who was whispering in his direction.

Nathan immediately turned his head in the same direction as Marco. And not far from them, there was a man with a body taller than two meters, dark white skin, and a muscular body. He used a mask that looked made of human skulls on his hairless head.

Nathan thought as quickly and reflexively as he could. Whatever happened was something that shouldn't have happened.

"Create a new skill." He muttered quickly.

Nathan immediately reached for the digital keyboard in front of him.

"Skill to escape, max level!" He muttered under his breath and wrote whatever he was thinking at the time.

The man before them suddenly vanished from their sight, but Nathan clearly knew what was going on.

In a split second, much too fast for a normal human to follow, the man suddenly appeared in front of him and threw a fist at him.

Nathan just stared at the incoming blow, which was sure to take his life in an instant. At that moment, time seemed to move slower.

[25 Skill Points spent to create a Tier 1 Skill]

[Analysis in progress…]

[…]

[Progress... 100%]

[Analysis successful…]

[Route Quests Match: Dimensional Traveler]

[…]

[Skill created successfully]

[Emergency Escape Tier 1 - Lv. 1]

[Possess an emergency escape mechanism by teleporting to a random short-range area. Auto trigger when the user faces an emergency that might endanger his life]

[Level 1: Short teleport to a random area within 10 meters]

[…]

[New Dimensional Traveler Skill created]

[Dimensional Traveler 1/10 progress: 1/2 Skills]

[…]

[Emergency Escape Tier 1 leveled up to Level 5]

[Level 5: Short teleport to a random area within 50 meters]

The barrage of notifications of the new skill he had created filled his vision. At the same time, a dark-colored figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was Fang.

Fang transformed and blocked the massive blow with his body. In an instant, its body vanished.

'Fang destroyed?'

The man's punch was getting closer to Nathan's face.

'Am I going to die?' That's what he had thought in such a short time.

However, Nathan was suddenly sucked in at that moment by an energy that exploded from within his body. The energy was so invasive that it seemed to burn and tear his body.

Nathan had never felt such great pain.

At the same time, he immediately realized that he had changed places. He managed to teleport with his new skill.

"Magic Detection! Camouflage!"

Nathan instinctively ran in one direction.

"Accel! Accel!"

He used everything he had to run through the trees. He didn't really understand what was going on. All he knew was that his life was in danger. He had to run, run, as far as he could.

***

"Stupid." Marco muttered under his breath in front of Zander.

"You shouldn't have attacked suddenly like that. We could have done it more slowly." He continued.

Zander, with his tall body, turned and looked at Marco. His long arm immediately grabbed the youth's neck and lifted him. "What are you saying? Do you think I didn't hear when you said run to him? So, you're trying to be treacherous?" He said with a sharp look in his eyes.

"How was I supposed to know you are on the same side as me?" Marco tried desperately to answer.

Zander threw Marco to the ground. He stepped in with long strides and stepped on Marco's right foot.

"You think I'm stupid? You think you can fool me with your words?"

Marco gritted his teeth, trying to endure the pain in his leg. "There was no notice to me that anyone else would enter this dungeon besides me. I got the task of spying on him. But not to harm him. This is really just a misunderstanding."

"Are you stupid?" Zander pressed down heavily with his foot, and the sound of bones breaking was heard.

CRACK!

In an instant, Marco lost his right leg.

"I have the surveillance skill. You need me in this place." Marco lifted himself up. His hands trembled around his knees. He tried to endure the pain in his leg.

Zander spat at him. "Don't think too highly of yourself, kid. You are just an ant in front of me."

"Arghhhh." Marco couldn't help himself. He groans in pain. His right leg was completely crushed. He clenched his fists tightly.

"For every single day you fail to find that motherfucker, I'll break one of your fingers. And when your fingers run out, I'll take your hand, and then your left leg, until you have nothing to live for." Zander squinted his eyes, looking down at the frail young man groaning in pain.

***

Nathan sat in the dark in a cave he had found after being completely exhausted from running.

He was panting, still trying to catch his breath.

He had constantly activated Magic Detection to ensure he wasn't in danger. He had also repeatedly used Accel to make sure he could run to his full potential.

With his remaining strength, he had no choice but to find a place to hide. At least, that was all he could think of for now.

[Blue Bar (Mana): 0%]

[Green Bar (Energy): 0%]

[Yellow Bar (Will Power): 5%]

The three colored bars on his wrists flashed rapidly. It was an indicator that if he still forced himself, he might lose consciousness.

A ray of light appeared before Nathan. A crescent moon with a little blonde girl appeared.

"Master…" Luna floated closer with a sad look on her face. Her pink eyes were clearly filled to the brim with tears.

"Luna."

Nathan raised his face, aware of Luna's presence. But he could no longer maintain his consciousness.

At that moment, a ray of light came in from the mouth of the cave and shined upon his body, revealing his miserable condition.

The clothes he was wearing looked torn in various places. The cuts were not only on his clothes but also on his skin, leaving incisions in his flesh.

The moist surface beneath his body was not water from the cave but his blood, which flowed profusely.

"Luna..."

His eyesight dimmed. He could no longer hold himself back. His body fell to the surface of the cave.

"Master Nathan, you are not ready to use the teleport skill yet." Luna shook her head quickly.

Nathan had dropped himself onto the cave's cold and wet rock surface.

"Master Nathan… You should rest yourself. You should focus on recovering your condition."

Luna floated closer to the young man. She got off his crescent moon and walked closer to his face.

The girl sat down and patted his cheek.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are…."

Nathan slowly closed his eyes. "Mom?" He whispered softly.

He really couldn't feel himself anymore.

"Mom, I miss you."

***

It was still noon in the dungeon. But the trees that grew wildly and towered made the soil layer slightly covered by shadows.

Among the trees, a 1.5-meter-tall monster strolled slowly, its nose sniffing at the ground.

The smell of blood made its hungry stomach rumble, and he had to fulfill its demands immediately.

[Wild Boar Lv. 40]

The giant monster with black fur and long fangs sticking out from above and below looked towards the mouth of the cave. This was where it would find its food for today.