Free Web NovelChapter 48: Investment 48— Spectre(Part One)
A unanimous decision was made by the student council leaders and the Four Seasons to proceed to the third floor while working together to lead the students to the emergency exit in the resting point between floors five and six.
Resting points were spaces created between two floors that had been explored by the Mage Tower. They served as hubs for rejuvenation—they also contained emergency exits for dire situations such as what they currently found themselves in.
The expedition was supposed to last two months, but they had only been inside the dungeon for a week. And the only time they could have contact with the outside world was when Professor Dermiurge came into the dungeon for his monthly check-up.
Frankly, from the way things were looking, they weren’t going to last that long at this rate—neither would the foe that was hunting them wait that amount of time before choosing to strike again.
After meticulously discussing, Elliot, the Four Seasons, and the student leaders all came up with a plan. The long wait finally ended, and it was time for them to head to the third floor.
The students walked towards the teleportation platforms not with faces of fear or hesitation—but with a "We are ready to kill, destroy, and pay back our debt tenfold" kind of face.
As usual, team by team—five people each—they stepped onto the teleportation platform, blue light erupted and beamed them away. So the process continued until there were only two teams remaining—the student council leaders & Jin and the Four Seasons & Elliot.
"Wooo, it has been one hell of a few days, hasn’t it?" Jin wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Futaba gave him a deadly stare. She didn’t say anything with her mouth, but the stare clearly stated, "Shut the fuck up, Jin." free𝑤ebnovel.com
Jin got the memo and quickly shut his mouth. There was one problem that they were facing currently—they didn’t know if everyone would be split up like on the first floor.
"It seems they were all split up," Leonard looked at the tracing tab. "But this time the gap, or rather distance, between each team has been reduced." He let out a sigh of relief.
"This means that they can easily meet up with each other if they are given proper guidance." For the very least, at least now one team could easily rendezvous with the other.
"I am guessing this is where I come in!" Jin placed a hand over his chest and gloated proudly.
"Whoa! Shouldn’t you be happy that you finally have a use?" Futaba cooed mockingly.
"Ahem!" Deria coughed. "Shouldn’t we get going already?" She rolled her eyes.
"It’s already getting super tacky if you ask me." Edith waved a hand in the air and stepped onto the teleportation platform.
The inscribed circle beneath her feet lit up.
"Hahhhhhhh." Taumus yawned as he stood next to Edith.
Seria stepped onto the teleportation platform, exuding her usual ice-cold aura.
"Since when did we have the time to waste on meaningless conversations? The last I checked, weren’t we being hunted down by a mystery foe?" She spared them no harsh words.
"It ain’t my fault you can’t take a joke." Futaba stepped onto the other teleportation platform.
"Let’s get going already!" August threw his arms behind his neck and shuffled onto the platform.
Rose didn’t say a word—she simply carried herself with grace and elegance as she mounted her feet onto the teleportation platform.
Seria’s crystal-blue eyes drifted towards Elliot. "We should get going." She stretched forth her hand.
"You are always right, dear." Elliot placed his hand on top of hers and stepped onto the platform.
"Ready and set." Leonard rubbed down the standing hair strands on his head.
"Then let’s go, shall we?" He stepped onto the teleportation platform.
"Is that supposed to be a rhetorical question?" Edith blew the dust off her nails.
"Or are we supposed to answer you?" She sneered.
Throbbing veins appeared on Leonard’s forehead as he tried to hide his anger. "You really are quite the bitch, aren’t you?" He scowled.
"Eh-Eh, don’t worry guys, I got this." Jin flicked his hair—for some reason, golden glitters appeared around him as he basked in his fleeting moment of self-confidence.
"See you on the other side." Deria saluted Futaba jokingly.
"Tsk..." Futaba blew the hair in front of her forehead.
The blue light emerged from both stone platforms and beamed them upwards respectively to the third floor.
The two blue light beams landed on two separate stone platforms that were just a meter apart.
The student council leaders, Jin, Elliot, and the Four Seasons successfully arrived on the third floor on their various teleportation platforms.
"Hohohohoho, this is one hell of a sight." Deria chuckled with both hands on her waist.
The first floor was a desolate desert—the second floor was a huge cave with a semi-ocean in its middle—and now, to their surprise, they were currently in a withering forest.
Brown dry leaves fell from the branches of buttress trees that looked dried up and weak.
"Geez... this is one hell of a creepy fall." Jin folded his arms. It was supposed to be summer in the outside world—but then again, they never expected the dungeon’s climate to match their world.
They all got off the stone platforms. Each person took a moment to take the surreal view into memory.
A man clad in a ragged cloak loomed over a tall buttress tree about two kilometres away from the teleportation platforms. He could see Elliot, the Four Seasons, Jin, and the student council leaders.
He stared at them with his dried, sunken eyes. The ribs on his chest were quite visible—he was looking quite malnourished. He brought out an eagle-shaped emblem from his pocket.
"I have to save them before it’s too late.
"
His eyes drifted towards his twisted arm—dark green eyes filled with worry and concern.
His face had a whole story to tell on its own.
"Eh... Hello, you were staring for quite a bit... so I thought I would come to ask you if you are some kind of perver—" Futaba appeared behind the man.
"Foolish child... I just—" He couldn’t even finish his statement before Futaba bashed him with an air fist.
The man’s body shattered into dark fog and disappeared.
"We have no more time to waste... the enemy is closer than you think." The man’s voice echoed and then faded away.
"Ehhh. Ok. Creep!" She blew dust off her fingernails.
