SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Chapter 24: Dungeon

Alex stared at her speechlessly. He genuinely had no idea how she kept arriving at that conclusion. Did she think marines were some kind of superhuman species?

He opened his mouth to answer. Then he noticed movement from the clearing.

The battle there had already ended.

The spear-wielding woman, the younger girl, and the large man were all looking in his direction. The sounds of his fight had clearly attracted their attention. For several moments, neither side moved as they silently assessed one another.

The forest became strangely quiet. Only the distant rustling of leaves and the lingering smell of blood remained after the battle.

Alex stared back at them, trying to think of what he should say. Most of his time had been spent studying, leaving little time for socializing. More than one person had warned him that his lack of social skills would eventually become a problem during interviews and professional life.

He had intended to work on that. Unfortunately, the summoning happened before he ever got around to it. Now he found himself standing in a dangerous forest with several strangers waiting for someone to speak first.

Fortunately, Emma stepped forward.

"Hello. We saw the smoke and followed it to this place. We were planning to help you against those monsters, but then we noticed these two hiding in the bushes. We thought they might try to ambush you while you were distracted, so we decided to deal with them first."

The trio shifted their attention toward her. A moment later, the older girl’s eyes widened with recognition.

"Love?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes, it’s Love!" Emma smiled.

She struck her signature pose without hesitation. One hand formed a tilted V sign beside her eye while the other rested on her hip. One leg bent slightly as she held the pose with practiced confidence.

The reaction was immediate. Both girls stared at her in shock, while even the large man looked genuinely surprised.

The younger girl took an excited step forward as if she wanted to run directly toward Emma. Before she could, the older girl caught her hand and gently pulled her back.

"This isn’t the time," she said.

The younger girl stopped and nodded. Although she calmed down, the excitement remained visible on her face. The older girl seemed to regain her composure as well.

The large man, however, reacted differently. He stepped forward with obvious enthusiasm still written across his face.

"Are you really Love? My daughter is a huge fan of yours! Would it be possible to get an autograph?"

Emma laughed softly at the request. "I would love to do that, but I don’t think we have anything to sign here."

The man blinked before reality caught up to him. His excitement faded slightly, and he let out a small sigh.

"Right. I guess that’s true."

The atmosphere became a little less tense after that.

"Did you two defeat them?" the older girl asked, glancing toward the two Titan Reef Crab corpses.

"Yes," Alex replied with a nod.

The girl looked impressed, though she quickly moved on. "I’m Sarah Jones, and this is Petra Gills. I was studying law on Earth, and I met Petra after arriving here."

Petra gave a small wave. Alex gave a short nod before introducing himself.

"Alex. College student."

"Emma Carter. I’m an idol, and I like trying different things," Emma said with a friendly smile.

Alex suspected she was deliberately trying to keep the conversation relaxed. Given how awkward introductions between armed strangers could become, he appreciated the effort.

The large man introduced himself next.

"My name’s Frank. I’m a plumber from Los Angeles. I was working when the earthquakes started. After that, I woke up here and met a Guide who told me I was one of the chosen and needed to keep growing stronger if I didn’t want to be eliminated along with my planet."

Nobody had much to add to that. The Guides seemed to be giving everyone the same basic message.

Once the introductions were finished, Alex looked toward the dead monsters. "Let’s collect the Gene Potentials and move. The blood might attract more monsters."

Everyone agreed without argument. The group quickly approached the corpses and gathered the Gene Potentials before anything else could arrive.

Alex and Emma collected the rewards from their own kills while the other three divided the spoils from the monsters they had defeated. As he watched them, Alex noticed that Sarah and Petra did not immediately absorb their Gene Potentials.

Instead, they carefully stored them away. That suggested they already knew something about evolution paths and higher-ranked species.

Whether they had learned it from a Guide or another source, Alex couldn’t tell.

Frank, meanwhile, was preparing to absorb his Gene Potential immediately. Emma stopped him before he could.

"Before you do that, there’s something you should know."

Frank listened while Emma explained the advantages of absorbing Gene Potentials from higher ranked species. She kept the explanation simple and focused on the important points.

When she finished, Frank remained silent for several seconds. Eventually, he shook his head.

"I understand what you’re saying, but I’d rather become stronger now. Maybe it’s not the best decision in the long run, but staying alive today matters more to me than having better growth later."

Emma considered his answer before nodding. "That’s fair."

She didn’t try to convince him further. Frank absorbed the Gene Potential shortly afterward, and the group resumed moving through the forest.

As they walked, Alex quietly observed the others. It didn’t take long for him to notice that Sarah seemed to be guiding their direction. She wasn’t being obvious about it, but the pattern was there if someone paid attention.

Rather than confronting her directly, Alex decided to approach the subject indirectly.

"Why did you start a fire? Wouldn’t that attract monsters?" he asked.

Sarah’s expression became slightly complicated. Petra looked down as though she already knew where the conversation was heading.

"It was meant to attract people. Petra and I were originally part of a group of four. Our other two group members are in danger, so we were hoping someone nearby would see the smoke and come help us," Sarah said.

Alex frowned as he listened. The situation immediately sounded troublesome, and his first instinct was to refuse whatever request was coming next and leave. The forest was dangerous enough without getting involved in someone else’s problems.

Even so, he forced himself to stay patient. Sarah had likely learned things from her Guide, and her missing teammates might possess useful information as well.

Gathering information before making a decision was simply the logical thing to do.

If helping them turned out to be too dangerous, he could always leave after he got the information.

Alex was not a cold-blooded psychopath who could watch people die without feeling anything. At the same time, he wasn’t willing to throw away his life for complete strangers.

His priorities were clear. His own survival and the safety of his family came before everything else.

Even the reason he had stepped in to save Emma was not purely out of kindness.

He had judged that he had a reasonable chance of winning, and the timing had been perfect. The monsters had been distracted, giving him an opportunity that was difficult to ignore.

"Can you explain everything?" Emma asked.

"Yes, and tell us how we can help," Frank added. There was genuine concern in his voice, making him sound far more invested in the situation than Alex felt.

Sarah visibly relaxed at their responses. She had probably expected at least one of them to refuse immediately. Taking a breath, she began explaining what had happened.

"It started shortly after Petra and I arrived here. The two of us met by chance, but we didn’t have much time to get acquainted because we were attacked by monsters almost immediately."

Petra lowered her head slightly at the memory while Sarah continued speaking. "We probably would have died if Joseph and Yulia hadn’t shown up and saved us."

The group listened quietly as Sarah explained further. "Joseph and Yulia are couples. Joseph used to be a Navy SEAL. He also spent a lot of time playing games and reading novels, he said that’s why he knew exactly what questions to ask the Guide. Because of that, he learned much more than the rest of us."

Alex nodded. The Guides provided information, but only if people knew what to ask. Most people had probably been too confused or overwhelmed to think clearly during those first moments.

An ex-Navy SEAL would have the composure to recall and ask important questions.

"After gathering information, Joseph found Yulia, who had been summoned somewhere nearby. The four of us teamed up and started exploring together. Eventually, we found a monster den that Joseph believed was something called a Dungeon."

Frank frowned as he listened. "What’s a Dungeon exactly?"

..

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