Kalicena made sure they were all paying attention then gestured towards the smaller beacon. It looks just like the one found underneath the center of the city, except for it being barely waist high.

  "This is a dungeon beacon, and unlike the city beacons they are much more limited in their function." She explained before placing her hand right on top where some of the crystal peaked out. Barely a moment later, a soul window opened up just above it and colored in pure white. Just like their personal ones, words soon filled the box.

  [Dungeon, Cannibals Temple.

  Dungeon restrictions, Must have core class. Must be the minimum of Novice rank. Maximum of 10 per group.

  Note, ranks higher than novice will not gain any rewards from this dungeon.

  Advanced scenarios available, One.

  Enter the dungeon?]

  "In order for me to properly conduct this examination, I will be inside with you all as an observer only. I will not interfere unless absolutely necessary, so do not expect me to handle everything for you." She started with crossed arms, making it clear she would not budge on this. "Your task for this exam is simple, complete the dungeon's objective and finish the dungeon. And before you ask, no you can not attempt the Advanced scenario for extra credit." She eyed Andro, Chen and Kai as she said the last part.

  "Now, let's stop wasting time and get this going." With her instructions given she looked at the soul window and said, "Enter the dungeon."

  The soul window flashed then faded. A moment later the black smoke doorway faded until it was nearly pure white and almost looked solid. Already familiar with the process, Andro did not hesitate and walked towards and into the white misty smoke. Instincts took over as he mentally activated all his necessary skills before he fully crossed over. He wanted to be prepared to act in case this was one of those dungeons that instantly threw you into the thick of it. Just like all the other times he had entered a dungeon, this white entrance felt more like a small tunnel as he walked a short distance while surrounded by the white smoke.

  He emerged from the smoke into what he guessed to be the front entrance area of an old style temple as if he had just entered through the front door. He was already lowering into a defensive stance and scanning the area. The smell of blood assaulted his senses, driving him even more alert, ready to strike at anything to come through the opening on the other side of the wide hallway. The walls and floor were carved stone, the edges chipped and worn from age and use. The ceiling was wooden rafters, with one looking dangerously close to collapsing from its own weight.

  The opening on the other side was thirty meters away and opened out into a much larger room where he could see support pillars. The smell of blood seemed to come from that direction. From here he could easily see that blood was splattered everywhere in the larger room. Not only that, but he could make out corpses, a lot of corpses that were positioned to look as if praying or in worship.

  As he examined the surroundings, the others finally made their way inside. Chen and Kai were the first in after himself joined him in scanning the room. Kazyk and Draelin were next, the former looking more curious than anything else. Fred soon followed, looking annoyed, with Kalicena taking up the rear and stepping off to the side. With everyone present, Andro finally acknowledged the same pure white soul window that opened next to the doorway.

  [Welcome to the dungeon Cannibals Temple. Completion Objective, put an end to the cult members and defeat the leader.

  Objective One of Two - Kill at least ninety percent of the cultists present.

  Objective Two of Two - Kill the leader known as Chef.]

  "Keep your eyes peeled. More than likely these guys utilize ambush tactics." Andro advised in a hushed tone and got nods in return. Fred gave him a scowl but didn't say anything and followed as they all moved down the hallway. Kalicena followed at a distance, staying close enough she could react if needed, but far enough she wouldn't be in the way.

  They emerged into the larger room, able to gain a better view of just how many bodies and how much dried blood there was.

  "This place is disturbing." Kai muttered as she looked around, her face scrunched up. No doubt the smell of old rot and blood was affecting her the most.

  "This place is disgusting." Fred complained a little louder as he paid more attention to where he stepped more than anything else.

  "Stay focused." Andro reflexively snapped out quietly as he scanned every inch of the room. Bodies were everywhere as was blood. Both were in various stages from fresh to old and dried. The only other structure besides the pillars was a large statue resting on a raised dais in the back of the room.

  The statue itself looked crude in make, constructed entirely out of various bones all still covered in old and fresh blood. Some of them even still had pieces of viscera still attached and the entire thing was designed to resemble a massive wolf with the proportions of a bear. It stood on all fours and leaned forward in a threatening manner, as if ready to lunge forward. Its maw was open where it looked as if the cultists had fed it fresh innards, blood still dripping off the lower jaw and onto the floor.

  "Who said you were in charge?" Fred scoffed with arrogance, seemingly already forgetting the little pep talk outside the dungeon.

  That talk seemed to come back to his memory from the way he shrunk back as Andro turned and leveled a stony glare at him.

  "It doesn't matter if this is just a test, or that we have a powerful league member present. This is still a dungeon unknown to us where anything can happen.” Andro explained with an even tone, his gaze unwavering.

  Almost as if to prove his point, they all heard the shriek of someone yelling "FRESH MEAT!" Not even a moment later, a thrown dagger slammed home into the arrogant noble's upper thigh, just below his waist line.

  Andro whirled around, his spear in hand and took just long enough to see that a dirty figure had emerged from behind the disturbing statue. They looked human and male, wearing nothing more than tattered bloodstained pants and a rust colored hood. It completely covered the figure's head with the exception being two cut out eye holes. Another dagger was clutched tightly in their hand as they kept hollering and started the charge forward.

  He had seen all these details with the aid of Temporal perception, having seen it all by the time the man had taken a single step. Not willing to let him get any closer, he double checked his two attack skills were active before hurling his short spear. With the aid of acceleration, his speed had the spear streaking through the air and slamming into the man's chest before he had taken his second step.

  Andro was barely a moment behind his spear and as the man started to jerk backwards from the force of his spear he leaped. Andro hit the man with both feet, grabbed his spear shaft and twisted it as he rode the man down to the ground. The man didn't even have time to scream in pain. He slid backwards along the dirty floor from the combined force of Andro and his spear, but was dead before he came to a stop.

  With one final twist, he jerked his spear free and flung the blood off the blade. Not bothering to give the corpse a second glance, he jogged back over to the group where he saw Draelin already working on the injured and whimpering Fred.

  "I knew joining you would be fun." Kai said as she toyed with the dagger that had been pulled from Fred's leg. Andro looked over and was pleased to see Chen and Kazyk were watching the area around the statue, both of them ready in case more of the screaming maniacs appeared. He in turn knelt down next to Draelin, ignoring the whimpers and groans from Fred and asked,

  "What's the damage?"

  "The blade went deep and into bone," She grimaced while holding her hands just above the wound. They radiated a pale green light and gave off a feeling of comfort and serenity, much like one would get from relaxing in an open meadow lush with life.

  "I'll help," Andro said, placing his own hand on Fred's leg just next to the wound. "Don't need you using up too much mana this early on." A quick muttering of his incantation and a dull bronze light, the color of untouched sand soon joined in with the pale green as they surrounded the open wound.

  Under the influence of the two spells, the deep wound visibly closed and sealed over. Fred was fully healed in but a few handfuls of heartbeats. Considering how fresh the wound was, it barely even cost Andro mana. After being helped to his feet, Fred mumbled out a reluctant but grateful thanks. Andro had the feeling the noble wasn't too happy about receiving healing from him, but also couldn't do anything about it.

  "We need to stay focused, everyone," He addressed the group, "That was just a single enemy yet one of us was injured. If we want to succeed this and maximize our rewards, we need to work together and perform our roles." He looked at them all as he spoke, subconsciously using his blood manipulation to remove the remaining blood on his spear that he hadn't been able to fling off.

  "I'll be the main frontline." Kai spoke up, looking back from where she had moved to better watch the statue area.

  "If it's more guys like that, I can assist with the frontline and keep a few locked down." Chen said with a raised hand, which got a grin from Kai as she clapped him on the shoulder.

  "Let's tear them apart." She encouraged

  "I'm best at a range and can either charge up a powerful blast, or send out a bunch of smaller ones." Kazyk spoke up, holding up his hand, palm out where bluish purple magic swirled around it in streaks. "I also got some utility options," he added before snapping his other finger, a shimmer of blue energy surrounding Draelin, much to the elf's surprise. "The barrier is stronger against mana infused attacks, but can still stop a few physical blows before needing recharged." He explained, Draelin curiously poking her hand through it as he did.

  "Unfortunately I can only keep one active at a time as using it reserves a portion of my mana. The upside to that is that it has no limit on duration and will repair itself over time through ambient mana. Being in a dungeon should speed that up considering the density in them." He said while looking at the shimmering barrier fondly.

  Andro whistles in appreciation as it was difficult to gain a strong defensive skill like that. While it sucked it was limited to only one target, that fact it was self staining like that made it invaluable. He was also fully aware that Kazyk could eventually upgrade the skill to affect multiple targets if he so chooses.

  Since the Drakthynn seemed finished, he figured it was his turn to give a run down of his capabilities.

  "As you all just saw, my skills make me fast but my damage is best spread out through multiple attacks. What I did to that first maniac was partially luck and I was able to hit vital areas. Don't expect me to hit things like that all the time as my skills are built more around being a skirmisher." He explained, ignoring the pointed look Kai and Chen gave the body with a hole in its chest.

  "The point is I move fast, attack fast and can just about anywhere on the battlefield. While I do possess a healing skill it is the kind best used after a fight as I am required to have constant contact." He finished, but then added, "Finally, I have a buff I can apply to you all but you must be willing to accept it."

  They all gave him funny looks at his choice of words. Kai was the first one to just give him a shrug and stepped towards him. Seeing that she was willing, he reached out and grabbed one of her clawed hands before focusing on his skill Marked by Sin. A moment later, a strange runic symbol that looked like a bunch of angry slashes appeared on the back of her hand, even showing through her fur.

  Not wasting a moment, she touched her chest where her shard was and opened her soul window. When it opened, Andro noted her colors were red, a steel gray and a mixture of oranges and reds. She tapped the bottom of the list where he knew the notifications option was, then held out her window so everyone could see what it read as.

  [Current effects - Mark of Sin, creatures that have gained the sinners brand will find their capabilities reduced when facing you.]

  "Oh I like that." Kai chuckled while admiring the mark on her hand.

  "Useful." Kazyk remarked before holding out his hand.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Soon everyone possessed a mark on their hand, even a reluctant Fred allowed the buff. He didn't look happy about it but was willing to recognize when something was useful.

  Some more discussion revealed that Draelin was indeed focusing on healing and providing utility support through nature. Unfortunately the nature of the dungeon would limit some of her skills as they require nearby plants to be truly effective. She also revealed that her overall goal was to work on the caravans and travel from city to city. Fred was the last one and was short and curt with his explanations boiling down to creating and using lava. His skill set was highly focused on damage with some crowd control.

  Andro could only shake his head but knew they needed to get moving. He glanced over where Kalicena was casually leaning against the wall of the hallway opening, and had an idea of how they could improve their score.

  He recalled how she had told them she would be present during their run, but wouldn't interfere unless absolutely necessary. What she never said was for them to act as if she wasn't there at all. This provided them with the perfect opportunity to practice their teamwork as well as learn important tactics involving an important type of missions, escorting. With his idea in mind, he turned and addressed the group.

  "All right, here is what I propose for our formation. Kai, you up-front with Chen. Chen your thermal gaze can help keep the group from walking into an ambush." The two nodded and moved without hesitation, Kai drawing her cleaver like blades. "Fred, you will." "It's Freddy." The young noble snapped with arms crossed.

  Andro gave him a long look that more than showed his annoyance about being interrupted, and yes he did see the irony in that.

  "You will be behind them with Draelin, the two of you flanking around lady Kalicena." He explained, getting confused looks from everyone and a raised eyebrow from Kalicena.

  "Uh, buddy," Chen started, looking back towards him. "She isn't here to fight with us."

  "Your right, she isn't," He agreed with a nod, pointing at the woman in question, "But she is still present which makes her a non-combatant inside of an active dungeon. That makes her a protected third party, something I have no doubt we will encounter in the future so it's best to get the practice in while we can."

  Realization dawned on everyone's face as they looked between Andro and Kalicena, who in turn had an amused grin on her face. It faded as she straightened and walked over to the group and took the position Andor gestured towards.

  "Kazyk, you have the most range and should cover the rear. Since I have the most speed I can move around the group and act as support."

  Moments later they all moved in their designated formation, moving towards where the maniac emerged from. They found a staircase carved of stone tucked away behind the statue leading down. It was only wide enough for a single file, so Kai went first followed by Chen and Andro. The trip down took much longer than expected, no one daring to speak as they moved down the straight narrow stairs.

  They emerged out into a large room with stone walls and a metal grate floor. The room was longer than it was wide with rows of metal hooks dangling loosely from the ceiling. Glowing stones were scattered throughout the room along the walls and ceiling, providing enough light to see everything clearly. Bodies hung from some of the chains, all of them upside down with necks slit or just outright disemboweled.

  The smell of blood was stronger than ever, and looking down proved why. The grated floor was roughly a foot above channels that all flowed away towards the back of the room where a single metal door could be seen. On the left wall towards the back was another door, this one made of wood. The right wall possessed two more wooden doors that offered no hint about what lay beyond them.

  They only had time to briefly examine the room before the metal door at the end was opened and a figure walked through. They froze upon noticing the group, clearly not expecting to see them. Andro had the urge to instantly rush forward and try to take the same looking maniac while they were still surprised, however he held back reminding himself he was no longer the front line. He needed to have more faith in his team to perform to their rolls, so instead he scanned around to ensure they weren't going to be flanked before dashing off to the side.

  He was not disappointed when Kai let out a gleeful cackle as she charged forward. The maniac recovered his wits at the sight of the beast lady's charge and drew a dagger ready to throw it. He never got the chance as a flash of electricity revealed the form of Chen right in front of him, slamming his palm into the maniac's chest. A sickening crunch was audible and the man howled in pain, trying to back but Chen was already latched onto his arm. Setting his feet and twisting at the hips, Chen spun and heaved the maniac over his shoulder. The man yelped as he was tossed through the air, and right into the path of the ragging juggernaut that was Kai. One of her blades came up in a wicked arc, and cleaved the maniac in two before he hit the ground.

  She laughed with glee before loping towards the metal door as if hoping more would come. Chen stayed close, covering her flank and Andro stayed near the two doors in the right in case more came through them. The other three stared at the split apart body for a long moment, understandably looking a little squeamish. The man's blood was already pooling into the channels under the grate as his innards lay scattered around him, some still coating Kai.

  "It's a body," Andro called out, his gaze steady on all of them. "This is something you will need to adjust to seeing in this field."

  They looked up at him from the body, Fred and Draelin still looking uneasy but they nodded and refocused. Kai had her ear pressed against the door, and an excited grin on her face.

  "I can hear a bunch of them. Sounds like they are eating." She half whispered.

  This time almost everyone looked uneasy at that thought considering the name of the dungeon. The contents of the current room they were in didn't help.

  "Lets clear out these side rooms first," Andro advised, gesturing for everyone to approach. "It will be good practice as well as ensuring nothing comes at us from behind."

  The group was quick to agree, and after giving Kai the go ahead, she was happily kicking in the first door. The force of the kick nearly tore the entire thing off its hinges and more than surprised the group of three maniacs who appeared to have been sorting through supplies. Kai didn't hesitate to charge straight at them and engage two of them. Chen shot for the third and worked on keeping them occupied. Andro dashed around to flank the one facing Chen and burying his spear into their back before they react. That allowed Chen to deliver a devastating combo of strikes focused around the man's throat and face, dropping him.

  Andro turned to see Kai had already severed one of the maniacs arms and was working on finishing him off. Chen lashed out with a kick to stumble the wounded man giving Kai the opening she needed, cleaving open their chest. She went on the defensive to avoid the final ones counter, but found it unnecessary when a stream of bluish purple bolts of energy slammed into them one by one. Each hit tore a chunk of flesh away, one even blowing a hole into their stomach. They were dead before even hitting the ground.

  Andro swore he heard Kai say something about a kill thief but ignored her and scanned the room to see if there were any more. The room was smaller than the first and only contained loose piles of clothes and gear. More than likely the spoils from all their victims hanging on the chains.

  "Next room." He said and everyone moved.

  The other room was similar, but contained crates and barrels but no maniacs. Looking through some of the crates, they held other supplies such as various drinks, building materials, spices, weaponry and just about everything else one would expect to find on a merchant's wagon. No maniacs were in this room so they left it alone and moved to the final wooden door.

  "It's really cold in there." Chen remarked, his gaze focused on the door as his eyes simmered orange.

  Andro had a good idea as to why the room was cold, something the others seemed to share. Once more Kai kicked the door open and once more startled a group of the maniacs inside. There were five this time and unlike the first ones they wore more than just dirty pants and a hood. Fur hides were draped over them as they methodically moved amongst the numerous bare corpses.

  “It's too cold for my lava skills." Fred called out in a panic, but still worked on trying to form a fireball.

  Kazyk was quicker to act, more of the smaller bolts forming around him before launching forward. His bolts hit one of the maniacs at the same time as Chen appeared in front of another, reforming from his lightning bolt and using his blast wave palm strike. The maniac practically split open from the sheer force, his blood and insides spraying the bodies behind him. Andro arrived at the third one, only to parry aside a dagger aimed for his throat.

  He spun his spear, ducking under another wild slash before slashing at the animal's arm. His skill coated blade nearly carved straight the their forearm forcing them to drop the knife with a cry of pain. With a flick he brought the end of his spear around and slammed the but into their head, knocking them down. Kai arrived then, shoulder checking one before knocking aside another dagger and slicing open their gut. She laughed with a blood lusted glee as she finished that one off and pounced on the one she knocked aside.

  Seeing she had those two handled, Andro brought his spear down to finish the one he had knocked. When he looked back up, a fireball slammed into the final one Kai was pushing back, engulfing them in flames. Kai lopped off their head to put them out of the misery, and flashed Fred a grin and a thumbs up.

  Making sure they were all dead. The group soon examined the room more carefully. They didn't find any more maniacs hiding amongst the hanging bodies, but they did find a second door. Kai placed her ear against it as well, only to grin with excitement.

  "It leads to the same place as the metal door." She said, standing up straight prepared to kick it in.

  "Wait." Andro called out, the berserker pausing, her foot raised. "We can easily assume there are more behind this door than what we have faced so far. We need a better approach."

  They spent a short time discussing possible opening attacks before finally settling on one. Chen and Andro stood on either side of the door, skills ready. Kazyk and Fred stood back as they charged up their skills with mana, Kazyk holding a warping orb of dark blue mana between his hands while Fred slowly grew a fireball above his. He looked to be struggling the most, but that made sense considering he was trying to use fire inside of a freezer.

  When the two gave Kai a nod, she grinned and kicked the door as hard as she could. This time the door did come off the hinges and tumble into the room, meanwhile she ducked down to an impressively low crouch, practically going prone without her body touching the ground.

  Kazyk and Fred let their skills fly the moment she kicked open the door, the two orbs or energy sailing through the opening before detonating an instant later. It felt like the entire dungeon shook from the force of the explosion as the two skills seemingly amplified each other.

  The moment the force of energy and flame calmed down, Chen and Andro dashed around the corner and into the room, Kai following right behind them. Screams of pain and hatred greeted them as they rushed into the room. Andro spared a moment of time, as well as some extra mana to boost his Temporal Perception in order to scan the room.

  He was correct in his assumption that this room was some sort of communal feasting room. Long wooden tables, some splintered and burning now, we're lined up along the floor. Those that hadn't been destroyed by Fred and Kazyk's combined attacks still held piles of meat and bones. The room itself was easily a hundred meters long and roughly thirty wide with a set of wooden double doors at the far end. More than a few dozen of the maniacs had been present in the room enjoying their meal when they had all burst in, killing a few and injuring more with their opening attack.

  "Defensive fight," he called out to everyone, fueling more mana into acceleration, "Don't get surrounded!"

  Kai strode a bit further into the room, stopping before reaching the tables and let out a ferocious roar full of rage. Red wisps of energy began to coil off of her as she lunged at the first maniac with a savage snarl. Chen was right behind her to cover her flank, focusing on interrupting or disabling the maniacs over killing blows. Now that they were on proper stone and not in a freezer, Fred was able to show what he could do. He stood in front of Draelin, Kazyk and Kalicena, the ground in front of them glowing with heat. With a grunt of effort he lifted his hands up as if struggling to pull something up and a geyser of lava erupted upwards. Before it could start to fall, he drew in his arms and all the molten stone cooled and hardened as all the heat was drained. Fred gathered that heat into his hands and released streams of flame through gaps in the misshapen wall at the maniacs.

  Kazyk took advantage of these gaps as well, sending bolt after bolt of energy that tore into the bodies of their attackers. Andro meanwhile utilized his speed to its full capacity and dashed from one foe to the other, his spear flicking out to pierce limbs, slash at tendons and just generally just causing chaos amongst the enemy.

  Despite that, there were still a lot of maniacs and seeing the misshapen wall of stone be created, most opted to gang up on Kai and Chen. Kai seemed to love that idea as she was cackling like a mad man as she swung her blades in vicious arcs, each swing aimed to take a limb or life. Chen on the other hand had to adopt a pure defensive fighting style, doing everything he could just to keep them off of him and Kai’s exposed back.

  Deciding it was worth the risk, Andro shot over to where Chen was struggling and tried to even the odds. A slash to the back of his hand, along with a steady dose of his Blood Manipulation skill resulted in many of the maniacs being doused in acidic blood as a spray of it left his hand.

  Many of their cries of bloodlust shifted to ones of shrieking pain as the red liquid began to eat away at their flesh. Considering it was considered an attack, both his two sin skills were activated on the blood, creating a rather unique sight. Over a dozen shirtless, knife wielding cannibals were screaming as blood burning with black flame consumed them bit by bit. While each individual source of damage wasn't all that high, with more than a dozen Andro could feel all his resources filling back up as Envious Leech did its thing.

  With those ones occupied, he moved towards the ones who remained persistent on getting to the ones behind the wall. A particularly large one was hacking at it with what looked like an oversized butcher's cleaver, laughing madly as he did so. Andro started by impaling the man's lower legs and giving his spear a jerk to the side. The cannibal yelped with both shock and pain as he dropped to one knee, yet before Andro could finish him, a small portion of the wall melted and cascaded onto the man. They tried to thrash as they screamed in pain, desperately trying to scrap the molten stone off of them, only for it all to rapidly cool down and reharden.

  They still thrashed around weakly, but a spear thrust through a gap around the head silenced them. Andro glanced through the new opening and saw Fred standing there with a smug expression on his sweaty face as he looked around for a new target. Shaking his head, Andro moved on to the next target.

  The fight was grueling and took a bit of time to finish as both Kazyk and Fred started to run low on mana. Chen was in a similar situation and was forced to rely entirely on his hand to hand. Kai also switched to a more defensive style as even she was starting to rack up a few too many wounds. In the end they succeeded with Kai being the only one really injured due to her fighting style seemingly allergic to dodging.

  The group decided to retreat back through the metal door and take some time to recover. Chen and Kazyk kept an eye on the door as they recovered their mana while Draelin and Andro focused on healing Kai. The wolf berserker was durable and could take some hits, but she had been cut up everywhere where she didn't have armor. Even her armored parts had a few stab wounds where the various daggers had gone through. Yet all she did was talk about how much fun the fight was.

  Once everyone was sufficiently recovered they made their way back into the larger room and properly examined it. Other than the double doors at the end, there were only two more doors to explore. One was much larger and the only other metal door in the dungeon, while the other was the same simple wood as most of the others.

  The only one that seemed accessible was the large metal door, and Andro had a feeling as to why.

  "Let's make sure we are absolutely ready everyone," he said while eyeing the door. "I'm pretty sure we are about to face our first dungeon boss."