Child of Destiny

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After organizing the team, Shin led the group toward the dungeon entrance alongside Arthur. The latter was already getting impatient and wanted to finish this quest as soon as possible. He wanted to proceed to the next clue so that he could already get the fragment of his Divine Armor.

The entire Empyrean Talons alongside Lorraine stood before the dungeon entrance with solemn expressions on their faces. This 16-man team would be challenging the first dungeon of the Awakened Continent, which was at the Hard Difficulty.

If it was in the standard of the Aurora Continent, then they would not be thinking too much about it.

But since this dungeon would be following the standard of the Awakened Continent, it was quite a challenge even for their top experts. They were feeling quite nervous and excited at the same time.

They were expecting to get a real challenge this time around!

"Let's go!" said Shin, signaling Arthur to activate the entrance since he was the main initiator of the quest.

Arthur also did not wait any longer as he quickly placed his palm on the invisible barrier covering the cave entrance before initiating the challenge through his thoughts.

Swoosh!

Then the group disappeared in the very next instant, transforming into specks of lights that slowly dissipated in the air.

…

Whoosh!

Not long after, the group found themselves standing in the middle of a dark cave. They could not see due to the darkness, which also led them to put their alertness to the highest level.

"Cloe, Chaos!" called out Shin as he tried to scan the surroundings of his Spiritual Sense.

But right after he tried entering his combat state of Reality Manifestation, he immediately something strange.

His concentration was dropping at an alarming rate. The consumption rate of his Reality Manifestation grew exponentially, making him quickly exited the combat state soon after.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

It was at this moment when Cloe and Chaotic Luck raised their staffs and shot a beam of light in the air.

'Priest Basic Skill: Illuminating Light'

'Solaris Lich Basic Skill: Torch'

A pair of glowing spheres appeared on each end of the group, illuminating their surroundings. But since the cave seemed to have been shrouded by a mysterious power that amplified the darkness filling it, the light that the group got did not exceed the 15-meter range each.

Such a range was already good enough, but not at the satisfying level given the level of the two and their mastery over their spells.

This indicated that their respective abilities were greatly restricted in this place.

"There is something wrong with this place," it was at this point that Shin informed the others. "The consumption of my Concentration is absurdly high."

The hidden stat called Concentration was an important key that the top experts used, especially when using powerful skills, special abilities, and advanced combat techniques.

It was also the most important factor that divided the ordinary experts into the apex gods.

Using the Elemental Spirit Possession consumed a large amount of concentration alongside the mana manipulation techniques unique to every expert. Adding the special combat states that they used during battle, an individual would require quite a lot of concentration to keep all of them together.

Using powerful tools also required a lot of concentration to utilize their special abilities to their fullest potential just like Shin's sword, the [Yamato], especially when he was using the 'Nephilim's Wings' ability.

What Shin discovered just now indicated that their abilities would be greatly restricted in this place. This was because they would no longer be able to use their Elemental Spirit Possession senselessly as well as their unique Combat States.

"Tsk! This is going to be quite an issue," commented Leonard as he also realized the same problem.

"It seems like the mysterious energy enveloping the entire dungeon is preventing us from using our fullest potential," said Alice as she was able to sense the root of their problem after observing the surroundings.

"Is this the reason why it is categorized as Hard Difficulty here in the Awakened Continent?" suspected Cloe as she felt that there were some restrictions cast on their bodies right after entering the dungeon.

"If that is the case, then the difficulty standard of the Awakened Continent is a little different compared to the Aurora Continent," said Lorraine as she also assessed the situation.

As a Commander of an Adventurer Team herself, Lorraine was quite familiar with raiding dungeons. She was also quite used to assessing the situation within the dungeon as a form of habit.

Quickly comparing what they were experiencing right now and the situations that she was in previously, she was able to instantly discover the differences between the dungeons of the two continents.

If her assessment was right, then the difficulty level of the dungeons in the previous continent focused on the powerful monsters within the dungeon, the special conditions within it like the weather and terrains, and the average ability of the players who were trying to challenge it.

On the other hand, the immediate restriction cast upon the players when challenging the dungeon of the Awakened Continent was already one of the factors in addition to those mentioned conditions from the previous continent.

Of course, this was just her initial assessment since they had yet to engage in battle in this place and properly challenge the dungeon. But this piece of information that they just discovered was already serious enough to make them take the dungeon more seriously.

After organizing their thoughts and findings, Shin signaled the group to get moving. "Get in your positions. We are going with C-Formation while advancing."

They quickly moved in succession as they were already familiar with the formation that Shin was talking about.

Arthur and Owen walked at the forefront of the group, acting as the vanguards. Leonard was standing right behind them as the secondary line of defense.

Then there were Samael and Akailu walking slightly behind Leonard as they covered the left and right side respectively. Their positions also fell in the secondary line of defense, but they were slightly away from Leonard as they were meant to protect those from the backline.

Then there was Chaotic Luck walking behind those two with Cloe right behind him. Alice and Daulla were covering each of their flanks as they constantly released a subtle amount of mana to detect any movements from their surroundings.

Then the four marksmen were situated at the rear. Since they were the ones with the longest range, positioning at farthest back was the most ideal position for them, especially when their sharp senses as marksmen made them able to constantly scan their surroundings and detect any danger from the rear.

Moreover, Alucard was also stationed beside them. With him overseeing the rear, the rest would be able to deal with any danger coming from behind, especially when could fight in either melee or long-range battle due to the uniqueness of his class.

But as an extra precaution, the Akailu summoned two dire wolves to guard the rear alongside a pair of Skeleton Knights that Chaotic Luck had summoned earlier.

This was quite a solid formation that covered every direction. It was also the most ideal formation given that they were moving in a narrow corridor of the cave.

In the meantime, Shin and Diablo were tasked to scout the path ahead as they were the fastest among the group and possessed stealth skills that could hide their presence against monsters.

Diablo was also tasked to disarm any traps that they would be encountering along the way. Since Shadow Dancers fell in the category of thieves, he possessed a set of skills and abilities meant for such situations.

They did not encounter any traps quite unexpectedly, which also indicated that this dungeon was housing unintelligent monsters that were incapable of setting up such complicated tasks.

As they were advancing, Shin suddenly halted his steps before signaling Diablo to stop. The latter was somewhat slow to respond but was still able to pause his actions in time.

Bang! Bang!

It was at that moment when the two heard a series of heavy footsteps coming from ahead, indicating that they had finally found the first monster of the dungeon.

But what made them frown on their brows was that this set of footsteps was too heavy for an ordinary monster to have.

Given the heaviness of each step, Shin could tell that this was a massive monster, especially after hearing the explosiveness of each sound it made.

Slowly advancing, Shin stuck close to the cave walls and hid under the shades that it had.

Diablo also followed closely behind, utilizing his stealth techniques.

When the two reached the end of the cave corridor, they slowly stuck out their heads through the gaps in the rock formations to see what was happening ahead of them.

It was at that moment when they saw a massive lizard scratching the cave walls for some reason. The size of this monster was as huge as a large bus in the real world.

The size of the monster alone was overwhelming enough, but the aura that it was emitting was on a whole different level.

Using his True Sight Skill, Shin tried to see what kind of monster it was.

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[Monster Name]: Cave Komodo Lizard (Hatchling)

[Monster Type]: Beast (Reptilian Family)

[Monster Rank]: Special Elite (Berserk)

[Life Rating]: Lesser Draconic Species

[Monster Level]: 155

Heath Points: 20 Million

Description:

A Komodo Lizard underwent a series of mutations after an extended exposure to the mysterious power within its habitat.

It possessed tough scales that could rival any sturdy armor and sharp claws that could cut steel as if it were tofu.

Its mouth had a strength that could easily crush boulders and metals.

Under the constant exposure to the mysterious power within the cave, it also gained some features of draconic species, which greatly enhanced its overall capabilities.

At the same time, it had also gained a certain control over Earth Elemental Mana.

Note 1: The body of this monster could not be harvested as it was a dungeon monster, but there was a high chance that a Beast Core or an Elemental Core would drop upon death.

Note 2: There was also a small chance that a Soul Crystal would drop upon being killed. Your journey continues on empire

Note 3: The was also a very low chance that a fragment of a Lesser Dragon Core would drop upon its death.

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There was a strange look on Shin's face as he looked at the overall description of the monster before shaking his head. "I hope that this shouldn't be that bad."

After that, he quickly sent the details to the rest of the team before informing them to rush over as fast as they could since he knew this would not be an easy battle, especially after seeing the Life Rating of the monster.

After all, monsters that possessed life ratings were much stronger than those with normal beast ratings.

Therefore, even if this 'Cave Komodo Lizard' possessed a slightly lower level than the most recent 'Iron-Skilled Wild Boars' that they had encountered outside the dungeon, its strength far surpassed the latter.

Moreover, it was from the 'Lesser Draconic Species' which was a descendant of the Dragons. This alone was enough to tell the group that this monster was not as simple as it seemed.

"But we welcome challenges all the time," he mumbled as he stared at the monster with a blazing fighting spirit.

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