Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 140

I crack another fake grin. Tripp looks at me dumbfounded.

"You... you used a teleportation item... to do a few hours of extra training... during an exam...?"

I scratch the back of my head and visually cringe. Next, I throw my hands up in the air replying defensively.

"Hey, you were probably better off not knowing."

"..."

"Now ya do. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone I wasted an item like that. Alright?"

"But how- and where- a teleportation-"

"I'd rather not talk about it anymore, okay?"

We continue walking in silence for a moment. I'm left wondering if Tripp actually bought that excuse or if he's just playing along to our obvious lies.

An awkward amount of time goes by before Arie strikes up a random conversation about the Hunters Association hierarchy structure. I begin to zone out as their boring talk of numbers fills my ears. I watch Abby and Maria continue slaying beasts as we run into them on our way through The Great Plains.

I'm just happy to be alive. It feels like I'm viewing all the events of today from above like an out-of-body experience. Maybe it's a defensive mechanism built in to deal with all of the excess stimulation my brain is taking in today.

I did get pretty used to staring at white walls and focusing on a single task... every... single... day....

I let out a sigh.

Simultaneously, Arie lightly elbows me in the gut.

"Hey, we're already 5km in you know. Are you that confident you haven't even taken out a weapon?"

I shake myself out of my daydreams, then firmly nod a few times.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure they can handle it. I'll wait for the mutants to have my fun, you're thinking the same thing aren't ya?"

Arie grips his bow.

"Yeah. Mutants or Titans, whichever comes first right?"

I gulp, then let out a few words in a shaky tone.

"Mutants... Mutants are fine with me. Tripp probably knows best, we shouldn't even joke about Titans right now."

There's a pause of silence, then Tripp laughs and puts an arm around my shoulder.

"I think that's the first intelligent thing that's come out of your mouth since I met ya! Hear that Arie? Even this battle-crazed psycho that would waste a one-of-a-kind item for an adrenaline fix isn't dumb enough to fight a Titan. Read a page out of his book!"

The bow wielder rolls his eyes.

"For the short time I've known Jay, I think I have a pretty good read on him. Wait until one of these things shows up. He'll be the first one into action."

I reply in a soft tone as we continue forward.

"Yeah, yeah..."

After some more casual conversation and a whole lot of walking, a mutant finally shows up.

I take out my sword and the 4 of us go in for an attack. My blade slices through the mutant like butter. Abby and Maria easily trap the beast in place with Ice and Earth while Arie lands a thin white glowing arrow through the monster's forehead.

The Mutant never stood a chance.

The girls cheer and Arie grins, but I'm not emotionally moved in the slightest. I just stare at the scene in front of me and mumble to myself.

"Why does this always happen to me? Why am I never satisfied...?"

The 3 of them wait around the Ice covered burning corpse to wait for it to drop its loot. I let out a sigh and activate my enemy detection skill.

My small use of MP shocked my system into wanting more all of a sudden. That release of power is making me shake, I clench my jaw craving more.

Eventually, the loot drops and I take a few deep breaths to curb my temptations. All 5 of us venture further in.

We're about 7-10km into the dungeon now. I can expand my range pretty far, closing my eyes and do so as we walk. I concentrate and reach out into the depths of the dungeon locating 10 more mutants within a 10km radius.

I push my skill a little further, sensing a creature at the same level as me moving at high speeds around the backside of the dungeon about 15km deeper in than us. I grin, registering that it must be Ember.

At the same moment, as I continue to expand my range, I hit a very familiar wall of infinite nothingness another 5km in. I immediately shiver and deactivate my enemy detection skill.

We continue the hunt.

All 5 of us wander around the 10-12km range for the next 6 hours straight. We've run into 8 mutants in total, this is thanks to me leading the way. The only one that doesn't know I have some kind of advanced perception skill is Tripp. It just seems like we're getting lucky to him.

In reality, we're actually getting the opposite. After 8 mutants and over 20 of its underlings, the only loot we've managed to pick up is mana crystals. I can tell the team's morale has been slowly declining...

Tripp calls out to us after this recent kill.

"Hey, let's do one more then call it a day."

The four of us nod in agreement.

After defeating our next mutant, I decide to plant the Strengthening Fragment I looted from my long battle with the Titan into the mutant's corpse during one of my close-range attacks. As it dissolves, the small black crystal drops, and I hear Maria scream with excitement in her voice.

"Guys! Guys! Look we got one! We got one!"

I grin while the others flock over to her, examining the small black gem. Crossing my arms, I watch my team's spirits rise. Maria's smile brightens my mood. Abby's willingness to whole-heartily support the cheerful blond as she fixates on the black gem puts faith in our teamwork.

Watching Arie smirk while gripping his bow reminds me of how he helped me in the exam and also covered me with a little white lie earlier today.

I'm back to the outside world with a team I can trust. I guess... this isn't too bad...

The 3 of them pass the gem around, then I walk over to take part in the fun. Tripp watches from a distance wide-eyed and pale-faced.

The drop rate is pretty low, we beat the odds of a 1% chance and got a Fragment in just 10 or so kills.

I would also be surprised if I were in his position, but the sheer expression of bewildered horror on his face suggests that there is more to this situation than meets the eye.

I hear him mutter a few words under his breath.

"I-Impossible... They actually got a Strengthening Fragment... out of a Mutant...?"