Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Disgusting, with an extra touch of creepy, were always the best ingredients to cook up horror.

That was a Terramite Golem. One of the few beasts made out of beasts.

It was a pile of muddy earth, shaped into the form of a gorilla and held together by mana worms that crawled in large numbers around its body.

"Argh, that stuff is ugly", Ryan winced.

Jayden shielded his gaze, "At least it’s better than a wriggling mass of worms chasing behind you."

Draco laughed, "Speaking from experience, huh?"

The beast’s movement was slow but fluid, like worms coming together to form a giant, nightmarish creature.

It threw a fist in team 24’s direction and worms flew from its body, shooting straight at them.

Jayden Ryan and Tyler screamed and stepped away from the tunnel entrance.

The worms fell to the ground with a ’SLAP’ sound. Harmless, but who would want to touch such a disgusting beast?

Jayden rushed to the tunnel entrance and waved an arc in the air with his arm, sending a slash of wind right at the beast.

Its arm fell off almost like slimy water, but it didn’t take much time before the worms gathered more earth and connected the arm back.

"Fuck!" Jayden grinned between clenched teeth, not to mention that more of those beasts were coming from behind.

SSS-RANKED Draco wore a fascinated look, as if he had never seen such a thing. He pointed at the beasts. "Do I get points if I obliterate those?"

Jayden smiled, "Yes, of course, big shiny points."

SSS-RANKED Draco smiled expanded, "Points... points... points..."

He barely lifted his arm before the beasts were consumed in flames one by one to the very end of the tunnel.

The clock is ticking, two seconds... four seconds... and all that was left was a teaspoon of ashes for each Terramite golem.

Jayden, Ryan, and Tyler’s eyes gleamed with pure fascination.

"You’re awesome big brother." Jayden’s eyes glowed like a kitten.

"What incredible power!"

"Teach me how!" Tyler bowed.

SSS-RANKED Draco scratched his nape and smiled, "points?..."

The group laughed. "What’s your rank big brother?" Jayden leaned in.

"Ohhh, I’m an Elderly dragon."

"Huu?" The boys raised an eyebrow.

"Ohh", SSS-RANKED Draco exclaimed as he walked into the tunnel, and they followed behind him. "In where I come from, a dragon’s strength is measured by its age, so SSS-RANK isn’t the limit. After one century, a dragon surpasses SSS-RANK and becomes an Elderly dragon and an additional century to become a Cosmic dragon.

My dad is like a triple cosmic dragon since he has lived more than three centuries after he first became a cosmic dragon."

SSS-RANKED Draco was still talking when he heard screams from behind him and the floor had become quicksand.

Well, before he could turn around, his comrades were already far gone deeper into the ground.

He flew up, watching the sand on the ground of the tunnel pour out and then the floor closed like a two-way door.

One of the original Team 24 might have stepped on a trap.

And the deeper you went, the higher the dungeon’s difficulty.

"I wasn’t done talking", SSS-RANKED Draco spat bitterly, then descended in search of the trap they had stepped on.

Well, he might not be gentle for long if he doesn’t find it because he could literally break his way through with ease.

Not to mention that he was separated from his little brother who he was growing to become a worthy meal.

"Aaaaahhh—!" Jayden was screaming while struggling mid-air.

He formed a tornado below him, but Argh!, fuck being at D-rank. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel✶fire.net

He still slammed the ground with his face first, but at least he managed to escape death.

"Ow! The hell was that fall?," Jayden wiped dust off his face, studying his environment.

It was another wide platform just like the first room after the stairs, but this one had a chest of boxes with promising treasures.

He could see the calling glow of crystals waiting to be collected at all sides of the room, and pure gold was planted all around the walls.

This was a level with a higher risk and higher reward, and the fact that it was an artificial dungeon meant that nothing was to be gained easily.

Jayden’s eyes were spinning at the fantastic things all around him, "Crystal treasures, beast core treasures, gold and even beast part boxes he could sell for a fortune.

Jayden clenched his face, remembering what Mr Troy had said: ’Whatever you find is yours to keep.’

"I’m rich!" He smiled as he stood up, but there were those traps again, with different markings this time, and, not to forget, this was certainly not a level one dungeon.

The mana concentration and heat intensity could attest to that, so he had to equally prepare for higher-level beasts.

Jayden tapped his foot excitedly while thinking of which box to hunt at first.

Well, that was a tough choice. Crystals for cultivation, cores, gold and beast parts in exchange for real cash.

What should he start with?

Well, he would have to answer that question later, because the ground was literally rising.

Jayden looked below his legs. The ground was hairy, and only the earth below his feet actually grew.

He couldn’t pinpoint if what he was standing on was a living being because of the crazy mana concentration in the atmosphere that was interfering with his senses.

But he confirmed that when large sharp claws attacked him from both sides.

Jayden jumped above them, landing on one foot, but the brick he stood on blasted up into a pillar at incredible speed.

Jayden jumped off just before the pillar of earth slammed into the roof of the dungeon.

He landed in a trap-free zone with the help of his wind element and looked around.

Of course, there wouldn’t be any goodies, it’s trap-free.

Jayden sighed before taking a good look at his new opponents.

A brown hairy beast the size of an elephant and with white claws the size of one of Jayden’s legs. It had a pink snout plus a terrifying set of carnivorous teeth.

The usually small, harmless beast that spent its life digging up the soil was this gigantic creature.

’I guess mana evolution overdid this one!’, Jayden thought, but his mind immediately put two and two together.

This was the second time he was facing an A-rank potential mana beast head-on, all by himself.

The last time was the gator, and he wouldn’t make that same mistake of forgetting its evolutionary aspect twice.

"Jurassic moles are the top one beast capable of manipulating the earth element. Guess this might not be easy"

Jayden broke a sweat and took a stance before the beast let out a raging growl.