Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 98: The Hidden Dungeon In Briar Mountain [Part 1]

”Something is calling out to you here in this mountain?” Alex’s expression turned solemn after Charles explained the likely cause of his mindless journey to Briar Mountain.

”Yes,” Charles replied. ”Even as we speak, I can feel it reaching out to me, almost pleading for me to come to it.”

Alex exchanged a glance with his master, and the latter nodded in understanding.

The young man hadn’t hid the fact that there was a Hidden Dungeon in Briar Mountain from his Master.

They had even agreed to go there on the night of the full moon in order to get the items that could be obtained from killing the Boss Monster that ruled it.

But Charles’ words made Alex think that there might be some kind of secret that he didn’t know about the Hidden Dungeon.

In the game, there was no event where Charles would fall into a trance and suddenly wake up inside the Hidden Dungeon of Briar Mountain.

Alex only knew about the dungeon because it was shared in the wiki page of the Eris Brotherhood, whose members had all seriously tried to clear Charles’ tutorial quest.

’I should have investigated how that player discovered the Hidden Dungeon in the first place,’ Alex thought. ’Maybe he triggered an event that the rest of us didn’t.’

”So, what do you want to do?” Cairo asked Charles, who was eating a roasted pork bun given to him by Dim Dim. ”Would you like to go to that place where you are being called? If you say yes, Alex and I will accompany you and guarantee your safety.”

Charles glanced at Alex, and the latter nodded in affirmation.

”Like I told you, this must be the workings of Fate,” Alex said. ”Maybe we are here to help you solve this mystery.”

(A/N: Thirteen would like to have a word with you.)

Charles closed his eyes and pondered what to do next.

Frankly, he felt lucky because Cairo and Alex had been there to save him from the Brown Bear during his trance-like state.

If that happened again in the future, he might not be able to survive a second encounter with a monster during his unconscious state.

”Then, I will take you up on your offer,” Charles said after careful consideration. ”Thank you very much.”

”You’re welcome,” Alex said. ”Well, then. Shall we go? The sooner we solve this mystery, the sooner we can return to the village.”

Charles nodded and stood up to lead his two new friends to where the voice was coming from.

Several minutes later, they arrived at their destination.

’I knew it,’ Alex thought as he narrowed his eyes at the thick curtain of vines swaying gently in the breeze.

Nestled behind the green veil was the dungeon’s entrance, well hidden to the point that anyone who didn’t intentionally look for it would’ve walked right past it..

”It’s coming from that wall,” Charles explained as he pointed at the location that Alex was eyeing.

”I’ll go first,” Cairo said. ”Charles, you stay behind Alex.”

He already knew about Charles’ passive skill, Challenger’s Mark.

The moment the teenage boy entered the dungeon, all the monsters within two kilometers would sense his presence, prompting them to head in his direction.

Fortunately, Alex had told him that only Rank 1 Monster Ants spawned inside this particular dungeon.

He and his disciple were confident that they could easily defeat them and clear the dungeon without fail.

The moment they entered the dungeon, Charles’ body shuddered uncontrollably, as if a power that had remained dormant inside his body suddenly awakened.

Alex immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere of the dungeon. His master didn’t miss it either.

The dungeon resembled an underground cave, barely lit by faintly glowing crystals embedded in the walls that cast a dim, eerie light across the uneven path.

Suddenly, countless chirp-like sounds reached their ears at the same time.

*Scritch-Scritch*

*Scritch-Scritch*

*Scritch-Scritch*

The dungeon seemed to tremble as countless red eyes added light to the darkness, all zeroing in on the entrance where Charles stood. Moments later, dozens of meter-long Black Ants charged forward in a frenzy, as if they had entered a berserk state.

.

”I’ll handle this!” Cairo said before embedding his sword in the ground. ”Demon Slaying Arts, Third Form!”

”Crimson Requiem!”

Two red flashes that criss-crossed on the ground surged forward, cutting all the Ant Monsters in their path.

That single attack killed dozens at once, but the Ant Army wasn’t easily defeated. Dozens might have died, but dozens more took their place.

Alex and Cairo were now experiencing the true effect of the Challenger’s Mark, which made them thankful that the Hidden Dungeon only had two floors and that only Rank 1 Monsters spawned inside of it.

Although the enemies were many, they didn’t pose a threat to the Rank 3 Demon Slayer, who decided to engage them in close combat.

With a swing of the Catkin’s sword, two to three ants died at the same time, turning into particles of light.

Cairo was like a killing machine that didn’t allow even a single ant to get past him, keeping Alex and Charles safe from harm.

At first, he thought this fight would never end because the number of monsters didn’t seem to decrease, no matter how many he killed.

But ten minutes later, the fighting finally ended.

As the last Black Ant turned into particles of light, dozens of Rank 1 Monster Cores littered the ground.

Cairo then sheathed his blade, not even breaking sweat after eliminating so many monsters at once.

”Wow,” Charles muttered as he looked at the Catkin, who had single-handedly cleared all the monsters of the dungeon. ”He’s so amazing.”

”I know, right?” Alex looked smug because his master looked really cool during his fight earlier.

”Um, aren’t you going to pick those monster cores on the ground?” Cairo asked. ”With so many of them, I’m sure they will fetch over a few gold coins.”

Alex, who was trying to earn as many gold coins as he could, immediately went to pick the monster cores and stored them inside his storage ring.

”Dim Dim~” Dim Dim happily picked up one of the monster cores and put it inside a small pouch that Alex had given it.

Dim Dim had asked Alex if he could give it a gold coin later, wanting to buy some candies for the children of the village it had befriended.

Of course, Alex had agreed, which motivated the Dim Sum God to help him with collecting the monster cores. Cairo believed there were enough cores they could get ten gold coins from the Adventurer’s Guild.

While this was happening, Charles once again felt that strong call from within the dungeon, asking him to hurry to its location.

”Guys, I’m hearing it again,” Charles said. ”The voice is getting stronger, and I can tell it’s feeling excited.”

”Lead the way,” Alex said after picking up the last monster core.

Since he believed that all the monsters inside the dungeon were now dead, Charles could now safely guide them to the place where he was hearing the voice.

However, Alex had a very bad feeling about it.

But in order to confirm his suspicion, he decided to keep silent for now and simply follow the teenage boy, whom the swarm of monsters had tried to kill earlier.