The First King of Beasts

At this point, Dustin was both expectant of the dungeon and annoyed at its way of transport that throws him around. Realizing that this would be repeating itself every time he goes to the next time was the issue.

Dustin looked around the environment he was, and quite to his surprise, it was not the slightest but what he expected. The surface his body hit against when he was thrown out by the circle was not a rock but a tree, and its back was just that strong. Apart from the tree, some metres away was a magic circle identical to the one he saw at the other floor, and apart for the magic circle, every other place was completely covered in grass.

The rest of the area had trees here and there, while the ground was covered in grass, and one of the weirdest things about the whole setting was the fact that there was a sky, though it was night and there were no stars.

'Isn't this supposed to be underground? Or is this just a sky box?' Dustin thought to himself.

There was no need to think too much about it, as in the end the goal was to clear the dungeon and finish the second stage. If the challenge ended up being easy, then wouldn't it be just another random quest? The fact that the Messenger himself had to come means that this one was going to be just as difficult as the first stage, which was when they were brought to this world.

"But then, the gods and stuff have this much power to replicate such a thing underground, and there's even wind down here in a cave. This is truly too alien and out of the capabilities of a human." Dustin said to himself while looking around.

He kept thinking of the end goal of all of this, and the fact that they would have to face these so called gods. The more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him that he needed strength to survive in this world. He already knew this, but the thing now was that the kind of strength he was looking for was one where he would be able to survive in the apocalyptic times ahead.

Dustin kept walking about the land not knowing which direction he was supposed to go, so he just chose at random. Though he had been moving for more than an hour at this point, he still hadn't seen a single monster anywhere, and because of how the area was, it felt like he was walking in a loop. The environment looked like a desert with trees here and there, but with grass for sand, and just like a desert, it didn't seem to end at all.

Another thing was the lack of the presence of monsters, as there had been not even a single monster roaming around, not to talk of attacking him. The more Dustin observed the situation, the more he saw that the theme of this stage was survival. There was nothing edible in this almost barren land, not a single fruit, and no animals around. Luckily, with the speculation that the second stage was going to take a long time like the first one, and that it was going to be just as difficult, Dustin had prepared more than enough food to take him through at least five months if he managed well.

"This is going to be a long one."

..

Back at the surface, this was when other people were just starting to arrive. The first people to arrive were the sisters alongside Aria and Kim. They had been very fast, and though they had to kill some beasts on the way to the dungeon location, it wasn't very hard since Aria had information on what type of monsters they had to expect.

Normally, the sisters seemed to have some knowledge of things in the realm of Na'ash, and as for the second stage, they had made plans on how they were going to go about it. What they didn't know was that their plans would become useless, and a new one would have to be made.

'Good thing Aria overhead us then and said something. We would have been in a lot of disadvantage had we not known.' Mizu said in her mind.

Basically, the sisters were aware of the type of beasts that inhabit the area just outside by the ends of the forest close to the mountain, so they naturally created plans and tactics on how to handle these creatures. They knew that if they were to follow the route directly in line with the town's gate, the beasts there were Beast Cattle, and with their incredibly strong defence, it would be hard for them to even pass through since these creatures attack once another gets within a specific range.

There was another way to go about it though, and that was to mount one of the Beast Cattle. It wasn't an easy process either, but it was many times safer and easier to do than trying to fight against the beasts. These beasts were a good test for everybody since they were still weak, and this kind of beast would prove tough, and if one was not careful, death.

Aria happened to be passing by when Raven and Mizu were discussing the tactics they would utilize to get to their destination in time, and as soon as she heard Raven utter the words Beast Cattle, her attention was drawn, and she stopped to listen. From what she could her them talking about, even her child brain could tell what they were planning to do, it wasn't like they were speaking in coded language to begin with.

Aria came out of where she had been standing and asked her sisters if they had also fought the Beast Cattle which she and Dustin faced, and if they were planning to catch some of these cattles. From what she could tell, it seemed like her sisters were planning to catch a few of these beast cattles, but for what? 'Food? That'll be delicious.'

The sad news she came to bring them was that Dustin had already completely eradicated the entire beast cattle in the area, and that new beasts had occupied that area. The last time she went out with Dustin, he said something about the monsters in that vicinity of the forest changing.

"He called it shuffling, and said that new beasts had come to offer themselves to him." Aria explained.

The sisters listening simply could not believe what they were hearing. They weren't sure if Aria was the one pulling their legs, or whether what she just said was the truth. Aria had never been a child to pull pranks and tell unnecessary jokes, at least not to their knowledge, so her words were taken more seriously than a normal child's.

Though Raven and Mizu did not show it on their faces and body, in their minds they were thrown completely off rail. It was clear that Dustin was strong, but yet again, they had actually under rated his strength.

To fight a single one of these beasts was a problem on its own, but to completely eradicate the entire beasts in the area to oblivion was just crazy. At this point, they could as well look at him as the beast instead of the animals in the forest. If only they knew that Dustin had also killed an Orc, that would have been the benchmark. They went on to inquire from Aria what type of beasts she and Dustin encountered last while on the other side of the mountain.

Because of this little knowledge they were able to obtain from Aria, they could preserve their lives and make things easier for them as they travelled through the forest. Thankfully, the new beasts populating the area where the beast cattle were supposed to be were ones that the girls could avoid on their way to the dungeon location.

On getting to the location, they had to look little, as the entrance was clear and needed no finding. In a clearing within a circle of trees stood a big door that shimmered with emerald illumination that covered the inner parts of the big door. The place seemed like an entrance of sorts instead of just a plain door, it was clear this was the entrance.

Raven and Mizu both held the hands of each of the other girls, Aria and Kim, then they walked into the emerald light. The reason for holding hands was so that they would all be spawned in the same place and not get separated.

They seemed to have been the first to arrive at the entrance too, as there was no signs of someone being there prior, not like they expected anyone to, that is of course, excluding Dustin, but the fact that there was no single death beast on the way meant that he too had yet to come. The way they pictured Dustin now was as someone who always left a trail of death wherever he passed, and sure enough they weren't completely wrong.

As the light faded away, and they regained their sight, everyone saw that they were now in a cave like environment, and they were sure the second trial had begun for them as the system displayed the information before each of them.

[Second Trial Has Begun]