The soft crunch of footsteps echoed across the ground. A large group of students marched back to their transports. Their shoulders were slumped, their breathing ragged, and their clothes soaked in sweat. Groans and complaints resounded as the teenagers whined about the experience.
"It's so damn hot! There isn't even any air conditioning! This field trip sucks!"
"I know, right? We didn't even see any monsters, just drones! BOOORING!"
"What can you expect? This dungeon has been closed for over twenty years."
The figure leading the group suddenly halted. She glared at the students as she placed her hands on her hips. A flag fluttered from her back, marking her as Crestfall Academy's Class 1 accompanying teacher.
"Students! Please keep such comments to yourselves! While it may be lackluster now, this place was one of the first dungeons to have ever opened!" Ms. Potts glared at her group, silencing them with her intensity.
"The future is built on the backs of the present! As the next generation, you all must be familiar with dungeons even if you do not wish to become Breakers! Why, I remember back when I was a student, we didn't even have dungeons. Then they simply appeared!"
As Ms. Potts began to recount excerpts from her life fervently, the students once again groaned to each other. At the back, a pair of students chuckled at the sudden lecture. One of them fiddled with his glasses as he joked to the other.
"Haha, they should have just kept their mouths shut. Once Ms. Potts starts reminiscing, she never shuts up. Right, Elian?"
"Don't be like that, Ned. It is an interesting story. Could you imagine how hard it would be to fight the monsters without Talents? We should appreciate the first generation. They were the ones to discover Talents," Elian countered.
Just then a voice aggressively interjected, "Ha! Figured the defect would be interested in the first generation! Back then you would have been considered normal!"
Ned grimaced as he looked at the rude person who joined the conversation. "Shut up, Trevor, no one asked you!"
"Beat it, nerd, before I bash your face in. My Talent, Heavy, was made to put weaklings like you in your place."
Trevor had a large build and olive skin. He slammed his foot down, causing the ground within a few meters to crack. Blue light pulsed beneath his skin as Trevor activated Heavy.
Figuring it might escalate further, Elian quickly moved between Ned and Trevor.
"What do you want, Trevor?" Elian asked the much larger student.
Trevor smiled and suddenly placed his arm around Elian. "I need a porter. The guys and I plan to go back to the dungeon. You're so poor you skip lunch, right? I'll pay you."
"This pompous bastard!"
As Ned was about to continue, Elian raised his hand to stop him.
"That is enough, Ned." He then faced Trevor and continued, "I will take the job. Thank you for hiring me."
"Good, good. This is why I like you, Elian. Because you are a Defect with no Talent, you understand how the world works."
Trevor then flashed a menacing smile as he rubbed his chin.
"Still, can't have a nobody disrespect me, now can I?"
"Wha—"
Before Ned could finish, someone dashed forward and suddenly buried a fist into his stomach. Ned crumpled and began to gasp on the spot. It was one of the three guys behind Trevor.
Trevor nodded approvingly as he walked up to Ned and grabbed him by his shirt. Effortlessly, he raised Ned as he snarled.
"Wake up, loser. The world now revolves around Talents. Heavy is Rank B. That alone makes me the most important student in this entire dump. I can beat you up and the teachers wouldn't even bat an eye!"
He tossed Ned like trash before looking around.
Both students and teachers who saw his act turned away. Avoiding eye contact, it was as if Ned's plight didn't concern them. His point proven, Trevor flashed a smug, disgusting smile.
"See?"
However, Ned continued to silently glare at him. Defiant. Annoyed, Trevor raised his foot, eager to stomp on Ned. But Elian quickly placed himself between them and blocked the foot.
"You want to die, Defect? Are you opposing me?"
"It's not that. If you want to maximize the time for your adventure, we need to leave now," Elian explained.
Trevor thought for a moment before nodding.
"Hmm, guess you're right. We'll continue this after I get back, nerd. Right, let's go find some girls to bring. Oh! There's Stacy! Come on, let's invite her."
With that, the jocks drifted off to find girls. As they left, Elian's body trembled, not from fear, but from rage. However, no matter how much spirit he had, he couldn't win against the bully and his goons. Thus, he could only grit his teeth and accept the injustice.
Elian tried to help his friend, only for Ned to wave him off as he struggled to get up alone.
"It's fine, Elian, thank you. If you didn't placate him, I might have ended up in the hospital. I'm sorry," he said in low spirits.
"I cope by imagining bashing Trevor with a mallet. He must have died thousands of times in my dreams," Elian joked with a smile.
"Hahaha, I can relate to that. Probably my favorite pastime."
Seeing his friend more or less settled, Elian smiled wryly. To those on the bottom, only dreams and imagination could dull the pain of living.
Ned wiped his mouth and brushed off his pants as he stood up. He looked at the dungeon and murmured in frustration, "It's unfair. Why does such a stupid moron get a Rank B Talent while the rest of us don't?"
This was probably a question millions across the world asked every day. Such was the new nature of the world. Talents defined everything.
"I should get going, Ned. Otherwise Trevor might make a fuss."
"Yeah, you should. Take care, Elian. And thanks," Ned replied with a sigh.
Elian nodded and quickly jogged toward Trevor's group. His hand instinctively moved to rub the coin in his pocket—a Crown, covered in nicks and knife marks. It was a habit he'd picked up in childhood.
The jocks had somehow convinced a couple of cheerleaders to join them. Together with Elian, the group sneakily separated from the rest of the students.
Trevor led his party of six back into the dungeon. The dungeon entrances were passages that snaked underground toward a larger cavern. They were dark, dry, and lacked even insects to serve as background music.
The group entered.
Apart from the main area, their "dungeon" was similar to the entrance. Silent, ominous, and devoid of life. Only the sounds the group made echoed along the structure. Its long intervals drove home the point of just how large the dungeon's insides were.
With sure steps, Trevor led them to a different place—a small entrance to the side. Security tape crisscrossed the opening, saying "Danger: Do Not Cross." Two rotating discs floated beside the entrance, but neither reacted to the students passing them.
"See? I checked it earlier. The defense drones are recharging. We can pass."
Trevor ripped apart the tape and brought his group deeper. At first they tried to soldier through, but in the darkness of the entrance, one of the jocks could no longer endure it and quickly turned on the light on his phone.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they could now see each other.
"Are you sure about this, Trevor? I'm getting scared. Since there were defense drones, isn't this kinda dangerous?" asked one of the girls.
"Don't worry about it, babe, I'll protect you. You remember what my Talent is, right?"
At Trevor's cheesy line, the girl blushed. "Oh! Hehe, is that so?"
Elian rolled his eyes at the cringeworthy antics of the guys. Such exchanges had begun the moment they descended.
It's cold.
Elian's body began to shiver. His breath appeared as white smoke. Somehow, as they descended, the temperature began to plummet. And he wasn't the only one who noticed.
"Brr… isn't it like, suddenly really chilly?" a girl remarked as she rubbed her arms.
"Here, babe, wear my jacket. It'll keep you toasty."
The passage, which had been acrid earlier, began to feel cool. Alarm bells began to resound in Elian's mind. He suddenly remembered one of Ms. Potts' lectures.
"Remember everyone, conquered dungeons have one defining characteristic. They are dry, and devoid of any humidity, vegetation, or moisture. They are like the desert without the sand. If you feel anything remotely different, run away!"
"Trevor, I think we should—"
"Can it, Defect! No one gives a crap about your opinion," Trevor scolded before Elian could even finish.
When the group finally exited, they emerged into a vast network of tunnels too complex to be natural. Littered along the passages were small vegetation and mushrooms that glowed faintly.
"Wow! So pretty!" praised one of the girls.
We are no longer in the conquered dungeon… are we?
When Elian frantically tried to turn back, he froze. The passage they had exited seconds ago was gone. Not collapsed. Not hidden. Just—gone.
A glowing portal now pulsed where the passage had been.
It was then that the group finally heard them.
KEKEKEKEKEEKE.
A sound that would send shivers down anyone's spine. A disgusting tune, like the chattering of insects laughing at Elian's mistake.
"Where the hell are we?" Elian asked as he began to tremble.