Rise of Legends - DISCONTINUED

Widow's Crypt I

Arthur POV:

"Arthur, Alistair!" Stepping out of the carriage, I spotted Curtis waving at Al and I, his smile wide and genuine.

"How was your trip back home? Did you both get to catch up with your family?" Claire patted me on the back when I reached the group of students waiting at the front gate.

"Good, you made it!" Professor Glory gave me a smile too as she began her headcount. Looking around, besides Curtis and Claire, I saw Gary, Lancelot, Rachel, Kathyln, Clive, and a few other students that I never really paid attention to. I did one more quick check but didn't see Tess, and by the frantic look on his face, neither did Alistair.

"Sorry I'm late!" Once Tess ran through the front gate, she caught her breath, her face flushed and hair messy.

"You're the last one, Princess Tessia. We can start heading out now." Professor Glory took note of everyone's presence once more and nodded in satisfaction before turning around and leading the class of fifteen students to the teleportation gate.

(A/N: I cut out some no-name students to make up for the main characters, so there are still only fifteen students.)

Tess caught up to us and greeted Alistair, "H-hi."

Alistair turned towards and replied shyly, "I-It's good to see you, Tess."

I distanced myself from the two lovebirds with a smile and walked next to Claire and Curtis. Claire looked over my shoulder and whispered, "Since when did the two of them become a thing?"

"A few days ago," I replied before changing the subject.

The guard stationed at the gate adjusted the settings as he asked our professor a few questions. After several minutes, Professor Glory signaled for us to enter through the gate one by one, stepping in herself after all of us. Again, my stomach turned from the feeling of traveling through, but luckily, the trip never lasted more than a few seconds.

"Welcome! I assume for most of you, this is the first time you guys have stepped foot in the Beast Glades, correct?" Professor Glory chimed while placing her hands on her hips.

"Right now, we're near the edge of the Grand Mountains. If we walk a few hours this way, we'll arrive at a famous pub of gathering called Dragonspine Inn. Back when I was an adventurer, that was the place to chat and get information on various mana beasts and dungeons. We'll be going to a rather low-level dungeon so don't worry too much. I will also be with you at all times but I'll refrain from helping unless it is absolutely necessary so don't look to me for answers." Professor Glory waved her right hand and from her dimension ring appeared a small pile of black cloth.

"These are shawls that you guys will need to wear inside the dungeon. The dungeon we're exploring is called Widow's Crypt. It's a fairly straightforward dungeon without any traps or mazes so don't worry about getting lost. It is, however, very cold in there, which is why you need these shawls. The mana beasts you'll mostly be facing are nasty little creatures called snarlers. There are two types of snarlers in this dungeon that you'll need to be wary of: the minion snarlers and the queen snarler. The minion snarlers are the ones you guys will be facing. Their queen burrows to the bottom floor of the dungeon so you won't see it, but just know the difference. You'll see what the minions look like once we go inside, but for now, we're going to split you up into three teams of five." As Professor Glory finished informing us, she pulled out a small piece of paper from the inside of the shawl she was wearing.

"I've already decided on how teams will be split so take a step forward as I call you. Curtis, Claire, Gary, Kathyln, and Alistair; you guys will make up the first team." Our professor motioned for them to pick up their shawls and step to the side. She then called the next five students, which left me with a bitter feeling.

"That leaves us with Arthur, Lancelot, Clive, Tessia and Rachel." she said as she pointed at the pile of shawls left.

'Alistair looks down,' I thought while looking at him, 'Did he want to be with Tess?'

"Any questions? No? Okay, then it's settled. It shouldn't take us more than two hours to reach the dungeon entrance so let's hurry." With that, we took off, taking long strides amidst the thick trees covering most of the sunlight.

We all traveled in silence, some of the students scared that they might attract unwanted attention from the mana beats that might be nearby. Soon, the trees cleared up as we began descending down a slope.

"We're almost here. There'll be a place to stay on standby next to the dungeon so don't go inside." With that, our professor stepped to the back, doing a headcount again while each of us carefully slid down the steep slope leading to the dungeon entrance.

"Before we go in, are you sure you want to bring your bond inside the dungeon, Arthur?" Professor Glory shot me a concerned look.

'What do you say? Do you want to go hunting since we're at the Beast Glades anyway?' I mentally transmitted to Sylvie.

'Sure!' With that, my bond hopped off of my head and disappeared into the woods for the wrong reason that everybody else was thinking right now.

"Good choice, it'll probably be safer if she stays out here and lays low." Professor Glory gave me a nod before climbing up onto a rock so she could see everyone.

"Now. Split off into your groups and get to know each other. You guys have probably seen what everyone in your group is like from class but share your strengths and weaknesses. Communication and trust is vital in team-fighting. You'll also have to decide on a leader before we go inside." 

As our professor took a seat on the rock, our group came together and sat in a circle. Lancelot began to speak first, "Let's introduce ourselves, though I believe there's not much need."

(A/N: I don't want to repeat the introductions yet again so I'll skip them.)

"I elect myself to be the leader." Lancelot spoke.

Tess nodded in agreement, "You are the vice-president of the Student Council and the strongest, so I agree."

"I also think that Lancelot should be the leader." I said as I raised my hand up.

"All right, since it seems like everyone is done, let's head in. Brace yourselves once we get inside, it's going to be chilly!" Professor Glory announced before stepping inside the entrance, which appeared to be a narrow stairway leading into darkness.

In a single file line, we all started making our way down the stairs and I could swear that the temperature dropped noticeably with every step we took.

Even without augmenting myself, the frigid temperatures in the dungeon was bearable due to my assimilated body, but as the dungeon got brighter, that soon changed. A gust of piercing cold air blew through the opening at the end of the tunnel, forcing me to shield myself with the shawl. As my eyes adjusted to the change in lighting, I couldn't help but become excited, seeing the first floor of the Widow's Crypt.

The cavern stretched out for hundreds of yards, making me wonder how it even supported itself. The stone that made up the large cavern sparkled with a dim blue light as a thin layer of ice covered the floor and even formed icicles on the ceiling. Looking closely, I could see the nearly transparent layer of moss that covered the cavern walls and ceiling, enveloping this floor in a serene light.

"That's odd, usually, we'd see a fair amount of snarlers already. Why don't I—"

All of a sudden, hideous noises began echoing all around us. Peeking out from behind the numerous boulders and from small caverns spotted around the walls of the cave were an uncountable amount of beady red eyes.

(A/N: I'll be changing the Widow's Crypt quite a bit from the canon cause our cast is way too overpowered for a mutated Queen Snarler. My uploads will slow down as I said before cause my school is starting now, but I'll try for daily uploads or at least 3-4 chapters per week. Thus, expect this mini arc to be over by the end of this week at maximum.)