TWO DAYS LATER!
Albedo and Gwen stood at the grand gates of Sorenka Academy, the morning light bathing the school in a golden glow.
The hustle of students, teachers, and cars swirled around them, yet in that moment, it felt like time had paused.
"You'll be careful, right?" Gwen asked, her arms folded tightly across her chest, lips pursed in a line of stubborn worry, "You just awakened two days ago, and now you're already going into a Dungeon?"
Albedo offered her a small smile, brushing a strand of silver hair behind her ear, "It's just a Bronze Dungeon, Gwen. Barely more than a glorified cave. I won't be in danger. It's just training."
"You say that, but…" she hesitated, her eyes narrowing, "I saw the way your eyes changed. You're not just trying to train. You're testing something dangerous, aren't you?"
Albedo's smirk didn't fade, but the mirth in his eyes softened. She always could read him too well.
"I need to know what I'm capable of now," he said simply, "I can't waste time being cautious. Every day I delay is another day I'm weaker than the people who ruined everything."
That silenced her. A gust of wind blew between them, stirring the leaves of the trees lining the path. Gwen's shoulders slowly slumped, and she looked away.
"Just… come back in one piece," she said quietly.
"Of course, " He said.
She gave him a reluctant smile and turned to walk through the gates, her uniform swaying with each step. Before she disappeared into the crowd, she threw a final glance over her shoulder.
"Don't come back glowing with fire unless you're ready to explain it to the neighbors."
Albedo laughed, genuinely. "No promises."
Then, she was gone.
He turned on his heel and headed straight to the Mana Train Station.
The ride out of the city took nearly two hours.
Albedo sat alone in a private booth, the mana glass window showing the Capital slowly shrinking behind him. The city faded from stone to forest, steel to tree, until the train was gliding through the outer territories of the Human Empire — wild, ungoverned, and rich with untamed mana.
He pulled up his system again.
[ Name: Albedo Neverwinter ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Mana Rank: Mid Bronze ]
[ Mana Technique: Crimson Moon Primordial Technique ]
[ Gift: Echo of Death ]
[ Mana Physique: Crimson Moon Primordial Physique ]
[ Inventory: Nothing ]
Since awakening, his power had surged far beyond what anyone only awakened for 2 days should be capable of.
It was due to the massive influx of power coming from awakening his physique, the flames and the technique. He had constantly meditated and had spent the last 2 days honing his mana control, improving himself to prepare for today.
He rolled his shoulder and exhaled. "Let's see if it was worth it."
The train stopped at a remote station. There were no attendants, only a rusted sign half-buried in vines reading: "Station 9 – Forest Edge."
"That's the stop." He muttered, and quickly got off the train, being greeted by the scent of old bark, fresh soil, and mana-saturated air.
The forest loomed ahead, dark and ancient, a place few ever dared to enter without preparation. Which made it the perfect place for a dungeon gate.
The Bronze-tier Dungeon was well hidden, tucked away between two ancient trees twisted by mana mutation.
Albedo knew it would be found soon by a guild, so he wasn't exactly effecting the plot much.
Albedo reached the clearing after nearly thirty minutes of light jogging through the woods.
There it stood, pulsing ominously, a swirling vortex of bronze light held in place by ancient runes. Static energy filled the air.
"Scan," he whispered.
[ DING! Dungeon Identified: Bronze-Tier, Type: Beast Den. Estimated Completion Difficulty: Low-Mid Bronze. Estimated Enemies: Feral-Type Monsters. Alpha Specimen: Ironhide Direwolf. ]
"Perfect." Albedo stepped through and the world twisted.
His senses buckled, his ears heard whispers in languages long dead, his skin felt both molten and frozen, and his vision was drenched in colors no human tongue could name.
There was no up or down, no forward or back. He felt himself being pulled in every direction for a couple seconds.
Finally, everything stopped and Albedo opened his eyes to the damp, mossy stillness of the Dungeon's interior.
"Jesus, the author really didn't undersell, that felt like shit." Albedo muttered, coughing as he slowly adapted, his dizziness going away.
Looking around, he seemed to be in a mossy canyon surrounded by thick jungle foliage.
He took a breath, adjusting. The technique inside his body instantly kicked into gear, suppressing the ambient pressure around him. A faint crimson shimmer danced across his irises.
"AWOOO!"
Before he could even take a step, the first wave of enemies came lunging at him. Three wolf-like creatures, misshapen by mana corruption, burst from the underbrush.
They lunged at him from multiple directions, hoping to pick him apart and use him as their morning meal.
However, Albedo wasn't going down that easy.
~BOOM!~
With barely a flick of his wrist, a explosion of Crimson Flames erupted, curling around his hand. It pulsed for a second before he threw it to the ground, causing it to erupt all around him.
The first wolf dissolved mid-pounce, reduced to ashes before it even hit the ground.
"AWOO!" The second wolf howled out in pain as the flame completely incinerated it's hind leg, leaving it collapsed on the ground when Albedo's foot crushed its windpipe.
The third, sensing the power of the flames, tried to run away, but Albedo would not allow that.
~SNAP!~
He had grabbed it by the neck and crushed his arm, crushing the wolf's neck and leaving blood spewing anywhere, the environment returning to silence.
[ DING! Host has Killed his First Monster! Host is Rewarded with Ethereal Silk Armor! ]
[ Ethereal Silk Armor:Armor that can transfigure into various forms, such as regular clothing. Armor is bound to the host and improves its defensive capabilities the stronger host becomes. ]
Albedo immediately felt a connection with a mysterious bundle of silk that appeared in his arms, he thought for a while and placed it on his skin, and the silk immediately wrapped around him, turning into a black suit with a red shirt.
Albedo quickly went to a nearby lake and looked at his personal reflection.
"Hmm, looking handsome, this suits me well, elegant and powerful." Albedo said with a smirk before continuing through the jungle.
Pushing deeper, every hour was filled with more enemies. From spiders, wolves, lizards and serpents, he fought through them all.
At the start, he had some hiccups, especially at large groups, but as he grew more proficient in the control at his powers during combat, the fights became easier, until he was steamrolling through the monsters.
This was after all a Bronze Dungeon, it wasn't supposed to be that difficult.
Two hours in, and Albedo was battling with the guards of the final boss, a swarm of monsters from all of the different tribes in the dungeon.
He pulled flames from the lit candles and enhanced them, shooting them off into the crowd and burning some of the monsters to ash.
~BOOM!~
Albedo quickly dodged back, avoiding a spider cocoon that would've left him trapped, then he unleashed a wave of flame from his eyes, similar to Superman's Heat Vision
"ROAR~AWOOO~ARGHHH!" The various monsters screeched in pain as their bodies were pierced with the concentrated wave of calamitous flames, leaving most of them dead.
~BANG~BANG!~
As if noticing his underlings being slaughtered, the final boss finally came forward.
The Ironhide Direwolf.
It stood three times his size, its body plated with iron-like fur, eyes glowing red with corrupted mana. It roared, the sound shattering stone.
The Direwolf lunged towards his, its massive jaw open as it tried to chomp down on him.
Still, Albedo didn't dodge, watching the wolf's fangs snapping forward. He instead slipped under the jaw of the monster, and pressed his hand against it's throat.
"Burn."
A spark. A whisper. Then everything was fire.
The Crimson Flames roared into existence, crawling up the beast's neck, burrowing into its flesh and soul. The wolf howled, thrashed, tried to shake the fire loose.
But there was no escape. These flames did not burn the body, they devoured the concept of the body.
Within seconds, it, and all of the other monsters, turned to ash, leaving the dungeon cleared.
Within moments, a swirling exit portal appeared for Albedo to leave.
However, Albedo was too focused on the system message in front of him.
[ DING! Host has defeated his First Gate! Host is Rewarded with Soul Weapon Choice! ]