Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger!

Chapter 397 The True Liability

Standing in front of what seemed to be an azure-colored barrier made of mana, the seven youngsters subtly gulped.

"I shall enter first." Luna valiantly said, bravely entering the dungeon soon after.

Since the barrier was somewhat transparent, all of them, including Shye, expected to see her on the other side.

However, shockingly, she completely disappeared as though she was devoured by the azure wall blocking the dungeon's entrance, and was transported to a different world instead.

Witnessing such a mystical yet slightly eerie scene, the other five hesitated.

'Hmmph. Cowards.' Shye inwardly snorted, decisively following Luna inside the next moment.

As he walked through the azure mana wall, Shye was greeted by the dungeon's wide pathways, high rocky ceilings, and walls that seemed to be made of blue corals.

Beneath his foot were grains of white sand—as fine as they could be.

Surprisingly though, the dungeon's interior was remarkably bright, and in a very pleasant way at that, giving him the sensation of being on a beach vacation instead of being on an important mission that would affect several cities, towns, and villages.

'Oh? This isn't so bad…'

In front of him, Shye saw Luna already looking around, seemingly gathering as much intel as she could while waiting for the others to enter.

Fortunately, the others weren't as much of a wuss as he thought, promptly emerging behind him after a few more seconds.

"Oh? What a nice vibe. I kinda like it here."

"Yeah, feels like we're on a tropical vacation, no?"

While the others were admiring the dungeon's interior, Shye turned his head and looked at the exit. An idea then entered his mind, prompting him to walk through the azure mana wall again.

"Hey, rookie! Where do you think you're going?" rudely inquired Ulfreign, the party's scout.

Shye didn't hear the scout's question though as he was already outside the dungeon.

'Hoh... so adventurers can enter and exit at will as long as they meet the criteria... Is it the same for all dungeons, though? There could be exceptions, so I'll need to test it out each time in the future…'

Confirming that the dungeon was "relatively safe", Shye returned inside.

Naturally, since he didn't hear Ulfreign's question, the man stared daggers at him, utterly displeased that he was ignored.

As usual, though, Shye gave zero f*cks about what the man was feeling.

Realizing that the situation might escalate if she didn't step in, Luna spoke: "Since everyone's here, let's proceed."

Then, without giving anyone a chance to escalate the situation, she started walking deeper into the dungeon, prompting Shye, and the five rookies with displeased hearts, to follow her.

After around fifteen minutes of walking, despite not encountering any hostile creatures or other groups of adventurers, they arrived at a vast expanse of water that appeared traversable through the little stone steps connecting small islands scattered across the miniature sea.

How deep was the water? None of them knew.

None of them wanted to know.

Momentarily stopping, to assess the situation, Luna determined that there was no other way to go than forward.

"We shall cross."

Hearing Luna's words, the party members, except for Shye, inwardly grimaced. They didn't want to cross the darned body of water as there were surely lots of creatures beneath.

Furthermore, their only means of progressing to the next small island was via a few small stone steps.

It was simply way too dangerous.

Well, they weren't veterans for nothing. Although they didn't have Shye's unique-tier skill, mana pulse, to confirm the presence of creatures beneath the surface, their guesses proved to be correct.

There were hundreds of fish-like creatures with caudal fins that seemed to have evolved, allowing the aquatic creatures to use them as legs when on land.

Meanwhile, their pectoral fins were as long as a human's arm and were holding sharpened shells as blades.

Frowning upon detecting the presence of the creatures beneath, Shye watched Luna as she courageously took her first step on the miraculously floating stones.

Honestly, Shye felt nothing but respect for her. She was the very definition of an excellent party leader—always leading by example.

Unfortunately, the other five didn't appreciate her headstrong ways as they were evidently not as courageous as her, prompting Shye to sneer in disdain.

"Hey, aren't you a "veteran" scout? Why don't you check if there are hostile creatures beneath the water?" Shye bluntly said, dissatisfied with the performance of this so-called veteran scout from Hong Yun Adventurer Guild.

"What did you say?! You dare tell me what to do? You damned liability!"

"Heh, instead of doing your job, you're shaking like a coward. Pathetic."

After a sharp retort, Shye followed Luna's lead and hopped onto a stone step. There were hundreds of fish-like creatures with blades, and it might be hard for Luna to defend herself alone from such a large number of enemies.

Hence, he swiftly placed himself in a position where he could help her.

Observing Shye's resolute actions, the remaining five members of the party felt compelled to follow and jump onto the stone steps, lest they be perceived as the cowardly individuals they truly were.

'Heh, you guys will only act when pressured by a rookie? Wusses!' Shye inwardly thought while continuing to monitor the actions of the hostile fishes using his mana pulses.

Surprisingly, the aquatic creatures didn't jump on them as soon as all seven were on the stone steps.

Shye didn't like the current situation though, believing that the darned creatures were waiting for a more opportune time to attack.

He guessed that the bastards would probably attack once they were in the middle of the stone steps, where it would be hard for them to defend themselves.

'Tch, this damned useless scout.' Shye inwardly cursed.

There was still no warning of the creatures' existence from Ulfreign. Fortunately, Luna felt something and asked.

"Ulfreign, can you check if there are creatures beneath?"

"I-I'm trying but my skill won't go through…"

"I see…that's fine. Everyone, prepare yourselves for a potential battle!"

As though on cue, promptly after Luna finished warning the party, the first aquatic creature leaped out of the water, slashing its shell blade toward her.

'Appraisal.'