The Third Prince Of Darkness

Chapter 172: Dungeon

One Week Later -

During the past week, I mostly focused on practicing to become stronger, but I also did many other things. First of all, I spent some time with my newly acquainted son and Ganea. It seems that Ganea still hadn't given the child a name, and he asked me to name him. After thinking for a bit, I gave him the name "Arthur," which was my original name from my previous life. Yes, it was also the fake name I used back then, but I had created my fake name using my original name from my past life.

Since I had no other choice but to send Ganea and my son to Isabella, I saw them off yesterday. I also wanted to write another letter to Isabella, but of course, it was encrypted, just in case. Isabella's sacrifices and help were really important to me. If it hadn't been for Isabella, it would have been difficult to find a safe harbor to leave my children. In any case, I wrote my deep thanks to her repeatedly in the letter.

Additionally, I wrote letters to Avanne and my mother, Luciana. For some reason, I felt a strong motivation to write letters lately. Maybe I was tense because of the dungeon hunt we would be going on tomorrow. A voice inside me told me that the dungeon would be much more challenging than I thought, but I still believed I would get through it with my rewards.

In the meantime, I spent time with Roxanne, Ellera, Kayle, Evangeline, Catherine and Limahlat whenever I could. By the way, Violet was still keeping her distance from me, but for now, it seemed like she had given up on that ridiculous marriage thing... I hope.

Anyway, I had to wake up early tomorrow and join the dungeon hunt. So, I stretched my tired body and walked to the bed. Since I had both intense training that pushed my limits and had been with Roxanne and Ellera multiple times during the day, I felt a bit tired, but when I lay down, the exhaustion helped me sleep deeply.

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The Next Day -

When the first rays of the morning sun filtered into my room, I opened my eyes. Although my body still carried the fatigue from the previous day, my mind was quite clear. Today, I would be going on the dungeon hunt I had been waiting for. I quickly went outside, and we had breakfast at a small restaurant with Roxanne, and Ellera. After that, I headed towards the main teleportation portal. Kayle had used her annual leave last night to leave the academy but the rest of the women were waiting for me there, but since there was little time, I went to say a quick goodbye to them.

That morning, as I was preparing for the dungeon hunt, the farewell was brief but meaningful. Violet, as usual, kept her distance, while Catherine smiled gently and wished me good luck. Evangeline gave me a healing potion and said, "Use this if you're in real trouble," she added. I didn't have time to take anything from the others; time was passing quickly.

The professors were ready and waiting for me. So, I waved my hand at them one last time and walked towards the teleportation portal. I would be the only student joining the dungeon hunt. There were many dungeons in this world, and these dungeons usually contained rewards. These dungeons existed mainly due to high Mana waves. And every year, at least one high-class dungeon would appear. The Dragon Academy was clearing out these dungeons to prevent them from harming the public.

Of course, these dungeons were incredibly dangerous, so only the professors at the academy were assigned this task, but sometimes, the winner of a tournament would be given the chance to join a dungeon hunt. However, this year, two different strong Mana waves had emerged in an unusual manner. A powerful Mana wave signal had already been received months ago, but only a few weeks ago, another one appeared. This was a rare occurrence, but still there was no panic at the academy, and, on the contrary, the professors seemed quite happy.

This was why two different groups were formed at the academy. The first group would go to the dungeon identified months ago, while our group would head to the one that had emerged a few weeks before. The first group had already passed through the teleportation portal, and now it was our turn.

A massive demon, who was a close combat professor, approached me. This demon was a rare member of the demon race at the academy. After all, demons usually didn't like working for the academy, or rather, for dragons.

"I'll take responsibility for you," the huge demon professor said in a deep, echoing voice. He crossed his four arms over his chest and looked down at me. His eyes studied me, both challengingly and curiously.

"My name is Vash'tor. If you want to survive on this journey, you'll follow my instructions to the letter. I don't expect any foolish heroics from you, human."

I nodded slightly. "I'll do my best," I said. Working with a professor like him was both an honor and a little relaxing

The other professors behind us were organising the rest of the supplies we would need.

"Now go and put on the armor that has been prepared for you," Vash'tor said, gesturing toward a place.

I walked toward the spot Vash'tor pointed at. In a small stone room, the armors and weapons were neatly arranged. When I saw my armor, I momentarily gasped. This must have been specially prepared for me; it had dragon motifs and gold embellishments. It seemed to be made of a lightweight but durable material. Each piece of armor appeared to be designed to fit my body perfectly. This was probably a gift from Dragon Princess Valthera

"Come on, don't waste time," Vash'tor grumbled.

I began putting on the armor. At first, it felt a bit unusual, but I soon realized it was adjusting perfectly to my body with each movement. When I placed the last piece, the chest armor, I felt a surge of energy. This armor was no ordinary piece; it contained magical powers.

"The armor was made by the best craftsmen of the Dragon Academy," Vash'tor said from behind me. "It will give you extra durability and speed. But remember, the armor will not protect you completely. If you're careless, you'll die."

I nodded in acknowledgment and joined Vash'tor and the others.

"I hope you won't bring your reckless behavior, like being late, into the dungeon," Vash'tor said in a harsh voice. The other professors watched me with quiet but careful looks.

The next professor was an elf woman I had encountered once during my magical theory lessons. She carried an elegant but deadly aura. She was one of the nine magical theory professors at the academy, and I had heard she was quite skilled. Her long red hair cascaded over her armor, which was adorned with fine embroidery. I remembered her name was Liriel.

"Vash'tor is right," she said in a melodic, but serious tone. "This dungeon is not just a simple hunt or adventure. We don't know what we'll face inside, but given the intensity of the magical waves, we should assume that it is filled with deadly traps or creature."

"Enough with the warnings. Let's get started," interrupted another professor. The voice belonged to a short but muscular hyena-man. He was covered in intricate tattoos and carried a massive axe on his back. "My name is Gorun, and I don't want to stand here chatting; I'd rather go into that teleportation portal and slay some creatures."

This mixed yet impressive group was truly made up of the academy's strongest members. With a small sigh, I indicated that I was ready. Vash'tor stepped to the front of the group and gestured with his hand.

"Time to teleport. Move in single file, and be careful," he said.

One by one, we stepped into the portal. Blue light surrounded us, and then the world suddenly changed. Enjoy new stories from mvl

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When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dark cave.

The cold, damp air of the cave was immediately noticeable. Sharp stalactites hung threateningly from above in the darkness. The stone floor beneath our feet was uneven, with some areas covered in moss. A faint hum came from the depths of the cave.

Vash'tor, with his four arms, signaled for the group to gather. "First of all, keep your eyes and ears open. This is not your home; this cave could be our death," his deep voice echoed in the cave.

Liriel raised her hands and muttered a few words. A weak light orb appeared from her fingertips, illuminating our surroundings. "There is definitely a magical source deep in the cave," she said. "But there's a strong magical disturbance… No, this is something else… these could be the strongest Mana waves I've ever seen…- And now, the Mana waves have suddenly stopped…....- I don't understand. There's now very little Mana in the air. I don't know what's going to happen, but there's definitely something down there, and that means something could be waiting for us at any moment."

Gorun pulled his axe from his back and let out a hearty laugh. "A few creatures will be a nice warm-up for me," he said, grinning widely.

I adjusted the straps of my armor tightly with my hands. I could feel the slight sense of security the armor gave me, but deep down, I had a feeling that things would not go smoothly in this cave.

"First, we'll follow this path," Vash'tor said, pointing with his massive hand at a narrow passage ahead of us. "Keep your formation. Liriel and I will lead the way. Gorun will guard the rear. You—" he turned to me, wagging his finger, "stay in the middle and don't even think about rushing ahead."

As he said this, his expression seemed to reinforce the warning. "Understood," I replied.

____

I finally figured out how to properly integrate Luciana into the MC's harem. After all, writing such a relationship, or at least writing it realistically, is going to be difficult but if even 70% of the scenario in my mind comes to life, it will probably be great. However, Luciana's arc will require a bit of waiting