Chương 91: Dumb Luck

The Fontane brothers decided to leave the dungeon portal area in search of the guardian to complete their dungeon run as quickly as possible. Lucas wanted to go north. Tray wanted to go east. Neither of them had a compass and the sun was hanging straight up in the sky, so Damion was not sure if either of them knew which way they were going. In the end, the two split the difference from their chosen directions and set off. Damion did not have the heart to tell them they were going south and not northeast.

It was not long before the party ran into a Demonic Beast and the brothers were fighting over who would get to battle it. Damion could not help but wonder if it would have been a better idea to split the brothers up for separate dungeon runs. The Demonic Beast was a Scorch Asp. A common F Rank Demonic Beast in this dungeon, but still a dangerous creature if not taken seriously. Lucas sent a fireball at it, which splashed more on the ground than on the snake.

Tray tried to hit it with a stream of fire from his palm, but the Scorch Asp just ignored the mage's attack and slithered in close to attack them. The sight of the two young men jumping around trying to avoid the Demonic Beast slithering at their feet was almost enough to bring Damion to tears. At least until one of the brothers kicked it towards Damion and Mage Blythe. While in the air the Scorch Asp managed to orient itself and was flying straight at Mage Blythe with its mouth open, fangs ready to strike.

In just a half breath of time, Damion drew his sword, cut the snake in half and sheathed his sword before the two halves of the snake even hit the ground. The sequence of events took Mage Blythe a moment to comprehend, but to his credit he remained calm. Mage Hollis and Knight Belcher just gave Damion an appraising look. The Fontane brothers, however, went nuts.

"What did you do that for!" Lucas shouted at Damion when he saw the Scorch Asp cut in half.

"Yeah, we were killing it," Tray joined in on the shouting. Damion just stood there staring at them blankly, not saying a word. Mage Blythe looked like he wanted to join in the shouting, but in defense of Damion. However, the healer held his tongue, either not sure what to say in Damion's defense or afraid of the influence the Fontane family had.

"I'm claiming this Demonic Beast as compensation for you messing up my first kill," Tray said he snatched the pieces of the Scorch Asp off the ground. A moment later, the Scorch Asp pieces vanished. On Tray's finger Damion saw a gold ring which had glowed for a brief moment when the Scorch Asp vanished, and Damion realized this brat had a spatial storage artifact. This told Damion the Fontane family was much more influential than he had thought.

"I want you gone from our run and leave your sword and helmet as compensation for messing up our first kill!" Lucas continued to shout. Damion looked at Lucas as if the young man was speaking a foreign language but said nothing. His task was to protect Mage Blythe. Damion had no doubt that Mage Hollis and Knight Belcher could protect Mage Blythe and the Fontane brothers in this dungeon just fine, which told Damion his presence here in the dungeon was more than just to protect the healer.

Most likely, Damion was supposed to be shown as what an experienced young adventurer should be. With that thought in mind, Damion kept himself composed and ignored the threats and insults the brothers continued to throw at him. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Thievery is not befitting a Fontane," Mage Hollis said, causing both of the brothers to shut up.

"Knight Wells has done nothing but protect Mage Blythe, as is his assignment. Yet you steal his kill and order him to give up his weapon and armor. If not for his professionalism, he would be within his rights to kill you both right now. Most other adventurers would do exactly that."

"As if he could kill us while you are here protecting us," Lucas spat.

"And how long do you think he would live if he left this dungeon without either of us?" Tray threw out.

"Despite myself and Knight Belcher being here, I have no doubt that if Knight Wells wanted to kill you he could. And as for him living long after leaving this dungeon without you, I don't think he has to worry. His teacher is rather protective of him, and she is a match for your father."

"Our father is an A Rank Fire mage. There is no way some knight is a match for him."

"His teacher is an A Rank Water mage. And one that is much closer to reaching S Rank than your father." Mage Hollis told the brothers with a smile. The brothers wanted to protest but were silenced by Mage Hollis raising his hand.

"You are wasting energy. Continue your dungeon run and remember, Knight Belcher and I are appraising your performance for your father." The brothers angrily turned away from Damion and started out across the dry ground of the desert again. As the group traveled Damion noticed that Mage Blythe, who had been taking regular gulps from his canteen, had stopped drinking from it and the healer was beginning to look a bit exhausted.

"Here," Damion said offering the tube to drink from his canteen to Mage Blythe.

"Fill your canteen. There isn't enough water vapor in the air for your canteen to replenish itself."

"What about yours, won't you run out?" Mage Blythe asked before taking a small sip.

"Mine is different. So long as I don't empty it, I should never run out," Damion told him. The healer did not need to be told twice and immediately took another bigger sip of water and then stuck the tube end in his canteen and squeezed it to fill his canteen.

"Thank you," Mage Blythe said as screwed the cap back on his canteen.

"I'll let you know when I need more." Lucas and Tray had glanced back at Damion and Mage Blythe a few times during their exchange. But neither of the young fire mages said anything. Damion noticed that the two did not seem as bothered by the heat as Mage Blythe and Damion guessed it had something to do with them being fire mages. A natural increase in heat resistance? Or perhaps they were just too stubborn to admit they were thirsty. Whatever was the case, Damion did not care.

When the group finally reached the sand dunes, which were much larger and further away than they had appeared from the portal, they started climbing up. Lucas and Tray went first, and Damion let them get a few meters up the dune before he and Mage Blythe started behind them. After climbing for a few minutes, they managed to reach the top of the dune, which Damion estimated was about five meters high. From this height, Damion looked around and saw in the distance several oases.

Damion knew most of the oases he could see were fake. Decoys created by the dungeon's Demonic Beast champions. With one oasis being real and protected by the Dungeon guardian making it the home of the dungeon core and their way out. The reports Damion had read said the only way to tell which one was real was that the true oasis had a reddish tint to it and was due south of the portal.

By sheer dumb luck the Fontane brothers had headed in the right direction, but they had not managed to travel in a straight line and Damion was unsure which of the several oases he could see was the right one since to him they each had a reddish tint.