Chapter 20: Into Dungeon X

Chapter Twenty

The night came and went with Orion making better progress in learning how to combine his new skill, Dash, in perfect synchronization with his own skills and techniques.

Soon, he was able to make some improvements. They were little improvements, nothing that could be considered a major boost, but Orion celebrated every small victory.

No matter how little the progress was... Progress was still progress. And every bit of it deserved to be acknowledged.

The next day came. After taking care of the young ones alongside Racheal and Elias, and, of course, being fed his breakfast by the kids, especially Lily, Orion finally left for the Basic Green Dungeon.

He needed to test the set of moves he had managed to create the previous night on his good old goblin friends. And that was exactly what he did.

The first move was Dash Strike. Orion would suddenly burst forward with Dash, stunning his opponent with the unexpected increase in speed before following up with a powerful slicing arc.

The sudden burst of speed made it difficult for the opponent to react, giving Orion the perfect opportunity to land his strike. But that wasn’t the only move he had created.

The second was Dash Thrust. With this technique, Orion used the momentum generated by Dash to thrust his dagger deep into the vital points of his opponent.

The neck... The heart... Or any other point where a single clean strike could end the battle.

The third move Orion had managed to come up with was Dash Feint. This was the trickiest move he had created using the Dash skill.

And the reason was simple. It required him to use the skill multiple times in rapid succession to create feints and trick his opponent.

By constantly changing his position with sudden bursts of speed, Orion could make his opponent believe that an attack was coming from one direction before appearing somewhere else entirely.

Once his opponent’s attention was completely misdirected... That was when Orion would strike the most certain killing point.

And because of the momentum he built through multiple consecutive Dashes, the final attack he unleashed was bound to be incredibly powerful. And deadly.

The first two moves were used on the goblin minions. The last one... Orion reserved for the Goblin King.

When the Goblin King finally fell to Orion’s new technique, the gaze the creature gave him was filled with pure exhaustion.

Orion couldn’t help but feel a little pity for the poor guy. The Goblin King had already suffered enough.

Fortunately for him, Orion would only be coming one more day. After that... No more.

Based on Orion’s calculations, he would perhaps be able to reach Level One during the Dungeon X raid.

By then, he wouldn’t need to return to the Basic Green Dungeon anymore just to grind.

With that thought in mind, Orion didn’t clear the dungeon multiple times like he usually did. He only cleared it once before leaving.

There was still a lot of preparation he needed to do. The first thing on his list was getting some proper gear.

And another dagger. With the dagger he already possessed, Orion would be able to wield two daggers at the same time.

That would greatly increase his offensive capabilities. He headed over to the Dungeon Market and told Sis Mia about what he needed.

Mia wasn’t in charge of selling powerful weapons or awakened gear, but she knew someone who was.

She connected Orion with an elderly man who specialized in selling them. From him, Orion managed to acquire a set of E-Grade gear.

A chest piece. Gloves. And even boots.

Despite being only E-Grade, they cost quite a lot. Along with the D-Grade dagger he purchased, Orion ended up spending more than 40,000 points on everything.

It was costly. Very costly. But it was necessary.

After all... Being safe was better than being sorry.

Now, all his preparations were complete. There was only one day left before the Dungeon X raid.

That night, Orion busied himself with getting used to wielding his new equipment. At the same time, he continued perfecting the moves he had created.

He practiced his footwork. His dagger movements. His Dash. And the synchronization between everything.

After that, he worked out, hoping to increase his physical stats. Compared to the danger he was about to face inside Dungeon X, his stats were dangerously low.

Far too low. If he could gain even 0.1 points in his stats, then he would still be making an improvement.

So he pushed himself harder. And harder. And harder.

He refused to stop until his body was completely exhausted. Eventually, he took a bath and rested.

The next day came. Orion’s eyes suddenly snapped open. The first thing he saw was a pair of little faces staring at him with shining eyes.

"Yeeee!"

"Big Brother is awake!"

Orion rubbed his head as he slowly became fully awake. Only then did he realize that the kids were already awake.

It seemed he had overslept. Well... It was understandable. He had pushed himself several steps further during his training the previous night.

After completing his usual morning routine, Orion headed out to do one final practice session with his goblin friends.

One final time. He needed to perfect his moves to the best of his abilities.

Soon, Orion was done and ready to head back home when Old Dian walked over.

The elderly man remained silent for a while. Then, finally, he sighed.

"The dungeon is tomorrow, isn’t it?"

Orion nodded. He flashed the old man a calm, assuring smile.

"Be at ease, Uncle. I am fully prepared."

The man nodded. Although the worry was still rather evident on his face.

After a while, he finally spoke.

"Kid... the gift I gave you is not a goodbye gift." He paused. "You have to pay me back for it, so make sure you come back alive."

Orion nodded.

"Sure, Uncle. I will definitely make it back."

"Don’t go back on your words, kid." Dian’s voice was unusually serious. "Come back here alive."

Orion nodded again. He waved his goodbye before turning around and leaving.

Several hours later, Orion stood before a white-covered Skill Book.

This was the Legacy Skill Book their father had left behind for them. Written across the Skill Book were two words... Stormblade (1).

Unlike normal Skill Books, which vanished immediately after being learned, Legacy Skill Books remained after being learned and could be learned by as many people as possible.

If Orion could learn this A-Rank Legacy Skill Book, his chances of returning alive from the Dungeon X raid would increase dramatically.

But alas... That was nothing more than a sweet wish.

Orion decided to try his luck, he reached for the white-covered book.

The moment his fingers touched the cover, the System notification appeared.

[Ding!]

[A-Rank Legacy Skill Book detected.]

[Skill: Stormblade (1)]

[Host is not worthy of learning this Skill.]

[Minimum Talent Requirement: A-Grade.]

Orion’s expression fell slightly. But before he could completely withdraw his hand, another notification appeared.

[Ding!]

[Skill Slot Limit Reached.]

[Host cannot learn any additional Skills.]

Orion stared at the notifications in silence.

Even if he somehow possessed the required A-Grade Talent, his single Skill Slot was already occupied by Dash.

There was simply no way for him to learn Stormblade (1). Although, if he really do possess A grade talent he would have more skill slot as well.

Orion quietly placed the Skill Book back inside the locker.

He then headed toward the side of the yard. There, a tombstone lay beneath the night sky.

Written on the stone tablet was a name. Mark Stormblade.

"It’s been a while, Dad." Orion’s voice was quiet as he stood before the gravestone.

His gaze was solemn. Although Mark wasn’t his biological father, to Orion, he was the only father he recognized.

The man had been the reason he and the other children were able to have a happy life.

He had raised them. He had trained them. He had protected them.

And even after his death... The things he had taught them continued to guide them.

Orion spent the rest of the night having a conversation with the tombstone.

He told his father everything that had happened. He talked about his improvements.

He told him that he was now only a little over fifty EXP away from finally leveling up.

He told him about the Skill Book he had received from Uncle Dian. He even told him how much stronger and more skilled he had become.

In fact, Orion had grown overwhelmingly stronger than both Racheal and Elias.

He even talked about how the last time he and his father had sparred felt like a distant memory now.

Orion continued talking for a long while. Eventually, he finally told him about the Dungeon X raid he would be going on tomorrow.

The moonlight reflected within Orion’s grey eyes as he stared at the gravestone.

"Dad..." His voice became softer. "The dungeon raid tomorrow is bound to be dangerous."

He paused.

"But you don’t have to worry. I won’t die."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"I’ll surely come back."

Orion lowered his gaze.

"I still have a lot to do. A lot I promised to do. And I still haven’t completed all of them."

His fingers slowly clenched.

"So I won’t die."

After saying that, Orion went silent. He simply stared at the gravestone.

He had been talking for so long... And yet, he received no reply.

That was only natural. After all... His father was dead.

A solemn silence settled over the yard.

After a while, Orion finally spoke the words he had been keeping deep within his heart.

"Dad..." He swallowed. "I miss you."

His voice trembled slightly.

"We all miss you."

An image suddenly flashed through Orion’s mind. The image of a sturdy man smiling brightly as he carried little Racheal in his arms, while Orion and Elias chased after him.

Mark was laughing. He was smiling. He was playing around with the children.

For a moment, it felt as though they were all together again.

Orion raised his hand and wiped away the small tear that had formed at the corner of his eye.

He didn’t know why he felt so sentimental. Maybe... It was because no matter how much he tried to reject the thought, there was still a possibility that he might not return from this dungeon raid.

He would try his best. Of course he would. But the future was never certain.

"Dad..." Orion took one last look at the gravestone. "Bye for now. I gotta prepare for the raid tomorrow."

He turned around. Then he left.

The next day came in the blink of an eye. Orion was fully geared up.

He stood before the remaining members of the household and waved goodbye.

Lily seemed close to tears. Seeing Orion leave while fully geared like this made her realize that something was clearly different this time.

This wasn’t like his usual trips to the dungeon. This time... He was going somewhere dangerous.

"Come back soon, Big Brother."

The kids spoke in unison.

Orion smiled. He nodded.

"Wait for me."

His gaze swept across their faces one last time.

"I’ll be back soon."

He said his goodbye and finally headed toward the designated location where Dungeon X was located.

About an hour later... Orion stopped.

His grey eyes stared forward. Standing directly before him was a dungeon unlike any he had ever encountered before.

A dungeon that had claimed the lives of countless warriors. A dungeon surrounded by mystery.

A dungeon that everyone feared. The dungeon regarded as the Death Dungeon.

Dungeon X.