Entering the Dungeon, Mike, Izzy, Ryder, and Rohan took different directions.

  Although the poisonous air in their lungs stung a bit, Ray’s potion quickly neutralized the toxins.

  Behind them, Ray waited patiently at the entrance, the mana in his body slowly diffusing into the Dungeon as his Skill materialized a Map in front of him.

  Without dey, multiple dots blinked into existence on the Map, pointing to the locations of the various monsters as well as Ray’s students.

  Not even five minutes after entering the Dungeon, all four had already engaged in combat.

  Mike was hunting a small group of Poison Oxen with the help of his Spirits, Ryu and Yuna.

  Izzy was shooting down huge Purple-scaled Silk Moths from on top of a tree like a ninja in the shadows.

  Ryder was ruthlessly cutting down snake-type monsters as he moved forward, like an unstoppable tank.

  Even Rohan, whom Ray was the most worried about, was doing well, despite having his best Skill sealed up. His Bo Staff skills were pretty good.

  ‘I guess he’s the type who does better when he’s not being watched by others.’

  “So, are we going to watch from a distance the whole time?” Deus asked, letting out a big yawn, evidently tired from searching Dungeons for the past three days.

  “For their safety, it would be best that one of us continuously monitors the Map.” Ray turned to face his Spirit.

  Understanding what the look meant, Deus let out a loud sigh. “Just when I thought I could get some rest…What do you pn to do while I look after the kids?”

  “Do you remember what you read about the Sanskriti Archipego from the novel summary I wrote on my ptop?”

  “The Sanskriti Archipego…It’s a cluster of isnds that follow the cultures of various pre-Catastrophe countries…Home to numerous Dungeons, however, most of them are Loop Dungeons meaning, they have an unending horde of monsters with low-quality spoils except the ones dropped by Boss Monsters. So the Hero League and Guilds prefer not to raid Dungeons here…However, two years from now, Heroes will realize that the Dungeons in the Archipego are special一they have high-ranking Artifacts hidden away in their Dungeons.”

  As Deus remembered the details of their current location, realization dawned on him.

  “You are going to find the Artifact in this Dungeon!”

  “Bingo!” Ray awarded his Spirit full points.

  But as Deus scanned the Map in front of them, he realized a slight problem.

  “I can’t see the Artifact or the Hidden Dungeon anywhere on this Map.” Deus looked back at Ray in concern. "Are you sure this pce isn't a dud?"

  “There’s a simple reason for that. Remember when we fell into that ‘Jurassic Park’ Dungeon from the ‘Snow Forest’ where we met those two Beastmen.”

  “The one we fell into when the chasm broke, right? Now that you mention it, I don’t think it popped up on our Map at that time either.”

  “Yeah, it didn’t. Appraisal can only map out the pces where my mana can infiltrate. So unless we find the seal of the Hidden Dungeon and break it, that Dungeon won’t appear on my Map either.”

  “So you want me to keep watch on the kids while you search for the Hidden Dungeon, right?”

  “Yeah. Of course, I will try to keep an eye on them too, but if they get in danger, you will react faster.”

  “Fine.”

  The two decided to take their separate routes, with Deus keeping an eye on everyone from the sky using his Fire Falcon form, while Ray explored the forest on foot.

  ‘Hmmm…trying to scan the entire Dungeon for the Hidden Dungeon seems to be too mana-inefficient and time-consuming.’ Ray estimated as he scanned the Map for any abnormalities.

  “What’s that?” His eyes suddenly caught an abnormality in the middle of the Dungeon.

  At the center of the Flowerbed of Steel-Thorned Golden Roses, there was an anomaly.

  The mana he had released in the Dungeon for Appraisal seemed to be getting sucked inside it like a sinkhole in space.

  “Hmm…I should scout this pce out.”

  Gathering Air Mana around his legs, Ray rushed to the location at the speed of a bullet train.

  “I don’t understand. There’s…nothing here.” Although he was standing at the spot that was shown on the Map, there was nothing abnormal at all.

  Around him was a field full of roses with delicately bewitching petals made of the sun-kissed precious metal, tempting you to prick your fingers on its sharp thorns made of bck steel and die in agony from the poison on their tips. However, there was not a single hint of how to enter the Hidden Dungeon.

  Taking out his sword from his ring, he pointed the tip towards the field.

  “Let's check if this will reveal the entrance…”

  Multiple tendrils of Lightning Mana extended from the bde, hitting the field.

  “Boom!”

  “Boom!”

  “Boom!”

  As soon as the lightning hit the roses, the flowers exploded shooting their thorns everywhere like a hedgehog out for blood.

  Ray barely stopped them in time, making a shield with Earth Mana.

  As the smoke from the lightning cleared up, the remnants of the beautiful field came into view. Sitting in the middle of the crushed and burned flower bed was the single, most dazzling golden rose of the bunch, completely untouched.

  Its stem was taller than the other roses as if it was proudly showing off that his attack couldn't even touch it.

  “Interesting…Hey, Deus! Which of the kids is the closest to me right now?”

  ‘...Ryder and Rohan.’ Deus’ voice echoed in Ray’s mind, as he checked the Appraisal Map.

  Those two were the most in need of proper training, so luck turned out in his favor.

  “Any chance you could direct them to my location? And make sure they don't know that we are nearby.”

  ‘I guess I can agitate a few monsters around them with Feather Dance. Not sure how great it would work, but I will try.’

  “Great!”

  ‘But are you sure you wanna send these guys to a Hidden Dungeon? This is their very first Dungeon, so I think we should let them complete it without any accidents?’

  “Rex! It’s a D Rank Hidden Dungeon. I am a B - Rank. If anything happens, I can protect them.”

  ‘If you say so.’ Shrugging his wings, Deus took flight to the location where Ryder and Rohan were hunting monsters.

  ‘Thankfully the two of them are in a 5 km radius around Ray’s location, so it wouldn't be hard to nudge them in the correct direction.’

  The problem came with the monsters. Medea’s Garden was a Dungeon mostly full of pnt-based monsters. That meant these monsters were extremely territorial, only attacking people if they trespassed into their territories.

  Suddenly, his eyes caught a rge herd of ‘Poison Oxen’ peacefully munching on the local flora.

  ‘Now these, I can work with.’

  Redirecting his flight, Deus nded in front of an Ox.

  Seeing the unfamiliar crimson creature, the startled monster smmed against its friend, unsettling the herd.

  As the other Oxen locked eyes with the trespasser, ready to fight for their territory, the bird once again took flight, dropping a few feathers on the ground in its rush.

  Proud that the trespasser decided to leave on its own after seeing the strength of their herd, the Oxen turned back to their meal.

  Not even a few moments had passed when…

  “Moo!”

  A loud shriek came from the edge of the herd.

  The feathers that the mysterious intruder had dropped were glowing crimson, as they floated on the wind, burning the grass around them.

  Recognizing the feathers as the enemy, two Ox charged at them, hoping to stomp them to 'death'.

  But as if the feathers had a mind of their own, they turned their attention to the Ox, piercing a hole in their brains.

  The two monsters dropped dead on the ground, without a single moment to fend for their lives.

  Although it was their territory, seeing the swift deaths of their fellow herd members, the Oxen were quick to realize that they were no match for these sentient feathers, and fled in the direction away from the bzing border that the feathers drew.

  Above them, Deus had activated his Skill.

  Feather Dance(B): Allows the user to freely control their feathers and use them to attack.

  Directing the feathers to burn the grass around the path, Deus swiftly directed the Oxen toward Ryder's location. After making sure they would follow the path towards Ray’s location, he quickly left the area.

  “Ryder’s taken care of. Now, where's the other one…”

  Deus now focused his attention on Rohan.

  The boy was currently battling at the edge of a field filled with rge Venus Flytraps. These were E-Rank monsters, each standing about 5 meters tall. Although the Venus Flytraps were rooted in pce, they ranked higher among E-Rank monsters due to their highly flexible vines, which made them effective in both close and mid-range combat.

  Rohan, with his short-ranged bo-staff, had chosen the worst possible match-up and was desperately trying to fend them off and run away.

  Deus quietly soared above the pnt monsters, dropping his feathers along the way.

  ‘Feather Dance!’

  Activating his Skill, the feathers floated around the battlefield, setting the entire woodnd abze.

  “What the- Where did this fire come from? Is there another monster nearby?” Rohan cautiously stepped back from the Venus Flytraps, which were frantically trying to save themselves.

  ‘Now be a good boy, and run away.’ Deus wished internally, as he took flight towards Ryder, a trail of fire feathers following behind him.

  Despite everything, Rohan remained frozen in pce.

  It was highly suspicious that the monsters he had been fighting were suddenly engulfed in fmes, and now the same mysterious creature was trying to lead him somewhere.

  ‘Well, Professor Ray did say he will be keeping watch from a distance, so even if I walk into a trap he will intervene before it’s too te.’

  Given the choice, Rohan would have opted not to take the path; however, the fire behind him bzed hotter by the second, as if it were getting impatient.

  Following the path of fmes, Rohan found himself standing in a desote field. In the middle, a suspicious golden rose stood out, with other destroyed flowers littering around it.

  ‘Did a storm pass through this pce?’ Rohan thought as he looked around the destroyed field.

  “Shit! Get lost, you filthy cows.” A voice yelled behind him.

  Rohan turned around in surprise to find Ryder, running into the field as if escaping from something.

  “Huh. You?” Ryder had become aware of his presence as well. “What are you doing here?”

  “I don’t know. I just…ended up here.” Rohan answered cautiously. He still wasn’t sure if Ryder had been guided here by the same fire monster that brought him here or if his presence was just a coincidence. “What about you?”

  “Ah, I almost got crushed by this stampede of Poison Oxen. Stupid cows.” His eyes suddenly fixed on the golden rose. “That’s a pretty flower.”

  “Careful, it could be a monster.” Rohan warned him.

  “I already cut down so many of them today, what else could happen?? I will keep it in my dimensional ring and give it to Rachel when I see her next time.” Taking out his bde, Ryder took a swipe.

  As the bde touched the stem, the Golden Rose bellowed a cloud of yellow pollen, covering the entire field.

  Author's note: Hope all you guys have a very happy new year!