The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 16: Dungeon inside a Portal (1)

Chapter 16: Dungeon inside a Portal (1)

John turned and rolled his eyes at Zaid. "You’re a cargo carrier. What do you know about fighting?" Even though he didn’t look down on him as much anymore, he couldn’t hide the truth.

The reality was that Zaid lacked a spirit talent. His best role in the dungeons would be "cargo carrier."

"They’re Rank F, John." Although Zaid didn’t deny his words, he still patted him on the shoulder. "I’ll be able to do something with my fists."

John sighed. "You’re underestimating the Rank F beasts."

Zaid shrugged. "Whatever. According to the mission, we have three days to complete it. When are we leaving?"

John handed Zaid the mission document to keep and said, "Right away, of course. Clearing out a dungeon takes time; it can often take days. We’re already prepared for anything, aren’t we? Let’s make the most of our time."

"All right."

The group set out immediately for 13-50 Street.

It’s a busy street that currently has a heavy police presence.

The moment a portal appeared nearby—even though it was an F-rank portal—it alerted the entire street, and civilians began evacuating nearby buildings, while some very low-level Awakened worked alongside the police to protect them.

Many onlookers gazed at the portal from a distance.

It was a strange, lightning-like crack of light—quite large and imposing. This was the entrance, but given its size and the way it snaked backward, it seemed to be one of those dungeons located inside caves.

Although you couldn’t know what was on the other side unless you walked through the portal, based on its shape, you could guess with a high degree of certainty what was on the other side.

"I’m Captain Jack from the Local Police’s Awakened Division. We were told that a group of students would be sent to clean the entrance." Captain Jack of the police approached the group. "Are you the ones?"

"We are." Zaid took out the document and handed it to him.

After a quick inspection, Captain Jack sealed it. "I have to go check on some other portals, so I’ll be on my way. I wish you the best of luck and hope you’ll be able to get out of there soon."

"Thanks, Captain." Zaid nodded. "Do you know what kind of beasts are on the other side?"

"They’re little goblins. They aren’t much of a threat, but the boss seems to be a High Goblin—watch out for him," he warned them before leaving.

"Should we just go in, or should we go over a strategy?" John asked.

Zaid laughed. "You’re strategic?"

"Me? Not at all. But I think you’re good at that."

"Heh, well, let’s go in then. I’ve never seen a goblin before. I can’t come up with a strategy for something I’ve never seen."

"All right."

They stood in front of the enormous, elongated portal.

Despite its size, it was a bit laughable that it was meant to hold only goblins, but in reality, that meant bad news for the hunters.

Most of this portal was made up of corrupted essence, which is why it’s so large. It contains a great deal of essence inside.

However, it isn’t as bad as that forest for one reason: it’s a closed portal.

Since it is a closed portal, most of the corrupt essence is focused on sustaining it. The danger is less for the hunters, although if it were allowed to open, it would be very dangerous.

They immediately stepped forward, and the portal in front of them swallowed them whole.

"Start timing it," the police officers shouted to make sure they didn’t spend too much time in there. For the young people, six weeks of portal’s time was the limit.

On the other side of the portal, John stepped forward and summoned his weapon. A pair of sturdy gloves covered his hands completely as they fused with his light armor.

They were Level 1 weapons capable of increasing their wielder’s attack power.

Beside him, his two friends also rushed to the front. One of them drew a small but powerful spear.

The other summoned a hammer with a strange iron drum. The latter stood in front, while the spearman stood to the right, leaving the center for John.

’Wow, they’re amazingly good at coordinating,’ Zaid thought, surprised. He was carrying the heavy load on his back—mining tools in case they found Mana Runes, food, water, and extra weapons in case they needed them.

"We’ll move like this," John said, looking at Alice. "Take whatever position you like... I don’t know exactly how you fight, so..."

"O-okay. I’ll stay in the back," Alice replied with a nervous smile.

John didn’t say anything else. He began walking through the long cave ahead of them, which had high rock walls that looked as if they had been carved by skilled hands.

Alice brought up the rear, keeping Zaid between her and the group in front.

"Boss, didn’t boss Luke ask us to bring that girl to him?" As they walked ahead, one of Luke’s friends approached him to ask.

"Don’t say a word. That girl helped us in the woods. Let’s not be ungrateful. I’ve already decided not to help boss Luke with this," John whispered.

"Won’t that get us into trouble?"

"No. I spoke with boss Luke personally about this, and he said he wasn’t going to go after her anymore or anything like that. We’ll be fine—the boss knows he can’t do anything crazy now that he’s a member of the academy." John frowned at that and looked straight ahead.

"They’re coming. Robert, take the lead," John said.

Two goblins leaped out of the darkness toward the group, and two more came from the side.

Robert, the one with the hammer and the iron drum, strode forward and struck the unyielding metal in his hands several times with the hammer.

CLANK!

CLANK!

Two bell-like sounds rang in the goblins’ ears, causing them to feel a sudden surge of stress.

[You’ve caught the goblins’ attention!] the system roared, and the four goblins lunged ferociously at Robert.

The metal drum transformed into a shield and was held up in front of him.

CLANK!

The goblins’ four battered weapons struck the smooth surface of the drum-shield, and the sound sent shivers through the goblins, momentarily stunning them.

"Now, Landon, boss!" Robert shouted, and the man with the spear leaped forward, immediately taking the lead.

His spear, though small, struck two of the goblins, and he engaged them in a head-on fight.

However, the fight that drew the most attention was the one involving the other two goblins.