Chapter 445 – Surf’s Up

After taking a deep breath, Roland ascended the stairs cautiously, his senses heightened, and his eyes glued to his minimap. Every step was a planned motion and he was readying himself for resistance once he arrived at the next destination. The path leading out of this dungeon was devoid of any signs of life. It was clear that every adventurer had fled due to the ensuing confrontation between him and the knight trio.

Roland was afraid that the confrontation wasn’t entirely concluded. Once he arrived outside the dungeon, another assault might be imminent. A large group of knights and adventurers might have been waiting for him, with an order to end the mission that Cerberus had failed. However, as he neared the exit, a wave of relief washed over him. To his surprise, the dots on his map painted a different picture.

“Hm… those don’t look like soldiers, did they flee? or did they hire more adventurers?”

Once he was close to the exit he noticed a lot of dots on his minimap. It reminded him of the old Lich incident, when the dungeon had been evacuated and left many adventurers lingering outside the entrance. Despite the abundance of dots, they belonged to weaker individuals, many of whom were mere tier 1 class holders, not something he would ever worry about.

He expected something like a coordinated attack but there were too many prying eyes out there. There was a reason that he had been ambushed inside a swamp dungeon with limited visibility. Even though he was up against knights and nobility, they still couldn’t directly assassinate faculty members from a magical Institute. It seemed that they decided to do the sensible thing to pull their forces back, at least that’s how it looked at this moment.

‘What should I do…’

Roland asked himself while getting ready to make his way outside the dungeon. The individuals outside were mostly tier 1 class holders but there were some stronger groups. They were more than likely platinum adventurers and for those he needed to look out for. Eventually, he steeled his resolve and finally emerged before the large group of people who instantly noticed his arrival.

“Hey look, someone is coming out?”

“That robe, is that person with the mage school or something?”

“Then what’s with that suit of armor underneath… and why is his visor glowing?”

Once he was outside the people started whispering. His identity was obvious to the others as he had put on the Institute robe again. However, he was stuck scanning the area with his skills which left his helmet visor glowing and prompted some of the onlookers to back away. Yet, some pressed forward, a group of tier 3 class holders, likely platinum adventurers judging by their equipment.

Roland remained calm, his demeanor composed despite the tense atmosphere. He knew that any sudden movements or signs of aggression could escalate the situation further, and he had no desire for unnecessary conflict. His eyes scanned the approaching group that was composed of multiple tier 3 holders who didn’t have any notable strengths. They reminded him of the group involved with Rastix, not anyone who could threaten him.

“A mage from the institute? Could you enlighten us on what kept you there for so long? The dungeon has been sealed due to an unusual monster spawn…”

“…”

Roland didn’t reply as he took in the information of this group of five. It seemed the disturbance in the dungeon was attributed to a rare monster appearance, something similar to what transpired when the Lich appeared in Albrook. They were even in the process of creating a makeshift wall with large logs to keep the dungeon sealed. Perhaps later his death would have been attributed to the rare monster spawn.

‘They must be working with the guild or at least someone that can force a fake report…’

It was obvious what was happening here, and he had to give it to the Baskerville family who prepared a plausible alibi. A seemingly strong mage like him would not go down without a fight. This dungeon was rated as something that had strong tier 3 creatures on the lower levels and if an anomaly appeared, it would potentially be able to dispose of him.

One man approached him, he seemed to be the leader of this group of Platinum adventurers and could potentially be in on the whole grift. However, it could be one of the higher-ups like the city’s Guild Master. There was no telling who was his enemy or ally in this situation, so it was better to treat them all as the former.

“Move…”

“What?”

“I said move.”

Runic suppression was activated by him to weigh down on the lesser tier 3 class holders. This skill was quite handy when going with the ‘might makes right’ approach. While he wasn’t a fan of it and had usually found himself on the receiving end of such suppression, he understood its utility in situations like this. The platinum adventurers, now under the effect of his runic suppression, seemed to struggle. While they could resist it to an extent, they were below him in strength and this skill was there to showcase it.

“Wha- What is this? What are you doing, we just w-wanted…”

The leader of the group stumbled back, clearly caught off guard by Roland’s sudden use of such a skill. To make things worse a ball of crackling energy appeared in his hand to make the situation even more dire. It was clear that there was no room for talking here and the five started to quickly spread out.

“Hmph.”

After snorting audibly, Roland took advantage of their confusion and swiftly made his way past them. His eyes were stuck to his minimap as he scanned the surroundings for any other threats. The lesser adventurers were already stumbling back, terrified of a potential fight breaking out between tier 3 class holders. It was quite the sight which made him look like the villain but he didn’t care, he needed to get back to the city to check on his sister.

It was a strange feeling, he had mostly lived his new life here in fear of potential repercussions. Even now pushing these platinum adventurers away without an explanation felt a bit surreal. However, the truth was obvious as the problem had been resolved instantly. Everyone was scared of the strange unknown mage and unwilling to confront him. He was able to easily move through the group that spread out to the sides.

‘… I could get used to this… but, I’m sure they will report this to their Guild Master.’

While it was true that this could cause an incident later, there was no time to lose. He needed to get back into Hazelfront. Professor Ernas was with the students and he wasn’t sure if he could be trusted. While he didn’t spot any lesser knights at this location there was a possibility that they were up to no good in the city, so he needed to hurry.

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‘Should I try that?’

The dungeon was near the city but it still took around half an hour to get there. If he buffed himself and started running then he would probably cut the time down to ten minutes but there was another way. Instead of following the winding path back, there was an option to go back in a straight line, if he moved from above.