Dimensional Descent

The freshmen who followed behind Leonel felt as though they were walking into a paradise. After so long without seeing the sky, they realized how much they had taken something so simple for granted. Still, what they were the most shocked about was the fact that they had actually made it out at all.

After the seniors left, many of them had been thrown into the pits of despair. Though Leonel had managed to lead them to the mine itself, following underground tunnels was a completely different animal and there were even many times they thought it was all over.

Yet, Leonel had actually succeeded. And, to make matters even more shocking, despite running into several enemies below, the grenades Leonel had given them were just strong enough to kill them without also bringing the tunnels crumbling down around them.

By this point, many looked toward Leonel's back with hints of worship, even Ingkath and Irolana were no exception.

"Hey! You lot! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Leonel inwardly smiled, thinking that yet another group of King of Ores guards were going to get in their way.

What the group of freshmen following behind Leonel didn't know was that he had been confident in leading them out because he had seen Sarrieth's network of mines. Though that map hadn't had the underground tunnels marked on them, Leonel was able to deduce which might be connected based on the ores they produced and their proximity.

From the very beginning, Leonel knew he would be able to find a path out even if it took some trial and error.

However, for the first time, Leonel was surprised to find that his deduction was wrong. What he found weren't the guards of the King of Ores faction, but rather a group of blue belts who still had their former Peak emblems on their person.

From Leonel's understanding, they were from Loyal Peak. But, after scanning the situation, he realized that it didn't matter much.

The group was now so close to the mountain pass that it was within eyeshot. But, compared to the past when there might have been just a few groups travelling up and down the path, it was now flooded with activity.

so large that it was surprising that their group was noticed at all.

quickly, Leonel

and their

expected, the blue belts didn't seem surprised by the mention of the Oryx. Rather, they were surprised that a group of freshmen actually managed

of the mountain pass obvious. It seemed that the news of Oryx activity had finally

signed off all the freshmen in the area to death after receiving reports of where the Oryx had targeted. Never

at the helm took a

that's the case, it will likely be necessary for you

Leonel nodded. "Understood."

take you all to be processed. We've got some new procedures

back at the group and

single one of these freshmen was looking toward Leonel as though to

his head, Garlando didn't have the time to mind this. These freshmen were the first to come back after having contact with the Oryx. If

Garlando shrank to his own thoughts, Leonel had

issues to deal with in an era of abilities, their caution makes sense. Who knows if one of the Oryx awakened a disguising ability or

idea the kind of commotion their returns

…

was separated from the group. In fact, they all were. It

very worried. He sat silently, a light smile on his face as the dim lights of the interrogation tent flickered. His mind, finally free from having to account for the safety of over 70 individuals, began to work on other matters. As far as he was concerned, they could take