The Earth After Rebirth

"You really must do something about these queues, it's harder to go out!" Nikolai complained

"It's not really my fault is it? I told them to use the site and not come waiting at the gate but none of them listen. It's as if someone will cut in front of them or something." Kiro sighed.

"I think, you should end the business, you don't need money like that anymore." Felix chimed in.

"You're right I don't, no such thing as too much money though?"

They all groaned.

"Fine fine, I'll put it on hold, we have a dungeon to go to after all."

"Finally!" Nikolai could've danced then if he knew how.

The spectres finally returned. Apparently they didn't just check out that one dungeon, they checked every single one that was hidden. That's why it took them a long time to return.

They gathered all sorts of information. The climate within the dungeons, the chances of it evolving while they were inside, its current ranking and the monsters it harboured, it was harder to tell how many there would be and how long it would take them to clear it.

Those were the two unknowns. Kiro couldn't trust his previous information but he factored it in nonetheless.

Since guilds were introduced, they officially registered their group. There weren't much options, it was either guild or other and so they chose other and were officially After Dark within the game.

Kiro was very excited about dungeons, he hoped he could strategically put his past knowledge into practise. To say he knew every hidden dungeon would be an understatement.

He even knew how to beat most dungeons on hard difficulty. Of course the theory in his head, won't be easy to put into action, but he didn't think it was going to be hard. That's if, nothing changed about dungeons.

Since they've never really fought together as After Dark, attempting a higher hidden dungeon would be suicide. These dungeons were very unpredictable and unstable.

He decided before hand to go on easy difficulty dungeons, to work on their coordination and to see how well they could take instructions during battles, also to level up for the hidden dungeons.

"So, what levels are you guys on?" Kiro asked, not expecting much.

"40...43... 41...38" They said at the same time.

Kiro's face soured. He couldn't believe they weren't even half his level. He felt bad for them, he absolutely considered taking them to the Underworld to raise their stats, but as bad luck would have it. After the update, the crack was no longer there.

"Why's your face like that? What's your level?"

"Trust me, you're better off not knowing." Kiro shook his head.

"90...Level 90..." Hiro blurted out.

Their eyes fell out of their sockets. They could barely get a word out. While he told them about his Underworld adventures, he didn't tell them about his newfound abilities. Only Hiro knew.

He put his index finger on his lips, "It's not a big deal. We need to go level up the normal way first."

He searched his past knowledge for a dungeon that would be perfect to get his comrades to at least level 70. There was a hidden one in particular, it gave those that stumbled upon it 10x the rewards.

But it was also A ranked. Meaning Kiro would have to be the main attack, but since rewards were split evenly he decided to have them go in their own modes. This would make levelling up faster, rather than to have them split 5 ways.

A dungeon had 4 modes. Hell, Hard, Medium and Easy. He planned to enter with one on hell difficulty, while hard, medium and easy would be entered by them alone with one or two beasts. Naturally since they were from the same team, Kiro didn't charge them for beast rental.

"The weakest one here is Ishaan, so I'll enter hell with him. Nikolai you'll enter hard with Frost and Kel. Hiro you'll enter medium with Wen. And Felix, you're entering easy with Hue."

Those were the beasts Kiro trusted the most. The bear that almost killed Hubris and a flyer that was a predator bird. Hiro and Felix both got the white tigers. The cubs had grown considerably since the last time he tamed them.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They couldn't deny that they needed strength, especially when they weren't looking to take up more members.

Kiro had given them every bit of information about the dungeon and the monsters within it, what climate they should expect, they felt more than ready.

"Let's go!" Kiro yelled.

"Aren't you gonna wear shoes?" Hiro asked him.

"I like it like this."

Hiro took out geta sandals, "how about these? Made them myself."

He put them on and moved around their base. "They're not bad. At least they don't disort vibrations."

Only Hiro and Nikolai seem to react to how fast he'd moved. The other two never saw him move, he was just rooted in place for them.

Felix was already inseparable with his chainsaw changing sceptor. Kiro felt bad for the monsters, as they would be tortured more than anything.

Standing in front of the dungeon, "please, remember that levelling up is our priority." He was looking right at Felix as he said.

"Yes yes, I won't waste time torturing them." Felix said, almost robotic, as if his mind wasn't even focused on what Kiro was saying.

Ding!

[Congratulations on discovering the hidden dungeon 'Wintry' you may not be familiar with the new dungeon additions, so I'll explain. Dungeons come in various modes...]

"Okay gang, this is information I've told you about. No need to wait around, go on..."

There was a button for each difficulty. Felix didn't waste any time and pressed easy, a beam of light engulfed him and Hue, and they were gone.

Everyone else did the same and they were transported into the same dungeon, but with different modes.

The cold air whistled in the atmosphere. Two silhouettes stood in the middle of a really bad storm.

"Well, Ishaan, I hope you're ready."

"Y-yes!"