"What’s going on?" Daniel frowned when he saw the notification and tried again to exit the dungeon, but no matter how many times he attempted it the result remained the same.
"You can’t get out either?" William seemed to notice his situation and asked.
"Yeah. Doesn’t look like you’re too surprised." Daniel glanced at him and nodded.
"I expected something like this to happen. To leave this dungeon we’ll need four or maybe even five keys."
"Four or five?" Daniel frowned and muttered to himself like he hadn’t expected that.
Normally, leaving a dungeon without clearing it requires one key, the same key needed to challenge the tower floors. Almost every dungeon rank only needs one key, but there are exceptions. Some rare dungeons demand more than one key to leave.
These kinds of dungeons are extremely rare and don’t appear often. Without doubt, the fact that they require more keys means there’s a reason behind it. These dungeons contain valuable treasures and items, and if cleared, the awakened who manage to do so receive generous rewards.
"So what do we do now?" William muttered to himself, a frown forming on his face as well. At this stage the only way out was to clear the dungeon.
But could they really clear this dungeon? The moment that thought crossed his mind he shook his head.
It was simply impossible. This was a Purple Rank Dungeon. To clear it at least three S Ranks were needed, and they were only two A Ranks.
"Maybe we need to find the S Ranks who entered. Right now they’re our only hope to get out." Daniel sighed as he spoke.
"That’s dangerous. Leaving aside that they might have also turned into these stone giants, do you really want to step into the central layer?"
"Do we have another choice? At this point it’s our only option unless we just stay here and hope someone else comes to rescue us. But since the Federation doesn’t allow other S Ranks to enter, the result will be the same."
"The Federation doesn’t allow other S Ranks to enter?" William frowned deeper when he heard that, sinking into thought.
It wasn’t clear what he was thinking, but suddenly his eyes gleamed as if he had realized something.
"Forget it. Looks like our only way is to find those S Ranks." He then glanced at the masked man beside him and spoke in the same indifferent tone.
"Fine." Black light flickered in Daniel’s eyes. He wasn’t stupid and naturally noticed the sudden change in William’s attitude.
What had suddenly caused this shift? Was it Daniel’s words about the Federation not allowing S Ranks to enter?
Did this man know something? A secret Daniel didn’t? Maybe he had even guessed the reason behind the Federation’s behavior.
In truth, Daniel had thought about it himself but reached no conclusion. In the end, the only reasoning was that there was something in this dungeon the Federation either wanted or wanted to hide.
"So what do we do about these?" William glanced at the stone titans.
"For now we’ll knock them out. Once we find a way to leave we’ll come back for them." Daniel responded and nodded. Suddenly mana surged from his hands, entering the bodies of all the titans and locking their awareness.
The two exchanged looks and reached a silent agreement. William, more familiar with the route, moved ahead and started walking.
It would take about half an hour on foot from where they were to reach the entrance to the central layer.
"While you were here did you run into monsters?" Daniel asked calmly as he glanced around.
"A bunch of different titans, but most weren’t strong." William answered.
"What about the central layer? While you were here did you find out anything about it? Or do you know anything at all?"
"Not much. Just limited info. Like the monsters inside are definitely stronger, and more importantly, it’s full of corruption beasts."
Daniel frowned slightly. His condition wasn’t that good. Even though he had reached A Rank, he couldn’t use any of his offensive or defensive skills.
Only a few like Fallen Step, Fallen Vision, and Mana Healing were available, and none of them had much use in direct combat.
Without his skills, at best he could face a Half Step S Rank, but against a False S Rank he stood no chance, not even of escaping easily.
And in front of a true S Rank he’d die instantly, without even a chance to run.
Thinking about that made him smile faintly. Luckily, without William noticing, he had already left two of his fallen behind near the stone titans to keep an eye on them.
If something happened inside the central layer, he could always use Fallen Step and escape on his own.
"The sea’s sound is a lot weaker here." Daniel then pointed out another detail he had noticed.
"When you stand on the bridge between the outer and central layers you can’t hear the sea at all, even though there’s water directly beneath your feet." William answered with his usual indifferent tone.
"So this mental attack doesn’t exist inside the central layer?" Daniel muttered, though he didn’t really believe that. He just wanted to gauge William’s reaction.
In truth, Daniel was pretty sure. He felt that inside the central layer there wouldn’t just be a mental attack but one far stronger and far more dangerous.
’If my guess is right then maybe even those S Ranks have turned into titans or something else.’ That thought made him frown.
If even those S Ranks had transformed, what would they do then? At that point there’d be no way out at all.
"Probably. Maybe even stronger." William answered after some thought, yet no worry appeared on his face.
Daniel nodded. This William was smart. In fact, he seemed too smart, and compared to his apparent age, far too experienced.
’Could it be?’
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