Demon Evolution System

Chapter 22

The moment they walked inside the rift they were teleported to a different location. The group found themselves inside a cave.

The air was thick and covered with the scent of blood as there were several dismantled corpses of low-tier demonic beasts.

“What the hell happened here?” Dren muttered in shock.

Even the Instructor was in disbelief but his expression was masked with his years of experience.

“Come on, we have to be on the move. It is not a rare occurrence for demonic beasts to fight amongst themselves. If we can't find monsters at the entrance we will surely come across them as we move deeper..” Instructor Hale remarked and continued moving.

“Haaa….It seems this test has just become a lot more easier. This bloody creatures did all the work for us.” Boros cheered and the others also jubilate at his comments except Miles who had an erring feeling.

They moved deeper into the cave until the instructor who was leading them suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Please stop for a moment,” he said, whispering.

Step—

As per the instructor’s orders, all members came to a stop behind him. He had sensed something unusual right over the corner just ahead. He carefully walked over and peeked over the corner slightly and looked back at the members with widened eyes.

“What is it?” Kael asked.

The instructor bit his lips lightly and answered. “...I think that something must have gone wrong here.”

“What do you mean?” Boros, who had the most impatient personality queried..

“Those monsters...” The instructor pointed to the monsters that were just around the corner and replied.

“Trolls,” he muttered in surprise as he sighted the three monsters devouring the corpses of the beast they had slaughtered earlier.

“They aren’t the usual monsters that should appear near the entrance of a low level nest..”

“Trolls are humanoid type monsters with a size of over three meters known for their strength and stone-like skin. It is a very aggressive and territorial monster.. It was a kind of monster found in mid-tier level rifts that even most C -rank awakeners would have difficulty dealing with but there was one now inside a low level rift.”

The instructor’s low voice trembled as he explained. It had become more evident that something had definitely gone wrong.

Miles' gaze locked on the instructor. By standards the instructor was the highest-ranked awakener and most experienced hunter in the group. Thus he should have met lots of other monsters of that level and should have known very well about the dungeon’s characteristics.

“Why are they here then? Isn't this supposed to be a low-level rift to train us? Is the awakened association trying to get us killed? How could they dispatch us newbies to a mid-tier level rift?” Dren lashed out in a low voice, cautious to not alert the monster.

The rift wasn’t normal; it was indeed a low-level rift but it had evolved when they entered. Miles was already aware of this fact and because the scenario was similar to the rift that appeared in the outlands in which he joined Ryan's party to raid illegally.

It was a low level rift but it evolved to a higher level when the three headed hound appeared.

“Do you think we should head back now?” Kira suggested as she was already overtaken by fear from the instruction explanation.

The instructor, too, could vaguely sense this fact but quitting mid way would make him appear incomparable. It was clearly evident that he stood at a crossroad, finding it difficult to make a quick decision.

“Miss Kira is right, the level of this rift is beyond our experience. We should head back and report to the association.” Miles finally spoke as he advised the group and supported kira’s suggestion.

“There is no way I'm going to do that. I have come a long way to head back now. My mana reading shows that I have the potential to be a B-rank hunter so I can definitely take on the troll. Mr. instructor here is already a B-rank hunter so he can support us as well.” Boros stated with confidence.

Hearing Boros’s suggestion, the instructor thought it was a good idea. If he could lead these rookies to successfully clear this rift then there was likelihood that it would boost his own reputation with the awakener association.

“If it’s trolls , I have hunted them in a previous dungeon. Handling one shouldn’t be tough.” He spoke confidently, hitting his chest to imply that he wouldn’t mind taking the lead. According to the report about you guys, none of you are below the level of a C-rank awakener and with your support we can clear this rift. You all might even get a bigger reward from the association.”

With an experienced awakener standing out, anxiety was lifted from everyone’s faces. The others started to agree with Boros words.

“Have you considered the fact that stronger monsters usually appear much deeper, and only as we get nearer to the boss monster,”Miles, who had been staying silent, said. He had everyone’s full attention. “Handling two trolls wouldn’t be a problem now, but the number would continue to increase, or higher-level monsters would appear later on.”

The team seemed surprised.

“Hey kid, why are you trying to bring down the team morale” the instructor remarked.

“If you focus on thinking about the best and not the worst as you progress. You are going to be putting our lives at risk....”Miles replied, not fazed by Boros angry glare. He was speaking from experience and didn't want anyone to die pointlessly.

It was a lesson that he had learned from living as a porter all this time.

But In this regard, most of them seemed to care less about the repercussions of the situation at hand.

“Hey this is your first time raiding a rift so why are you acting cocky all of sudden. If you keep on talking nonsense I'll kill you before the monsters does the job” Boros threatened.

“Stop, stop.” Kael remarked. “Do you think it’s good to get into a fight amongst ourselves before the actual battle?”

After the instructor said those words, Boros could not do anything else to Miles but his eyes continued to linger on him.

“From this moment onward I will lead the party then.” the instructor walked in front as he spoke. “Once I give the signal, Myself and Boros will attack together. The remaining four will provide support from behind,”

The dungeon attack had officially started as Hale stepped out of hiding welding his sword. He charged forward to the troll hoping he would be able to catch one off guard.

The cave fell silent.

The three trolls hadn’t noticed them yet—too busy tearing into the remains of the demonic beasts scattered across the stone floor. Thick fingers crushed bone. Heavy jaws cracked skulls like brittle shells.

Instructor Hale raised his fist.

Everyone was tense….

The cave fell into a tense stillness after the instructor gave his command.

Only the distant sound of dripping water and the wet, rhythmic tearing of flesh echoed from beyond the bend in the tunnel.

“On my mark,” he whispered. “We take the two on the left first. Clean. Fast.”

Miles crouched instinctively, his daggers already resting loosely in his hands. His heartbeat slowed—not from calm, but from focus.

Boros grinned behind his shield.

“Finally.”

Hale dropped his hand.

“Now.”