CHAPTER 34: ROOM 1, TRAP MASTER

The stairs lead them 50 meters down into the earth, way past the usual depth where dead corpses inhabit.

The mana concentration, as well as the heat, was suffocating, mostly for Ryan and Tyler.

They all halted just after the last tread, fully revealing a wide terrain with markings on both the grounds and walls.

All corners were enclosed with earth and the only way forward was a tunnel far ahead.

Jayden turned and watched Ryan and Tyler slowly descend the stairs, with sweat clinging to their skin.

"You guys are gonna get cooked before we go half to clear the dungeon."

Ryan and Tyler bent on their knees, breathing heavily, "Too bad we aren’t third-generation tamers." Ryan winced.

"So what? You’re gonna give up so soon?" Jayden bent to look them in the eyes. "Why don’t you both use the Mana skin technique?"

"You say what?"

Jayden placed a hand on both of their shoulders, "Take in deep breaths, the air here is hot and mana is highly dense, so naturally your body would be forced to absorb mana, which for you guys would cause mana poisoning.

All you gotta do is calm down, slow your heartbeat and blood pressure. Imagine yourself in a chill pool."

They took deep breaths and began relaxing. Jayden could feel their blood flow from his arm that rested on their shoulders.

"Good, now—"

Before Jayden could finish his lectures, Ryan had already begun to shimmer with a blue aura all around his skin, forming a thin barricade between him and the mana in the air.

"Oh, your beast uses the water element, that’s an upper hand, Ryan!" Jayden smiled at him.

Ryan raised two fingers to the air, "still wouldn’t have done it without your lectures."

Just then, Tyler gave a deep breath, and they both looked at him, shimmering with a brownish aura along his skin.

"It took me a while, but I sure got the hang of it." Tyan winked at them.

"Cool, now we aren’t gonna leave anyone behind, isn’t that it Ryan?"

Ryan smiled, "Sure, dude."

"Hey, Heyyy", SSS-RANKED Draco called, "where is this point stuff?"

"At the end of that tunnel." Jayden pointed across.

SSS-RANKED Draco’s feet shifted a bit, and whoosh, he was standing at the other side of the platform.

All Jayden saw were mana spikes from the ground and walls that only appeared after SSS-RANKED Draco had passed, telling off the direction of dangerous traps just before the blades flashed past the air.

"Whoa, bro that’s insane" Ryan’s eyes gleamed enthusiastically.

’Yeah, but I guess we should follow a safe track, like this one", Tyler pointed at a straight path of the ground with the same markings all through.

Ryan walked closer and stepped on the first block, then retreated his feet quickly and cautiously, watching both sides to see if any death arrow was gonna shoot at them.

"Guess it’s safe to use this path."

They both began walking cautiously on the lane with a particular marking until they crossed to the other side.

Jayden scoffed. He wasn’t gonna follow that Team path. Mr Tony had been building Team 24’s mana prediction, and fortitude in their extra classes, so Jayden was gonna put all that to the test.

He could now even sense slight shifts in the air so this was certainly going to be fun.

"Hey guys, watch me!" Jayden purred and rushed into that platform of traps, mindless of what he was stepping on.

Jayden side-glanced to the left where he felt multiple mana spikes.

He jumped and twisted mid-air just in time with the knowledge of where exactly these blades were coming from.

Six blades flew past Jayden, both below and above him, but he was quick enough to catch one of the daggers before he landed on more trap triggers.

He easily noticed massive mana spikes from the flow and immediately jumped forward, while large blades jutted from the ground where he stood like jagged ice.

"This is way easier than I thought" he smirked mid-air just before sensing a very large mana spike from his peripheral vision.

He turned to see a hammer the size of his body, charging directly at him.

Checkmate.

Jayden grinned, seeing the iron-sharp spikes on the surface of the hammer.

His mind went ahead of time, visualising himself getting smashed by the hammer, then pressed against the wall. Multiple injuries, blood loss, but not if he doesn’t get smashed into pieces. That would just mark THE END of his story.

’Not happening!’ Jayden gathered wind in all his limbs and blasted it downwards.

Action and reactions are equal and opposite, so yes, it pushed him up above the hammer just in time, but the wind also triggered more traps.

Now tens of blades were flying at Jayden from both sides.

Jayden clenched his teeth. If he were higher ranked, he would have easily flown past with flame burst like a rocket in his legs or conjure wind platforms which he could use in running mid air, but pitifully, both of his elements were barely at a supporting level.

All he could do now was try and hope he doesn’t get killed.

He twisted like a tornado mid-air, hitting away the blades with the dagger in his hand at incredible speed, enhanced by the wind.

Jayden landed on the other side of the platform, where the others were, unsure if his eyes or the world had begun spinning.

"Wooo-wo-woaa", he staggered, spinning his hand in circles to regain balance, just before SSS-RANKED Draco caught his shirt and pulled him back.

"You’re not scratching your skin until you’re stronger enough for me to eat, you hear me?"

Jayden swallowed hard and nodded.

Ryan and Tyler began clapping, "Nice performance, Jayden!" Ryan muttered.

"Yeah, if only Zoe were here to see that." Tyler teased.

The group burst into laughter while Jayden felt a bit angry.

If SSS-RANKED Draco knew Jayden had something for Zoe, she might be in danger, but it seemed those two weren’t thinking about that.

Jayden looked through the tunnel. He could see the footprint of the other students. Mr Troy was probably with them and left Team 24 behind since he probably believed they had more than enough protection from their new teammate.

The tunnel was lit up with the dim glow of earth crystals and fire laps held by skeletal arms on both sides of the wall.

"This is an artificial dungeon, still, Grand Tamer Academy did perfectly well at making it terrifying."

"Yeah", Jayden pointed deep into the tunnel, "What are those things?"