The first floor of the dungeon was bustling with activity as groups of adventurers explored and hunted monsters.

  Draco assessed the crowded area, realizing they would draw too much attention if they engaged in bat there.

  "Let's go that way," Draco addressed his group, gesturing towards the staircase leading to the sed floor.

  "We o find a quieter spot to begin hunting and practig without drawing too many eyes." he said.

  Eleni looked ed. "What about the pn? Aren't we supposed to start on the first floor?" she asked.

  Draodded. "We still execute the pn on the sed or even third floor. It'll be better to avoid the crowds for now." he replied.

  As the group made their way dowairs, Draoticed his familia members seemed nervous and overly cautious.

  They were quite strong for newbies, that much was true but this was their first dungeon dive, so it was natural to be a bit wary.

  "Rex," Draco reassured them.

  "Monsters don't spawn that fast on the first few floors. We'll be fine." he said.

  Rose had warhem about the dangers of ceiling and floor spawns, and now ihick of the dungeon, their senses were heightened.

  "But what if a goblin pops up and suddenly grabs my legs?" Eleni muttered anxiously.

  "Then use your seo listen and watch for any sudden ges. Stay alert, but don't let fear paralyze you." Nikoos replied.

  Cir pced a f hand on Eleni's shoulder.

  "We've got each other's backs. Just focus on what you've trained for, and we'll get through this together." she said.

  Draco could tell that they were just trying to mask their own fear by reassuring Eleni but there was nothing he could say to fort them.

  They were just going to have to adapt to the nature of the dungeon.

  Soon after the group reached the sed floor, Draco held up a hand, signaling them to stop.

  “Wh……” Vasileios wao asked, but Draco stopped him.

  "Shh, we're here," he whispered, spotting a group of five goblins in the distance.

  "So, who wants to try their skills first?" Draco asked in a hushed tone.

  Michalis raised his hand eagerly. "Me, I want to try my magic." Draodded in approval.

  Draco then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, fog his mind.

  He began sending out a subtle pulse of energy, a delicate application of his mind trol teique.

  The pulse radiated outward, enpassing the surrounding area in a gentle wave.

  As the energy entered objects, living creatures, and potential threats, Draind received a detailed outline of their shapes and locations.

  It was a simple yet effective teique, allowing him to survey the enviro.

  While the basid pulse was not particurly energy-intensive, Draew it carried certain risks.

  The emission could potentially be detected by energy-sensitive beings, effectively signaling his position.

  However, given their current position on the early floors, such s were not pressing for the moment.

  Draco had another, more refined method at his disposal.

  By imbuing the pulse with elemental energy, he could cloak the energy signature, blending it seamlessly with the natural energies of the enviro.

  This teique was far less spicuous, but it also demanded greater effort, trol and mind on his part.

  As the expanded awareness filled Draco's senses, he carefully cataloged the information, searg for any signs of potential threats or points of i.

  ‘There doesn’t seem to be many other monsters in the immediate viity’ Draco thought.

  He had sensed several other humanoid shapes but they weren’t an immediate threat, so he determihat it was safe to practi the goblins.

  “Michalis, yily works on a siarget at a time right?” Draco asked, trying to recall the details of the skill.

  “No, I probably hit multiple targets” Michalis replied.

  "Alright, Vasileios and Cir, I need you two to kite the goblins and draw their aggro, while Michalis prepares his spell." he instructed.

  Cir and Vasileios nodded, immediately springing into a.

  Cir slowed her pace, allowing Vasileios to take the lead and pull the goblins' attention.

  "I've got your back, Vasileios," Cir called out, readying her spear.

  She was aware that Draco had sent her along with Vasileios even thought she wasn’t a tank, because she was to act as backup if Vasileios got overwhelmed.

  “Take your time casting, there is o rush and screw up the spell” Draco advised Michalis.

  He was aware that if Michalis screwed up his spell t, an Ignis Fatuus might occur, so he stuck close to Michalis.

  Michalis nodded, his brow furrowed in tration as he ted slowly.

  Eleni watched anxiously, her hands trembling slightly in worry as she watched the walls and ground around them.

  Nikoos pced a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

  "Stay alert, Eleni, but don't let fear trol you. Trust in your training and in your familia." he said.

  Eleni took a deep breath and nodded, her expression taking a calmer demeanour.

  Dimitra, Nikoos and Vasiliki, positiohemselves, ready to provide support and cover if needed.

  Draco extended his senses once more, making sure hreats had spawned or were approag.

  He was impressed by his familia's discipline and focus, despite their his was their first true test, and he khey were ready.

  ………………………………………….

  Vasileios upon arriving at the goblins' location, immediately activated two of his skills: Durability Augmentation and Thymoeidis Kraugí.

  As the first skill activated, a silver glow enveloped his entire body, increasing his durability much to his own surprise and that of the others watg.

  Vasileios had utilized this skill as he was unsure of how hard the dungeon goblins would hit pared to their surface terparts, having been warhat the former were signifitly stronger.

  The sed skill, Thymoeidis Kraugí, immediately drew the aggro of all five goblins, who could not peel their eyes away from Vasileios and pouo attack him.

  Bang! Bang! Scree!!

  The goblins screeched as they pounded upon Vasileios' spike shield. However, to his relief, their strikes were not as powerful as he had anticipated.

  ‘They aren't hitting as hard as I expected,’ Vasileios thought, feeling more fident. He pushed back against the goblins with his spiked shield, leaving wounds oag creatures.

  As the taunt duration ended, some of the goblins broke off to attack Vasileios from the side, sensing that they were the oaking more damage from the frontal assault.

  But Cir was ready, her ological Acceleration skill active, allowio speed up her personal time frame and easily predict the goblins' movements.

  With the range provided by her long spear, she effortlessly cut off the goblins attempting to fnk Vasileios.

  "Michalis aren't you do. I might just have to kill these goblins myself at this rate," Vasileios taunted, pulling out his short sword.

  An annoyed vein appeared on Michalis' head upon hearing this.

  ‘Damn, spell ting is so slow. If I used my daggers, I might have already killed all the goblins by now,’ Michalis thought.

  Determio prove his prowess, Michalis fihe st verse of his t.

  "Kurai no Tsurugi....." Immediately, fgers made of darkness materialized and began floating around him.

  ‘Hmm, is 4 his current limit?’ Draco thought, iing the daggers.

  "Go," Michalis muttered, a sinister grin on his face as he directed the fgers towards the goblins.

  The dark daggers moved swiftly, and soon three goblio the ground, the daggers impnted in their heads.

  ‘Huh, why did he direct the st oo the ground, don't tell me...’ Draco thought, but before he could finish the thought, Michalis disappeared from his initial location, enveloped in a cloak of darkness.

  Swish!!

  Michalis reappeared betwee two goblins, where he had directed his fourth dagger to nd earlier.

  Stab!! Stab!!

  With a swift motion, he used his two daggers to stab both goblins behind their skulls, killing them immediately.

  "Hehehe, awesht?" Michalis bragged, expeg praise.

  Draco let out a resigned sigh, shaking his head in exasperation.

  ‘If I don’t correct it, this boy is going to get himself killed," he thought, his suspis firmed as he observed Michalis staggering after exeg the sed effect of his magic skill.

  Michalis was showing signs that he was close to a mind down.

  "What did you expect?" Draarked, his tone ced with a hint of dession.

  "A teique like shadow teleportation would obviously e a substantial amount of energy. With your meager reserves, did you truly believe you could pull it off without sequence?" he asked.

  “……..” Michalis couldn’t reply. He could tell that his brother was very angry with him.

  Draco's brow furrowed as he regarded Michalis.

  "You should have knower than to attempt such a demanding maneuver, especially when you don’t know if any monsters could suddenly spawn," he tinued, his words measured and critical.

  "Recklessly pushing your limits will only lead to your downfall, something I had hoped you would have learned by now." he said.

  Michalis could only stare at the ground, his ears and tail drooping, a bit scared to look up at the fuming Drabsp;

  The others stood still no one daring to interrupt him.

  "If you ot learn to temper your ambition with prudence, I fear the day will e when your overfidence will be your undoing," he stated, the weight of his words heavy in the air between them.

  “Draco, please that’s enough. You scold him some more whe back to the surface” Cir pleaded.

  “Sigh, go to the back. You will be on the support team till you recover” he instructed Michalis.

  Michalis simply nodded, pig up the goblin magic stones and walked towards the back.

  “Sorry” he muttered as he passed Draco but, Draco didn’t respond.

  “Let’s go” Draco said, direg the group towards another monster group that he had sensed earlier.

  “Thank you” Michalis whispered to Cir as they walked.

  “Just don’t do such a silly thing again. You know that Draco is always watg out for us” Cir whispered.

  “Hmm, I know. Sorry” Michalis replied.

  “Good” Cir said, nodding in approval.