Well, did I get an ability or not?

  The answer is: I don’t know.

  "Sigh."

  'I should go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day.'

  I was the first one to sleep. The twins continued their card game, and Edger was reading a book.

  ……….

  “Wake up Haitham,” A voice said.

  Opening my eyes slowly, I saw a pair of green eyes staring into mine. ‘Oh, it’s Art.’

  “Good morning!” Art said.

  “Yeah, good morning,” I replied, still a bit drowsy. Looking through the window I could see that it was still night outside.

  The inn room had only Art and Fin. I couldn’t see Edger anywhere. I got up from bed and went to the bathroom. My clothes were still wet so I didn’t take them. I relieved myself and washed my face and teeth. Exiting the bathroom, I saw Art and Fin eating a few dates and nuts. Art offered me some dates, I was still mad at him, but I took him up on the offer. ‘I think keeping a surface relationship with the group is necessary,’ I thought.

  After we got our bags and Fin and Art wore their armor, we descended the stairs to the ground level. The inn was silent. I saw a few adventurers sitting at tables, but there weren’t many. We met with the rest of the party and set off. Walking the quiet streets, I didn’t see many people, only a couple of patrolling guards, and a baker getting his bakery ready.

  We headed to the east. I got confused so I asked Art, “Weren't we supposed to head to the West gate?”

  “If Captain says go to the West gate, we head to the East one. It's just a secret code to avoid spies,” replied Art.

  “Where are we going exactly?” I asked, not knowing where our next destination was after getting to the gates.

  “We are going to the dungeon that spewed out the Gnolls. We will be entering to kill the remaining Gnolls.”

  I didn’t ask anything after that, not wanting to be chatty with Art. 'From now on I'll only ask necessary questions, no more' I thought.

  Upon reaching the gates, I saw Black Eye standing with two men. The first man was very eye-catching. He didn’t have any armor on, except for very long bracers on his forearms and long greaves. The man was tall but not as tall as Black Eye, and he was good-looking with his long brown hair and manly features. The second guy wore full-body armor made from dark green leather. He had an insignia on his chest with a drawing of a sparkling body of water, I assumed it was the Count’s Family crest.

  “Good morning to you all,” Black Eye said. The party nodded in response.

  “This is his lordness, Count Louis,” Black Eye said, indicating to the man with the long bracers. “He has agreed to grace us by joining our expedition into the dungeon to eradicate the Gnolls. Count Louis is currently at rank 3, he doesn’t want to share his ability but he told me he will be helping us by using his spell casting. Come and introduce yourselves to the Count."

  All party members shook hands with the Count. I shook the Count’s hand and introduced myself.

  “I, Haitham, will be at your service, sir,” I said, the same as the rest of the party as I didn't know how to act with nobles. It was my first time seeing a noble.

  “I’ll be in your care Adventurer Haitham,” said the Count with a small smile.

  I noticed that no one gave out their family names. ‘It seems I’m not the only one without a family name or the others might be hiding theirs’ for a reason. I’m sure Art and Fin should have one as they told me their father was rich, so he should be able to buy one,’ I thought.

  Black Eye continued, “The gentleman next to the Count is, The guard captain of Hama, Captain Sevaris.”

  All of us nodded toward the captain of the city guards.

  “Now, let us get to business. Count Louis has informed me that the dungeon imposes a group limit. No more than eight can enter the dungeon at the same time. So, Fin and Ramses won’t be entering the dungeon with us. But they will join us on the way there,” said Black Eye.

  "Also, I want everyone to check if they have forgotten to bring any necessary equipment. I don't want to return midway to the dungeon because someone forgot his quiver, am I clear?"

  Everyone nodded at Black Eye's question.

  After checking one last time our stuff and talking a bit more about the logistics, we set off. We were accompanied by a dozen city guards who would not be entering with us but would accompany us to the dungeon for the safety of the Count. I walked next to Art, who seemed down after knowing his brother wouldn’t join us. I chose to walk next to him as he would be helpful if I wanted to know anything.

  We circled the city walls to the west gate, and from there, we walked through the plains for half an hour until I saw the dungeon.

  Weirdly enough the dungeon wasn’t a dungeon. It was a lake!

  “I don’t understand. How can a lake be a dungeon?” I asked Art.

  “It’s not a simple lake. It's a lake that has a hidden mini-world inside of it. Humans decided to call them dungeons, as dungeons also hide mysteries. But other nations might call them different names."

  "A hidden mini-world?" I asked, intrigued.

  "Yes, a hidden world. You see, dungeons have many magic affinities, and one of them is illusion magic. When we enter the lake, we will go to an illusionary world, that the dungeon has created,” answered Art.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “An illusionary world? What is that?” I asked, confused.

  “Illusionary worlds are unreal worlds that we perceive through our minds. They are different from dungeon to dungeon. But, in general, an illusionary world is a place where you face adversaries.”

  “Are we going to be fighting the Gnolls in this illusionary world?” I asked, still not understanding the meaning of the illusionary world.

  “No, the Gnolls we want to fight will come out of the dungeon after we clear it.”

  “Clear it? How do we do that?” I asked another question, trying to understand dungeons more.

  Art answered my questions, patiently, “The illusionary word has challenges that we have to complete. After completing the challenges, if none from the party have died, we will be rewarded. But, if we refuse the rewards and try to find the dungeon’s core, the dungeon will feel threatened. When the dungeon feels threatened, it will kick us out from the illusionary world, and send its monsters after us to defend itself. That’s when we kill them.”

  “Why don’t we just threaten the core by destroying the lake?”

  “We can do that, but the lake is made of a very important material. It's made of unrefined Lio.”

  “What?! This is where we get Lio?” I asked, surprised at the unexpected reveal.

  “Yes and no. Unrefined Lio is extracted from lakes deep underground. After the extraction, we dump the unrefined Lio into the dungeon’s lake, and when we do that the dungeon refines the Lio. But, it won't hand out the refined Lio for free, we get the refined Lio if we manage to clear its challenges.”

  I was shocked at the information about the source of refined Lio. ‘Doesn’t this mean that if I want to grow stronger, I’ll have to clear dungeons?’ I thought.

  Before I could ask more questions, Black Eye shouted, “All members of the party, come! The dungeon room is about to start!”

  “What is a dungeon room?” I asked Art as I followed him to where Black Eye and the Count were standing.

  “A dungeon room is a quick meeting between party members before they enter a dungeon,” Art replied in a hurry.

  The party -which consisted of Black Eye, Count Louis, Captain Sevaris, Hugo, Naya, Neymar, Edger, Art, and I- Stood in a circle.

  “Count Louis has entrusted me with the role of leader of this party, so I’ll decide the group’s formation,” Black Eye said.

  “This dungeon is E-tier. The condition to clear it is to kill the dungeon’s boss. Killing the boss shouldn’t be hard as the boss is only a Gnoll behemoth, so the plan is simple. Hugo, you’ll be the team’s tank with Sevaris. behind them will be Edger, Neymar, and I, we will be the melee fighters. The Count will stand in the middle of our group, and even behind him will be Naya, Haitham, and Art as the team’s long-range fighters. Are there any questions?”

  “Won’t there be any scouts?” Edger asked. It was my first time hearing his voice.

  “No need as the illusionary world made by the dungeon should be green plains,” replied Black Eye. “Now for the logistics. Art you’ll be responsible for our stuff and Haitham will be the group’s porter. The count has donated a tier-one healing potion to the party, and with the one we had before, we now have two. The food and water situation is looking good, it should last us two weeks, an overkill as the dungeon should be cleared by the end of the day,” Black Eye briefed us.

  “Now, go, get ready. We will be entering the dungeon in a few minutes,” Black Eye said.

  I felt someone grab my hand and yank me hard. “Come with me,” Art said in a hurry.

  I pulled back but he was much stronger. ‘How can he be that strong with his thin frame,’ I thought.

  “What do you want?” I asked Art, irritated at him for forcefully dragging me.

  “Didn’t you hear Captain? You and I are responsible for the group’s food,” replied Art.

  Art took me to Ramses, who gave us a big bag full of long-lasting food. I carried the bag and another one that had my stuff. The load, combined with my weapons, was heavy, but thanks to my training I could manage. ‘I’ll never forget your kindness Uncle Ghandour,’ I thought when I managed to carry such heavy weights that would have been impossible before Uncle's training.

  After getting the bag, we joined the group. The party was standing in front of the lake with the same formation that Black Eye had given earlier.

  “GO ADVENTURERS!” I heard Black Eye shout and then…

  The group ran the last stretch to the dungeon (lake) spearheaded by Hugo. I was startled at first but managed to gather my shit together and ran after the group.

  Jumping into the water, or should I say the Lio, felt cold. But the sensation lasted for only a moment when…

  Analyzing...

  Human (Early Rank 1):

  Ability Name: Perfect being.

  Rank 1 skill: Awareness Shaper.

  Lio needed till Mid Rank 1: 98%.

  Stats:

  -Physical: 7

  -Mental: 9

  -Magical: 0

  -Spiritual: 23

  I heard a voice in my head. The voice sounded inhumane. ‘Am I going crazy?’ I thought to myself. Looking around I was in a black void with nothing to see but endless darkness. ‘Where am I? Is this the dungeon?’ I thought, starting to get scared that something might have gone wrong. I wanted to shout for help when the inhumane voice came back.

  … finishing analysis.

  Welcome to the GREEN PLAINS dungeon, Adventurer.

  The voice said when my surroundings suddenly changed.

  I was at the back of my party surrounded by green plains. The sun was high in the sky and the weather was perfect, neither hot nor cold.

  “Wow,” was all I managed to say.

  “Yeah, it's an amazing dungeon. By the way, what were your stats like?” Asked Art, hurriedly.

  I ignored Art’s question, asking myself, “I heard a sound inside my head, was that the dungeon’s voice?”

  “Yes, it should have informed you about your skills and stats, so what were your stats like?”

  “Stats? What is that?” I asked.

  “Think about the word “status” in your mind,” Art said.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “Just do what I’m telling you.”

  I did as Art said. Out of nowhere, a floating paper appeared in front of me. I jumped back in surprise.

  “What? Do you see your stats?” Art asked.

  “Yes, how did it appear out of nowhere?” I asked without looking at Art, as I was trying to read what was written on the paper.

  Human (Early Rank 1):

  Ability Name: Perfect being.

  Rank 1 skill: Awareness Shaper.

  Lio needed till Mid Rank 1: 98%.

  Stats:

  -Physical: 7

  -Mental: 9

  -Magical: 0

  -Spiritual: 23

  “Remember, we are in an illusionary world. The world might seem real but it’s not. Now, tell what are your stats?” Art asked, seeming a bit anxious.

  “It says, physical 7 mentat-” But before I could finish speaking, Neymar shouted, “Gnolls sighted! Get into formation.”

  “It seems our safe time is over. You can tell me later about your stats,” Art said, running into his position at the back.

  'I’ll have to ask what all this status stuff means after we finish this fight. If I survive of course…'