T/W: Blood, Gore, Foul Language

Penn paused as he and Nathan reached the mountain's peak, needing clarification about how to proceed. Inside what looked to be a crater that resembled the inside of a volcano was a minor valley with the same tall purple grass but more sparse between the red and orange rocks. A few large stone slates jetted from the ground and seemed to lead to dens below ground.

"The horde waves will come from each of the dens," Nathan pointed to them in order that the waves will come out. "The largest one is where the boss will come out. He's the first to enter the field to give you time to adjust to fighting him before the waves of smaller monsters will come out. It's a set fighting area inside the crater. If you leave the area, they won't chase you, but you'll have to start the final boss fight from the start. We can't leave until we defeat the boss."

"Are all dungeons laid out like this?" Penn asked, noting the distance between the dens to figure out how much fighting room he had.

"No, not all gates lead to dungeons. That's why we use the two words separately. One does not equate to the other," Nathan replied, nodding his head down the mountain. Penn turned around to look at the view and frowned. He had thought it was just a grassy valley, but the above view showed otherwise. It was like he was looking at an archeology site with stone layouts from remnants and ruins of what must have been a building.

"You get it? This whole place was a stone dungeon at the base of the mountain. It's nothing but overgrown remains of a labyrinth, now. Someone or something manufactured this area. Have you noticed yet? Not once have we seen the sun or the landscape past the mountain."

Penn snapped his head and looked around, then looked up at the overcast sky. Even the wind, he finally noticed, was stale. They weren't outside. It wasn't real - only manufactured to imitate the outdoors.

"Gates are open terrains, which is why this place gets called a gate a lot - because it looks like one. They are natural environments that are explorable. Dungeons have set boundaries, always enclosed spaces with no way out except how you came in. Keep that in mind because some can trick you, and they aren't always as obvious as this one," Nathan stated in a flat tone while he looked at Penn, who nodded in thanks. 

"What's the game plan?" Penn asked, eyeing Nathan as he spun the sword like someone fiddling with a pen through their fingers. 

"The boss comes out once we get close to his den. We're both going to hit him, me from the top and you from the bottom. He's just a larger version of the unniebits, but he stands on his hind two legs. His chubby belly will stick out more, making it the biggest and easiest target for a newbie. I'd like you to focus on understanding your abilities and how they work with hunter-based weapons and aim for all his lower regions. I'm going for his top half. It'll piss him off, but I'll pull tank and deal DPS with Force."

"What about the monster waves?" Penn nodded towards the smaller dens. Nathan slowly smirked and shrugged.

"If you deal enough damage, the boss will go down for a while. But, if we don't deal enough damage, just focus on the boss. He'll slow down during that time, and I'll focus on wiping out all the small fry," Nathan replied with a cynical tone.

"Will you be able to handle it?" Penn asked in a concerned voice. He was only one man after all, even if he was apparently a rank S. Nathan laughed so loud it bounced and echoed off the crater around them, his eyes curving into half-moons.

"It'll be a breeze for me, no worries. Just focus on playing your part, and spatial guide me in small bursts during those waves. It'll be easier to split your focus during that time since the boss will be in a confused state," Nathan commented as he stepped forward. He paused as he looked over his shoulder back at Penn, flashing a charming smile. "I'll blow them all away."

Penn nodded with a frown. He was not a fan of the plan that focused on Nathan taking all the focus and damage of the monsters, but he understood it was because he technically wasn't a Hunter. He didn't have that innate speed, increased damage, or better regeneration that comes with being an esper. He was just a civilian with military training. It would take more work for him even to be anywhere close to the level of a low-rank Hunter.

Penn stretched his neck, rolled his shoulders, and cracked his knuckles. He picked up and inspected both his hunter knife and one-handed crossbow. He took a deep breath to steady himself, thinking over his previous training. He still felt uncomfortable. Honestly, though Nathan had taken the time again and again to explain everything to him so patiently - it didn't feel like proper training. It only felt like he was simply evaluated once or twice and then thrown to the wolves for someone's amusement. 

"Let's start, then," Penn stated, walking forward to the largest den in the middle of the crater. Nathan's lips slid into a long, thin line as he followed behind without a word. As they both approached the center den, the air around them felt heavy and thick with tension. The scattered, shorter blades of grass swayed in the slow, stale breeze, and the uneven, stony ground shook slightly. A rumbling slowly grew louder from below, and Penn's grip tightened on his hunter knife, his body tense.

"Dear Guide, do remember that you only need to focus on the lower half," Nathan said in a chipper voice, excitement creeping in. "You don't need to worry about anything else. I'll handle it all."

"Yes, Nathan," Penn complied in a steady voice, his eyes locking on where the boss would emerge momentarily. His pulse quickened, his heart beat wildly in his chest, his vision narrowed, and he attempted to redirect his anxiety. There was no turning back, no exiting this dungeon until every last monster was taken care of.

A loud roar echoed off all the rocks, piercing their ears and causing Penn to flinch. Over two stories tall, a massive, steel-black creature crawled out from the center den. This was a dominus unniebit? It looked nothing like the other creatures they fought at the gate entrance. That massive horn in the center of its head split and curled into two. 

The usually floppy rabbit ears stood straight backward like a husky on edge. Its beady red eyes glowed like an emergency exit sign in a dark hallway. That steel-black metallic fur was noticeably sharp, and its rabbit-like face was grotesquely squished inward like a pug. Its protruding belly put weight on its hind legs, causing the ground to shake with each step. 

"Strike!" Nathan yelled excitedly, speeding past Penn with only a few long steps. He leaped off the ground and bounced from boulder to boulder like an action hero. Penn noticed Nathan's feet glowing red, using his Force to launch himself into the air, directly above the unniebit. With a solid kick at nothing, he hurled straight down, aiming at the head of the dominus and striking it in the head.

Nathan hissed, and the monster growled when his sword didn't penetrate the hardened fur. Penn used this distraction to lunge forward, keeping low and his knife ready. He rolled behind the boss's legs, and with a quick swipe of the blade, he slashed the back of its knees. 

The boss brought its heavy back paws down, slamming into the ground, shaking Penn's footing, and dropping him to his knees. As he fell forward, he stabbed the knife into the top of the unniebits foot. It kicked out at him, but Penn rolled to the side, pushing himself back up and running into a blind spot. With the agro momentarily focused on him, the monstrous rabbit swiped at him with its front paws, narrowly missing him by mere inches.

Nathan landed on the dominus' head, blocking its view of Penn and slashing his glowing sword into its left eye. Monster debris splattered all over Nathan's excited face, who continued as if nothing had touched him. Nathan pulled it out and brought it down its forehead. A sickening crack echoed around them as Nathan laughed, all while the dominus screamed, stumbling backward and almost crushing Penn as it attempted to shake Nathan off.

Nathan kept up his relentless attacks, quickly running across the back of the now fallen-forward monster. He reached the center of its spine and dug his sword into its hilt using his Force. Taking one hand off, he pulled the sword upward to the base of the monster's neck, opening up the insides of its back to the air.

Penn jogged in circles around its back half, pulling out his crossbow and firing a few shots at the exposed behind. Once emptied of the preloaded shots, he reattached it to his hip before running forward and thrusting his knife in deep, pulling it out and impaling it over and over again in an attempt to disable the unniebit's legs. Thanks to Nathan's distraction, Penn could focus enough to push through the metallic-like fur.

"The wave is coming!" called Nathan, standing on the boss monster's back. Penn nodded and stepped back, surveying around him as he mentally prepared himself for the smaller creatures to appear. He quickly reloaded his crossbow, cleaned the blood off the hunter knife using his pants, and wiped his sweaty hands on his shirt.

"I'm ready."