Reborn as an Extra Chapter 612: Lia’s Adventure Begins! Part-1.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
As soon as Lia passed through the dungeon entrance, she landed on an enormous sandy shore, with the crashing sounds of ocean waves against the coastline ringing in her ears.
The briny scent of the sea struck her face while a gentle wind made her golden locks flutter in the breeze.
"This is..."
[And exactly as I predicted, that buff dimwit got split from us the instant we entered! I knew it would happen!]
[I had a hunch this was coming!]
With Kai's yells echoing in her mind, Lia swiftly glanced around and saw that she stood completely isolated on this huge beach!
James had vanished entirely, and even the portal that brought her here had sealed shut and faded away in no time!
"Sigh, after facing so many such scenarios, I'm not even anxious anymore..."
Faced with this predicament, Lia shook her head with a sense of resignation.
She'd dealt with comparable separations during adventures alongside Team Astra, so James's absence didn't shock her at all now.
"But the dungeon gate vanishing poses a real issue... it indicates this is one of those dungeons where the exit only emerges after you've triumphed over the boss..."
"And as just an A-ranker, I stand no chance against the boss creatures in an S-rank dungeon..."
[Well, this must be the 'Adaptation' that brawny fool mentioned... the dungeon has tailored itself to match you...]
[It's presented you with a trial... now you either ascend to S-rank and conquer the boss, or you meet your end within these walls...]
[Your fate rests in your hands...]
Those words brought a subtle smile to Lia's lips as she gazed at the endless sea and declared.
"I'll conquer this dungeon whatever it takes... I can't fall here; someone is waiting for me at home, after all..."
An image of a stoic, emotionless face flashed in Lia's thoughts as she boosted the spirit magic flowing to her wings, causing them to expand.
Determination etched on her features, Lia soared into the air, probing the surroundings with her potent spiritual sense.
[S-rank dungeons vary widely in form and function; some plunge you into relentless battles one after another, guiding you directly to the boss...]
[Others mimic complete living worlds with expansive territories and landscapes, complicating the search for the true boss beast...]
[Judging by appearances, this falls into the latter category...]
"Yeah... this'll be a drawn-out adventure..."
Lia had ventured into a comparable dungeon previously with Team Astra while fulfilling requirements for the grand tournament's entry.
The Dungeon of Maya covered thousands of kilometers in scope, and they hadn't scratched its full surface even after extensive exploration.
It recreated a 'moment' from history, featuring a fiercely antagonistic setting packed with formidable beasts.
Yet at that time, Lia was backed by her comrades, and they vanquished it as a unit, but now circumstances had shifted; she faced it solo today!
This was a genuine trial of her endurance skills; a hurdle she needed to surmount to claim her spot among the world's elite S-rankers.
’I detect no monsters within dozens of kilometers nearby... just minor beasts and common wildlife...’
Lia glided above the expansive shoreline, beyond which stretched a broad woodland deeper inland, growing thicker the more it distanced itself from the water's edge.
’Don't tell me I'm at the fringe of an entire continent, forced to trek to its heart to locate the boss monster...’
For an S-ranker, such a distance would be trivial, but at her peak A-rank power, traversing thousands of kilometers could prove perilously risky.
Assuming the boss lurked at the core, of course; if elsewhere, the dangers would adjust based on the circumstances.
[The concentration of mana and elementals here is notably dense, as expected in a typical S-rank dungeon, but something feels off...]
Kai's following statement caused Lia's eyes to widen in alarm and vigilance.
[I sense a subtle hint of 'Miasma' lingering in the atmosphere...]
"So this dungeon harbors demons and beasts tainted by miasmic decay..."
[Even worse... there's apparently a creature able to unleash potent waves of miasmic corruption through the air, dispersing it far and wide...]
[I can trace the miasmic currents originating from farther inland and wafting outward...]
"A miasmic plague?... Or maybe a lone mighty demon.... With such proficiency in spreading this miasmic rot..."
Staring toward the distant skyline, uncertainty crossed Lia's expression as she whispered,
"Could there be a demonized 'Wind Dragon' lurking in this dungeon?..."
Dragons rank among the mightiest beings across the universe, with every mature one holding S-rank prowess, capable of climbing to the pinnacle of S-rank over time, and a few even shattering into SS-rank.
As a highly perceptive race, dragons rarely succumb to miasmic taint in recorded history, since they can deftly evade it.
The Dragon Valley stays aloof from global conflicts; they sat out the millennium-long demon purge war and seldom venture from their domain.
Thus, demons rarely target them, and miasma hardly ever corrupts their kind.
However, during the demon extinction war, a wayward wind dragon fell into the demon king's clutches and underwent demonization.
That beast turned into a roving disaster for the allied forces, spreading corruption across thousands of kilometers via his 'World Authority' over the winds!
Ultimately, the Dragon King intervened personally to confront and liberate his soul at last.