The First King of Beasts

Dustin at this point had been travelling through this endless darkness for more than two months and some weeks, and it was showing absolutely no signs of ending soon. The good for now was that what seemed like he wasn't moving had stopped, and he could actually see himself getting closer to the lit part ahead of him.

After a few more days of none stop travel, Dustin finally got to the lit part, and truly it was like the sun was near. The cold was still very present, but he could tell that what produced the light in the sky was the sun, even though he still hadn't seen it over the horizons.

Dustin made a quick look around, and the cool breeze blew over the lonesome grass and trees, he felt ever so alone for some time in a while. There was no need to be so vigilant he couldn't sleep properly anymore, as he felt himself relax a bit, ever so slightly. Despite the peace he felt here, there was no way he was about to stop half way. He had just gotten to the starting point as far as he was concerned.

Even though he saw a lit area from afar, getting here he realized that what he had seen was more of a show of what lied ahead, and the area he was in now was only something of an outskirt of the main place, so with that Dustin didn't spend more time dilly-dallying, greener pastures awaited him in front.

Through the peaceful and dull land Dustin travelled upon after coming out of the darkness, it took him nothing less than another month of constant travel to reach a location where he could call the start of his destination. He did stop from time to time to rest, mostly after days of endless travel, but looking at the scene before his eyes, it was worth it.

'This kind of reminds me of the first time I made my way up the mountain.' Dustin said in his mind. Before him was a land that much like the one he just came out of was nothing but endless grass lands, but this one held something different, a sun above it's skies. From where he stood, Dustin could clearly see the sun light shinning from well over the horizon, and he could finally say he had arrived at his destination.

"Even after all that, its still the same shit here as well. What the actual fuck is this place?" Dustin said, his heart pounding a tad bit harder, and the urge to punch the ground growing just a little bit.

After spending all that time moving, none stop at that, he still hadn't gotten anywhere close to getting out of this accursed place. It was just one false hope after another, and he felt like he was making no progress, just standing at the same spot.

Dustin was the calm type that was very strong mentally and wouldn't let most things get to him, but being kept in a place trapped in a place like this with no sign that he can return was something that pushed his endurance to the max. Even the strongest people have something they care about, and when that particular thing is inserted into the grand equation, they don't tend to hold on for long.

At this moment, Dustin had been walking on this land with the ball of sun handing far away head of him for weeks. It was right in front of him, but still, he was getting nowhere. At this moment, Dustin was not even sure anymore what he was meant to do for him to be able to leave this place, or even where he was supposed to go. Before, he was sure the answer would lie towards the light, as everything in fantasy does, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe it lied in the darkness, or maybe, maybe it was nowhere.

.

.

"FUCK THIS!!!" Dustin screamed while on his knees with his hands placed on the ground before him, shaking slightly like he had been subjected to immense cold.

"What is all this? Where the fuck was I taken!? Where the hell am I supposed to go?" Dustin yelled in frustration. Anger was whirling within him, and even now he was still approaching his boiling point.

The salvation he so yearn for turned out to be only an illusion. He complained of endless nights an cold that caused the skin to turn pale, but even now, he couldn't say which was better, now that he was here under the light, which was also endless. There was no knowledge of morning or night, even now, Dustin was unsure of how long he had been in this land, but he was sure that it had been nothing less than four months.

'Wouldn't everything be over by now? What's the point of all this?'

It was simply pitiful, the situation he found himself.

...

"How's our guy doing?"

"The unseriousness you always show... I am unable to locate him anywhere, he seemed to have completely vanished somehow."

"What? What do you mean by vanish? Did you check the entire surface? That place is made of endless lands that have no water or caves or anything like that, how could he have gone missing?" The messenger spoke in a cold tone.

'... He can be scary when he wants to.' "Calm down sir, I am still on it, but for now this is the report. I will definitely continue to search."

"..."

"I will take my leave."

...

Throughout the endless journey that never seemed to end, Dustin had reached the point where he had ran out of food and water, and was just walking about dehydrated, and with an empty stomach. His cheeks had sunken in, and his jaw line that remained somehow smooth and curved even after becoming a man had become as prominent as ever. If not for the muscles even, he would be a prime subject for the science class expository. Even the muscles had almost disappeared.

"What is that?" Dustin's eyes narrowed as he stared into the distant.

He couldn't completely make out what it was, but from what he could see, it definitely was a new structure from what he was used to seeing. From so far out, he could only make out some detail about the structure, but nothing more. Seeing this ignited something within Dustin, perhaps something that had died a long time ago. There was no need to walk faster though, as he just was unable to. With the way this place worked, it would take him longer than supposed to before he reaches the structure, so there was no need to hurry unnecessarily.

At this point where Dustin had completely forgotten just how long he had been trapped in this place, nothing seemed too close or too far, and nothing moved his heart much enough to agitate his spirit anymore. The only thing driving him forward was his yearn for freedom, to break out of this place return to earth, and get back to earth. Once he was back, he would be able to change his life and his brother's. This was also why he made it a goal to reach level 100 as fast as possibly can, since being a progenitor also came with an interesting and helpful trait.

"I have to reach that place no matter what."

...

Back in the towers, the willow group seemed to be making good progress without any interference. Contrary to what Mizu and Raven thought, the other challengers of the dungeon weren't the hostile bunch, and everyone minded their own business. When a group was done with whatever they were doing, they would simply leave, and no troubles would be stirred up. This was the case until the willow group left, but whether or not it remained like that didn't matter, what mattered was that they had done what they came there to do.

In the tower where the genan group was, their eleventh floor wasn't as peaceful, and the people there maintained hostility towards each other, and there were even a few scuffles and fights.

"Hey Benny, come over." A voice whispered, as the figure pushed it's back upon a wall, trying to hide from something.

"What's it kid? Speak to-" Before he could say more, a giant tail with a stinger on it went past him with the force enough to pierce a boulder, but lucky enough, the man's reflexes were good enough, and he just barely shifted his body out of the way before the tail got to him. 'Fuck! That was close. I think the plan has gone to dusts now.'

"Fuck it! We've been found out now! Guys, position!" The voice from before that whispered said out loud.

Just then, two other people appeared from behind another wall and stood behind the young man.

"Benny, we're ready! What now?" The young man asked.

"Well fuck it kid, now we take down that monster."