Awakened Earth!!

Sophie and I stand outside the entrance to the dungeon known as the Goblin Maze. It appears to be nothing more than a labyrinth of stone walls infested with goblins; however, the dungeon rearranges itself daily. Within the dungeon, it's always night, illuminated by the glow of the full moon. Undeterred, we enter.

The most challenging aspect of this dungeon is its absurdly intricate maze, populated mainly by weak goblins and slimes. Nevertheless, armed with our magical prowess honed through rigorous training, we navigate the maze, dispatching foes with ease. A dungeon of this caliber poses little threat to us, given our S-rank status and the proficiency we've developed over time. While the maze presents its challenges, any adventuring party who has just got there license should manage it, albeit with more difficulty.

Though our strength hasn't notably increased with training, we've become more adept at utilizing our existing abilities. With each creature we vanquish, we naturally grow stronger. Unlike in convenient games with status bars and level indicators, our progress isn't neatly quantified. The concept of "leveling up" stems from pre-awakened video games, where defeating monsters meant becoming stronger.

After wandering around for a few hours, we finally found the boss room. As we entered, the cliché doors closed and sealed themselves shut behind us. The boss, a hobgoblin standing about 10 ft tall, emitted a truly foul odor. Knowing goblins, I instinctively decided to kick things off by firing a fireball at it. But this wasn't just any fireball; it was more akin to a mini blue sun. Upon impact, a violent eruption of flames engulfed the boss monster, reducing it to ashes in mere moments.

After defeating the boss, a teleportation circle appeared, leading us back to the entrance of the dungeon. F-ranked dungeons are primarily training grounds for budding adventurers to hone their skills. Disappointed by the lack of valuable loot, we ventured back in, repeating the process multiple times. Yet, despite our efforts, it seemed like we weren't getting any stronger from the dungeon anymore. Grinding, as it turns out, sucks.

I turn to Sophie and suggest, "Maybe tomorrow we should try a F rank dungeon with the iron golems in it."

She nods, replying, "Those things are pretty sturdy, so we should be able to train better since they won't go down in a single attack."

"If so," "unfortunately, the Mana storm is probably going to get us tomorrow."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," I say. "It doesn't really consistently show up. I mean, it does happen once every 10 years, but it's completely random when it occurs. It could be on the first day of the 10th year or the last day."

Heading back home, Sophie accompanies me. she has her mischievous smile as we enter my house. I take two steps appearing in front of my room and notice Sophie still there, her smile hinting at something more. With a playful grin, I move towards the bed, knowing I'm the one who'll have to make the first move. After the followings six hours of intense passion, the room is left looking as if it's survived several natural disasters.

Afterward, before we could exchange any words, exhaustion takes over, and we both fall asleep almost immediately. When the mana storm hit it is crucial to ensure a safe place to sleep for 48 hours, those who have awakened are not negatively affected by the Mana Storm. Only the F-ranks and children use the shelters, which help maintain their Mana levels at a certain threshold. F-ranked and unawakened can't survive such a huge levels of mana.