I Became A Starter Beast

“Did they listen to you?” Desmond asked once he saw Roxanne enter the staff room.

The young lady nodded, pumping her fist. “Y-Yes, I hammered all the protocols into them!”

“Good.” Desmond smiled before he leaned his back on his seat. “Kids these days feel like they're a wise sage just by being on the internet daily.”

He sighed, continuing, “In the past, if they acted like that, they wouldn't even be let inside the dungeon.”

Roxanne only smiled as she watched as his senior started ranting about 'the old days'. She's already used to this quirk of him, enough for her to max the technique—One Ear to Another.

While Desmond continues his rants, Roxanne's gentle eyes glanced towards the window, outside she could see the resplendent, yet malignant castle.

'Please be safe, you two.'

She hoped her prayer passed through the thick castle wall and reached them.

•••

Twy's tail rapidly twitched as he scratched the fabric of Aster's clothing. 'Are you sure that the emergency button is safe down there in your breast pocket?'

“Don't worry too much about it, it's not gonna break that easily,” Aster assured his partner in a calm voice, before he looked ahead. “For now focus, we're going inside.”

Twy stopped squirming when he heard that, he then closed his eyes and channeled the breathing technique inside his body, purifying the unnecessary thoughts out of his mind.

When he opened them, his aura changed and his tail lowered calmly, he then jumped out of his partner's shoulder, landing on the dusty ground.

Aster unsheathed a sword slung on his hip—one of the things he rented from the guild—before walking towards the interior of the castle.

Twy followed a little behind the young man, guarding his partner's blind spots.

However, after a few minutes of walking, they didn't meet any demons, except for the crumbling statues that depicted their cruelty. All they met were other humans and their contracted beasts, which were holding their laughter after they saw them.

“Newbie.” someone's voice reached their ears.

Twy was the first one to spot that someone, whom are familiar to both of them. 'The bow-bird man!'

The kitten then glared towards the uniquely eyed bird perched on the man's shoulder.

“Hello Senior, thank you for your help a while ago.” Aster bowed his head a little towards him.

The bow-bird man waved it off. “Don't mention it.” his eyes then suddenly narrowed, sending unobservable pressure to the two. “Did you listen to the briefing?”

Aster and Twy made an exhausted expression as they nodded their heads.

“I see...” the man put his fingers under his chin he looked convinced, but his eyes still strained towards them. “What's the first thing you need to do, if you notice something strange here?”

'“Retreat!”' Aster shouted out loud, while Twy did inside his head. 

“What if you're unable to retreat?”

'“Use the emergency button!”'

“What if it was destroyed or malfunctioning?”

'“Shout as hard as we can!”

“Good.” the bow-bird man relaxed his gaze, and he smiled thinly, adding, “I can't confirm if you really listened until I get back to the town, but as long as you knew those you'll have a higher chance of coming back alive. ”

He was about to leave them once again after saying his piece.

However, before he could do so Aster stopped him. “Is it possible to ask you something, Senior?”

The man turned to look at him with his right eyebrow raised.

Seeing his reaction Aster opened his mouth. “Where are the demons? ... and why are those people laughing at us?”

With his eyes, the man first scanned both of them before his brow lowered. “It's because the two of you are too tense.” his lips curled a bit, explaining, ”This area is a safe zone, there's barely any demons in this area. If you're planning to hunt some, you have to head deeper.”

“Thank you for that information, Senior.” Aster sincerely bowed towards him.

The man shook his head. “It's nothing, just cut with the Senior thing, call me Lester instead.”

Lester then turned his back towards them and started walking, but before he could get far his voice reached their ears. “Don't fly too high or you'll get swept by the strong winds.”

“Yes, thank you very much!”

Aster watched as Lester's figure slowly disappeared behind one of the stone pillars of the castle.

Meanwhile, Twy's eyes widened, and his right paw then slapped the ground. 'He's that senior adventurer that's kind to newbies!'

The young man turned to look ahead of them with a determined eyes. “Let's go,” 

The abruptly paused adventure once again continued. This time, however, Aster's shield and sword were not raised as if he were expecting an attack, and Twy went back to his rightful place.

The tip of his tail twitched back and forth as he curiously observed the castle's inner structure from a high vantage point.

They might've looked unguarded with their current stances, but they're still vigilant with their surroundings, that's why they immediately noticed the change in those people who passed them.

'They're not paying attention to us anymore.' Aster realized as he observed them, their swords were sheathed and they mostly had relaxed expressions. 'Looks like what Lester said is true.'

After a long walk, they arrived in front of a large open doors, it is the gate that separates the safe zone from the other area.

The two crossed it without hesitation, and following that they continued to walk until they arrived at a crossroad.

On their right is a seemingly endless hallway, like the one they just passed, it didn't have any windows and all the light comes from the candles burning in their stands which were placed in intervals along the walls.

The left has about 10 meter-long corridor, and unlike the right side, this one has natural light flooding in through its glass windows. At the end of it, is a double door much smaller compared to the one they entered.

'It likely leads to the courtyard.' Aster guessed, before turning his head forward.

There's only silence, the distant sounds coming from the people, beasts, demons, and breeze was suppressed by the dominating presence few steps ahead of them.

It is another hallway, yet barely in the distance, one could see a large metal doors guarded by the two armored figures stading by its sides.

Even though the information of dungeons—like maps—is precious, some knowledge about it still flows unto the surface web. An example of this is the info about the demons living inside.

That is why Aster and Twy knew that what was inside those doors was the boss of the whole castle.

'If its aura is this terrifying, then how powerful was the original demon before this got conquered?' Twy's fur stood on its ends when he thought that.

Aster who sensed his partner's grim curiosity opened his mouth. “If Hooper is a mountain then what's inside there is the sky.”

'Bullshit!' Twy glared at him. 'That means that the first boss is space!?'

“Let's follow our plan.” Aster turned his body towards the left path and started walking in its hallway.

Twy exhaled before he jumped from his shoulder, leading the path forward.

Shortly after they stopped in front of the door. The kitten walked to the side, while Aster put his hands on the door.

•••