Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
Footsteps suddenly echoed inside the eerie, cold mountain cave, like a window creaking randomly in the dead of night, causing people to feel a sense of dread and their hair to stand on end.
"Who!"
"Who's there!"
Noelle and Ellin stepped forward, shielding everyone behind them.
Their not-so-broad backs, however, gave the three people behind them a strong sense of security.
So, the five of them took out their weapons and vigilantly watched the front, ready to deal with any enemy emerging from the darkness at any moment.
"No need to be nervous, it's me."
Arkz walked from the depths of the mine shaft, holding a torch. The rock wall around the corner had blocked his figure and the torchlight, which is why the five only heard his voice but couldn't see him.
Seeing everyone tense and ready for battle, Arkz nodded and said:
"Very good, your vigilance is quite sharp."
"Put away your weapons."
"Next, I will lead you to familiarize yourselves with this underground world."
Just as everyone was about to put away their weapons, Fischl suddenly stepped out and questioned loudly:
"Wait!"
"I heard there are monsters that can disguise themselves as humans. How can you prove that you are the real Arkz!"
The others were startled upon hearing this. Fischl had worked in the Adventurer field for many years and had the richest combat experience among the five. Therefore, when they heard Fischl's doubt at this moment, their first reaction was not to refute, but to choose to believe.
Although Fischl sometimes said things that were hard to understand, as a member of the Five-Color Squad at this moment, the others were willing to trust her.
Seeing everyone aiming their weapons at him again, Arkz helplessly raised his hands in surrender.
Barbara's Catalyst floated beside her, Fischl's arrow shimmered with cold light, Ellin and Noelle stood firmly at the front, while Klee held her jumpy dumpty bomb, eager to go.
A Guardian, a Healer, a Mage, and a Ranged attacker—the initial form of a fully equipped Adventurer team was taking shape.
Although the five of them had not yet cultivated tacit understanding among themselves, they instinctively adopted the most suitable formation at the moment, which made Arkz very happy.
After all, teaching geniuses gives a greater sense of achievement than teaching a bunch of idiots.
"How do I prove I am myself?"
Arkz pondered for a moment and said, "Before I sent you all here, I placed a Geo Elemental shield on each of you."
After speaking, Arkz activated the Geo Elemental Power within his body to resonate with the shields on Barbara and the others, proving the truth of his words.
Seeing the shields on their bodies continuously flashing on and off under the control of the person in front of them, the five finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Watching the five relax, Arkz took out five torches from his backpack, lit them one by one, and distributed them to them.
"This Underground Mine is dark and gloomy. Without the light of a torch, it is very easy to trip over the loose stones on the path."
"This was once a huge mine that was abandoned not long ago."
"To mine, the miners dug out many tunnels in this Underground Mine. These tunnels vary in size, some are interconnected, and some are dead ends. Various paths intertwine, making them intricate. If one is not very familiar with this place, it is easy to get lost."
"So, remember to stick close to me and don't fall behind."
Arkz led the five forward while introducing the situation of the Underground Mine to them.
The gloomy environment, accompanied by Arkz's low voice, brought a strange sense of oppression to the group.
The mine tunnels were equipped with lighting devices at intervals, but due to lack of maintenance, some lighting devices were damaged, flickering with dim light, which further deepened the psychological pressure on everyone.
Ellin, walking at the tail end of the team, felt a chill. It seemed like a terrifying monster was watching her from behind, causing her to involuntarily quicken her pace.
Noelle, in front of Ellin, noticed this and actively suggested:
"Ellin, let's switch positions."
"You are wearing such heavy armor, and the path in this mine is so rugged, and you are at the end of the team."
"If you fall behind due to exhaustion, it will be very easy to get separated."
Although she was very tempted by Noelle's suggestion, after careful consideration, she still shook her head and sincerely refused.
"Thank you, Noelle, but it's not necessary."
"See this armor on me? Its DEF is super great! Even if a monster attacks from behind, my armor will easily block it."
"Besides, I train wearing this armor every day, so I'm used to it."
Noelle offered her good intentions to switch positions with Ellin. Although she was refused, she wasn't angry; instead, she developed a better impression of Ellin.
"Willing to block attacks from behind for a teammate, Ellin will definitely become an excellent Knights of Favonius,"
Noelle thought sincerely.
She herself did not have a forceful personality. Although she was quite worried about Ellin, she could not bring herself to forcibly make Ellin switch positions with her. Thus, Noelle kept turning back to check on Ellin's situation.
Whenever Ellin saw Noelle turn around with that concerned look in her eyes, her expression became somewhat unnatural, and the cheek hidden beneath her armor flushed.
After traveling through the deep, dark tunnel for about half an hour, the group finally arrived at the miners' abandoned camp under Arkz's guidance.
"Alright, this is our temporary camp. I have cleared out the monsters in the vicinity, so you can rest here with peace of mind."
Hearing Arkz say this, the five people's tightly strung nerves finally relaxed. Constantly being vigilant against potential monster attacks from the darkness had been quite draining for them.
At this moment, hearing Arkz say they could rest, fatigue couldn't help but show on their faces.
Actually, that period of traveling through the tunnel was a test for the group by Arkz. He could have completely used teleport scrolls to transport them all to the abandoned camp, but he deliberately sent them to a mine shaft far away from the abandoned camp.
The purpose was to assess the group's adaptability to the Underground Mine environment.
The environment of the Underground Mine was special—no sunlight and far from human habitation. It seemed that because no one could see them in the darkness, the monsters in the Underground Mine all looked strange and bizarre.
Compared to them, the masked Hilichurls in the wild looked somewhat cute.
Fortunately, they were worthy of being Vision holders. Even the young Klee performed excellently in this test. Ellin's performance was even more satisfactory to him, making his painstaking teaching worthwhile.
"Everyone, before resting, let's take attendance. Report your numbers!"
Arkz urged the group to stand in a line. Looking at a certain figure in the crowd, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
Although it was clear that such a small number of people could be counted at a glance, the group still obediently complied with Arkz's request to report their numbers.
Klee: "1"
Barbara: "2"
Ellin: "3"
Fischl: "4"
Noelle: "5"
Xiao: "... 6"
Klee put on a serious face and marched in a straight line to Arkz with great presence.
"Report, Brother Arkz!"
"Expected attendance: 5 people. Actual attendance: 6 people. Awaiting instructions!"
Arkz nodded and said, "Good job, little Klee. You can step down."
"Yes!"
Klee trotted back to the team.
Fischl poked Barbara's arm and whispered, "This little Klee, there are clearly five people, how can she count six?"
Barbara nodded and said, "When we get back, I'll ask Sister to assign Klee more math homework. She can even get basic addition and subtraction within ten wrong. How could our team..."
Fischl & Barbara: "(Ω Д Ω)!!!"
------------------------
I've posted 40+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"