"Nick should we just turn back now."
There was a momentary silence followed by his response, "I do not mean to put you guys on the spot, but the village trusted us with this mission, that should be carried out fully. What happens if it turns out we just panicked and ran, and used up our villages only stones, and when we reach the outside, monster activity resumes. I say we should just go deep enough to be sure it is not coincidence."
They are all brave, even shy Folisha, because they knew what was at stake, but even they were getting reprehensive about the situation. With the fear in their hearts, they chose to be silent and sleep, allowing the first one to start the lookout shift, because before even coming here, they knew there was always a chance of death.
"Arduo, Arduo… wake up"
She was stirred from her slumber by Max who had just finished his shift.
"…I'm up."
While starring into the darkness she started to think about the dream she just had. She has always been pessimistic, choosing to say few words about her concerns to not bring the mood down. When she slept though, she was mostly embraced by the sweet wishes of how she wished things could be like. Tonight, if it even was night, she dreamt about her parents. They were gone, thus making her dream more melancholic. She stared at Nick, who was shifting in his sleep, probably on another big adventure, a bit childish for a full-grown adult. Max was still trying to sleep, but with how they all trained for such things, he would be gone in a few minutes. Ansi was surprisingly asleep, she usually gets up to talk with her during her shift. Morning, or at least by the looks of their sleeping cycle hourglass, had come. 'Poor Folisha', looks like she's more nervous than Arduo had thought, she was still up.
"You should really try to sleep you know, there's about two hours left."
After a bit of silence, she shifted and sat up, "… It's kind of hard to sleep in a dungeon, but don't worry I just woke up now, and the anxiety has taken my desire to sleep, I might get nightmares if I try to sleep again."
'Well, at least she's well enough to joke.'
"It is, carrying the sleeping bags with us might slow us down though. Anyway, you seem to be scared by most things, so why did you want to be with our party, with that skill of yours, you could have found a safer duty at the village."
Folisha seemed to hesitate, she had not talked too much in the five years. She was not keen on sharing her dislike for her parents leaving the city, but she was too scared to sleep, but too tired to dodge the question, "I want to be strong enough to one day try out to be a Knight."
That was not at all what Arduo had expected. She thought she might say something like not wanting to stay cooped up in a building, since she did express an interest of the outdoors. Even saying Max as a reason, would have been a sound answer. But what she said was insinuating that she not only wants to leave the village but also attempt to become a knight. 'That sounds more like Nick' but realising that she had fallen silent she answered in a rush.
"I have a newfound respect for your courage."
"Really? I thought you would reprimand me."
Looking away from the fire, she asked.
"What gave you that idea?"
"Max says I should stay with the village, since I'll have him as my knight."
She chuckles, as she always does when she was trying to drown out the voice of fear in her head.
"Seriously though, I thought that you don't like it when someone puts themselves in danger. And seeing that I'm out here risking my like for a seemingly futile goal as becoming a knight."
Arduo flashed a smile and said, "You're right, I don't like it when people I love risk their lives, after all that's how my folks died. You see that idiot over there, dreaming about adventure and glory? I don't like him risking his life as he always does but I do not think that I should trample on his dream. So, instead I became strong with him, so that I will be there when he needs me. This is also why I said I have respect for your courage. You are someone I would rather not see die, however, unlike Nick, you are afraid but still going through with it. Don't get me wrong, he is afraid, but you have less experience than he does in such things, but you still want to for your desire trumps your fear. All this means is that I will have to be strong enough to watch over you too. Oh no! I am rambling."
These four had trained hard with each other, each already above level 25. All pushing each other forward.
Folisha looked at Arduo with a hint of relief, seeing that, now she knows that Max and Arduo were not going to laugh, even though they both seem to be against her risking her life.
"Thank you. Also, I do not mind your rambling, you usually keep to yourself."
"Stop that, I was just talking because this place has me out of sorts too."
They talked the hour away, soon waking up the others and preparing to leave.
They lit the torch, turned off the fire, revised their mission, their battle protocols and formations. With that Nick led them deeper, with his sword in hand.
After a while Nick stopped them, looking back he saw that they had seen it too. Most of the bones around were decayed, meaning that this has been a process at hand for a long time. The deeper they went the deadlier the remains looked, and somehow, they looked more intact that the above ones, as if there is a force slowly slaughtering downwards. This is in line with the usual reports when a dungeon is about to expand. Their village was small, but they knew that much.
The only reason they had to push further was that they had not seen how deep this wash already was. They already knew about how deep an abysmal dungeon is and by going deeper until they saw their first monster and hastily escape, they would be able to estimate about how much time the village has left. These were standard calculations that were still an estimation at best, but they gave a picture of how many options the village has. Now thought, it had been all but confirmed that the dungeon is in the process of expanding, unbelievable as it might sound, considering that they were in an abysmal dungeon.
Nick and the others knew what was coming, but as scouts they had to get as much useful information as they could, before being teleported out when done. However, this is an abysmal dungeon, going further means death, and even if they could collect more information, it would not be worth it. If the village had ample time, it would make it, and if the village had no time, then they would all die making the mission null in void. Finding the first sign of a monster for calculations was useful, but not necessary, all the village really needs to know is that they had to pack up and leave, as hard as it may be. The party would save the village worry by knowing when the dungeon might spread. Nick knew this the most.
'… It would be safer to just teleport out now, at least this way the village might start immediately, prolonging the departure might land us at deaths door, and that way the village will never know anything, and eventually leave after presuming us dead. And that in itself might take a month or more. What if the village did not even have a month left?'
Nick was getting complacent, that's why he decided to resume the march, and they were too, that's why they agreed. The fact that they could teleport away immediately, when faced with a monster, had them more confident. The reason Nick wanted to continue was simple. The monsters that they as a party were allowed to hunt were the ones that were barely a threat, the level 10's, 20's, 30's, even 40's, since they were a strong enough team to handle it. They could even fight a level 50, in the rare occasions when there weren't enough people to handle the group of monsters that sometimes emerged. Nick wants to test himself against monsters that would give his grandfather pause, if he was alone. The village leader was a shocking level 63, after a hundred years of training, at his age this man could defeat a group of level 30's easy.
Even if they were just going to see, he wanted to interact with at least one level 60 monster, and see if they can handle it, to that he can see, just how much stronger he still needed to get. He had been getting a big head because people were praising his monstrous growth and his role in stimulating a team that could keep up with him. A small part of it was to be able to prove that he is not a shadow of his father, who died at level 46.
A week had passed, they were starting to seriously consider turning back, even Nick was getting apprehensive. They kept going deeper, and no signs of monsters, at least none that were alive, and most had been mutilated. Max could not see their levels, and Arduo was not enjoying the occasional tease to take one as a body. Deeper and deeper they travelled, until Nick decided that once they reach the next open area they would return, since by then their supplies would have mostly run out.
This is why they found themselves in the strange huge opening, with small pile of bones, belonging to multiple monsters. They were checking their supplies and preparing to head back. The stones worked by holding them in hand and shattering it in hand, which was easy enough with their strength. Funny enough the stones are safer because of the crushing process, since some stones need one to be strong enough to crush them, this discourages the weak from trying to explore dungeons for entertainment. The stones had been seating in a reachable pocket in the bag that Nick carried, he was the most reliable, and due to him being able to see a few seconds ahead, he would be able to notice the danger earlier and hand the others their stones. They chose not to hold them in hands in fear of losing it or crushing it too early, thus abandoning the party. Nick was about to place the bag down, when they heard footsteps, using his power he was relieved, but confused, it was a huge Knight, about three meters tall.
The hall was darkly lit so they could not discern any other features except the armour, a grand one at that. He looked at max who confirmed it was not a monster, but Max still had a confused look, and maybe if he had said something, things would have been different. To be fair reading the stats of a being is hard, so the only thing that Max had confirmed that this was not a monster, he was too slow to see the other stats, and he was so focused on the Knight that he failed to notice the beings behind the Knight, those would have been an even bigger giveaway.
They were all to blame, they did not wonder for too long though. They all assumed that the village was worried about them and had contacted the knights since they had taken so long to come back, otherwise what would a knight be doing all the way out here in the sticks. Nick was too impatient too. Being an aspiring warrior, he was too amazed to be cautious. Who could blame the man, he was 34 and did not count on surviving long enough in the perilous sticks to run into a knight of all things. He was too eager, deeply hoping that he might get recruited or at least become acquainted for the day he tries out to be one himself.
'It's a knight what are the chances of meeting one all the way out here. Better be respectful and make an impression. This day is not so bad after all, I might not have ran into any monsters for experience, but I do get to meet a knight.'
"Sir, we are adventurers sent here to…"
But in the end, it was all for naught.