The Captain looked out at his collected troops, or Adventurers, he supposed considering that they were going to dive into a Dungeon. They had a three melee fighters to act as the shield wall, and two archers that would support them. Long standing studies had shown that entering a Dungeon with a party larger than seven would cause total wipes of the group. So, this small team would have to do in that place, and they were the highest levels that they could get ahold of out here.
"Alright, get into line, then declare name, level, and class for the group." He shouted out, causing the men and women to scramble into position. He sighed at that, but only having a couple weeks to get them used to working with each other wasn't enough. At least a couple of them had worked together before, though they were suspect considering how they were locked away under the keep.
"Marcos, Level 21, Scout." A slightly haggard man said, his brown eyes bright.
"Ragast, Level 19, Scout." A leather clad woman shouted out, her amber eyes and dirty blonde hair looking far better than when they found her. Both her and the man had been sleeping together in a cell within the keep. Supposedly they had been lost on the second mission to find and secure the Well and scout the Dungeon. Oddly no one from the first mission was found, not even the mage that managed to make it back to the keep.
"Dan, Level 22, Soldier." The next in line said. Him and the other two were from the keep's Guard forces and looked relatively the same save height in all the armor.
"Eric, Level 20, Soldier."
"Franz, Level 25, Soldier." The last one announced, and the three saluted the Captain, before a man behind the rest spoke up.
"Duran of House Archis, Level 31, Ice Mage." A short, but refined, man said wearing brown clothes, but highlighted with pale blue accents.
"Good, and I am the Captain of the Personal Guard for the Lady of Arcues. You will address me as Captain or Sir, if you address me at all." The Guards all saluted, while the Mage and Scouts all raised their eyebrows. The Captain didn't care for their feelings in this matter, it was time to get moving on this accursed mission.
"We are leaving for the Dungeon in 1 hour, so make sure you have everything packed and on your back. We are marching to our destination, and bring only what you are able to carry without causing issues with mobility. We will meet at the gate in the allotted time, anyone not present will be incarcerated or executed, depending on my whim. DISMISSED!" He ended with a shout, and while the Guards hurried off to prepare the other three stood there looking at him. Perhaps they hadn't been a part of a military operation before and were a bit stunned.
"So we all had to give our names, but you are just going to go by Captain?" Duran asked, his eyebrows still raised. The Captain blinked, the other two nodded, and he was honestly shocked. Not the question he had expected at all, though a lot of people knew who he was.
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"Yes." We his simple reply before turning around to leave. The others just staring at him, and the Captain knew it was an odd situation, but it wasn't like his actual name would mean much to them in the moment. And, it was likely to cause problems if they knew it, since it had a certain weight to it. That few knew how to handle in the best of situations, and so it had just become habit to refrain from giving it out. As he walked away, he thought about the conversation that he had with his Ladyship. The report on that odd statue didn't hold any real secrets besides that it was made from a magical stone called Ignata Ferris. Which makes the smooth black rock glow with reddish light when it gets warm. Though the six gems were elemental stones cut and set into it, they also had no magical effects outside converting a small amount of mana into their respective types. Seeming to be a trinket kept by one of the guard's as an heirloom from long ago, and so it was released back into his possession.
Though the mages were intrigued by the necklace the Lady had always worn, since it wasn't submitted to their testing. Which was obvious since it was her Ladyship's and it just told the time using magic as far as anyone knew. He actually had to beat one of them that tried to reach for it, and there was a bit of a mess from it all. He had tried to use the uncertainty to prevent this Dungeon crawl once again, but her heart was set on it. Though he felt like it would only cause more problems that it solved.
----
"So, do you two also find that big man to be odd?" The Ice Mage, Duran, asked to the remaining two. Both looked at each other before speaking.
"I mean he found us," Ragast said, "Hard to find someone who saved your life too creepy I suppose." Marcos nodded at that, and Duran sighed deeply.
"I just got here the other day as part of the rear guard for Lady Mirabella, but I am telling you I never met this Captain before." Duran said, his eyes seemingly glinting in the light, though Marcos thought it was because of the silver pendant on his chest with a crest of a child sitting between two trees with a demon behind, "Maybe I am just being paranoid after all the stuff I heard, and the troubles bringing up screens sometimes." He ended with a shrug. The other two nodded in agreement.
"Well I best go pack what little I can then." Duran said before leaving towards the Keep. While Marcos and Ragast stood there in the almost empty courtyard of the Hold. They were holding each other's hands tightly as they were remembering their last time near the Dungeon. They hadn't been given a choice on this assignment, and both understood why. They both remembered dying in that clearing, impaled by spikes of stone and torn apart by massive ants. Then, they were blinking awake in a cell while feeling dead inside. They had spent hours talking about it together since they had been saved. Though it felt like something was very wrong inside of them, and the system wasn't coming up for them anymore. They could still use their skills and passives, but they couldn't advance their levels or see where they were otherwise. A sense of something deeply broken and wrong that they were now going to face, as the feeling got worse when they headed in the direction of the Dungeon. It's the only reason they didn't fight the demand that they go with the expedition. They wanted to know what was pulling at them, and if it could fix the hollow feeling inside.
----
Lady Mirabella heard a faint tick, just once, as she watched the group leave to explore the Dungeon, but she paid it no mind. There was just too much on her mind to concern herself with the trinket around her neck, regardless of the implications of it reaching 98.