The boy awoke tied to something. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but from what he could tell, he was most likely tied to a tree. But he had all his clothes on, meaning that the people that captured him weren't savages. He didn't open his eyes yet, instead trying to loosen up the ropes he was attached to.

After trying and failing to free himself, the boy opened his eyes, revealing that he was awake to whoever was watching. The first thing he saw was a barbarian lady with some fur armor placed all over her body. She had a large war-axe strapped over the shoulder and was currently rotating some new meat of a reignited campfire. Sitting across from her was a cloaked girl, wearing a dark yellow cloak and reading a book with some strange letters on the front.

The shadowed figure that the boy saw earlier was nowhere in sight, or at least she was, till the boy looked up to the canopy of the tree, seeing the figure sitting up in the tree, looking down on him.

"Well, look who has just awoken! Everyone come here, let's talk to the bitch."

The fur-clad lady and the cloaked girl than looked to the awoken boy, and the...barbarian girl laughed a little bit before standing up and heading over with the emotionless girl to the boy. Then the boy heard a crack coming from the forest, and he looked over to find a new member of the party come out.

The girl that came out was dressed just like a scout would. She wore dull-green colored pants and vest, with several knives and other tools attached to a toolbelt that was running along her chest. She had a bow in her hands, with an arrow nocked in the bow, ready to fire at any time. It was at this point that the boy realized that his attempt at escape would have been useless, even if he had freed himself and managed to start running.

The four girls gathered around the boy, making a half circle and staring down at him. The shadowed figure jumped down from the tree, and landed in the middle of the group, revealing herself to be the potential assassin of the group. She wore extremely dark clothing and had two toolbelts going around in a "X" on her chest. She also had another toolbelt that went around her waist like a belt; and it was at this point that the boy realized all of the "tools" on her chest were just really throwing knives. The boy would have to be really careful when talking to her.

The girls, even though they had him surrounded and ready for interrogation, didn't say a word; this made the boy take the lead.

"Hello madams, how can I help you?"

The rogue girl spoke first. "You can help us by telling us what the hell you were doing sleeping so close to the Devil's Blood dungeon."

The boy couldn't respond; he had no idea that the place he came out of was called by such an intimidating name. He had only thought it to be a regular lake that was stained red. "May I inquire as to what you mean by Devil's Blood dungeon?"

All four of the girls made a surprised expression at that remark, even the cloaked one that showed no emotion up to this point. "What do you mean, "what do I mean"? I am talking about one of the newly developed and one of the dangerous dungeons in the country. And quite frankly, with how casual you acted near it, it would seem you have a death wish."

After some thought, the boy came up with an answer. "I assure lady, I possess no death wish. I am not from around these parts, so I didn't know about that being a dungeon, I only thought it to be a lake stained with something red. Now, I mean you no harm, so could you please untie me and let me go?"

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Upon hearing this, the rogue narrowed her eyes at the boy. She then pulled aside the scout and the sorceress, telling the barbarian to stay and watch the boy. The three girls went off to be in a place where the boy couldn't hear them; so he was alone with the barbarian. The boy patiently and quietly waited until the girl's got back, but after seeing them still talk after five minutes, he decided to strike up a conversation.

"You wouldn't happen to know when this dungeon was created, would you?" The barbarian didn't really respond, so the boy repeated the question, getting a rough sigh out of the girl, after which she finally started to talk.

"It was created eight days ago, on the day of the former king's death." She bluntly responded.

"Why is it the Devil's Blood dungeon?"

"Because so much adventurer blood has been spilt in there that they saw that it permanently dyed red, never to return back to its original color."

"What are you doing here around such a dangerous place?"

It was at this point that the barbarian turned her head towards him, giving the look. "...Are you fucking stupid or something? We're here to try and clear out the dungeon."

After that, both the boy and the barbarian shut up, waiting for the girls to come; which they fortunately did after the barbarian finished talking.

"We have decided to use that you can go if you help us with our mission."

"Your mission? If it's going into the dungeon, please don't bring me with you."

"Sorry boy, but if don't want to die right now, you might want to reconsider coming with us."

So, the boy was faced with two options. Either he goes with the girls to try and clear the dungeon, or die here, tied to a tree. The boy choose the first option, even though it will most likely lead to his death as well.

The boy nodded his head and agreed to come with the group. After untying the boy, and thoroughly explaining that if he were to do anything "funny" they would kill him, they finally explained his job when he would finally get into the dungeon. He was to be the bait and the opener of the dungeon. The boy got his first task, but he had to clarify his second task.

The women told him it was better for them to show him what they meant; this didn't inspire any confidence in the boy. The barbarian grabbed the boy's standing self and dragged him over to a freshly drawn circle. But after looking at it, the boy saw it wasn't just a circle, it had runes placed all over it, on the inside and outside. The runes were alien to the boy, but he knew that the red color of the circle and the runes did not mean good things.

The sorceress girl had prepared the ritual circle, as the boy had come to understand it, before. After the barbarian carefully threw him in the middle, the rogue threw him a knife. The boy picked it up but didn't what to do with it; he looked questioningly to the rogue.

"Cut yourself so blood spills onto the circle." Said the rogue. To this, the boy looked pleadingly towards her, almost as if he was asking if there was another way to do this. The response he got for this was a dagger, flying right beside his head a t an incredible speed. The boy sighed; 'This isn't going to end well.'

The boy tried to cut into his arm, but his instincts took over at the last moment and stopped him. The boy, knowing that if didn't do this, would die, closed his eyes. "UmbayaUmbayaUmbaya...' The boy continuously chanted in his head, focusing with all his strength on the chant; and while he was doing that, he violently slit his palm, letting the blood freely flow and break his from his stupor.

As the blood hit the red circle, the circle dissipated into a liquid-like state and flowed into blood lake. After a few moments of nothing happening; the boy was a little annoyed that his sacrifice did nothing. "Why did nothing happen?"

The girls, especially the sorceress, looked confused. So, the sorceress proceeded towards the boy. But after the first step she took, there was an explosion in the middle of the lake. Drops of blood-red liquid fell onto the group of people, and the lake parted, allowing for the group to see a passage that lead into a hole that went underground.

The boy turned to the group of girls, seeing all of them smile. The boy then remembered the second part of his duty under the girls; he would serve as bait. And as he was currently not fast enough to outrun arrows and lightning-fast daggers, he stood there, waiting for the girls to drag him under with them; and they did just that