There are two ways to go about getting an expedition. One, register as an awakened wanderer and get approved for one by the awakeners association, or two. Be desperate enough to join an illegal one through private listers.

"Oh, Aremi you made it!" Some short blonde guy shouted from afar. He was with a group of four people, and from the looks of it, was only one of the lackeys.

The rest of the guys took notice of us coming towards them, their faces speaking of clear disdain even though they were trying to hide it. As belittling as that was I somehow wasn't phased. Being stuck at level one, I was used to that.

"So these are the guys you invited?"

"Well, we only needed the numbers anyway."

Aremi smiled awkwardly and shook the hand of the golden retriever-looking guy. Even though his group couldn't care less about us, his smile seemed genuine.

"Thanks again for this chance Hindren."

"Don't mention it, we save so much on association fees this way hehe." Hindren replied.

A taller male with a goatee and ponytail turned to us. Judging by the way everyone else revolved around him he was clearly the boss. He glanced at us with close to no expression in his eyes. Almost like he was looking at grass blowing in the wind. Like it being there was just natural.

"My names Mare, i'm the party leader and also a C ranker. This here is a long-forgotten crystal mine that has since been overrun by the ghouls who decided to breed here. As long as you guys stay behind us you'll be fine."

Without saying another word he turned away, and his team members followed him into the mine shaft one by one. On the outside everything appeared normal. Creepy old mine shaft, pretty common, but for some reason I could feel an ominous essence slithering out.

I swallowed my saliva and took a deep breath before following behind them. Sweat dripped down the crease of my back and as Aremi walked by I grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey are you sure this is ok?"

He looked at me with an expression I could hardly read. To someone else it could've come off as cold, but knowing him it was likely tough love.

"If it weren't would you turn back?"

An interesting question. He asked that because he already knew the answer. The answer I gave him the other night when he offered me to join them.

"Join us on our next expedition."

That night I was at a loss for words. I couldn't help but crease my brows as I tried to understand why he was suggesting that while knowing my condition.

"Huh? What are you saying all of the sudden?"

"Yeah I'd like to know too."

Heather stood behind Aremi with her hands on her hips. Her voice clearly shook as she spoke, but it was hard to take her seriously when she looked like someone's fantasy drawing. Some men might pay a lot of coin to have her get angry with them.

"What are you trying to make him do, you know he can't go on expeditions."

Even though that was the case, Aremi hardly acknowledged her and simply closed his eyes to hide her from his view. He then folded his arms and spoke with certainty.

"Yeah, not official ones anyways."

Heather raised her voice. "Aremi don't tell me!"

Aremi ignored her and turned to me once more. "Allan you promised us you wouldn't steal anymore because it puts you in too much risk, and yet you still do it. Why?"

"why?" I repeated back to myself. "Of course it's so the children don't go hungry..." I thought to myself before preparing myself to tell him that.

"I..!" As the words were coming out of my mouth I caught his eagle eyes glaring at me. They knew what I was about to say was a lie, and If I spoke that lie id somehow be making a decision id forever regret. So At that moment, I had no other choice. "I want to know what it's like!" I yelled.

Heather flinched at my words, but Aremi simply smiled. He smiled as if he knew all along what it was that I truly wanted. So I continued. "I want to feel the thrill of adventure, of battle. I want to be a wanderer!"

"Then that settles it." Aremi replied with an accomplished smile and patted me on the back.

So that's why now, with a shoddy weapon and close to no armor I gritted my teeth and answered back to Aremi. "No."

He gave me a determined smile as if he liked my fortitude and then continued to go deeper into the cave. Somehow without saying many words he was able to give me a confidence boost.

Maybe it was the simple reminder of why I came in the first place, but now I was ready. My legs no longer felt heavy and I stepped forward with conviction in my heart.

'Today I become an adventurer..!'

~~

Like Mare explained earlier, this was an abandoned mine shaft filled with ghouls. Grey humanoid-like creations that could only be explained as monsters. If I hadn't been warned about what I was going to come up against I might've been frozen in place at my first encounter.

The magic that was left behind from all the crystals must've been what drew them here and allowed them to breed to such an extent. Even so, they were hardly a match for the teamwork of Mare and his party.

After Aremi and I drew their attention we would quickly run to the back as the long-range wanderers hit them with arrows and magic. Being a D rank wanderer, Aremi wasn't as useless as I and joined them here and there, but always making sure to keep me in the corner of his eye.

I held my flimsy sword waiting for my chance to strike one of the ghouls down. Perhaps one of them would be weakened enough for even someone like me to take it down, but every chance I got was taken away by Mare who effortlessly sliced through the ones that got too close.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Was my chance really taken away though? The reality was that I was simply too slow and hardly needed. The longer the expedition went on, the more I realized just how pathetic I was. Not making a single kill the whole fight.

As we were traveling further into the mine Aremi picked up on my heavy breathing and wounds, but what caught his attention even more so was my quickly diminishing motivation.

"I have a lot more mana than I expected, I'll be able to help more during the boss fight. Must be because you're here this time Allan."

My eyes lit up a bit. If what he was saying was the truth, then I really wasn't completely useless.

"Really?"

He smiled brightly and patted me on the back.

"Yeah man, at this rate I won't even need a mana potion. I have to bring you more often!"

That somewhat picked up my spirit. On the outside I made it appear that it helped more than it did though, because I knew even if it were true he still would've been ok. He was just trying to make me feel better, Aremi was nice like that.

"Everyone stop."

Mare who was leading the party stuck out his arm and stopped in front of an entrance that could only be seen as a triangle. I tried to look inside but its darkness was like someone had sucked all light from the world. As I was thinking that, two torches at its sides which were not visible before suddenly lit up with white fire.

I clutched my sword tightly and clenched my teeth. My stomach dropped as low as it could, and sweat began to profusely drip down my face. To say I was nervous was an understatement.

"The boss room..."

"There's no need to be nervous. You'll draw them in like before and we will do what we always have. This battle shouldn't be any different than the last." Mare said when he noticed my fright.

"That's right, just listen to the boss and you'll be ok..!

After encouraging me a bit everyone began to make their way into the room. Aremi gave me a slight smile that said he agreed with them and that I'd be ok, then followed in after.

Like earlier the darkness was abolished with white flame torches that flickered on at our arrival. They circled the room until they met each other, and at the center of the large room were two ghouls which were much larger than what we'd been dealing with.

At a glance, one might mistake them for an orc due to their similar builds and creature-like appearance, but the biggest difference was their skin color. Grey like they've never known the sunlight, but thick enough to not see the blood in their bulging veins.

When they breathed in it sounded like someone was gargling water and when they breathed out, they breathed out their mouth because of their tiny nostrils. What could only be described as poison fumed through their tiny sharp teeth causing a horrendous stench. The redder one wielded a large femur bone, and the bluer one hid its weapon underneath a large ragged cloak.

"Alright now is the time, go get their attention!"

Mare ordered me while I was left in a daze, causing me to flinch. I quickly caught my composure and dashed forward.

'They look intense, will I be ok?'

I made sure to keep my eyes on them as I attempted to draw their attention. One step, two steps, and finally as I was about to take my third step the red one vanished.

'huh, I was looking at him the entire time. Where did he go?'

"Allan dodge!"

I heard Aremi scream, but I hadn't a single clue what I was dodging from. My eyes widened at the sudden panic, and then I noticed the shadow above me. A shadow that completely covered my body was made from the red ghoul who had crossed the room in an instant. His face, like a soulless animal, was blank as he stretched his arms to it's maximum in preparation to gruesomely end my life.

'Shit! I'm going to die, I knew this was a mistake!'

Kwang!

"Open your eyes and get back!"

I slowly moved my arm which was covering my face. Mare stood in front of me locked in a stalemate with the ghoul who suddenly expressed an emotion. Surprise.

"What, you didn't think you were the only one who could move like that did you?"

Mare grunted and then pushed the ghoul's femur back, using that small moment to break his guard.

Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh!

Dozens of fireballs flew right over my head and bombarded him causing a smoke screen to appear. I wouldn't let this chance get away.

'I got to get away from here!'

Like a rat, I scurried away and hid behind my party. I watched as everyone did their part in taking down the double bosses.

Shikashikashik

The blue ghoul shook his staff which was fancied with skulls. A purple light appeared at its tip, and then the heads of magical beasts appeared at the party's feet and bit down causing them to gain an immobility debuff.

It was quickly removed by the two mages who supported the team from the back.

"May strength be with you."

Swoosh. An emerald light enveloped Mares's body and his muscles bulged. The interlock between weapons which he found himself in suddenly went in his favor.

"Urk..!"

The ghoul grunted after he lost the battle of strength and his femur weapon flew away from him. Before he could react an arrow flew into his chest, and then his right eye.

"Hmph!"

With a deep breath and all his strength, Mare did a quick overhead swing across the ghoul's neck.

Plop.

Fell the upper half of its body which left a puddle of blood to decorate the floor. Its lifeless eyes while alive, now truly lifeless.

"Phew..!"

Mare sighed out and caught his composure. He then glared up at the remaining boss who was caught attempting his escape.

He was shuffling a crystal in his hands as he tried to quickly place it into a hole in the wall. If he weren't so nervous he might've got it in before Mare's sword pierced his back.

"Keukk..!" The ghoul coughed up blood and fell dead.

The rest of the party quickly grouped back together at the dead ghoul's body.

"wow was he trying to run away? So lameeeee."

"Haha, where would he even go?"

"Wait isn't this some sort of keyhole, anyone get a key from the drops? Maybe there's another room here."

"heh, a treasure room."

Pushing the others aside, mare stepped in front of the large stone wall holding the dropped crystal in his hand. Its surface was unnaturally flat with engravings all across it which all led the one point. A small diamond-shaped hole.

"Secret rooms filled with unimaginable riches. There wasn't anything on the listing that said there would be one but that's how these things usually appear. they're stories of D rank wanderers suddenly becoming S rank after discovering one." Mare shook his head as he explained.

"I knew following you all this time was the right decision!"

"Mare you're going to be an S ranker and take the world by storm!"

Mare folded his arms and closed his eyes. "heheh, let us settle down boys. We've yet to see what's inside."

'This is my chance.. I can finally rise above D rank!'"

Mare thought as he began to enter the crystal into the wall.

I gulped as I watched them carelessly talk about their future riches. 'Does that keyhole really lead to a treasure room? If so why was that other ghoul trying to escape there... It doesn't make sense.'

"Aremi, I think..."

"Listen Allan, I don't think that's a treasure room. We should leave before something strange happens."

Aremi grabbed my hand tight and began to lead me away. His grip was firm, and his steps were quick. Even though I was shocked it was clear he also felt something was off. As if that wasn't enough we suddenly felt an intense pressure behind us.

"What? Where do you guys think you're going?" Mare asked as he let off as much intimidating pressure as he could. "You don't think you can just up and leave after we've discovered this treasure right?"

Aremi's tone changed to serious as he replied. "We've defeated the boss already so we're headed out. We're not interested in anything else. Pay us when you get back."

"I've already decided. Once we open this room I'll share the rewards with everyone fairly."

Was what Mare said but what was the truth? In his mind, he had already decided he would take everything for himself and slay the rest of the party. This was something Aremi already figured.

"No thanks."

Mare hated that reply and cracked the stone beneath him with only aura. "Stay."

That wasn't a question, but a demand, and in this situation, there was no other option but to listen. It was that or deny him and fight for their lives. Glancing over at me, Aremi couldn't let that happen. Not with me being such a low level. Once again I felt the depths of my weakness.

"It's alright Aremi, we should go with them."

Aremi was troubled. "Allan.."

I smiled and stepped forward. "Imagine there really is an item or something that can make us stronger. That's worth the risk."

Although the current situation was a bit sketchy, I did firmly believe what I just said. Id do anything to grow stronger, even risk my life.

"Good, then let's continue," Mare said, seeing that we've made up our minds.

Everyone watched intently as he stuck the crystal into the keyhole. For a moment nothing happened which caused everyone to become irritated, but that moment passed as the crystal began to glow blue.

Crkkkkkk

The wall began to fade out of existence as if it were just an illusion. Blood rushed through my veins causing my heart to beat faster. Suddenly a bright light cleared out the darkness of the cave.

'This is..!'