Chapter 3 - Incident at Payon Cave Part 1
I wonder how many days has it been since I’ve been trapped here? This place is dark and cold. I walked and walked but all I could see is nothing but darkness. Whenever which side I turn my head, all I could see is a pitch black darkness. The sky and earth are all covered by this color, anxiety is the only feeling I have and the feeling that I am still standing on something is my only saving grace.
The blinding darkness grips on my heart as time goes by. Its claws dug deeper and it makes my body shiver. Still, I moved myself and tread further on this darkness, hoping to reach the light else I will be consumed. As I continue to walk carrying my shivering heart, I finally started to break. Without knowing what I stepped on, I tripped and fell. A single shed of tear stream down my eye as I lied faced up. I stretched my hands but even seeing it is being prohibited by this darkness. As my anguish heart is starting to lose hope, with all that I have, I shouted.
“Anyone! Please anyone!! Help me!! Please….anyone… Save me..”
The dam on my eyes finally broken and streams of tears poured down. And as I continue to pray for a miracle, that is when I saw it. Trapped on this world of darkness, a small dot of white finally appeared. It stared down on me like an eye from the sky. I reached my hands towards it, seeking for a salvation.
“Can you hear me?....”
And finally, I heard a voice. A voice of a young man. The only salvation I have.. My hope.. Finally..someone had found me… And as this ray of light called hope permeates my whole body, a confused voiced then answer:
“A feminine voice? Who are you?.”
………….
The voice of the young man had been cut, the soul link was cut abruptly.. And the only thing that pops on my mind are these words:
“What the hell was that all about?”
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Several hundred years ago, a group of miners from Payon village uncovered a mysterious cave at the foot of the mountains beneath the village. In search for minerals, the cave was explored as per orders by the earlier generation of the Irine clan. They searched and dig all throughout the cave and was astonished of how vast it is. As they go further and further, the cave was getting bigger and bigger. One time as they managed to break further, they found several destroyed houses and other remnants scattered everywhere. The clan dispatched some scholars which was now called as sages to investigate. It turns out that these artifacts and structures found was a remnant of the old payon way back from the age of gods. As the sages and villagers searched further, they came across an old gate ornamented with oriental design similar with Payon. It was found out that a part of an ancient old payon was beyond these doors.
Several houses still intact were found inside, and surprisingly it looks like a small village. How could a village fit inside this cave? Just what is this place? It was ruled out that this place was once a part of the old payon but something happened and the village was lost together with its residents. The survivor of this tragedy had built a new village outside which is the new Payon.
The expedition had spread further until it reached on what they believed the centre of this fallen village. The expedition divided the interior of the cave into 5 phases/area, whereas the 5th was the centre. Several bones were discovered along the way. But one day, the expeditionary forces mysteriously disappeared. The clan dispatched another group to investigate and look for them but only one had managed to return alive. The survivor told what happened. Their group had managed to found the previous group but they were all turned into an undead. He claimed that they were attacked by several undead and saw a humanoid monster wielding a bell leading them. Only he managed to escape, but as he looks back while running, his comrades was being slaughtered and turned into an undead.
Worried by this, the clan, as the leader of the village ordered to had set up an outpost outside the village to oversee the cave. However, people underestimated this predicament and developed the outpost sparingly. They are still unconvinced, and the development of this outpost took very slow. One night, the village has been attacked by an army of undead creatures. Half of the village fell and several people died. With the assistance from the Knights and Priests of Prontera together with the village’s elite Hunters and Archers, the invasion was repelled. It was found out that the undead had come out from the cave outside the village. Due to this incident, the planned outpost has been pushed through and was now called presently as the Archer’s Village. Both the archer and hunter’s guild was moved to this outpost which will serve as a defensive line in case the undead invaded again. The hunter guild had decided to move to the city of Hugel and only the Archer guild remains. Adventurers were now assigned to wither the forces from time to time to prevent the massacre happening again. Among the mountain of corpses, they had found out it. The monster responsible for this, the monster who wields a bell, Moonlight Flower.
“And that’s the legend of this cave folks! Thank you for listening~”
Eye Doctor finished his monologue while we are traversing the 1st phase of the cave going towards the 2nd phase.
The 1st phase of this cave was inhabited by several slow moving zombies, skeletons, familiars ( small bat monsters) and Poporings (Green Slime who loves to loot) which are incredibly weak as shit, making this place a popular training ground for rookies. Several parties can be seen here and there and majority of them are rookies who just been promoted.
After we enter the cave, Eye Doctor starts monologuing. It was entertaining enough that we didn’t notice that we are almost at the 2nd phase of this cave. Yoona was happily slaughtering monsters along our way so I doubt that she is listening while I was forced to do the grunt work of retrieving any good materials to sell out from these monster corpses and haven’t been paying much attention to this fox’s rumblings.
“And here I am going into trouble of telling the tale of this cave only to find out that both of these nut heads are not paying attention.”
Eye Doctor complains as we tread further. He takes out his glasses and wipes them with a handkerchief as he follows us behind. I look towards Yoona and that idiot is wearing a happy face as she smacks the head of a skeleton she is fighting. Heaving a heavy sigh, I looked back to the shitty fox behind me. If you have that kind of free time, maybe you could help me a little on looting you know?”
Noticing that I am looking toward him, Eye Doctor puts an innocent smile and said:
“Oh.. It seems you are listening after all!”
“No I don’t. I just find it amusing that you have a free time to tell stories you fox. Besides, I already know that tale..”
“WHAT!? You guys are supposedly take the role of a knowledge-less morons here!’
“Shut up fox faced. What the hell happened to the servant of god something of yours? I haven’t heard a foul mouthed priest like you”
“That is only reserved for other people while you guys will suck this side of mine.”
“Damn.. It sure is a hassle maintaining that 2 faces.”
“Not really.. Humans are stupid. Just show them a kind face and they will prostrate themselves. Much more if you are a servant of god like mine, they will give you money on their own volition.”
“Err.. So why did you became a priest?”
“Hmmm many reasons but to summarize it all, let’s just say… It is easier to hook a lady if you have a soothing atmosphere around you most specially if you look kind, they will often drop their guard.”
“Damn… I don’t know what to say. Your way of thinking is unique, that it could become a revolution of new scumbag philosophy.”
“I know right! Hahahahaha!!”
The fox laughs heartily without even realizing the insult. I am sure of it, this one is an authentic scumbag. Are all Pronteran clergy like this?
“Hey Kavach! How is our haul?”
Yoona came to us with monster’s blood splashed all over her body. I looked behind her and saw a small mountain of carcasses of zombie’s, familiars and several broken bones and slime gels spread out. You really had a good time huh.
“You bunch of idiots, what the hell are you guys thinking passing the task of carrying and collecting the spoils to an archer like me? What would you guys do if my bag became heavier that I couldn’t shoot anymore?”
“Ha! You’re a man so stop complaining! Those spoils are only light. This is the reason you guys are damn weak. You need to have a strength!”
“Then why don’t you carry it yourself? And for your information, archer class are not strength oriented class unlike a muscle head like you”
“Are you saying that I am an idiot!?”
“Holy shit! You just have realized it?”
“Damn you Kavach! How about I add your blood as an additional stain to my sword?”
As Yoona is about to pounce on me, with a swift and precise movements, both me and Yoona’s head has been whacked by a rod by Eye Doctor, stopping Yoona at her tracks. Annoyed at being hit at the head, she glared at Eye Doctor only to find out that Eye Doctor’s is far more pissed than her.
“You stupid fox!! Why did you hit me!!”
“Shut up… You morons didn’t listen to my monologue earlier and you have the guts to fight like a cat and a dog in front of me?”
“Ha!? And so what? You wanna get beaten?”
“No heals and no buffs, you are free to choose if you want to finish this quest without those.”
“Ha! Fuck you!! As if I need those!”
“OH REALLY?”
And our 3 sided squabble continues… Damn, can we even finish this quest?
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After several hours of time wasting, we are now in the middle of 2nd phase of the cave. As usual, Yoona was happily slaughtering the undeads along the way. On this 2nd phase, the monsters inhabiting here are different. Dagger wielding and Bow wielding skeletons called Soldier Skeleton and Archer Skeleton inhabits this place. There are still several parties I am seeing and like us, it seems they are also taking the quest. It seems the quest to rescue the princess has been turned into a public quest where anyone can take it, they are already short in hands anyways.
As Yoona slashed the head of the soldier skeleton, I saw an archer skeleton aiming towards her head.
“Watch out!!”
I shout out and immediately took out my bow and load an arrow. Yoona turns behind and jump away from the incoming arrow. Applying just a right force as I pull the strings of my bow, I release it with precision and flew straight towards its head. The impact of the arrow forced the head to be severed and flew away, causing the rest of the body of the skeleton to disintegrate to pieces.
“Eh.. I am thinking about this, but your arrow sure packs a punch huh.”
Yoona said as she walks towards the now dead archer skeleton.
“Of course! I am the strongest marksman anyways.”
“So the being the strongest archer means you hit harder with an arrow?”
“Of course! What else it could be? We only have bow and arrow anyways, so what’s the use if you can’t hit hard with it?”
Yoona knits her brow as if hearing something weird. As she is about to say something, I heard a loud shriek from the direction in front of us. Sensing something is wrong, we all hurriedly run forward towards the source of voice.
“Rina!! You bastard!!! Cart Revolution!!!”
*KAABOOOMMM!!!*
A loud booming sound run across the whole area together with a scattered remains of several bones of soldier and archer skeletons. I could felt up to here the impact of that attack that decimates several skeletons all at once. We all noticed a female acolyte lying near us with an anguish face as she holds one of her injured arms. Her body is battered and her clothes are ripped. In front of her is a young man who looks like a merchant and still grasping the handle of the cart he had with him and still in a stance. It seems he used that cart as a blunt weapon and slam it towards the skeletons, thus forming the skill Cart Revolution. Beside him is a young man kneeling with wounds all over his body. The young man is grasping a dagger on one of his hands while holding one of his already limped arms. Looking at his appearance I could guess he is a Thief class. Both of them are badly injured and I could clearly tell that they are already at their limit. The three of them are being pressured by several skeletons in front of them. If this continue further, I am sure they will be overwhelmed.
Several soldier skeletons roughly around 10 of them quickly rushed towards the merchant, judging from the timing, it seems they want to take advantage this split second while it is still exhausted. In that instant, the merchant takes out a huge two handed axe inside the cart and swing horizontally towards the incoming soldier skeleton.
"Tooorrryyyaaaa!!!"
Two of the soldier skeletons had been hit however it was not enough to completely decimate them. The merchant is completely exhausted with several blood drips on the floor, such condition consumes his stamina twice as normal. I could clearly tell that it is only a matter of time however I found myself not lifting my finger even an inch. To put it bluntly, I have no intention of doing anything. What benefit would it be for me by helping them? Seeing objectively, if we jump there, those skeletons will be lured to us instead. Such scenario is troublesome. It maybe heartless, but that’s how reality works. If you take a job and became an adventurer, you must be prepared that there would be situations like this. If we just wait further and let it finish, it will take a while but the monsters will scatter by themselves, giving us a way to freely pass by. It is fortunate that they haven't notice us.
As I am about to call Yoona to tell her not to do anything, in that instant, a blur passed by my eyes and all of a sudden a tremendous sound has been reverberated all throughout. I look forward towards them and there she is. That idiot...
Charging as quickly as she can, she appears almost instantly in front of the mobs with her sword and buckler. Her brutish looking sword gives off a faint reddish light as she steps her foot forward and with such force, spins her body 360 degrees letting the centrifugal force do its way. As the spin is about to complete, she unleashes the pent up energy channeled at her sword.
"MAGNUM BREAK!!!!"
*KABBBBOOOOMMMM!!!!!*
Flames swirl outwardly with tremendous force towards the mobs, exploding upon impact and blows them away. A combination of dusts and dirt together with bone splinters scattered all around. Roughly 7 skeletons have been completely decimated in that blow while the remaining has been thrown away, part of their bones has been dislocated in a comical way. Yoona quickly move and finish off the remaining skeletons, delivering heavy blows. It is amazing how Yoona quickly reacts and do a follow-up attack.
"Those monsters, they have been shredded like a paper..."
The merchant muttered silently as he astonishingly looked at the scene in front of him. Both him and the Thief were entranced witnessing Yoona's destructive power as she continues to cut them to ribbons. All of a sudden, a bright glow of white appear below us. The bright light was big enough to swallow all of us whole and in that instant, a warm light covers all our bodies. The wounds of the merchant and the thief were slowly closing up. I could tell from their expression the astonishment they are feeling. The acolyte nearby was showing signs of recovery.
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"Uhggg.. Uhmm... Haaa... I..am alive?..."
The feminine voice of acolyte snaps back the senses of both the merchant and the thief, turning their heads behind.
"Rina!"
The Thief run towards her and grasp her body. The acolyte uses him as a stand and slowly rise up. As the radiance of light continues to envelop us, there wounds has completely closed up together with the recovery of their stamina. Vitality finally shows from their faces and altogether looks towards us, specifically to the fox faced priest beside me.
"Sanctuary!!!"
While Yoona had attacked earlier, Eye Doctor casts his aoe healing spell called Sanctuary. Instead of an individual, the spell targets the area and recovers the vitality of everyone inside its radius. The range of this spell is big enough to swallow including us who are 3 meters away from them.
"Good priest.. Thank you.. We are very thankful.. You saved us!!"
The three adventurers bowed their heads towards him. In response, he gives back a warm smile.
"No need to thank me, as a servant of god, it is my duty to help those in need. I am glad that we made it in time."
The three adventurers were touched to his words to the point they are almost tearing up.
"I thought we are already done for!"
The merchant said, as tears stream on his face. Fuck this scene, this is disgusting. I quickly turn away from them and let the shitty foxy priest enjoy his spotlight. As Yoona decapitates the last of the soldier skeletons, I noticed several glints further. Oh shit! Archers!!
I quickly draw out my bow. Judging from the number of glints, I could estimate that there are 10 arrowheads pointing towards Yoona.
"Idiot!! Get out there!!"
Yoona turns to me questioningly, wondering probably what I am talking about. The estimated distance of those arrows are around 9 meters from her. I quickly load several arrows on my bow and cast a self-buff on myself.
"Improve Concentration!!!!"
Finally realizing the situation she is in, Yoona quickly leap out of the place and at the same time, the place she was before has been rained with several arrows. My buff finally took effect and I could feel all my senses getting sharper than normal. I loaded 5 arrows and draw my bow far stronger than normal.
"Arrow Shower!!"
5 arrows flew straight towards the culprit's heads, the impact of the arrow knocks them back and smashed towards the nearby wall. The remaining 5 archer skeletons, immediately change their target from Yoona, to me, pointing all their arrows on my direction. As if I will lose to a bunch of skeletons. I swiftly fill my bow with an another set of 5 arrows, on that instant the skeletons release their arrows. I quickly leapt out to the side and aim my bow.
"Ha! Skeletons will just be skeletons! At least have an eyeball first! Arrow Shower!!!"
I release my skill and 5 arrows packed with energy flew quickly towards the heads of the skeletons. Such force knocks them all and slammed towards the nearby wall in a same manner as the previous one. I relax my posture and was about to return when Yoona had shouted:
"Incoming!!"
We all quickly look towards Yoona. Sound of skeletons clanking together could be heard from on where the archer skeletons are.
"Finally, this is exciting! Hey Fox!! Give me a buff!!'
"Ha! What happened to the "Fuck you, I don't need it!" earlier? INCREASE AGILITY!! BLESSING!!"
Yoona ignored him and dash towards the incoming skeletons. She swings her weapon in a wide arc, cutting several skeleton in one attack. Several remaining skeletons tried to flank her only to be parried by her shield. A weird feeling suddenly envelops me, I could feel myself getting stronger and agile. I look back towards Eye Doctor and gives me a wink.
"Give her a backup will you?"
I scowled as I took out my arrows and load them.
"Hey Yoona! Take on the melees and I will take care their backline!"
"Sure no problem!!"
Yoona gave a thumbs up and resumes hacking as she charges towards the enemies. Moving my body a bit closer, I fire several consecutive shots all of them scoring perfect hits to the archer skeletons shattering them one by one. Yoona intercepts every soldier skeleton charging towards me and I intercept every arrows being fired by the archer skeletons towards Yoona. My attack speed is way faster compared to the skeletons, for each shot they give, I return them with thrice.
"Torryaaa!! Hiyyyaaa!!"
Battle cries envelop the area; several parties turn their head towards us. An abnormal number of skeletons came again towards our way. This is what I am talking about, this is getting troublesome. I fired several arrow showers towards the incoming wave while Yoona just keep charging, pummeling everything along her way.
"It seems we have a guest on this side too."
Eye Doctor said as he looks behind us, several skeletons were charging towards them.
"Let us help!"
The merchant quickly charge ahead and initiate an attack using cart revolution, decimating several skeletons. Few of them had passed through and rushed towards Rina. The thief quickly intercepts them. With his fast footwork, he quickly appears on their flank and nimbly slash through the knee joints of the soldier skeletons, stumbling them a bit. They turned around towards him in attempt to counter but the thief easily dodges them and thrust his dagger towards their joints in a successive manner, dislocating them one by one. He then sweeps their feet and as they lose their balance and about to fall, he switches to a backhand grip and slash through there neck in a wide arc, decapitating all of them.
"Wow.. Not bad"
Eye Doctor whistles at the spectacle of bones falling at the floor in succession. The thief rush towards the archer skeletons at the backline dodging the arrows left and right, passing through the passage created by the merchant as he decimates the guarding soldier skeletons one by one. I look a bit towards them to see what is happening.
"Hey, that thief is good! But why he is not using any skills? Would it not be faster?"
I said as I keep shooting. Eye Doctor raises his hand and buffs the merchant and thief, the same buff he also gave to us.
"Hahahaha! Arrowhead, you are damn funny! Thief class utilize poison on most of their skills, and it is a common sense that poison has no effect against undeads."
This fucker..
I screamed internally as I keep shooting. Rina, the acolyte raises her rod and points it towards the incoming skeleton.
"Heal!!"
A faint glow of white envelops the skeleton however instead of healing it, the magic makes the skeleton explode internally. The poor thing scattered into different pieces.
"Hey isn't that heal? I have no idea it can be used like that."
Still looking ahead and casts heal to several skeletons, Rina responded:
"Heal recovers the target's vitality but if the target has no vitality to begin with like an undead, the heal denies its existence and destroys them instead"
Eye Doctor casts several heals towards the undead. A swipe of his rod is already equivalent to 5 heals, making the skeletons explode one by one. He added:
"It is one of the mysteries of holy property magic. The holy property magic denies any evil and undead are considered to be an evil entity and vice versa. However, there are some particular magic under this property like those recovery magic like heal that targets the vitality of the target and denies the target if it recognizes that target to be someone "who already lost" its vitality, returning it to where it should belong to. In other hand, if the recovery magic was casted on a demon who is not entirely an undead, the spell will recognize it as someone "who has a vitality" and heals it instead."
"Oh I see..."
That is very informative. Magic are complicated, if I spent my time dedicating to magic, maybe I could also use one. Archer class don't use magic but most of our skills are based on combat arts and self-suggestion. My Improve Concentration skill is a technique by imposing a self-suggestion on my psyche to heighten my senses. Eye Doctor's buffs on the other hand are a product of magic and gives supportive buffs.
Several bones are scattered on our feet, sounds of clashing of metals and explosions swallows the area. Noticing an abnormal spawn of monsters towards our way, several parties nearby moved nearer to us and attack the other skeletons. I bet these people are not here to help us, but rather to steal these monsters away from us. I look around and several materials scattered. I bet this will fetch a good price but they are too many to take.
Yoona took out the last skeleton on her side while the thief and merchant took out theirs on their side.
"That is an awfully many. I have no idea where they are appearing. They are just popping up out of nowhere."
Yoona complains as she wipes of the blade of her sword. As I started to gather some of the loots, we noticed a strong presence moving towards us. We all looked in front of us and a big shadow was inching closer and closer.
"Hmmm.... It seems a big fish finally came out."
Eye Doctor said as he walks pass us while Rina silently followed him behind.
"It feels like an undead"
Rina said. Her expression is grim as she grasps her rod tightly. All of us takes a stance as we wait for the enemy. After a short while, a unique looking skeleton finally appears. The skeleton is a bit larger compared to normal, the color of its bones are like mud. It holds two fairly large daggers on both of its hands and wears an oriental style helmet on its skull. Its presence is more intimidating than a normal skeleton, as it approaches as slowly.
"Clak clak clak gggrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Is that supposedly a shout?"
Yoona asks in wonder, as she raises her buckler in front of the approaching enemy
"Skeleton General!?... I wonder why is that thing here!? They normally appear at the 5th phase of this cave and Payon's guild dungeons..... Hmmm... Interesting...."
Eye Doctor was astonished but in an instant, his eyes became sharper and I could faintly sense a murderous aura on him in that split second before returning to his usual aloof expression. He walks nearer passing through Yoona and stand in front, facing the skeleton general head-on.
"Hey what are you doin---"
"Leave this to me... Let's not sweat ourselves further over this thing."
After being stopped by Eye Doctor, Yoona reluctantly agrees and shuts up. Rina rush towards Eye Doctor and said:
"Honorable priest, please let me help! I will destroy it with my heal!"
"No young acolyte. Your heal is not enough for that thing however.... Oh well... treat this as a special lesson for me young one."
The skeleton general started to rush towards Eye Doctor, seemingly intimidated by his presence.
"Listen young acolyte, and you too idiots!. It may be true that recovery spells like heal could do the trick against undead however against a higher level undead like this one, heal's destructive power is not enough to completely exorcise it."
What is this feeling? I could feel an increase of magic from Eye Doctor as he gives off an abnormal amount of mana. The air swirls around him faintly as he charges his magic. A bluish light was being emitted from his body as his mana is continuously increases and courses throughout his body.
"Against this kind of undead filth, what you need is not heal but rather a more potent holy property magic attack."
Eye Doctor point his staff towards the incoming undead, and in a loud voice, he releases all his pent up mana and channels in on his spell. I could tell that this spell is fairly powerful than an average one.
"Ash to ash! Dust to dust! Vanish! Scatter! Return to earth!! TURN UNDEAD!!!!"
With a flash of light and a roaring sound, an enormous bright light appears above the skeleton general. The bright light engulfs the undead whole. The residual force from the magic scatters around as the light brutally consumes the undead, disintegrating it violently. A roaring sound and a mild explosion followed afterwards as the light spreads outward. I covered my eyes and the light pass through us harmlessly. After a while, I opened my eyes and what was remained on the once skeleton general, are nothing but a black sooth on the ground.
All of us were stupefied at what had happened. There is nothing remaining even a speck of dust at once skeleton general, even the intimidating presence that we have felt earlier feels like a distant dream. Standing in front of us is the high priest that did this feat, tapping his long staff unto his shoulder as he nods in satisfaction.
"Honorable priest, is that an advance holy magic spell?"
Rina was clearly amazed on the destructive power of that magic. Thinking that the one who completely wiped that undead with a magic was a priest who is on same class as her, it couldn't be helped that the girl herself is getting excited. Such reactions are just normal. Anyone would feel the same when you witness with your own eyes a kind of power that you can possibly have.
"Young one.. oh not really. It is just one of the spells you can learn once you attain priesthood. It is called Turn Undead. It is a single target holy magic spell that is designed to completely exorcise an undead regardless of what kind or how strong it is."
Eye Doctor look back towards Rina as he starts his what he is called "lecture". Of course the members of this peanut gallery, are all ears to this fox. Yoona on other hand seems to be interested too, I could tell from her expression.
"Amazing!! Then if I will have that spell, then I can exorcise the enemies in one shot!"
Rina's eyes are sparkling as she looks towards his pseudo-mentor.
"Nah, not really. That spell only works on undead, it is useless against the other monsters. That's why that spell is called "Turn Undead" get it? It is also useless against demons."
"It was surprisingly useless"
I couldn't help but say it aloud. The spell is powerful. The problem is it is only good for undead. Eye Doctor looks at me. Even with his aloof expression, his eyes are clearly telling me to piss off. This fox really likes to waste time. One of the things I noticed on this fox is that he likes to give lectures to others whenever there is a chance, like a teacher or acts like a mentor just like what he did earlier. Could it be because of his profession? Or is it because that’s how he really is? Either way, I can only tell that he is a person who likes to waste time by doing something as pointless as this. Better to move forward before he starts another lecture.
"Hey you, the one with a cart, you are a merchant right? What is your name? Including you Thief."
I look towards the merchant and thief nearby and asks them to identify themselves. I made sure that my tone is imposing so that they will know who is the boss here. It sucks that Yoona is the leader though.
"Ah.. Yes, I am a merchant and is currently in training to becoming a blacksmith, my name is Seun. The one here is my friend and a thief, his name is Ibram."
Seun, the merchant gives a light bow to me while Ibram, the thief just nods his head. He is just silent and looks at me thoroughly. It seems this thief here is something.
"Hmmm... Could it be your friend couldn't speak?"
I asked in wonder as I look at him. Seun, from the way he handles himself and the aura he emits, looks like he is a member of a nobility while this Ibram is acting like his bodyguard. Seeing his skills earlier, this thief here is one hell of a talent. It might be they just got outnumbered earlier and was left on such state. Could it be Ibram is in training to become an Assassin? If that would be the case, I am sure he will turn into one scary guy in the future. Blacksmiths are a promotional class for Merchants while Assassins are for thieves. If they are currently in training to become one, then I am sure that the next I see them, they will already be promoted.
"Hahahaha.. No sir, he is just silent. He is just that serious type of guy. He did his all to protect me and Rina. I assure you that he is a kind person sir!"
Ibram looks away as if embarrassed. Seun speaks professionally as expected of Merchants. While Rina is still being lectured by Eye Doctor, her eyes are sparkling like an idiot. I can only tell that the only person that I can talk properly here is only Seun.
"I see.. So what will you do now? Our party will go ahead and go to 5th phase of this cave. It's been a short time but we need to get going."
"Ah yes sir! Uhm.. by any chance. Are you in a quest to search for the Princess?"
"Hmm yeah that's right. Are you also doing the same quest? However, are you sure you can do it? You guys look damn weak."
Ibram's eyes turns sharper and glare at me, ready to pounce me anytime. Seun on other hand was laughing wryly, he placed his hand on Ibram's shoulder asking him to calm down. Ibram looks away, the murderous presence he is emitting earlier is vanishing.
"Well yeah, we are not that strong as you can see. Still, we still want to do this quest. We are aware of the extent of our abilities, we will be careful next time."
"I know I am not in a position to say this, but I find it weird. Are you sure that it is worth to risk yourselves for something like this? The financial rewards are enticing I know, but if your chances of survival for this is below 10%, then it is not worth it. What's the use of your reward money if you already lost a hand or so for it? If you guys were beaten almost half dead from the bunch of skeletons, how much more from the stronger monsters deep inside? You guys know very well that there is a chance that you will encounter Moonlight Flower right?"
Seun close his eyes and think for a while. After a short moment, he opens his eyes and look straight towards me. His eyes are now different. A look of determination is painted across his face. Those eyes tell me the strong determination of the youth in front of me. Seun might be your everyday merchant, who will always show you a business smile and politeness akin to someone who interacts with people, but beneath those eyes of him right now, I could faintly feel his unbreakable will.
"What you said is true. But still, for us, this is a very important quest. If we give up now, I am sure we will regret it later.. I know that it is dangerous, but still, I'd rather die without regrets than living imprisoned with what if's and self-loathing."
Why does it feel I am feeling ashamed? For some reason, I could feel a bit irritated. I am not good at this type of people. As I was about to say something, Ibram looks at me sharply and said:
"Archer, we owe you our life, however it doesn't mean you have a right to insult us. We are different from you, we are doing this not because of the money, we are doing this because it is something important for us. Even if you are our benefactor, I will not allow you to speak shit on Seun."
I was left stupefied. Ibram's words are straight and concise. I can only interpret it as a warning. A battle simulation between me and Ibram's played on my head. He is agile and dexterous, fighting him head-on and this kind of terrain is disadvantageous of me. If only I can set some traps I might have a chance, but I am not yet good at those. The tension between Ibram and I are getting thicker. My senses are getting sharper. I reached instinctively towards my quiver while Ibram bends his body lower while looking sharply to me. I could see on my hindsight my neck being slit on instant. If that would be the case, where should I dodge? How should I dodge? When should I dodge? Seun on other hand, sensing the tension, tries to dispel by asking Ibram to calm down. However, it seems Ibram has no intention of backing down as he also sense the murderous intent on me. These guys are irritating, one of the things I hate the most are people who go against my ideals. If that would be the case and you dare to show hostility towards me, then I will gladly pay you back.
"Ha! Big words for someone who is almost half dead earlier. I don't care if your strong or not, but I could only tell that you guys are bunch of nutheads filled with nothing but fairytales inside your heads. How shameless, don't you have any debt of gratitude. If you will payback our effort to save you with nothing but hostility, then so be it. I will be happy to decorate your numbskulls with my arrows."
Ibram's expression became colder and on the instant I took an arrow to my quiver, he quickly advance two steps and is about to reach on my throat. Seun shouts desperately and tried to restrain Ibram but on that instant, a brutish looking sword pass between us digging into the ground with force. Ibram quickly jumps back as dusts and smoke scatters around. Doing the same thing as Ibram, I quickly leapt back. Noticing it was Yoona, I started glaring at her. Yoona started walking towards me. I wonder what she wants? After taking some mild breaths. Yoona, punched me straight to the face! My senses were in disarray due to the impact causing me to lose my foothold and falling in my butt. As my vision continue to swirl, I touched the aching pain on the cheeks and looked around angrily towards them. Yoona was still in her stance and is looking at me coldly, while the others including Eye Doctor and Rina are surprised on what had happened. Ibram and Seun are also surprised on Yoona's sudden punch.
"Yyyoouuu iiddiioottt wwhhaa---"
"Shut up scum! If there is an idiot here that would be you! I thought you are better than that, but your nothing but a disappointment."
Yoona give me an icy cold glare as she takes her sword that I figured she threw a while ago to stop me and Ibram. She gives me a scowl and looks towards Seun and Ibram who are still in disbelief on what had happened.
"That scum over there is my subject, as the leader, I humbly apologize for the unforgivable actions he had done."
Yoona place a hand on her chest and bows deeply towards Seun and Ibram. Ibram close his eyes a while and dispels the intent to kill he is emitting and looks apologetically towards Yoona. Seun was baffled on Yoona's action. After composing themselves, Seun had answered:
"Uhm no! It is fine... I am sorry too... It's no big deal, besides what had that Archer had said is true... Hey Ibram! Apologize too!!"
"Sorry... I lost my cool..."
Seun and Ibram bowed back to Yoona with an apologetic face. Yoona gestures them to don't mind it and they look at each other face to face. Eye Doctor and Rina came towards us.
"I happen to overhead the conversation. It is my subject's fault that it got escalated to this. Your reactions are justified and understandable. On other hand, I could not also watch idly as unfortunate as it is, that scum is under me."
"Hahaha... Don't sweat it. We are very thankful for saving us earlier. As we had mentioned to that archer, I guess it is better if we get going too.."
Seun gestures to Ibram and Rina and as they about to turn around, Yoona stop them.
"Wait... I have a proposal to make..."
Seun, Ibram and Rina looks back to Yoona. Seun questioningly looks at Yoona.
"Proposal?"
"Yes... As you can see, we are both pursuing the same type of quest. After hearing you guys earlier, I realize we are just in same boat."
"What do you mean?"
"We took this quests because it is also important for me. We didn't take this quest out of rewards or anything, we just want to save the princess. I feel that I should take responsibility for my incompetence during that time when I had first met her."
"What!? You have met her?!"
Seun rushes to Yoona, his face is astonished.
"Yes, before the kidnapping incident occurs. I had met her by chance. And on that time, I already sensed that there is something wrong, but.... I didn't do anything. This is the price of my incompetence that's why I took this quest. I share your sentiments, and I feel it is better to work together for the same cause. It might be shameless of me and awkward for you, but would you like to join us and take this quest together?"
Seun looked towards Ibram and Rina, they both nod their heads. Ibram came forward and face Yoona,
"What happened earlier is fine. We are also in the wrong so let’s put that aside. I have no qualms working together with you, especially with a competent leader like you."
Ibram nods his head satisfactory, Rina follows suit and smiles. Seun follows the same and said:
"It is rare for Ibram to talk like that. Alright, we accept. Let's work together and finish this quest!"
Seun stretch out his hands towards Yoona. They shake hand and smile at each other.
"Ah right, we forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Yoona, this party's leader, that scum over there is Kavach, and the priest is Eye Doctor. We look forward working with you."
"Ah I am Seun our party's leader, this thief is Ibram and the acolyte is Rina. Same, we look forward working with you. Let's put aside on what had happened and make this quest a success!!"
Yoona smiles satisfactorily, Rina looks gleefully towards Eye Doctor while the fox faced priest was nodding satisfactorily with his aloof expression. I feel like a villain... I hate this..... I stand up and dust myself off. I touched the swollen cheek with my hand and rub it gently. Eye Doctor noticed me and walks towards me, leaving Rina behind with the others.
"Don't you like this kind of ending? Kavach?"
I looked towards Eye Doctor grudgingly. However, I realized that arguing with this fox is pointless. I scowled and walks ahead. Eye Doctor watched me walk forward. I looked towards the others who are still in the middle of exchanging pleasantries. Great... Now I am forced to work together with people who can stab me back anytime... I heave a heavy sighed and tell them.
"Your stupid dreams won't happen if we just stand here"
I said as I walk pass them. Everyone look towards my way. I ignored their gazes and just continue walking forward. After a while, I feel them following behind me.
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I watched the now 6-man party walking further inside the cave. It seems the monsters that I had called earlier are not enough to stall them. I maybe have underestimated them too much.
Grasping the remaining amulets, I walk nearer to the place where that 6-man party once stood. Several scattered bones fill the area. For a typical adventurer, this scene is like a treasure trove. The materials spread out here could fetch a good price, especially if it is a merchant who will sell those.
"I even use a dead branch to summon that Skeleton General.. Only to be one-shotted by that damn priest! What was that? Isn't that a cheat?"
I complained to no one in particular. The remains of the dead branch, a cursed item who looks like a small dead twig that can be used to call a monster by snapping it into two, fell down on my hands as it withers away. I summoned those skeletons using the amulet that guy gave me and called a boss level monster using a dead branch hoping to stall them or incapacitate them. Frustrating as it is, the end result is what you can see.
"Now out of all people that they will meet, it is that merchant... The way the fate does things sure is funny."
Heaving a heavy sigh, I count the remaining amulets and dead branch I have inside my pouch. I am expecting that the undeads I summon earlier will be fairly strong. The undeads inside these cave are stronger than normal, thanks to the influence of Moonlight Flower lurking deep inside.
"Well I still have enough stock. There still a plenty of chances to take them out. The 3rd phase of this cave is a perfect spot for an ambush. I wonder how they will handle it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
I hurriedly walk towards the way the 6-man party treaded earlier. An evil grin forms on my face as I run deep inside the darkness.