Vin tried as much as he could to sense the mana but there was nothing to be sensed , he had been looking for any signs of mana in the air for quite a while and to his shock there was none.
What did this mean ? Of course it meant there wasn't any mana in this dungeon , that he knew. But it was an extremely odd case for mana to be not in a dungeon, mana was everywhere yet it wasn't here.
Just thinking of the reason why it wasn't there gave Vin a headache , it was impossible to decipher something you had never experienced before but he did have a theory though.
Supposedly if a stronger form of energy was being emitted in this dungeon ,it would push or eliminate the weaker one. In this case mana was theoretically the weaker one due to it's absence then what was the stronger one then? his theory would have become closer to the truth if he could perceive this 'energy' or sense it.
It was certainly the first time Vin had come across something he didn't understand , this gave him a strong desire to learn more so he could figure out what to do in situations like these.
" Man ,I am so bored.. it's been over an hour already since I haven't whooped some monster ass. "
Misha sighed after her complaint ,using her arms as a pillow as she leaned on the dungeon wall , she had a glove similar to Nisha's but red in colour so her hands wouldn't suffer from any pain from leaning for so long.
" Ya know Misha , have you considered being a boy? I mean you're a girl but don't talk like one. "
Misha opened her eyes in shock , she turned her head and glared at Hanks who had just mocked her.
" How dare you ! I like myself the way I am , if you don't then you can go to hell ! "
Hanks smiled , he seemed delighted of her insult. He was a bit far from Misha so he couldn't worry of her attacking him,atleast for the moment.
"My bad , I was just offering some help. Kehe "
Hanks winked at her , making Misha a bit pissed off.
" What's your problem ! You're usually a lot quieter. "
Misha said and calmed down after but she didn't stop glaring at him.
" I could say the same about you , you're usually more fist and less talking.. I mean if you were acting yourself I would have had a fist glued on my face by now. "
Misha grinned , there was that purple aura of hers emitted around her.
" Oh , thanks for the reminder. It's been a while since I punched somebody anyways , my hands were beginning to get the itch..."
Misha stood up and approached Hanks , she was preparing on punching him as her hands were folded into a fist. Hanks played the role of a coward perfectly , as he quickly stood up creating some distance between him and Misha by backing slowly
" Hey,hehe we can talk about this right? I was just joking Misha ! "
" Oh don't worry , you won't know what hit ya ! "
" QUIET !! WHY ARE YOU TWO SO CHILDISH?! CAN'T YOU SEE WE'RE IN A CRISIS ?!! "
Vin broke out in exclamation , his teeth were so pressed against together they looked like they would break ; he was angry with veins popping out of his head. Misha and Hank's argument quickly died down , everyone had their eyes on Vin now. Probably because he released a large amount of aura during his shouting.
" just Incase you guys haven't realised , 2 hours have long passed - infact if my internal clock is accurate ,it has been 15 to 17 minutes since 2 hours passed. Do you have any idea what that means ? "
Everyone looked at each other in confusion , they looked like they didn't understand what Vin was referring to or perhaps the first time seeing Vin , a person who is usually calm - all frustrated.
" Then what do you suggest we do then ? You're the leader now so lead us. "
He was right though , Krohn the original leader was currently unconscious , Hindriad who was a temporary leader due to being the strongest was now absent perhaps even lost , Vin as the strongest now in the group was in charge.
" In this situation I don't have much I can say we should do , but Hindriad would know a lot of what we should do which is why I suggest we track him down .. he could be in danger "
Vin declared , no one seemed to go against his suggestion , they just clenched their fists , some preparing their equipment - atleast Hanks did.
Everyone was on the move now , well everyone except Nisha and Krohn.
" What do we do about them ? Nisha is better than before but Krohn is still unconscious. "
Hanks was right , in this situation Krohn could become a burden figuratively and literally.
" We carry him. Let's go , I know where to start looking "
Vin quickly responsed , he began moving, directing the others as his robe swayed with him. His' pointed hat had been lost while battling the ants.
Barbra seemed to struggle lifting Krohn with Hanks , they had his armed wrapped around their shoulders while holding them with the corresponding arm. Barbra was weak when it came to stuff like this.
𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 , 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅
Jain thought to himself after seeing Babra pitifully try to lift Krohn.
" Maybe I can help ? "
He suggested , jumping in. Babra seemed more than willing to take the offer as she backed away letting Jain carry Krohn. He seemed to struggle too , but not as much as Babra did.
" Gah- how can somebody so slim be so heavy?! What does he eat ! "
Hanks smirked , enjoying watching Jain struggle.
" I know right? He eats a lot when no one's looking I think he should go on a diet, he is really heavy. "
Hanks mockingly said as he too offered a hand to lift the unconscious Krohn , with Barbra stepping aside.
It was hardly possible someone could get this heavy just because they were eating too much , it was probably because he was unconscious so his body didn't have a center of gravity at the moment and his muscles fully relaxed thus making him heavy. That's what Jain theorized inside his head.
"Hurry up you two , you're lacking behind you know? "
Barbra teased , she was even giggling with a hand across her mouth. She was back to her joyous self again. She slowed down for Hanks and Jain , tagging slightly infront of them.
" That's easy for you to say , you don't have a heavy body weighing you down.. literally ! "
" Well , you decided to be a gentleman and helped me out. "
" That's true....... But that doesn't give you the right to tease us ! "
" A little teasing has never killed anyone "
Jain had never imagined he would talk to a girl like this , carefree and happily even though the heaviness from Krohn's body was milking the moment. The Hanks guy wasn't bad after all, it seemed only 3 of the 7 people in the dungeon with him hated even the sight of him while 3 he was on friendly terms with, Krohn was the neutral one who seemed to out his personal feelings aside during raids.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒎𝒆 , 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑵𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂?
Jain looked ahead to see Nisha walking next to Misha , the two looked extremely alike but with different personalities ; opposite personalities actually. Misha was the wild and unruly one while Nisha was rather quiet and disciplined.
They also barely interacted with each other , per se due to their personalities.
Misha was more of a prideful individual who wanted attention to herself, while Nisha a humble person who wouldn't make the first move to begin a conversation unless Misha did. The fact that these two were in the same guild was a miracle by itself.
" Ang.. wh-....what...where...am I.... "
It was soft and low , but Jain noticed the self interrogation of a waking person who had just recently gained consciousness , and that person was Krohn who even though had woken up didn't make any actions like moving something as a little as a muscle.
No one else seemed to hear him speak - Hanks was focused ahead, Barbra too. It would certainly earn him some preference if it was he who announced his waking.
" Guys , Krohn is waking up ! "
Everyone stopped to look at him , Hanks even let go of his arm and layed him down as Jain followed.
Now everyone was moving closer to get a better look at him , gathering in a circle with Krohn who was in the middle of it , seemingly in a deep sleep.
" I see you like jokes boy , Krohn is still unconscious yet you just loudly declared him waking as if you being h- "
Vin's was-to-be insult was cut in half by the sudden gasp from Krohn in the ground gasping for air with his eyes wide open.
Everyone had flinched , this raid had made all of them paranoid.
Now everyone watched Krohn in anticipation of what he was to do next , maybe they were expecting him to say something although it would be difficult with everyone's penetrating gazes upon him.
" ...... "
The silence continued for a while , to the point it had grown eerie with people looking at each other waiting for somebody to say something.
Jain in particular was waiting for Vin to atleast show some courtesy and apologize for wrongly accusing him although by the looks of it none of that was to happen.
" Will somebody say something? "
Jain said
Vin looked at Jain grudgingly before looking back at Krohn who was still on the ground , he offered a hand to help him get up.
" Is everything alright team leader ? "
Vin asked , his hand still offered. Krohn moved his lips to speak although it seemed as if he couldn't exactly get the words out.
" I-Its over with me , my body is completely destroyed infact my body is numb ,even being alive is a miracle by itself.... "
Vin looked deeply at Krohn as if capturing his words , maybe he was. He stared blankly at him as if he had seen a ghost ,shortly his expression changed ; morphing into a frown.
" No , stand up. I refuse to see you in this pitable state "
He grabbed Krohn , who was lying on the floor facing the ceiling. It was noteworthy how he was able to singlehandedly lift a person that heavy while being slim himself and his persistence to shape Krohn back to his own self.
Krohn immediately fell over after Vin let go of him , in an attempt to build back his strength. Jain quickly catched him , grabbing him from behind and clipping Krohn's shoulders.
Krohn looked down , as if all hope he had was lost.
" Just stand up damnit ! I know you can do this just try..try harder "
Vin said infuriated , but his fury seemed more directed at himself than at Krohn.
" It's alright Vin, there is nothing any of you can do to help me out of this condition. Most of my muscles are ripped apart , My mana passages are busted and I can hardly see... I am nearing death's door - "
Everyone was silent at this point , they didn't want to spoil the moment with their blabbering or were either too eager to let it pass quickly.
" Get up ! You're a leader Krohn , act like one ! Stop with the silly display of weakness ! "
Vin jumped in again , lifting Krohn who groaned in pain but he didn't have enough power to show resistance against Vin. He was two falls away from screaming in agony yet Vin continued , forcefully trying to make him stand up. Jain couldn't watch this , he was never good with watching people suffer infront of him - it gave him this empathetic feel in him that urged him to reach out and help , he was the kind of guy who'd look away from a dying person.
" Stop.... "
His tone was small , Vin definitely didn't hear him or if he did he was continuing just because Jain was stopping him.
𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆
" Stop ! Can't you see you're gonna kill him? "
Jain shouted
Vin continued , As if he was deaf. Some fury rose inside Jain ;it had never been there before but now it was. Without even thinking he walked over to Vin ,pushing him back before catching and laying Krohn back on the ground.
Vin sufferered a great deal of shock ,to the point he looked like he didn't know whether to attack Jain for stopping him or continuing with his assault.
His eyes were wide opened but he quickly regained his senses, gazing him with a lot of heavy blood lust that everyone felt simultaneously.
" 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 , 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 !! "
The bloodlust emitted by Vin in those few words left Jain rooted in one place, it was like the force of gravity had Increased to him. If it weren't for the hunters which were already shielding Jain from him with their bodies, Vin might have attacked Jain in that moment and killed him.
" Think with your head for a second Vin, killing him won't get ya anywhere and have ya forgotten that this guy is under Hindriad's protection?what do you think will happen if he finds out you killed him,huh? "
Hanks warned.
The bloodlust quickly faded as fast as it arrived, Vin looked at the others stopping to think about it before turning and walking away.
" I guess it's only natural that the weak stick together.... "
With those few words left ,Vin disappeared in the dungeon's darkness with his flame torch purposely switched off , he probably didn't want anybody to see where he was going or have an idea of it.
Jain had watched as the tall man wearing a red-matched outfit disappear along with Misha who had watched him in silence before disappearing too, he was still shocked himself and in complete disbelief that bloodlust was directed at him to the point his body refused to move , but he was even more shocked that it was he who provoked Vin to releasing it.
He was never the righteous type in the beginning , he was the type to mind his own business and would only help a person if he had something to gain from it , then why did he help Krohn? Just by provoking that Vin guy put his life at danger , he could have been killed at that moment in a flash.
𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒚?
Barbra and the others were surrounding Krohn ,kneeled next to him. Maybe it was because of them that he acted that way, maybe because of 𝙝𝙚𝙧.
It had been quite long since Jain met a person as kind as Barbra so maybe he subconsciously made a vow to himself to repay her , and by helping Krohn he'd have helped Barbra too by reducing the work piling up and the feeling of uselessness she probably would feel.
𝒀𝒆𝒔 , 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒕...𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉.
The feeling never left Jain , it was different from the sense of approaching death when he had bloodlust directed at him , it felt like the sweetness of honey with sliced banana on the side ; it truly felt good to do good and Jain realised that this would be a day that he would look back at in the future, thanks to this feeling he knew nobody could steal away from him.
" c..come closer boy. "
Krohn muttered in a near-death trance , everyone else was near him so it made sense that he was calling Jain to come closer. So he did , kneeling among Nisha ,Barbra and Hanks. Krohn began speaking ,with a sigh to begin.
" What you did there was reckless - "
𝑺𝒐 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 ? 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕-
" Don't make that kind of face , I can tell you're thinking I am about to discipline you.. "
Jain had been thinking to himself to the point he previously hadn't noticed that Krohn had his eyes straight at him.
The entire situation was awkward , it was like visiting your relative who was dying to some disease per passing day while you watched knowing there is nothing you could do about it , the difference now was that Krohn was dying per passing second and due to over-the-limit fatigue and internal damage rather than a disease.
If he didn't call him here to discipline him , then what was it then?
" you're not? "
Jain asked
Krohn nodded , he probably found responding to questions like these not worth wasting words on.
" Even though seeing you stand up for me does make my last moments pleasurable , I wouldn't like for somebody to die or he injured at my expense... I may show it or say it but I care deeply about every one of you.. "
The way he speaked , his carefully picked words were right to portray one impression - that Krohn was truly about to die , and this was his last moments.
" Oh no.......don't tell me - "
Hanks had a confused look as he stared at Krohn , but there was excitement locked beneath it too which he was trying to hide.
" You're about to give us the direction to some hidden gold you have ?! "
" Hanks ! This is no time for jokes , can't you be serious for a moment?! "
Barbra protested.
" Hey. You two, Nisha as well. "
Krohn's voice had completely changed , it had a tone of authority to it that put the two standing upright and responding to his was-to-come command.
" Can you please go look for Vin and Misha, where they went.. they are part of the team too "
Everyone nodded and gathered together before beginning their search , in less than 8 minutes they were gone as if they had never been there to begin with - leaving Jain and Krohn all alone.
" You made them leave on purpose didn't you? "
Krohn showed some surprise at first , and that proved Jain's theory true. he made them leave so he could tell Jain something only he alone needed to know or even worse -
" You're not as dull as you look. "
" Hey , is that supposed to be a compliment ?! "
" Hehe. "
" And what's with you being nice and everything ? I thought you guys didn't like having me around. "
Krohn's face tensed up and there was no signs of the cheerfulness he had just seconds ago , maybe asking that question was a wrong move for Jain to make.
" It's not that I didn't like you , It's kind of hard to explain but I promise you'll figure it out sooner or later. "
" And here I was thinking you were about to give me an entire essay of explanation . "
Krohn laughed , Jain could see he was suffering through the pain from doing that but managed to maintain a straight face and didn't complain.
" Oh? I would have but I don't have much time left .. "
" So.. I have no choice but to accept that you had some attitude changes of some sort and now you're being nice to me. "
" If that's your way of interpreting it. I know listening to me probably feels like a drag , but believe me it'll be worthwhile. "