-Hobgoblin's Area-

We searched the whole area but we didn't find any trace of a dungeon entrance, not even a hint. Maybe the one that started that rumor is a troll or something. This is just a waste of time...

"Hey, guys? Did you find anything? It's really hard to see clearly when it's too dark," I thought you want to be an archer... you should try and use your eyes a little bit better... He's pretty much just checking out some boulders.

"It should be here somewhere. Tavern keeper said it would be near the lake. We're missing something out here,"

I started touching the big rocks around the lake like an idiot. There should be some sort of hidden entrances. It's common to most of the puzzle games.

After spending a lot of time grabbing and checking I found a suspicious rock. It's like it was built and unnatural. I decided to break it with my fiery punch when my teammates weren't looking.

*BOOOOOOOOOM!* The rock shattered into pieces! I knew it! I found a stairway below the ground! It was a small narrow way but I'm pretty sure they must be hiding some important stuff inside building a place like this.

"Scy! Are you alright? What the heck was that explosion?" Elou's worried.

"Oh, I pressed something and then bam, an explosion out of nowhere," I looked around and I don't see any company.

"Nice! We found it! Get ready for some loot," I can see an evil grin coming from his face and it was me who found it.

-The Entrance of the Dungeon-

So, we didn't waste time and entered. It's so dark here but finally, we're now below the ground and inside the dungeon.

"Hey guys, it's pretty common that dungeons have some traps so be careful," I am not sure if this place is safe.

The inside looks like a normal cave but it was built like rooms. There's a door that leads to the other rooms. Thankfully it wasn't like a maze. There's only one door each room. It must be a hideout of some sort.

Every room is empty. It's really unsettling. There should be something inside the rooms but cleaned out instead. I'm getting a bad feeling about this.

We're now in the fifth room but there are no traces of loot inside. This place must be a hideout of bandits and maybe they just left and found another place.

"Hey Scy, we should go back. It doesn't look like we will get anything from here. It is empty," Yeah, he's right. Maybe we should just go back to the city.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere!" A group of men is walking towards us. Bandits! I knew it!

"How did you find our hideout? Hey, you said no one can find our hideout, you jerk!" He scolded one of his lackeys.

"Sorry, Boss but we're already playing almost eight months now and this is the first time someone discovered our hideout," So they're really bandits!

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"Hello Misters, we are very sorry for trespassing. We're lost and we mean no harm. Will you let us through? We won't tell a soul. We promise," Elou's trying to avoid further casualties.

"Well, that's too bad. Even if we kill you right now you'll just respawn. You know that Order of Light guild is looking for us, right? So basically, we will just need to find a new hideout. How about you leave your belongings here and we will let you pass?" He said. Well, it's better to do as they say or we will be outnumbered but we got really nothing to lose.

"Alright Sirs, we will leave our bags here. Just stick to your promise," Elou, good job. I hope they just let us pass.

After we drop our bags we move out.

"Ladies first," I said and the girls started moving. I walked out last.

The moment I went to the fourth room a lackey stabbed me in the back!

"Eh? It bounced back!" He said, surprised by what happened. The lackey thought I wasn't prepared.

"Jeez! We just gave you our bags. Why do you have to kill us? You leave me no choice,"

*BAAAAAM!* The moment I finished my sentence, I knocked out the lackey who tried to stab me.

"I admire your dedication, boy. But do you think you can defeat all of us? Not to mention your teammates are cowering in fear," The leader is pretty confident. We'll see about that.

"Hey Scy, do you think we should run? We're totally outnumbered right now," Elou whispered to me full of doubts. If you want to go, just go. I need my stuff back.

"Don't worry, let me handle this," I need to look confident.

"How about I challenge your leader one on one and if I win, give us back our belongings and let us go but if you defeat me instead we will not tell anyone about your little hideout and just go on our way," I said. If their boss is really strong he will just take the bait.

"How about you leave the two girls with us if I defeat you instead? It's been a long time since we got girls' company BWAHAHAHA," He laughed so hard that he might even throw up. Nasty Bandits...

"Sure. Just this time, make sure you fulfill your promise," I have to do something.

"Hey wait a minute Scy. You're scaring the girls. If you have a plan please don't involve them. They might get hurt, you know. Elou whispered to me.

"Don't worry I have a plan. Just trust me," I replied.

"You think you can beat me? I've been playing the game since they released it. Be ready or you'll be dead in an instant!" He confidently said while doing his protective instance.

(LEONIDUS /DEFENDER: C)

EQUIPMENT: BANDIT'S AXE / TOWER SHIELD / BANDIT'S HEAVY ARMOR

MASTERIES: NORMAL WEAPON / HEAVY ARMOR)

He's wearing a heavy armor making him slower and he's using a tower shield to defend from frontal attacks. Unlike his lackey, they wear simple light armors for tracking and assassination purposes. He uses a one-handed ax as his primary weapon. His head is also well protected.

He is now walking towards me without leaving his protective stance. It's easy to read. The moment he gets near me he will just swing his ax. But there's a disadvantage using that kind of instance. He is vulnerable to magic attacks.

I created a fireball and used it to attack him but he managed to defend from it, swinging his shield to put out the fire. I knew it! I saw an opening.

"Haha! That won't work! I fought a lot of stupid spell casters and died with a single blow from my ax!" He's really full of himself.

I concentrated my mana on my hand again to create a simple fireball at the same time I'm also preparing to use the booster I used to chase the shade earlier.

I threw again the fireball towards his shield.

*BAAAAM!* That shield is tough but-

"Haha, I told you it won't- Ehh?"

The moment he swung his shield to put out the fire again, I rushed towards him and used my fiery punch in his chest. He was caught off guard.

*BAAAAAAAAAM!* The explosion echoed throughout the room. Everyone got knocked back because of the force and the boss got smashed to the floor.

The boss lost his consciousness in an instant but he's not dead yet, I can tell.

"We made a promise guys, give us back our items and we will leave the place peacefully," I said intimidating the rest of them. I know I used a lot of mana again and for the meantime, I can only use physical attack so if they decided to fight back, we're in serious trouble.

So far, my plan worked. They gave us back our belongings and we decided to leave the place. Being Rank C Thief has its perks.