Mercer suddenly woke up as a few loud explosions echoed in the air.
“What the hell!?” Mercer shouted as he swiftly sat up. He looked at his internal clock and saw it was a little pass two in the morning.
What is going on so early in the morning? Mercer thought to himself before two more loud explosions filled the air bringing flashes of light here and there.
Mercer quickly got out of his bed and ran to the window to see if he could find where the source was coming from.
As he approached the window he saw two different colored lights flash on the outskirts of the town. One was a golden yellow with splashes of orange while the other was hazy grey with a mix of black inside it.
He was able to feel powerful mana within the explosions happening with each collision of magic.
Mercer’s eyes widened. What the hell is going on over there? Mercer thought until he heard a knock on his door.
He turned and called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s Artem and Roman,” Artem replied through the door.
Mercer raced over to the door to see Artem looking at him with as much confusion as he felt.
Roman on the other hand, looked like he was still half asleep as he let out a big yawn.
“Do you have any idea of what is going on?” Artem questioned as anxiety started to creep up within him.
Mercer shook his head. “No, I have no clu…,” Mercer started to say until a notification suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Warning! Teammate Liam has entered the 6th floor of the Graveyard of the Forgotten Realm solo.”
Mercer looked at Artem and Roman surmised they must have gotten the same notification since Artem was staring at something with an even more confused expression.
Roman looked like he finally fully woke up as he shouted, “What the hell!? Why would he have entered the dungeon alone?!”
“That’s what we would like to know,” a voice stated causing the three guys to turn and see who spoke.
It was Blair. Close by her were Avery and Ariyana. Each of them were in their armor looking like they were ready for a fight.
“I don’t know why he would, but I have a feeling it might have to do with what’s going on outside,” Mercer commented.
“We need to figure out what’s going on,” Avery stated as she turned back around and started for the stairs.
“I agree,” Mercer said as a puff of smoke covered his body, switching his pajamas into his armor. “We need to hurry up and get there. We don’t know what to expect on that floor.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mercer and the others approached the Portal area with caution as they walked up the path.
The noise and massive amounts of mana they were able to feel earlier had stopped and disappeared as they ran through the town.
As soon as the Portal came into sight they noticed a group of people standing around.
Mercer noticed there were officials from the Training Hall, Mage Tower, and the three Overseers.
The group of six looked around as they slowly approached the other people.
Craters were spread around the area with bones scattered across the ground. Broken chunks of earth were spread here and there around what looked like broken walls of rocks and stones.
“What in the world happened here?” Roman asked, shocked to see how extensive the damage was.
“What do you guys think you are doing here?” a voice called out. “Non-officials are not allowed to be here.”
Mercer placed his hands up as he looked at a woman who had a bad case of bed head and said, “We were not told about this area being off limits.”
“Someone should have…,” the woman started before a hand touched her shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nabal stated as the woman turned to look at him. “I will talk them.”
The woman let out a sigh before turning away and saying, “Fine.”
Nabal turned to look at Mercer and the others and was about to say something until Avery swiftly inquired, “What happened here?”
Nabal placed a hand on the back of his head and replied, “There was a fight between an Overseer and a Necromancer. Apparently she was stopping the man from kidnapping a person and it broke out into a fight.”
He gestured with his hands to the area around them.
“A fight between an Overseer and a Necromancer?” Roman repeated with shock.
“Which Overseer was fighting?” Blair questioned.
“The Necromancer was kidnapping someone? Who?” Avery asked.
“Whoa, whoa. One question at a time,” Nabal stated trying to calm them down.
As soon as they stopped barraging him with questions, Nabal started back up, “First, Nalia was the one who was fighting the Necromancer.”
“Was the Necromancer Steve?” Mercer interjected.
“Not sure,” Nabal shrugged. “She claims the man was hooded so she didn’t get a good look at his face to be able to identify him.”
“Hm,” Mercer muttered as he started thinking.
“What happened to the Necromancer?” Ariyana asked, curiously.
“He got away right before the rest of us got here,” Nabal answered. “He used some kind of smokescreen ability to hide where he went.”
“Are you serious?” Artem asked as he looked around.
Nabal looked at them all. “To answer that last question from earlier. The one he was kidnapping was Liam.”
“What?!” the others exclaimed.
“Nalia stated he got away during the middle of the fight, but she wasn’t sure where he went,” Nabal stated. “You guys haven’t seen him have you?”
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All six members turned to look at each other.
They didn’t say anything for a few seconds until Mercer stated, “That’s actually why we came here. We got a notification stating he entered the sixth floor of the black dungeon.”
“What?!” Nabal shouted. “Are you sure?”
The six of them nodded.
“Yes. Although I never heard of the dungeon sending messages out like this before,” Mercer said, hoping for Nabal would clarify.
“The dungeon will do that to inform members who have entered the dungeon together for a total of three floors,” Nabal stated. “It’s a feature that Guilds and Parties use for certain reasons, but you’ll learn that later. Are you sure it said he entered the sixth floor?”
“Yes,” Mercer repeated.
“Did it say if he entered with anyone?” Nabal questioned.
“No, it only said he entered alone,” Artem stepped in answering.
Nabal looked at him and started thinking. “He must have entered to escape the fighting that happened.”
“That could be a possibility,” Blair started. “However, we need to know for sure and the only way for us to know is to get to him.”
Nabal looked at her after she finished saying this. He then looked at the others and recognized the resolve in their eyes.
“I’m not sure the Overseers will allow that,” Nabal started. “If they say no then what are you guys going to do?”
Mercer and the others turned to look at each other.
With a nod from each of them they turned and replied, “We’ll go anyways.”
“Good answer. Come with me,” Nabal said as he turned and started walking through the crowd.
Mercer and the others looked at each for a brief moment before following him.
Nabal pushed through the crowd with the group of six close by. A few people were going to stop the group until Nabal turned his gaze upon them and waved for them to stop.
When they reached their destination, they saw Adva and Phorge looking down and talking to Nalia.
Mercer and the others let out a gasp as they saw the state Nalia was in.
She was sitting on the ground with her back up against a rock slab. Her clothes were torn, and she had some purplish bruises. Some blood was splattered across her arms and a light gash across her chest under her neck.
As Nabal and the others approached, she glared at Mercer and his group. With a scowl she questioned, “What are you guys doing here? Go back to your inns. You’re not supposed to be here.”
“The situation has changed,” Nabal interjected.
“What do you mean?” Phorge questioned as he looked at him.
Nabal turned to Mercer and said with a strict tone, “Tell them what you told me.”
Mercer eyed Nabal for a brief moment before turning to look at the three Overseers. “We received a message stating Liam had entered the sixth floor of the Black Dungeon.”
“What?!” Adva yelled. “What was he thinking?!”
Artem gulped before chiming in, “We think he entered the dungeon to get escape whatever was going on here.”
Adva turned to look at Nalia. “Is this true? Did you see him enter the dungeon?”
Nalia let out a sigh of annoyance as she replied, “My attention wasn’t on that scum. I had my hands full on that fucking Necromancer.”
“Nalia!” Adva shouted, looking flustered.
“I told him to get out of here when those skeletons started chasing him,” Nalia explained. “I do remember him running towards the dungeons, but I didn’t think he would be stupid enough to enter alone.”
Adva looked like she was about to explode before Nalia continued, “I’m sure he is fine. He’s probably waiting till he thinks it is safe to come back out.”
Adva let out a breath of air. “You’re probably right. He’ll come out sooner or later.”
Mercer and the others looked at each other with nervous expressions.
Nabal caught the looks. He knew why they were looking at each other. He then looked Mercer in the eye and said, “Are you going to tell them or should I?”
Adva, Nalia, and Phorge looked at each other before giving Mercer and his group a confused look.
However, before anyone could say anything a man came running up to them. He was a lanky man wearing the Mage Tower’s outfit.
“Phorge!” he shouted. “I have a message from one of the Overseers in the sixth Tutorial Area.”
Phorge turned to look at the man. “What’s the message?”
“The Overseer said that he found out something very important pertaining the four groups from the sixth and the nineth Tutorial Areas,” the man continued. He paused, waiting for Phorge to respond.
“Well, what did he find out?” Phorge asked, annoyed that the man didn’t proceed.
The man noticed Mercer and the five by him.
“Are you sure I should be talking about official matters with non-officials around?” the man asked as he turned his focus back on Phorge.
Phorge waved his hand out, frustration starting to fill him. No longer remaining patient, Phorge ordered with a strict voice, “There’s no time with that. Get on with it.”
The man flinched at Phorge’s tone and said, “Yes, well all eight groups had found a Forbidden Path and traveled down them. Apparently each group in the other Tutorial Areas entered the Dungeons shortly after he found out.”
“Did you say a Forbidden Path?!” Adva and Nalia questioned with some shock.
Phorge clenched his fists after hearing this. He then slowly turned to Mercer and the others and asked with a calm and cold tone, “Does that sound like something that pertains to you guys?”
Mercer gulped as he felt a powerful mana roll off of Phorge. His gaze was so fierce that Mercer’s body started to shake a bit unconsciously.
He wasn’t shaking because he completely feared the man per say. Phorge was frightening and he’d be a complete fool to not have some fear of the man, but it was his mana that rolled off of him. His mana felt life threatening, like if he made a movement Phorge didn’t like then it could crush him right there on the spot.
“Ah…,” Mercer started to say until Phorge added.
“And don’t talk in a round about way. I know you are skill in the Field of the Bard for your level, but I am not in the mood for games.” Phorge narrowed his eyes.
Mercer slowly turned to see how the others were doing.
They were not fairing well either. Sweat drench down their faces as they looked like they were struggling to breath.
Mercer turned back to face Phorge again and went to say something, but struggled to speak. He couldn’t find his voice within the overwhelming mana.
Nabal stepped in front of Mercer and clapped his hands, dispelling the oppressive mana.
Phorge turned to look at Nabal and growled, “What do you think you’re doing, Nabal?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Nabal quipped with a raised brow. “How do you expect them to speak when your Mana Aura is suffocating them.”
Phorge stared at Nabal for a long moment before reeling in his mana.
Ariyana, Artem, Avery, Blair, Mercer, and Roman took in a long deep breath of air before they started panting.
“I’m sorry,” Phorge apologized as he turned to them. His angry expression turned embarrassed. “I knew you lot were hiding something, but I didn’t expect it to be something like that. When I heard about it I just lost myself.”
Mercer stared the man down as he listened to him apologize. After calming himself he started cautiously, “We had our reasons as to why we hid it and you must look at it from our point of view.”
“There is no reason good enough for you to not tell us that you found a Forbidden Path,” Adva stated with a strict tone of voice.
“That is where you are wrong,” Blair butted in. The look on her face was hard as she got ready for some arguing. “You have to remember; we are new here.”
“How were we supposed to know that what we found was a Forbidden Path when we are still learning about this world?” Avery added.
“There are no books that talk about Forbidden Paths either so if we are supposed to inform you about it how would we have known?” Artem chimed in.
“When we found out that the path to the dungeon we were on was totally different, we weren’t too sure what to do. At first we did think about telling you, but after what Nalia did and has said to not only us, but to Liam…How could we trust you,” Mercer informed.
Adva and Phorge started to protest, but Mercer cut them off as he continued, “Again, you must look at it from our perspective. This is a new land with new people to us. If you’re telling us to trust you because you say so it’ll have the opposite effect.”
Mercer glared at Nalia as he added, “Especially when one of you steps over the boundaries of basic decency.”
Nalia let out an irritated chuckle. She then did something that shocked all of them as she said, “I may have gone a bit overboard with how I do things and I apologize for that, but I wont apologize for my attitude towards that Liam guy. He rubs me the wrong way.”
Mercer and the other five glared at her.
“Don’t look so hostile to me,” Nalia said with some annoyance. “I mean I did try to save the guy even though I don’t like him.”
It still doesn’t make you any less suspicious. Mercer thought to himself.
“Going back on topic,” Nabal stated grabbing their attention. “Even though he did mention to me it was a Forbidden Path, he never told me the name of it.”
Mercer and the others averted their gazes after Nabal spoke.
“We’re not trying to admonish you for not telling us before,” Nabal stated. “We simply want to know what we’re dealing with here. What type of Forbidden Path is it that you stumbled upon. It might help us know what is going on in there.”
“It’s called The Graveyard of the Forgotten Realm,” Mercer finally said after a moment.
“A Forgotten Realm?!” Nalia shouted, both shocked and amazed at what she heard.
Mercer nodded.
“What’s the Realm?” Nalia swiftly asked. “What was forgotten…”
Mercer, Avery, and Blair placed a hand in the air, stopping Nalia from asking more questions.
“I hate to interrupt, but we have more pressing issues at foot here,” Mercer said with a frown.
“We need to get to Liam before he dies,” Blair added.
Phorge looked at Adva and Nalia. He then looked back at the group before turning towards the Black Portal and said, “I want to confirm and make sure he really is in there before we let you go.”
He placed a hand out and looked at the screen. As he stared at it, his brows furrowed as his mouth slowly dropped.
“What is it Phorge?” Adva asked.
Phorge turned back and informed, “He’s not the only one in there. It shows five groups are in the sixth floor. There is a solo one. That one is probably Liam. One with two members. And the others are groups of six. I want to say those groups are the other surviving groups, but I’m confused about this other group of two. There shouldn’t be a fifth group. Especially one with two members.”