The fact that an archer was missing did not give morale a boost. If anything, it made them more restless. Buck was positively ready to run for his life, Raphael looked ready to hide in the corner, Tom was looking around madly, and Birka was… just as calm as ever if one ignored the very obvious [Skill-Activation].

“She left before we came over here,” the Axewoman reported, before taking one hand off her weapon to get the precious healer back up on his feet. “The [Hunter] has likely run to report the findings to her higher-ups. We have found a place of wealth not known before.”

What a positive outlook on things, Buck thinking more along the lines of the hunter being dead and buried somewhere close by. But… where? Using his sight of life once again, the Druid had trouble finding anything at all, the high-intensity Mana still throwing off his senses. Nothing was up and down according to the Energy, everything fluctuated. If he wasn’t looking at the rocks, he would have said the entire place was alive.

“Where did she run to, though?” the normally more silent Warrior questioned. The obvious answer was ‘outside,’ yet all others seemingly had a similar realization at that point. They could no longer see the light meant to come through the cave entrance.

All four remaining went towards the middle of the cave once again, before looking towards the way they had come. No sheen of light met their eyes, nothing hinting at an outside. It was all dark, except for the smaller necklaces still worn by the warrior and healer. Buck hadn’t noticed it before due to the lack of difference between light and dark yet Birka should have seen it.

Looking over at the woman, the Druid was dismayed to find emotion. The axewoman normally so calm looked more than a little flushed, likely stressed from the situation. She was high level, though. She should have been the powerhouse that would make all tremble before her. So why was she seeming so scared?

“Healer. Druid. Look for signs of life,” Birka said, getting her axe ready once again. “I need to make sure.”

“Shouldn’t we be focusing on the fact that-” Rapaheal tried to interject but was stopped when the woman’s glare turned towards him? “... Right. Sorry.”

Buck didn’t care too much about the comment, just doing what was asked of him. They were in danger, he didn’t know what to do with himself, and he was more than a little worried. His eyes were wide and looking for movement while his mind was trying and failing to get any actual reading around them. It was all alive yet that shouldn’t have been possible. Last he checked, rocks were rocks and the air was air. It wasn’t meant to share the same signature of energy and it certainly wasn’t meant to pulse like… oh no. That couldn’t be.

“Please don’t tell me-” Buck tried to say but was stopped when a gasp rang out from a certain kid who needed to have stayed a bit quieter. Especially now when the Druid had started to suspect what was going on.

“It’s a [Dungeon]!” Raphael exclaimed, still being louder than he had any right to be. Buck wanted to hit him over the head in the hopes that he would be quiet but knew that they would only lose out on any chance of survival if the healer was lost. “How? The [Surveyors] should have found it last year!”

“Then it means that it’s still new,” Birka said. She tried to hide the slight tremble in her tone but it was caught on by more than intended. It did not fill Buck with hope for her. “It has closed off the entrance in hopes of either starving us or getting us when we fall asleep. With its age, we should not expect any meaningful amounts of power from it. If we find the [Core] deeper inside and crush it, we should be able to get out of here unscathed.”

“What do you mean ‘destroy it?’” the Healer questioned. The kid was not looking too happy with following orders now. “Don’t you understand? We’re the first ones to find this place. If we report it to the Guild, we will get a permanent percentage of its earnings! Don’t you understand that simple fact?”

“Do you not understand the fact that we will likely die trying to get out?” Tom finally stated, the giant not seeming too happy about being close to the healer. “Raphael, we have to think about our own lives before money for once. The consequences of-”

“[Revival] exists for a reason, Tom,” the healer fired back. “With enough money, we can be immortal. Now help me get out of here alive and I will even give you a cut of the percentage.”

A scratching was heard from the side. With their meagre ears, nobody but Buck could hear it. Or maybe it was their voices stopping them from perhaps discovering a clue on what was close by. Yet… where was that sound coming from? Looking to the sides, the Druid saw nothing but grey darkness. Every piece of stone and ore sat still. What was it?

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“You seem to forget that I am tasked with your survival,” Birka stated, her harsh tone seeming to stop the eagerness in the Healer’s eyes. He still seemed determined, though. Determined to get his way. “And my task will be fulfilled no matter what. This means that we are going to destroy the [Core] and we are going to get back to your father so he can pay me for what has been the most awful job of my-”

Life was extinguished from the Axeman's eyes when a more-than-two-hundred kilo stone fell directly on her head, destroying her upper body like it was nothing. Blood flow to all sides, some getting in the eyes, mouths, and noses of the three people around her. Buck even felt a few more chunky parts hitting his body. He chose not to think much about it, lest he could have lost his hard-earned lunch at that very moment.

More scratching was starting to be heard yet the source was more obvious with the increasing frequency. Looking up, the druid found the source to be what he should have guessed from the very start.

“Move if you want to live!” the Druid shouted, jumping back as the first stone hit where he had just been standing. He would have died if he had moved a second later. Raphael was quick to copy him, jumping back in tandem with him. Tom the Warrior? He was a moment later than them, only his upper body getting out the whole way. His left foot was still hit by the massive rock intended for his head.

The crunch of broken bones was obvious, and the loud and deep roar from the man’s throat even more so. He couldn’t have reached twenty yet but the shouting made him seem like an aged warrior. The actual sight? A bit less so. The man, giant as he was, was also a crumbling mess that was desperately trying to get a pulverized foot out from under a massive rock.

“Help me, for fucks sake,” the man shouted in their faces, which Buck was quick to do. Being in pain for longer amounts of time was not a fate anybody needed to have, no matter who they were. In tandem, they got the rock off the foot for instance at a time, slowly moving the broken piece out from under it. It was a gruelling trial of strength but it worked out in the end.

When they finally got to see the remaining parts of the man’s body, a silent weep came from the part-giant once again. It wasn’t a foot anymore. It was a mashed mess of meat and bone shrapnel only held together due to the iron boots on the outside. There was nothing to do but try and salvage it. Or… wait a minute.

“Try to [Heal] him,” Buck said to the one person in the room that hadn’t helped put the rock off the Giant’s foot. Instead of being a valuable asset to the team, he was instead just standing there with his arms crossed as if his time was more important than helping a broken man.

“Why? It would be a waste of mana. What if I get hurt?” Raphael dared to say. Buck just looked at him, not able to utter a word how much he wanted to kick his teeth in. Or… wait a minute. No Birka meant no repercussions.

Using the mighty weapon called a clenched fist, Buck hit the healer square in the jaw. There was no real sound until the action was completed, the hit against bone was likely an extreme pain to have. Which was good since the Druid had tried to go for the nose but had missed. He did range casting, after all. Most physical actions were out of his realm of expertise, though he knew how to hit people on instinct. Everybody knew how to. It was just a matter of wanting to do it hard enough.

Another wailing member joined the group as the Healer fell onto the ground in pain. There was an attempt to heal himself but Buck stopped that using a kick to the stomach. The grunt of pain from that was so satisfying to hear.

“Why would you do that?” the healer whispered. Not because of a need to whisper but more due to a lack of being able to do much more. The kid’s lungs likely hurt like nothing else at that moment. But, being kicked while on the ground did things like that so it was okay.

Ignoring the question without anything else, Buck grabbed the kid’s robes and dragged him across the ground over to the fallen giant. Tom had been silent through it all, perhaps more shocked to see the sight than anything else. Not many people lived to see a Noble being kicked after all. Not for long, anyway. Too many bodyguards.

“[Heal] him,” Buck ordered. There was no ‘try’ anymore. It was a direct order that the Druid expected to be fulfilled within a reasonable amount of time. Because that was the nice thing to do in that situation. “Or do you want me to kick you another time?”

The [Healer] whimpered at that, clearly not having been taught to be silent unless doing the thing asked of him. Grabbing the kid’s hair, Buck pulled it back towards his neck. There was an exclamation of pain from that so he just pulled even more. Tears were in the kids' eyes. He was becoming a whimpering mess. That wasn’t good for anything.

“Get your head together and [Heal] him,” Buck said again. “Try to heal yourself and I will be breaking your fingers.”

Another few seconds of being sad about himself were had before the kid finally decided to be a functioning member of the group. With even more quiet tones, a ‘[Heal]’ was uttered. Matching it up with a brief glimpse of light and a [Rune] that Buck wasn’t even going to try and understand, Tom was back in semi-working order. A few pieces of destroyed bone and meat were pushed through the top side of the footgear, likely not used to any extent.

“Can you feel your toes?” Buck asked, not wanting to check if they were there or not. Even looking at that place was making wonders on destroying his insides, his stomach twisting around itself with each second he had to smell that stuff. Blood was fine but not when he had human guts on him as well.

“I can feel something,’ Tom said. With a shaky hand, the Giant stood up. He first put all his power on the good foot before gradually trying to make the other worse. The wince on his face told more than anything else. “It won't be pretty but I can walk.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Buck said. Standing up as well, he gave a glance to the whimpering kid on the floor. They needed a healer so they couldn’t just leave him there. “Raphael. Get up. Your assistance will be required for the next while.”

“You think we can get out of this alive?” Tom questioned. His deep voice rumbled in the cave. Even with the size, Buck would never be able to adapt to it. That look of pain from before was almost impossible to wipe from his mind, a man so large being so fearful. Buck had to stop himself from showing his actual reaction to that, reminding him of something else.

“We will get out of this alive,” Buck assured the warrior. “We just need to work together.”

And have extreme amounts of luck. There was also that.