It was Alissa’s turn to cutely tilt her head which got a giggle out of Rin who said, “We’ll talk about it later, lets head back to town first though.”
Rin sighed, knowing the trip back was going to be a pain and hefted up the giant carcass, prepared to lug it back to town.
It was then Alissa walked over, “Doesn’t the guild give you any storage treasures? Just throw it in that.”
Rin shot her a questioning gaze, “One that could fit this would cost at least a few hundred thousand gold, they don’t just hand those out to every student. Mine is only large enough to fit around five of the normal sized one.”
“The guild is so cheap? Then let me, you can rest a bit and treat those cuts.” Alissa put a hand the huge corpse and it disappeared into her storage. Rin was looking at her with her mouth open in an “O”.
Adrest patted the shocked girls shoulders, “Ali is full of surprises, you get used to it eventually. Let’s head back.”
Under Adrest’s guidance, the two girls followed him out and back to the trees where they met a pouting Belle.
“What’s wrong Belle, did something happen while we were inside?” Adrest asked a little worried.
“Hmmp, you left me out. I watched you and Ali the entire time and I could’ve helped.”
Ah, she was feeling a little useless and hated standing to the side, Adrest thought. He laughed and pointed to Rin, “Blame it on Big sis Rin here, Ali even said you could’ve helped up.”
Rin balked at being so quickly given up, and blushed under the little rabbit’s half glare, half pout.
“Alright, I’m sorry Belle. You’re just so young I was worried something would happen. Next time I’ll do better, okay?”
Belle dropped the pout and smiled like the sun after a storm, “It’s a deal Big sis Rin.”
Now that one problem had been dealt with, they briskly walked towards the town. Along the way there were a few D rank monsters, which Belle quickly dispatched as she was still upset about feeling useless. It took a little less than an hour before they were back facing the guard that had been standing when they’d left.
The man was surprised to see the girl back so early as it was only mid afternoon, but he noticed the blood and remnants of a fight of their outfits and quickly let them through as something definitely had to be reported.
Rin led the way through the slow streets, going to the Adventurer’s Guild. Before opening the door and going inside she turned around and grabbed Alissa’s hand in both her own.
“Would you mind dropping off the Mantula at the stables and waiting for me at the inn? This’ll be a long and boring meeting and there’s no need for all of us to suffer. I’ll tell you about what I’m planning tonight.”
Rin asked with a pleading tone, Alissa couldn’t resist and gave the little hero a pat on the head, “Take your time and don’t worry. See you tonight, Rin.”
Rin waved the three of her friends off and sighed as she now had to deal with another angry old man.
Several hours later, when the sun had long set and the wind howled, sending snow flurries everywhere. Inside the Hearth and Home, Adrest, Alissa, and Belle were sat across Rose. They’d cleaned up and have been patiently waiting for Rin, and finally she burst in through the thick doors, still wearing the same outfit as when they separated.
Rose had heard they ran into a monster but she didn’t expect Rin to be so bloodied. Rin looked absolute exhausted, falling into the stool and laying on the cool table to relieve her aching head.
“The old man wouldn’t stop talking the entire time, just on and on about safety and protocol. It was only a Mantula colony, I could’ve cleared it alone but I even had help this time, what's the big deal?” Rin’s complaints flew out as soon as she was seated.
It seemed Rin got lectured for impulsively going after a B rank monster without informing anyone. Adrest could see where the Guild was coming from, but in his limited experience, Rin was smart and strong enough to handle herself. A little naïve at times, but reliable under pressure. To her, it must feel like they’re smothering her, especially since this was the first bit of freedom she’s had since joining the academy.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Adrest put a warm hand on her shoulder and squeezed comfortingly, “Sometimes the easiest thing to do is just nod and agree. Just forget about him and his lecture now that you’re back.”
Rin finally raised her head from the bar, a huge red mark on her forehead, “That’s right! Now that I’m free I can talk about the big plan I have. The bastard Guild Master doesn’t deserve to know.”
Speaking like he did to Alissa when pacifying her, “Yeah, yeah I can’t wait to hear it. But first, go get changed before you leak drip and water onto poor Rose’s floor.”
Rin looked down to see some snow on her jacket starting to melt and dashed off while yelling and apology behind her, “Hehe. Sorry Rose!”
Adrest just shook his head at their little hero friend, for how strong Alissa said she was, Rin really acted her age most of the time. Adrest was nervous when he’d heard about a hero showing up in town, after all he read dozens of stories where the hero takes off the big bad demon’s head and saves the day. Now that Adrest had gotten to know the teenager and his head was still firmly attached, he hoped that more of humanity here was like her.
As Adrest was busy with introspection, Alissa and Belle played word games with each other, and Rose was busily finishing up her chores for the night so she could relax near her favorite customers.
It didn’t take long for a damp and red tinged Rin to come back from the baths. There was no longer a trace of battle left on her thin frame, and she had her goofy smile back in place.
Back in her spot, the first thing she did was take back a large mouthful of the drink waiting for her, then turned to face the small family of three to her side.
“So, about the thing I said I might need help with…”
This got everyone’s attention and she had four pairs of eyes staring her down. Of course hearing this, Rose couldn’t be left out or her curiosity might kill her.
“Well, when I was in the back fighting the Mantula, the cave opened up into a huge cavern with paths carved going different directions. I think we might’ve found a dungeon.”
Adrest’s eyes flickered with surprise. Alissa had of course covered what a dungeon was and how they formed, so he certainly did not expect one so close to his home.
Dungeons were natural things that had a chance to form if a sufficiently powerful being died, their body and mana being the nutrients. They also form when a treasure suffuses the area surrounding it for a long period of time. Only the top of the top A ranks and above had a chance to form a dungeon and its shape, complexity, and difficulty were all based on the creator and mana it was fed.
Weaker beings formed smaller dungeons as there were fewer nutrients. Also the nature of the dungeon would change with their attachment. If it was anger and hate, there would be more ferocious beasts and insidious traps. On the other side, if a master wished to pass on their legacy or was benevolent, the dungeon would have less dangerous monsters patrolling it, instead having tests and trials for those entering.
There was no way to know what kind of dungeon it was without entering, but with a B Rank Mantula guarding the door, odds were it wouldn’t be welcoming or weak.
Letting the group take in the information, Rin continued, “I couldn’t see anything down the paths, but my instincts were telling me there’s some good things in there. I’m hoping you all could come with me, at least for part of the trip, to help clear out pests.”
Adrest didn’t understand, “Why us? Alissa and I are only C rank, and Belle is still in D. If you told the guild they’d be able to put together some B ranks into a party to accompany you right?”
“Well, if I told the Guild master, he’d tell me to forget about it for now, there’s too many problems around the village, never mind going under the mountains to find more to pile on. And this way, we won’t have to share what we find.”
Adrest couldn’t believe how irresponsible the hero he had been admiring earlier was acting. She was like a hooligan child trying to sneak away to a party. Adrest was even starting to suspect Alissa was influencing the girl, but a few days probably wasn’t enough for that, no matter how willful Alissa always acted.
Before he could give an answer of his own, Alissa jumped in, “We’d love to go. I have a bit of experience with dungeons so we can be a little help at least. And it’ll be good training for everyone.”
Rin jumped past Adrest and into Alissa’s arms wrapping the dragon in a tight hug.
“Thank you Alissa! I’ll do everything to keep you all safe, if it gets too dangerous I promise I’ll get you all out safe and sound.”
Alissa simply smiled and squeezed the girl back. Belle was standing in her stool with excitement shooting like sparks in her eyes. “I'm going too right? I can help too!”
Adrest was now certain that the dragon’s attitude has started to influence his innocent Belle. Rabbit-kin were supposed to be peaceful and dexterous makers, now he has a bloodthirsty albino rabbit hopping next to him excited about the thought of a dark and dangerous cave.
Sadly, he couldn’t deny that there was anticipation inside himself as well, who didn’t want to explore an authentic fantasy world dungeon at least once? Oh well, with Alissa around, Belle will be fine no matter what. He chuckled thinking he couldn’t say the same about himself, their teacher Ms. Alissa had an obvious favorite.
Alissa patted the excited rabbit, “Of course you’re coming with us, we cant just leave you out of the fun.”
Rin looked like she wanted to say something but quickly gave up, assuming that Alissa knew what she was doing. Thinking back, she was around Belle’s age when she first went into a dungeon, she’d just put in some extra working making sure nothing happens.
With that in mind, Rin cheered, “Then it’s settled! Let’s get up early to get supplies and we can start on exploring.”
Rose looked at the group concerned, “Will it be okay? I know you’re strong Rin, but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about uncharted dungeons.”
It was Alissa who reassured the anxious bar owner, “I promise we will all come back safe and sound. Then we’ll tell you all about it over a night of drinks. Just don’t worry if it takes us a few days to make our way back.”
Rin nodded along showing her approval, remembering Alissa was the only one of the three to not have even a single cut from their fight today.