The group fell into one of the passages in the dungeon. Lead and Marco landed perfectly fine. First Ergo fell, followed by Argil, then Chloe, and finally Saber on top of her, ending up hugging her.
"WHAAA!!!..." Chloe startled, turning all red before punching Saber and sending him flying 20 meters away.
Marco and Lead exchanged looks of disbelief. Can't believe she had such hidden strength.
Saber's face was dug into the ground.
"So-So-Sorry, Saber! That was just a regular reflex," Chloe apologized.
Marco and Lead, still incredulous, thought, JUST a normal reflex? You just launched the poor guy like 20 meters away like a frisbee at a pet.
Chloe ran towards him. "I'll help you, wait!"
"Oh Argil! You naughty boy!" Ergo said in a seductive voice.
Marco and Lead looked towards her. Argil's face was shoved between Ergo's chest, and he was suffocating.
"Taking advantage of the position, you wild horse," Ergo teased.
Marco and Lead thought, It's more like YOU'RE taking full advantage of the situation. The kid's unable to breathe, you...
In the background, Chloe was shaking the unconscious Saber wildly.
"Please wake up! Don't leave us here!" Chloe cried.
Marco and Lead saw that. Marco smacked his face with his palm in disbelief.
"I need a new team," Marco muttered.
"I'm surrounded by idiots!" Lead added.
Walking through the passage:
"Why is it so quiet?" Ergo asked.
"Maybe don't start…" Marco began.
"Suppose…" Ergo continued.
"Here we go!" Marco sighed.
"If we hear a metal clanging noise..." Ergo speculated.
Saber whispered to Argil, "What's going on?"
"Ergo says some weird stuff, especially in dungeons, which sometimes happens as a coincidence," Argil whispered back.
"So, she doesn't mean it, right?" Saber asked.
"Yupp," Argil confirmed.
"Wait! What do you mean by 'sometimes'? So, it does happen!" Saber was shocked.
"We-Well, yes," Argil hesitated.
"How many times?" Saber grabbed Argil's shoulder and squeezed it.
"I asked you something," Saber said, pretending to smile, which scared Argil.
"S-S-So far, whatever Ergo has mentioned as a joke in the dungeon did come true…" Argil admitted, scared.
They heard a metal clanging sound.
"Is this what you meant?" Saber was scared.
"Yes," Argil confirmed, also scared.
"What now?" Chloe asked, scared.
"We'll look at it," Lead said calmly.
"And what happens if the sound maker is a horde of skeletons?" Ergo wondered.
"Can you make it worse?" Saber asked.
"At level 7?" Ergo continued.
"HUH?" Saber reacted.
They turned left towards the sound and found a horde of skeletons with rusted metal armor pieces. Chloe punched Saber on the back of his head.
"You really had to ask!" Chloe was angry.
"Sorry!" Saber had tears in his eyes.
Lead drew his sword. "Everyone ready?"
"YES!" Saber was excited.
"Ergo! Use Flame Pool!" Lead commanded.
"By flame and spark, ignite the dark, from ember's heart, let fire embark! Flame Pool!" Ergo chanted.
A sea of fire flowed through the passage, burning every skeleton into crisps.
So that's the power of an experienced one, Saber thought, shocked.
"Thanks, 'Imperial Mage'," Marco said.
"At your assistance," Ergo replied.
They walked through the passage.
"So Ergo, you have a specialty?" Saber asked.
"Oh! A sudden interest in learning about me, I see. Well, my specialty is 'Fire Magic', and this staff is great for dealing with recoil burns," Ergo explained.
"Why recoil? Isn't that your own magic?" Saber was confused.
"Everyone has a limit on how much they can adapt to their magic," Marco explained. "Ergo deals with fire resistance more easily, so hence she's a 'Pyro Mage'. Like how I'm a 'Terra Warrior', I'm more compatible for hand-to-hand combat but can enhance my surroundings with nearby dirt or dust."
"Ooh," Saber responded.
"Now you understand? Rookie?" Chloe teased.
"Shut up!" Saber retorted.
"Can you tell what's yours, Saber?" Argil asked.
"I… don't know yet," Saber replied, puzzled.
"The kid has 'Aura'," Lead said.
Everybody looked at Lead and burst into laughter.
"I didn't know you were arrow shooting type?" Marco joked.
"You'll find out," Lead responded.
1 hour passed:
Saber led the way, singing.
2 hours passed:
"Hurry up!" Saber urged.
3 hours passed:
"Come on, guys! We're doing great!" Saber encouraged.
4 hours passed:
"C-Come on, guys! Why are you all so slow?" Saber acted fine.
5 hours passed:
"We're… making… good… progress… We… are… clos…" Saber panted and fell down.
The others couldn't move due to exhaustion.
"WHERE'S THE ENERGY, LEAD!" Lead taunted angrily, panting.
They found a room.
"Hey, look, a room," Saber pointed out.
They inspected the room and saw something.
"A hidden chest?" Marco asked.
"Be careful. They're sometimes living mobs," Lead warned.
"Chloe, want to try your luck?" Saber taunted.
"Alright, here goes nothing," Chloe said nervously but determined. She carefully opened the chest, only for confetti to burst out.
"What the…?" Chloe was covered in confetti.
"Looks like someone has a sense of humor. A confetti trap?" Lead laughed.
"Maybe it's a sign. We should celebrate finding an empty chest!" Ergo grinned.
"At least it wasn't another horde of goblins," Argil said, picking confetti off his armor.
"Well, we're lucky it's not a mimic. Last time, remember, it almost ate our weapons?" Marco smirked.
"Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Let's keep going before this dungeon decides to throw another prank at us," Chloe said, rolling her eyes.
The group was attacked by goblins.
"Be ready!" Lead commanded.
A goblin shot an arrow at Chloe, and Saber sliced both the arrow and the goblin. Chloe was surprised and smiled.
Further in the dungeon, the group encountered a narrow passage.
"A narrow passage, huh?" Marco observed.
"I think I've gained some weight from all those drinks last night," Ergo said, squeezing through.
"Careful, Ergo. If you get stuck, we'll leave you behind," Chloe laughed.
"Just push through. Use that stubbornness to your advantage," Lead teased.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm through. Your turn, Chloe. Try not to bring the whole wall down," Ergo mock-annoyed.
"Watch and learn!" Chloe said playfully, squeezing through with exaggerated effort, causing loose stones to tumble.
"Well, I guess you weren't kidding about bringing the wall down," Marco laughed.
"Let's hope the rest of the dungeon is as easy to break through," Argil smiled.
The passage was filled with minions. They panted heavily after exiting the passage.
Marco panted, "Those… damn minions… why do they all have to be…"
Ergo, also panting, teased, "What's wrong... can't speak properly?"
"I hope… everyone's alright…" Lead said, still catching his breath.
Saber, nearly dying from exhaustion, tried to speak, "Yeshh… I… am… f..f..fine! … I… can… gu… hon!... Whashh… wronghh…? Trired alreary?... needh shome… reshth huh…"
"You're the one who needs it the most!" Lead retorted.
"Do you even hear yourself… Saber? You're breathing… like a wild boar…" Argil observed.
"Saber! You're hurt!" Chloe exclaimed, shocked.
Saber looked at the scratch on his left arm. "Oh! I didn't even know I got something."
"One moment," Chloe said as she tore a piece of her sleeve, applied the ointment on it, and wrapped it around the wound.
"It must've happened along the way. Honestly, that passage was really packed. No wonder I got this," Saber said.
"Seriously, Saber, do you even feel the pain?" Argil asked.
"Sometimes, not regularly," Saber replied.
Can't disclose the secret, sorry folks, Saber thought.
"Done!" Chloe said.
"Oh, thanks," Saber responded.
"Don't make me worry too much," Chloe cautioned.
Ergo teased, "Uhu… I think I got a scratch too. Can somebody tie my wound too?"
"Do it yourself," Chloe pouted, blushing.
"By the way, Chloe, you do have bandages, so why tear the sleeve?" Saber asked.
The other four slammed their palms to their foreheads in disappointment. You idiot! Read the room, dumbass! they thought.
Chloe got angry, and a red aura surrounded her. Saber was scared to death. Now I regret it! I should've shut my mouth! he thought.
May his soul rest in peace, the other four prayed.
BOOM! THAP! BOOM! Sound effects were heard as she beat him.
"That's why you don't have girls," Chloe said, wiping her hands.
An arrow hit Saber's butt.
"Oww," Saber exclaimed.
"Come on, we have already wasted so much time," Lead urged.
"And we've only been fighting the minions and goblins," Argil added.
"Lead, is this what I think it is?" Marco asked, suspicious.
"It can be possible, but not fully confirmed," Lead responded, also suspicious.
"Oh dear lord, please share your wisdom along the way," Saber pleaded.
"I think somebody didn't have enough beatings yet," Chloe remarked.
"Sorry, Chloe, please?" Saber apologized.
"Go on, Lead," Ergo urged.
"Well, if the atmosphere seems really quiet and there are only groups of these weakling creatures with not many monsters, then that means..." Lead explained.
"They're maintaining a distance and trying to be safe," Argil added.
"But if you would've looked carefully during the fight, you would've seen…" Lead continued.
"Traces of scratch marks," Saber said.
They looked at him.
"I saw and ignored it, thinking they must've stabbed each other…" Saber explained.
The kid's pretty good, Lead thought.
"...or by any fellow adventurer, but…" Saber added.
"They didn't have any human blood, did they?" Lead asked.
"Exactly. And by judging where we encountered them, it can result in only one thing… They weren't maintaining any safety or ground rules…" Saber concluded.
"They were trying to hide from something…" Argil said, scared.
"Or someone," Ergo added.
"Like last time," Chloe recalled.
A flashback of the King Ogre fight played in their minds.
"Like that big Baldy," Chloe added.
"Hey! I found something!" Marco called from a distance.
They hurried to Marco.
They entered a cracked room where Marco was holding a wooden box.
"Show me," Lead instructed.
"This room is really… unique," Ergo observed.
"I've been trying to open the box, but it just doesn't move in the slightest," Marco explained.
"The thing is sure sealed tightly," Lead remarked.
"This place feels like a cursed room," Argil noted.
"Now we're giving rooms names?" Saber asked.
"No, cursed rooms are the forbidden rooms which are sealed really carefully so that normal adventurers like us cannot stumble upon dark relics like that," Argil explained, pointing at the box. Everybody looked at the box.
"The box is sealed with a special variant of cloth enchanted by light sorcerers. And it even has a tag that literally says 'Do not Touch It,'" Argil continued.
"You sure know a lot about these 'cursed' stuff," Saber said, surprised.
"Well, I come from a family that specializes in light magic, so I do have the ideas and know the rituals, but sadly I'm not a light sorcerer like my family tree," Argil explained.
"Stuff like that does happen sometimes when a child is born with an entirely different skill," Lead remarked.
"Are you sure you're the product of the same company?" Saber teased.
Argil hit Saber's stomach with his elbow.
"Then it's better not to mess with such superiorities," Marco advised.
Marco placed the box back on the stand on the table. The group turned around but heard a crack. The box fell down and cracked open.
"Marco, you idiot!" Lead exclaimed.
"I don't understand either. The table's really wide to stop it from falling, even if I made a mistake," Marco explained, confused.
"Now at least keep it properly this time," Lead instructed.
Marco picked up the box and saw a broken and rusted dagger.
"Lead?" Marco called.
"What is it?" Lead asked.
Marco turned to show the dagger.
"A knife?" Saber asked.
"No, it's a dagger," Argil corrected.
"It's all rusted, and the blade is even missing a piece. It's probably a criminal's dagger, wrapped to look like a cursed one and hidden here," Lead surmised.
Chloe fell to the ground.
"Chloe?... CHLOE!" Saber shouted, shocked.
"Hey! Chloe… How do you feel?" Lead asked, worried.
"Are you serious? She's clearly fainting!" Saber exclaimed, giving Lead the water bank.
"That's not what he means," Marco said.
"Then?" Saber asked.
"Chloe has a special aura where she can sense false auras or…" Marco began.
"The presence of 'spirits'," Argil finished.
"Like ghosts?" Saber asked.
"Exactly," Argil confirmed.
"This effect had on her brother too. The closer and stronger the spiritual pressure is, the more exhausting it becomes for them to keep up," Lead explained, holding Chloe.
"I've…been… feeling this… the entire time," Chloe panted.
"That's why she didn't speak or roast me a single time after entering," Saber realized.
"She tried to maintain her composure to not make us worry," Ergo added.
Lead left Chloe, and she sat up properly.
"Hey, are you fine? Can you get up? Let's worry about the egg later and return for today," Saber said, worried.
"Sounds good," Lead agreed.
Suddenly, they felt a powerful pressure. All six pairs of eyes widened in fear and shock.
"You feel that?!" Lead asked.
"It's better to leave this place," Marco suggested.
Saber quickly lifted Chloe by the arm. They ran out of the entrance.
"How is this possible?" Lead wondered, shocked.
"Is this an illusion?" Marco asked, shocked.
"Bu-But how is this…" Ergo stammered, shocked.
"Possible if there was…" Argil added, shocked.
"Only one way to get out!" Saber exclaimed, shocked.
They found themselves in a big open space in the cave where a guy was standing in front of them. The guy was holding a half-torn person by the neck who was struggling due to the choke. The guy squeezed the neck hard, and the head went flying, separated from the body. The body fell. The head fell in front of the group.
"Look at all those corpses," Marco said, terrified.
The field was covered with countless corpses and blood spills. A hand grabbed Saber's leg. Saber looked down.
"R-R-Run!" the severed guy said in agony before dying.
"You know? You shouldn't mess with other people's stuff," the guy said, turning back to see them.
"Now you'll join your friends," the guy continued.
"Hey guys, is it only me or is that guy covered with a purple and black aura?" Saber whispered.
"No, you're not alone" Lead confirmed, serious.
"That's an actual spirit," Lead stated.
The guy was standing there smiling, holding two severed limbs.
"And to make matters even worse, that's not an ordinary spirit. That's... Disaster No.3," Lead said.