"Please stand aside." A Third Year Student, who seemed to be a Cleric, tapped Est's shoulder. "She's under a powerful sleep spell. Normal means won't wake her up."
The Holy Magic of Clerics were powerful counters for Dark Magic and curses. Usually, when a group tried to fight against creatures who wielded Dark Magic, bringing a cleric would increase their chances of not getting wiped out in a battle.
Est nodded his head in understanding and stepped away. The lady student pressed her hand over Wendy's forehead and chanted.
"Dispel!" the lady said as her hand glowed with magical power.
When the glow receded, Wendy's eyelids fluttered. She then opened her eyes and looked around in a daze.
"Wendy, can you remember what happened?" Est asked immediately after Wendy opened her eyes.
"Head… Prefect?" Wendy was still half awake and couldn't process the current situation.
The Lady Cleric sighed and gave Est the "I'll leave this to you" look. She then stood up and went to check the other captives for injuries.
Est took out a blanket from his storage ring and wrapped it firmly around the young lady who was still in a daze. Kenneth, Ian, and Isaac made a protective perimeter around them to prevent anyone from sneaking glances at Wendy.
While Est was trying to get answers from Wendy, William was interrogating Spencer who had woken up a minute earlier than his twin sister. He had seen Wendy's state and almost made a commotion.
Fortunately, William was there. The shepherd immediately delivered a punch to Spencer's stomach which rendered him unable to move due to pain. While the boy was curled up like a shrimp, William told him that his sister was unharmed.
Ater hearing William's explanation, Spencer finally calmed down and cooperated with William's interrogation.
"Two whips that seemed to be made from dark energy attacked you from your blindspots and allowed the Goblin Shaman to fire its curses at all of you?" William frowned. "Also, you saw hands materialized out of thin air that helped the Goblin Shaman rain down curses on your group? Are you sure this is what you saw?"
"I'm sure of it, Head Prefect," Spencer answered firmly. "I swear it to the Gods."
"Calm down," William patted his shoulder. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you. I'm just trying to understand how your party ended up in this manner."
William didn't doubt Spencer's words, because he was very familiar with the sneak attack that rendered them unable to battle. The two skills Spencer mentioned were two of the high-end skills that belonged to the Dark Mage Job Class.
-----
< Spectral Hand >
(10 Mana Points)
-- Summons a ghostly hand that moves as you desire, allowing you to deliver low-level, touch range spells at a distance.
-- The spectral hand is also able to use Dark Whip
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< Dark Whip >
(10 Mana Points)
-- Conjures a whip of Dark Energy.
-- Can be used to attack, defend, or let the user maneuver over the terrain.
-- No more than two Dark Whips can be created at a time
-- Damage dealt is equivalent to Intelligence x 2
------
William had used these two skills when he fought against the Cyclops inside the Trial of Courage. He was well aware of how flexible these two attacks were. However, based on Spencer's story, the Hobgoblin Shaman they fought were not able to use these two abilities.
That only meant one thing…
There was a High-Tier Hobgoblin Shaman that attacked them from the shadows. As William continued his interrogation, the Clerics among the students had woken everyone from their slumber.
Aside from Spencer, Wendy, Brutus, and Bruno, there were twelve other people who had become captives of the Hobgoblin Warriors.
These people were locals of Hartlepool and had only come to the Fourteenth Floor to try their luck in getting better monster drops.
Harrison scanned the surroundings with a grim expression. As someone who was familiar with the Hobgoblins of the Goblin Crypt, he found the Hobgoblin's actions very unnatural.
Goblins were well-known to only capture female adventurers, and dispose of the men. They used these women in order to breed and increase their numbers, so capturing the girls was understandable.
What he didn't understand was why the goblins spared the men? Aside from superficial injuries, most of them were unscathed. Also, the cages where the captives were locked up were well made.
It was impossible for Hobgoblins to create such cages, which only led to one thing.
They were created by humans.
"Both of you are Head Prefects, correct?" Harrison asked Est and William who were tending to their friends.
"Yes," Est answered.
William nodded his head.
"Immediately notify the school and ask them to send a team to investigate," Harrison. "Tell them that there's a possibility of 'Foul Play' inside the dungeon."
Foul Play was the code-word that someone was capturing adventurers to be sold as slaves. This was a common thing in most dungeon towns and cities, and that meant that the officials managing the dungeon were in cahoots with the slave traders.
When this violation was proven true by the officers of the King, all violators would be sent to the kingdom's mining areas where they would spend the rest of their lives mining for ores.
A brief flash of killing intent flashed across Kent's eyes, but disappeared the next moment. He was regretting the fact that he had targeted the students of the Royal Academy.
'I need to ensure that I leave no traces behind,' Kent thought as he gestured for his men to leave the area. 'I have to keep a low profile for the time being.'
Kent activated the teleport crystal in his hand which would send him back to the entrance of the dungeon. He needed to leave the town as soon as possible and tell his accomplices to cease all operations until things cooled down.
'This will make it hard for me to reach the quota for the next few months.' Kent sighed as he calculated his losses. 'I got too greedy.'
Kent knew that the students in the Royal Academy were considered to be very talented individuals. When he saw Wendy, he knew that the pretty young lady would fetch a very high price in the black market.
Frankly, Kent had no thoughts of selling her. He was more interested in turning her into his personal slave.
Kent had seen a glimpse of Wendy's fighting ability through the eyes of his slave. He could tell that she was a rough gem waiting to be polished.
If he could make Wendy his slave, he was confident that after a week or two, he would be able to train her into a loyal servant who would happily open her legs and allow him to ravage her as he wished.
Sadly, the opportunity had been lost and it also brought a lot of problems in its wake. Kent knew that an investigation would be held and the guards manning the dungeon would be replaced. The town mayor might also lose his position if he couldn't convince the officers of the King that he had no part in the slave trading that was being done inside his own town.
Kent was not optimistic that his old pal would be able to lie his way through this event. Half of the payment for the slaves went to Kent, while the other half went to the town mayor. Both of them had worked together for many years, and the latter would definitely be proven guilty by the officers of the Kingdom.
'I really regret it,' Kent sighed again as he rode in a carriage that was headed towards the town's gate. 'I have no choice but to return using a new identity and start from scratch again.'
While Kent was making his escape, William and his party escorted Spencer, Wendy, Brutus, and Bruno towards the Guard Captain of the Academy who was stationed at the Teleport Gates.
They needed to file a report so that the staff of the academy in Hartlepool could be made aware of the suspected "Foul Play" that had targeted the students of the Hellan Royal Academy.