In a field where trees and greenery were sparsely strewn about, two people were warily watching their surroundings.
"Hey!" Silently screamed a young man to another from atop a tree.
The other young man who wore simple leather armor and held two small daggers turned his head to listen.
"What is it?" He asked seriously.
"Enemies up ahead. Orcs… and goblins!" He yelled in a hushed tone still trying to maintain their hidden status.
Upon hearing this, the thief-like young man became visibly sharp. They were both C-class adventurers who were working with a B-class adventurer under Samuel's orders. The B-class had sent them ahead, however.
"Fast…" The archer atop the tree absently murmured as he watched one of the orcs suddenly sprint towards what seemed to be their location.
"Damn nevermind that! Run!" The young thief stressed after noticing they might have been spotted.
They both then silently ran away to report back. The sparse field didn't offer them much cover but luckily the orc seemed to be preoccupied with something as they were easily overlooked.
The scouts reported to their B-class leader who then reported higher up. This message was now reaching the ears of Samuel.
"Samuel, this floor seems to hold both orcs and goblins. But… they are a bit odd." Samuel had delegated the scouts to Christian since he seemed to be responsible yet nosy. He was thus reporting all of the information from the scouts to him at once.
"...Odd?" Samuel was preoccupied with sorting his own feelings and ideas but the word odd quickly got his attention.
"Yeah. Based on the scouts' information, they seem to be searching for something or someone" Christian answered and Samuel frowned in response.
"There must be an intelligent being behind them" Christian followed up. Samuel concurred with this idea and was the main reason behind his visible frown.
Samuel inadvertently let out a tired sigh before getting a grip and delegating new orders.
"Let's take care of them and start moving further in. Mostly everyone has crossed the portal so there shouldn't be a problem with a slow advance." Samuel told Christian who nodded in response.
"Sounds fine by me" Christian said those parting words and revealed one of his usual charming smiles. Some of the girls in the area blushed.
Clarys was gracefully sitting on top of some debris while Drake was standing near her looking towards Christian with disdain. Clarys also didn't take kindly to Christian's playboy looks but for a different reason.
"Lucky b*stard…" Drake grumbled. His body was quite sculpted since a big part of close-quarter combat was honing one's body but he wasn't particularly attractive outside of that.
Samuel didn't notice any of this as he had to wonder. Where they perhaps searching for them? It was a scary notion since monsters inside dungeons didn't actively seek out intruders.
The skeletons in the previous floor were a perfect example. Scratch that, they were a horrible example!
Under the leadership of the abnormal skeleton, they had ambushed and killed some of their own. It seemed that the situation on every floor of the dungeon would be the same…
The adventurers progressed and easily took out any opposition along the way.
A furious roar could be heard as a tough orc was slashed apart by multiple C-class swordsmen. The unyielding scream fell on deaf ears as his life was swiftly reaped. They met many similar orcs as they slowly pushed forward. They were usually acting alone though and there were no signs of goblins.
Everyone had already crossed the portal and the adventurers were at the moment pushing forward in a forested area. The canopy had yet to thicken but the adventurers were still anticipating it. They then caught sight of a structure.
"That looks like an orc settlement" A B-class archer named Archer pointed out. He came from a long line of archers, which was also what decided his name, and therefore had keen sight.
The settlement had unkempt walls made of logs. As far as fortifications went there wasn't much to point out. The door to the place was similarly poor looking.
Thus Samuel decided for him and Drake to take the lead. They charged towards the settlement and easily torn down its walls. Many battle cries resounded in the area and all of the orcs were alerted to the presence of intruders.
Unfortunately without any proper preparations, these orcs were unable to put up any resistance. Samuel and the others easily tore down their houses and split apart their bodies. Some became porcupines while others were turned into roasted meat.
"AAARRGGGHH!" A pained and unyielding cry was roared out by an orc with bloodshot eyes. He had already been skewered by all sorts of weapons but had yet to fall dead. A B-class adventurer then cleanly skewered him with a spear.
Samuel and Christian were watching from a distance as most of the orcs had already been taken care of.
"If things keep going at this rate this floor might be quite easy" Christian optimistically spoke.
A much less fierce roar was then heard from a child orc, he had seen his father die in front of him and was filled with resentment. The child was trying to grab an axe but his strength was simply insufficient. A swift sword strike cut him down and the settlement had finally gone silent.
"I'm afraid it won't… Let's keep moving" Samuel told him.
The settlement didn't have any sort of special characteristics. The axe techniques of the orcs were unimpressive and apart from an unyielding spirit they had nothing.
The scouts' reports sometimes spoke of orcs capable of traveling at high speeds but those orcs seemed to have simply vanished as they continued to travel unimpeded.
They cut down more and more settlements. The canopy had grown thick and the soft grass that once covered the dirt ground was nowhere to be seen.
A good hour or two had passed since their last encounter with any enemies.
The silent, dark, and lifeless forest only instilled an eerie feeling on the adventurers as they ventured deeper and deeper. Some were put on edge while others were tired of the bland scenery.
They then finally caught sight of a path. Samuel called up for some experienced scouts such as Archer to investigate, he also took a look himself as he had accumulated some knowledge in the field.
"This route seems to have formed over a long time. It's still being used. There are some relatively fresh tracks here and there" Archer calmly reported and Samuel nodded to convey he was listening.
Christian then butted in.
"The kingdom wants us to clear out the dungeon until we encounter the next boss. At that point, we can turn back. That being the case, we should explore every nook and cranny of this place." Christian was clearly suggesting pillaging every settlement they came across. He was staring at Samuel waiting for an answer.
There was a period of silence as Samuel considered whether or not to approach this trail.
"Let's do that then." Samuel had no choice but to agree. He was asked to lead but only on account of the previous expeditions. Christian was the one that the kingdom, well Khal, had actually entrusted with their goal.
"Once we take over the settlement we can camp out here and set up a temporary base. This area seems to be very large and widespread so it might take a while to explore." Samuel then added on.
Christian had no qualms with this plan and actually seemed quite satisfied with it.
Samuel then shifted his attention away from Christian and addressed the crowd.
"We are deep into the forest so be extra careful!" Samuel could not stress this point enough. An orderly retreat would be hard to pull of with the current party so he had no other choice.
The adventurers finally started going up the path. Some were directly on it while were maintaining a safe distance. Samuel was actively checking for some cheap traps but came up empty. No pitfalls were detected either.
"Aaah!" Someone exclaimed in pain. Samuel instantly shot the person a glance and found them with their legs entrapped in ice.
Before he could stop the march some other screams started to sound out.
"Eh!?!?!" A person that was near the path exclaimed after they felt the ground beneath their feet disappear.
"Argh Auwuargh!!" Sounded the muffled screams of another as he became entrapped in a large mass of water.
Samuel didn't even have to send out any orders as everyone started to instinctively stop or retreat.
"F*ck!" Yelled another.
Some of the adventurers instantly panicked, they wondered what poor soul might have misstepped. The thought of falling victim to these traps alone was enough to send a chill down their spines. At the same time, they derived a weird sense of comfort. They felt lucky to not be the one.
Everyone glanced in the direction of the next victim. Unexpectedly... the man was on one leg rubbing his foot.
"My toe goddammit!" He yelled once more, this time with a furious expression. He... had stubbed his toe on an unassuming rock...
The person whose feet were encased in ice was broken out and the person in the pitfall was… dead. The drowning man was quickly pulled out before any more harm would fall his way.
Samuel felt some frustration building up inside of him but forcibly suppressed it. He instead neared one of the traps that had seemingly popped out of nowhere and began to analyze it. Clarys got to work on healing the frostbitten adventurer's legs and everyone else had grim expressions.
Samuel had a grim expression as he finally realized what had happened.
"Magic arrays…" He audibly grumbled.
He grumbled because this was just the entrance. Chances were, the entire area was booby-trapped!