Chapter 142: The Dungeon.
Felix opened his eyes after walking into the dungeon portal.
A few magical artifacts were floating about the place emitting light, illuminating the surrounding enclosed space which was dark and damp.
"We're inside of a cave?", he asked as he stepped forward along with his other teammates.
Roven nodded seriously and mentioned.
"The Edenmont Dungeon is a cavern-type dungeon, filled with tunnels and chambers, with monsters like Basilisks, Cave Spiders, Trolls and others."
There was a look of trepidation on Roven's face as he whispered.
"There's even a rumor of a dragon living deep inside the dungeon, but no one has ever encountered it...."
The three boys were shocked at his words, before they showed different emotions.
"Are you for real?! A Dragon? I can't wait to see one!"
"I just hope we don't disturb it."
"A dragon, huh? I wonder how powerful it is..."
Roven sighed as he shook his head at his teammates' replies, as the rest of the members from the two guilds had all entered the dungeon.
Dante clapped his hands twice to get everyone's attention as he explained after discussing a bit with Rhodes.
"Listen up, folks. This place is too small for us to select it as our area, where we may be living for a few days. So we'll have to form some scouting teams to find a much better area suitable to use as our camp, while the rest of the people here will organise our available resources and other plans."
He pointed at the many tunnels found around the place they were at and continued.
"There's a total of 5 tunnels leading to different directions from here, so we'll select members from both the guilds to form five scouting teams, led by executives of course. Nobody's forced, but we'll appreciate volunteers."
This was what both the guild leaders had decided as their first step in this dungeon defence guild war.
Finding a better area to build their base and creating mixed-up guild teams to make them bond with each other.
It wouldn't make sense for two not-so-familiar guilds to act like allies when only the guild leaders were friends.
Unity played an important role when banding together against a single enemy.
Dante's words made the people nod as they agreed to it.
A hand amongst the crowd was raised quickly before anyone else, making the nearby people look at the silver-haired young man who had a small smile at the corner of his lips.
'Here I come, skill points! This is the exact thing I was wishing for!'
A creepy and wild aura exuded from Felix, which made the people around him take a step back from fear.
Dante noticed the young man who was raising his hand.
'Silver hair and red eyes? I guess that's the boy Elsa was talking about. But she seems to have misjudged him...', he thought with a hidden grin,'....cuz he sure seems freaky.'
"F...Felix, are you serious? It's better if you stay here, you know. It's dangerous out there.", Roven said in hopes of changing the boy's mind.
Felix shrugged as he replied half-heartedly.
"The entire world is dangerous, Roven. In the end, no one escapes from it..."
Roven didn't understand what he meant by that, but he understood that the boy had made his decision firm.
Quickly, he turned to the side and asked anxiously.
"Steve, there's no way you're going too right? Remember what happened last time!"
The green-haired boy had a frown on his face, an unpleasant twist at his lips as he sighed.
"Alright, I get it. I won't go this time. Sorry, Felix. It seems you've to enjoy it alone.", there was clear frustration and helplessness in his eyes as he said so.
'I only have a limited amount of those potions, can't go around wasting them...'
Felix shrugged not minding him although it was a bit out of his character, while Roven sighed in relief and didn't even care to ask Eric the same question.
Seeing that an unknown boy had volunteered to take part in such a dangerous task, several other members from both guilds raised their hands bravely.
Even the quiet girl with purple hair, Selena Astralyn, decided to join them as she eyed the silver-haired boy strangely.
'Isn't that the guy I punched some weeks ago?', she remembered him for his unique appearance and boldness to flirt with her in broad daylight.
'Hmm, so he wasn't just some random gigolo...'
At the sudden change in the atmosphere with everyone being active, Dante and Rhodes nodded at each other with content smiles.
"Alright, folks! Let's get you all sorted in five teams now.", Dante shouted as he looked at the dozens of people, who had their eyes burning with emotions.
Roven watched in a dilemma as Felix and the others stepped out of the crowd, his thoughts reaching a forced decision as he grits his teeth and turned to his other two teammates.
"Steve, Eric! Take care of yourselves here. Don't go making hasty decisions and always stick together! Got it?", he hurriedly ordered.
Eric and Steve nodded instinctively at his sudden words as Eric asked in confusion.
"But why are you suddenly saying this? Is something wrong?"
Roven shook his head as he smiled wryly.
"Nothing's wrong. But as the team leader, I've to make sure nothing happens to you guys.", he nodded at them seriously as he started chasing behind Felix and waved.
"Don't fight or make trouble, okay? Stay close to Elsa if possible.", his words were drowned in the crowd as the two boys stared at each other awkwardly.
"Umm....I sometimes think we don't deserve a teamleader like him...", Steve muttured with an apologetic smile.
Eric sighed as he agreed.
"He could've achieved much more if he just left us behind."
Steve turned as he raised the corners of his lips mockingly.
"You mean left you behind, right? There's nothing wrong with me. In fact, it's me who's keeping the team together, unlike someone who can only do fireballs!"
Eric took a deep gulp as he resisted manipulating the mana and sending dozens of fireballs at the green-haired boy.
With a nerve enlarging on his forehead, he smiled at Steve as he held himself back.
"Hahaha, you're jokes are starting to sound so terrible, Steve. Wanna try getting your brain heated for it to cook up some better ones?"
Steve raised both his brows at the reply and nodded to himself proudly.
'He's getting better with those replies....Must've been my influence...'
The two of them continued their harmless battle with their tongues, a small crowd naturally forming around them to find some amusement.
On the other hand, Felix was surprised at Roven's decision to join the scouting team, but he just smiled at him and appreciated the boy's intentions.
'It's rare for a teamleader to be so selfless...He's basically going into danger for my sake.'
As the two of them reached beside the other volunteers, Felix swore to protect Roven during the task.
The plan then began as everyone gathered around together, the talk mostly done by the higher-ups.
Dante and Rhodes discussed with a few executives, before reaching a conclusion for the five teams based on the number of members, their strengths, intelligence, abilities and their original teammates.
A minute later, five of the Rank 3 Executives stepped forward and called out to their scouting team members.
Evan, the man from the Mystic Guild who was chosen for his great scouting ability, called out a few names.
"Felix, Roven, Leon, Verlin, Selena, Barry, Melissa.....", he named ten people in total who moved to his side at the mention of their names.
Evan nodded at them with a determined face and introduced himself for the sake of Felix and others.
"I'm Evan Befett, a Mid Rank 3 archer type warrior and an Executive of Mystic Society. The ten of you will be part of my scouting team. I want every one of you to work along well and follow my orders during the task, is that clear?"
"Yes, Sir." x10
The ten members complied as Evan nodded in appreciation.
"We've been allocated the leftmost tunnel to scout, so let's get going. I want everyone to follow behind me, and not break formation unless deemed necessary."
He informed them of some more rules as they started walking towards the leftmost tunnel.
Roven and Felix stood beside each other and were about to talk when a cold hand grabbed onto both of their shoulders.
"Wait a second, you both.", a seductive yet worried voice called out to them as they turned around at the familiar voice.
"Sis?"
"Miss Elsa?"
Felix and Roven called out in confusion as Miss Elsa pouted at them with a slight frown.
She was a bit shorter than them, so they had to lower their heads to meet her angry face
"You both....sigh", she stopped herself from arguing and instead reminded them seriously.
"Don't act stupid there. It's only scouting, so avoid fighting and confrontation. Also, make sure to follow Evan's order. He's a capable team leader....", she went on giving them warnings and instructions as if a mom teaching her kids how to do homework.
Roven and Felix nodded at her rapidly, before finally replying to her when she seemed to have gotten tired of it.
"We'll remember that, Miss Elsa."
"Don't worry, Sis. We'll be fine."
Elsa glared at Roven for calling her 'sis' and nodded at Felix with a smile as they started walking away to the other team members who were waiting.
"Don't get into any more trouble, okay? Wait- I've said that so many times...", Elsa rubbed her forehead as she smiled helplessly.
Seeing that the two of them had returned, Evan gestured to the team and led them onwards into the tunnel.
"Let's proceed!"
The five scouting teams then disappeared into the dark tunnels, their figures slowly vanishing as the rest of the members from the two guilds busied themselves with other works.