Chapter 19: Meeting

Chapter 19: Meeting

ALEX

Hello, it's me, Alex, the friendly green-haired girl from the magical school. Today was the tenth day of our mission. I'm starting to miss my dorm room. I didn't mind camping at all. We were lucky that the weather was great and the tent, including the furniture, had excellent quality… but instead of researching the dungeon monsters up close, I was stuck looking through old reports from other guilds trying to find similarities to our friendly goblin problem.

Don’t get me wrong, I was happy that I was allowed to read through all that. You could not compare reports from the actual thing with the textbooks we have in our school. Still, I was studying otherworldly beings, and never before I was so close to a dungeon full of exactly that.

Oh yes, apparently, there was another being I could study… Wace. Nada told me about everything she found out about him. It's not like I know what kind of creature his mother was consorting with, but I actually haven't had time to deal with that anyway.

Luna has placed her hopes in me ever since she stopped reviewing the documents herself. At first, we often sat together and talked about things we noticed. But, a few days ago, she announced that she would start watching the goblins and the general activities within the dungeon in person.

"How are you?" Krys, short for Krystoff, asked me as he sat beside me. I was sitting at one of the tables we had set up in the middle of the camp so we could work, eat, and talk outside. Krys was my personal team member, but outside of the dungeon, that meant nothing. The only moments when we really spoke to each other were during the lunch breaks we all tried to take together.

“You want an honest answer?”

“Yes, please.”

“I am bored and think I’m wasting my time.”

“I see,” he replied listlessly.

"Is that all? I expected you to offer me something, like sneaking outside in the middle of the night. That you'd take me to the dungeon so I could finally pursue my passion."

He sighed, "I was thinking of just asking Luna's permission. But if you want some excitement and mystery, we can sneak away under cover of the night."

That was what I wanted to hear, not knowing what punishment awaited us if we got caught.

KAYLA

"Another one?" I couldn't say I wasn't annoyed after Miko informed me of our upcoming meeting. I was just bored. After entering the dungeon twice in the first two days of the mission, I had been parked in the camp ever since.

For five days, I did nothing but wait for something to happen. And unfortunately, the only things that happened were meetings, meetings, and meetings. But we should start calling them announcements because that's what they really were. Luna simply announced who would enter the dungeon and which poor soul would have to stay behind with Alex, Nada, and me.

Most of the time, that person was Krys.

Miko and I also stopped talking that frequently after she told me we had to speak about our relationship after the mission. So, to sum up... the last few days sucked.

“First of all, thank you for your presence. I'll get straight to the point. I made a discovery this morning that we should urgently investigate. I caught a good look into the village and noticed a goblin entering some sort of stable there. I spotted something inside that looked a lot like a human from the distance.”

I felt the tension rising as she mentioned a human. Krystoff instantly jumped out of his chair.

“How did they look like?” he asked, staring at Luna.

“Sorry, I was too far away. I couldn’t tell.” You could feel her remorse, but her voice remained steady.

“What’s the plan?” Wace asked without batting an eye.

"We'll go in, and one of us will enter the village and check the stable before the goblins can act. Wace and Miko are the fastest, so I'd like to ask one of you to do that."

“Don't ask, order. We have no time.” Miko said.

"Should I come with you?" If this person was hurt, they needed help badly. And subconsciously, I was urging to take action. I want to do something.

“No, you stay in camp together with Nada and Alex. But if we don’t return in one hour, I want you to enter the dungeon and meet us at the village.”

“I’m so sorry that the headsets don’t work,” Nada said, staring at the ground.

“Not your fault,” Wace said and left the meeting. Krystoff followed him.

“Take care,” I said as Miko stood up for her place next to mine. She smiled at me.

"I'll see you later." She replied, patting my head like she used to do.

◆◆◆

Although the three of us had to stay back at the camp, we were also preparing for the mission. And despite the fact that there was a bit of a buzz going on now, I wasn't really happy... rather nervous and a bit worried.

"I hope it's not a human," Alex muttered as we put on our gear. I suspected she meant it would be better if no one had to live in a goblin village for several weeks.

"Do you guys want to come to my tent and play cards or something?" Nada asked as she walked to the opening of our changing tent. It was actually a good idea to spend the time together. I realized that time would pass better if I did something with the others rather than sitting alone in my tent.

We went with Luna and co. to the gate to say goodbye to them. After the four disappeared into the dungeon, we walked with Nada to her tent. The mission seemed easy for this team. Each of them was experienced and, from what they told me, very strong. But I couldn't get out of my mind how shocked Wace and Miko seemed a few days ago when we were in the forest. Something didn't seem right, and I had no idea what it was.

MIKO

It took us five minutes to arrive at the place Luna described. I focused mana into my eyes and enhanced my viewing range. I tried to count the goblins and orcs roaming near the stall we discussed.

“We should wipe that village after we save that person,” Wace suggested. I shared his opinion regarding dungeon monsters. Their lives weren’t worth a dime. The moment we destroyed the dungeon core, they would vanish anyway.

“Fine, but after we got out the hostage outside the dungeon. I don’t want to risk a fight while we need to protect someone.” Luna explained, visibly focusing on her breathing. For some reason, she seemed seriously nervous.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking at her.

“I don’t know, it’s just so strange that I found that place today. I observed the village for three days and never noticed a stall.”

"You can not see everything; it is fine. Let us not waste any more time,” Krystoff said, looking really on the edge. Obviously, he was the most emotionally invested in that operation. I don’t want to imagine how I would feel if I suspected someone dear to me held captive by goblins for such a long time.

“Miko, you are ready?”

Good question from Luna. I wouldn't say I was nervous, but I was out of practice in some ways. The last time I seriously fought anyone was three years ago at the election of the King and Queen of Mages.

I did remember exactly how I had opposed goblins in the past; I was just a kid, but even then, I was much stronger than these creatures could ever be. I killed them without hesitation, and it's not like I feel any form of empathy, but I notice this little mental barrier in my mind right now.

“It's fine, I do it.” Wace tapped me on the shoulder and smiled at me. Somehow, I was happy that he stepped in for me.

We all were lying on the ground and watched Wace getting into a stance that reminded me of some predator. A moment later, he vanished from my viewpoint. After a blink, I saw him entering the stall already.

Again, I closed my eyes for a second, just to see him standing in front of the building, screaming and wildly gesturing in our direction. I could swear my heart stopped beating for a second.

“What is that?” I heard Luna´s voice but wasn’t sure where to look.

"The ground, it glows," Krystoff said as his eyes darted around in panic.

These are runes

Before I even finished that thought, a veil shaped like a cube appeared around us and the entire village. I wasn’t sure what to focus on. Where is Wace?

Again, I blinked.

Suddenly, I heard a loud, dull sound, like something hitting a wall at high speed.

“WACE!” Luna was the first one who managed to move.

From the moment Wace ran into the village to the moment he smashed against the veil behind us, a mere ten seconds passed. Someone or something had thrown him all the way back with a frightening force.

Krystoff was the next acting. He ran in Wace’s direction, ignoring him to start smacking the veil, which ended some meters behind us.

“This thing is freaking solid.”

I finally managed to calm down and looked at where the stall was supposed to be.

It was gone. But not just the stall was gone. The whole village, as we saw it before, was. The only thing my eyes caught were the ruins of the place I just wanted to run into some moments ago.

We fell for a trap.

“Illusion magic?” I thought loudly.

“Correct,” An unfamiliar voice whispered into my ear.

“Miko! Watch out!” Luna shouted at me, and before I could look out for the source of the whisper, my body was sent flying.

The moment I hit the ground felt more painful than the blow that launched me into the air. I rolled down the hillside that led to the village and clawed at the grass below me before finally coming to a stop.

“You guys got some time for a villain speech? Or are you in a hurry to die?”

Slowly, I stood up and drew my pitch-black knife, made of magical ore and could change shape when I infused it with mana. It instantly grew larger and now resembled a sword.

The moment I saw our enemy, a shiver ran down my spine. For a moment, I thought a human being was standing there. But the purple skin and the horn that grew from her forehead indicated that she better fit into a dungeon. Her long white hair was braided into a ponytail. She wore a black one-piece suit that exposed her arms and feet.

I walked in an arc around her, and she calmly observed me doing so. She did not pay attention to the other three for any moment.

"I'm sorry about your friend. I actually meant to reunite you guys, but I forgot about the veil. The sound he made when he crashed into it was pretty freaky." That creature was speaking our language fluently. She felt so human that it was scary to assume she was not.

“Wace?!” Luna called out his name as we watched how he stood up again. I was sure he didn’t die from that impact, but he looked utterly unfazed by it.

“Whoa! He’s a sturdy one.” That woman giggled like she had the fun of her life.

"Okay, since you're all back on your feet, I think it's fair to tell you what's happening to you and why."

I made eye contact with the others. Luna nodded briefly, giving me the signal to go on the offensive. Now, there was no more time to worry and certainly no time to listen to her babbling.

KAYLA

“What do you want to play? Uno?” Nada was cramming around in one of her bags.

“I’m open for anything,” I said and looked at my phone, checking the time. Two minutes passed since they left, but it already felt like an eternity for me.

“Relax, Kayla, you look terrible,” Alex said in a kind tone. I knew what she wanted to tell me with that.

“Sorry, I try to.”

“You don’t need to worry. As long as Wace is with them, everything will be fine.” Nada said as she started shuffling the cards.

“What is that relationship of yours? It happened so suddenly that it's almost creepy.” Alex asked, looking at Nada with a smug face.

“He is like a big brother I’ve never had. Don’t make things uncomfortable that aren’t.”

She began to spread the cards on the table, and we started to play our first round. This helped us stop thinking about the others momentarily, and we even laughed a bit.

"Quiet!" Alex interrupted the relaxed mood with her sharp whisper, “I heard something.”

I looked at the clock again. Around ten minutes passed since the others left, definitely not enough time to return already. Maybe they forgot something?

"That sounds like footsteps," Nada whispered, her eyes starting to tear up a little. I wanted to calm her down; perhaps an outsider had passed through the veil that visually shielded our camp.

Signs in front of the veil indicated that an active dungeon investigation was ahead and that passing the veil would result in consequences. But there were already enough cases of curious people who wanted to see a gate from close up regardless.

"Come on, guys, use your noses. There must be three cute girls hiding somewhere in this camp." An unknown voice spoke loudly.

I held a finger in front of my mouth to make it clear to the others to be quiet and slowly crept to one of the tent's windows. I looked outside and saw a group of goblins and orcs looking around the camp. But right in front of the gate stood someone who didn't quite fit into the picture. A young woman with purple skin, white hair, and two horns sprouting from her head.

What should we do now? If we run away, these creatures could invade the city and wreak havoc. I don’t know if we would win a fight. Is it worth risking our lives? Maybe we should stall for time, waiting for the others to return… I could call Lilith; she would know what to do.

Again, I looked at my phone and could not believe what I saw. I had no signal, and my display was glitching.

"We have to fight and maybe destroy the gate. We must not risk more monsters coming out of the dungeon.” Alex whispered.

Nada shook her head eminently as tears ran down her face. I wasn’t planning on destroying the gate locking up Miko and the others inside that other world. But I guess we could not avoid fighting.

"Nada, you hide in here. Alex and I will fight. If you see an opportunity, you run away and try to contact someone who can help. Got it?"

"Ye...Yes." She sniffled and continued to cower close to her bed.

I snuck up to the tent's opening and activated my mana flow. My heart was racing, and no breathing technique would help me to calm down a little. So, I accepted the situation and decided to launch a surprise attack. My first thought was to use wind projectiles to wipe out the enemies individually, but my hands were shaking too much for that.

I had to try area damage. The training with Elliot showed me what I was capable of, but I had to avoid using up all my mana with one attack.

I raised my hand, showed Alex three fingers, and started counting.

Three

Two

One

I jumped out of the tent, gathered mana into my arm, and swung it toward a larger group of goblins and orcs.

A vast, almost invisible force of wind magic hit them and hurled them all into the air, sending them flying ten, twenty meters high. Some crashed into trees, others fell uncontrollably to the ground, probably breaking all their bones.

Before I could even think about celebrating this first attack, I saw a green figure swinging something in my direction out of the corner of my eye.

Reflexively, I raised my arm and tried to dodge. I felt a sword blade cutting into my flesh. I cried out involuntarily. No matter how much adrenaline my body released, the pain definitely reached me, and a gush of my blood spilled onto the floor.

The orc was going to throw his free fist right into my face, but a moment before he hit me, Alex kicked the elbow of its arm, which snapped outward with an unsettling crack. In an instant, I shot a wind projectile in the direction of his head, scattering his brains behind him.

There was no time to be disgusted by these views. I looked around hastily. We had already defeated a large part of the opponents and could take a quick breath. Then I heard a clap. The horned woman applauded us.

"You are stronger than I expected, but don't think these minions will die so easily."

And the moment she stopped speaking, the orcs I launched into the air earlier started slowly standing up again.

But I had to remain optimistic... At least the goblins stayed dead.