23 The Ghoul Cave

[ 03:05 pm ]

Danny and Hannah met once again at the usual place after school, in front of their houses. Everyone shared their numbers yesterday.

"So.. Claus called us once again!" said Hannah walking beside Danny.

"Yes.. He mentioned that it was training in the message he sent us.." said Danny.

The group had a nice trip yesterday. Danny found out that Claus was rich. After buying the weapons, Claus transferred 150k for the three weapons to Barney.

It was the way that Barney became rich. Selling powerful weapons for the people who play the game.

Suddenly Conor appeared on the far end of the street. It seemed like Conor was early today.

"Hey guys! Came early so I wouldn't miss anything important!" said Conor.

"Good good! Good to have you early!" beamed Hannah looking at the boy.

Conor was wearing his white leather overcoat. It was the thing he wore the most. It was his favourite.

The team of newbies went on and knocked on the door of the Longwood mansion.

Reno came to the door and welcomed them in.

Reno was holding something in his hands.

"What you got there?" Danny asked the man.

Reno suddenly stepped back.

"Oh you mean this! It's a little something for today's mission!" answered Reno. "So! Come on in! We have lots to do!!"

All 3 of them rushed into the house.

All the 16 year olds were out doing their own things, forgetting about exams and stuff. They needed a break from the stress of school work.

And these 3 have found a thing that keeps them busy. A thing that took them away from the stress. A thing that gave their lives a bit of enjoyment.

Claus was sitting in the chair right beside the fireplace as usual. He was yet again going through some articles in his Mac.

Danny and the other two sat on the long couch.

"So.. What's the news today?"

Danny asked the man as Claus's eyes searched through the words of the news reports.

"15 missing people! 4 kills! Right here in Mandorin! The players are gathering!" Claus uttered looking at the pictures of the missing people. 

"And I heard that the police came to search the school today!" said Claus. "What did the detective say? Those idiots could never really find out anything about the systems!"

"The detective asked the students to report any suspicious behaviour of their friends to the school.."

Conor jumped in. 

"And some kids in our school have already started to take this thing seriously and they have started investigating this..." 

The whole group was shocked. 

Conor always bought up the latest gossip. But no-one ever had any idea where he found them. 

"What? Who the fuck had started to do that??" asked Danny. 

Conor looked at the surprised Danny and smiled wittily. 

"The nerd turds! The self-proclaimed nerds!" answered Conor.

There were two types of nerds in their school. There were nerds who were truly smart and some who were stupid and proclaimed that they were nerds.

Their school truly had a different system. 

Danny suddenly giggled. 

"I doubt that they could even find out that the system exists!" 

Conor gave out a small chuckle alongside Hannah. 

"But still.. If this thing gets any more serious, the real nerds might hop into this game." said Conor. "So there might be a moment where the situation gets hot in the future.."

Claus was focusing on the boy's story. 

"Hmm... Strange! Kids are really strange these days... but if these nerds actually get to find a clue about you.. You know what to do... Take them here for your survival quest!" said Claus. 

"Hehe... Let's see..." said Conor, who was frightened by Claus's words.

"Okay! We need to get going any minute now! Are you guys ready?" declared Reno appearing from the hallway of the house.

"Ready for what?"

Hannah asked him, confused by the sudden announcement.

"Training! We're going off into the woods to train!" answered Reno. 

All the players mostly trained in the woods. Most of them chose the woods because there were many kinds of Veil Lurkers lurking around.

[ Veil Lurkers : A special name given for the creatures beyond the vale ]

[ The Veil : A magical barrier created by the ancient sorcerers to hide the magical world from humans ]

"Ohhh.. But aren't the police investigating the woods??" asked Danny.

"Nope! They have moved on... 3 more cases have been reported in the city... They're too busy!" declared Claus. 

"Yes... They are on fire! It's just the start... Wait till they see the real monsters of the Witch Hunt!" said Reno.

Draco was in his room upstairs reading one of the codexes. It was the codex of the Veil Lurkers.

There were many kinds of Veil Lurkers. And all the species which have been found by the players have been noted down on the codex.

The features, abilities and even sketches of the beasts have been given in the codex.

"DRACO!!!! WE'RE HEADING OUT!"

Reno's voice echoed through the house. Draco quickly got the book to his hands and took his phone which was lying down next to it.

Draco went down the stairs and all of them were ready to take off. 

"Let's go!"

All of them got into the van in the garage. The newbies were getting used to the new team now. 

Then, Claus drove away through the roads into the woods. 

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After a short while they reached the woods. Then, all of them got off the van as Claus parked it on one side of the road.

"So... What should we do now?" Conor asked as he entered the woods.

The whole team summoned their weapons.

"Well... The best way to train is hunting the Veil Lurkers!" said Conor. "And... It's a good way to level up!" 

"Eh? What are Veil Lurkers??" asked Conor.

"Veil Lurkers! They are creatures like ghouls and such!" answered Draco. He was holding his double blades. 

It was made from a white metal and it had a blue pattern made from lines.

"Oh shit! I have faced one before!" uttered Danny, remembering the ghoul. 

"Yes... That's why you have the Hunter's system.. That's how we achieve the Hunter's system!" said Claus as they moved along the woods.

Danny had already figured it out. 

"So... How many of those creatures are there?" asked Hannah.

Hannah wearing her sweat shirt was holding her long sword, placed on his shoulder. The long sword was heavy, but it had many advantages in close combat.

"System... Show the closest Veil Lurker!" 

Suddenly, Reno uttered to himself. 

"This way..."

Inside Reno's head the system spoke to him. It was the voice recognition of the system. 

Reno looked around. 

Suddenly, a dark smoke was coming from under the raised ground in the forest. The pine trees covered the whole forest. So Reno couldn't see what was there, clearly.

"Let's go! There's something there!"

Reno yelled at the team and ran towards the smoke. 

When a system user is near a Veil Lurker, the aura of the Veil Lurker could be seen as a black smoke. But only to the player who seeks it.

The team followed Reno to the place where the smoke was coming from. But only Reno could see the smoke.

*What the hell! He just talked to himself!* Conor thought as he followed them.

Reno got to the peak of the raised ground. He looked down.

A huge hole, more or less like a cave was there under the raised ground. It was huge. A man could fit through it. 

Draco came and peeked in. 

"Ha! It's some ghoul cave!!" Draco uttered looking down at the deep hole. "Come on guys! A bunch of ghouls are lurking inside... Time to kick some ass!" 

Draco jumped down, gripping on to his double blades. 

The cave was dark. All the Veil Lurkers loved the darkness. There were veins hanging from the top of the cave.

Even though it was a hole, it led them into a cave. 

Reno took the lead and suddenly lit up a magical fire on his palm. 

[ Mana : 498/500 ]

Reno's mana was extremely high compared to the mana of the newbies. In the levelling process in the first few days, the mana and the health of a player increases more than the higher levels.

Suddenly the fire lit up on the palm took flight. It was now in the air giving off enough light for them to see clearly in the cave.

*I have lots to learn!* Conor thought as he stared at the fire. 

They moved into the cave, deeper and deeper. 

*GRRRRRRRRRR*

A sound came from within the cave. The whole team stopped in their tracks. 

"It's close! Swords up!! I'm expecting a huge gang in there!" 

Claus uttered as they went nearer into the middle. 

Suddenly a large area covered with bones appeared. The fire floated inside and lit up the whole cave.

"Nice! A whole tribe!"

About 16 ghouls surrounded the team. There were large holes everywhere. It was like passages. 

Suddenly a huge ghoul stepped out of the biggest hole. 

*GRAAAARRRR-

*BOOOM!*

The bullet flew through the ghouls head, blowing it's head to pieces. 

"One down! 16 to go!"