26 26. Dungeon Maze

The group continued to walk through the busy city streets. As they walked, Evan was surprised by the number of people and merchants that would come over with food or other small items as they passed.

One of the merchants handed Michael a bag full of small brown rectangles that looked like a loaf of bread. Michael thanked the merchant and tried to pay for the bread, but the merchant refused and insisted he take it with a smile. "It's the least I can do for the Association!"

Evan took one of the pieces of bread as Michael passed them around. He took a tentative bite and made a small noise as the bread melted in his mouth. It was soft and warm, and the brown cream that covered the top was thick and moistened the rest of the bread as he chewed.

"Over the last year, I've made up a large list of all the things that I used to take for granted before the dungeon portals arrived. Brownies are easily in the top five," Michael said as he plopped the whole piece into his mouth.

The summoner had no idea what the human was talking about but could only nod his head in agreement. A thought occurred to him as he savored the last of the brownie. "Why didn't the merchant take your money?" he asked.

Michel shrugged in response. "In many cases, the Hunter Association members are the first ones to show up to a dungeon break and the last ones to leave. Smaller guilds will often participate for the notoriety, but the larger ones only do if the Hunter Association requests the help. Otherwise, they aren't interested in putting their members in danger if there isn't any profit to be made. Over time we've become very close to the common people. They are the reason our intelligence network is so large."

They continued walking through the ruined city until they reached the outer limits of Citadel. Once they got about half a mile outside of the city, Michael stopped the group. He put a finger to his ear and spoke into the wind.

"Team is ready for extraction."

There was a mumble of static from Michael's ear, but Evan couldn't quite make out what the reply was. Several minutes passed until the summoner realized that there was a noise in the distance. It sounded like the rapid flapping of wings. As more time passed, he realized that the sound was growing louder.

He glanced towards the noise and saw a small metal object flying across the sky. More time passed. The object grew bigger and bigger as it approached until it was as large as a small house. Evan's eyes grew wide as the metal object descended in front of them. Dust and rubble were thrown aside as it landed.

Michael turned and grinned at Evan. "Helicopters. Another Association perk."

He watched as Michael and the rest of the Association members boarded the helicopter and then hesitatingly stepped into the metal bird. Several minutes later they were flying through the air.

Evan watched in amazement as the ground passed him underneath. Even Fenrir watched in quiet awe as the helicopter ate away at the distance. As they flew Evan began to get a better understanding of their surroundings. He could see that destruction around Citadel extended far beyond the outer rim of the city.

Aside from the green forest that he and Astrid's group had traveled through when he had first appeared on Earth, the area — as far as his eyes could see — was barren. A wasteland. There was nothing but red rock and rusted metal.

After a quarter of an hour, the helicopter slowed down and began to fall until it landed in front of a large blue dungeon portal. Evan was about to get off the plane when Michael placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Let the team clear the area first."

Evan raised an eyebrow at the man, but Michael just chuckled. "We've received reports of dungeon clearing groups being attacked by bandits. We shouldn't run into any trouble, but better safe than sorry."

Several minutes passed until one of the armed Association members appeared. Evan recognized her as the woman who had taken Michael's message back at the Midnight guild house. He watched as the black-haired female with the dark complexion raised her hand to her head in a salute. "Area has been secured, Team Leader. Nothing to report."

Michael nodded and got off his seat and then gestured for Evan to follow him. "Alright, let's get this show on the road!" he said excitedly.

The group approached the portal. The black-haired girl went in first. She stepped through the portal as the blue whirlpool seemed to suck in her body greedily. There was a ripple throughout the surface of the portal, like when you throw a rock into a still pond. A moment passed and the woman was gone. The three other Association members were next. Michael gave him a thumbs up before he disappeared.

Evan stepped through the portal and was greeted by the familiar feeling of falling through space. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then his feet were planted firmly on stable ground. He opened his eyes to find himself in a large cavern.

He watched in silent satisfaction as the Association members wasted no time in mapping out the cavern and looking for possible threats. The members were efficient and vocal as they walked around the cavern. A few moments passed before the black-haired lady shouted. "All clear!"

He took a second to look around. The cavern was large, but not the largest he had ever seen. The rock that covered the ground and the walls was a dark smokey gray, littered with streaks of white. The roof of the cavern was so dark that it was hard to know how high up the ceiling went.

A single large tunnel ran along the far edge of the cavern. The group walked towards the mouth of the tunnel. As they walked, Evan noticed with some fascination that everything the Association members did was done with some sort of purpose. The black-haired lady walked in front, her rifle drawn and held out in front of her as she scanned the area in front of her in a 180-degree angle. The second member walked right behind her, his weapon aimed at the ceiling as his eyes scanned for dangers. The third drifted side to side, scanning the east for several seconds before quickly switching and scanning the west side of the room. After them was Michael and Evan and then finally the fourth Association member. The last member trailed them as he walked backward, scanning the area in front of him much like the member at the very front. It was all very … rehearsed. Efficient. Impressive.

They reached the mouth of the tunnel and stopped. The mouth of the tunnel opened up into another, much larger cavern. Hundreds of tunnels ran along the edge of the cavern. Each entrance was huge, large enough to fit a helicopter through.

He laughed as he saw the confused faces of the rest of the team. "Ahh. A dungeon maze. Interesting."