5 Unexpeted Oponent

They all walked further and further into the forest. Jill seemed pretty concerned about something but Katsuya couldn't tell what it was.

Her walking came to a stop as she shouted.

"Stop!"

Both Katsuya and Genzo turned to face her.

"What's wrong?" Genzo asked.

She replied as she stared straight ahead, further into the forest.

"There's a strong monster up ahead. It's waiting for us to come closer.

Kastuya wondered as to how she knew this. He figured that maybe she had heard or seen something they didn't. Genzo turned back around as he gripped the handle of his sword.

"Is there now? Give me its information."

Jill was concentrating on a pair of trees up ahead.

"It's a shadow bear. It's attack is fifty-five and its health is four-hundred."

Genzo then pulled his sword from the side of his hip and held it straight.

"Taunt, activate."

Slowly but surely, a tall monster began walking out from behind the trees. It's fur was dark black and it's eyes would glow red. It was great long claws and the creature stood around eight-feet nine-inches tall. It was a type of monster called a "Shadow Bear".

Genzo walked towards the creature with no sign of fear once so ever.

Katsuya was worried the monster might be too much for him to handle.

"Wait, are you sure you're gonna fight that thing alone? Don't you need help?"

The closer Genzo got to the creature, the more anxiety that Katsuya had.

He then felt a soft hand gently grab his shoulder. Katsuya turned, only to see Jill standing there.

She then spoke "It's okay, my father is pretty strong for only being a c-rank."

He was surprised how Jill was finally beginning to talk to him. Katsuya felt all the tension and anxiety leave his body as he turned his head to look at Genzo.

The creature raised its claws then swung them downward at him.

Genzo quickly moved as there were multiple flashes of light that followed the swing of his sword. Silence filled the air as the monster slowly fell to the ground.

A sweat ran down Katsuya's cheek as he thought to himself.

"I guess I worried for nothing. I wonder If I could ever be that strong."

"See, I told you that my father could handle it." said Jill.

Genzo turned his head to look at them.

"Looks like you two are getting along."

"Oh shut up!" Jill shouted.

He turned back around and laughed it off.

"Alright, let's keep going."

As they all began walking again, Katsuya couldn't help but let his thoughts run through his head.

"Seriously, this guys weird. Aren't fathers supposed to be overprotective of their daughters? Why is encouraging me to make a move."

Katsuya shook his head as he thought more on the subject.

"No, maybe he's only joking. He's only joking…..right? There's no way I would have a chance with a girl as pretty as her. Wait, why am I thinking about this? My only goal is to pay off my mom and sisters medical bill and that's it."

They began approaching the entrance to the dungeon. At first, it seemed dark, but as they walked in, small crystals on the ceiling would light up the area around.

Katsuya admired the mystical blue light that the crystals gave off. This was his first time in a dungeon. He wondered how such beautiful lights could belong to the home of monsters. The further they walked, the more Katsuya admired the strange dungeon formations. Some crystals would glow blue, some would glow yellow. There were even some small plants that would stick out of the ground. He had only hereof these types of plants, but never once seen one with his own eyes. These were a type of plant called "Recovery Herbs." Upon consuming a leaf of one, 10% of Mp and Hp would be recovered. Genzo then broke the silence as they walked.

"So Katsuya, have you always been an adventurer? I don't recall ever seeing you around before."

"I'm actually pretty new to this kind of job." Katsuya replied.

"How new?"

"Well, today is only my second day of being an adventurer."

Genzo was shocked, Katsuya was just a rookie and had no idea what kind of risks the job of an Adventurer had .

"Kid, I'm not going to act like I know every single thing about dungeons because nobody knows that much. I will say this though, never let your guard down, anything could happen in dungeons."

Katsuya was confused and wondered what kind of thing he meant.

Genoz saw his expression and immediately knew what he was thinking.

"By anything, I mean anything. When I first became an adventurer, I went on a c-rank quest with some of my friends who were all c-rank adventurers. Things didn't go as planned. There was an s-rank type of monster in that dungeon. A rampaging demon. We knew exactly what it was and tried to run, but we were not fast enough. They were all brutally killed and somehow, I was the only survivor. "

Jill noticed Katsuya worrying and let out a sigh.

"Calm down. This is only a d-rank dungeon. At worst, an A-rank monster would appear. If that happened, my father would easily beat it."

Genzo shook his head.

"You think too highly of me. At my strongest, I could barely take on a B-rank monster."

The more they talked, the more Katsuya felt as if they would all die here.

'If a b-rank monster showed up, then we would all doomed.'

Despite there not being any threat so far, he still felt that way.

The three of them stopped walking as they heard a crowd of footsteps approaching.

"There are goblins up ahead." said Jill.

Again, Katsuya wondered how she was able to tell what type of monsters they were despite not being able to see them.

Genzo pulled his sword from his side and held it straight as the dungeons lighting reflected off it.

"Katsuya and Jill, work together and fight the ones that come your way. I'll stand in front and fight the majority."

The group of monsters began approaching. They were short creatures that stood around four-feet nine-inches tall. Each one of them was bald and had green skin and red eyes. They each carried weapons such as knives, daggers and small pitchforks.

Genzo quickly ran up ahead as a blue light followed the swing of his sword.

Left and right, goblins fell to the floor. He seemed to be handling them pretty easily but was having somewhat of a challenge because of their numbers.

Suddenly, some of the goblins began going around him and running towards Katsuya and Jill.

Katsuya quickly pulled the knife from his pocket as Jill held out her hand.

A large bright flame shot out, burning the goblins as they screamed out in pain. As the flame died down, the creatures fell to the floor as they looked like coal.

Katsuya stood in amazement as he questioned if he was even needed.

He then noticed that Genzo was still fighting the others.

One swing, then another. Each time he swung his sword, a goblin would fall to the floor. There were easily ten of the creature's left.

Genzo then spoke a phrase out loud.

"Double speed!"

He took one step and was suddenly behind the creatures. Silence filled the air as each goblin fell forward.

Once again, Genzo's Combat ability surprised Katsuya.

"What kind of skill was that?!" Katsuya asked.

Jill then replied.

"It's a skill called, Double Speed. It doubles the users speed for up to a minute. It's pretty rare."

Genzo then turned to look at the both of them.

"Looks like you two handled those three goblins quickly."

"Actually, it was all Jill." Katsuya thought to himself.

"Well, I mean, goblins are pretty weak." Jill replied.

A chill suddenly shot down her spine as she intensely stared further into the cave.

"What wrong?" Genzo asked.

"I suddenly got a bad feeling about something. I don't feel like we should go any further."

Genzo stated that he had also felt something was a bit off.

"Hey, kid. It feels like there's something strong lurking up ahead. We shouldn't keep going."

"Something strong? Like what?" Katsuya asked.

Jill kept trying to sense out info about the presence they felt but, it seemed to go undetected.

"I don't know. My skill can't really pick up on it. We really shouldn't go any further."

From what he had seen, Jill's was accurate when it came to sensing monsters, so he alos agreed.

"Yeah, maybe we should. If it's strong enough to make the two of you hesitant, then it has to be strong."

"I'm sorry, it's just too dangerous." Genzo apologized.

"No worries, it's fine

--------------------------------

After turning back, they had been walking through the dungeon for awhile already and no body spok as they seemed to be worried. Breaking the silence, Katsuya went on to ask a question.

"So, how long have you guys been adventurers?"

Jill only stayed silent as she was too focused on her surroundings.

Genzo then replied.

"I've been an adventurer for about three years. Jill on the other hand, only started last month."

"Wow, she's still pretty new." Katsuya replied.

"Yeah, she's been progressing pretty good for a D-ranker."

Katsuya froze, he saw a giant shadow cover both him and Jill.

He slowly turned around and his eyes widened.

Jill had not noticed anything, but standing behind her was a tall black creature. It's skin was darker than coal and it's eyes were whiter than snow. It was a type of monster called a "Shadow Man"

The creature slowly lifted its arm above Jill's head, it was about to attack.

"Watch out!"

He quickly jumped and tackled Jill out of the way when the creature swung its arm. T

Swwosh! Smash! Crackle.

The floor splintered all across. Genzo turned around and drew his sword with haste.

Jill was still in shock as she realized, if Katsuya had not moved her, she most likely would have been dead.

The monster leaped over them, blocking the way to the enterance.

"Quickly, get behind me." Genzo shouted.

Katsuya and Jill quickly stood up and ran behind him.

"It's a Shadow Man. A strong one." said Jill.

Genzo stood on guard as he replied.

"I know. Just by the size of it, I can tell that it's an A-rank monster. It's Waiting for us to turn our backs. Double Speed."

He quickly dashed towards the creature as he swung his sword but, it effortlessly dodged. The monster lifted its arm before knocking Genzo to the ground.

Fear was already rushing through-out Katsuya's and Jill's bodies.

Genzo let out a breath and he quickly jumped back to his feet.

"Katsuya, Jill. We're probably not going to make it out of here alive if we all fight this thing. I want you guys to run when I tell you to."

Tears began to run down Jills cheek as she replied.

"No….I won't leave you to die!"

"Just do as I say. If you two don't leave, we'll all die. I was only able to survive that hit because of my coat that reinforced with magic. Next time it hits me, I'll be killed. The second you guys run, I'll use my taunt skill so it won't chase you."

He slowly took off his coat and tossed it behind him to Katsuya.

"Katsuya, you're a pretty weak adventurer. That's The kind of presence I feel when I'm by you.That coat, I want you to have it. It may help you survive a hit or two in the future, it's a special item that's near unbreakable. Also, there's one more thing I have to say. I know that it'll be putting a lot on your shoulders, but please make sure Jill is taken care of."

Droplets begn to drip down Katsuya's cheek but, he treid to to cry.

Wiping the weteness in his eyes, he replied.

"Don't worry sir, I'll do my best."

Genzo then began walking towards the creature once more.

"Thank you. Get ready to run."

He then jumped forward as a bright blue light followed the swing of his sword.

"Now!"

At that moment, Katsuya grabbed Jill's hand and began guiding her as they ran past. Genzo knew that his own death would be coming in the next few minutes. He was not scared, he was relieved that he would die, saving his daughter's life."

One step, then another. Katsuya and Jill ran and ran. No matter what, they didn't stop. Katsuya was feeling a mix of rage and sadness. At that moment, he couldn't stop thinking about how much he hated monsters. They were the reason why his life was hard. They were the reason hbis own father was killed in the past. They were the reason why his mother and sister were in the hospital and now they were the reason why Jill's father was going to be dead. His rage burned deep inside and he soon began to realized the true danger of being an adventurer.