Nathaniel Darich, Ulfred Orsova

"Boss! Please accept me as your henchman!" The guy unexpectedly prostrated himself before Dante. "I remember you! You were right before me in The Elevator! You are obviously a newcomer like us, but you still took down the ox with a single attack!"

"You will become someone big eventually! I can see it! If I can become your first henchman, my status will be next to yours in the future, and I believe I can become stronger more quickly!"

Dante had a dumb look on his face. He had just wanted to join up with these guys, but he had also wanted to have the upper hand in the group's hierarchy. That's why he had acted that way.

However, this kind of outcome was beyond his expectations.

"Well we can just become comrades, you don't need to become my henchman. We are all level 1 participants. A relationship like you suggested wouldn't be appropriate between us right from the start." He said.

Since events had developed in this way, Dante had to squeeze out his luck until its last drop.

"Your words are wise, boss, but I still want to come with you! I don't have any chance for survival if I am alone. Many of us think this way."

"You had seen with your own eyes. We couldn't even deal with a stupid short-legged ox properly. We don't have a chance against a dungeon, and we have to go there no matter what! I am willing to sacrifice my freedom for a chance of survival!" The guy said.

Dante looked at him deeply.

'I can't understand anymore if this guy is dumb or smart. I want to see his intelligence stat!'

"If you truly think that way, I don't have a reason to reject you. I'm Dante. You can call me by my name, or you can call me 'Boss.' What's your name?" He said to the guy, on the other hand, he was throwing sneaky gazes to the other newcomers.

The others had strange expressions on their faces. Some were watching the scene with an o shaped mouth, and some were looking like struggling about the same decision.

"Thank you, Boss! My name is Nathaniel, Nathaniel Darich."

Nathaniel didn't seem to be older than Dante. His shoulder-length auburn colored hair was even and sleek. There wasn't a blemish or facial hairs on his honest looking face. With his black eyes, he was looking at Dante innocently, giving him an odd feeling.

"Alright, Nat! We have a dungeon to clear! Follow me!" Dante said and began walking towards the mountains with a smile plastered on his face. He didn't look at the other newcomers after saying that.

"As you command Boss!"

At this time, an old man stepped forward. "Wait!"

He was an old man but not too old. His short white hair and beard had tings of grey and black colors. With his broad shoulders, he portrayed a wise and mighty old man.

Dante remembered. Before he came here, the old man had been shaking his head at the side while watching these idiots' embarrassing show.

"I also want to join up with you." The old man said.

Dante stopped and looked at the man, "Of course, you can join. A bigger group means a bigger chance."

"However, do not expect me to become one of your henchmen. I will leave your side when I see fit." The old man had a stoic face. Combined with his deep and clear voice, he had quite the imposing manners.

"As long as you work for the benefit of the party until you decide to leave, I don't have a problem with that," Dante said.

He didn't call the man 'senior' or didn't show respect to him in voice. In this place, age was amount to nothing between amnesiac. Newcomers could all be considered as peers in a sense.

"My name is Ulfred Orsova." Naturally, he didn't have other things to say about himself. Ulfred said his name and walked toward Dante.

Dante was happy to become the party's leader, but he would prefer a little more normal guys in his party's core. These two didn't seem to be normal at all. An old man with a name that was tough in pronunciation, and a dumb looking but sharp guy. Dante was sure he wouldn't see the likes of them often in the future.

"Welcome to the party... Ulfred. Can I call you Ul, or would you prefer Fred? You have a weird name." Dante was rude with his words. He wanted to see the reaction of Ulfred.

"Ul is fine," The old man said without any change in his facial expression.

'Since you preferred 'Ul,' let's assume you care about how people call you. Hmm... That doesn't fit with your face, old man.'

Dante looked at the other newcomers. He was about to ask if they would join the party. Then he spotted a girl who was continually giving fidgets on where she stood.

She seemed like she wanted to tell something but hesitating. When she managed to gather her courage up, it was immediately dispersing into thin air.

If he didn't remember wrong, she was the clumsy girl who had been pulling the ox's tail.

She had wavy blond hair reaching her back. Her chest couldn't be compared to Mira's, but they were rather large.

That was Dante's first impression of her.

He waited a few moments for her. However, the girl was hopeless. She couldn't muster her courage up no matter how hard she tried.

Dante gave up on her eventually, "What about you guys? Will you continue your ox hunt, or will you come with us into [The Lower Catacombs]?" He said.

The first impression of the other newcomers about Dante was good. Despite being a newcomer, he was stronger than them. He had also a mysterious air about him.

They had been planning to go to [The Lower Catacombs] after the ox hunt. They had only intended to fill their empty stomachs and make a small stock of food for their incoming adventure.

Since the situation was like this, refusing Dante would be foolish.

"Joining your party will undoubtedly be beneficial for us, but we think the same as Mr. Ulfred. We also want to leave when we see fit." One of the four looked at his friends before speaking.

"As I said earlier, I don't have a problem with that," Dante said and turned his back to them.

"All I care about is getting stronger as fast as possible. I believe you feel the same way as me. We aren't friends yet. We are just a bunch of newcomers who came together for a common purpose. No more than that." He said and began walking toward the mountains.

…

As the party of eight walked towards The Yelling Peaks, they saw other newcomers trying to kill oxen. Similar pathetic scenes played before their eyes quite a few times.

At this point, they had already arrived at the slopes of The Yelling Peaks Mountains. Changes in the surroundings were hard to believe for the party.

The grassland left its place to grey colored sand and rocks. There weren't any kind of plants at present. Occasionally, a dead and dried up tree could still be seen at the surroundings.

The sky turned from blue to a reddish color, and the air they breath became more heavy and dusty, causing their throats to dry frequently.

"According to my map, the entrance of the catacombs should be behind that giant rock," Dante said. His voice sounded a little husky because of walking uphill for thirty minutes while breathing the dirty air.

When the party crossed beside the giant rock, the entrance showed itself before their eyes.

Dante didn't expect the entrance to be so big. It was about twenty meters high and five meters wide. Furthermore, it wasn't naturally formed.

It had a rectangular-like shape. Inscribed runes and miniature bones were placed around the entrance as if they were the decorations.

With the splendor it possessed, the entrance of [The Lower Catacombs] radiated an archaic atmosphere. All of them felt cold chills spreading through their bodies while looking at death's door.

However, they weren't alone in this place. A number of newcomers were gathered near the entrance. At first look, there was around thirty of them. At second look, there was a black-haired youth with glasses on top of a rock. Apparently, he was at the middle of his speech.