Reaching the Cave

.

.

.

**(Forest - North - Feil's Group)**

.

Like the cave that David entered, they had also arrived at the cave a few minutes later. It wasn't that far from where they were, just around three miles.

There... was a slight problem...

With Bennett being the only exception, no one has ever been trained how to travel through a forest without making too much sound.

Although Bennett could inform them about the monster nearby, his range of perception wasn't comparable to David, so they ended up alerting some of the monsters that were still asleep.

Fortunately, since they were all 'side-mobs', they were easily subjugated, either being decapitated or slashed apart.

"Good... we finally arrived at the cave." Bennett sighed in relief.

Even though the 'side-mobs' they fought were easily killed, it was still very annoying, as if having flies around you, almost unable to kill them as they kept flying away.

There wasn't much to say about the cave. There was a menacing opening which made it look like one was staring into the void.

The area around the entrance was very... weird, as if artificially made. There were all sorts of leaves, twigs, and piles of dirt laying around.

'What crude camouflage skills...' Hana blinked.

"Let's not waste any time. We might as well get this over with." Feil looked at Bennett.

Although Bennett was tired, he too, wanted to get this over with.

"Sure." He nodded.

Feil then turned to Hana, "Do you have any spells to create light? It'd be preferred to fight in a where we could see clearly."

"R-right!"

Hana held her staff in front of her.

*Wooo~*

The orb on her staff had lit up, it wasn't too bright that it would blind someone, but it was definitely brighter than what a normal light bulb could light up.

"Ok. Done." Hana smiled.

"Good, you'll be in front. I'll be right beside you just in case something happens. Bennett, just in case something does happen, Hana would need to fall back so you'll be behind me so she has space to move back, understand?"

Bennett understood what he meant, "Yep!"

They weren't worried about her strength. What they were worried about was something else.

The only spells she had casted so far were fire-type spells, they weren't sure if that was her only affinity or if she didn't have good mastery over her other spells. One thing is certain if she fired such an attack at such an enclosed space... yes, burning oxygen and smoke isn't very good, but Feil doesn't know about science! What he did know was that her AOE was quite strong so it could hurt them as well.

When they first entered, nothing happened, no torches being suddenly lit, the entrance wasn't closed, it was just like a regular cave.

Although nothing had visibly changed, other than David, Hana, and Elizebeth had also sensed the change in the world.

'Something's not right...' Hana looked deep into the cave, but due to her human senses, she could only look so far.

*Ding~*

[ 'Realistic' Difficulty had been reactivated... ]

"Huh? Wasn't it always activated?" Bennett looked at the panel.

"No, that was just for the animals and the size of the forest here. There must be something else, maybe the behavior of the hobgoblins?" Feil frowned.

Hearing that, Hana hesitated and looked at Feil, "But... don't they...?"

"They do, when we enter, everyone needs to be prepared to face some gory scenes." He frowned.

Like a prince of a nation, even if they were third in line... which is actually not too bad... They would have to go through harsh training, both physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Well... at least in this country, the princes here would have... arguably more responsibilities than the ones who would potentially rule either a human or beast kingdom.

There were several reasons why human kingdoms usually had slaves. In the beast/beastmen kingdom, it operated more like a large unified tribe, to hunt, and to care for each other. Because of their hunting nature, their individual prowess is way what normal human armies could compare to... but their technology and tactics weren't so well developed.

Even then, they were kind, like those villages where almost everyone would extremely close to each other.

Though... due to their kindness and the equal treatment that they receive, they became naive to some extent, being easily tricked by slave owners, trusting them... nearly unconditionally.

For the human empire, like what some people would expect, there were churches, medieval buildings, slaves, even feudalism to some extent.

Unlike the beast kingdoms, they were much more advanced, whether it'd be technology, organization, or anything they could think of.

However, so did their greed, lust, and gluttony. Arrogant noble children, corruption within the government and church, even human slaves bred with beasts just for some noble's pleasure. Anything that wouldn't be shown in the light you could think of.

Then, we have the kingdom of Uesta, a kingdom where they have to balance both happiness and technology, to make sure that even if you were a commoner, you could have a job, get paid, have a family, a life.

Ah! We've said too much, now... back to the point...

"Alright, Hana, please step back, Bennett, you'll be beside me. I'm sure that considering what your family does, you've been at your first mission by now right?" Feil glanced at him.

"Yep. Don't worry, they made sure to get me used to as much as I could during the month. I'm pretty sure I won't puke... no promises though." Bennett shrugged casually.

"Alright... maybe get a bag or something, just in case you do throw up." Feil pointed at their pouches.

After getting that out of the way, under the bright light of Hana's staff, they were able to safely walk through the cave. Unsurprisingly, there were some traps laid out, but... for them, they were easily disarmed or avoided in general.

"Dang, this a really long cave..." Bennett commented.

"Agreed, it also has lots of space to raise the population... if some race needed to hide."

His face scrunched up, disgusted, "What? Ew..."

"..."

He got ignored.

Seeing that there were some torches at the end of the trail, everyone raised their vigilance.

"Alright, do not... making noise. Even if there aren't any monsters here." Feil looked at them seriously.

"Mn!" They nodded.

They were all very nervous in their hearts, it was beating, filling their ears, reminding them... to... not... mess... it... up!

Slowly, they reached the end of the cave, yet each step was much heavier than the last.

When they arrived, a dim light showed through a crack.

.

.

.

Chapter 100 End...