Challenges For The Novice Adventurers! And... A Shady Group?

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Frank, Annabelle, Hilvera, and Asterion walked through the busy streets of the town of Acacia, often filled with people selling their farm products, such as meat, vegetables, and fruits.

There were some people selling eggs, young chicks, and fresh cow milk, in such place is where Cathyl once sold her milk to gain some money to maintain her children, who were now about to explore a Dungeon after having awakened their Mana Cores, something that she never thought would have ever happened.

Using Annabelle's lead, which seemed to be quite well versed in the town's geography, Frank's group walked around the streets, reaching the outskirts of the town and then a paved road, which was surrounded by a peaceful forest.

Many Adventurers of all shapes and sizes walked through this road, some walked in the same direction as them, while others walked in the opposite direction, there were at least three to four more parties that were going to explore the Dark Lair Dungeon, which was only a few meters ahead.

"(This place is exceedingly crowded of people… Not at all like the often-empty Hunting Domains of the Clan back on Earth. This world's 'Dungeons' are a whole different thing, I guess… Well, if I could get Mana Cores from my Hunting Domains, I would have probably not come to any Dungeon until very later on… But well, that is how it is. If I want to increase my Cultivation, I gotta grind Mana Cores. And this place is a good spot)" thought Frank.

"Uwah! So many people!" said Hilvera.

"Indeed, it is quite busy today, seeing as we are getting near the weekend, people like to rest, so many adventurers are trying to gather some money before that, so they can relax!" said Annabelle.

"You sure know a lot, Annabelle-san!" said Asterion.

"Indeed, she's surprising me," said Frank.

"S-Sheesh! Of course, I know these things, my mother always talks to me about these things. Do you think that I simply forget about them?" asked Annabelle.

"Well, you're young, so I wouldn't blame you if the things your mother said to you entered from one of your ears and exited the other…" said Frank.

"H-Hey, don't say that!" said Annabelle with a bit of anger and a strong embarrassment on her face. She cried quite loud, making many Adventurers glance at her.

Which immediately came with many comments about people laughing at them for being kids or pitying them for going to the dungeon to die, as they assumed they were very weak.

"Is that a party of children?"

"Why does the Guild let children register as Adventurers?"

"Don't they know that they could easily die?"

"Well, who cares about some stupid kids?"

"Yeah, mind your own business, if they want to die so badly, let them alone! Hahaha!"

"Hey, don't get near them, maybe they're the lackeys of some of those shady organizations that send kids to dungeons,"

"B-But they're kids…"

"Why do you worry so much? They're probably street kids, some fancy leather armor doesn't mask their ugly poor kid faces!"

"Aw, you're so mean!"

"We got our own lives to take care of, forget about faceless kids,"

"Poor brats, they're getting themselves killed inside of there,"

"Can they even kill a Goblin?"

"If any of them is sting by a giant scorpion, it's their sure death. I mean look, they are not carrying anything aside from their weapons!"

Many Adventurers wanted to intervene but were stopped by other adventurers that did not want them to get involved in shady business.

It seems that Frank's Party was somehow attributed to a small organization that had suddenly appeared within Acacia, which employed kids found on the streets, forcing them to go to the dungeons and risk their lives to bring materials or monsters corpses.

Aside from this, some Adventurers laughed at them because Frank's party was not carrying anything other than their weapons… This was because Frank decided to save everything inside his inventory for convenience's sake.

Frank was also a strong healer, strong enough to heal a god, so he was confident that he would be able to heal the kids if they were to be injured.

Although the kids had shown mental fortitude in the Guild, as they walked through the road and kept being showed by more and more odd glares, they felt a bit overwhelmed, getting angry and frustrated.

"Tch, why don't they stop glaring at us?" asked Asterion.

"It feels weird, can't they glance elsewhere?" wondered Hilvera.

"Those annoying adventurers! They think they're the bosses in here because they got some years of experience ahead of us!" said Annabelle.

"You three calm down, there is no point in getting angry over strange stares, let's go explore and have some fun, moderately, that's it," said Frank.

"Aniki… Okay!" said Asterion.

"If Frank-kun is with us, I feel at ease," said Hilvera.

"Well, not me. I still feel a bit nervous!" said Annabelle.

"But didn't you wanted to come by yourself? Don't chicken out now, Annabelle…" said Frank.

"W-Who are you calling a chicken?! I will not chicken out! I'm going to burn those monsters!" said Annabelle.

"Make sure to not completely, we need their corpses as well," said Frank.

"O-Oh, right," said Annabelle.

"We're here!" said Asterion, as the party glanced at the mythical entrance of the dungeon, made entirely out of dark blue bricks, the entrance was dark, but slightly illuminated by torches, it was particularly clean and peaceful inside, but Frank assumed that as they entered deeper, the monsters that are hiding of a large number of Adventurers would show up.

"It is a bit cold inside…" said Hilvera.

"D-Don't worry, it is the lowest level dungeon…" said Annabelle.

"Ah, this place looks more disappointing than I thought. Well, it is small because it is a low-level Dungeon, I guess…" said Frank.

"What did you really expect?" asked Annabelle.

"Well, something more grandiose, I guess… This looks more like the entrance to an old and subterranean temple filled with moss and darkness… Oh, I guess 'Dark Lair' fits," said Frank.

"Anyways, let's get in, other Adventurers are waiting for us to get in behind us…" said Hilvera.

"Oh? So there is a system of the first enter first serve?" asked Frank.

"It's nothing too fancy. The entrance may look small, but according to my mother, the dungeon expands a lot as we walk in through the vast corridors, and it's easy to get lost. Due to its vastness, it is rare for parties to meet within the dungeon," said Annabelle.

"You're like a little guider, you know?" asked Frank.

"I-I'm not a guider! But this is all of what mother had always taught to me about it," said Annabelle while crossing her arms.

"Very well, let's get going then…" said Frank, walking alongside the rest of his party through the corridors, and reaching long stairs that conducted towards the dark depths.

"There are torches everywhere, so it is not as dark anymore," said Annabelle.

"It kind of kills the thrill a bit…" said Asterion.

"But it would suck to not be able to see anything, Asterion!" said Hilvera.

"A-Ah, well, yeah…" said Asterion.

"(I will leave my threads connected to the stairs. A small and thin thread that is invisible should work. With this, we can backtrack if we ever get lost, although my other Skills greatly enhance my perception of the whole place… Though, an Auto Mapping Skill would be ideal… Ah, I got some Skill Scrolls in my Inventory, but they are random, so hoping for it would be unrealistic… I will use them at night, no time, for now, to sit and use them)" thought Frank, as he left a thin and almost invisible thread connected to the stairs' wall.

As Frank and the trio walked through the vast corridors, the Dungeon began to slowly felt bigger and more expansive.

"It really does get bigger as we go…" said Frank.

"See? Mother never lies about this stuff, she knows all of it after all! She explored many dungeons!" said Annabelle.

The walls of the dungeon were damp and filled with moss, and the smell of torches burning filled the ambiance, giving it an old and rustic feeling. And due to the ancient-looking scriptures within the dungeon's old walls, the entire atmosphere was almost mystical, very different from any Hunting Domain that Frank had ever explored.

As the group finally made a good distance from the entrance, monsters finally began to show up.

And it was a tiny Demon Rat who greeted the party.

It had the size of an adult cat… but it was cataloged as 'tiny' by standards, as Demon Rats can easily get to the size of an adult dog, or even a young cow.

"A Demon Rat! Is it part of one of the Quests?" asked Asterion.

"Yeah, we need their fat, but I will just save the whole corpse in my Inventory," said Frank.

"We'll catch it!" said Hilvera, as she ran towards the Demon Rat, who was glancing at the party intensively with its crimson eyes.

"Grryyaarr!"

The Rat roared, jumping towards Hilvera, and evading her knife!

The rat's fangs were directed towards Hilvera's face, they were sharp enough that they would easily pierce through her skin and flesh if it were to bite at her tender face!

"G-Gust!" cried Hilvera, releasing a gust of green winds that made the Demon Rat lose its balance in midair, flying to the wall and hitting it with great force.

Although clumsy, Hilvera managed to evade a strong attack that might have left an ugly scar on her face.

"I got it now!" said Asterion, raising his axe and hitting the rat with it!

Clash!

However, the Rat was faster than any Horned Rabbit, evading in time!

"Gryyarr…!"

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