Chapter 3: The Zorat Dungeon (Finale)

It was utter chaos.

Everyone was scrambling to dodge the oncoming pack of Zorat, which were more orderly than they were.

I was shouting for them to run towards me but... "Why the hell were they ignoring my shouts?" I was not trying to kill them. I was trying to save them, for god's sake. 

Then, I looked towards the handsome boy who was supposed to be the leader and the strongest awakener of this team.

"And... I couldn't see him.'' 

"Did he die??"

"Was he betrayed?" 

I couldn't help but mutter as he really wasn't with the group that was scrambling here and there, trying to get out of the pack of Zorats that was surrounding them.

That's when I noticed something peculiar, the Zorats that were mindlessly following the noise were gathered at a certain spot without any noise or movement they could detect.

I saw the silhouette of someone surrounded by the pack of Zorats, yet he wasn't moving an inch.

"Who could it be other than our leader who was diverting attention from these monsters to save his comrades?"

I nearly saluted him for his great determination and courage but when I saw the state he was in, I was speechless.

Ahem...

I had some confidence in the leader of our raid team, and was expecting him to show charisma and effectively lead the team but, I was disappointed looking at him already slumped on the ground. He had passed out already before any girls in the team. The girls were at least trying to fend off the incoming pack while crying.

"What a disgrace?" I thought before shaking my head in utter disappointment.

I mean, these cry babies were supposed to be the ones protecting our town in case any mishap related to monsters were to happen. I might just lay myself out on a plate and serve myself to the monsters' palate if these people were supposed to protect me in the first place.

"Well, Whatever...."

Let's save these buffoons, especially that leader who was the weakest of all, and had already left his team in a precarious position.

Fwoosh...

BANG.....

The first thing I did before entering the pack of Zorats was throw a 'Light bomb' in the middle of the pack that was surrounding the leader of our team.

The 'light Bomb' was something every awakener, except the ones in front of me, entering this dungeon would have equipped on them as it was the most handy equipment that stunned these low-ranked Zorats. It could stun these monsters for about half a minute which was enough for any party filled with somewhat competent awakeners to take the situation under their control when required.

As for the party in front of me, I had no hope that they would take control of the situation during the breathing time provided by the 'Light bomb'. I just wanted to save the leader and wake him up before letting him handle his party.

It took me about five minutes before I was able to successfully save the leader, let's say 'Sam' for a moment. 

It cost me ten 'Light Bombs' and every drop of stamina I had for this rescue mission. My heart ached to know that the money needed to purchase these ten 'Light Bombs' was astronomical, almost 60% of the total savings I had from the last raid with good adventurers.

The first thing I did after rescuing that freaking leader was throw him in the pile of the Slimes that were massacred by the team earlier.

Sam woke up after about five minutes, despite smelling the strong scent of the slimes piled up in one corner of the corridor. he was right at the center of the pile with the slime that I had sampled earlier right beside his face for strong stimulus.

The other members of the raiding party had also gradually calmed down after I spent two more 'Light bombs', stunning most of the Zorats by throwing the bombs at the area with most Zorats in it. 

After that, I was also able to gather these adventurers in the corridor where I was standing. I didn't bother with them once all the adventurers were able to safely enter the corridor. 

Everyone looked lethargic because of the energy they spent while crying and running away from the Zorats earlier. The atmosphere in the corridor was tense with everyone looking at the pack of Zorats that was squeaking and struggling to maintain their footing in the slimy corridor. 

As for me, I was also looking at the monsters with stoic expressions, thinking about ways to exit this Dungeon. There was still a boss monster that was to be taken care of if we wanted to exit this dungeon.

I wouldn't have been required to wrack my brain if I was with other raid parties, but this party, I didn't even want to think about having them conquer the dungeon by killing the 'Zorat King' who could control the pack of Zorats in the whole dungeon if threatened. So, the first thing to do was to clear these Zorats in front of us before trying to kill the king.

Clearing out the Zorats in the dungeon wasn't particularly difficult; it was time-consuming, but with improved equipment, even I could have easily dispatched every last one without ever leaving this corridor.

And here lies the problem, I didn't have better equipment on me except the pair of rusty daggers. These daggers were not a good option as unlike the enchanted daggers wielded by adventurers, mine were ordinary, lacking the ability to enhance sharpness, strength, and defenses through mana infusion.

Also looking at the adventurers behind me, only 'Sam' had an enchanted weapon on him. None of the other members had enchanted weapons on them, their equipment was even more tattered and low quality than I was wearing. I hadn't noticed anything till now as I was used to seeing adventurers, even recently registered ones, fully equipped with standard enchanted equipment and weapons on them.

''What kind of adventurers were they?"

I couldn't help but question as every registered adventure would be issued with a standard enchanted weapon for their use.

 "Were they robbed by other parties?"

"Or, Did they lose everything on them while gambling?"

It wasn't something new as I had known several novice adventurers and intermediate adventurers lose everything in a gamble. They would just earn enough money on their next raid and purchase the equipment that had been lost. 

Instead, it was the norm for the adventurers who used to risk their lives every time they raided the dungeons. They would release their nerves through gambling, Drinking, and the pleasure of the body.

But, looking at the ones in front of me, they didn't seem to be the ones to gamble everything away as they didn't have the capability to even earn money by raiding the dungeon in the first place. That means, they were robbed of their enchanted equipment and weapons by stronger teams for quick cash. Which was once again the norm for adventurers.

"Let's not dwell on the topic of adventurers for now. "

I stood before the downcast adventurers and explained a method to clear the dungeon without risking anyone's life, as I had no intention of spending another minute with them once we exited. My plan was to part ways immediately after leaving the dungeon, collect the rewards from the adventurers' guild, and indulge in some delicious food and drink to erase all memories of this dungeon.

 __________________________________________

After contemplating the plan of clearing the dungeon with the adventurers, I started designating the adventurers to their duty as per their skills.

The ones who could scout were tasked with gathering the information about the layout of the dungeon along with collecting data on the number of Zorats alive and where they were situated.

The ones that were adept in support-type skills were left to help other adventurers while staying in the corridor with Sam and me. Also, I was able to know the real name of 'Sam'. His name was 'Alexander Dragneel', with a bit of a unique awakening. He said his awakened trait was somewhat bizarre but didn't explain more about it.

Those who were able to strengthen themselves were used as tanks that would distract the Zorats making it easier for Alexander to kill the monsters.

The coordination between party members was lacking at the beginning but as time progressed, Scouts were able to procure valuable information while also luring the hidden Zorats towards us.

Supporters were able to provide support to the needy members while tanks were able to effectively distract the Zorats. Alexander had also started using his longsword more effectively, his swings were getting swift and decisive while his face was serene. The Zorats that required him several tries were getting killed in a simple swipe from him.

It didn't feel like he was the same person who fainted earlier and needed a mortal like me to save him. He felt different and more like a veteran adventurer with years of experience as time progressed.

I was quite amazed by the transformation of this whole party as by the time every single Zorats was killed by Alexender, the group had learned to leverage each other's strengths and weaknesses, effectively cooperating as a unified team. And the one responsible for all of this was none other than Alexander.

He was able to notice the weakness of their team and was also able to come up with a solution in the next moment smoothing the cooperation between his party members. He said it was all due to his unique trait that was now fully awakened as I was able to help him fully awaken his trait.

I was flabbergasted by listening to his reasoning for such swift advancement in abilities of every team member. I wanted to learn about his trait, and how was I the trigger to awakening his trait but he kept his mouth shut and I wasn't thick skilled and foolish enough to pester him lest I was killed by his party.

____________________________________________

In just 20 minutes, we managed to defeat the dungeon boss and safely exit the dungeon relieving me.

I was even provided with the loot dropped by the boss of this dungeon as a gratitude by Alexander for helping him awaken his trait. I gladly accepted the Enchanted Dagger dropped by the boss as it fit my style very well.

After happily escorting me back to the guild and increasing my pay by double the amount he left the guild with his party.

 I could only marvel at how the once inexperienced party had transformed into a formidable and powerful group compared to when they first entered the dungeon with me. All because of some trait I helped in awakening.

I could only marvel at the wonder of the world I was living in.