Ambushed

As Kai and Anun walked down the dank and eerie corridor, Anun suddenly nudged Kai and said, "Look, there are empty potion containers littered over the floor."

"Tsk, don't they know how to clean up after themselves?" Kai frowned.

"They probably gained more loot than they expected so they had to lose some of the weight they were carrying," Anun replied. "By, the way, am I hallucinating, or is that a person?"

Anun and Kai both stopped when they saw a dim silhouette of a person pacing back and forth. As they walked closer, they could see it was a person with dirty blond hair, dressed in white robes looking at the floor, muttering to himself, not noticing the duo's approach.

"Why is he alone? Did he get separated from his party?" Anun asked in confusion.

"HEY, YOU THERE!" Kai shouted. "WHERE'S THE REST OF YOUR GROUP?"

The boy yelped in surprise and then accidentally tripped over his own feet, stumbling into the portal that was right behind him.

The duo looked at each other speechlessly before jumping into the portal as well.

[You have slain a Goblin Archer. +15 Experience Points.]

"Looks like I'll need 75 more experience points to level up." Zero remarked as he glanced at his status window. "But this isn't good. I'm getting more tired and hungry as time drags on."

[Hunger will affect the rate of regeneration of your health.]

"How long has it been since I've entered this dungeon, System?"

[It has approximately been 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 58 seconds.]

"So 23 minutes before I get forcibly sent out of this dungeon, huh?"

He spun around and spotted a teenager around the same age as him, with blond hair and white robes that were dirtied and covered in scratches.

A person? Zero thought before happiness surged through him at seeing another fellow human being within this hellhole. "Hey..."

"(MONSTER!)" The boy screamed before running off in the opposite direction.

Zero hurriedly chased after the boy yelling, "Hey! Wait, stop! Do you know how to get out of this place?"

"(Hey! Wait up!)" A voice called from behind Harry.

Harry turned his head around and saw that the monster was chasing him with a sword in his hand and with its face and body covered in blood. He then found the hidden strength from within himself to run even faster.

My mum was right. All this adventuring nonsense about fame and fortune is just bullshit. I should've just stayed with pops and took over the family business...

Harry's thoughts trailed off as he ran into something and bounced back, landing on the ground.

As Harry looked up, he heard someone say, "Calm down, what's on?"

He saw two teens, one wearing leather armor carrying a sheathed blade on his side, and the other with a staff in his hands, also wearing leather armor.

The one carrying a staff grinned and said, "Man, you're so jumpy. I'm Anun and this is Kai. We're just here to map out this dungeon, not kill you."

The one carrying a blade, Kai, then asked, "Where's the rest of your party? Why are you alone?"

"My party..?" Harry answered. "They went on without me..."

But then, Harry thought of a more pressing issue and shouted, "Wait! A Skin Snatcher is chasing me! Help!"

"Skin Snatchers?" Anun raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a story told to scare children?"

"Trust me! He's chasing after me right now! You'll see!"

Then, right on cue, the trio heard branches snapping as another figure ran into the clearing from the brushes.

"(Hey, I finally caught you. You run really fast, y'know)?" The person covered in blood opened his mouth and spoke some strange-sounding words. "(Oh, there's three of you! Great! Do you guys have any food? I'm starving!)"

The trio looked at each other and Kai unsheathed his blade, while Anun raised his staff and Harry ran behind the two.

The figure raised his hands in an expression of peace.

"What's he saying? I don't think he's trying to attack us." Kai remarked.

He then looked at the figure and pointed at his mouth and shrugged before shaking his head. The figure stared at him blankly for a second before dropping his weapon to the ground and raising his hands. The figure then pointed at his stomach and then to his mouth before mimicking a chewing motion.

"See! He's trying to eat us!" Harry shouted.

"Calm down, I think he just wants some food. He's already dropped his weapon." Anun responded.

Then, the figure suddenly bent down and grabbed his sword before shouting and pointing at the trio, "(HEY! LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!)"

The trio turned around and saw a goblin sneaking up behind them. The goblin, having been noticed, snarled and struck with his spear at the person closest to him. Harry stumbled back, but the spear still pierced him in the arm before the goblin withdrew it.

As Harry howled in pain, Kai stepped toward the goblin, deflected its strike aimed at him, and sliced off its head with one clean cut.

But then, more goblins began stepping out of the bushes and from behind trees as they encircled the four people surrounded in the clearing.

Then, a goblin with leather armor and a metal helmet, who seemed to be the leader of the goblins, raised his sword and let out a shout. This caused the goblins to then rush toward the people trapped in the clearing.

Although Kai, Anun, and Harry spoke a different language from Zero, all four of them had the same collective thought in their minds.

Shit.

"{Ice Barrage}!" Anun shouted as he suddenly raised his staff.

Long, thin, spikes made of ice formed around him and shot toward the goblins rushing them. Some goblins were incapacitated by the spell, while others were directly shot through the head and killed.

"{Battle Aura}!" Kai also shouted, not losing out to Anun, as a red layer of light shimmered over his entire body.

He readied his blade, stomped on the ground, and rushed toward the goblins. Harry watched in awe as he watched Kai slaughtering through the goblins like a whirlwind. He covered his wounded arm with his hand and chanted softly, "{Minor Heal}."

However, he was too preoccupied to notice another goblin sneaking up behind him with a sword, grinning madly.

"({Piercing Shot}!)" Suddenly, a voice rang out with an arrow whizzing past Harry, through the skull of the goblin, and shattering upon impacting the tree behind.

Harry, flustered, turned around and glanced at the guy covered in blood. Zero grinned and then gave Harry a thumbs up, before aiming at another goblin that was sprinting at him.

At this time, the leader of the goblins gave another shout and the goblins were running madly at the four people before retreating as the Goblin Archers who didn't charge in raised their bows and aimed.

"Shit!" Kai cursed as he ran back toward Anun and Harry. "Anun!"

"Already on it," Anun responded as he raised his staff again. "{Ice Aegis}!"

A shimmering, transparent barrier formed, covering the four people.

"Come here!" Anun shouted at Zero who was further from him than the other two as he furiously beckoned with his hand for him to come closer. "My mana is draining too rapidly because the spell size is so large!"

As Zero ran to the trio, the arrows released by the Goblin Archers began to fall.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

The arrows hit the shield and shattered apart upon impact giving the four some time to breathe as the Goblin Archers reloaded their bows. But then, the Goblin General again shouted.

"Look at their arrows!" They're all glowing green!" Kai shouted. "They're planning on breaking the spell by hitting the shield all at once!"

"Shit!" Anun cursed. "I don't think the spell can handle so much damage at once! You'll have to try to find an opening, Kai!"

Then, Anun noticed Zero reaching out and touching the spell with his hands before he suddenly chuckled and said, "(I didn't know this could work too.)"

"({Ice Aegis}!)" Zero suddenly shouted as another shimmering barrier formed around them.

"What?" Anun said in shock. "This shouldn't be possible! I researched and developed that spell on my own! No other person should be able to cast that!"

But Anun was then interrupted by the glowing arrows flying at the four as they all hit the first {Ice Aegis}. It shook violently as it withstood most of the arrows before shattering apart with a shattering noise. The rest of the arrows hit the second {Ice Aegis} cast by Zero, and it trembled before stabilizing again.

"(Looks like we'll have to meet again later,)" Zero suddenly said.

"Room failed. Not all monsters were defeated. No rewards are available. Forcibly removing all survivors."

Then, all four of them disappeared from the goblins' sights.

When Zero awoke in the corridor outside of the Room, he saw that he had returned to where he started.

WHOOM!

Zero glanced up when he heard a loud noise and saw that the rift had disappeared and that the two massive stone slabs were closing.

"System, why were those people not returned with me?"

[They were simply returned to where they entered from, host. You entered the Room from the exit while they entered from the entrance.]

"I see. Also, is there a feature I can turn on or something so I can properly talk to them? Playing charades with them isn't an efficient way of communicating."

[That feature is locked until you are at the necessary level, host.]

Zero sat on the ground as he said, "Guess I'll have to wait an hour for the Room to reopen, right? I sure hope those three will be there next time I go in."

Zero then closed his eyes and prepared to take a nap.

"I didn't expect us to be surrounded by goblins right after we entered," Anun remarked as he sat with his back to the corridor wall. "By the way, who was that guy? He was able to use my magic..."

Harry shook his head as he said, "I don't know, he wasn't with us, that's for sure."

Kai then looked at Harry as he said, "By the way, you haven't properly responded to my question. Where's your party?"

"I don't know. They're probably in another Room right now..."

"Or dead." Kai finished.

"..."

A grim atmosphere suddenly permeated the conversation.

"Ah, right!" Anun suddenly said, breaking the tense atmosphere. "What are you wearing there, uh, what was your name again?"

"It's Harry. And I bought these clothes from one of the stalls at the market. The guy told me they were enchanted robes." Harry replied.

The two looked at each other for a brief moment before they sighed.

"A-are they not?"

Kai sat down, closed his eyes, and said, "Rest up. We'll be going back in after an hour."

Meekly, Harry raised a hand and asked, "Can I not go? Can you guys take me out of this dungeon?"

Kai immediately opened his eyes and looked at him saying, "No. That would take up a lot of our energy and time, which we need to complete our mission. If we do not complete this mission within three days, we automatically forfeit the mission as well as our reward. If you truly want to leave, I won't stop you. However, the monsters in some of the Rooms have respawned."

Kai then paused to take a breath.

"And I doubt you would be able to make it past the first Room, let alone the second and third Rooms."

"Okay..." Harry dejectedly said as he also sat down, leaned against the corridor wall, and closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep.