11

Once they all entered the dungeon Erin looks at Mike "alright this is a test run for you, we chose this dungeon since the D-rank dungeon we want to enter later is the same dungeon type" Mike was confused as to what he meant "Dungeon type?" everyone worriedly looked at mike, amy blurts out "this isn't a dungeon 101 class, you can look it up later" Billie thought amy was being rude "ignore her shes kind of a bitch sometimes, a dungeon type just means that the dungeon type has the same or similar kind of monster and are grouped together in a category" Erin nods "that's right, this dugeon is an orc type if left alone long enough their population can grow and then they start making their own armor and weapons, right now we should only ding unarmed orcs, but in the other dungeon they're going to be very different, if we're going to trust you in the party I need to know you can at least take on a regular orc yourself, and that's what today is about".

Amy scuffs "Shouldn't we get going" Tiana follows behind her without joining in the conversation, Mike noticed that she just kept looking at her watch. They continue into the dungeon with a drizzle of rain, Mike found this weird he hadn't been in a dungeon that had rain yet. The dungeon had narrow and curved canyons that made corridors, this was dangerous you couldn't see more than 30 meters in front since the curved corridors of this canyon created many blind spots the walls were made of rock and dirt and as they looked up at the sky cliffs made the dungeon dangerous from a defensive point of view. Erin looked up "Tiana keep an eye out at the sky if you see monsters take a peak over the cliff make sure they don't live to tell their friend about us" Tiana walks while keeping her attention to the cliffs. Mike hadn't experienced being in a team yet, since Quentin did all the work last time this was different. Erin walked in front then Billie was closely behind while Amy and Tiana were in the back, since he wasn't used to working with them he just waited in the back of this tight formation they kept. As they kept going, suddenly Erin raised his hand and closed his fist and everyone stopped, stayed quiet, listened, and paid attention to Erin. Mike was impressed by the team and followed their lead; he stayed quiet and did the same thing the rest did. Erin had heard movement and when he looked around the corner, he saw 3 Orcs, he looked back and raised 3 fingers at his team, they understood immediately. The orcs had a darker skin color than the goblins and were human size, they had slim athletic builds, small tusks emanating from their mouths, only wore cloth, and the weapons they carried were wooden clubs drenched in blood. Mike unsheathed the short sword he brought and looked at Rocky, which seemed to be paying attention to the corner as if it already knew there were monsters right around the bend, and was just waiting to attack. Erin walks back to Mike and whispers, "Alright this is what we were looking for, it'll be me and Billie in front then you. Will let one slip by and you'll take it on, Amy and Tiana will only join if you need help" Mike was nervous but just nodded; he knew that to them this was a simple test, but to Mike, this was like being tossed into the deep end.

Mike gripped his sword and pet Rocky, whispering, "Stay close" Rocky walked beside Mike, matching his pace. Erin took point again and everyone was in position, everyone snuck their way forward attempting to get as close as possible before charging, when one of the Orcs noticed them Erin and Billie rushed forward. Mike stayed a little further back waiting for one of the monsters to break off and run towards the, sure enough, the furthest one back ran full speed at the party in the back, the orc only seemed interested in reaching Amy and Tiana. Mike gets in its trajectory and the orc swings its club at him attempting to plow through him, at that moment Rocky flanks him as he jumps and bites at its throat. The orc was distracted and didn't notice Rocky until it was too late, Rocky had knocked him off balance and had him by the throat, this was a critical hit to the opponent but the orc grabbed Rocky by the neck and pulled him off, then threw him, tearing at the skin, although it was bleeding the wound did not seem to be very deep. Mike rushed forward to get a swing in before it got up, he noticed that although he had hit the orc the damage was minimal, the orc swung its arm out hitting Mike and flinging him backward. Amy and Tiana saw this and were disappointed, they thought he would be strong enough to defeat it but this didn't look like it would end well, Tiana raised her staff and was about to attack. "Wait I've got this, it just surprised me" Mike opened the menu and assigned 5 points to strength, dexterity, and intuition:

Status

Level 12

Exp: 45%

Health: 98/126

Mana: 116/116

Strength: 7.2 (+3)

Stamina: 2.3 (+4)

Dexterity: 6.9 (+2)

Intuition: 7.5

Magic: 5.8

Unassigned points: 12 points

Mike saw the wound he had inflicted and just needed to attack harder to make it deeper, Rocky ran in front of Mike and growled at the Orc waiting to attack. When Mike started to charge, Rocky did so too, when rocky reached the Orc it bit onto the forearm that it had used to strike him, while the Orc was attempting to shake off Rocky it tilted to the right, then it raised its left arm to strike Rocky. Mike saw this moment and felt that the Orc's movements were slower and more predictable than earlier, when mike reached the Orc he stabbed the sword into the thorax under the armpit right under the third visible rib on its flank. The momentum of Rocky pulling and Mike pushing the sword into the Orc made it fall over on its right. On the floor, it kept groaning and gasping for a moment, until it just fell silent. Mike stands up and pulls the sword out and Rocky relaxes its bite and lets go. Amy and Tiana saw what had just happened and were surprised, his movements in the second half were stronger, more confident than the first half. Tiana looks at Mike as he gets up "Well if that's how he fights we might be able to have him around" Erin and Billie had already killed their Orcs and were also just watching "Billie, what do you think?" Billie smiles "he is a little rough around the edges but with some experience and some better equipment he might be worth bringing along, plus that dog has some fight in him. He was thrown pretty hard and got up immediately" Erin put his shield away "yea I noticed that too, at least he will be able to buy us some time in a crunch".

Amy gets annoyed at how Mike started the fight, she didn't think she would be able to trust him to keep her safe if the front line failed "Bull shit that was luck, I vote no. he is just a liability" Erin knew that the ones that are in danger if the front line fails were Amy and Tiana, which was the reason that they were looking for a fifth member, so if they didn't trust him then it wouldn't work out "what if we try it again, maybe it'll be more fluid the second time around" although amy wasn't completely convinced that this would work out, she accepted.

They continued forward and found another four orcs, Erin felt confident that they would be able to continue like last time. They again move forward slowly and again Erin and Billie charge at the orcs, the moment that they are noticed, Mike stands back waiting for the Orc to be let through but this time the Orcs maintain their attention on Erin and Billie. Suddenly behind Mike, a ball of fire is fired flashing by him aimed at the edge of the cliff, with the explosion an Orc falls from the sky, after it hits the floor it no longer moves. Then one of the orcs charges at the girls after having seen the flash or the fire. Mike had been surprised by the fire and looked back, noticing that he was surrounded by the orc currently charging at them from the front and another that was coming at them from around the corner behind them that had been attracted by the explosion from above.