Chapter Four: The Mission

With that, the Black Roses surged into action, donning their armor and grabbing their weapons. Zane followed suit, the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he realized that he was about to embark on the biggest and most exciting adventure of his life since his imprisonment.

As they made their way out of the base, the Black Roses moved with an efficiency that was both impressive and intimidating. The group was clearly well-trained and well-versed in the art of combat, each individual member moving as one with the rest. Zane was also keeping up, in formation as if he's been apart of the group for years. Through his countless battles, and countless enemies he had trampled on before, he was ready to take the life of anyone who even remotely seemed hostile to him or the group he was currently with.

As the Black Roses entered the Ruins of Mystery, they sensed the weight of history pressing down upon their shoulders. They had heard whispers of dangerous traps and deadly creatures that inhabited these old walls, and now they were here to face them head-on. The group made their way through the dusty corridors, past ancient statues and long-abandoned altars, always keeping a watchful eye out for any danger that might be lurking in the shadows.

At one point, they came across a narrow, twisting passageway that seemed to stretch on endlessly. It was here that they encountered their first challenge: a strange, shadowy creature that moved with unnatural speed and strength. It appeared out of nowhere, its eyes gleaming with malice and hunger as it lunged towards the group.

The Black Roses, however, were not easily deterred. They stood their ground, their weapons at the ready, and fought the creature with all the power they had. Despite the danger, they moved as one, each fighting with the skill and confidence that came from years of training. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they emerged victorious, the shadow creature lying in ruins at their feet.

As they moved on towards the source of the darkness that had been encroaching upon their city, the group knew that they had to be prepared for anything. But with their skill, their courage, and above all, their determination, they sensed that they could face whatever dangers lay ahead and emerge victorious. They were the Black Roses, and this was their mission.

As the group made their way through the ruins, they found themselves surrounded by dust and decay. The air was thick with the stench of mustiness and age, and the ruins themselves seemed to stretch on forever, with endless passages and rooms leading in every direction. It was a place of ancient magic and mystery, a place that had been left abandoned for many years. And yet, they knew that they had to press on, that they were here to complete a mission and face whatever dangers lay ahead.

As they moved through the ruins, they would occasionally encounter strange creatures and traps, but they knew how to handle themselves in combat, and would always emerge victorious. They stood together as a team, each of them complementing the other's strengths and weaknesses. And as they fought, they would talk to each other, communicating strategies and ideas as they worked together to take down their enemies.

"Watch out for that trap, it's a nasty one," a member of the group would call out, warning the others of the danger ahead.

"I'll create a distraction," another would say, as they cast a spell to draw the opponent's attention.

"I've got your back, so don't worry and keep going" another would say, as they moved in to strike, supporting their ally.

As they moved deeper into the ruins, they could feel the weight of their mission growing heavier. They knew that they were moving closer to the source of the darkness that had been threatening their city, and they were determined to face whatever dangers lay ahead. And as they moved forward, they would keep chatting with each other, sharing stories and experiences, reminding each other that they were a team, and that together, they were stronger than any challenge that lay ahead.

Zane: "So, how far do these ruins even go for? I haven't seen ruins like these in years." He exclaimed calmly while seeming like he had been in ruins before although he had just not gotten his adventurers license.

Arya: "You're saying you've been in ruins? Without an adventurer's license? You know, if that's true you could be arrested for illegally entering a ruin that has dangers in it, right?"

Zane, forgetting that he's in the future and not the time where he was known throughout the world as the number one hero opened his eyes is surprise as he has never heard of such a law before in his entire career of being a hero, "Oh...is that so?" He nervously laughed a little. "Well, I didn't think it was that important, besides I just wanted to see inside a ruin that was like a rundown temple."

Arya: "Well, whatever. It's not like I would tell anyone, besides from the adventurers guild test I think you proved to have been able to fight on your own before even trying to get into the guilds, huh?"

Zane looked at her for a moment, "Well, maybe... maybe not" he smiled innocently, and began to get up from the ground.

As the Black Roses kept going deeper and deeper into the mysterious Ruins, they found themselves in a strange and eerie silence. The hallways and chambers that had once resonated with the echoes of magical power were now devoid of any sound, as if the very walls themselves had fallen silent.

Zane: "Hey, uh guys... isn't it a bit to quiet considering how long we've been in here? Or is it just me? It's a bit off putting to me personally." Zane said looking around at ancient text on walls, hearing no sound around himself besides breathing and the talking of teammates around him.

Rob spoke up, "Yeah, you're right. We've been in the ruins for over 14 hours. We should've been attacked by a lot of monsters by now, or even maybe a few boss monsters. However, it seems like this ruin is completely silent." Rob mesed around with a weird device which plays sounds in the surrounding, and detects magic which we're both at zero for any monster.

They started to moved more cautiously, their weapons at the ready, but there was nothing to fight. It was as if the ruins had decided to give them a brief reprieve, a moment of calm before the storm. And then, without warning, the calm was shattered.

A dragon, massive and fearsome, swooped down from above, its wings beating against the air with a thunderous roar. It was a creature of legend, known for its immense strength and deadly claws, and yet it was also a creature of magic, with fire breathing ability, lighting magic and a wicked intelligence. It was determined to make the Black Roses its latest prey.

The group knew that they had to act fast, and act together. They moved as one, their weapons and magic at the ready, as they faced off against the creature. The battle was intense, the dragon moving with deadly speed and strength, as the Black Roses fought to stay alive.

The dragon suddenly used magic and clouds appeared around the area striking with lighting, powerful enough to make the ground burn.

The black roses guild acted together, and dodged the lighting to their best effort. Some managed to get hit but were soon healed.

Arya: "Rob, what's the status of that thing" She spoke while dodging lighting, and striking back but attacks do little damage.

Rob spoke up behind a wall, "It looks like its main abilities are fire breathing, and lighting magic which is maxed the hell out." He shouted through the lighting sounds striking the ground harshly.

Arya: "Alright, now everyone, listen up." She falls back to where everyone is. "Put up the best barrier we can. We need time to prepare an attack, otherwise we won't win this battle."

Jason stepped up preparing his shield, while using defensive magic to the max. "I got this bastard for now so just come up with a plan. I'll take the damage."

The dragon preparing his breathe, while clouds appear around the barrier. The fire and lighting combined into one attack striking the barrier at the front where Jason was, almost breaking it in one hit.

"Oh shit, y-you guys might need to hurry up s bit faster with a plan here." Jason said while still tanking the hit while being healed by one of the members who knew healing magic.

Arya: "alright here's the plan, all of us are going to spilt up in groups of fours. The main attackers, who are going to strike at the front, the side attackers, which is going to be one group of four on each side will attack when the main attackers do. The healers will cast long range heal spells, and boosting magic. As for the rest, just be ready to attack, or regroup and fall back if we all fail."

Everyone standing there for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, here's the teams. Zane, Jason, me, and Arnold will take the main attackers."

Zane picking up his sword which he had kept in a dimensional ring, Arnold picking up his spear which has maxed stats into water, and Arya taking up her bow which is specialized in swiftness, strength, and a little magic boosting.

Meanwhile, Jason was still tanking hits from the dragon picks up his shield a bit and used more magic to defend everyone behind him, just agreeing to whatever was being said behind him.

Then the rest of the teams were given out.

Arya: "Alright, let's go!" Arya said while everyone was going into their positions to attack, and healers going to the back preparing long range heals and boosts.

The main attackers Arnold, and Zane pushed forward behind Jason covering for them while activing his special ability to reduce damage intake, and redirects the damage back to the target for 70% less damage.

Arnold and Zane jumped away from Jason and pushed forward to the dragon using their skills with the sword and spear gettings cuts, and strikes off extremely effectively.

The two groups of side attackers all attacked at once damaging the dragon from both sides as well.

The dragon who had used up quite a bit of magic by this point continued to cast lighting spells around himself protecting himself from anyone getting close and then used his fire breathe to blow everything in front of him to nothingness, and used more lighting magic to cause a callapse of the ruins causing the ceiling to slowly fall in, and the dragon who knew it used a bit to much magic than it intend flew off into the depths of the night sky.

Arya, who spotted the dragon fleeing before giving commands to her team shot an arrow filled with light magic from one of the healers, used her own magic to increase the speed and strength of the arrow and shot it towards the dragon striking it in the wing.

Arya: "EVERYONE GET OUT BEFORE THE CEILING FALLS!" She screams at everyone there just to be heard over the falling ceiling.

After a few minutes of constant running and some people carrying others, they finally made it outside of the ruins as it slowly broke down to never be entered again.

Everyone there was happy that they made it out alive, and started hugging each other for such a successful thing to happen.

Arya: "So, what exactly should we do now?" She said looking up towards the direction the dragon flew off. "I mean, we don't have the quest item we need to "successfully" complete a quest. We have low amounts of mana from that fight, and we're over four days away from our guild by walking..."

They all stood there for a moment thinking about what she had said and some of them just ended up sitting down, and started to think about what to do, others started to walk towards the guild.

Zane: "Well, there's no use in just sitting around helplessly. Especially in the area where the dragon could possibly come back. Even if we don't have the item, or anything from the ruin. At least we all made it out alive." He said while it sounded like he was talking from experience, and a deep breath followed. "I'm going to walk, anyone coming with me, or will I just go by myself? Besides we don't have any mana and it takes a while for it to charge naturally. So, have fun waiting if that's what you're going to do."

A few people got up and started walking behind Zane a few minutes after he walked away from the area. As for the others? Well, they all waited around for a few minutes, or an hour or two and then got up and started to walk home.

Zane who was currently walking up a small mountain, reached the top and sat down looking over the horizon and began to just rethink about everything, the time which had past, old friends who are gone, parents who are also gone, and just reviewing his entire life, and the decisions he made to lead him to the point where he is.

Hearing the waves crash between each other and the rocks below him, reminded him that he should just let it go, and be thankful that he's been given a second chance.

Although he did want revenge, he wanted it more than anything in the world, something changed within him from the past few days, and being around everyone reminded him that maybe revenge isn't truly what he desired, but it felt like there was a piece of him missing without the thought of revenge.

Zane who had been used in the past just to clear the old dungeons, and discarded as soon as it was all over felt something he had never felt before. Freedom, freedom is what he felt. It was a new feeling of which he had never experienced before.

Zane watched more and more as the water rose, and crashed between the rocks below him looking at the horizon of the sun rising in the far distance. "Maybe, this isn't so bad of a life aa I originally thought." He said almost muttering to himself, speaking quietly and slowly.