14

Me and my big mouth. It's all going downhill, it's a complete shitshow. Holy sweet baby Loha.

Rewinding back a few hours. When we reached the bottom of the quarry. It was quite the surprise for me to find not an actual cave to delve into but this big black wormhole looking portal. It's edges shined blue. This thing, went against my common sense. I felt repulsed by it, my instincts told me to run. I checked the expressions on the others. The seniors had smug grins on their faces as they sore the excitement and wonder on Clam and co. Mel, indifferently just walked in. Seeing that, the seniors one by one begin to traverse through it. I take a deep breath, as if I'm about to dive into deep waters and enter.

A strange urge to vomit assaulted my innards. An acidic taste lingered in my mouth. Thankfully the moment only lasted a few seconds as I found myself examining my new surroundings. Expecting to find another cramp tunnel into the deep. I was quite satisfied to find the tunnels to be wide. Wide enough to drive two cars side by side through. I take a deep breath. Airflow smells good. No damp and humid heat either.

My joy stopped here. I didn't notice this at first glance but the entire party was looking back at me. 

"What, what happened?" I questioned. Not understanding their hesitation and shock.

"The- The gate is gone?" Emmanuel staggered back a few steps. "Leader, what do we do?" 

Before answering, the previous confidence on Alex's demeanour evaporated. Eyebrows scrunched. I examined his reaction closely. There's a lack of fear, with this I can gather that whatever is happening, isn't that bad. Right?

"It's fucking bad kids. A dungeon boss has spawned. The portal won't return unless we kill it."

"That's not possible! The crystal quarry has never been reported to house one. That's-" Colem seems to be in denial.

"Now now, no need to panic, it's just a little dungeon boss. It's only bad because we have to spend more time clearing out this dungeon rather than gathering crystals, that's all. And besides, I've killed a few bosses in my time kids. Just sit back and enjoy the show." He grinned heartily towards us. 

"That's right, with someone as strong as you senior we'll be fine!" Clam seems to have bought his act.

"Ha, that's right. We're completely fine. I'll tell you all a little secret, just for our ears alright. Before the guild placed me as this party leader, I had even receive recruitment offers from the Paladin corps." His chin raises. Everyone seems to be relieved. Suddenly, my find my hand held by something soft, I turn to see Mel. Her hands nervously holding mine for comfort. Well. This ain't good. I whispered to Mel.

"What's the paladin corps?" Although I whispered, Alex seemed to have heard my question as he began to narrate his heroic tales.

"Just in case you young'uns don't know. The paladin corps is the greatest force our kingdom Del Lagos has. These Templars are gifted and powerful. Blessed for their faith by Loha, they can cast holy magic to smite down our enemies. HEH, why do you think the Elves never bothered to attack us and only adopted by trades? AHEM, The stronger their faith, the stronger their blessings. The last time we had a civil war, a single platoon of em beat down a whole division alone." Alex boasted his confidence, as if he were a member of the corps.

"A walking, one man army?" I murmured to myself. Fucking hell, I'm glad I didn't commit any murder. And hell, I'm lucky I wasn't prosecuted for pocket picking. 

"SCREEEEEEAAAK" A thunderous symphony of footsteps causes the ground to shake. We all quickly turn our sights to the front to find a horde of little goblin looking fuckers charging at us. 

"RIGALS! COLE, EMAN, MEL ON ME. LETS SHOW THE KIDS HOW IT'S DONE." I examined their appearance further. Their copper coloured skin, small torsos, short limbs and long ears is fucking creepy. They all seem to be topless, sporting only what looked to me to be blue denim jeans filled with holes. their nipples were hairy, alongside their armpits. Their weapons? Some of them had what I assume to be oddly shaped, crooked pickaxes. The others charged on with nothing but rocks, held above their heads, ready to either smash down or throw them at us. Fucking hell, they were so eager to get to us, they stronger ones trampled over the weaker.

[Rigal Foreman: lvl 15]  [Rigal Foreman: lvl 14]  [Rigal Foreman: lvl 13]  [Rigal Foreman: lvl 14]  [Rigal...

I check myself.

[Asai: Lvl 13]

Isn't this perfect for levelling? I encourage myself to brave on. I need to do this. I walk forward and join the front line. I gave a quick glance back towards the other orphans. It seems they have no intent on fighting, fucking cowards. Clam is even hiding behind his goons.