Chapter 48 – Giant Rats

"Come sit. We'll figure out our arrangements." (Elisa)

Elisa motioned for them to find a seat. Dream sat near the edge and the girls sat across from him next to the other girls.

"Alright, introductions first. I'm Elisa, 2nd class Spearwoman. This is Ryan, 2nd class Swordsman. We are the two leads of this group and also work under the Alliance Hunters Association." (Elisa)

Elisa confirmed Dream's guess, though he wasn't sure what that association was. The girl who spoke earlier about the inventories introduced herself next.

"I'm Lory, 1st class Healer. Nice to meet you!"

Lory said with a warm smile. She was blonde and average height. Dream would put her down as a rather cute teenager. 

"I'm Carla, 1st class Sniper."

Carla said with a monotone voice. Dream figured she was the reserved type. Carla wore a black cloak and had black hair. Her looks weren't bad, but nothing to write home about. He noticed that she wore her bow around her shoulders too. 

"Nice to meet you guys. What's this Association you work for?" (Dream)

"It's the company run by the Guild. We are official hunters, not freelancers like many others. Basically we report to the guild and take jobs instead of quests. Not much different from normal since we can still work with freelancers like these guys. Anyway, if you're planning to hunt with us, we need a general idea of your style." (Elisa)

"Alright. I can fight both distance and melee. I also have a stealth ability." (Dream)

"I use fire magic with melee." (Iris)

"I use water and earth magic." (Luna)

"Oh, that's rather fitting. Our party has its own formation and you guys will fit in at the rear. The monsters we'll be facing today have some numbers so just don't get separated and give them a target. Are you guys looking to get kills and experience?" (Elisa)

"Well, experience is always nice. I actually have an objective by coming here though, and that's to test some techniques of mine on monsters. I'll need them alive and incapacitated to do what I need. Depending on the monster, it shouldn't take too much time." (Dream)

"I see. It shouldn't be too difficult to do that. Though we won't take any chances. If the situation doesn't allow for it, then we'll have to kill it. But doing magic tests in the dungeons isn't rare, especially for 1st classes, so it won't be a problem." (Elisa)

"Thanks."

"Then I think we're set. We already have the quest, and I'd like to get there on time. So we should move." (Ryan)

Ryan stood up once they were done and began walking to the exit. Elisa put on a bitter smile.

"You'll have to excuse him. He's not the friendliest person, but he's a reliable swordsman." (Elisa)

"It's alright, I've seen worse." (Dream)

"Indeed. But he's right, we should head out. Let's go everyone."

Elisa motioned for everyone to follow Ryan. 

Once everyone piled out of the guild building, they began walking through the streets. They weren't the only ones, as other hunter parties were also walking the same way. Dream assumed they were all going to the same place.

Dream turned his attention to the channel with the girls.

'So, what do you guys think?'

'They're nice. Though I'm not too fond of that blond girl.' (Iris)

'You see something?'

'Mhmm. She looks at me and Luna with a bit of disgust. Her soul is also kind of ugly. She's definitely fake, but I don't know why.' (Iris)

'I saw that too. Her act is very different from how her soul looks.' (Luna)

'Huh. That kind of sucks. Just keep your distance then. Once we get our first taste, we can do things on our own and won't need other people. No need to cause conflict now.' (Dream)

The girls nodded, though Iris still wasn't very happy. She didn't like it when people were like that, preferring them to be upfront. Dream understood her but coming from Earth, he knew how to handle those people.

"Hey, Dream right? The clothes you're wearing, is it some kind of special armor?" 

Speaking of the devil, Lory came up and spoke to Dream, pointing out his odd clothes.

Today, since they were hunting Dream decided to wear athletic clothes. Compressions with basketball shorts and a nice fitted shirt. Stuff that wouldn't get in his way if he had to move around. He also had his armor along his limbs, ready to be used at any time. His weapons of course were in his inventory.

"No, these are just clothes." (Dream)

"Oh, where's your armor? In your inventory?" (Lory)

"Well my armor's actually a bit special. Here's some of it."

Dream lifted his forearm and showed the metal plates from his compressed suit.

"Oh, I guess since you are a ranger you wouldn't need that much. Are you nervous for your first dungeon run?"

"Not really. It shouldn't be too different from fields."

"You would be wrong to assume that." (Ryan)

Ryan joined the conversation when he heard that.

"Really? Why's that?" (Dream)

"Dungeons aren't as nice as fields. In general, it's harder. Monsters have more skills, and they're relentless. A level 50 monster in a dungeon would massacre a level 50 monster in the field. That's because the only goal of the dungeon monsters is to kill you. They don't have a regular ego, unlike field monsters. So if you go in there thinking you'll be able to handle them the same, you'll die before you know what hit you." (Ryan)

"Hmm..."

Dream took what Ryan said seriously. Though he was rude about it, Dream knew he was trying to give advice, just in his own way.

The advice was very good as well. In the fields, Dream and the girls weren't under attacks from relentless beasts, except for the crawlers. But the bears weren't like that. They would get scared, they wouldn't even attack if they didn't need to. They knew retreat. But apparently the dungeon wasn't like that, which would make it even more dangerous than he thought.

"He's right. The dungeon and fields are very different." (Elisa)

"Then why don't more people go to the fields?" (Dream)

"There are a lot that do. But enemies aren't as common or easy to find there. Dungeons are straightforward. They have plenty of enemies and you won't need to go far to find them. It's much more efficient in terms of leveling up. More money is also made this way since you have more bodies to bring back." (Elisa)

"I see. That makes sense. Thanks for the info. And thanks for the advice, Ryan." (Dream)

"Sure." (Elisa)

"..."

After a while of walking with the crowds, they began coming up on a fenced area. They walked up to the gates where people were checking the hunters' plates.

"That's the check-in. It's to verify that you have the minimum required level to enter. It also serves to know who goes in and out. If someone doesn't leave the dungeon after 3 days, they're marked as missing. If nobody sees them after a week, they're considered dead."

"Fun."

The group of nine walked up to a check in. The man scanned each person's plates and let them through.

"Level 50's huh. Don't get cocky and die in there." (Man)

"We won't try to." (Dream)

Everyone walked through the gates and were greeted with a massive cave that went into the ground. There were several shops and tables around the cave where hunters were gathered.

"So that's a dungeon?"

"It is. The cave doesn't actually go into the ground. There's a portal that transports you into the dungeon space. This one's a class 2 dungeon. It'll last about 50 years total before it disappears." (Elisa)

"They disappear?"

"Of course. It can't last forever. Apparently, as monsters inside are killed the mana will get lower and lower. When it can't spawn any more monsters, the portal disappears and the dungeon can't be used." (Elisa)

"Very interesting. So are we entering it now?" (Dream)

"As long as everyone is ready."

When Elisa said that, the twins, Lory, and Carla went through their gear. Their armor, weapons, and anything else they had on them.

"We're ready." (Mark)

"So are we." (Lory)

"Alright. Let's enter." (Ryan)

Ryan gave the word and everyone began walking towards the cave.

When Dream looked inside from the entrance, he saw that it was pitch black. Almost like a fog that consumed light. His heart palpated as he walked into the fog.

They walked in and soon walked out. They were met with... a cave.

Elisa checked on everyone and saw Dream's weird face.

"What? Expecting something else?" (Elisa)

"Well... I didn't know what to expect. I just thought that since it was a portal that it was taking us somewhere different. Are you sure that fog is a portal? This looks just like a regular cave."

"Dungeons tend to match the area that they're in. Technically we're inside a mountain, so this dungeon is a cave."

"Oh... Nice."

"Alright. Get in formation and keep close. Newbies, keep with us and don't get separated. The monsters we're fighting are the lower leveled ones, rodents. Further in are stone monsters, and trust me when I say you don't want to get caught fighting those. Let's move." (Ryan)

Ryan gave the command and everyone formed up. He and Elisa were in front and the rest behind them. Lory took out a short staff from the bag she had, the twins also took out their own staffs. Carla grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow from the quiver on her back. 

Meanwhile, Dream and the girls just got behind them. The girls didn't have anything to prepare, and Dream left his guns in the inventory.

The group began walking forward steadily. Ryan and Elisa held onto their sword and spear, both of which had various designs on them.

Dream noticed that Lory also had designs on her staff. They looked like runes. 

'I'm guessing those are some kind of enchantments since this is a fantasy land and all.'

[Probably. Though I'm not sure what they do. Or why they need those staffs in the first place.]

'Probably for their magic. There's those odd-looking stones in their staffs. Maybe it amplifies their magic.'

[I don't know if that's possible. It's not like it can just add more mana miraculously, unless it consumes more. But again, for what purpose if they can cast the magic themselves.]

'Not sure.'

The group walked for a bit more before Dream sensed some monsters. Since Luna and Iris were connected to him, they also sensed it.

"We got our first batch. I'm not sure how many, so keep your eyes peeled." (Ryan)

It turns out Ryan also sensed them, though not as accurately as Dream. He didn't know that they were 4 of them 74 meters away. 

The group walked a bit farther before the monsters were alerted. The sounds of running feet scraping rock and dirt came from not far away. Everyone was alerted and began activating their mana or infusing it into their weapons. 

Dream could see what they looked like from Sophia, but seeing them in person was a bit different. The monsters were giant rats with white eyes, atrophied from how dark it was in the cave. Their claws were long and sharp. They came running at fast speeds, and began attacking Ryan and Elisa with a bloodthirsty aura.

'So that's what he meant about relentless. They really don't have an ego.'

Dream stood there thinking while everyone went to work. Carla was first to loose an arrow which pierced a rats eye and killed it. Mark also shot out a fire lance after infusing mana into his staff, while Beau used Earth magic and created a barrier of Earth spikes on the ground for the rats to run into. 

The rats got startled at the sudden death of one and the appearance of the spikes. They slowed down and tried to maneuver around them. This however gave the two at the front the opening to pierce and slash at them.

After a quick stab or two, all the rats were dead. Dream admired the teamwork.

"How many times exactly have you guys done that?" (Dream)

"Too many to count. This area is where the weakest monsters are, and we're gonna be going in a bit deeper. That's where we get stronger ones that'll be smarter and use magic. Not to mention tougher. We use this as a warm-up." (Elisa)

Dream nodded and the group walked past the bodies.

"So they corpses will just be left there?"

"That's another thing about the dungeon. If you leave the bodies, they'll disappear after about a day. So you can take the bodies out if you want, but you don't need to."

"Gotcha."

Dream nodded at more new information. He wondered how that worked. Maybe someday he would waste the time observing it.

The group encountered a few more groups of rats. As they began moving deeper, they stopped for a second and got into a party.

Elisa went around and shook everyone's hand.

<You are in a party!>

<Members:

"Alright, we're coming up on the level 60s and up. These are the ones with magic that can also use their brains. They won't just blindly run forward. Keep awareness." (Ryan)

After that, Ryan led the group down more tunnels. It didn't take long to encounter another group of rats. Though these ones were a bit bigger.

'Damn, those things are huge.' (Dream)

'I know!' (Iris)

[They're about 3.5 feet tall. And their mana levels are around D-.]

*SCREEECHH*

Everyone was alerted by a loud scream from the rats. There were only 4 of them, but this battle wouldn't be as easy.

Beau used his Earth magic to create bigger and stronger spikes while Ryan and Elisa moved behind them, readying their weapons. Carla loosed an arrow.

The arrow flew straight for the eye of a rat like last time, except it didn't hit. The rat just barely threw its head to the side, dodging certain death. The arrow instead placed itself into its shoulder, barely slowing it down.

"Damn." (Carla)

*SCREECH*

"I got you." (Mark)

Mark prepared his magic to back Carla up. After a couple of seconds, a fireball flew and slammed into the rat, setting it on fire and slowly killing it. The other 2 rats were dealt with by Ryan and Elisa. Though this left one more, which made its way around towards Lory.

She wasn't defenseless however. She flipped her staff upside down and infused her mana into it. This caused a blade to pop out from the bottom. She then lunged forward, piercing her makeshift spear into the rat.

*Screech!*

The wound only succeeded in slowing down the fat rat, but Lory's goal wasn't to kill it. Elisa, who was done with hers, moved to help Lory and speared the rats head.

"Thanks." (Lory)

"Of course." (Elisa)

Lory removed her staff from the rat. The blade retracted into the staff.