Chapter 280 - Dark Cave (1)

Three big carts were moving in a slow, steady row. On top of each of the carriages, a big bulky of luggage was loaded on it. The luggage was entirely covered with three layers of cloth. There was no way anyone could know what inside without opening the cover.

A horse was assigned to each of the carts to pull the wagon. Beside each of the carriages, there were at least 10 guards. And, Auron was one of them.

Keeping his disguise as Savage Sickle, Auron was strolling at the front of the middle cart. Due to his performance in the recruitment, Auron was considered as a strong fighter despite being a mage.

The leader gave a high valuation to Auron. He wanted to provide him with a group's leader's position despite the fact that he was an outsider. However, not all of the members agreed with him.

Since the leader didn't want to start a conflict because of this small matter, the leader decided to take a step back. He let the other took the group's leader's position. However, he still pushed Auron and gave him the vice position.

When Auron knew that he was chosen as the group's vice leader, he wasn't that excited. Auron still kept his cold act and accepted it. Thanks to that act, Auron was labeled as an arrogant person. However, Auron didn't care about it.

Insanity Gang was the name of this group of guards. Auron just knew about it from the leader when he introduced it. Insanity Gang was known as a group of mercenaries. Although they were not that big, however, they were well widely known in the merchant caravan guard's industry.

The group had more than three years of history in this industry. They specialize in transporting goods. The group was famous for their meticulous action. They would select their mission carefully, and their fee was not that cheap.

Transporting goods was not that easy. They could not use the teleportation portal to carry the products since they had to pay really expensive. If it was only a small-sized good, then they could still hide it from the inspector.

However, if it was a big sized good like this time, it would attract a lot of attention. Then, to get through the teleportation gate with the products, they had to pay a massive sum of money. That was why many merchants or people that wished to transport their goods would hire a group of mercenaries to transport them.

The group had 12 permanent members, including the leader, and the rest was recruited just like Auron.

Just like the other mission, the leader had prepared very well for this mission. He had selected the routes and informed the other when they were about to enter a dangerous path.

However, there was one difference between this mission and the other mission they had gone through. It was the absence of the goods' owner. Usually, the owner of the goods would follow the group. But, it was not like that this time.

The group only had the responsibility to transfer the goods to the destination, and they were paid very well. The leader hurriedly accepted this when he knew that there was nothing wrong with the route.

This was already the third time they transport goods from the same place and to the same destination. So, they were confident about this. Moreover, the fee was more than average.

Without the owner of the goods joined the group, the difficulty would lessen a bit. It was because, usually, the owner of the products was someone who was weak and could not fight at all. When there was something wrong happened, the owner would become a burden to the group.

However, for this mission, the owner would not join the convoy, so they had a lesser burden. "On your guard! We will enter the Dark Cave!" The leader shouted to remind the group.

Dark Cave was a vast and confusing cave. For a first-timer, if he didn't have a guide or maps to follow, he could be lost inside the cave. Moreover, the monster inside was pretty ferocious and not friendly at all.

This Dark Cave was also a shortcut to their destination. If they went through this Dark Cave smoothly, they could arrive three days faster.

However, Dark Cave was also not a safe place. They would need at least twelve hours of moving non-stop to get through this Dark Cave. Moreover, this time they had to protect a huge amount of goods.

The leader had discussed it with his original group's members, and they chose this path confidently. It was because they had used this cave more than ten times in the past. With their experience, they had high confidence that they could get out of this cave safely despite guarding three big carts.

Just like its name, it was dark inside the cave. Several of the guards lit up torches, so they could see the pathway. Inside the cave, Auron could see many stalagmites above them. Also, many regular bats were hanging on the cave's roof.

Auron started to remember his past. It was already more than 5 years when the last time he went through this cave. Back then, he was hunting in this cave with Roan. He had a higher level back then and had a difficult time to fight in this dark cave.

However, compared to the current Auron, he was stronger right now. It was because of his 'cheat' and also his existing equipment. Auron was following the speed of the convoy.

Suddenly, Auron moved his hands and raised his staff. A [Fire Bolt] flew out from his staff and hit something above them.

Screeeeeeech... A yell of a monster halted the group's advance. All of the convoy's members looked at where the [Fire Bolt] hit the target. All of them found a monster flying backward due to the impact of the [Fire Bolt].

The leader immediately shouted, "Enemies!!! Prepare to fight!!!"