Chapter 90 - 90. Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Kill Swiftly and Silently

Seeing the new blood that had entered the House of Keating, and Kayla suddenly felt like a senior since there was a small girl about the age of 9 and a half. She is a wizard and Kayla felt that if this little sister is brave enough, why not she and Jane be afraid of? The little girl exudes such a confidence that even Jane and Kayla was awed by it.

Not only them, I too was awestruck by her confidence at such a young age.

We planned the strategy and as soon as Adam returned with Patricia from the infirmary, his whole forehead was bandaged and he scrawled a logo in front of his bandage that looked like somewhat like a clan or something from Naruto's. Whatever it is, he is happy to return back alive.

"Are you ready, Red Three?" I asked after I had informed the rest of the adventurers to prepare for the worse and to equip themselves with the amulet and rings to improve their attribute ratings.

In this way at least those adventurers had been forwarded of the dangers that lurk underneath the House. When I asked about their membership, they preferred to stay with the other well-known Houses from the Central, Southern and Western except for two rangers who wanted to try the dungeons out first before they decide if they would sign for membership under the House of Keating.

Having heard that, we knew our House standings were well in the bottom 14th and after getting some tips from Adam, it was Ingles turn to head to the dungeons next accompanied by me.

....

"Red Three, remember to hit hard, hit fast and make use of the shadows and hiding places to shoot and move at the same time," I advised Red Three Ingles as we entered the dungeons, as the Quest Master opened up the door for us to enter.

"I would be 25 paces behind you. Most of all, be careful and avoid getting a single hit." I advised once more and was answered with a nod. "Uhm mmm..." a short reply came as I saw Red Three Ingles breaking through some of the wooden crates and barrels with her feet and gathered hell the credits as she goes along.

She saw a stick in the ground picked it up and tossed it aside and readied the two Assassin's compact crossbows in her hands as she made contact and drew first blood. She had deployed the same tactics as Adam before and had effectively shot her first kill.

"It is not just a simple rat, Red Leader... That looks like a Dino-rat." Red Three Ingles said as she made her way deftly as she had killed the so-called Dino-rat and moved in to the next. She kept shooting from a distance and the rats didn't manage to retaliate nor make so much other than a groan after they fell to their sides.

Since she had gotten the tips from Adam earlier, she managed to clear 3 levels with ease and then another tragedy struck. This time, Ingles got bumped on her head as she managed to evade a flying wooden crate towards her but one piece of the broken crate did end up falling in top of her head.

Even though she was wearing a gugel, but that blunt trauma didn't stop the force that had hit her head.

"Oooh... I can see stars right now, Red Leader..." she hollered as she backed away and blindly shot in front of her as she hid her body within a tiny crack in the wall. It was enough to shield her body as she unleashes a few more bolts and finally heard a thud.

"Awww... I've got a bump on my head and it's bleeding..." she said as she touched her bump and found that blood had trickled down the side of her face. Angered at being hurt by these beasts, she went forward and darted left and right as she shot another beast.

"Nobody... Hurts... Me... In... Front... Of... My... Daddy..." she screamed as she went ahead and shot another one, all her bolts ended up on the head of the beast as it penetrated the skull and entered the brain.

One by one, the beast fell as she advanced on, and little did she knew she was filled with adrenaline as finally, she reached the end of the passageway and the door that leads to the 4th level.

She opened up the door and straight went to the next level and began to shoot those beasts even before they could react. Seeing a little puny human in front of them holding two one-handed Assassin's compact crossbow, these beasts were stupified in their tracks as they were struck down.

"I... Am... A... Macleod... And... I... Fear... No... Beast...!!!" Red Three Ingles screamed as her voice echoed down the passageway and alerted the beasts to come forward.

"Hit and run, shoot as you move... Don't stay in one place...!!!" I shouted after Red Three Ingles as she unleashes bolt after bolt and ran to one side and then to the other. The improved attributes that she had allocated earlier had made her movements faster than normal as she even went the point-blank range to shoot the last bolt into the skull of the beast.

By the end of the passageway, she sat down on one of the wooden crates as she huffed and puffed and tried to catch her breath. The rush of adrenaline was too much for her, I suppose, since she had experienced killing only wild boars, same like the rest as well.

"I'm ready now, Red Leader..." she said as she pushed the door that leads to the last level of the dungeon. 5 more gigantic beasts to deal with and she would complete level 5 and would complete the quest.

The moment she saw the big saucer-like red eyes of the beasts she can't help herself from gasping in surprise, not terror and this does not stop her from sending a barrage of the bolt into the eyes of the beast.

As I stood there evaluating the way they fought, and I remembered the whole set of tomes for every class and for every shouts, hex and spell available. I should introduce 4 intimidating shouts and 2 spells for Ranger and 2 spells for Assassin before they embark on their second and consecutive quests.

"WHY... DON'T... YOU... JUST... DIE..." Red Three Ingles were shouting amidst the shrieking of beasts as she sidestepped and unleash a series of bolts and sidestepped once more. She even hid in the crevices and cracks in the walls to shield her body as she releases bolts after another at the beast while it tried to claw its way towards Red Three Ingles.

It is different when one is battling with them and one is being an observer and unable to render any assistance that might forfeit the quest when it's nearing the end. At last the 5th beast fell and Red Three Ingles sighed a huge relief.

"Its all over... Let's head back up..." I finally said as Ingles opened up the door that leads to another door that opens up to the kitchen in the House of Keating. When she emerged, everyone congratulated her and the Quest Master decided to bend the rules a bit.

"Alright... This time I've adjusted the setting if the dungeons. Two adventurers can proceed on next at one time. The observer can still follow on through but since there are two adventurers having a go, the rate if monsters below would be increased to 1.5 times." Prius announced as he was worried that Jane and Kayla might not make it.

Furthermore, there are 12 more adventurers to go and speeding things up won't hurt them one bit. "That means, instead of 28 monsters, you have an additional 14 more that makes up to 42 monsters altogether. That would be snazzy, don't you think so Red Four and Red Five?"

Hearing 42 monsters rather than the usual 28 made the others shudder as they saw that the following one that emerged from the dungeons had blood streaked down the side of her face and down her chin. Seeing the other adventurers eyeing her injury, Ingles spoke up and said nonchalantly, "Arch... It is just a scratch... Don't you all worry so much. I will leave yet for another of this."

Patricia was petrified and quickly bundled Ingles away to the infirmary as she saw that she could suffer a knock and bleed even though she was wearing Level 4 mesh iron reinforced gugel.

"Ready when you are, Red Four and Red Five. Both of you are able and can have a go at it together. Remember, be careful always, don't be too cocky and hasty and..." I was cut short by those two as they choruses, "Hit hard, hit fast, kill swiftly and silently... Pchew Pchew Pchew Pchew ..." chorused the duo as Kayla added the sound effects which made them laugh and loosened the situation.