"So, who wants to go first?" Inten asked, breaking the silence.
Currently Marcus' and Novak's parties were standing around a manhole that was sealed tightly.
Within the vicinity of the area where Houten's army had established its forward base within the city, this was the closest entrance to the sewer system.
"I suppose that we will go first. If something happens, please rush down to assist us." Novak said, a look of resignation on his face.
He and clay then bent down and removed the cover sealing the manhole.
The putrid smell of decay erupted from the now unsealed entrance, and everyone instinctively took a step back.
"Yeah, there is no way that is just from normal waste. Not after this place has been abandoned by the living for three centuries." Miguel said, his nose wrinkling in disgust.
Thankfully the magic tools Marcus had made for everyone in his party were helping to alleviate some of the rancid smell.
Novak and his party members though, were having to face the full brunt of the awful scent.
In the end, before going down, they each affixed a perfumed cloth around their mouths and noses.
"Faire Lights."
As Novak took the lead down into the sewers, Marcus cast a light magic spell to illuminate the pitch-black space.
Except, as he was deep in thought, Marcus suddenly felt a slap against the back of his head.
"I can see that you're trying to think things through, but you're not going to glean any masterful insights standing around here. We've prepared the best we can, so we'll find out more by jumping in and looking for things ourselves. Overtly worrying about stuff we don't know about and can't control is only going to slow us down." Mrazivý said.
Now that they had entered into hostile territory, her eyes had a serious glint in them, and she was carefully looking around.
"Yeah, you are right. Let's get started." Marcus replied.
He then conferred with Novak, and they decided to split up into four different groups. It would be impossible for the sixteen of them to effectively fight together in such confided spaces and they had four paths that needed to be covered.
In the end it was decided that Novak's party of five would handle the corridor heading south. Marcus, Blitz, and Inten would go east. Mrazivý, Eirwen, Miguel, and Roxene would go north. And finally, Lilia, Alaric, Aurelia, and Zareen would head south.
"Are you sure that this is the best to send one of your parties without a mithril rank with them?" Novak asked, casting a concerned glance towards Lilia's group.
From what he could see, all of them looked like young adults that had only recently come of age, and their adventurer ranks were the lowest. Two platinum and two gold ranks would in most places be considered quite the force, but down here there was no telling what sort of danger they might encounter.
"Yeah, I trust their skills. Plus, they are heading south which is towards the edge of the city, I expect there to be less enemies in that direction. Everything should be fine." Marcus said confidently.
However, Lilia's party's composition was pretty much set in stone even if he wanted to change it. Aurelia and Zareen would only follow Lilia, so they had to go with her. As for Alaric, he would probably do what Marcus asked, but his performance would definitely drop if he was away from Lilia. Especially if Marcus replaced him with Miguel to balance out the groups based on rank.
After bringing up his worries, Novak did not make another comment and instead focused on his own party's task.
"Okay, we will meet back here an hour before sunset. If something goes wrong, don't be afraid to retreat." Marcus said, before each group went down their own path.