Chapter 401 - Delving Into The Dungeon
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In Seashore, there were 8 different dungeons, 3 of them were very small and only had Rank 1-2 monsters, usually used by newbie Adventurers, but even normal people with enough groups or equipment could go hunt Rank 1 Horned Rabbits there to feed themselves or sell the meat.
However, the other 5 Dungeons were all with monsters above Rank 3, the largest and most dangerous of them all was the one to the far east, near a small hill, an underground dungeon filled with Earth-type Monsters, with a Boss that was once registered to be a Rank 7 Crystal Ore Golem Titan.
Dungeons were one of the major economical supports of the city, bringing food, materials, and other valuable items to the city constantly through the hunt of Adventurers.
Due to this, Adventurers were seen highly, even if they were terrible and monstrous thugs like the guys Kuro and the rest beat to almost death in the streets just a few minutes ago.
The large group of little demi-humans and monsters marched to the large gate of the city, showing off their newly acquired Adventurer Licenses, surprising the guards.
"An Arachne girl? …She has an Adventurer License even though such a race is considered to be a monster... S-Should I keep myself shut?" wondered one of the guards, as he and his companion couldn\'t help but tremble in fear as they sensed Kuro\'s phantasmagoric presence, making them paralyzed… even if they wanted, they wouldn\'t be able to tell her such a thing, as only those that had completely suppressed their feeling of fear by being drunk such as the thugs they beat would even dare to fight people with such frightening auras.
"N-No… Shut up… I don\'t know what they really are but… Based on the signals that the Detection Skill is showering me with… we better not annoy them…" said the other guard at the side of the first one, gnashing his teeth as his body seemed to be frozen.
Several other Adventurers felt such presence as well, and many decided to simply not talk with Kuro, who had unleashed the Phantom Aura Spell, a Limited Death Attribute Spell that unleashed an Aura of Fear even stronger than the Skill itself.
She had used it so people would not annoy them anymore, as her beloved mother had taught her.
"K-Kuro-chan, did you really had to use such a Spell?" asked Fei, even she felt a bit disturbed by the cold and phantasmal aura…
"Y-Yeah, wasn\'t it a bit too much?" asked Berth as his lips trembled, he was trying to keep a strong posture to Kuro\'s Aura, mostly because he was a giant and did not want to look lesser than those shorter than him…
"Hehe, mommy taught me to always use a bit of my Aura to intimidate people that could possibly mess with us! Some Dead Spirits around here told me that those guards enjoy extorting people and that two Adventurer Teams right behind us were also planning to extort us! So I did what was needed," said Kuro with a bright smile.
"Eeeeh?! Were they really going to do that? Sheesh, are all people here such meanies?" asked Tina while pouting, she grasped the handle of her knives a bit, readying herself to slash away any monster that could emerge, now that they were walking through the forest, they needed to be a bit alert.
"I really thought that people that weren\'t thugs would be a bit more decent…" sighed Lime, as his tail lost its energy and fell, stopping to wave around happily as it usually did due to his dog instincts as a Half-Kobold.
"Me too! Maybe we should have just eaten them… The guards looked pretty meaty!" said Vina while drooling a bit… as a Half-Orc, her gluttonous nature couldn\'t be easily suppressed, and all types of meat were her favorite… even humans or demi-humans.
"No! They are still people, Vina-chan. Don\'t be so gluttonous or I am going to get mad," said Asure, while furrowing his eyebrows as he sat down over the wide shoulders of the Half-Orc girl.
"Eeeh? No! Do not get mad! I am going to be a good girl… Okay, Asure-chan?" asked Vina cutely.
"You better behave! Or your mother will get mad too!" said Asure, scaring Vina a bit… whenever her mother reprimanded her, she was only fed vegetables for a single day!
"Noooo! I will be nice! I don\'t want mommy to ban meat for a day…" sighed Vina.
"Heheh, I guess it was fine then, Kuro-chan! I liked the face those bad people did! Maybe ass-kicking them would become my duty from now on!" said Fei, remembering how she kicked the ass of the thug that tried to stab her with a knife, sending him flying through the airs.
"N-No, I don\'t think that would be a good idea, Fei-chan… It would be better to simply avoid such conflicts if possible…" said Acaracia, the Banshee girl.
"Hmmm… But Acaracia-chan, if some thugs attack us again, will you try to talk them out of it? Mommy and Auntie Veronica always say that thugs are always up to no good! Kuro-chan spoke with them but they still tried to attack us! They deserved what they got, honestly!" said Fei while crossing her arms.
"I guess you are right… but if some don\'t start anything… don\'t provoke them though," said Acaracia.
"I guess that\'s fair… We don\'t have to be so overly aggressive, or the people will grow scared of us," said Tina.
"You are right… Though how can they be scared of me? I am such a lovely girl! Mommy always says that!" said Vina while swinging her giant hammer around, which ended up "accidentally" hitting a few trees as they walked through the path of the forest, breaking them apart and making them fall, creating a giant commotion that the cute Half-Orc girl pretended to not see as she kept swinging her hammer.
The Adventurers behind this party of strange and overpowered children stopped walking too close to them and let the group walk a few dozen of meters before they resumed their path towards a dungeon…
"So what Dungeon are we going to?" wondered Mitiliph, the cockroach-type insectoid girl, trying to change the topic a bit, as she was growing tired of the children discussing if they should either beat or not the people that disliked them…
"Did you forgot? We are going to the Dark Forest Dungeon, the one with Orcs and Demon Wolves! It is said to be a large dark forest inside, and also small insect-type monsters roam around too, some of them even have poisonous bites, so we have to be careful," said Berth, acting as a responsible leader, although Kuro was the leader.
"Oh yeah, that one! I forgot!" said Mitiliph.
"You should try to practice your memory a bit, Mitiliph-chan…" said Tina.
"Eeeh? I am fine!" said Mitiliph.
"Hmm… Bugs… I like to eat bugs too! They are so crunchy and juicy!" said Vina while drooling.
"You just like eating anything in this world, don\'t you?" asked Asure.
"Phew, I am excited about reaching the Dungeon soon! I wonder if I could raise some Undead there? Oh! We could use the monsters against themselves too!" said Kuro.
"Noo! That will make everything too easy, Kuro-chan! Mother said that we have to get some challenges if we want to keep growing," said Lime while crossing his arms.
"Hmmm… Okaaay then, the hard way it is…" sighed Kuro.
"You really researched your stuff, Berth!" sad Fei, patting Berth\'s legs as she was too small to pat his shoulders.
"T-Thanks, it is the least I could do! I was very excited about joining all of you in this little adventure," said Berth while blushing a bit.
"I see! You are so big though, can you carry me?" asked Fei cheekily, as Berth blushed a bit as he nodded.
"S-Sure thing Fei-chan," said Berth, extending his log-like arm as Fei grasped it and began to climb around Berth\'s large body, sitting on his wide and naturally muscular shoulders similar to Asure and Vina.
"Ooooh! Such a nice view!" said Fei.
Fei glanced at her surroundings, the large forest did not seem so tall now on Berth\'s shoulders, as she admired the view while cutely moving her legs around. Her fluffy feathers and fur rubbed against Berth, who felt her softness very good, and the scent of Fei-chan\'s body was also quite alluring, making his heart race a bit…
"Hm? What is with that face? Do you have a fever, Berth-kun?" asked Fei cutely, as she touched Berth\'s forehead while being a bit concerned about her friend\'s health.
"N-No! I am completely fine, really! It is just… nothing… I am… very happy to be… here, with you," said Berth.
"Hm? W-With me? W-What are you even talking about?" asked Fei while blushing a bit as she averted her gaze from Berth.
"Ah! We are here, the dungeon!" said Vina, pointing at the entrance of the dungeon, which was like a large temple entrance made of old bricks covered in moss and dust.
"Let\'s go!" said Kuro, commanding her party valiantly as the group entered through the entrance and walked through a pave corridor made of old bricks, Kuro used the Demon Fire Spell to make some light around, easily guiding the party around the intricate entrance.
"Wasn\'t\' there gonna be a forest inside?" wondered Mitiliph, as Kuro suddenly pointed to the front.
"There it is, the Dark Forest!" she said, as the kids glanced at a beautiful forest within the dungeon, the floor was covered in purple grass, and large trees crossing over 20 meters with dark bark and purple leaves created a dark atmosphere… the moment they stepped inside, the children felt several presences starting at them!
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