"Ryan, right?"
"Yes."
"I want to lay some ground rules for you since you're joining us as a guest. Guild Master Lupin invited you to join my team. I am this team's leader. And for the success of my team, I need you to follow every instructions and decisions, I make. Clear?"
Ah… I can already see how this will turn out…
"Crystal."
"What? I said are you clear?!"
"Clear."
"Good. Because there's nothing more in the world to be embarrassed about than to babysit a full grown adult. Especially one that's not of our world."
"You think so?" I asked sarcastically.
"Watch your words otherworlder, I'm not Guild Master Lupin. He may act soft to you but I won't."
It was then the doors to the guildhall swung open and out walked the first few members, decked out in their gear.
Takoon brushed passed me as he walked a few feet away from the door.
"Come on, come on! We don't have all day!" Takoon shouted.
The first few members that came out first, joined him.
"Ah!~ lovely day to go on a raid, isn't it?!" Said a man in a full suit of armour stretching under the blazing hot sun. His armour scrapped against each other as he loosened his joints. He had a large shield tapped on his back.
"Lovely is it? I'll never get people who like the heat…" a scrawny guy with very few protective equipment on, responded as he ducked behind the man, avoiding the sun by pretending to be his shadow.
He may look ridiculous, doing what he's doing but I empathise with him. I, too, hate the sun and never understood why people likes to get baked, what's worse is that having the sun shine on you in Australia, is the number one quick way of getting skin cancer.
Not long after the first few came out, more members of the team started to come out too. Amongst the second wave, I spotted both Namise and Pyrus as they walked out the door and headed towards me.
Out of everyone in the team that's outside right now, I was the only one that looked out of place. From only my appearance alone, I would be an easy target. I could see from everyone's looks as they walked passed, that they have considered me as a crazy person. Of course what they didn't know was that, I was wearing a full suit of armour but they just can't see it.
"Why don't you go back in and see if there are any leftover armour and equipment left, that you could use?" Asked Namise with concern etched out on her face.
"I know you might think of yourself as a big hotshot, finding out you're an SSS graded adventurer and all that but not wearing any protective equipment and going to a raid is a newbie mistake. What's worse is that it's a S rated dungeon. Don't take this as we're insulting you but adventuring is a very serious business. Even though we just met you, we don't want to see you die."
"I understand what you're saying but believe me when I say that I'm well protected."
"Prove it!" Some of members that crowded around us called out.
{"Master, let me help you."}
If I remembered correctly, this voice belonged to Rosewood. Besides the leaders, I haven't really yet became accustomed to the other voices.
Hm…
I looked around me only for a second as I thought of what I should do. I can't show these people too much as I needed to hold onto some cards tightly from when, if something does happens in the raid. I could just let them hit me once and reveal my armour but that would only show them my biggest trump cards. No one knows I'm wearing armour right now which gives me an edge in case someone tries to backstab me. No… I can't reveal that…
Alright. Rosewood defend your master.
{"Yes. Master!"}
"Prove it you say? Well then, I want one of you to come at me. And I'll show you one of my defences."
"I'll do it! I want to see what the whole fuss is about, why our Guild Master would invite an outsider, an otherworlder, to join our raid team. You must be good if you're here."
Boom pounded his fists together. He looked like a MMA fighter if it weren't for the massive battle axe strung on his back. Boom stomped towards me, fists in front of him.
Is he going for a brawl?
Rosewood, you're up!
{"Yes. Master!"}
As Boom approached, Rosewood appeared.
In an instant, Boom took a step back.
"What the fuck is that?!"
Rosewood wore his plated armour and donned his shield, his Lance strapped on his back.
{"I am Rosewood, Guardian of the Merry family and a Dragoon in the Shadow Legion. You wanted my Master to show his sincerity and I'm here to prove it for him. Prepare yourself, the man that called himself, Boom."}
Boom furrowed his brow.
"Is this some kind of a joke? I thought Guild Master Lupin said he was a support! How can he use summon?" Some one called out from the crowd.
"No matter!" Roared Boom. "I don't care as long as his an opponent worthy of a good fight! Let's do this!"
Boom charged forward with his fists ready to throw some punches. Rosewood on the other hand readied his shield and squared his feet, planting them firmly on the ground.
Rosewood stood still in his stance as Boom moved closer and closer.
Boom surprisingly didn't do what I expected him too, I would've thought that he would go in for a jab but instead Boom grabbed Rosewood's shield with both of his hands and tried to pry the shield from Rosewood.
Rosewood stood his ground and held his shield firmly in his stance. Boom tried all he could to take the shield from Rosewood but the shield never budged or moved from his hand. Instead, Rosewood dropped his shield which caused Boom to go off balance and allowed Rosewood to go on the offensive. If I thought this battle was going to be a brawl, then my fruition had come true, it went from 0 to a full 360 in a couple of seconds.
Even though Boom was the same height as Rosewood, Boom was built, he was doubled in width and volume that would've caused trouble for any of his opponents to pin him down but interesting enough, Rosewood was holding his own.
Both of them wrestled each other, neither of them giving one another an opportunity to land any direct hits.
It was then, I felt a chill down my spine and then heard a cold, airy, echoey voice.
{"You have no honour, how dare you try to sneak attack my master."}
I turned around and saw a Knightmare wrapped his bladed arm around a guy's neck. I looked around and saw some shadows flicker around some of the others as well but no Knightmares had exposed themselves yet. Only one was enough to deter the others from making the same mistake.
"Ah!"
I turned around to see Rosewood slowly picked himself back up as his opponent laid on the ground, knocked out.
"Nicely done Rosewood," I congratulated him and he responded with a bow.
I turned to face Takoon who's mouth was agape.
I looked to the big guy on the floor and used helping hands. Within seconds Boom jolted up straight like he had just woken up from a nightmare.
He shook his head.
"What happened?" He looked around and saw Rosewood standing before him, with his hand out stretched.
Boom stared at the hand for a second before taking it. "You're strong."
{"Eh… thanks."}
Boom looked around and spotted the Knightmare who retracted his bladed arm from his comrade's neck.
Boom snorted before he turned his head to Takoon.
"From the looks of it, he has some strong protectors. I approve of him as an addition to the team. Whether his a support as Guild Master Lupin had stated or had dual speciality roles, the fact that he can summon multiple eh… beings will help us in this raid."
Takoon chewed on his lip for a while before he said anything.
"Alright, we have wasted enough time, let's go!"
Takoon made a face before he turned around to the direction of the Guild Core building and took off.
I looked to Rosewood and he gave me a nod before he went back into my shadow, the Knightmare also followed suit.
I scratched the back of my head before I turned to my two support companions on this raiding trip.
Both of them looked perplexed and unmoving.
"You guys alright?"
"Th-that was a summon!" Namise squeaked.
"You have a dual speciality role?" Pyrus inquired.
I shook my head.
"But then… how?"
"I'll say they're more like spirits than summons. I don't actually summon them, but rather they can just appear or disappear whenever they want."
"Fascinating!"
"Come on, you can chat as you walk, Vice leader Takoon would be furious if we hold him back," a guy dressed in a robe called out to us.
I looked around and all of the members beside us were already moving, leaving us behind.
I looked to my two companions and they nodded their heads.
We caught up to the group within a few strides and followed the others to the guild's core building.
Once we arrived, Takoon was already talking to someone. The guy he's talking to gave a hand gesture to follow him, Takoon nodded and then gestured to us to follow him.
We all walked inside the guild's core building and the guy led us into the open area and made a hard turn right.
As we walked through, I could feel heavy stares on me. I could hear faint chatter of my name along with the High Flyers guild. It felt strange and unsettling, the way people would just talk about you and speculate and create rumours.
With in the crowd as I looked around a bit, I spotted some hooded figures with a cross on their cloak which I recognised as the Red Cross. They watched us as we walked through a door.
We walked through a corridor until we reached another door. The guy opened the door and as the door opened, a powerful force seeped out. The guy led us in and as we walked in, I was surprised to see a very long room that went horizontal. A wall faced us a few hundred feet a head with many archways that lined the wall.
The archways were in fact portals as many opened up at selected ones and people walked in. The guy refer to the archways as gates.
The guy guided us to the right, as we walked through the long room. He stopped at an archway a few metres down.
"High Flyers Guild, You have been registered for the S rated dungeon known as Hilliox. This dungeon is rated as a 5 star difficulty, the highest and as such here are some rules, specially made for these types of dungeons. The rules are as goes, never go into this dungeon and expect it to be a walk in the park, no dungeon is easy as the price to pay will always be your lives. Teamwork is the key, this is a S rated dungeon, so stick together. The dungeon ends once you defeated the dungeon boss. The rewards will be allocated to your team by the guild's core once successful. Any drops from the boss is fair game for any individuals with in your team, the guild's core will not take any of the drops. Since this is a S rated dungeon, there may also be a secret boss. If you find it and defeat it, bonus rewards will be also given to your team. If you're team is successful, the team, guild or individuals will be recorded on our leaderboards and records. You will have the Gate's name recorded onto your adventurer's ID card, marked as conquered. Now then, please show me your Adventure's ID card so I can let you into the gate."
The guy chanted something under his breath and then in a burst of energy, the whole archway lit up.
Takoon presented his ID card first to the guy and he waved his hand over the card before giving it back to him. He then walked through the gate.
One by one we handed our cards to the guy before heading into the gate.
I handed mine to the guy and he waved his hand over it. He gave it back to me and said, "Happy hunting!"
I said thanks and walked through the gate.
As I stood on the other side, my mouth was agape. I was shocked at what I saw. Before me was a barren wasteland. The only thing that I could see were a few ruins, of structures that once stood but were now gone.
I took my first step onto my first dungeon and when I did, I heard a 'thump' sound.
I looked down on the ground and raised an eyebrow as I picked up something that resembled a plaque.
The plaque had some weird lines on it, which I assumed was letters from a foreign language.
{"Master… I think Hilliox was once our homeland…"}
"What do you mean?"
{"The plaque your holding, it says, Welcome to Demon's Land."}