We were given a marked map, a quick run down of some kind of dungeon or ruins, and a bunch of other things that I didn't pay attention to. I'm sure Wilharrow's got it written down. By the end of it, Nakros saw us off.
"I'm surprised you threatened them." [Solace]
"Threatened?" [Nakros]
He seemed a bit lost.
"You know, when you said you'd rip the big guy apart." [Solace]
"Ah… That. They were only acquaintances, and I just owed them a little favor. It's not like they were my friends or anything." [Nakros]
"Really?" [Solace]
"Yeah, they took off my shackles, you see?" [Nakros]
Nakros tugged at his collar to expose his neck. There was still a red imprint on his skin, but it wasn't very noticeable.
"The favor was called in when you guys entered this country." [Nakros]
"Wait, when we entered this country?" [Wilharrow]
"Yeah. It wasn't hard to find you. Everyone knew the Hero's party was coming. The disguises threw everyone off, but I noticed because of my junior over here." [Nakros]
He patted my shoulder.
"Wow, so Alt was the reason we got caught." [Raon]
Nakros raised a brow.
"No? Alt was the reason why I didn't beat you guys half dead and drag you to that dark room." [Nakros]
"Are you that strong?" [Wilharrow]
"What? You think I can't?" [Nakros]
Unlike with the bodyguard, he said it jokingly.
"Well, I've taken enough of your time. Have some rest today and go find that ancient relic. I'll see you guys around." [Nakros]
That day, we just had a good long rest at the Guild House dorms. The weeks of treading through a monster ridden forest had built up a good amount of fatigue for my comrades. A nice bath, good food, and a relaxing day of not getting attacked was something everyone needed.
("Let's pick up a few quests today.") [Solace]
Even if everyone else was resting, I was casually working. We needed funds to refill our supplies because I knew we were going to go on another journey.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Okay, everyone well rested?" [Wilharrow]
We gathered at the first floor of the Guild, where we readied ourselves for another journey.
"Supplies?" [Wilharrow]
"Check." [Solace]
"Potions?" [Wilharrow]
"Check." [Solace]
"Funds?" [Wilharrow]
"Check." [Solace]
"Then let's depart." [Wilharrow]
I would say we packed our bags and headed out, but it's always me carrying things with |Item Box|.
"So, what's the path?" [Raon]
"We'll take a detour out of the capital and move towards the ruins. It's said to be in a desert." [Wilharrow]
"A… desert?" [Fina]
Suddenly, we remembered that we just went through a desert to get to the capital.
"Unfortunately, what you guys may be thinking is correct. We passed the ruins. We will be backtracking." [Wilharrow]
A collective groan was heard among us.
"Well, if we have no choice…" [Raon]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Skipping all the annoying details of backtracking to the desert, we found ourselves underneath the scorching sun again.
"Wilharrow, where exactly are these ruins?" [Raon]
We arrived upon a sea of rather large dunes. I could see that they were formed in a way that the center of the area was a bit sunken in, as if something massive was plucked from the earth. I'll call it a swirl.
"My years of experience tell me it's down there." [Solace]
I pointed down at the swirl.
"You've been dungeon diving before?" [Wilharrow]
"Yeah." [Solace]
In video games that is.
"Then what are we waiting for?" [Raon]
He started to move, but I pulled him back.
"What are you-?!" [Raon]
"Hold on." [Solace]
I took out some old leftover trash, a.k.a. A jar of old cooking oil from my |Item Box|.
"...Uh, it isn't lunch time yet." [Raon]
"Just watch." [Solace]
I tossed the jar down the dune, watching it roll towards the center. As it quickly slid down, the sand burst open to show some kind of giant sandworm eat the jar and retract back into the center.
"Oh." [Raon]
"Yeah, "Oh" indeed." [Solace]
"How did you know it was there?" [Wilharrow]
"I told you. Experience." [Solace]
Getting into a dungeon usually leads to traps in the beginning. It was just a wild guess, but it was correct.
"Then do you know what that thing was?" [Raon]
"The worm?" [Solace]
"No, I was thinking about the- Yes, the worm. What else is there?" [Raon]
I shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine." [Solace]
Sure I had experience with dungeons (in video games). However, I never said I was familiar with what kind of monsters or traps came with it.
"I think that's an armored tyrant worm. Well, it's just a guess from what we saw. Do we have any other trash we can throw to check?" [Wilharrow]
"We don't need trash for it." [Fina]
Fina knelt down and gathered some sand into her palm before chanting.
"Mend together and become one. |Solidify|." [Fina]
The sand stuck together and hardened into a rock, which she promptly tossed down the center of the swirl. Immediately, the giant worm lunged outwards, revealing its outrageous size and something shiny below it.
"Hey! I think I see the ruins!" [Raon]
It was a silver platform, but it was engulfed by sand when the worm retracted back.
"...So we have to kill it to enter." [Wilharrow]
"Anyone wanna be bait?" [Solace]
"If anything, you'd be bait. You're the most durable." [Raon]
"Usually, I'd agree. This time though… not so much. I just really don't like bugs." [Solace]
There was also the part where it was the size of maybe four buses long and three buses wide. And yes, I will basically never use an actual form of length like meters, miles, or kilometers to calculate size.
"I'll do it." [Leon]
Before any of us could say something, Leon started to slide down the dune.
"Leon?!" [Solace]
"That's too reckless!" [Wilharrow]
The two of us jumped down into a slide as well. I can't say we were catching up though. As we neared the center of the swirl, the worm reared its ugly head.
"Leon! Dodge it!" [Wilharrow]
And yet, she didn't. Instead, Leon charged in head first. She leapt up as if to invite the worm to attack, and countered by raining a hail of daggers into its mouth.
"That's not enough to stop it!" [Solace]
I tried moving faster by fully sprinting downwards, careful not to trip and tumble.
"|Explosion Arts|!" [Solace]
I wound my arm up and threw a haymaker into the worm's body, causing it to stagger. Even so, it recovered before lunging at Leon who was stuck mid-air.
"Wilharrow! Stop it!" [Solace]
"|Holy Ray|!" [Wilharrow]
Aiming while sliding, Wilharrow fired a beam of light into the worm's face/mouth. It was hard to tell what it was. Either way, the worm tanked it and chomped on Leon.
"Leon!" [Solace]
"Shit! Kill it fast!" [Wilharrow]
We were going to attack it thinking we'd have time to save Leon, but little did we know that it was only her clone. Within moments, we saw the worm freeze, tremble, then collapse with Leon sitting on it.
"Wha-?!" [Wilharrow]
"You're alive!" [Solace]
There was applause coming from Raon and Fina from atop the dune. It appears they saw Leon escape.
"Is it dead?" [Solace]
"What did you do to it?" [Wilharrow]
"Poison." [Leon]
That was very much like her.
"On the daggers you threw?" [Solace]
She nodded.
("I should make a mental note to avoid it next time we fight.") [Solace]
"Now that the worm's been dealt with, we can check out the ruins." [Wilharrow]
From here were a few things that were pretty lucky. First of all, the worm fell in a way that kept the sand away from the ruins. The second, was that the ruins entrance was literally right there. It was some kind of giant circle on the floor with a puzzle to open it (presumably).
"Anyone know how to open this thing?" [Raon]
There was a metal cylinder sticking out of the middle, which allowed us to turn it a bit.
"Can I try hitting it really hard?" [Solace]
"Wait! No! Anything but that!" [Wilharrow]
"Huh? Why?" [Solace]
"This is a historical site! I can't just let you destroy it like that!" [Wilharrow]
I swear, this guy can be so annoying sometimes. We have places to be and things to do.
"Don't we have a demon lord to subjugate? Why waste time?" [Solace]
"Please! Just… Let us try solving it first?" [Wilharrow]
Well… he was the leader. In the end, I sat back and let everyone else use their brains. Kind of like how I did group projects in school! Less work for me!
"Hm… So there's a dial here. Maybe this includes time of day?" [Wilharrow]
"No, no. This design looks to be of the Eridonian era. Perhaps we need to turn it into a sequence based on Ashtal's planetary rotation." [Fina]
No clue what the hell these guys were talking about.
"Wait a minute. I think I got it." [Raon]
"Really?" [Wilharrow]
"Yeah, step away." [Raon]
Fina and Wilharrow stepped back to see Raon straight up kick the dial.
"What are you doing?!" [Wilharrow]
"Trust." [Raon]
Is what he said when there was a very audible click. The metal cylinder spun and sank into the ground, opening the ruin entrance.
"...That actually opened it?!" [Wilharrow]
We turned to Raon, who also seemed very surprised.
"Would you guys be mad if I said the kick was supposed to be a joke?" [Raon]