"Why don't we check our map then?"
Yoshino Aruven asked to the team. The first step in fixing a problem was accepting that there was a problem. So yes, they were indeed lost.
However, the female lieutenant retorted,
"What map?"
"The one you have been doing all this time?"
"Shouldn't you be the one doing it?"
Alshura Soura snapped back. Apparently, she felt wronged for some reason.
Yoshino turned towards his Healer classmate. He asked,
"What about you, O?"
"Thou had only asked for my healing skills."
But Steven O shook his head. He seemed to have felt wronged as well.
Yoshino then stared at Benjo Roxas.The self-proclaimed merchant seemed to have realized the intention. He answered preemptively.
"I'm a porter. Although I can also serve as your mapper. But, haha, you sure about that?"
"No! The circle of debts has to end here."
Yoshino strongly refused. He was the one who felt wronged here for some reason. After thinking about it, he should not have asked Roxas in the first place.
In truth, he had disregarded the importance of mapping. He got used to exploring the dungeon named [Rah Qa] which had anti-mapping characteristics for the past two years. That was why he had forgotten about this crucial task.
Meanwhile, Soura seemed impressed when he navigated her in the dungeon before. Perhaps she had thought of him as some kind of mapping extraordinaire back then.
And now that they teamed up again. Maybe she was expecting the same feat to manifest once more.
O might have suspected that they were forgetting something important. But he later explained that he chose to have faith with the team. Thus he did not voice out his doubts.
Roxas on the other hand, did not say anything because he probably found this mistake quite amusing. And there was also a chance that he wanted to raise the price of his mapping services to the fullest.
"We can still start over."
More than towards the team, Yoshino said this to convince himself. There was no point in crying over the wasted two hours anyway. Thus they must rise from this setback and continue the event.
And besides, they were able to gather resources, skills, and proficiencies within that period. So technically no harm, no foul.
He asked Roxas to hand over his bag. He then took out a notebook and a pen. He returned the rest back to the merchant-porter.
"Haha, quite the boy scout aren't you? Carrying a notebook on your bag at all times!"
Roxas sneered when he saw that Yoshino opened the notebook into a blank page. The latter rolled his eyes. They were students. Of course they should carry notebooks at all times.
Anyway, he started drawing a vertical line from the bottom of the page.
"Are thou sure on not utilizing a mapping application available for thy smartphone?"
O asked when he saw his classmate map in such a crude way. He also seemed bothered that only a single vertical line with a length of around 1 centimeter was drawn.
Yoshino wanted to explain that he was using a scale method in drafting a rough sketch of the dungeon. And that he did not plan on making a professionally-drawn map in the first place.
What matters was that the map was functional. Right?
But when he thought about it, arguing on aesthetics would only sound as a petty excuse for his poor drawing skills. So he instead said,
"No need. The corridors are not that complicated anyway. We just have to take note of the turns we take at the intersections."
He paused for a while. He glanced at his two teammates and saw that they had a somewhat skeptical look. He sighed,
"Plus, my phone is not that high-end. I doubt it could last until we reach the dungeon exit."
"You just forgot to fully charge its battery right?"
"Of course not."
Yoshino denied the accusation. Although his phone battery was actually at 37%.
Instead, he asked the female lieutenant in return,
"Then could Soura lend her phone?"
"No. And I don't have a mapping app installed anyway."
They could just download the app if the female lieutenant wanted to lend her phone though. But who was he to point this out. He had just claimed that his phone was fully charged.
That would be like the pot calling the kettle black.
"How about you, O?"
"Forsooth, my phone is not that high-end as well."
"Then let me map in peace."
Yoshino said when the Healer had no better phone to offer as well. They never bothered asking Roxas, because he would probably offer his phone only if the price is right.
The team decided to move forward instead of retracing their steps. They reasoned that the dungeon layout was not a linear path anyway.
Thus they would eventually stumble onto the right path as long as they take the correct corridor in the next intersection. Hopefully.
As for how his teammates figured out that the layout was not linear was beyond him. But Yoshino agreed on moving forward nonetheless.
This was because he had already drawn the corridor (a single line) at the bottom of the page. Meaning, he wanted to start his mapping on the next intersection as well.
Re-drawing the corridor above the page would be too troublesome to do now.
The team continued their way along the corridor. They had encountered some dungeon monsters in their path.
But they were able to deal with the threats quickly. See, the two hours was definitely not a waste. Not at all.
They then finally reached another intersection.
Yoshino drew a small circle above the corridor drawing on his notebook. Which was a single line by the way.
Soura was the first to ask the crucial question,
"Which way should we go?"
Thinking about it now, they had been picking the direction randomly whenever they stumbled upon a crossroad. They had to stop doing that from this point onwards.
The team began to discuss their possible actions:
"There are four corridors. Well, actually three since the fourth is where we came from. What if the two of us check on the first two possible routes?"
"Thou mean a reconnaissance?"
"Yes. Something like that."
"Huu, how far should the recon go then?"
"Probably until we reach the next intersection of that path? We would then search for signs from other students."
"Basing from the previous corridors we took, the distance between the intersections is absolutely not that far from each other."
"However, thou should still set a time limit. Going too far on thy own would be too risky."
"Indeed. How about around 15 minutes?"
"Does that include the way back?"
"Actually no."
"Rargh, that's too long! Are you saying that we should spend 30 minutes in a single intersection?"
"Alright, how about 20 minutes including the way back."
"Huu, that's better."
"I concur."
"We compare our notes once we return. If neither of the two showed any signs of human activity, we will then take the third path."
Yoshino glanced at his teammates. Neither of them seemed to disagree with the plan anymore.
Roxas on the other hand, remained silent as he watched their discussion. He seemed amused as the three tried to come up with a plan.
Nonetheless, Yoshino nodded as the team accepted the terms. He then said,
"I will volunteer myself as one of the recon-members. My [Agility Up] will enable me to escape any battles."
He was confident that he could do this task. In fact this was how he escaped from the dungeon named [Rah Qa] when he went inside to hide his emergency provisions at the boss room.
Although he had to seal the skill again afterwards because it was yet to fully stabilize back then.
The two had no complaints. Wait, what? Were they not at least concerned about him?
Screw it, they would probably volunteer him if he did not speak up on his own anyway.
Then he suggested the second recon-member.
"The other one should be… O. Is that alright with you?"
The Healer nodded in agreement. Adding, 'I concur' afterwards.
However, Soura was against it,
"Shouldn't it be me instead?"
"The recon-members would have to be swift and should avoid battles as much as possible."
"I'm swift too. And I have that."
The female lieutenant tried to reason out. She was even gesturing that she have some sort of coat that she could wear.
Yoshino was unable to get this at first. But he then remembered the Heat Shroud that he had seen yesterday. However this made him look stern instead. He said,
"No! That is a trump card that we should preserve for now."
"Huu…"
Soura pouted upon hearing the reprimand. Thus he decided to explain further,
"Soura is still the strongest attacker in our team. We have to preserve your energy as much as possible."
Yoshino and O could easily recover their consumed SP and MP because their gauges were not as vast as that of a Tier 3 Mage.
On the other hand, Soura would require more replenishment in order to fully refill her energies.
The supplies they had was limited. They must conserve their better potions in case there was an emergency.
"But what about O? He is still our Healer. We cannot afford to deplete his MP too."
"Thou shall not worry. My heals require lesser MP compared to thy typical Healers in the university. My swiftness is remarkable too."
"See? No need to worry about O. He can handle himself."
Yoshino tried to reassure the female lieutenant. Thankfully, the male Healer confirmed this. He then whispered,
"And besides, I want you to watch over Roxas. Soura is the only one in the team that could take on the merchant on her own."
"Are you saying that Roxas cannot be trusted?"
"Not sure. That's why I need Soura to stay with him."
The female lieutenant fell silent for a while. She seemed to be pondering on what she should do.
And then,
"Rargh, fine! I'll be the guardian for now."
"Thanks."
"Hmph."
Soura pouted as she gave her decision. She walked towards the merchant-porter. She stopped when she was around 3 meters from her target.
Yoshino smiled wryly when he saw that the female lieutenant was taking her guard duty seriously. He started to feel sorry for the merchant. But only a little.
He then approached the corridor on the right of the fountain. He then turned his head to glance at the Healer.
"You ready O?"
"Affirmative."
His classmate nodded in confirmation. He then walked towards the corridor adjacent to what Yoshino was taking.
"Just to remind again. Avoid battles during the recon. We will only fight when we move as a team."
"That goes without saying."
Yoshino nodded when O replied to his reminder. He drew three sets of broken lines on his notebook. Each set branched out from three different directions on the small circle.
The path that the team would be taking will become a solid line after the recon. He then said,
"Alright, let's go!"