Arlo had been startled by the voice of Octavia coming from his shoulder (Also she was breathing in his ear). They had calmed down after a bit of thought, because all they needed was water and they had plenty of that from the oasis. Food wasn't a problem since they ran out of supplies close to the end of the journey and only ate cooked monster meat. They had wanted to make Arlo taste the meat first to see if it was dangerous, but he had absolutely declined (because he threw away all his food). They had decided on Henry after some back and forth, because Arlo and Octavia didn't want to and Bjorn was the one preparing the sand cat meat (taking all the guts out and stuff).
A WEEK AGO
"Alright I'll cast a purify spell on it and take a bite. Here I go!!!" Said Henry with hesitation of eating the meat and shaky hands.
*Chewing* *chewing* *chewing*
"So how is it?" Asked Octavia with the expression of slight disgust.
"It'h a bi-t rough bu, it'sh eatable" said Henry while chewing with the expression of it not being good, but still bearable.
It didn't look like the food was dangerous so the rest of the group also took a bite and had the expression of it being better than they had thought.
"I wouldn't want to eat it again, but it isn't bad. Why don't you try same, Carlos?" Asked Octavia with a smug expression.
"No!" Replied Arlo with a agitated expression
while they were busy eating, Bjorn had noticed something and rushed to tell the group.
"I THINK WE HAVE PROBLEM!!!" shouted Bjorn with a troubled expression
They had run out of fire wood and had to travel without torches from that point onwards.
PRESENT TIME
They had told Alice about the story and told her there was no need to worry about supplies. They invited her to join them in the dungeon raid. Even if she didn't join, they'd pick her up from the oasis once they were done.
"So how about it? Would you to join our party for the raid? Of course we'd still pick you up later if you decline" asked Octavia while reaching out her hand, signaling for a handshake.
Alice took a while to answer, but after some further thought, she shook Octavia's hand and decided to accept the offer.
"Fine I'll join your party, but if it gets too dangerous, I'll be the first one to run" replied Alice with hesitation of going back to the dungeon.
The whole party cheered with excitement of Alice joining and decided to camp for the night. They cut down the few trees for firewood and sat by the campfire, telling stories while drinking out of coconuts that had come from the trees they had cut down. Alice was more silent at first, but began growing fond of the party after hearing a few stories and chatting a bit. They slept for the night and woke up after some good rest.
"Good morning Carlos, up all night again?" Asked Octavia, looking much better after resting.
"Go away, don't piss me off" said Arlo with an annoyed expression
"Look, I know you're mad that we have to split the treasure in 5 parts now, but I've decided to give you half of my share as well" said Octavia with extreme hesitation
Arlo had a confused expression because he had thought treasure was the biggest reason for this journey. Why would someone willingly give it up, just because they feel bad for someone?
"What's with that face? Let's start packing, it looks like we'll reach the dungeon in a few more days" said Octavia with excitement if being so close to the dungeon.
They packed up and made their way again after stacking up on firewood and water. There wasn't any problems till the second day.
"HAHAHA, LOOK EVERYONE!! MORE GIANT SCORPIONS!!" Shouted Bjorn next to Octavia's ear, bursting her eardrum and making it bleed.
They wanted to see Alice's skills, so they put her at the Frontline. Alice looked really nervous while opening her Grimoire. She flipped through a few pages and started casting a spell after finding it.
"Icicle shower" shouted Alice while ice spikes were forming above her.
The ice spikes started to rush toward the giant scorpions, but had started evaporate half way through. By the time it hit the scorpions, it was just warm water. The heat was too strong in the desert.
"HAHAHAHA, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED ICICLE SHOWER!!! YOU GAVE THEM A SHOWER BEFORE THEY DIED AS A LAST GIFT!!" Shouted Bjorn with acknowledgement of Alice's sympathy.
Octavia finished them off with no problem in place of Alice and the group continued their journey. They didn't encounter any monsters on the final day and had reached the pyramid.
On the outside, the group could see a towering structure, it was a huge 300 meter pyramid with the entrance being a huge door, about 12 meters tall and 30 meters wide. Usually pyramids have small entrances, but it was like this one was inviting them in.
Bjorn partially pushed the door open with his barbaric strength, letting the rest of the party through first, before entering himself. The first room looked like it was safe and it was pretty cold compared to the outside, maybe a good place to camp. On the other side of the entrance was a doorway with a hall to the other side.
Alice had stopped them from entering the hallway and told them to camp while she told them more about what was in the pyramid. They all agreed and decided to take a rest.
"So the first room at the end of the hall was filled with mummies, my previous had party wiped them out, but I don't know if more mummies had reappeared while i was gone"
"The next hallway leads to a room with four different hallways. Our party had decided to not spit up and chose the hallway to the far left" said Alice with her expression slowly change into a scared one.
"The room was getting dark, so our leader lit a torch, but while he was walking forward, got stuck in a spider web that no one had seen and got eaten alive by a giant spider" said Alice with the expression of dispair and holding back the urge to vomit.
"The rest of the party followed his fate soon after, I was the nearest to the exit so I sprinted out of the pyramid with full force, until I stubbled across the oasis" said Alice while strongly holding back tears.
The party became silent and decided they should rest for the rest of the night.