As Luis and Zea keep going further from the mapped area, the surrounding becomes darker and darker. The only sources of lights come from both of their headlamps.
Both of them have been walking for a quarter of an hour. "We have walked for quite a distance. Lucky there is no branch on this passage," said Zea to Luis.
"Something is strange, we haven't seen any giant rat since entering the dark passage." Luis pointed a weird thing.
"Ah! You are right. Before this, we meet a giant rat or a pair every 5 minutes. But we have walked for 15 minutes without encountering one of them." Zea only noticed this after Luis said it.
It is more than thirty minutes later when they reached the end of the passages. Until the end, they didn't encounter any giant rats.
"So what do we have here? A room?"
A somewhat wide room is displayed in front of Luis and Zea. Inside there lies a hearth of some kind. Along with that, there is an abandoned anvil in front of the hearth.
"Is this some kind of smithy?" Zea asked casually.
"Looks like it. But there are no other things here, only this forge and anvil—" Luis said this while observing, he spotted another thing here. "There is something there."
There is a small table standing in the corner of the room.
"This table is too short to be used as a dining table. It seems likely this was used as a place to put equipment when smithing." Luis murmured this.
Zea on the other hand doesn't seem interested in the table. She keeps inspecting the hearth. "Hmm?? There is something here."
"Where?" asked Luis.
"Here inside the forge."
Luis tried to put his head inside the hearth. He sees that there are two box-shaped things inside the hearth. He then use his hand to reach the boxes one by one. It is a little difficult, but he gets the boxes without any problem.
"Ah, I know this... This is a treasure chest. Sometimes a monster can drop this when they are defeated." After getting a proper look at the boxes, Luis knows what these boxes are. "This is my first time getting a treasure chest that is not a drop from a monster."
"You know, thinking normally, is not this kind of situation weird? We find an abandoned place and then started to look for something. It feels like we are thieves, looking for a valuable item." Zea suddenly started to talk about unrelated things. "At the end, we did get a valuable item that is 'Treasure Chest.' So in this stealing trip, we get a profit."
'She is right... This feels like stealing.' Luis is a little affected by Zea's talk.
"Wait, don't say it like that. It is not like there is an owner for these items... Or so I hope.
"Also, this place is abandoned right... So it is okay... It should be okay." Luis's voice is becoming smaller each time he talks.
After that, they tried to look around the room once more. In the end, except for the two treasure chests they get, there is nothing in this room.
"Looks like there is noth—" "Shh," Zea tried to talk but Luis cut her and signaled her to be quiet for a bit.
"Do you hear that?" Ask Luis to Zea in a small voice.
Still doesn't know if she can talk or not, Zea only shakes her head, indicating she hears nothing.
"There is a walking sound of giant rats. And from the sound, at least 4 giant rats are moving together." Luis explained it, again in a small voice.
Slowly, time passed. For each second that passes, Luis can hear that the sound is becoming louder. Not long after, Zea started to hear the sound.
"Calm down, we need to focus. Take a deep breath... You can already fight a pair of giant rats. If my estimation is correct, we will face 4 giant rats. So we can split the enemy, I get a pair, you get a pair. Just keep following the movement you do from before and it will be okay."
Sensing that Zea is becoming tense, Luis tried to calm her down. Just like what Luis said, it is not hard if both of them get a pair of giant rats each as their enemy. The problem is the environment. Different from the mapped area of the dungeon, this place is dark. Coupled with the giant rat having a dark body, it might be hard to know where the giant rats are.
After around two minutes, the sound is now can be said as near. Luis and Zea stand with their back facing each other. There is a distance of around 2 meters between both of them.
Having known that they will get attacked, Luis was already in the battle-ready position since a minute ago. Luis places his right and left hand on the spear, ready to stab anytime. Meanwhile, Zea still does not know much about battle, doesn't use any stance, and tries to keep her calm. When the time comes, she will rely on her good reflex and try to move her body the same way as before.
Luis moves the headlamp toward where the sound is trying to illuminate the giant rats.
'Here they are.' He caught a glimpse of a giant rat that is now running toward him.
When the first giant rat reach the range of Luis's spear, Luis stabbed it without any hesitation.
*Squeak*
After the first giant rat died, Luis notices that three other giant rats are running toward him. One giant rat uses the usual attack, it tried to charge and aimed at Luis's abdomen. The two others on the other hand tried to run to the side. The three giant rats tried to surround Luis before attacking together.
Too bad for those giant rats, their strategy is not perfect. The giant rat that aims for the abdomen moves earlier before the other two can complete the encirclement. Because of that Luis can stab one giant rat and then still have time to twist his body. He then points his spear toward another giant rat.
Succeeded in killing two of the giant rats, Luis tried to rotate his body again. But too bad, this time he is late. One giant rat is able to land a charge toward him.
The rat bounced back after the collision. This time Luis can stab the last giant rat when it is still in the air. Lucky for Luis, his attack connected finishing the giant rat's life.
'Ouch, it hits me on the side stomach. Good, there are no injuries.' Luis checks the area where he gets hit by the giant rat.
Finished with his battle, Luis then tried to look at Zea. He wants to help Zea if she needs some help. Except, Zea doesn't need any help. She has already finished her battle.
"You okay? Any injuries?" Luis asked Zea. No matter what, Luis is the one that accepted to bring Zea inside the dungeon so he feels a responsibility to protect her.
"Yup, no problemo~ I only fight a single giant rat, so it is easy," Zea answered with a relaxed attitude.
"It is good that you are okay. Now then, let's collect the magic stone and get out from this place."
"Okay."
"Ah, there is another treasure chest here. Looks like one of the giant rats dropped this," said Luis a little surprised.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
They are now back at the most northwestern part of the mapped area. After a little hurrying from the uncharted area, they now feel a little tired and decide to take a little break.
"You know, being in a bright place is really different. It feels safe..." said Zea.
"Yeah, I never know that fighting in a dark place is really mentally draining," replied Luis.
"So, how many giant rats that we fight in that dark place? I only fight one," asked Zea.
"I fought... 3, eh no, 4 giant rats. So in total, we fight five giant rats. So my estimation is not that wrong.
"Oh right, the treasure boxes... Can you put it inside your bag? I don't want to get looked at if I bring all three boxes together. Bringing one treasure box is okay, but three at the same time will obviously bring needless attention to both of us."
"Sure, just put it here." Zea agreed and give her bag to Luis. "Hah— I am pooped. I want to go back, take a bath and then sleep like a log."
"Want to go back now? I can bring your bag if you are tired," Luis offered.
"Really? Then thank you very much," answer Zea with a smile on her face.
There is nothing major on their way back to the dungeon entrance. They just meet one or two giant rats on the way, all of which are killed easily by Luis.
It is still around 2 PM when they reached the dungeon entrance. Usually, a group will share their loot here, but both of them are tired. With that, they decided to meet again tomorrow to share the loot.