The dungeon was every bit as scary as the first-year students expected it to be. It was dark and damp, dimly lit by a few dungeon crystals, but wide and expansive. It was a scary space for teenagers who have never experienced being on a raid before. There were a few brave students who already steeled their hearts, but the majority of them were scared out of their wits. Including the ones who were initially excited about the raid.
In this gloomy situation, Ian was thankful for the second years who were paired with each group and the vanguard forces. They took charge of the situation in place of the teachers and tried their best to assure the others that they were in safe hands. Ian's had no such luck though, as their leader simply walked in silence in front of them, leaving Bria to console Jake who couldn't stop fidgeting.
"You are braver than you look," Alia commented as she walked beside Ian. "You are the weakest here but you are strong-willed enough to hold yourself together unlike that coward over there."
"Doesn't change the fact that I'll be the first to bolt out of the door in the door in the face of danger," Ian replied as he continued looking around. The most prominent warning Alfred had given him was to always take note of his surroundings within the dungeon. He needed to get as much detail as he could through the dim light.
The vanguard halted in their tracks, causing a domino effect as everyone slowly halted behind them without knowing what was wrong.
"What's going on?" everyone murmured as the vanguard forces stood in place and looked around.
"Isn't it... weird?" one of the second years asked. His name was Deck and he was one of the best of the second years. "We've gone pretty deep into the dungeon but we can't find anything. There are no monsters, no screeches, no gnarling, and no sound at all. It's as if...there is no life in this place."
"That's true!"
"What's going on?"
"Should we go back?"
"I want to go home."
Everyone responded to his observation differently, with some showing curiosity and
others showing fear but there was a panic in the air at this anomaly.
"Now that he mentioned it," Ian thought. "All I've heard is a faint humming of some sort."
"What if it means the monsters have all died or fled?" one person asked.
"Let's hope they're not dead instead of them fleeing," Deck replied quickly. "Fleeing would mean an attack on Dome city and I don't think we would want that as some of our families are residents there."
"Them being dead is also unlikely, since the presence of monsters was still detected at the time we arrived. They must be hiding."
"Hiding?" another second-year named Gillian asked. "Wouldn't that mean there's an intelligent monster among them?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Deck replied. "The presence of an intelligent monster changes everything. We have to inform the teachers and the staff at the entrance. He immediately started tapping away on his watch, but the once stable tapping soon became erratic and desperate.
"What's wrong?" Gillian asked with a worried expression on his face too from his friend's behaviour.
"I can't- "
"Can't what?"
"I can't get to the teachers," Deck breathed out. "Our signals have been jammed!"
"What?! How is that possible?!"
"What on Earth is going on?!"
"Let's go back now!"
The panic had grown now and everyone was getting worked up. Some were already turning around, breaking away from their groups and pushing through the crowd to get away. Jake, who couldn't take it anymore decided to join the ones going back, but a cold voice stopped him.
"Stay where you are," Chelsea ordered as a certain chill escaped her body. "Stay where you are if you don't want to die."
"Why?" Jake asked but he soon held his tongue.
Amid the confusion and chaos, they heard it. It was low and distant at first but the sound kept getting louder and closer. They could hear the snarls and growls. It was low and guttural and it kept everyone frozen to the ground as the sources of these sounds came into view.
They came out from the shadows cast over places where the dim crystal lights couldn't reach.
They had the build of an ape, about five feet tall with arms long enough to touch the floor even when they were standing upright. Their mouths were decorated with razor-sharp teeth with pointed edges, unlike normal apes. They were also covered with more fur than is normal for an ape. They came out from every corner around the students in a horde that numbered about fifty.
"Skewers!" Jake gasped as he took a step back. "These aren't regular intermediate beasts like they said."
"What do you mean?" Alia said as she drew her daggers, with everyone drawing their weapons as if on cue. "Skewers are known to be intermediate beasts."
"On paper," Jake retorted. "I took my research a step further and dug up testimonies of people who actually fought most of the beasts we were likely to see. The ones who fought these skewers said that they aren't as strong as advanced beasts but they were a lot stronger than intermediate beasts."
"And so what?" Flint asked as he banged his gauntlets together. "We'll just maul them down."
"Are you not listening?" Jake hissed. "We're fuc-"
"We can't get through to the teachers," Deck yelled, interrupting Jake. "We must engage them here. It's a good thing we have twice as many students as there are skewers. Everyone team up against one. We can beat them!"
"You heard the man," Flint grinned. "Time for some action."
The skewers as if hearing the orders, charged towards the students with explosive speed, closing the distance quickly.
A sudden tug on Ian's forearm dragged him deeper into the crowd as the students also ran forward to engage the Skewers. The clashing of weapons against fur soon filled the air and both Ian, and Jake who pulled him watched safely from the centre.
"Those furs would be a problem to cut and stab through," Ian commented.
"That also includes their thick skin underneath."
"Why aren't we fighting?"
"We'll die if we do," Jake said confidently. "Let's allow them to handle this for now. We could help with a weakened one, and they seem to be doing well against them."
"Why are they called skewers?" Ian asked since he didn't get a chance to study while in detention. It was part of his punishment.
Just as he asked that question, they saw a throw a fist at a second-year student who raised his arms to block the punch, and it looked like he did. But in the last second, the fist transformed into a blade and tore through his hands like butter, skewering him through his chest.
"That's why."