"Wow, so you're not from the elven kingdom?" Leena says, her crimson eyes twinkling as she leans in closer. "You must be really strong, right? Right? I mean, to get so many important people's permission, you need to be amazing!" she says with a mischievous smirk.
"Hahaha, I'm not strong. I'm a student with some luck. Lots of my classmates are way stronger than me," Kael laughs lightly, leaning back. 'Does she need to be so close?' he wonders with a sigh.
"Come on, V, you can brag a little," Cora says, patting Kael's back.
"Oh, oh!" Leena says as she reaches into her pouch. "Look!" She takes out what seems to be a bow made of dark black wood, the string shiny and silver, the edges of the bow extremely sharp. However, the bow is crude. 'A lot of effort was put into making this. The edges are most likely for close combat,' Kael concludes, tapping his chin.
"Did you make this yourself?" Kael asks, looking up.
"Yup!" Leena responds enthusiastically, proud of herself. Holding the bow out, she smirks mischievously. "I'm a bow user. What about you?" her voice is filled with curiosity.
"Ooooh, this sounds interesting," Cora smirks, getting closer to Kael, leaning in as she inspects him from head to toe. "Hmhmhmhmhm, he's obviously a swordsman," she nods, proud of her assessment.
"Oh really?" Leena says excitedly. "Can I see your sword?" she asks with pleading eyes.
"Ugh..." Kael takes a step back with a sigh. "I'm a martial artist."
"What? Really?" Cora scratches her head.
"Well, I train in swordsmanship and magic as well, so I understand why you're confused."
Both of them look at each other, then back at Kael. "T-that's amazing, but... isn't that bad?" Leena asks, tilting her head, her crimson eyes demanding attention.
"Hmmm," Cora gets closer to Kael, glaring at him. "This is weird. Normally a person would focus on one and learn a different combat style once they reach master level so their understanding in different subjects will always vary, but you..." she stops herself and exhales. Turning around with a flick of her wrist, she easily flips her massive sword and slams it into the ground, making it shake.
"Hmhmhmhm, you're both going to duel right now," Cora says casually but leaving no room for debate.
Kael reaches into his pouch. 'I don't want to fight, but I doubt the guild master will let me off, so time for plan B,' he thinks, pulling out a pan.
"Huh?" Leena scratches her head, confused. 'That's a pan, right? Um... I didn't know people fought with pans.'
The guild master blinks. "What are you doing?"
With a shrug, Kael sets up his kitchen. "I'm hungry. Sorry, I don't feel like fighting right now." With a sly look, he points his spatula at Cora. "Instead, I will blow your mind with my cooking. Wanna make a bet, guild master? If my food doesn't satisfy you, I will listen to all your orders from here on out. But if my food blows your mind, you won't make an excuse, and you'll let me do what I want in the dungeon."
The guild master smirks and leans on her sword. "Oh~ Hmhmhm, this sounds interesting. Alright, I'm in," she says after thinking for a bit. "But just so you know, I'm a picky eater."
Leena looks back and forth between the two and says, "I wanna play too!" She sits down next to the guild master and whispers, "What if his food is good?"
The guild master then whispers back, "I'll just lie," with a giggle.
-2 hours later-
*sob sob sob.* The guild master cries as she stuffs her mouth. *Sob sob* "It's so good..." she cries as she eats.
"Ugh..." *sob sob* Leena cries, stuffing her mouth. "Y-you... you said you were going to lie," she manages to say with tears and a mouth completely full.
"Hmhmhmhm, just as I planned," Kael says, sitting down to eat. 'Hahahaha, a bunch of dishes from lots of regions, there's no way I'd lose,' he laughs internally. On the table, there lies chicken Alfredo, pizza, sushi, Korean dumplings, Kung Pao chicken, souvlaki, and to top it off, for drinks, there's agua de horchata, agua de Jamaica, and café de olla. 'Hmhmhm, good thing I always prep for dishes ahead of time. I bet I could beat the demon king with my food alone,' Kael smirks, turning to the guild master, who wipes her tears and proceeds to drink a full liter of agua de horchata.
Turning to Kael, she wipes her mouth, still sobbing. "Join my guild, please! I need you. I thought Gopa was a good cook, but that's a lie."
"No way, I'm a student. I don't plan to settle down with any group any time soon," Kael responds, sipping some coffee. 'I'll probably join the guild as an adventurer at some point, but she's asking me to join as a staff member. Fuck that,' he thinks with a sigh.
"Ugh... why..." The guild master groans. "I'll give you a lot of money and I'll train you myself," she offers while munching on pizza. 'There's no way a student would regret this. Getting trained by me is equivalent to training with a grand master,' she thinks with a smirk.
"No, I'm good," Kael responds without a thought.
"W-what?" the guild master's heart drops, and she nearly chokes. "Guild master! Where the hell are you!?" a voice rings out from her pocket, making her twitch.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. I'm late," Cora stands up, her chaotic black and red hair waving from side to side. After tapping frantically on the holographic screen for a minute, she says, "V, we need to go now. Hurry up and pack—"
Interrupting her, Kael yawns. "Already packed everything up."
She looks up, confused. 'Huh... how?' she wonders, shaking her thoughts away. She grabs onto Kael and Leena.
"Wait, I'm still eating," Leena says, her mouth stuffed to the brim. As soon as the guild master grabs her sword, she vanishes into the fog with Kael and Leena.
-
BANG! A fist slams the wall, sending ripples of cracks throughout the building. "How dare she be late! We told her how important this operation is!" A voice rings out in a room. The person has long, soft ivory hair, and their eyes are a rich green-gold color. With a ribbon on her head, she wears tight velvet pants with black hinges. She also has a fitted top with intricate patterns that accentuate her slim figure, making her look both stylish and formidable. With a heavy exhale, she turns to the others.
"No need to get mad, Baya. She does this all the time," a deep voice rings out. Sitting on the couch, a tall man with a muscular physique raises his palm, and in a flash, the broken building near destruction slowly repairs itself. The rocks stick together as if they were never broken. Wearing baggy brown pants with black linings, he chills on the couch. His hair is a vista blue and semi-long, made into a small ponytail with a bit of his hair falling in front of his face. His eyes are striking magenta, making everyone stare at him. His shirt is simple, a black loose shirt.
"Tsk, you're too calm. This is an unknown dungeon. She needs to be here so we can start the meeting. You should know how important this is, Oda," Baya snaps, pacing back and forth.
Tap, tap, tap—A finger taps a stone table in a rhythmic pattern. The finger is green and pointed, the skin a dark emerald. Wearing a stylish white shirt and black pants, a man sits with an air of casual authority. His ears are slightly pointed, with spiky electric blue hair and shades covering his eyes. A small fang slips out of one side of his lips. Gold and silver chains adorn his neck, and he wears black sunglasses. The hobgoblin, named Rotû, lounges on the table, shiny rings and bracelets on his lean, tall frame. Despite standing exactly six feet tall, he looks short next to Oda, who towers at 7'4". Rotû is a handsome fella with style.
"Ah... Calm down, Baya. The guild master is a bitch, but we love her for that," he says with a smirk, flipping a jester card through his fingers.
"Ugh," Baya rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, if only all of us could be as calm as you, Rotû."
Flicking his card at her back, it stops right before reaching her—BOOM! The card explodes. "Hey, I liked that card," Rotû exhales before another one appears in his hands.
"Next time you try to flirt with me, I will blow your head off," she responds, opening the door.
"Zhzhzhzh, don't act like you don't love it," he smirks.
"That's enough playing around," Oda mumbles as he stands up, slouching to avoid breaking the ceiling. "Let's go down there. I'm sure the vice guild master is waiting for everyone."
As they exit the room, Rotû taps his chin with a smirk. "I heard a kid is joining us."
Slamming the door before he can get out, Baya rolls her eyes. "I hope not. That would ruin the mood."
Meanwhile, above them on the highest floor—BANG! Cora breaks in through another wall.
"Cough, cough!" Kael waves his hand as dust fills his lungs. "Didn't the vice guild master tell you to open the window?"
Throwing them both down, Cora flinches. "U-um, just don't tell him, okay?" She frantically pins a blanket on the stone wall as if that would cover the hole. 'Does she realize the rubble is all over the floor...' Kael thinks, rubbing his temples.
"Okay, both of you wait here. I need to change." With that, she runs into a different room.
"Hehehehe, isn't she fun?" Leena giggles, taking a seat.
After a minute, Cora comes out, but she's completely different. Her hair, which used to be a mess, is now cleanly brushed. She wears a black shirt with an unbuttoned black button-front shirt over it, giving her a masculine look. Instead of her short shorts, she now wears baggy, completely black pants with pockets and her black boots.
"Wow, you look completely different..." Leena says, scratching her head.
With an indifferent look, showing no emotion, the guild leader opens the door. "Let's go."
Kael turns to the confused Leena and whispers, "This is her signature look. Anytime she's 'working,' she dresses and behaves like this."
-
"PFFFHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Everyone laughs downstairs, pointing at the prince. "What a fucking dumbass, hahahahaha!" Itto laughs.
Before the prince can react, the door opens, and everyone goes quiet, turning to see the guild master. Bein sits in front of everyone, taking a sip as the guild master walks in, her footsteps radiating authority. Stopping in front of the group, her cold face freezes the room.
"These two will be joining us, no objections are permitted," she states coldly, gesturing to Kael and Leena. 'Twenty-two in total, that should be enough for this,' she concludes internally. "You're all here because you belong to me. All of you have surpassed S rank. According to the Elf King, this dungeon is full of A rank monsters and above, so none of you should question why all of team alpha is joining this operation. I don't want to hear any yapping regarding this operation. This is a confidential mission that only certain elves are aware of." Turning around, she sits next to Bein. "Bein will explain the plan."
Standing up, he fixes his glasses and taps on a holographic screen, increasing the size. "There's only one entrance to the dungeon. It's in a cave hidden below Mount Rui." Tapping his screen again, a diagram of the cave appears. "The guild master has personally checked the cave and the route. There shouldn't be any problems on the way. The entrance, however..." Tapping on the screen, a picture appears depicting a massive dark stone door with dark red yet bright cuts on it. "The dungeon can only be opened once every century, so we could not check inside. However, according to the records the king gave us, the first 19 levels shouldn't be a problem. Once we go down to level 20, there will be a massive amount of toxic mist. We have no idea what's past that mist, but the king estimates there to be 115 floors, so it shouldn't be too dangerous." Pacing around, he glares at everyone. "This is a dungeon, and there will be treasure. The guild master has no intention of keeping it. Whoever finds it may keep it, but you must still let us inspect it before we bring it above ground."