At the pillars lined up in front of the entrance of the dungeon, the whole group gathered together. Equipped to the brim, their mission was to kill as much monsters as they possibly could. Hence, moving further in achieving there objective.
Neal for one was happy about the fact that he was wearing his armor for the first time in battle. He could tell from just wearing it that it felt right.
Carrying out an important part of their routine, Xavier assigned roles to everyone in the group. This was to ensure the proper functioning of the team in the field.
Evans as the Guardian was given the position of defense in the front. Xavier himself was in the middle as the powerhouse. Maya acted as defense for the rear, while the two Dual wielders in the group acted as support for both sides.
Neal was naturally given the role of the scout as his skill set was more compatible for this. It didn't seem that way to him though, as he felt he was only being drawn away from the fight.
Xavier's orders were clear. Check the environment for the appropriate number of monsters. After they have being found, check if they have any access to help from the outside. If all of that was fulfilled, he was to report to them. The only problem was after this he was supposed to stay out of the fight completely and observe the environment for anymore threats.
It made so sense as his scouting was originally to avoid encounters with any form of threat. The appropriate number of monsters according to them was seven at maximum. Anymore was getting themselves into danger. It explained why they had not gotten so far in killing the monsters in the dungeon.
Though, now that he was here, they had increased the number of monsters they intended to face to eight. Not that there was much of a difference.
Going to fulfill his part, Neal went forward leaving the rest behind. From the way he sneaked around the dungeon, he could tell that his body had a skill for this kind of thing.
Being as cautious as he possibly could, he avoided any encounter with Lizard men in the area. Scaling unto the walls, Neal could see the monsters around the area.
His impressive eye sight only made things easier. At that moment, he realized that monsters were usually fewer when close to the entrance. It was the opposite in the deeper regions as they moved in packs of twelve or more.
"That's a lot of them," Neal whispered to himself.
In the distance, he identified a partway that seemed to lead to another different region in the dungeon. His curiosity naturally went on a frenzy; however, he knew he had a job to complete.
Upon identifying the perfect group, he retreated back to the others in order to report his findings.
"I saw a group of eight not too far from here. From the terrain they are in, I can tell they have no access to outside help. There are some monsters along the way though. Two to three of them."
Xavier realizing this was a good find approved the mission. Cleaving through the area within few minutes, they eventually got to the group they were after.
Hiding behind rocks, the team observed their enemies until they got into their positions ready for a fight.
"Let's do this," Xavier stated with a determined expression.
Just then, Evans dashed out grabbing the attention of all of the Lizard men in the group. In response, the savages charged at him, only to be caught off guard by the rest.
This did not make things any easier though, as the beasts stood their ground. Their will to survive was already at play earlier on in the fight. Plus, the number difference only made the battle much more difficult.
Neal who was on top a big boulder surveyed the battle that was taking place. At the moment it was eight against five , with his friends obviously being at disadvantage.
Their battle strategy was simple yet solid. Evans would draw them to himself, why the others would get rid of them. The issue at the moment however, was the pressure on Evans was too much. This was due to the fact that the monsters were breaking up their formation.
Taking strike after strike from the beast's, Evans shrugged it off, trying his best to fight back. The terrain as well did not make the fight any easier. Sure it avoided monsters from entering the scuffle, but it also gave them no room to create space from the monsters.
"I need to help," Neal spoke to himself before stealthy approaching the group.
When he was close enough, he took aim of one of the monsters assaulting Evans. In that split second, Neal's body instinctively took over launching an attack.
Rebounding off a wall to build momentum, he slashed right through the nap of a Lizard man nearby. This in turn caused the beast to drop dead to the ground.
At that moment, it seemed like the aura he had attracted all of the creatures. An aura of danger which only caused the beasts to feel threatened. This in turn gave the rest the opening they needed to strike back.
Within about a minute, the team cleared the monsters, giving them the opportunity to catch their breath.
"Thanks for that I owe you one," Evans said still trying to catch his breath.
"Your welcome," Neal stated with a rather cocky smile.
Just then, Xavier walked up to him, confronting him full of rage for what he had done.
"Why did you go against my orders!? We could have handled everything ourselves."
"It didn't seem that way to me. Plus, I feel like you were just trying to keep me out of the fight. I am sure that everyone here knows that. I killed a Lizard man, I should have the right to fight just like all of you."
Xavier stayed silent; however, his hard glare said more than enough.
"Xavier, he is right. On an ordinary day we could kill five to six monsters ourselves, even in this terrain. If we are facing eight of them though, we might as well change our battle strategy."
"Evans.." Xavier uttered slightly surprised before giving off an audible sigh.
Observing the faces of the rest in the group, he could tell they wanted the same thing. In short, he was the odd one out of the rest. This resulted in him tightening the grip on his weapon, before eventually cooling down.
In an instant, he turned back heading to the safe zone. This didn't stir up any complaints as they had already fulfilled their mission for the day. They had managed to slay eleven Lizard man. That was a new record.
Walking back to the safe zone as well, the team followed Xavier in silence. This did not stop Neal though, from noticing the red particles that emitted from the dead creatures.