The trio soon arrives at a clearing.
Laura took in the sight in the distance and her surroundings before lowering her wand a bit, but remain vigilant.
The three arrive at what appears to be a crossroads where one leads straight into another forest, with left and right wide pathways clear and empty of anything.
"....So....Which way should we go?" asked the companion.
"...I think....that way" Laura pointed to the front where she detected a mana signature in the distance and a large object as well.
"...Is that a....gate?"
"Possibly"
"What do you think?" the figure then asks Aerina.
Aerina turns to look at her two companions and the direction they are looking at, worriedly she sees nothing that they talk about but that is mostly on her because of the thick forest of trees packed together to prevent any deeper look inside, but that isn't the problem for the two of her companions whose height and the distance between them and the forest gave a better view than hers.
Her petite frame made it hard for her to see anything above the trees in the distance from their position on the hill that is level with the trees' height, with the two's height they are able to see above the trees and towards the clearing in the middle of the forest.
But for Aerina whose height is shorter, she can only see the leaves and the greenery sprouting from the ground and the trees behind them.
"There's a rock over there to give you a better view", her companion then points out a rock nearby to her.
"Right, thank you" she heads towards the rock and climbs up giving her a similar view to the two.
She took a short moment to view the sight before agreeing with Laura's words.
"That should be the exit gate of this dungeon"
"That's great to hear," said Laura glad she made the right assessment.
"We should be able to return back to the Academy by today," said the companion positively.
"Then let's hurry," said Aerina excitedly taking off first with a smile.
"Okay"
The two follow behind her excitement evident in their mood.
Their way back home is close now.
"Watch out!!!!!!!"
"?!"
The three turned to the left where a trio similar to them are running in their direction.
"Help!!!"
They look at what is chasing behind the three and freeze even stiff.
A giant monster with two short arms, and two powerful hind legs stomping the ground powerfully while roaring with its razor-sharp teeth for the world to see.
A tyrannosaurus rex is stomping towards them.
And ahead of it is Shin's group.
______________
A sound that is not thunder rang out in the wide rocky terrain of the forest with moss filled gap in the rocky wall.
A t-rex followed behind Shin's group roaring loudly as it chased the three down angrily trying to bite them.
"Why are you following us?!" shouted the companion running ahead of the three along with Aerina and Laura.
"I need help"
"Go find someone else!"
"You're heartless!"
"I could say the same to you!!"
Spotting a small cave in the distance, the companion pointed to it directing Laura and Aerina in that direction.
"Yes! A cave!"
(Not you!!!)
The trios dive into the cave right as the t-rex collides against the cave and the rocky wall.
_________
Walking through the forest in search of a way home, Shin spent that time wisely by flirting with Clara and Alaine at every possible moment while the three of them took care of any monsters that came their way.
The monsters aren't much of a problem when they are below threat to them with their low levels and ranks.
He would sneak in kisses to the both of them behind each other back to make them flustered and make cute faces while he savors their reactions.
Who would have thought making out with Alaine during their breaks would awaken a sleeping t-rex who watched their makeout session in silence and made its presence known once they finished?
This led to the two running as fast as they could out of the forest followed by a confused and slow start Clara with the t-rex roaring loudly behind them.
Then on the way to find a shelter, they found a trio with one buxom woman and one cute girl in the group, asked for help, received none and a refusal before the two groups dived into a small cave the first group found.
And finally landing on the ground back first and let the momentum carry Alaine and Clara who eventually landed with their breast squishing his face.
And finish recounting.
While he wanted to enjoy the assets on his face, Shin got up from the ground and turned to look at the trio.
"Hey, what's up man? Why didn't you help us?"
"Help you? Help you?! You're the one bringing us that giant monster, endangering us and you wanted help?!"
"Yep," he answered nonchalantly.
"Who would even help you?!"
"Clearly not you, but maybe them?"
He pointed at the two girls behind the speaker.
"...I highly doubt it"
"Sure about that?"
Now that they weren't being chased by the t-rex, Shin finally got a good look at the two girls behind the speaker, taking their looks first and assets second.
(Nice pretty faces, yep they are pretty alright. That girl on the left is thicc man~! I could fit those in my hands and heads (wink wink to myself) into that! That girl on the right is pretty cute though, just like Alaine)
"Aerina?"
In the two seconds that Shin thinks to himself, Alaine calls out to Aerina with a curious tone to her voice.
"Alaine?" Aerina responds to her question in surprise.
".....Are you alright?"
"Yes....." she looks at Alaine for a moment, then gathering her courage to speak up she--
"Look at how messy you are, you really mess up a lot, didn't you? I told you you're not suited for the dungeon, you should have taken another research class instead" Alaine came close to her and spoke up patting the dirt from her while checking her body.
"...Uh...sorry"
"...Anyway, how are you gonna deal with that?" ask the Companion.
"What?" ask Shin.
"That monster!"
The sound of collision sounded from the outside.
"We can take it"
"When did we decided to join you?"
"Just now?"
"No, we're not"
"Well, we're in this together so yeah we are"
"Because you put us in this situation!"
"Your words not mine"
"....Seriously, why did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Follow us!"
"Hey, you guys were heading in the same direction as us"
"How?! We were in front of you!"
"Because this is the only cave here in the distance" said Shin matter of factly.
"What about the trees?!"
"What?"
"Why can't you go hide in the trees?! Or the rivers?! Or running straight towards the exit gate and have it clash into it!!?"
"Oh, I haven't thought of that. By the way where's the gate?"
"It was right in front of us before you three came!"
The speaker wanted to say more but felt like it would just be reflected by Shin anyway, so deciding to save the remaining braincells the speaker turns to somewhere else.
Shin on the other hand began coming up with a plan.