As Abel stepped into the yard, he saw nearly a dozen men standing around looking both anxious and excited. He noticed 2 of them were carrying bows right off the bat, while another 4 had a large round shield at their side. The remaining 5 were either holding swords or spears and it seemed like there wasn't a single mage-type professional amongst them.
"Kel, who's this?" One of the brawny men with a shield at his side asked as soon as they spotted Abel.
"This is Red Sky; the captain gave the go ahead to take him with us. He'll provide support from the rear, take care of the cooking as well as the maintenance and repair of our weapons."
"Does that mean I'm off cooking duty?"
"Didn't the old man say it's easier to find an elf in a dwarf's tavern before he takes a rookie along with us?"
"It looks like you somehow changed the stubborn old man's mind, not bad. Just for that, you have my respect!"
There was a quite a reaction from the men but it seemed positive overall. Though a few of them chose to remain silent, the majority of them didn't seem to care too much about bringing Abel with them. The young man in question introduced himself after the noise died down,
"Hello everyone… like Kel just said, my name is Red Sky and I'll be in your care for this expedition."
"Hahahaha, I like you already Red Sky. Welcome to the team!" The man that was now off cooking duty was the first to speak up. He was a tall and skinny brown-haired young man with a bow at his side. "The name's Royten but everyone calls me Roy."
The men started introducing themselves one by one with Roy's lead. Abel came to learn that a squad would be made up of 12 individuals and a sergeant would be in charge of 2 squads, 24 men in total. A lieutenant would have 4 sergeants under him and be in charge of 100 men while a captain like captain Carson Dusk would have 3-5 lieutenants under him and be in charge of 300 to 500 men.
Their current squad still hadn't passed their test so they weren't assigned a sergeant yet and instead, the captain would take them out on this mission. He would ensure that the men didn't die from a much larger threat. Although their destination was only a small-scale dungeon, there have been cases in the past where a dungeon would evolve into a larger one. All it took was for the strongest monster to level-up and advance, drawing in the mana within the region. The mana sucked in would created extra floors and turn into a much larger threat to the cities or settlements nearby.
"Alright men, it's time so let's head out!"
While the men were talking and getting to know Red Sky, the old captain came and called them to head off. The sun had yet to rise but the skies were already starting to lighten, the first light of day would soon be upon them. When Abel followed them to the stables he finally got to see the rumored shadow runners.
Shadow runners had an obsidian-black coat that seemed to absorb light, probably to enhance their ability to blend into shadows. It also had an ethereal sheen, especially under the faint light of the brightening sky while their mane was very short but still soft. They had a sleek and agile build with a slender yet muscular outlines and it was obvious their frame allowed for swift movements and stealthy navigation through various terrain.
"This the first time you see a shadow runner?" One of the men Abel had just met asked in interest. His name was Bollard but the men just called him Lard. It didn't help that he was quite heavy looking but his fat exterior hid obscenely strong muscles underneath.
"Yeah, they're beautiful." Abel replied in fascination, admiring the regal horses before him.
"That they are. Though they still fall short of moonlight dancers. It's a pity only those arrogant elves have them and they refuse to sell them to anyone!"
The moonlight dancers were a special breed of horses that were blessed by the moon. It was rumored that the Goddess of the Elves was the first to ride a moonlight horse, giving her steed a special and magical bloodline that was passed on to this day. Abel didn't know much about this horse except that all elves would have them, regardless of which region they were in.
"That's because moonlight dancers only listen to elves, what's the point in paying a ridiculous sum of coins or priceless favors only to get a horse that doesn't even listen to you?" A voice interjected as he overhead their words.
This man was also a shield warrior like Lard but his name was Bruni Alderwood. He was the son of a baron, the lowest in terms of noble titles and he seemed especially sensitive whenever the discussion was steered to wealth. At least, this was the impression Abel perceived from him through the couple of times he spoke to the man as he would always mention the monetary cost of whatever they discussed.
"Enough chit-chat ladies. The dungeon is only 3 hours away but if you keep yapping like courtesans then we won't get there before noon!" Captain Carson interrupted them as he saddled his obviously stronger shadow runner.
Abel walked up to one of the horses and the latter seemed smart enough to know he would be riding him. They had obviously been trained very well as the shadow runner didn't show any aggression or rejection to his role.
"Inspect"
*Ding*
[Shadow Runner]
Level: 15
Attack: 23-25
Defense: 18
Skills: Shadow Embrace ???
'Even the horse has a higher level than me…' Able thought in embarrassment after he checked the horse's details. It wasn't strong by any means but that was because the horse specialized in stealth and speed. Besides, his limited inspect skill couldn't show the horse's full details.
He saddled his steed and followed at the back of the short procession. Thankfully, the army base was at the edge of the city towards the mountain foot so they didn't run into many players so early in the morning. Before long, they had left the city gates behind them and started heading along the northern coast. The dungeon was in the Grave mountain range to the west of Stormwatch city but it would still take them more than 3 hours to get there. The rugged mountain path might be easy for the shadow runners but the winding paths would still take them time to traverse.
Abel noticed the striking contrast between this majestic horse breed and the aging Gallopington. Whereas the latter could barely maintain a run for over two minutes before reverting to a trot, the shadow runner's trot surpassed even Gallopington's maximum speed. He couldn't imagine how much one of these horses would cost and he didn't want to ask either. It wasn't not like he could afford its upkeep even if he now had enough money to buy it with coalition credits.
'I can always rent a horse, no need to buy one…'
Abel couldn't afford its upkeep. If he used a teleportation gate then he would have to pay for the horse as well. Not to mention it's food and grooming requirements, he didn't think he would ever buy horse. The sole exception was if he got lucky and acquired a magical steed of some kind that he could summon to his location. He could leave it to forage on its own in a safe area and just summon it whenever needed but he wasn't planning on holding his breath for such a thing.
The procession continued at a uniform pace with the captain dealing with any stray monsters impeding their path. The man would casually swing his sword and a level 20 monster would be killed right away. The damage numbers popping up were eye boggling and it was obvious the captain wasn't even trying but the display of might pumped Abel up for the future. Though, he did feel it was a pity he couldn't skin these monsters. It would take too much time and he was sure the captain wouldn't allow him to stop every 10 or so minutes for these "low-level" monster parts.
His heart was bleeding in regret whenever he passed by the dead monster carcasses but it seemed to numb over time. After the first few corpses, he no longer bothered looking at the carcass as it would just pain him to see gold coins flying away and eventually, he disregarded the pained feelings he had. It wasn't his kill anyway, if he tried skinning them then the men might end up looking down on him. If they weren't around then he wouldn't care, but he couldn't risk failing this quest over some coins. He could always level up and go farming for coins but it was very difficult to have a chance to leech EXP off of NPC's.
Time continued to pass as their surroundings changed from the coastline to the mountains and then from one mountain to another until they eventually reached a ravine that was situated along the borders with a higher leveled area. Unlike other games, Faeron didn't have distinctive level regions where monsters would only be a certain level in some area. Most regions around settlements would have small and low-leveled monsters but the occasional high-level predator could show up if you were unlucky. Likewise, high-leveled regions also had small and low-leveled monsters, whether it was because of the logical food chain or other ecological reasons.
However, some areas would have a high concentration of higher-leveled monsters, the region after the ravine was one such place. It was the area between Stormwatch city and Thundertide port and mostly contained level 50+ monsters which were impossible to kill for the current players. It was also the place with one of the few middle-sized dungeons in the kingdom- Weaver's Grotto. As the name implied, it had many spider-type monsters and was an absolute nightmare for those with arachnophobia. Especially since some spider monsters reach a size beyond of the Crabominable Titanclaw!
"Alright lads, let's rest for a while before we go inside. Red Sky, get started on making the boys some grub. Didn't you show off the fresh crab meat, saying you wanted to make a meal for the men? Now's your chance!" The captain called out when they reached a cave's opening at the side of the ravine.
Abel didn't waste any time as he took out some firewood to start a fire. Some of the men went around to gather some meat for later on. In the meantime, he took out some crab and lobster meat and started seasoning everything and skewering them over the fire. He planned to roast a part of the meat and make a soup on the side as well. Whatever meat the men brought back could be stored for later as it would save them some time.
He took out one of his new pots and filled it up with water. Thankfully, he had purchased several different pots with one of them being super large. He had taken into account the fact that he would be cooking for quite a number of people. After adding a bit of oil as well as the seasoned crab and lobster meat, he set it at the side of the fire so that it wouldn't boil quickly and went back to roasting the skewers.
The smell started drifting out as the men felt their mouths start to water. Even the captain's stomach started rumbling from the smell of food. When a skewer was done, Abel would remove the meat from the skewer and prepare another batch. Fortunately, he had quite a lot of meat already, it was more than enough to feed the men 3 times over. By the time the men that went out to hunt had returned with fresh meat, Abel had already cooked 50 skewers and the soup had been put to simmer over the dying flame.
"Alright, the food's ready everyone." Abel didn't even need to call the men as they were surrounding him already.
"MmMmMm… your food can't compare to my old lady's but it still beats the sludge that Roy makes." Lard was the first to share his opinion.
"Shut up Lard, your mother's a professional cook! Just be thankful we don't have to eat dried biscuits and Roy's crap instead."
"This meal would cost a few silvers in Stormwatch… Red Sky, if you ever decide to switch careers we could open a restaurant together."
"Not bad Red Sky, if we can eat like this every day then the captain made the right call in bringing you along."
"When did you go to the Coral Catacombs? Or did you buy all this meat instead?"
Abel wasn't surprised at Bruni's response but thankfully, they all seemed content with his meager cooking skills. The men enjoyed a sumptuous meal as they talked amongst themselves and even the captain nodded at the food. If what he heard about Roy's cooking was any indication, then he should be racking up favorability with everyone by now!
"Umm… what are we going to do with the horses? We can't just leave them, can we?" Abel asked as he wasn't sure how the horses would be cared for while they were inside.
"It's alright, just leave them be. Nothing around here can catch them and the captain is able to call them after we come out. By then, we'll all be real soldiers!" A young man named Freijah responded, he was one of the spearman and also the most thankful they didn't have to suffer with Roy's cooking on this expedition.
Abel shrugged and let go of his horse's reigns, letting it graze around on its own. He followed the men into the cave when a notification popped up in his sight.
*Ding*
You have discovered a new dungeon- Kobold's Roost! Every monster killed within the next 24 hours will give double EXP.
+30 Reputation
'Sweet! We should be able to clear the first floor before the sun sets at least. Even if I don't get as much EXP due to the distribution, their levels are even higher than the Coral Crawlers!' Abel excitedly thought as he walked in, looking forward to leveling up like a rocket!