The bag that they had brought had been filled halfway, clacking from the Cores hitting each other.
Lelia, Emma, and Lucas were returning from their hunt and had killed a total of 5 beasts.
"This will easily help us get to the top of the class if they haven't kill more beasts then us at least."
Lucas and Emma both agreed with Lelia's statement.
The sun of the desert had been going down since a while now and they had to get back for the points to register as theirs.
When they came over to Aiden, they didn't see Roseline anywhere.
"Hey where's Roseline?" Lucas asked
"I-I don't know, she said she was going to check if there were any people who wanted to attack us."
"Ah great" Lelia put her hand on her forehead.
"Do we wait for her?"
"No, I will go search for her."
"Emma no! It's not a good idea to spratae in the desert." Lucas quickly stopped her.
Lelia agreed with Lucas.
"So we just wait? And not turn in our points?"
"Ok now Emma, that won't happen if she gets back."
"And what if she doesn't?"
"We can get the teachers to find her."
Emma wanted to win, it's all she ever felt like was worth doing.
It took some time for Lucas to calm her down.
After that, they waited for Roseline to appear.
**SWISH**
For a long time all their heard was the wind carrying sand, such silence was a bit nerve wracking.
But just as the sun was about to set, they saw a figure walking from afar.
Roseline walked back the entire way, still thinking about the Quest she had gotten.
'Death…'
She didn't need the System to tell her that failing in whatever the thing calling to her in there wanted, she would died.
The terrain was enough to know that.
'Wouldn't the teachers have noticed that place? There's a lot to it.'
Roseline raised her head to see the group together and thought about bringing them there.
' I'll use them to check the area first before going in myself'
With that, the entire group had been dragged into a twisted adventure by Roseline, even if they were going to walk different paths in the end.
Lucas was first going to go up to her but was overtaken by Emma, who had many questions for her.
"Why did you go?"
"To check.."
"Stupid."
"Uh wait what?" Roseline was bewildered.
Roseline almost replaced Emma with the image of a child throwing a tantrum in her mind.
The group left on Emma's quicking inpatience.
They reached the border of the desert and went to the hotel, looking for one of the teachers.
Raven was checking if their are any students left when she was approached by the team.
Lelia spoke up for the rest of the group. "Sorry we are late Ms. Cromwell, we lost one of our teammates for a bit."
Lucas passed the bag to Raven and told her about the beasts they hunted.
"Other then that mishap, you guys did good."
Raven registered their points and shoo'ed them off to their rooms.
Roseline went to her bed and thought of a plan to get them to the canyon.
'Anyone could tell that canyon is suspicious, they would most likely call the teachers.'
She had checked the System if she could just tell the professors but got the answer back that they were too 'strong' to notice it and had to complete it by herself or people she brings to count.
Too strong…
Roseline sighed and closed her eyes after finishing her stat placement for today.
Tomorrow she would level up to level 7 of 1 Star.
*****
….
….
….
The sun had just started to rise when a bird beast got shot down from the sky with an ice sword.
Emma went over to the beast to take the Core out as usual.
Roseline was looking into the distance, in the direction of the canyon.
"You guys should come over there, I found something before but I'm not quite sure what it is."
Lucas and Lelia listened but Emma ignored her, probably still mad about yesterday.
"What did you find?"
"… I think it's best if you look at it yourself."
Lucas and Lelia looked at each other for a bit before Lucas agreed to follow her, and of course bring Aiden.
"Hey Emma! let's check out the place Roseline was talking about."
Emma stood and carried the bag, unsure if to follow.
"She could just waste our time."
"Emma you've been very uptight about this expedition, you alright."
Emma didn't respond, only turning around and walking away.
"Are you going back to the hotel?"
"I'm getting the professors to confirm our discovery."
"Oh we could do that when we get back." Roseline spoke up.
The teachers won't be able to come anyways if the System was right.
And it usually was.
Emma stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment before turning around.
"Let's go quick."
The group then followed Roseline on the path that she found.
She had a feeling they wouldn't be able to get out once they actually entered the canyon.
Seeing the sand turn gray and the dark clouds gathering in the sky, as if the world was covered in ash rather than sand, they were shocked when they finally got to the dark canyon.
"We should really get the professors, this seems way out of our level." Lelia said, her heart beating hard from amazement.
But she saw that Roseline didn't stop, continuing on forward, with Lucas and Emma following.
Lelia wanted to chase after them but hesitated.
Soon enough she grabbed Aiden's shoulder to drag him to Roseline and the others.
*****
….
….
….
The darkness of the canyon spread into all of the crevices and cracks it could reach, leaving no light behind.
From deep within one of the caves, an eye opened with a yellow reptilian glow.
Moving, one could hear the scratching of scales and metal.
Mixed with the sound of lightning and thunder, it was like a lament of death.