It was finally that day. Johnathan had done all he could for preparation. He was still sceptical, but the obsidian he wanted in the end was too good to let go.
So, Johnathan got up early in the morning to go into the woods and meet up with the orcs again. This time, he was more comfortable with it, as he knew that the orcs didn't see him as an enemy... yet.
After putting on a shabby cloak and his father's brown leather gloves, boots and belt, he walked towards the woods.
Within a few dozen minutes, he was there. He didn't hide his presence this time, so the Orcs already knew he was approaching.
"You really came, huh? You sure you're not suicidal?", the orc chief asked with a tone of surprise.
"I'm a man of my word.", Johnathan replied without hesitation.
"Ooh... I like that sentence, I'll copy it.", one of the orcs announced.
"You need to get familiar with the people that will go with us into the dungeon today.", the orc chief commanded.
As soon as he said that, 8 massive, hulking green beasts wearing heavy armour with spikes all over them walked up to them.
3 of them had more armour visible than skin, and the other 3 looked terrifying with a giant axe, a lethal mace and an impressive spear. The other two's presence was less intimidating, as their bodies were smaller, but Johnathan felt the most fear from these 2 smaller orcs. It was as if you'd die even before you understood what happened if you went against those two. They were wearing leather hoods and each of their bows were as big as Johnathan's entire body. Each arrow in their quivers was like a spear to Johnathan.
"Those must be the archers... Scary...", Johnathan thought to himself.
But even though they were monstrous, Johnathan was relieved. With skill like this, conquering this dungeon will go smoother, hopefully.
"Alright, we've all gathered... The puny human said there are things called 'strategies' that we can use... to make the dungeon raid safer!", the orc chief said to the warriors.
"Safer? Aren't we going in for the challenge?", the one with the mace asked.
"In case of emergency, it'd be foolish to not use the safer approach! And orcs aren't foolish, like the humans say! We're smart!", the chief burst out.
"True! True!", all the orcs chanted.
"Now! Warriors! Meet the human who suggested us this!", the chief presented Johnathan to the warriors.
The warriors all stared fiercely at Johnathan. He could even sense some bloodlust from them. It was the most terrified Johnathan had been, after the first encounter with the orc chief.
Their lower canine teeth sticking out of their mouths leaked sounds of savagery from within, and their snouted noses fumed with violence.
"Chief... is this human suicidal?", the one with the spear asked.
"Hah! I think so! But think of this as a challenge. Protecting a weak human while also conquering a dungeon! Oh how exciting!", the chief snorted.
The other orcs agreed.
So, with everything set up, they all set towards the dungeon.
One thing Johnathan couldn't quite understand was what kind of warrior the orc chief was. It was obvious for the other orcs, but the orc chief seemed to be different. He owned a massive mace, but no heavy armour. His hands had calluses, but his body had no scars... Johnathan figured he'd find out in the dungeon.
As they were walking towards it, through dense forest, one of the orc warriors couldn't help but ask, "Human. What is your deal?"
"... what do you mean?", Johnathan asked back.
"I mean why are you going to a dungeon while being so weak, and that too with orcs? Aren't you afraid you're walking to your death?"
"... I won't die, I'm very good at running away."
"Hahahaha! Funny human!"
The archer orcs remained silent for most of the time, occasionally cursing at bugs and swatting them away.
Within another half hour, they arrived at the entrance of what seemed like a cave. Nothing was visible after the entrance apart from pitch-black shadows.
After stopping, the orcs suddenly started to reach into their inventories and pulling out potions.
"W-wait! Don't use the potions yet.", Johnathan stopped them.
"... Huh? Why?", the orc chief asked, with a potion already in his hands.
"Dungeons get progressively more difficult and challenging the farther you go down it. We should use our raw strength here at the entrance and use the potions later on."
"Hmm... Alright, then, we'll save the potions.", the chief commanded.
The other orcs shrugged and put the potions back in their inventories.
"We should also avoid tanking so early in the dungeon. Archers should also conserve arrows. The warriors must do most of the work in the early stages of a dungeon. Also, we don't need to worry about rest, there are secret rooms within all dungeons that have treasure in them as well as resting spots."
"Wait, what? Dungeons have that?", the chief asked in surprise.
"Uh, yeah... That's the only reason why humans seek to conquer dungeons too quickly... for the treasures in the secrets...", Johnathan replied.
"Holy tusker! We didn't know that! Now it all makes sense!", the orc chief exclaimed in surprise.
"Hold on. Not so fast.", one of the archer orcs finally spoke up, but the voice sounded a bit... off...
"We still don't know for certain if he's lying or not.", the archer spoke.
'Wait a minute... is that what I think it is...?', Johnathan thought in surprise.
"You're right. We'll see if these 'secrets' actually exist or not.", the chief replied.
'That archer's a female orc!', Johnathan confirmed his suspicions after carefully looking at her hair and teeth.
Female orcs rarely left their settlements. Warrior females were even rarer. This was because females were a lot less aggressive and bloodthirsty than males. Although, compared to a human or an elf, they were still like monsters. A lot of the human records described female orcs as 'cold-blooded', as they show a clear lack of empathy or conscience. For Johnathan to stumble upon one like this, was quite surprising.
The other archer seemed like a female too.
'Are they sisters? Interesting...', Johnathan thought.
After a few more minutes of preparations and a speech by the orc chief, they all went inside the dungeon.