No one took their eyes off Michael. Everyone was still staring at him.
That was until Eric spoke up "Kid, our lives are in your hands, are you prepared for that?"
Michael stared back into his eyes and anwsered with a serious expression "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
Eric's gaze didn't waver "Then do you have experience? Have you ever even seen a monster before?"
'I can see where he is coming from, no answer I give will satisfy him' Michael sighed.
"I don't have any experience, and no, I have never seen a monster" he decided to be forward with him.
Eric laughed slightly "So you are some rich kid that somehow managed to get invited here, I see."
"I am an orphan."
Those words silenced Eric's laughter.
"I see, sorry."
Even after taunting Michael, it seemed he still had some basic morals at the very least.
"It's fine." Michael shrugged
Joanna was next to speak "So how old are you anyway, you look 14."
"I am 9" Michael felt helpless, there was no way for him to prove his credibility.
Everyone's eyes widened and they looked at each other, not saying a word.
Eric stood up and walked up to Michael saying "Listen, your role is going to be simple, just heal us when we are injured, and in turn, we will protect you from the monsters in front."
Michael absentmindedly nodded, he already knew that, the system informed him about it.
Eric then began explaining the plan, it seemed he wanted to be the party leader and no one had a reason to object.
He showed Michael and the others the formation they were going to be using, Michael at the very back, to his side was Joanna, closer to the front were the 2 swordsmen and lastly the tank, in the very front.
Eric then proceeded to take out some shabby piece of paper and showed it to everyone. It had the description of the monsters they were going to face.
They looked exactly like werewolves, the only difference being the color of their fur, which was a dark shade of red.
He then explained that they were a new type of species, having skills that the other werewolves did not have.
One such skill was shooting balls of fire from their mouth. However after reading the information fully, the weakness was clearly evident.
It takes those werewolves 3 seconds to finish casting their fireball, which in turn gives us 3 whole seconds of time to kill them while their guard is down.
After making sure everyone was briefed fully, they went out of the tent and started walking to one of the bigger buildings in the area.
As much as Michael wanted to ask them questions, he held himself back, not wanting to anger his teammates further.
Why do you even care about what they think? You won't see them after this hunt anyway.
Michael started explaining 'They already dislike me because of my age, if I add fuel to the fire by being an annoying 9 year old, I wouldn't be surprised if they just leave the party altogether.'
Hmm, that could indeed happen, I am the only one who can handle your annoying questions.
'Sure sure' Michael started ignoring the system while following the others.
They arrived in front of the building and Eric walked up to talk to one of the guards, showing the identification he received from one of the higher ups.
The guard merely looked at Eric's face and waved his hand, signaling for the party to go past.
Michael and the others went inside of the building. Walking along the halls they saw many doors, with all sorts of letters and numbers written on them.
They eventually arrived at a particular door that had A-7 written on it.
Eric pulled out some sort of keycard and put it up to the door.
Click
And it was unlocked, just like that.
Eric suddenly spoke "We are here everybody, don't forget what we discussed."
'Do we just go through that door then?' Michael thought.
Yes, but something seems wrong, be on your guard.
'Something seems wrong?' Michael immediately became more alert.
Though the same could not be said for the others, everyone, aside from Joanna, was way too laid back, as if they were going on a stroll.
'Rebecca did mention that the monsters were fairly weak, so I can see why they might be a little carefree.'
Everyone stepped through the door and they were immediately transported to a grassy area, surrounded by a dense forest, nothing like where they just were.
Michael was expecting to just fight in a training room against the monsters, but as he looked around, he noticed the faces of everyone present.
They were shocked, instantly going on guard and drawing their weapons.
Spatial disturbance, someone relocated the coordinates of whatever was supposed to be through that door to some other place.
'Bad feeling huh? I should listen to you more' Michael sarcastically said before focusing, this situation could be dangerous.
Eric instructed "Proceed as planned, stay in formation."
"Why should we listen to you huh!? Do you even know where we are?" Zane spoke in a delinquent like voice.
Joanna gave him a side eye and drew her bow, nocking an arrow and aiming it at him she said with a small smile "Will you go with us or not?"
She only meant that as provocation, however, Zane took it personally, he drew his sword and started running towards her, Paul tried stopping him, but due to his halfhearted effort, he couldn't.
Joanna's eyes slightly widened in shock, drawing back her bow even further.
Since they were all relatively close to one another Eric stepped in front of them and aimed his shield toward Zane, getting ready to block his attack.
He shouted "Stop it Zane! Let's talk this through!"
But it seemed it was for naught as Zane swung his longsword at Eric, who was blocking Joanna.
-Clang
Zane's sword bounced back and Eric was pushed off balance by the sheer force of the attack.
That was when Joanna stopped hesitating and shot her arrow, aiming for one of Zane's legs.
Though just as she released the arrow and sent it flying, it was blocked, by a longsword.
The perpetrator being none other than Paul.
"Bitch how dare you shoot an arrow at my brother!"
All the while Michael was just standing off to the side, watching this spectacle unfold.
'Just what the fuck is happening? Are they brainwashed or something?'
No, there are some really arrogant people in this world, A rich family and an easy life, see where that gets you.
'Surely not all rich people are this bad, right?' Michael couldn't help but shudder.
Definitely not all of them, however, there are enough to make up a minority.
'That sure is something, though I suppose it was similar in my old world as well' Michael couldn't help but reminisce about the past.
The fight was still going on with both Zane and Paul attacking Eric and Joanna, though none had yet to sustain an injury.
Michael walked up to them and tried to reason with them, with bullshit of course "Everyone stop! I heard some sort of sound coming from the forest!"
As those words rang in the air, the combat seemingly stopped, everyone returning to being fully alert as if the battle just then had not happened at all.
Eric dusted himself off and asked "Which direction did you hear it from?"
Michael thought for a moment and pointed in a random direction "That way."
Their guards still seemed to be up, hostility clearly present in the air.
Eric walked toward the direction Michael pointed at, not even giving instructions anymore.
Though they were not needed, everyone stuck to their original positions anyway now that the little squabble had ended.
Michael asked the system 'How strong were they?'
Level 30-40ish, pretty weak for their age though.
'Only level 40? You said my class's rarity will increase every 50 levels, just how long is that going to take' He asked with curiosity.
I never said it would be fast, I only told you what was possible.
Michael just soaked in the information, realizing he might not be able to level up his Healer class as fast as he thought.
The group continued walking in one direction but even after walking for several minutes, not a single sound could be heard.
Though as it seemed Michael's bullshit was going to catch up to him, he felt something and turned towards the left, though it seemed he was not the only one who felt something, as the others did as well.
There were a pair of lifeless black eyes staring at them, seemingly not moving at all.
Though everyone could feel it, they knew that whatever that was, it was dangerous.
Michael's heart started beating faster, and his palms were beginning to sweat, the pressure that thing was emitting was intense.
What did I say about you not being able to stand the pressure of an actual dungeon monster?
'If you are trying to tell me I told you so, then you can kindly fuck off' Michael answered, the bit of banter slightly calming him down.
As the system's words finally settled in, Michael's eyes once again widened.
Yes, you are in a dungeon, one above your party's level.
'Shit, does that mean we are pretty much dead?' Michael said while tightly clenching his fists, still not breaking eye contact with the monster.
Not necessarily, if you work as a team you might make it out alive.
Michael's brow twitched 'Might?'
Yes, this is the only monster close to you, I can't feel any others.
'Do you know what that thing is then?' Michael asked the system with a tinge of hope.
No, but its powers are related to illusions, what you are seeing now is not real, the monster is somewhere else.
'Yeah? Where is it?' Michael pushed for answers.
Figure it out yourself, you are acting like a little child, how do you expect to grow if all you do is rely on me?
'But isn't the situation dangerous? One wrong move and I could die' Michael said, his confidence slightly wavering.
Though no reply came, and Michael felt all alone again, with the only people by his side, being the party members whom he didn't even know that well.
'Focus' Michael took deep breaths to regain his composure and finally took his eyes away from the illusion.
Though he was immediately startled upon looking towards his party, Zane and Joanna were dead.
Their bodies lifelessly lying on the ground, their necks twisted at impossible angles.
'How could this happen?' Michael started thinking in overdrive, frantically looking around, trying to find the monster that did this.
Eventually, he tried something, as a last ditch resort, he used Greater Heal on the dead bodies.
Normally you don't instantly die when your neck breaks, it takes a few minutes for you to actually die.
Michael knew this, and that was why he tried his luck on this unrealistic idea.
As the light enveloped them, 2 blue boxes appeared in front of him, combining into a singular box.
[Greater Heal +100 EXP]
'100? Besides that, it worked?' Michael looked on in wonder, watching their terribly twisted necks coming back into place, and color slowly returning to their bodies.
However another problem arose, and that being the 2 people he just healed.
They were not waking up.
Meanwhile, the others were still in a trance, even as Michael tried pushing and talking to them, they did not react in the slightest.
-Haa
All of a sudden Michael heard someone breathe behind him, though as he quickly turned around, no one was there.
-Crack
Turning back around at that sound, he saw Paul with bloodshot eyes, and his skull split open, brain matter flowing out.
Michael did not hesitate and quickly casted his Greater Heal on him
[Greater Heal +50 EXP]
Paul quickly reverted back to his previous condition, however, something was strange, something was different.
Paul turned towards Michael, his eyes blank, an eerie smile, hanging on his face "Michael.."
The voice was different.
"What's wrong Michael?"
The eyes, giving away his inner madness, a smile that seemed to not go away even as he spoke.
Michael took a few steps back and cautiously looked straight into Paul's eyes before saying "Who are you?"