Chereads / Rise of the SSS Rank Phantom Lord / Chapter 22 - Creature in the path

Chapter 22 - Creature in the path

As they were walking down the street, heading out of the city, they noticed many other groups leaving as well, with no doubt heading in the exact direction they were heading in, to the dungeon. 

They all knew that they had to be careful or many things could get in their way, possibly causing harm as well as disrupting their group, they could not afford to get injured early on, in what was beginning to look like a game to some of the other groups that were taking part as well, a thought that Sion did not like for a bit. 

He glanced at those who passed by them while, snacking on a piece of chocolate, given to him by Lilian and his eyes narrowed, as he overheard some of their confident tone, believing that a dungeon should not be hard to conquer, but they knew better and otherwise, thanks to Mei, since she had given them advice on how to survive based on her on experiences. 

"Ignore fools," Nathenial commented and a few passing by, heard him but none dared to retort, for they knew him and his reputation and wanted to avoid trouble, for the time being, knowing it would be a bad idea to pick up on his words. 

Sion chuckled a bit and the others forced themselves, to not burst out laughing, seeing the other people who were heading to the dungeon, reaction. 

As soon as they were out of the city, they followed the map that was given to them by the guild masters, which marked the direction of the dungeon and it was less than a day's travel, since it was right nearby, though it was near the border of another kingdom, almost in between which meant there was a higher risk of danger, other than the ones within the dungeon. 

They knew very well that groups from other nations could be there as well, which increased the chances of conflict and people trying to kill each other, just to get to the finish line, to the final boss, as well as the final room within the dungeon, one which would decide their fate, whether or not they would be leaving the dungeon in one piece. 

 There were too many risks, but just as much reward, it was a risk they were all willing to take, for each one of them had their own goals in life, and each of them would gain one of more than one benefit if they managed to clear the dungeon, it was a task with many opportunities, that were too hard to ignore. 

Just as they were passing through a path within a nearby forest, to head to their location, they bumped into a large black and gold serpent, that hung from tree to tree and Sion's eyes widened as he stopped in his tracks nearly dropping his chocolate in the process. 

"Huge," Sano mumbled and Lilian nodded vigorously. 

"Be quiet and do not make any sudden moves, there are many different types of magical beasts in these kinds of forests, it is natural and normal, all you need to do is keep walking straight down the path, without causing any sort of disturbances and it will not trouble you, do you understand me?" Nethaniel asked them. 

"Yes," Sion responded and the others nodded, as he glanced back at them. 

Sion's gaze was fixed on the large serpent that was hanging in the large trees within the forest, something that he was not expecting to see and the path to the dungeon had only just been found, which made her thoughts wander, but more than fear, he felt a sort of fascination as well. 

Nethenial kept on walking down the path, following the directions they were given, so that they would not get lost and the others followed him quietly, for the last thing they wanted at the moment, was to fight a serpent of that size and tire themselves out, even before reaching the dungeon, which was not a good idea, in every way, one may look at it. 

As they walked, Sion stealthily crossed over a part of the creature's tail that was on the path. He exhaled deeply, feeling a bit relieved. When he did not touch it, they kept on moving, not looking back or getting strayed from the group. They had to stick together no matter what.

The serpent began moving a bit, its body becoming more and more visible to their eyes and Lilian swallowed as he increased his pace, while holding onto Sion's arm and upon seeing that Ash held back a chuckle. 

Soon after, they passed the area in which the serpent was at and calmed down a bit, taking a few deep breaths, but they could not afford to waste time, so they kept on walking, hoping they would reach the location the dungeon was at, soon. 

"Keep your guards up, we cannot afford to waste any of our energy, we will need it for that dungeon," Ash said and Sion nodded as he handed him a blade and he looked at it, then collected it and sheathed it by his side, before thanking him, knowing that he may need it later on, since he had no weapon to use to defend herself at the time. 

"You need to put in some more training, we will help in any way we can, so just relax," Nethaniel added and he glanced at him and gave a small nod, when he noticed that they were far away from the creature and came to two paths ahead of them, each leading a different direction. 

Nethaniel, led them through the one he was advised to and they followed him until, they came to an opening at the side of the forest and they came upon many broken parts of a building, some parts looked ancient, while some looked much older and before them was a door engraved in the large stone door, surrounded by golden marking, that was it, beyond that door, was the dungeon they had been looking for, they had finally arrived at the location.