Chapter 39 – Captured.

Are you sure this is safe? What if something jumps out and eats us…”

“That’s why we have hired adventurers, so stop worrying about nothing.”

“But…”

“No buts! Let’s just focus on the task at hand and you’ll be back in your stuffy room in no time.”

“I hope you are right Alanna, I just don’t like dark places…”

Two people were talking while being accompanied by a group of adventurers. One burly warrior in chainmail was behind them, clearly keeping watch to prevent any monsters from attacking them from the rear. Two similarly dressed men flanked them on each side, while a better-armored gentleman led the group from the front. Only one person in the group looked different, wearing leather armor with a bow slung across their chest. They were also upfront, seemingly keeping watch of any movement, ready to inform his party of any incoming danger.

“Of course, I’m right Eugene, aren’t I?”

The person talking seemed to be a young woman in her late teens. Next to her was a man of similar age and thin stature. Both looked more like scholarly types and their clothes resembled something more fitting for a library than monster-infested dungeons. Despite the obvious unease in the young man’s voice, his companion carried an air of confidence, though perhaps misplaced given their surroundings.

“Young miss, it would be better if you remained silent, the monsters in the Dungeon react to sounds…”

The young woman turned to one of the adventurers surrounding her for confirmation of her claim but was met with a rebuttal. The man seemed annoyed for some reason but didn’t want to voice his opinions more negatively.

“See, I told you to be quiet, that’s why we were attacked so many times already!”

“Hah, that’s why Master hired these adventurers for us, don’t worry, they will protect us from these monsters. Stop being scared, they are only F ranks, are you even a man?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

The young man glared at the young woman, but his momentary bravery was interrupted by a strange clacking of bones resounding from the side. A skeletal monster emerged from the shadows and started running toward the group. Eugene, frightened, instantly ducked behind the woman named Alanna.

The skeletal monster charged forward with unnerving speed, its bony limbs clattering against the rocky ground. However, the adventurers didn’t seem perturbed by its appearance, even less as it targeted the heavily armored man at the front. The monster raised its corroded weapon and brought it down swiftly, only for it to bounce off the man’s armor. In a matter of moments, the creature’s body crumbled from a direct hit by the man’s large two-handed blade, and its remains were now scattered on the ground.

“Looking for something back there?”

Alanna turned to Eugene who was hiding behind her like a scared rabbit. Her tone was teasing, and the young man quickly straightened himself out after realizing what he had done. His face went red from embarrassment as he stammered out an excuse, but Alanna merely chuckled and patted him on the back reassuringly.

“N-no I was just a little startled by the reflection the torches made, it made it look like there were more of them coming.”

“Sure there were. Come on, Eugene, let’s keep moving. We’ve got to finish the job Master assigned to us.”

“Yeah, sure… but couldn’t he have just bought those crimson felle roots at the next action.”

“You know how he is, he’s impatient and doesn’t trust adventurers to handle them correctly. If you don’t dig them up in a specific way and store them instantly, they’ll lose half of their potency. You won’t be able to make good products with low-quality ingredients… or at least, that’s probably what he would say…”

She shrugged in response to the question. The girl knew their master was a peculiar person, and perhaps had sent them here to gain more life experience. Her friend seemed quite scared and would likely learn a lot from this little expedition.

“Now, let’s go, the Adventurers probably want to go back home just as much as you do.”

Eugene nodded and they ventured deeper into the dungeon cavern, the air grew thicker with the scent of damp earth and mildew. The torches lining the walls provided just enough light to illuminate their path, casting long shadows that danced eerily across the rocky terrain. Along the way, they continued to encounter more monsters but none of them proved to be much of a challenge for the experienced adventurers accompanying them.

Despite Eugene’s initial fear, he began to relax slightly as they progressed, reassured by the competence of their hired protectors. Alanna, on the other hand, maintained her air of confidence, seemingly unfazed by the dangers lurking in the shadows. Eventually, they arrived at a long bridge that would bring them to the area they would find the roots.

“I wonder how deep this is…”

Once there, she couldn’t help but look down into the chasm, where nothing but darkness awaited them. The abyss seemed endless and no one had yet confirmed if there was anything valuable down there, due to the monsters occupying its side walls. People had tried already and sometimes people ended up falling to their death.
“We are almost there, let’s just get it over with Alanna.”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

There was nothing down there and she knew it but right as she was about to turn away from the depths she noticed something. A little glint of light shone from below and her curiosity was piqued.

“Wait, there is something down there…”

“There is?”

Alanna asked Eugene, who for some reason had a frown on his face. The adventurers around them nodded at each other and moved forward as if they had something to add. Some time ago, there were mentions of monsters using bows to attack people traveling through the bridge. It hadn’t happened since, but they had to assume the worst and act accordingly.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Can you see something?”

The armored man, seemingly the leader of the party, turned to the man wearing leather armor. This adventurer was clearly an archer, with eyes capable of seeing things at a distance much better than anyone else in the group. After urging the young woman to take a step back, he began to peek, and to his surprise, he was able to see something.

“… There is something down there… It’s a white bug and it’s getting chased by something… shit, what are those things doing here.”

“What is it?”

“Giant Shade Spiders…”

“What?”

Their leader replied in a panicked voice after hearing the words uttered by the archer. However, before he could panic any further, Alanna’s voice resounded from the side.

“Calm down, those are only the Lesser variants and they seem to be rather small.”

She was holding a spyglass which was shining brightly. On the side a strange symbol could be seen, glowing and making her tool look otherworldly. The adventurers looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to have such a useful tool with her. Alanna quickly scanned the area below, focusing on the white bug being chased by the shadowy spiders.

“It looks like some sort of insect… Wait, is that an ant? Not a regular one either but a…Gleaming Mana Ant and some sort of silvery variant of it! How, wonderful!”

Her voice indicated excitement as she almost leaned over and fell into the chasm while looking through the magical spying glass. Her entourage wasn’t sure what she was saying and if the ant was dangerous but they knew that those spiders shouldn’t be there.

“Can you get them?”