Mere minutes after every party departed into the forest, Noelle leaned back onto the side of a carriage. One arm crossed over her stomach, her other stayed glued to the butt of her weapon. Scenarios dashed around her mind, two groups of adventurers; one completely filled with rookies, only the gods would know what happened to them. On the other side, a party comprised of two semi-veterans and two rookies;
As scenarios rushed inside, a voice broke them, bringing her back to reality. "Lady Noelle, each raid party has entered their path. I found a vantage point for you to watch over. Please follow me."
"Thank you Allen… Take the lead."
*****************
Inside a musky, filled tunnel, Bronya, Lucian, and Roth cautiously strolled through. Shadows danced along the walls. Flames of torches lashed out at the air, trying to satiate their never ending desire for oxygen. For their formation, Lucian was stuck in the far back, and both Roth and Bronya took the front. Not side by side, due to the former's giant frame he had to take a few steps back.
They continued, till a fork blocked their path. One side, detoured to the right; to their twelve o' clock was their original path. At the lead, bronya snapped her eyes shut. Next, everything popped inside her mind.
Just as she opened them, she pointed towards the right and said. "Lucian, you will take the right, Rothie and I will continue down this tunnel."
"Uh… Shouldn't we stick together… As a party? That was the whole point." Lucian inquired whilst locking his gaze to the back of her skull. "I'm not as skilled, strong or anything like you t-"
"Take the right."
"You two…?"
Without another utterance, his party members broke into a jog.
"What am I supposed to do…?" He murmured, covering his face with his hands. He could very well disobey her orders. But, every cell in his body screamed for him to obey. 'I guess, that's it.' He sucked in his breath and caught it. Just as he proceeded to turn the corner, electricity coursed through his body. Instantly, he drew his newly bought shortsword.
Umm, can you hear me?
'Wait… F-Fei is that you?!'
Yes… Um, did I scare you-?
'A-A little bit.' Latching onto his sheathe, and fumbling for a moment then finally sheathing his sword he continued. 'So… What's up? Are you just checking on me..?'
Y-Yes… Well… We agreed on me c-co-connecting to you…
'Ah! Right, right. I completely forgot about that.'
Imagining she was right next to him, he rubbed the back of his head as a warm bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. 'Might need to pay attention… Well- More, those two had me take a different route… But, don't worry! I'll be fine!'
…They did what…? Um- Are you alone? Why would they leave you alone?! All of you went in there together-
For the next few minutes, Lucian's head heard a few statements- That never entered his eardrums, or ever came from her mouth. With an oath cementing in his heart- One to never royally anger Fei. Holding that close to him, he continued on. "Note to self, I guess- Never ever leave to a separate route- Without her being informed beforehand…" He whispered to himself.
Just as quickly as it came, her worried, and rage filled questions shrouded his mind. 'F-Fei, please… Please calm down, I'll seriously be okay.'
I WON'T! You're supposed to be together!!
'Yes! YES! I know, but please calm down! I need to focus here!'
During her anger filled rant, he crept through the adjoining tunnel. His footsteps- Albeit he tried to dampen the sound, reverberated throughout the tunnel. With one foot raised, softly stepping on the ground and repeating this process.
"She really… Really needs to calm down." Lucian mumbled, just ahead of him lay another turn. Thankfully, her thoughts dampened out and left a static noise. At that moment, an intrusive thought came to; with his fingers resting on his chin, he thought, 'She's adorable when worried…'
…
'Haha, maybe you should worry less…'
…
'Oh well, I can't wait to see your reac-'
"Hey dipshit."
"What?"
"I thought we were supposed to kill every stinkin' one of these slaves? Why are we watching a little girl… She is one of them isn't she?"
"Ha, wellll, Ain' got an inklin for ya, muscle head. Our bosses keep everything soooooo, confidential from everyone." An audible breath came from the second voice. It followed along with a mimicked deep voice. 'Keep that collared one safe.' That's pretty weird, ay?"
These voices sent alarm bells inside of Lucian. 'Fei, tell those other two that I found people. Now, I don't know if I can take them.' He said to her and unsheathed his sword. His heartbeat danced around in his throat. Alongside his feet becoming trapped to the floor, his head began to feel numb. 'Fei, please do it.' He pleaded, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Will you two stop babbling about whoever, or whatever this damn girl is?! A job is a damn job, you dumbasses. Worry about the details AFTER we get paid." A woman's voice raged on.
The first popped up, seemingly in a joking tone. "Woah, woah, calm down Miss Snappy! We're just tryna make conversation."
After all three voices popping up, Lucian tightened his grip around his sword's handle.
A few more badgers later, he could hear the heavy steps of a person nearing where he was located. Closer, they echoed. Then, a voice came with it.
"Mann, that lady needs to remove that stick up her arse…" His voice grew louder with every thump. "Jus' because it's a job doesn-"
With all his weight, Lucian rushed into him. With a booming thump, the man struck the wall behind him.
"What was that?!"
Before anymore was said, Lucian reeled his fist back and sent his fist flying towards the man's face.
Only it struck the wall; the man ducked and rolled to the ground.
"Haha, well nice ya actually caught me by surprise!" The man cackled and swiftly swept Lucian off his feet.
His sword clambered to the ground, leaving a loud ding echoing around.
"That ain't gonna happen again…"
Before his next move could be made, the man forced his knee onto Lucian's stomach.
'Shit! Shit!' Lucian exclaimed internally. 'I have to get him off of me!'
Sounds of someone sucking their teeth shook his eardrums. "Naha, not gonna happen boy… Look at you, someone so young… Judgin' by your… getup, you'r-"
His chin was struck by an immense force.
"Dan! Are-"
'I have to get back to the other two! I can't fight them!' Lucian scrambled to his feet, momentarily catching his sword and turned tail.
Behind him, the man he struck rubbed his chin, shook his head and loudly exclaimed, "Not a bad punch boy!" His voice was filled with a sarcastic tune.
A chill raced down his spine. Just as he turned around, the man he punched already closed the distance.
No thoughts crossed both their minds, only their bodies moved. As his opponent shot his fist forward, Lucian thrusted his weapon forward.
Crack!
In a nanosecond, his head shot back. Internally, the noises of a bone shattering filled his thoughts. One, twirl and he rocketed towards the ground.
Warm droplets of blood splattered onto the ground. As coughs and gasps escaped, they began to stain the ground.
"Ya… Got good instincts… Boy. That's… Rather unfortunate, for a youngin' to die here." Just as his voice finished, a foot smashed against Lucian's ribs.
"Dan, you go take care of your wound, I'll kill this little brat."
"Nah… No need." Dan's voice began to weaken. "He got lucky…"
'I have to get out of here… I have to, I have to. I can't, I can't take them on!' Lucian's thoughts clouded his mind. It felt as if his ribs were completely destroyed. He clutched his side, staring into the dimly lit corner.
His body collapsed under a foot pushing his back.
'I have to get out of here, I can't die here, I cannot! Get your ass up Lucian!'
Pops of torches silenced, every ounce of pain immediately dimmed.
His muscle fibers screamed, he mustered every ounce of what he could. Only he could lift his head, a lady dramatically entered his view. She gave him a smile full of mockery.
"Adventurers are really incompetent now…" She mumbled in such a way that matched her looks. Just as she said that, she opened her side pouch and pulled out a dagger. "Don't look so scared. Hehe."
'What is she saying…?'
She brought her dagger close to his cheek. And pushed. Mocking turned into joy, watching Lucian's eyes from fear and hopelessness to horror.
However, that did not last long.
Desperation, that drove Lucian to shoot his arm out. The lady yelped, and turned to frantic screaming. His one hand clamped around her wrist.
The foot that kept him down loosened and fell away.
Now with a weapon in hand, he flipped around; swung his arm out at Dan's leg.
"Ack-!"
His desperate attack sent Dan tumbling backwards. Screams of agony escaped from his throat. Blood seeped from his fingers that pressured a wound behind his knee.
"Little brat… I'll get you back for what you did!"
Lucian attempted to get to his feet, the other man rushed towards him. He barely rolled out of the way.
"Hah… I'm surprised you still have the strength to move out of the way."
'I can't die here… I won't die here.' Lucian thought to himself. Every fiber of himself roared at him to surrender, to give up and let them do what they needed to do. He sloppily got into a fighting stance, feet spread shoulder width and arms holding his newly acquired dagger as a sword.
His entire posture was messy, with shaky legs, unsteady arms that barely held his weapon in front.
Once again, the man attempted to bulldoze into him. Inhumane, what it looked like. It felt like it was enhanced by magic or skills. Lucian sucked in a giant breath and steeled his resolve. He had to take it head on, there was no way he could make way around it.
As he neared, Lucian kept his weapon straight. Despite all of his muscles tensing, his body was propelled backwards. Tumbling a few times before rolling flat on his stomach.
"H-How…?" A weak sounding voice came from the man. Lucian couldn't witness what was done, he couldn't lift a muscle. Small shuffling was heard, then a thump
After such a long time, Dan's screaming ceased. The other man completely fell silent,
'Get up…' Lucian commanded himself. He barely grasped for oxygen. His lungs felt like they were exploding, with each tiny breath causing them to tense. 'Get up…. Get up.' Ignoring every ounce of pain, rolled his face onto the cold, bloody ground.
Nerves, ligaments, practically everything roared at him to stay down. His head pounded, whispering to him, 'lay down, it'll relieve the pain… Just close your eyes, you'll drift off to somewhere comforting…'
"Get up… G-et… Up." His words resonated deep within. Snailishly, his arms mustered the strength to push himself off the ground. Both eyes blurred when he got to his feet. Alongside that, one leg lost all of its strength, plummeting to the ground once again.
"W-W-What… H-H-How did you manage to- L-L-Leave me alone!" The lady in front of him screamed with a shaky breath. Her hands waved around. Everything about her begged for him to stay down. With every attempt, she backed up a step.
Alas, Lucian managed to stumble to his feet. Albeit, all of him prepared to collapse onto the ground again.
"G-G-"
L-Lucian… A-Are you there…?
Just a singular unsteady step caused the lady to run away screaming.
Lucian…
'I'm sorry… I'm here…'
A-A-Are you okay?
Lucian leaned against one wall. His head flopped on it. 'No… ' After grunting pain, he responded.
What's wrong?! What happened? Wait, did you- You fought those people?!
There was no immediate response. All of his attention was focused on not falling to the floor.
I'm coming in.
'Don't… It's for your… Own…' An overwhelming cold enveloped his skull.
…
"What were they protecting…?" Lucian mumbled in awe. Just ahead, was a tunnel that split off into different rooms. Starting with the first one, it was barren, devoid of anyone being there, currently or in the past. Trekking forth, each one became worse, from slight blood stains. To one filled with various torture tools.
"What the… Hell?" He mouthed seeing the last. Blood completely stained the ground. Multitude of sharp weaponry lined the walls, along with whips. 'Were they enslaving people, or just murdering them…?'
Huh? Lucian, what do you mean?
'N-Nothing…'
…What did you find?
'I… Found what they did with people…'
W-What they did…? What- What are you talking about?
'...'
Fei beckoned for a response. He kept his head clear, only keeping his focus on the path ahead. Both hands twitched, his legs felt weaker. "What if…" What if, what, he kept repeating mindlessly.
At last, stood a decently large wooden door.
"What if… Aiko's-" He sucked in his breath and grit his teeth. The cold feeling of the handles caught his hands. Once a slight crack was made, sniffling could be heard. Cries turned to sobs. 'There's someone here.'
A blonde haired demi-human sat inside an eerie room. Her shoulders shook up and down as her wails were heard. From what could be seen from his makeshift peephole, another laid lifelessly in front of her.