Chapter 14: Dire Wolves.
Sara and the others had already begun walking towards the exit. Ethan still remained standing there wondering why it would take so long, but when he realised they weren’t there anymore, he followed their trail.
Although it was funny that they all forgot him behind, there was an actual reason behind it all.
When Ethan reached them, he looked right into Sara’s eyes as he asked. "Why did you all leave me behind?" His tone carried curiosity.
She looked at the other members once. Max was ruffling his hair lightly. Sylv was standing there, politely scratching her temple. On the other hand, Micah’s face was drenched in sweat as he nervously kept chanting God’s name.
Her attention returned to Ethan. "Ahmm." She cleared her throat before continuing. "It’s unusual for us to team up with someone else. We thought it was just us; that’s why we left you behind."
The moment her words reached Ethan, he froze in his step. Thoughts appeared inside his mind. ’Forgot about me? ’Yeah... I’m a nobody, so why will they remember me?’
’But I didn’t expect this from Sara.’ He muttered inwardly as he shook his head a few times.
"Let’s forget about it all and continue with our journey to the dungeon." Ethan continued.
No one disagreed because it had already been late morning; they didn’t have much time to spare either.
Soon, they began their journey to the dungeon. Slowly, they passed through the forest covering the adventurer’s guild. They reached barren plains where animals like cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens wandered without any worry.
They continued walking for several hours without taking even a short break. Eventually, they reached an area surrounded by multiple mountains of different sizes. The tallest mountain stood ahead of them, its peak rising high into the sky.
The mountains were mostly made of bare stone, with almost no soil covering their lower slopes. However, higher up, patches of soil could be seen between the rocks, with trees growing across them and adding greenery to the otherwise rocky landscape.
All of them stood right below the mountain where the road to travel upwards was.
Ethan lifted his head, wondering if they all had to climb it. ’Do we really have to climb this mountain? I’m already tired because we didn’t stop for even a second, and now this?’
’I’m going to die from tiredness even before I reach inside the dungeon.’ He said inwardly.
Sara and the group didn’t take a break even here; they climbed the mountain peak right away. Although it took a while because no one wanted to injure themselves in unnecessary haste.
Finally, they stood in front of an enormous green portal that was radiating mana waves through its insides. The edges of the portal were traced by black waves.
Ethan noticed that next to the portal was placed a wooden board on which was written: [The Dire Wolves Den.]
[Suitable for a party with two B-tier adventurers at least.]
He read it thoroughly and then looked at Sara as he asked. "Do we have B-Tiers?"
When his words reached the group, everyone burst into laughter. Even Micah let out a short snort through his nose, though he quickly covered it, trying to maintain his composure. After all, people of the Church were expected to remain respectful and not make fun of others.
Sara remained composed; the laughter echoed through the surroundings, but she ignored all of it and replied. "Me and Max are A-Tier Adventurers; Micah and Sylv are B-Tiers." She said calmly.
When he heard her words, he became flustered, clearly not expecting such an answer. He already knew they were professional and capable, but to this extent? That was a complete discovery for him.
Well, perhaps it was partly their fault. They had never told him about this before, so naturally, it had led him to ask such a question.
He stroked his chin politely once before replying. "I see." His tone sounded amused.
Sara looked at the group, gave a slight nod, and everyone suddenly composed themselves, and the laughter faded right away. It sounded like a confirmation that they were about to enter the dungeon.
Even though Ethan had picked up the hint, he slowly gazed at the portal in front of him. His heartbeat increased rapidly; his heart kept beating against his ribs. A sudden feeling of excitement alongside fear erupted through his stomach, which resulted in giving him goosebumps.
Sara stepped forward as she entered through the portal; instantly, her body vanished from there as if it never existed. Max followed behind, then Sylv, and in the end it was Micah.
Ethan was the only one who remained standing there; his body was slightly trembling with fear. He was sweat-drenched all over his body, but he managed to take deep breaths, which helped him compose himself.
"Okay, let’s do this." He muttered to himself before walking towards the portal.
He stepped forward and took his first step inside. The moment he did, waves of mana engulfed his body.
In an instant, his surroundings began to change, transforming into something entirely different.
༺━━━━━━༺༻━━━━━━༻
Ethan found himself standing on a mountain that was covered with huge stones. Around him, there wasn’t anything but the rocks drenched with moist algae.
The sound of flowing water echoed through the surroundings. He tilted his head towards the noise and noticed a stream flowing down from the top of the mountain. The current was so powerful that even the slightest contact with it seemed enough to sweep a person away.
In front of them stood an enormous den purely made out of thick stone. Rock pillars stood at all four corners, which supported the rest of it. From inside, loud howls were echoing, which made it clear that their targets were inside.
There wasn’t anything clearly visible through the entry because the entire den was covered with darkness and nothing else.
Ethan looked at the group, which was standing right in front of him; they were also glancing at the den.