They were outside of Aldoria, somewhere deep in the uncharted as they had hitched the horses away. The quest was simple. There was a report of a nest of mana beasts and they needed to exterminate it before it could become a harm to the developing towns nearby.
Clearing it out during the day was smart since the majority of mana beasts sit in their nests when the sun is out. It was only the night when they roamed around the forest looking for food, or worse, possibly stumbling onto a small town with defenseless commoners.
Michael couldn't help but notice everybody's glance at the sword on his back. It turns out none of them really believed it was another person tagging along in their quest. And speaking of tagging along, there happened to be one more party that accompanied theirs.
It was Jule and her group. Michael had met her briefly in the guild before he went to spend the day with Evelyn. They didn't look calloused like other adventurers but their gear and their gaze proved to be valid.
Jule had three other members in her party, just like Michael. In total, there were eight adventurers for the quest.
"Vince couldn't just let us do this alone?" Mave grumbled. "He thought it was sweet enough to send more weight to carry?"
"We're clearing out a nest of mana beasts." Ellis reassured her. "Any helping hand can work. It's not like we're trying to retrieve a scroll again, right?"
"The reward is cut in half."
"You're still stingy about the money? We give you a cut from our pay for the house, don't you think that's enough?"
"What I do with my money isn't for you to figure out."
Stefan slapped Michael's back. "It's about time we took you on a real adventure, right? No more mean people to fight, just trying to clean the land from these beasts. You're becoming a hero, kid."
Michael kept walking. "Do you know what kind of mana beast we're fighting?"
"Nope, but that's the fun of it."
"Oh, okay."
"Yo, little leader!" someone called behind them. "Do you even know where you're going?"
Ellis narrowed his eyes. "Little leader?"
"Just keep following us!" Stefan shouted back. "You're getting a free pass with our direction so don't try to hurry us up!"
"We should rest!" Jule pointed out. "We've been walking for a while—"
"No!" Ellis sharply shouted back to them. "Shut up and keep walking!"
Michael thought he was getting tired of all their voices. Maybe Evelyn was right. Adventurers didn't even get along with each other after all.
"Rest?" Ellis mockingly said. "Why would we rest in the uncharted? The sun is literally our time ticking away. When it sets then we're all free food for the beasts. Amateurs, let me tell you."
Mave glanced back. "And you were just talking about helping hands."
"Helping hands, not helping brains. There's a difference."
Stefan snickered. "I think they're right, little leader, are we there yet—"
Ellis elbowed him in the stomach.
***
After a half an hour of walking deeper into the uncharted, they finally arrived at a temple in ruins, consumed by vegetation and time. It was surrounded by a backdrop of stone and overgrown trees. There were a few pillars that held up the remains of the temple ceiling but half of it was already eroded away.
Though the tall archways were still intact which fascinated Michael thinking what this place would have looked like before it was abandoned. He even thought the place was beautifully destroyed like it was a work of art.
Michael looked over at Ellis. "What's that?"
"A watch." Ellis put it back in his bag. "Seven hours until night."
"That's long enough." Stefan studied the ruins around them. "I'm guessing we're heading inside, or actually, deep down."
"Light is pretty strong here. They won't come to the surface, yeah, we're going down there."
Mave knocked along the pillars. "This remind you of anything?"
Ellis shook his head. "Everything is an old war. Must have been centuries old before mana beasts came here."
The other party caught up behind him.
Jule stood confidently in front. "Yep, this is it. This is the place."
Ellis groaned silently. "As if you found it yourself."
Michael already knew who Jule was because she had introduced herself to him back at the guild. There was another member of her party though, the one with blonde hair. His face lit up as he enthusiastically waved at Michael.
Then there was another member. He was male, maybe older than Jule with a neatly kept beard and thick brown hair that was pulled back. His face was stern and passive, unbothered by the amount of walking they had to do.
But for the other member, he was clearly upset as he flanked behind. He looked to be the youngest out of all of them. His bleached hair was cut short, disproportionate to his head but it didn't look like he cared. The sharp expression on his face is what intimidated Michael first.
Mave gritted her teeth. "You would think Vince would at least give us a competent party. Not even one mage is at our aid."
"They're competent." Ellis looked back. "The second highest performing party behind ours. If we can't complete this quest then nobody else can."
Jule greeted them. "I believe we met before."
Mave didn't shake her hand.
"What do we call you?" Ellis asked, breaking the awkward silence. "Any names?"
After Jule introduced herself, she pointed at them. The blonde man was named Ari, he was the same height as Jule. The bearded one was named Hoss, the tallest and most muscular of all of them as if he was directly born from the mountains. The boy with uneven hair was named Dean, he was a few inches taller than Michael.
Ari rested his hand on the handle of his sword, nodding around as he assessed the empty temple. Their armor was more light, compared to what Michael had seen back at Almore because they were dealing with mana beasts in tight spaces. Hoss was bigger than them and obviously stronger so it was unsurprising that he had the sword the size of Ellis's body.
Michael didn't know why he thought to use Ellis as a comparison but it was accurately close enough.
Dean also had a sword. His annoyed face that they had walked so far here, completely trusting another party, and now forced to work together again. Michael thought Jule would be in charge of her party but Dean looked just as mature to lead them.
Apparently the two parties were familiar with each other but never acknowledged in forming a work relationship. Each of the adventuring parties had their own task, their own quest, and didn't bother mixing in other people's problems. Because whenever they do, it is always a recipe for disaster.
Hoss boldly folded his arms. "Stefan Jaegen, we finally meet."
"Yeah, yeah," Stefan waved him away. "Whatever."
"As arrogant as always."
"We need to move." Ellis said to all of them. "I hope to clear the quest before night, so in the nicest way possible, move your asses."
Ari whistled along. "Quick to the point. Say, how much did you guys get paid for the Almore quest?"
"More than you."
"Really?" he slurred. "So does that mean you'll get paid more from this—"
Jule pushed him aside. "What are we looking for anyways?"
Ellis scanned around. "A way down, away from the sunlight, somewhere mana beasts dug for their nests."
"You have any clue what we're going up against?"
"This is a new region for us, so not at all. Jackals could be common but they only live through caves. Do you know any type of mana beasts that live somewhere like this?"
"Hmm…" she obliviously rubbed her chin. "Not that I'm aware of."
Ellis glanced at Mave. They both shared the same expression.
The adventuring parties spent a good time looking around the temple. The earthly moss that covered the stone was like a sickness along with the chaotic tree roots growing through some paths. It wasn't practical for a human to be living in this type of terrain. Maybe something with strong and long legs could be comfortable.
Michael followed his own party. They cut through this strange temple looking for a way into the darkness. He thought this entire place was ironic. For something that looked so sacred, that most likely worshipped some type of god, they were here to walk into the unknown. Walk deeper into some underground to greet monsters from evil.
Stefan squeezed further, guiding his party with his questionable sense of direction. Knowing he liked to wander off on his own, they had no choice but to follow right behind him so he wouldn't get lost.
A sudden sharp scream was heard from the other side. It was Ari again, for some reason, he loved doing that. He screamed again just to be muffled by his own party trying to strangle him.
"I hope they die."
They all turned to Mave.
"What?" she sounded unbothered. "Why are you guys looking at me like that? And where does that idiot think he's going?"
"Stefan can go ahead." Ellis sat on a tree root. "We've practically done a lap and no underground hole. I'm beginning to think I might be wrong."
She looked at Michael.
Michael tried to avoid her eyes. He turned his attention to how large these tree roots were.
"Boy," she said. "Can you talk to your sword?"
"Uhh…"
"Can you or can you not?"
Michael slowly unsheathed his sword.
"Tell it to find us the mana beasts."
"Mave, come on," Ellis pinched his brow. "That's not going to get us anywhere. Are you getting that bored?"
"I'm finding new solutions. That sword is magical, right? It should have no issue finding traces of mana, then leading us right to their nest."
"That's…okay, Michael, can you ask her?"
Michael stared at the two of them.
Ellis noticed his awkward face. "What are you looking at?"
Michael was watching Evelyn's ghost punching the two of them, floating through the air as she continuously yelled insults at them. He couldn't even tell if this was real life.
Mave stepped closer to him.
He flinched in response, snapping her out of the air. Still, he will never wrap his head around the ghost that they couldn't see.
"Umm…" he blinked harder. "Evelyn, can you help us?"
No, the voice said, you can help yourself.
Ellis leaned for a response. "What did she say?"
"I don't know."
Mave groaned. "How did you become less of a help than you ever were before?"
And you're still just a bitch, the voice said, ever more than you were before!
Michael felt his face drop. He couldn't even look in Mave's direction.