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.....
The next morning, the four met outside the city.
Tolu arrived first, a simple sword hanging from his waist.
He adjusted the weapon before looking toward the road.
A few minutes later, Ore appeared.
Unlike the others, she wasn’t carrying a sword.
A bow rested across her back, with a quiver of arrows secured beside it.
Tolu looked at her weapon.
"You bought a bow?"
Ore nodded.
"Why would I use a sword when I can shoot from a distance?"
Tolu smiled.
"Fair enough."
Akin soon arrived with a sword of his own.
He looked at Tolu, then at Ore.
"Where’s Temi?"
"Probably late," Ore said.
A few moments later, Temi came running down the road.
She stopped in front of them, slightly out of breath.
"Sorry."
Akin looked at her.
"You’re late."
Temi glared at him.
"I know."
She adjusted the sword at her side.
Akin noticed it.
"You got a sword too."
"We’re novices. What else was I supposed to get?"
He nodded.
"Good answer."
Tolu looked at all three of them.
Four adventurers.
Four different affinities.
Three swords and a bow.
And four books containing spells they barely understood.
Ore lifted her bow from her shoulder.
"So..."
She looked at the others.
"Where do we start?"
Tolu smiled.
"Training."
Temi sighed.
"Again?"
Akin looked at her.
"We just spent eighty bronze on those books."
Temi narrowed her eyes.
"Don’t start."
Akin smiled.
Tolu shook his head as they began walking toward the training grounds.
They still had a long way to go.
After a few days of mastering the first three spells of their respective affinities and spending nearly all their money on training and supplies, the four decided it was finally time to go on an adventure.
They wanted to hunt a Mirefang.
The four stood in front of the Adventurer’s Guild notice board, looking through the available quests.
Most of the notices were either too difficult for them or offered rewards too small to be worth the trouble.
Then Ore pointed toward a small parchment near the bottom of the board.
"What’s this?"
Tolu leaned closer.
The parchment was plain and almost easy to overlook.
Level One Dungeon — Clearance Mission
The dungeon had already been cleared several times, but recent reports suggested that creatures had begun appearing inside again.
The dungeon was small.
Its monsters were considered low-level.
There were no valuable resources inside, and experienced adventurers rarely bothered with it.
But one recent report had caught their attention.
Mirefang sighting.
Temi read the description.
"A Mirefang?"
Akin nodded.
"Mirefangs are solitary creatures."
"So there should only be one," Ore said.
Tolu looked at the parchment again.
If the report was accurate, they wouldn’t have to deal with a pack of them.
Just one.
And they had already fought one before.
Barely.
Tolu remembered how close that fight had been.
But this time there were four of them.
They had trained for several days.
They had also learned their first three spells.
"We can do it," Tolu said.
Ore looked at the others.
Akin nodded.
Temi smiled.
"Then let’s take it."
Tolu removed the parchment from the board and carried it toward the counter.
The receptionist looked at the quest before looking at the four of them.
"You’re all novices?"
"Yes."
She glanced at the quest again.
"A Mirefang isn’t exactly an easy opponent for beginners."
"We know," Tolu replied.
The receptionist studied them for a moment before stamping the parchment.
"Don’t get careless."
They nodded.
With the quest accepted, the four left the guild.
Their weapons were secured.
Their spell books were packed away.
And for the first time since becoming a party, they were heading into a dungeon together.
Their target was simple.
One Mirefang.
Four novices.
They just had to bring it down.
The journey to the dungeon took most of the morning.
The four walked along a narrow path that led deeper into the forest, their weapons and supplies secured to their backs.
Temi walked beside Akin, occasionally glancing at him.
"So," she said, "how confident are you?"
Akin looked at her.
"About what?"
"The Mirefang."
"Confident enough."
Temi smiled.
"I thought so."
Ore, who was walking ahead of them, turned around.
"Don’t get overconfident. We’ve only fought one before."
"That was before we learned our spells," Temi replied.
"And before we had four people. We’re much stronger now. All we need is a challenge to test how strong we are." Akin added.
Tolu smiled.
"She’s right about one thing. We’re stronger than we were."
He looked down at his hand.
He had spent the last few days practicing constantly.
Stone Grip no longer required nearly as much concentration as before.
He could lift a pebble whenever he wanted.
His Stone Spike was improving too, although his accuracy was still far from perfect.
Ore stopped walking.
"We’re getting close."
The others looked ahead.
Through the trees, the forest became darker.
The path narrowed as they continued.
Soon, the trees opened into a small clearing.
At the far end stood a large stone structure partially buried beneath the earth.
Tolu slowed down.
The dungeon entrance.
It wasn’t impressive.
There were no towering walls.
No elaborate statues.
No groups of powerful adventurers gathered outside.
Only an old stone archway leading into darkness.
A few faded marks could be seen around the entrance, left behind by adventurers who had cleared the dungeon before.
Temi looked around.
"That’s it?"
Akin nodded.
"Level One."
Ore adjusted the bow on her back.
"Most adventurers probably don’t bother coming this far for something like this."
Tolu stared into the entrance.
Something felt familiar.
He couldn’t explain it.
The feeling was faint, almost like sensing something in the distance.
He couldn’t feel the entire dungeon.
Only a small part of it.
But there was something there.
Something alive.
Tolu tightened his grip on his sword.
Ore looked at the others.
"Ready?"
Akin rested a hand on his sword.
"Ready."
Temi smiled.
"Let’s go get our Mirefang."
Tolu looked at the dark entrance one last time.
Then the four stepped toward the dungeon gate.