CHAPTER 425: CAMPING IN THE CAVE

The way forward continued to be laborious. Attracted by the scent of blood, the lizard monsters continued to appear, attacking in groups, sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger. Other minor predatory monsters living in the dungeon, which weren’t on the team’s current priority list, also sometimes came to bother them, although to a lesser extent. None of it was anywhere as difficult as the first wave, but...

It was just a near-constant assault. The team moved forward down the rocky paths a little bit, then they had to stop to fight. Then a few more steps, and they were fighting again. All the time like that, slowing them down...

It was a good thing that they at least had a map of the area around the Gate, drawn by the Guild that had previously owned this dungeon. It didn’t cover the whole dungeon, only about a two-mile radius, but at least it was accurate. It spared the team from wandering around, searching for the nests blindly. Instead, they could head straight to their goals, and then withdraw.

Their mission this time wasn’t to completely clear the dungeon, after all, just to reduce the population. It was an unconventional approach... But it was necessary this time, since there were three other dungeons waiting for them, about to erupt. The A-rank team had to first get each of them under control, and only then would they return for a proper raid, clearing the dungeon completely.

Those were the consequences of assigning four dungeons that were at risk of overpopulation to one team. It made the schedule overloaded and messy.

Either way, the team slowly, but surely moved forward. Just as they moved, though, so did the time... And before they even reached the first nest, the sky started turning dark.

Damien stared at the sky with a serious expression. According to the information they had, the nights in the dungeon were very dark, while the lizards had night vision far superior to humans, even the high-ranking Awakened. Under these conditions, it would be unwise to proceed... Rather, they should set up a camp. Although the lights might attract the monsters, at least they should be able to defend themselves just fine.

"There should be a cave suitable for camping not far away from here," he announced to the team. "Let’s take a rest there."

No one raised any protests. Firstly, because they had also seen the map and read what the Guild had written - apparently, they had camped in those caves a few times before, and they were warm, comfortable, and safe, very easy to defend. Since a raid team from a Guild that was weaker than them was alright staying them, then they would surely be alright as well. Secondly, no one wanted to walk around and fight in the dark, especially since no one but Lane had any night vision goggles. And finally...

They were tired. Simply tired. And even more so, hungry. They had been in the dungeon for a good few hours at this point, walking around and fighting, but they hardly had any time to catch a breath, let alone eat any solid meal! Whenever they took the food out, the smell attracted even more of the monsters... So, in the end, all that they could do was to swallow a granola bar or something in a quick few bites, that’s all.

It wasn’t something they were all that used to. Sleeping on the ground in a dungeon was one thing, as they had all frequently done it during longer inspections, but not even being able to eat? The dungeons they typically entered didn’t have any monsters, so this had never been a problem!

The caves finally allowed them to take out their equipment and prepare a warm, delicious meal. Even if the smell attracted the monsters, so what? The only entrance to the cave was so narrow, that they had to enter it one by one, walking in line for a few feet.

They only needed to guard it, and the monsters wouldn’t be able to flood in. Meanwhile, they could take turns eating!

Energized by the perspective of a good rest and a warm meal, the team’s speed visibly increased. It only took them less than fifteen minutes to reach the cave...

Even so, by then, the sky was almost completely dark, and the entrance to the cave looked even more ominous. A pitch black hole in the rock formation, looking like an abyss that could swallow anyone whole...

That didn’t discourage Damien, though. He trusted the information from the Guild, especially since he knew that it was a Guild under Lane’s control. He only raised a lantern in front of himself, and walked straight in, Lane following shortly after him.

The entrance was even smaller than expected. So much so, that Damien had to bent his back a bit as to not to hit his head on the ceiling. Other than that, though, everything was accurate - after just a few steps, he walked into a spacious cave.

He lifted his lantern higher, scanning his surroundings. It all looked peaceful and empty... With two tunnels leading out of the main chamber. One should lead to another chamber similar to this one, while the other into an underground pool and a small waterfall, with water that was safe to drink. The distant murmur of the water seemed to confirm this...

Of course, just because everything seemed safe, it didn’t mean that it was. Who knew if there weren’t any monsters hiding in the other two chambers? Before letting the rest of the team in, Damien wanted to confirm it, as escaping from the cave in case of an emergency could prove to be difficult, due to the small exit. He was about to enter one of the tunnels to check...

But before he could, Lane already called out to the rest of the team, "It’s all good! Come in!"

"Lane, but..." Damien tried to protest, but Lane only smiled in response.

"Don’t worry about it. I’ve already checked everything. I have Mana Scan, remember?"

...Indeed, he had. Damien still felt that there was something off about it all, but...

He could trust Lane, couldn’t he?