Chapter 9: 9- Rudeus And The Party

"Clik! Clik!"

As the dry woods snapped in the fire, sending splinters flying through the air

Rudeus watched his party member Greyt, a bulky man with broad shoulders and thick forearms just good enough in holding the shield to tank the monsters attack. Holding the steel pot above the fire stirring the stew carefully like an expert cook blowing air before tasting it without ruining his groomed beard 

As he himself cleans his shiny daggers sticking from the blood of the beginner monsters they had encountered till they reach this safe room build for the adventurers in the second strata of the dungeon to rest

He and his party had picked the quest to investigate the recent disappearances of the adventurers as their last quest before they leaves him 

"Hmm..."

From the blades reflection, Rudeus saw his handsome youthful appearance with brown hair and blue eyes, he was more than enough to join any famous familias since those gods care more about appearance than the talent itself 'or so those who couldn't join themselves, said out of jealousy' but he himself believes to be an atheist 

'Come to think of it... Why did I choose to be an atheist?' 

To his right, the short orange haired, gentle looking women wearing the ordinary mage cloak can be seen marking the places they had checked and circling the zones they had yet to investigate. Rudeus caught the sight of a beautiful ring with a glittering diamond that screams expensive resting at her ring finger, which makes his mood turned sour in an instant 

'Yea, I definitely hate those gods and their pet dogs!' He thought, gritting his teeths in jealousy

Memories of some years as a boy just-turned-adult and his childhood sweetheart coming to Orario with great hopes of touching the social heights they could only dreamed in their small home town, came to his mind which somehow overlaps with that same grown up girl sitting in front of him wearing her engagement ring given from that bastard of Ganesh Familia, the current behemoth of Orario

"Rudy, stop sulking and give me ya feedback" Passing the bowl of stew, Greyt said with his signature hearty smile which is still covered with his dense beard as years back 

"Why, you mixed a new poison or what? It would be the same plain stew, if you didn't added some random dungeon plants in it" Though, complaining. He appreciated Greyts cooking but he still missed the stew made by Mary whenever on the dungeon expedition

"Huh? Thanks Greyt! I just hope some people would be more appreciative and less complaining of others efforts" As she takes the bowl from him, Julia smiles and passed a comment at rudeus rude remark only for her to start giggling when she saw Rudueus fanning his mouth after eating before the stew could cooled down

"By the way, How's Mary?" Blowing on her spoon slowly, she asked of her ex-party member Mary,who had recently became pregnant and married to Greyt, which was a surprise to both Rudueus and her at that time. Even though, the one who got surprised the most were, Greyt and Mary when they hear Julias engagement to a man other than Rudueus, after seeing them getting together for years they were sure of their future

"Oh, almost forgot to tell ya, the apothecary has confirmed for a twin before the next winter" With a hearty laugh he cheered to Rudueus and that man busy with a book in a corner "you both are welcome for a dinner and you also my friend... Huh? What are you doing?"

"No... Nothing!" Snapping shut the book, Nicolas quickly slids it back into his large back pack carrying the party spare equipments but Rudueus agile hands outclassed his, being a thief as his only class sure gives him some perks 

"Ohhh! You sure it's nothing?" Asking with a meaningful grin, Rudueus asked before opening while Greyt signals him not to. In consideration of Nicolas dignity in front of a julia 

"Rudueus! No!" Putting his spectacles aside the skinny man tried to stop him 

"Hey what's this? A language book?" Disappointed, he tossed it back. Which Nicolas caught before glaring at him 

"Seriously, why would you take a language book inside a dungeon and wait is that one of the Tilapikas language book?" With wide eyes, Rudueus exclaimed 

"Don't tell me, you're trying to hit on that new foreigner guild receptionist... Really!" 

"No! That's... That's for knowledge!" With a rare blush, Nicolas denied 

"No, no I can understand. The cat girls sure are exotic looking and rare in Orario and it won't be a surprise if you also get smitten by her just like every adventurer, so be proud for having a great choice Nicolas!" 

"Urgh! Leave me alone!" Not withstanding his teasings, the young man who had recently joined their party because they're short of one member stuffed the stew with a huff

"Yeah yeah, she looks good and all with rare features that all boys so desired, so why don't you try your chances with her?" Packing her stuff, julia said with a grumble 

"I would, only if I haven't gotten a heartbreak recently" Rudueus strapped the dagger belt at his waist roughly out of spite!

"Ahem! Ahem!..." Before a war could happen in the small safe room, Greyt interrupted them with a cough before sighing internally 

"I'm going... We have wasted too much time on someone without a worth" Taking big strides, Rudeus stormed out leaving behind a fuming Julia, Greyt shaking his head and a self blaming Nicolas who's seeking help from Greyt 

"You wait!" Before Julia could said after catching upto him with the others, an explosion boomed in their surroundings 

"Boom!"

"What was that?!" Nicolas takes a defensive crouch, using the large backpack as the shield 

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Instead of answering him, the other three members dashed and consequently drawing out their weapons without a word to another. Showing great tacit understanding of veterans 

"Hey wait for me!" Dragging the turtle shell, Nicolas caught his breath after catching upto them 

Taking the turn, they came across a medium sized cavern with walls painted in the monsters blood and tiny bits of its body parts sticking around with some raw residuals of mana coursing through the air

The damage wasn't amount to much since the dungeon walls are naturally accustomed to the constant fightings of a scale much larger than this, if it may happened 

"Hmm... Any idea?" Frowning, Rudeus asked while gripping his daggers and glancing vigilantly and not finding any other monsters alive 

Julia didn't responds, not because of the earlier argument but because something had caught her sight

Across the rubbles, julia picks up a glowing crystal the size of her pinky finger before rubbing it twice making it glow more radiantly

"A mana stone?" Surprised by her finding, she checks again before smiles back at the party members

"You sure? Never heard of founding a mana stone at the second strata" Greyt was in doubt as he wasn't a mage to know the authenticity of a mana stone 

"Maybe an adventurer dropped it here before fleeing or even... Dying?" Rudeus commented after taking a glance at the bloody walls 

"No, it was a monster that died. Ah! Most probably a Raticul, don't know whether it was general or at boss level" Nicolas said with a tilt of his head, as he checked the splattered blood with his finger causing Rudeus to click his tongue "Can't underestimate a beast fanatic huh"

"Now come to think of it, we haven't encountered any rat in the first Strata, nor in this second Strata, have we?" Julia mused while taking out the map and tugging the mana stone into her cloaks side pockets, causing a certain goblin in hiding to scowl at her in silent frustration

"What about the adventurers, was there any signs of them" Greyt finally asked the important question, since their quest might be related to this

"Can confirm, none here" Licking his finger clean, Nicolas affirmed

"Hey what if that blood was of a human?" 

"Then I got to know 'if' it is or not" 

Shrugging, Nicolas replied causing Rudeus to step back in revulsion, while not forgetting to give his snide comment 

"You animancers, sure got some weird kinks"

"So what do we do now?" Ignoring his comment, Nicolas asked 

"Away from its group, a lone Raticul won't explode on its own and not to mention. Leaving behind an intact mana stone, though much lower in quality it could be easily sold for about a hundred copper taels and that still is nowhere near an average lower monster core could fetch" Flashing a smile, Julia calculated as her voice became excited "What if a group of Raticul founded a mana stone mine and this lone Raticul wasn't satisfied with his share and run away after stealing more" 

"And the angry Raticul group pursued him till they finally caught him and take it away before placing a bomb inside the traitor? Which triggered when they gets away at a safe distance" Rudeus added to her story and as he continued his eyes sparkles the same as Julia "So we have a group of evil Raticuls hoarding mana stones that can make us rich for two months and if get extremely lucky we get a year worth of wealth!" 

Talking in the same frequency, They both seems like incredible partners to Greyt. As he questions himself, if they're the same individuals who can't stand each others presence just a moment ago 

"Ahem!... That seems great in theory but first we have a quest to clear before you both go on your treasure hunt" Coughing, he reminded them kindly which kinds of make things awkward for julia causing her to turn away stiffly 

"Ye...Yeah" In her attempt to change the topic, she took out the map and talks about the nearest zone they should proceed 

"Sigh..." Feeling a shoulder pat from Greyt, Rudeus gives a defeated smile at him as he sighed Inaudibly while Nicolas feels a little left out but that wasn't new to him, as it hadn't been more than a month or two; if he counts extensively

"We have three more zones to inspect and there's a high possibility for encountering this stratas boss monster so be ready" Giving her warning, julia continued to walk ahead

Even though being veterans, they aren't some familias nor they have any patron gods to make them strong enough that they could simply ignore the power level of these kinds of starta boss monsters, they have survived till now because they knew very well enough how dangerous and unpredictable this great dungeon can be 

"Hmm, who was the last boss monster reported at the guild for this strata?" Greyt asked casually 

"Ah... I forgot but I believe it was reported to be the fire breathing orc, about two weeks ago" Having great memory, Nicolas replied

Normally the adventurers didn't usually challenge the boss monsters. Since they can advance to the next strata or even the Major strata a.k.a the Echelon, which is big enough to be called a world of its own, as long they didn't die reaching it. Which also slowed down the updates on these these mini boss monsters at adventurer guild

With a map in hand and a white magic lamp floating around for illumination. The party keep walking deep inside the dungeon caverns, without knowing a curious goblin was stalking them from behind, keeping its distance as further as possible

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