A Plant’s Life - Chapter 36 Found you!

While traveling to another town, she rode the wrong carriage finding herself in this hell!

Out of money she had to work to support herself, earning her ride home, for this, she applied as a temporary worker and a short while later she was hired for her first assignment. A man dressed in a long dark blue robe took pity on her, bringing her to his group. Before she knew, her bag was filled, with much hardship, she carried on. However, her eyes were dull, empty from the happiness which once resided in. She had tasted true despair; the worst had happened!

The group continued inside slowly, while every member was preoccupied with their inner demons. They passed some stations filled with soldiers inside, looking very serious, keeping an eye on every activity. Small guard stations existed inside the dungeon, where soldiers changed after shifts of 8 hours, keeping watch at all time. The entrance of the dungeon had strict security, meant as deterrence against monsters and adventurers alike! They enforced rules and made sure no one wondered around, causing trouble. Their purpose was controlling the crowd, making sure they didn’t access inner layers. The stations outside checked every person upon exiting; any findings had to be reported, with the possibility of confiscation of items for the safety of mankind!

While walking around Dahlia said aloud:

“The objective is to find a spiritual plant called Night Gale, the way to know it by is that it makes a sound at nighttime. A very light kekeke sound, its like laughter”

Link asked: “How many do we need to complete it?”

Dahlia: “We have to fill up two baskets for the client, more than that is also welcome but less likely to be found really”

Betsy asked sarcastically: “What a hard task, surly we will encounter mortal danger. Did we have to all come in to hold your hands? You and Link could have easily finished such a simple mission”

Dahlia answered: “First off, Night Gale grows in spots that are more unsafe, practically close to giant spiders. Second, if we can kill some goblins, it would be great, since their spine is in demand at the moment, the guild is buying them like candy. Third, if you don’t work, how do you plan to get paid, we are not running a charity after all?”

Betsy turned her head around preserving her pride by ignoring, letting out a sound.

Humph

Beryl simply looked at this scene, eyes bright, looking at her idol, older sister.

The group traveled further inside, all the way to the zone where monsters existed.

Since the outposts were permanent, weak monsters had learned to avoid them, preserving their lives. The troops were well equipped and trained, making any enemy regret their foolish act of hostility. However, they were ordered not to move, preserving only a small part. This had made their presence tolerable for those who visited the dungeon doing missions. But the effects of they had on the natural ecosystem of the place was rather visible. Less activity of creatures had lowered the mana density and ultimately the growth of all life forms. As the mainframe would not allocate precious resources around areas with human influence.

After arriving at the desired location, Dahlia commanded Link:

“It’s your time to shine, sunny boy, do your magic”

Link performed a hand gesture while casting the incantation, creating a cover for the adventures group against any detection. The spell, covered their smell and movement sound to a certain extent, lowering any chance of being detected and cornered.

After getting into formation they walked around slowly, while it may have seemed as a good idea to separate and cover more ground, they knew the dangers solo exploration. At any given point of time, the situation could turn for the worst in a matter of seconds, they had learned as such throughout many near-death experiences.

Many hours later, Alvin noticed a weak sound of laughter. Pointing the group towards the source they found a small batch of the flower. With the pace they achieved results, the deadline of a week seemed too short. This issue coupled with brief preservation window for the attained plants raised the difficulty of this task. It came as no wonder that the reward had been so handsome, enticing a gang of 5 to take action.

The group continued to walk in the same direction in hopes of finding more, all members were listening closely, trying to find any clues. They had distanced themselves from the outpost by a far distance to find a more intact habitat.

Suddenly a sharp battle cry sounded, with audible footsteps, rushing towards them. Since they were in formation, not much needed to change, yet to be safer and further from action attendants distanced themselves. Ginger, in particular, was scared beyond belief, Rod had to calm her down, assuring that their position was the safest place, or the poor girl would have run off screaming when danger closed in. As a matter of fact, many heroes had fallen because of their aid’s incompetence, dying without any rations or medical supplies, their names wiped from pages of history, as they did not have a chance to accomplish much.

The violent humanoid green goblins arrived by the group, where they met a large two-handed sword. Alvin quickly beheaded 2 of them with one powerful swing. While beside him Beryl quietly acted as a grim reaper, slicing up limbs with a short sword in each hand.

Link was only an intermediate apprentice, thus, with limited mana capacity, took the role of support, controlling the crowd of enemies.

used her bow to pierce the eyes of 3 goblins with three shots, not missing any of them. This feat should have earned much praise, yet in the heat of battle, no one really noticed, except Beryl, who showed a moment of hesitation. A monster tried to bite her arm, but before any damage was done, Dahlia threw a sharp knife, killing the beast. Their state of teamwork and understanding had been honed throughout many bloody battles.

A short time later, the ground was littered with the dark green blood of these green bastards.

Rolling Stones were successful in eliminating the threat easily, without any injuries. Even though these monsters were very weak, killing them in a large number was rather troublesome. With their short stature, they could harass most warriors, as their training was focused generally on same height targets.

They took the spines and ears in a rush not to attract the attention of other monsters or adventurer groups. Ginger almost cried, refusing to carry the bloody loots, leading to the frowning of Dahlia. Seeing the disappointed look on the face of her clients, she swallowed her breakfast back in and agreed, in fear of being left behind and dying.

Once this event was settled, they avoided the tunnel where the goblins emerged from and went another way. They really needed to finish the request before their plans foiled. Even with a high level of attention to the smallest details, they all failed to notice a pair of bright red eyes following them as they advanced.

As the day came to an end, the group slowed down, catching their breaths. There had been no daylight inside these dark walls, only the glow of magical orbs made by Link the mage. However, their biological clocks formed from years of developing a habit manifested in the form of sleepiness. Making them stop to start up tents and a small fire; having fire in these parts did not lead to much harm, since these monsters were weak-willed, becoming easily afraid of normal fire.