The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter - Chapter 9: Dangerous Low-Level Dungeon? (1)

They woke up early in the morning, at 4:00 a.m., so they could eat and get ready while Neban had time to drop his son off at his parents’ house.

They all decided to take Owain’s car since it was bigger than theirs. Once they got in, Neban gave him the address to his parents’ house as he made sure he situated his sleeping son; he brought the car seat from his car into Owain’s.

Owain typed in the address and started driving.

He moved closer to his son as Theo was gripping his shirt sleeve; it was adorable to him. “Your son is so cute; where is the mother?” Isona asked, taking him out of his thoughts.

Neban frowned when the girl asked about Theo’s mother. That woman is a ghost with the way she gave Theo to him before disappearing. He tried looking for her during the first few months he had his son, but it was like she dropped off the face of the earth.

“Gone.” He answered because it was true. It is not like it mattered anyway; he did not care for the woman and only tried to look for her because she gave Theo to him without any necessary documents. He had to get them done himself, which was a long and tedious process, especially since he hated dealing with the government at times.

“Oh, I am sorry.” Isona pulled a sad tone, which confused Neban. Why is she apologizing?

“Sorry for what?” Confusion surfaced in his voice.

Now Isona was looking lost, “Uh, you meant she died, right? It must have been hard.”

“No, she gave me Theo and said she didn’t want him, then disappeared. I did not know I had a child until she showed up at my door. I didn’t even remember her until I had to look for her to try and get his documents.” Neban answered; this was the first time he said many words in one seating.

An awkward silence filled the car as Isona was flustered, not knowing what to say, while Owain was the first to break it by bursting out laughing. His laughter turned into coughs.

“Did the people send you any information?” Wey asked, changing the subject.

Isona quickly took her phone out as she searched through her messages, not wanting to look at Neban after embarrassing herself. She found an email from them that they sent a few minutes ago, weird that her phone didn’t notify her about the new email.

She opened it, reading the contents before answering, “Yes, they gave us the address to the area and said that they would give us more information when we get there.”

“They could have sent the explanation in the email; I hope it isn’t going to be a long talk.” Owain groaned.

It was quiet for the rest of the ride after Owain’s complaint. Once they reached his parents’ house, Owain parked his car while Neban unbuckled himself and his son before getting out.

He walked to the front door and knocked on it, holding his son while slowly rocking. It took a while before the door opened, but when it did, his mother was on the other side, looking like she just woke up; she was rubbing her eyes while yawning.

“Neban? Do you need us to take Theo?”

He texted his mother during the middle of the night that he needed them to watch Theo for a while; she probably hasn’t checked her phone yet. But, he was lucky enough that his mother understood what he needed.

He nodded, causing his mother to hold her hands out for Theo. Neban kissed his son’s head before handing him over to his mother. When Theo felt himself getting moved, he sleepily said, “Papa?”

“I got you, honey. Your dad has to go to work.” His mother answered. Theo hummed before falling back to sleep.

“Thanks. See you later.” He walked off as his mom waved goodbye; even with his short responses, she knew that Neban appreciated their help.

Once he got back in the car, they started driving to the location.

When they reached the place, parking the car before getting out, they saw the hunters already standing in front of the dungeon’s entrance. The opening looked weird as it was green with specks of red in it.

The hunters were already holding bags, waiting for them to come. “Hello, thank you for accepting to work with us.” One of the hunters spoke when they stopped in front of them.

Owain moved to the front, taking the lead as he put his hand out, “Hey, and you’re welcome. We are excited to experience this phenomenon with you. My name is Owain; by the way.”

Another hunter stepped forward, taking his hand as they had the aura of a leader, “My name is Vidan, and I am the leader of this group. Why don’t we start the introductions before everything else?”

Owain let go of his hand while backing up, looking towards Isona, so she can start the introductions since he already told them his name.

“My name is Isona.”

“My name is Wey.”

“Neban.”

Once they finished, the hunters started their introductions.

“My name is Vidan, and I am the leader. S-level and a Mage class.”

“Nefia, and I am the co-leader. S-level and a Supporter class.”

“I am Tassan. A-level and a Summoner class.”

“Kobe, and I am an A-level with a Summoners class.”

“My name is Ermes, an A-level, and a Warrior class.”

“Samora, an A-level, and a Warrior class.”

“My name is Valery. I am an A-level with a Warrior class.”

After they all finished introducing themselves, the hunters handed the bags they were holding to them. Wey and Owain had the packed bags while Neban and Isona took the empty ones.

“The monsters inside the dungeons are Drok, Wribat, Gnor, and Wrans; they are high-level creatures, so please stay behind us and make sure you stay out of the way,” Vidan warned them.

They nodded while Neban wondered if he should use [Almighty Mind] to read their thoughts or leave it alone. Sometimes it does get tiring to hear everyone’s thoughts.

Vidan opened his mouth again, “When we enter, the walk there is a simple one with no monsters, the ones I told you about are guarding the weapon. We believe there must be something more to the high-grade sword due to all the monsters working together to protect it and because it appeared in a low-level dungeon.

“When we enter the weapon’s area, do not move forward with us and wait until we defeat them while capturing the sword. If any monsters get through, Valery and Kobe will be with you to protect you. Do not be rash.

“Now, let’s enter,” Vidan explained before he turned around, walking to the entrance of the dungeon. The others followed.

When they walked into the dungeon, Neban and the others stayed in the back while Valery and Kobe stuck to them. Vidan and Nefia took to the front of the group while the others were in the middle. Even though Vidan had said it was clear except for the monsters guarding the weapon, the hunters were still on their guard.

“It seems quiet in this dungeon,” Owain whispered to them.

“The hunters that were here before cleared out the low-level monsters, but they never finished the dungeon when they discovered the weapon and the high-level creatures. So, that is why it is so quiet.” Isona answered, sounding very informed.

“Wow, you know your stuff,” Owain said as he looked amazed at Isona’s answer. Neban internally agreed with that.

Isona blushed at that, “Sometimes I like to follow what is happening with the hunters. Sorry, if it is weird, my friends hate hearing about it, so I lessened my time looking at stuff like that.”

“You shouldn’t let others stop you from what you like doing,” Wey added in. Owain nodded with that while Neban did not say anything, but he did agree with what Wey said.

Isona turned a little red at that, but before she could say anything, Valery interrupted them, “I do not want to be rude here, but can you all quiet down? I need to hear for any surprise attacks.”

“Sorry.” Isona murmured under her breath, looking at the ground. They were silent after that, not saying anything as they walked down the long hallway of the dungeon.

Neban looked at the cracks on the walls while candlelights hung from them. On the ground, there were bones from other hunters that went inside and never came back. After a dungeon is complete, they reset after 30 days. But, it was the monsters that would reset while everything remained the same.

So, it was easier to go through completed dungeons because everyone knew what to expect. It could be the same for dungeons that were uncompleted. Some hunters would scout dungeons to see what is inside, and if it is too difficult for them to defeat, they would leave and inform their company.

After that, stronger hunters would finish it out with the information given, making it more manageable. Undiscovered dungeons, new ones, and old ones that have been untouched take longer to defeat since no one knew what was inside.

Neban thought that it is more exciting when a person does not know what to expect.

When they stopped moving, Neban took himself out of his thoughts as he looked up. There was a vast door with intricate carvings that did not have an actual drawing to it. There was an air of heavy pressure coming through the cracks, indicating something dangerous behind the door.

It only made Neban want to rush ahead and open the door. He had to push his nails into the inside of his palm to stop himself from doing it.

Vidan turned around, facing them with a stern look. “Me, Nefia, and Ermes will take the front while Tassan and Samora will be in the middle, making sure barely any monsters can get past us. If so, Kobe and Valery will be at the rear to kill them and protect the porters.

“Porters, please stay by the door; if a monster gravely hurts Kobe or Valery, you can escape. When we finish them off and grab the sword, be ready to collect the ameis. Everyone got that?” He explained to them.

Once everyone nodded, Vidan turned back around, pushing the door open.

On the other side was an enormous room with a high-grade sword resting on top of an altar. The weapon was silver, fading into a red color as it had small white designs at the bottom. There was a strong dark aura coming from it, almost like a cloud was streaming down.

The weapon seemed to call for Neban, and he had to plant his feet to the ground because he could feel the pull of the sword.

Surrounding the weapon were about three hundred monsters; some were sitting while others were standing up. But when they walked into the room, all the creatures stood up as they pointed their weapons towards them.

One of them moved to the front, which was the King of Droks.

Droks had the body of an orc but were smaller than them. They were dressed in thin armor, holding two heavy hatchets. The monsters had durable skin and were able to use earth magic; they were also intelligent. But, there are barely any numbers of them while they had one king.

The king was a dual mage, able to wield earth and fire magic without trouble. He was more robust and more massive than the other Droks, while his armor was heavier. The king wore a crown while only wielding a naginata; they could also speak many languages.

“If you humans have come for the weapon, know that none of you will leave here alive.” The King of Droks warned them, slamming his weapon down on the ground as he released a strong gust of pressure.

The hunters took out their weapons, planting their feet on the ground, so they wouldn’t fall to their knees due to the pressure. Wey, Isona, and Owain fell to the ground as their faces turned pale; they looked close to throwing up.

After seeing them fall, Neban did the same, acting like he was in pain as he gazed at the sword. ‘Come.’ The sword called like a siren seducing its prey. He moved forward only to stop when the king moved in front of the weapon, staring down at him.

The king narrowed his eyes at him, and Neban looked away. The monster was getting ready to say something but stopped when the room grew colder as Vidan started to summon his ice.

“I am sorry to inform you, but all of you will be the ones to die,” Vidan words resonated throughout the room.