Chapter 14: A Hidden Dungeon

During the beginning of the group's journey, there weren't many events besides the passing few mobs that wandered onto the walkway before the group. Hegen had to do very little work as the others were enthusiastic to kill these monsters and he wasn't averse to not having to do extra work where he doesn't have to.

In this manner, the group continued for more than half an hour before finally stumbling on something interesting. A bit out of their location, Hegen noticed a strange but oddly familiar aura coming from the grove of trees that was on their right. Asking his group to stop and investigate with him, the other members looked at him curiously and confused but did as they were asked.

They quickly made their way to this spot, finding a large, cliche-looking cave that was just sticking out of the ground. The light from the outside of the cave, which was already blocked mostly by the trees, could barely penetrate a foot into the darkness of the cave. Luckily, Clouded Skies was prepared, and quickly pulled out a makeshift torch which she promptly lit. While she was making her torch, everyone else looked at her with stunned expressions.

She quickly and awkwardly explained, "I've had a quest that required me to explore a cave, so now I bring these around with me. They don't take up a lot of inventory space and are quite easy to make."

Everyone nodded understandingly, and even learned from this, making a mental note to prepare torches before going on an adventure just in case. Even Hegen was surprised by the creativeness, although once he was able to cultivate more properly, he'd be able to see in the darkness without any troubles.

The team quickly made their way into the cave which was now partially lit by the torchlight. Shortly after they all entered the cave, the cave's floor began to rumble before the cave's entrance collapsed behind them. If someone were observing the cave from the outside, however, they'd notice that the cave didn't collapse but sank into the ground. The team was slightly startled but quickly reigned in their anxious nerves and got into a small group to discuss what to do next.

Arching Prowler, the impromptu leader of the group, quickly deduced that they had been trapped inside of a hidden dungeon, although he had no idea how Hegen was able to detect the cave from that sort of distance. He quickly organized the team and helped to calm down the rest of the group. Even Slumber seemed to be awake now, his gaming spirit spurred by the words of a hidden dungeon.

Hegen quickly rummaged through Hyun-woo's memories before realizing that hidden dungeons were places that had increased risk with an increased reward. Hegen was slightly excited for the better equipment, but more so to find out whatever was releasing such a familiar aura.

After slightly more discussion about how to proceed, the team slowly began to inch forward through the cave with Opaque Lancer at the front. Surprisingly, Hegen was told to follow her closely. Arching Prowler assumed that Hegen was at high risk in the team as he hadn't engaged in any of the encounters throughout their travel.

Quickly, however, he was proven wrong. Soon into their journey throughout the cave, a faint whooshing noise could be heard before countless arrows rained down on the group from all sides. Opaque Lancer wasn't in much trouble as she could protect herself with her armor and shield, but the other softer classes wouldn't be so lucky. Quickly, everyone began swinging crazily, except for Hegen.

Hegen simply and calmly unsheathed his sword before gently swinging it around. He was utilizing the skill from the Blade of the Flowing Ocean. He effortlessly swiped away the many arrows coming toward him and he tactfully positioned himself near one side of the other members of the team. Unfortunately, he couldn't protect everyone, deciding to leave Opaque Lancer on her own as she was the sturdiest of the group.

Thanks to Hegen's flawless deflection of the arrows, the burden of the group was significantly lessened. However, although the burden was lessened, there were still too many arrows for the group to completely block and after every few blocked arrows, a stray arrow would find its mark. Luckily, Slumber wasn't given the title of the best priest in the game by Dynasty for nothing. Every moment that a team member's health would drop, he would quickly send a heal their way, recovering their health and lightening their burden even more so.

After a short while, the arrows finally ceased and the team quickly exited the area, stopping in a small tunnel shortly past where the arrows had bombarded them previously. The group took this time to recover the health they had lost. Even though Slumber was providing them with heals, it wasn't perfect and they still had lost a significant chunk of their health. Opaque Lancer, who didn't have Hegen's protection, was the worst off, with only a sliver of her health remaining. Slumber decided to aid in healing her while they rested, healing her every now and then.

Shortly into their break, however, Hegen felt uneasy and glanced deeper into the cave to where they would be heading next. However, what he saw was a pair of red eyes glaring back at him.