Azalea Village

After the formal introductions, we take a hovercraft that will take us to the destination where we will take on the assessment mission. It is a luxurious craft with air conditioning, mini fridge with beverages and also a holo projector.

The hovercraft vibrates a little when its engines roar to life and start ascending in the air and give us a jerk when it starts to move forward with a speed that we can't estimate sitting at the back of the hovercraft.

I wish there is a window for me to see the scenery outside and deduce how fast we are moving, but there is none and it is full of metal alloys of unknown origin.

The email said we will be briefed on the mission when we are on the way, so I didn't ask anything about it even now as Jack will tell us about it when the time comes.

I relax myself as I look at the armor Vimal is wearing as it looks catchy and is crafted with precision. It looks sturdy that can reduce the impact of the attacks drastically even though it is mostly made of leather.

It looks different than the armor the other close combat soldiers were wearing as that was full of alloys that might restrict their movements to provide more protection to the wielders. I would like to have a leather armor like Vimal which will help me in movement as I already have the Ice Armor that will give me protection when activated.

I look at Vimal who is relaxed, looking at Jack with his scrutinizing gaze who is sitting at the front with the hovercraft driver and taking his own time to brief us about the mission which is making us anxious to know about it more and more by the passing minute.

I must keep a calm mind to do well in the mission. So I start doing meditation by sitting in Lotus position to calm myself and not to get distracted by Vimal who is sitting in front of me trying to act normal when things are not.

After a few hours, I sense Jack moving from the front to the back of the hovercraft where we are sitting. I open my eyes to see Vimal playing drums using some invisible drums in the air in front of him to pass time.

He stops when he sees Jack coming in from the front and gives an awkward smile when Jack gives a stern look to make him stop what he was doing till now. Once he stops playing the invisible drums in the air, Jack sits next to me and briefs us about the mission.

As per the information, an E-grade dungeon has appeared near a village called Azalea two days ago and we are going in to it with the Defense Corp to assist in clearing and closing the dungeon before an outbreak happens.

Hearing this I get excited as this will be the first time for me to enter a dungeon. But what concerns me is why only three of us are sent to a dungeon raid instead of a team of five or ten which will be easier to clear the dungeon.

Maybe they sent us here as we can handle the E-grade monsters with ease and can kill them without using any of our skills. To handle an E-grade monster, I don't even have to infuse my element energy into my new katana, just a normal swing is more than enough to slice them into two.

We will be fighting a humanoid monsters, pigmen. These monsters are more intellectual than other monsters and wield weapons and armor to attack and defend. It will be a little difficult to clear the dungeon, but not impossible.

After the briefing, Jack went back to the front saying it will take another few hours to reach Azalea village and we need to get some rest and be prepared for anything when we get there.

After five hours, we reach the village which is surrounded by forest and a twenty five meter high defense wall which is shorter than the fifty meter wall of the Havet.

We could hear fighting sounds, metals clanging, spells and arrows swooshing in the air around the defense wall. Looks like the locals and the defense corp are already fighting the monsters that have come out of the dungeon or clearing the animals around the village for us to take on the mission with no worries of being attacked by the animals when we camp outside the dungeon.

We land near the defense wall of the Azalea village which is bustling with the activity of the volunteers, soldiers and the wounded going in and out of the defense wall. I can see few people who have lost their limbs and are being carried by their teammates to the healers who are busy healing the wounded.

I can see many simple houses built in a group like a community and there is a separate place for shopping and farming. There is also a big vacant area at the middle for people to gather for festivities. It is as if, they are all part of a big family.

This could have been a peaceful farming village with its fertile land, but has been changed into a war zone because of the E-grade dungeon that needs to be cleared as soon as humanly possible.

I wear my sleeveless armor and strap the katana in my back at the Hunter's Guild tent and wait for Jack who is collecting the information regarding the whereabouts of the pigmen and how they work to plan our mission and when we will be moving out.

I look around the village in the meantime to see if I can be useful to anyone by any chance. I can see only the kids who have not awakened their elements are inside the village while the others are outside helping the soldiers in clearing the area of animals and monsters.

Even the kids are helping in a way. Helping the healers to take care the wounded, bringing water and food to the soldiers who are stationed at the defense wall to protect the village.