𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

𝙭𝙫𝙞𝙞.

In the end, the Witch survived her first meeting with a monster. Well, actually two monsters, but who's counting?

"So, anyone wants to tell me what other creatures we'll be meeting, or should I take the pleasure of meeting them first?" She was annoyed and hungry. A horrible combination, which the five will learn soon enough to not let it happen again.

The five adventurers exchanged an uneasy glance, realizing that Dawn was new to all of this. They didn't even give her an explanation. So with an anonymous voting, they let the Archer do the talking since it was one of his responsibilities.

They watched as Soobin approached the passive female and found themselves praying for his life. The Witch can be pretty intimidating without even trying.

Dawn was waiting for the Archer to talk, but there was only silence. She looked to the side with a raised eyebrow, seeing him walking like he had no intention of talking but seeing the glimmer of trouble in his eyes. His thoughts were literally shouting at her, that she accidentally read them.

"Where should I start? From the very first or just here? When we went on our quest to get the Sacred Quill? Is that where she wanted me to start? I mean, it's not like she's asking us to tell the story of our lives, but I don't know where to start!"

Soobin was busy ranting. She deadpanned.

Before she could get a headache, she ended his inner battle. "Why don't we start with this adventure of yours, hm? What kinds of places we'll be crossing or creatures that we'll be encountering? Let's start on this one."

She was looking at him with so much expectation that Soobin couldn't help but agree almost immediately. He didn't know why he was acting like this to her, but then he remembered. He still hasn't apologized for what he did to her. Kai was right. But he was too ashamed to admit that the Summoner was right. Maybe he'll apologize some other time. When all of this mess is gone.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Soobin summarized the entire route, the others subconsciously listening because they may or may not forget about it.

"We have two dangerous places to pass before we can reach our destination, which is the Hissing Chasm, where our main objective resides. The first one is the Stygian Woods," Nodding over the place they were in now. "This place is one of the famous hotspots of monsters such as trolls, goblins, orcs, ogres, and many more."

"And what we encounter earlier are trolls, right?" Dawn asked to verify.

"Yup. As you can see, they're big and brute creatures. They are usually grouped into two or more, luckily we only met two of them or we'll be having a hard time taking them down." Soobin explained.

"They're also not the brightest creature out there, so we're very lucky," Taehyun added, the others making noises of agreement.

Dawn didn't think their definition of lucky was the same.

Then Soobin continued the conversation about the different creatures living in the very woods they were carefully trekking in. Dawn listened with undivided attention because at any moment, those monsters he was describing might pop out and make them their dinner.

Speaking of dinner.

All except one stopped in their tracks, hearing what sounded like an orc roaring nearby. As if practiced, they instantly formed a circle facing outwards, trusting each other to watch their back. Weapons and magic were ready in their hands as they waited with bated breath.

"As much as I'm proud to see that, we're ready to fight whatever comes our way. But would you guys calm down? It's just my stomach..." Kai grumbled, his cheeks flushing red in embarrassment.

Well, that's anti-climatic.

"Well, since the sun is almost down, I think it's alright to build a camp here." Soobin said, looking at the others to agree with them.

"Didn't you just say that this place is dangerous? How could we even rest in here!?" Dawn protested. Both her stomach and mind were at war. As much as she wanted to stop and eat, even thinking about eating in a forest filled with dangerous creatures was dangerous.

"Relax, darling." Yeonjun cooed. "We have Taehyunie here to make sure that we're safe as kittens in the Lions' den."

✦

"Safe as kittens, huh, Yeonjun?" Dawn shouted over the loud chittering and yapping of a group of goblins that were chasing after them.

"Yah!! It's not my fault that my food smells delicious!!!" Yeonjun yelped, dodging a wooden club just in time before it could bruise his pretty face.

"Would you guys quit it!? Your voices might attract the attention of another creature!" As much as Beomgyu likes watching someone bicker, he rather watched it without running for his life.

Besides, he was getting irritated by the constant slaps in the face of so many god darn branches! I mean... Watch the face! It's worth more than you, you shriveled, old tree!!!

As if insulted by his remark, a branch appeared and smacked him right in the face.

"OW!"

"Soobin hyung! What are we going to do? We can't continue running like this!" Taehyun asked the Archer, who had a frustrated look on his face.

Soobin had been looking for the tree that he had marked when they went on this quest once. Leaving a mark was helpful if somehow they would go on another quest, just like this one, so they won't get lost.

Unfortunately, he can't seem to find it.

"We need to split up." Soobin voiced grimly. Though his voice wasn't loud, it seemed like it was when the words were processed in their mind.

"What?!" Chorused by five bewildered voices.

And as if the woods agreed with Soobin's statement, in front of them, the woods were split into three ways. With no other plans and no idea who they would be with, they charged toward the path where they were closest. One thing that ran through their minds was that they hoped they could still see each other in one piece at the end of the tree line.

『• • • ✎ • • •』