The Acknowledgement - Volume One

Smooth So Far

                  The top part of a head landed on the ground in front of Richard, and he stood up straight, "That's strange-" he had a puzzled look- "Why are there jackals in a dungeon like this?" The tank asked. "Are they not common in high-ranked dungeons?" Winter asked, looking over at Richard. "That's not it," Gina began, "Jackals are too weak to survive in A-rank dungeons, they can't sustain their population because they're so weak," she explained. "I don't see any food source yet, so it's hard to say what's ahead of us," the swordsman mentioned. "Hold on, look at this one," Winter knelt beside a Jackal, "This one has leash marks. That must mean they're domesticated," he explained. "Someone left these beasts alive on purpose to use them as hunting dogs?" Richard thought, "There must be something intelligent in this dungeon!" He exclaimed, "Monsters smart enough to domesticate these jackals, and know when to let them off their leashes?" Winter thought, "No matter what they are, they're not going to be an easy monster to defeat!" The squad flinched, feeling dread from whatever was approaching, "The real enemy is here," He added in thought, looking over to see a glowing eye through the darkness.

                Stepping out of the shadows, a large team of varied red-skinned orcs. "Yeah, my gut feeling has a decent record," Winter decided, "High orcs?" The tank asked, stepping back. "Wait, I thought this was a weaker dungeon!" The swordsman added, just before one roared. Another behind the ranks threw a spear with immense strength at Richard, on approach, Winter slid into the staff of the spear, grabbing the tip end of the spear with one hand and the butt end with another. He wiped the spear around his using its moment and adding even more before sending it back, striking one mid-air. "Incredible!" Richard thought before noticing an orc with an axe above their head. He lifted his shield and blocked the attack as the sound of clashing weapons was the only thing he heard. One orc with two axes rushed the tank, and when their attack landed on his shield, Winter cut through that same orc. Leaving it in pieces, Winter turned his head to see the other on Richard, he lifted his hand and clenched his fist. That orc's skull suddenly imploded, and its body suddenly went limp. The mages held covering fire for the swordsman, and with Richard free, he dashed over to help him. The tank stood close to the mages, "My spells don't work! They have their choice of targeting a party member!" The tank yelled, "Yeah?" Winter asked, watching an orc cut through another tank or fighter's shoulder. "Keep the defense line!" The woman healed the same fighter. Winter cuts through the back of that orc before speeding towards another member. He was caught by another orc, struggling to break free as it readied an attack. "Heal me! Heal me!" Another yelled, just as Winter cut through the muscular arm of the orc holding the struggling strike squad member, He fell to the ground as Winter's foot met the orc's face. Richard blocked an attack from an orc, helping the healing-needing member, "We're outnumbered! Don't let them surround us!" Richard yelled, "Form separate groups! Divide and Conquer!" He added.

                "Today's dungeon raid wasn't supposed to be this hard!" Richard thought, pushed back by the orc with a long blade, "I didn't expect to fight over twenty high orcs!" He added Winter had already begun rushing back across the squad. "High orcs are different from the ordinary orcs, they're one of the strongest after all," Ultima explained while Winter watched a high orc rise behind one of the lacking members- "A single High orc is around A-rank, but they're facing an army of them at this point, 17 to 22!" The smaller strike squad member turned back, his face filled with horror, "They're not just lacking in numbers, the B-rank members are at risk. Their A-ranks seem stronger than these orcs, but they'll continue to be in a further deficit if any of them die!" Ultima explained, the orc raised its axe. Bringing it down they met Winter's daggers, which have changed considerably. Their blade was much longer and pointed. It had a decent grip now, and on the hilt of the bladed teeth-like spikes pointed out from the spine of the blood-red blade. "Get back!" Another young woman with black, short hair, a flowy dress, glasses, and a bow tying up her hair. She wears nearly all black, with a white blouse. Her staff had two sections, and she held it by the white painted section, while the red second was near the butt end. On the tip, the focus of her magic was flat width-wise and was sun-like, with black rods hanging from each point like an earring. With a slam on the ground, she summoned a massive snake-like monster that enveloped the orc. "Hang in there!" The healer helped Winter with a fatigue-burning spell. He turned his focus to another orc nearby. Before the healer knew it, she found herself in the shadow of the previous bound orc, with the corpse of the same snake-like monster across his body. With a growl, he clenched his fist as he neared the healer. "Is it still alive?" The second mage asked, turning to see the orc returning into the battle. The orc swung at the healer, and she prepared for pain. When it never came, she opened her eyes to see the orc struggling. It was clawing at its neck, gurgling as it was suspended mid-air. Winter held the orc he was fighting in a headlock and ripped the spin out of the body of the orc that dared attack the healer. Mortified, she watched as it fell to the ground, "Was that-" she thought, blood on her face- "just now telekinesis?"