People always thinks that a Hero is not scared when they enter a Dungeon. That they know what they are about to do. About to face.
It is the polar opposite.
Heroes are always scared. They rarely know what will wait for them in the Dungeons or if they will even make it back out again. Every Dungeon could become their crypt.
So while the crowd cheered around them, hailed them as, well Heroes, as their carriage drove passed.
It was a spektacle for most of the people that had gathered. Rarely people would have a opportunity to meet a S-Rank Hero and even more rare seeing four.
Qrow Branwen, a Druid, specialiced in scythes coupled with the shapeshifting into a crow. Said to be able to kill an entire hoard of Grimm on his own.
Lavendar Purpur, a Saintess, specialiced in healing. It was said that she could heal illnesses even the strongest potions could only delay.
Cobaltinia Sini, an Archer, specialiced in long range attacks. The elderly lady even through her blindness was able to hit a Crawlers secondary pair of eyes from a mile away.
And, feeling quiet out of place, Y/n Schwarz, the wonder prodigy without a class that took Vale in a storm. Other then his ability to summon his own army of undying soldiers he had yet to make his own legends.
The atmosphere was heavy, there was not small talk. Only the sounds of Qrow snoring, Lavendar praying, Y/n sharpening his axe and nervously re-tightening the straps on his armor and the occasional sound of Cobaltinia pulling at her bow string and letting it snap back, were heard.
Y/n: "It feels like we are getting driven to our execution." Y/n mumbled out loud.
Cobaltinia: "It might very well be deary."
Lavendar: "Oum and his sons will watch over us, their blessing we shall receive as we work hard to protect their creations."
Y/n: "Didn't the younger brother create the Grimm?" Y/n asked genuine confused.
Lavendar: "The creations of the God of Darkness are as much a gift to humanity as the animals of the God of Light." The Saintess defended her Gods.
Y/n: "I meant no offense Lady Purpur." Y/n said gently. "I was simply interested." Qrow let out a short snort and moved again, having been woken by the conversation.
Qrow: "Which of your Gods created the Grimm in your belief?" It was a simple question meant to break the tense atmosphere.
Cobaltinia: "Ah it feels like it was yesterday when I fought a Norse. I swear I nearly soiled myself as he continued advancing on me even with both of his eyes shot out and a dozen or more arrows littering his chest." Y/n chuckled.
Y/n: "A Berserker, high out of his mind most likely. But to answer your question Qrow. Grimm are said to be the anger, hate, fear and pain of Ymir given form upon their death at the hands of Odin, Ve and Vili." It took almost an hour until they carriage got to a stop. The door opened and the four Heroes grabbed their bags and equipment before stepping out into the early morning sun. They were only a few minutes out of Vale and the walls could still be seen clearly over the treetops. In front of them was a giant set of doors leading towards nothing.
It was just a set of doors in the middle of a clearing with nothing else.
The king of Vale awaited them with a line of soldiers and workers.
Aurorius: "Greetings oh great Heroes. As the king of Vale I am honored to meet you all and I am extremely greatful that you will help my Kingdom in its time of strive." Y/n stood tall while the others with him showed their respect in their own way. "Unfortunately we have no knowledge of what might await you inside. We believe this Dungeon to be a Trap Dungeon, for that reason we have prepared these for you." The king motioned towards 4 Soldiers who stepped forward and handed each of the four Heroes a bag. "Limetta would you be so kind and explain what this is?" The mage stepped forward and cleared her throat.
Limetta: "In your hands are the latest iteration of Bag of Holdings. The bag itself is made out of highly resistant meterial infused with resistance increasing spells. You can easily store up to 15 cubic meters of items in the bag as long as they fit through the opening. We already filled them with enough food and water to last you a year without strict rationing and even longer if rationed correctly. Additionally we added arrows, potions, first aid kits, ropes, cutlery, climbing equipment, tools and sharpening stones. For Sir Schwarz we went ahead and put in the important school materials you might miss while in the Dungeon. Do not worry about spoilage as the magic in charge of the creation of the interior space prevents everything from going bad. To recover something from inside the bag just think about what you want to pull out and it will appear in your hand." The woman explained happily and sounding very proud. "For safety reasons do not invert the bag or put one into the other. To this point we have yet to test the results of doing so but we believe it could result in rather... unwanted outcomes." She warned.
Y/n put his Bag of Holding into his backpack while the others just attached them to their belts. Aurorius made a hand sign and a few workers went to open the doors. It took them a great deal of strength but soon the Heroes looked into the black vortex that will bring them into the Dungeon. Grabbing his Mjolnir necklace Y/n closed his eyes.
Y/n: "Odin guide me through the battle. Shall I fall I hope you grant me entry to your halls." That said Y/n was the first to enter the vortex. The others soon joined him on the other side. The inside of the Dungeon was a strange place. If they didn't intentionally enter it they would not feel like being somewhere else. They stood in the middle of an empty marketsquare. Around them were buildings and streets all void of any signs of life.
Qrow: "I am going to fly up and get a birds eye view of this place." Changing into a crow the man flew up into the sky.
Cobaltinia: "Headsup younglings, we've got incoming." Y/n grabbed his shield and got in front of the two women, ready to defend them from might come.
What came was unlike anything Y/n had ever seen. Strange human like things walking slowly towards them. It wasn't really walking more like a slow shuffle. Some of these things even dragged their almost severed legs behind them. It was almost as if half rotten corpses simply got back up again. The only things proving that it was infact some type of Grimm were the black skin, occasionally pierced by ivony white bones, and red glowing eyes.
The group looked at the approaching pack of Grimm rather confused. This can't be it, they were in a S-Rank Trap Dungeon afterall so none of them let down their guard. And good thing they didn't the moment Qrow landed back near the group on the Grimm let out an earpiercing screech and the hoard instantly switched from a slow unregular shuffle into a full blown sprint.
The moment that happened Y/n called upon Fenrir and Jormungandr. The two appearing in front of him.
Y/n: "Get them onto the roof." Y/n told Jormungandr and much to his companions protest the snake simply did what he was told. Giving Fenrir a pat Y/n got ready to face the approaching pack head on. However that plan quickly changed as Cobaltinia shouted.
Cobaltinia: "More incoming from all sides!" Not hesitating Y/n let Fenrir and Jorm return into his shadow before jumping onto the rooftop joining his companions. Looking around Y/n saw what could only be described as the whole populus of Vale come rushing towards their position. Luckily it does not seem like these things are able to climb as they simply pushed and clawed against the walls of the building they were standing on.
Qrow: "So... what now?" The man asked taking out a waterskin and taking a long swigg from it.
Lavendar: "What have you seen from up in the sky?"
Qrow: "Houses as far as the eye can see. Nothing really stood out."
Y/n: "I could send out my ravens to scout the city for something that could be the boss room, but it is hard to tell how long that will take." The group thought about it and nodded.
Cobaltinia: "That would be the best. How many do you have?"
Y/n: "Two. But it is still better then nothing." Right as Y/n said that the two birds appeared on his shoulders. Smiling Y/n scratched them below their beaks. "I need you to scout around. Look for anything that stands out, a bigger building for example." The two birds nodded and took flight before suddenly bursting into a cloud of smoke each. Out of the smoke came a conspiracy of ravens (A/n yes actually the name of a collective of ravens), they were tiny compared to the original two birds, but still now there were at least 20 birds all splitting up into different directions. "Before you ask I had no idea they could do that." Y/n explained.
Qrow: "Doesn't really matter. Right now we should get situated in one of these houses."
Y/n: "Ok take a step back please." His three companions did so and Y/n kneeled down and began to rip off some of the rooftiles. After a minute a hole big enough for Y/n to fit through had been made. One by one the four got in with Qrow going first to make sure the house was clear of Grimm. Only 4 Grimm were inside the building, they looked like a family, two taller Grimm acting as the parents with 2 smaller being the children.
However it was not the safest place to stay if the knocks on the door and windows was anything to go by.
Cobaltinia: "Do we have a way to make this house a bit safer?" She asked the group, more specificaly Qrow and Lavendar. Luckily Lavendar as a Saintess knew a spell called Sanctuary. The woman began to chant as a bright ethereal light enveloped the room with strange symbols. A few minutes of chanting later the knocks dissappeared after a few seconds of pained screams coming from the Grimm outside.
Lavendar: "I created a dome protected by Oum and his Sons, no enemy of ours shall enter it. However it only lasts 8 hours and I can't cast anything else while the dome is up." She explained upon seeing Y/n look of intrigue.
Qrow: "Well we better get comfy till kiddos birds return."
Cobaltinia: "I will be on the roof and see if I can at least pick a few of these things off."
Y/n: "Try not to use too many arrows, we don't know what we will be facing in the future. I can give you a few of my Drengr to aid you." Y/n suggested.
Cobaltinia: "Your what?"
Qrow: "You mean your army of shadow right?"
Y/n: "Oh yes, sorry I should have said it like that. I wonder if I can even summon them without summoning them all." Y/n said deep in thought. "I think that might be impossible seeing that I have to use a horn to call upon them. But I can give you this." Y/n held out his hand and Jormungandr slithered out of his sleeve before forming a bow. "I am certain your bow is one if not the best bow one can get but you never know and I want to be of help while using the down time to get some school work in."
Cobaltinia: "Oh no worries deary. Let me try the bow of yours. You are still a student so please do not worry about getting your education while being stuck with a bunch of old people." The elderly lady said with a chuckle before going up towards the upstairs area from which they could hear her cheer happily. "DEARY THIS BOW IS PERFECT!"
That is it for this chapter, I hope you liked it.
Wolfy out.