It only took an hour for Cardin to make Y/n completely lose his cool. The viking boy was considering killing Cardin in the most painful ways possible.
Y/n: "By the gods, I told you countless times to take care of your fucking weapon! 3 times I reforged your damn mace. You were wielding an A-Rank weapon yet you damn monkey broke it in less than a month." Y/n ranted.
It was heartbreaking to see the mace shatter upon the impact with the carapace of a grimm bug. Yes, sure, weapons were meant to be used, they were tools and in the end they also were meant to be replacable goods. It is common for a Hero to go through weapons quickly, even those of higher quality. In the end only S-Rank weapons of the Growing viarity have the durability regenerative properties needed to become a Heroes weapon for the rest of their life.
Even those weapons need proper care to not break due to overuse. They can not regenerate durability if they break.
With a sigh Y/n took a step back, letting Cardin drop from his grasp like a sack of potatoes.
Y/n: "Well looks like you have to deal with a dungeon full of Grimm without a weapon. Good luck." That said, Y/n went back to playing fetch with Fenrir while his other summons were nearby playing in the underground paradise that was this dungeons theme.
The Grimm in this Dungeon all were insects. From the butterflies they have encountered first, to the centipedes and the ants. They were anoying to deal with, especially those that could fly, all because of their chitin armor.
At least Y/n had to give the group credit for being rather well coordinated and they quickly figured out that all the Grimm did not like fire at all.
One thing however felt odd and Y/n made sure to stay alert. He would not tell the group about his worries, but he will be ready to get them out of the danger.
The whole Dungeon so far had been one single giant room and there was no clear Bossroom.
They soon found the reason why.
Cardin had broken off a big branch which he now used as a make shift weapon and upon doing so they all heard a loud screeching coming from below. The sound was followed by loud buzzing, which had been the tell tale sign of a very anoying Grimm species.
A thick fog of wasps came shooting towards them and the group sprung into action.
For this situation Jae was the most important member of the group as she had the best way of dealing with bigger groups of enemies. It did not take long for the swarm to be killed, but it still brought a new piece of information to the surface.
They were in the Bossroom.
They were in the Boss.
The Dungeon was the Boss.
It did take the group a bit till they too came to that conclusion and now they were currently resting near a river, they wisely had not taken a drink from the water so they did not need to worry about what that might have caused.
Dove: "So how are we supposed to kill this thing?" The boy asked the group. Y/n had to give him credit for not going the usual brown-nosing route of his of only asking Cardin.
Sky: "I mean, if the whole cave is a Grimm, shouldn't there be organs and stuff?"
Flora: "Do Grimm even have innards?" She looked at Y/n, who was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed, Huginn and Muninn perching on his shoulders.
Y/n: "Yes and no." Y/n answered after having tried to remember if Professor Port had mentioned this rather important fact in any of his stories. The man didnt. "Grimm have a brain, somekind of organ for breathing and a kind of heart. But those are part of the entire body, not seperate organs." He explained rather poorly if he had to admit. Y/n knew this because he had crushed his fair amount of windpipes and chests of the Grimm he had fought and they died just like those he would cut. It could have also just been the fact that crushing their bodies simply killed them, but he had pulverized legs and arms of Grimm who continued to fight for a bit longer, so maybe they do have a working breathing system. He should go and try to drown a Canis in a stream in the Emerald Forest to see if Grimm do need air or not.
Cardin: "Guess we have to find anything that looks like it could hurt this thing when we hit or destroy it." Simple but still effective.
Dia: "I still have two thirds of my Arcana remaining."
Flora: "Half way empty on my side." The two magic users said. Once again Y/n added a few points in the girls favor, so far they were great additions to the group. They used their spells effectively, they kept near their defenders, called out warnings and reminded the group regularly of their Arcana use. However they could be a bit more aggressive at times, this was mostly in times where they were facing bigger groups.
So far the entire group would get a passing grade from Y/n, with Russel being the closest to failing. The Rogue, had split off from the group multiple times, which can easily cause his death in higher rank Dungeons.
Cardin was better than the Rogue, but not by much, that is mostly due to his poor preparations. The Fighter had come into the Dungeon, without any food, barely any water and a mostly broken weapon. The only thing in a good shape was the armor he was wearing, which Y/n could tell was not one he himself had bought, so it must have been the Fighters father who bought him the suit of prestine A-Rank armor, which Cardin was already running through the ringer. Not that Y/n blamed the boy, a suit of armor is meant to protect you not the other way around.
Next best was Sky who did a decent job defending the casters with Dove, but tends to get too focused on the enemy in front of him, causing other Grimm to be able to surround them a few times.
Dove was the best out of the group of lackies. He did his job, kept calm, was always focused and came prepared. There is not much Y/n could complain about, except of being reliant on what Cardin told him to do and not acting on his own.
Jae was doing her best and it was clear that this was her first time in a Dungeon or even a longer fight. From what Y/n was able to gather the girl farmed a lot in the Emerald Forest, enough to get her through the school year with a decent enough quality of life, but she never ventures further out to find the less crowded areas. Additionally Y/n had heard through the grape vine , aka Coco, that Jae is offering to join any group that is willing to give her a decent cut from the farmed coins, not a bad strategy, but it wont help her get stronger unless she joins on Raids or starts doing Quests.
Lastly came Flora. She was the kind of teammember anyone could wish for, she did a great job, went above and beyond from what was expected from her, came with extra rations, something that is a big plus in Y/ns books, and is keeping the group at tip top shape. If only she wasn't already a member of the Casters Guild.
Now it only depends on how the group will deal with the Boss and if Y/n has to help out or not.
Cardin rose to his feet and turned to look at Y/n.
Cardin: "Will you fail me if I ask you for a weapon?" The boy asked.
Y/n: "This mistake could cost you your life in any over Dungeon, once you die your friends and allies will most likely follow sooner than later." Y/n explained as he began to rummage through his Bag of Holding. "I carry the scars from my stupidity till the day I will enter Valhalla. You." Finally having decided Y/n pulled out a mace he had brought with him, just as a safety net for when Cardin broke his. "You can still learn without experiencing pain. Take the mace and you might fail depending on how you will deal with the Boss. Don't and you will still risk failing, but you will also risk your life."
There was not a single second of hesitation as Cardin grabbed the mace.
Y/n: "It's only C-Rank. It SHOULD last for a week or two of use, don't break it right away."
Cardin: "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't want to swallow my pride and come to you for weapon maintenance nor did I want my dad to get all up into my business again. I get it, I am the heir to the Winchester Family and the old man wants to make sure I survive until it is time for me to take over." Cardin sighed and angrily tugged at his armor. "This damn armor was another one of his 'gifts' probably took it from one of the Heroes he employs."
Y/n: "Yeah I remember having heard about your families business. Still not sure if I dislike yours or the practices of the Schnees more."
Cardin: "Reasonable. I hate how the old man is basically abusing the fact that low ranked Heroes are often in financial troubles. Once I take over I will change that." Cardin said as he looked at his group of lackies.
Y/n: "A worthy goal." The boy admitted. "Well time to take another step towards that. The Boss wont kill itself." That said the group got back into formation and began to look for anything that could be a way to kill the Boss.
Almost and hour later they stumbled upon the first thing that could be the solution.
Hidden in a big group of giant trees stood a single black tulip.
From the middle of the black petals spewed a stream of black fog.
Stepping away from the group Y/n was interested in how they will deal with the information.
They did what Y/n once did and still somewhat regrets having done.
Russle touched the tulip.
The moment the boys gloved hand came in contact with the flower the entire cave began to shake. Around them the screeches of insects could be heard, accompanied by the sound of buzzing and scutteling.
Cardin: "Pluck the damn thing and get your ass back to the group, you smooth-brained monkey." Cardin barked and readied his mace. "Dove stay with the casters. Sky you and me take the front."
The fell into position and began to fight their way through the swarm of insects that came bursting through the treeline.
Y/n too fought, but only to those insects that came too close to him. He could have stood back and relied on the group to defend him, but that would be cowardly. Looking at Russle Y/n saw the flower had yet to disappear and instead was now occasionally glowing red.
More and more insects were killed and it was soon time for Y/n to step in.
The casters had run out of Arcana and the boys all were huffing and puffing, barely able to swing their weapons.
Y/n: "Jorm." Y/n called upon his scaley ally who appeared with a loud hiss. "Everyone fall to the ground." Noone even dared to question him as he gave Jorm the command to use his poison breath. In a single second the insects were slain and around them the trees and grass were withered. "This is enough for today. We will head back to camp and finish this Dungeon tomorrow." The group got back to their feet, although they had great difficulty doing so. "I will not deduct points for this, but it is important to know your limits and to know when it is best to retreat and rest. Not always will it be as easy as simply leaving the Dungeon so be prepared to have to camp inside the Dungeon if needed." They absorbed Y/ns teachings while he led them back to the entrance.
On their way back Y/n noticed the tulip in Russles hand glowing more often for a short while before once again taking longer and longer to start glowing again.
Flora: "That flower seems to be a kind of compass pointing towards something. It appears to be glowing more frequently the closer we come to whatever it is pointing towards."
Dove: "So like that game where one kid is blindfolded and the other says 'warm' or 'cold' depending on if the blindfolded kid comes closer or not?" Dove asked into the group.
Cardin: "I hated that game. My neighbor always cheated." Cardin grumbled as they entered the stairway leading back to the surface.
That is it for this chapter I hope you liked it. Let me know in the comment below.
Stay save.
Wolfy out.