Winter arrived early to the raiding camp the next day and found Richard, an athletic young man with spiky black hair and a friendly face. A suit of gray armor with brass highlights, a blue midsection, and a long purple cape with white designs. Richard's squad was around camp, waiting and waking up from a night of rest, prepared. "Excuse me, are you the MDA agent from yesterday?" He asks and walks up to Winter, "I am," he replies. "Good! Other than our porter, everyone is accounted for!" Richard explained, "What happened to him?" Winter asked, "They just didn't know. One of our own could carry the baggage. We don't want to endanger one of the hauling team members nor the mining team members," he explained, "No sweat, I'll carry it-" Winter grabbed it- "Are you sure? We don't want to burden you with extra weight!" Richard asked Winter, and he nodded, "Really, I'll be just fine," Winter responded, "If you think so," Richard bowed his head and smirked.
"I look forward to working with you. I'm Richard, and I'm going to be leading today's strike squad," he reached out to shake Winter's hand, "Mr. Greats," he replied, shaking his hand. As they were preparing in front of the entrance of the dungeon, just about to enter the dungeon, Winter lifted the backpack, "I could even fight with this on, although it does get in the way sometimes-" he thought, slipping the backpack on- "I hope the bags aren't too heavy!" Richard commented, "Not at all," Winter responded, "Woah, it's weightless for him!" He thought, standing beside Winter.
~>System<{" The [Player] Has Entered a [Dungeon]!"}>It rang just as he stepped foot inside<~
His head turned to see the other squad members walk through, "They're not that different from yesterday's strike squad. The only difference is there aren't any S-ranks other than myself," Winter thought before looking to the dungeon. "Strange, it feels weaker than yesterday's," he mumbled, "We double-checked what rank it was, and it was lower than yesterday's. If it were any higher than this, the main strike squad would be here instead," Richard explained, starting to walk in. Winter followed him, "I can tell quite easily that they consist of eleven A-ranks and six B-ranks. If they're in any other guild, they wouldn't be in second place-" Winter thought, watching everyone step into the dungeon- "I guess they're right. It is weaker than yesterday's, but why do I feel like I did before that Collapsing Dungeon?" He looked into the dungeon, taking a deep breath in, "I'm probably just imagining things, right?" Winter asked himself, "Don't discount your instincts when they've been proven to be right," Ultima explained.
The strike squad entered the dungeon, finding massive pillars with small clusters of mana crystals at their base. Rising to the cave ceiling, they gradually curved into the peak of the cavern. "Alright! Let's get started!" Richard turned his head back to the rest of the group. "I guess the Hunters guild has two or more strike squads like this one," Winter thought, watching the cavern enclosed around them as they entered an enclosed space. Richard inhaled and exhaled, calming his nerves. "This is my first time leading a strike squad after joining the Hunter's Guild-" He thought, sweat running down his face- "If I can complete this raid, I'll be the official leader of this strike squad!" He looked towards where his vision ended and where the darkness met the cave, where he heard a soft russell of fur. "I can do this! I'm still an incredibly strong A-rank!" Each of the members prepared for an attack, standing in rank. Without a word, they were ready for anything hiding in the darkness. "Immediately? That's quick for a team without hearing any orders," Winter thought, staring at the others.
The sound of running came from the deepest part of the darkness, "There's more than two!" Winter watched as several glowing red eyes through the darkness, "What are those things?" Richard yelled his shield up in a guard stance. Several wolf-like monsters broke free from the barrier of darkness, approaching the strike squad quickly. "Dungeon jackals?" Another member asked loudly, the tank was the first to be targeted. Two leaped at them, the first striking his shield, and he slapped it away. He stabbed the second with his spear. Richard cut through a third that tried to attack him, and Winter cut the jackal that the tank sent flying. Richard looked up, watching five more jackals rushing toward them. Another swordsman leaped over the tank, landing on his feet to cut through two with immense speed. "Get down!" Gina yelled, gathering several large rocks as spheres of magical power in each of her hands. A curvaceous young woman with red eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and wears a black corset with a miniskirt, thigh-high boots, a red hooded cloak with white fur trims, and long white leather gloves. The swordsman ducked down, just in time for all of these stones to be launched at high speeds at the jackals. Each of the stones landed their mark and tore through the remaining jackals.
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?"
Richard cuts an orc in two before searching the battlefield for more. Despite how many there were, there were very few now. "Why has-" He began between heavy breaths- "This battle became easier?" He asked himself. With these little orcs, Winter now spreads out his damage, weakening the other orcs that remained in battle while they fought. Speeding between battle and attacks, "Weakening them should allow the others to finish them off," he thought. A high orc swung an attack at Winter, although dodging it, it slowed him down. "Do you mind?" He asks, stabbing that orc in his throat. A young woman fighter sped toward that same orc and punched a hole in them. "Yes! I defeated one!" She exclaimed as it slumped over onto the ground, "Good job," Winter commented before speeding off through another small group of orcs. Leaving cuts on each that heavily weakened them, "These high orcs can't be taken lightly," Winter thought, "They almost killed the healer girl and nearly hurt others!" He added, cutting some down that decided to get in his way. "I'm not going to let anyone die when I'm tasked to help!"
~>System<{" The [Player] Has [Leveled up] {x2}!"}>It notified Winter<~
"Cool, I can level up by helping the squad," Winter thought, "Should I step back more? The Hunter's Guild did purchase the permit for this dungeon for a large sum of money," he added. "Although I am supposed to help. This seems like the best course of action right now," Winter decided, sliding across the floor. "Did we win?" The swordsman asked, "Was anyone injured? As long as you're still breathing, an A-rank healer can help you recover!" Richard looked around the bodies of the high orcs. The black-haired mage looked over at Winter, "He looks too giddy about all of this death around us," she thought. "Hey, Richard!" The healer yelled, "Yeah?" He asked, "When I was healing one of our own earlier, the orc that attacked us was torn up by some kind of telekinesis," she explained, the orc's blood still on her face. "Do you think that spell was not one of ours?" Richard asked, "Yes! I've already asked Gina, and-" she began- "Even I can't do that. I can barely restrict the orcs from moving for a few seconds!" Gina explained, "We don't have anyone who can cast curse magic, either," Richard brought up and laid his hand on his chin. "She's right, it was me-" Winter lifted his hand for them to see- "You have telekinesis?" Richard asked, his eyes wide with the others in the squad, "Yeah?" He replied awkwardly, "You must be strong, having telekinesis capable of lifting powerful high orcs like that," Gina had her arms crossed. "It's all because of you we were able to win, Mr. Greats, and for that, I'm grateful," Richard explained, "Should we keep going?" The other swordsman asked, looking at Richard, "I feel like this dungeon is too dangerous, even with an S-rank!" Added the young man Winter saved earlier, "If we continue, who knows how many more high orcs we'll meet!" Another added, "Now that we know there are high orcs, we should go call for the guild master or vice guild master in addition to Mr. Greats. Otherwise, I think we'd be in grave danger," the tank explained, "How about we back out? We can come back after we're recovered with a second S-rank," he continued. Richard looked down, thinking deeply, "I know you want to be our leader, but this is a part of being one!" The tank explained, "He's right, it doesn't matter if I succeed or not, I need to keep my smarts about me. The life of my strike squad is far more valuable than my position-" Richard thought, nodding- "Let's retreat."
With relief, the low-ranking team members happily followed the others toward the exit. "I was afraid he was gonna stick it out!" One laughed, "Relax, I'm not that big of an idiot!" Richard replied with a smile, "He's far from that. A wise leader is hard to come by these days," Ultima commented to Winter. The others laughed and talked along the way and suddenly stopped when they reached the exit. "What's going on?" Winter asked, "There's a barrier!" Richard explained, "There must have been advanced spellwork put into this! It's insanely powerful!" The black-dressed mage explained. Winter turned his back to the entrance and kept an eye on the others as he sent Igris off deeper into the dungeon as a shadow. "Can it be removed?" Richard asked, "Most likely, as long as I have enough time," she explained. "Something inside this dungeon is powerful enough to cast such a powerful barrier like this," Winter thought, "We're pulling out, but I have a feeling they want to keep us in!" The mages stood up at the front, beginning to unbind the barrier together. An immensely dense wave of mana rushed from deep within the dungeon, passing through each member of the strike squad, "Holy crap!" One cursed, "That's the boss?!" Another asked, "Quickly! We need to work as fast as we can!" Gina yelled, "This barrier isn't going to fall easily. This is on another level!" Richard thought, "Why didn't anyone detect this from the outside?" Winter thought, "Is the boss able to hide its presence?" Suddenly, red, electric magic gathered around the mages. They began coughing up blood and losing concentration while they fell to the ground. "Curses! Use a divine spell!" Richard exclaimed to the healer, "Only the mages have been cursed!" She rushed over. "Uh, guys. We're not alone anymore!" The tank warned. Richard turned back to see hundreds of eyes glowing in the darkness beyond the light. "Damnit," He gritted his teeth.