Bryan smiled as it was finally his turn to show his worth to his comrades. He opened both of his palms and flames emerged from it.
He looked ahead of him with an excited expression and waited for a while. After a few moments, dozen toxic rats appeared and it's rushing towards them at a fast speed.
A ball of fire formed on top of his palms and Bryan threw it towards the toxic rats that appeared.
[Flame Blast]!!
The toxic rats didn't stop at all, they just kept rushing forward until the ball of fire that Bryan threw exploded.
Boom!
The entire area shook heavily and the flames swallowed the toxic rats and burned them into ashes. But it didn't stop at all. The flames swept out and since they were in an enclosed space, the flames rushed towards them.
Brando reacted quickly and he immediately stood in front of Bryan. He raised his shield in front of him and his aura spiked up.
[Protector's Shield]!
A giant green shield materialized in front of him and it protected them from the flames. The power of the flames grew stronger because they were inside the sewer. The moss on the walls and the ceiling amplify the power of Bryan's spell.
It continued to burn and was spreading quickly.
"Let me..." Lumilia said as she casted a water-based spell to stop the flames from spreading. She was about to say something to Bryan when the entire area shook once again.
Boom!
"What the hell?!" Bryan exclaimed as he looked ahead. He only saw darkness but he could feel something was moving towards them.
"This...?" Lumilia looked at Bryan then at Brando. She opened her mouth and said, "Let's turn around. The monsters are coming and they are not our goal."
"Good." Brando nodded before he turned around and started to run. He readied his shield in front of him in case some monster appeared.
"I thought that I'm going to fight the monsters," Bryan said as he looked at Lumilia.
"Yeah, you're going to fight the monsters but not in this way. We need to complete our goal first before you can do what you want." Lumilia said to Bryan before she started to run to catch up to Brando who ran first.
"O-Okay." Bryan didn't have a choice but to follow her words.
Brando looked behind and saw that Lumilia and Bryan were following him. He continued to move forward and he only stopped when he saw three paths in front of him. One on the front and the other two were on the left and right side of him.
He looked at the left side and heard a sound of water in it. He then shook his head and thought that he's not the one who should decide this.
Lumilia and Bryan arrived behind Brando. They saw the three paths in front of them and understood why Brando stopped.
"We should go on the left path," Lumilia said to the two. She explained to them that they have a high chance to find the herb that they needed in a place with water.
The night chili grass and blue lamp herb wouldn't grow in the place without water. So there's a high possibility that they would find it there. That's not all, the toxic rats mostly build their nest near the watery place.
"Hurry up!" Lumilia said in a loud voice as she glanced at her back. The monster that was chasing them was getting near.
Brando rushed forward without hesitation. He ignored everything and he simply just followed Lumilia, the acting leader of their party.
"If you see any rats just smash them, Brando!" Lumilia said to him as she followed Brando from behind.
"What about me? I want to smash those rats too." Bryan said while running beside Lumilia.
"You. You're going to fight the monster behind us once it catches up to us." Lumilia said to Bryan.
"Yes! But... Why do we have to wait when I could fight it right now?" Bryan said happily then he asked a question at Lumilia.
"No, I always say that fighting is not our goal in coming here. We are here to gather the materials for our quest." Lumilia said with a serious expression. Fighting was the only thing in Bryan's mind right now and she couldn't help but prevent him from disrupting the plan.
"Okay, I understand." Bryan nodded as he shut his mouth. He quietly followed Brando and Lumilia.
After a few minutes of running, Brando shouted. "Lumilia, we're here! The toxic rats here have enormous numbers! Also, look at the side! You will see the night chili grass and the blue lamp herb!"
Lumilia looked ahead and saw more than a hundred toxic rats in front of them. She glanced at the side and confirmed that Brando was right. The night chili grass and blue lamp herb were here.
The toxic rats made a loud screeching sound when they saw Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando. The sounds echoed in the whole area and it nearly caused Lumilia and the rest to lose their focus.
"Sound attack!" Brando muttered and he rushed forward. He circulated his mana around his body. His shield emitted a blue light. "Brace yourselves!"
[Ground Shield]!
He smashed his shield on the ground and several spikes burst out of it and pierced the body of the toxic rats.
"I'll handle this!" Brando said as he charged towards the toxic rats.
Lumilia nodded at him and she turned her head to Bryan. "I'll leave the monster in the back to you, Bryan."
"Yes, you can count on me." Bryan smiled as he simply stood on his position while waiting for the monster that was chasing them to show up.
"Good." Lumilia then went towards the night chili grass and blue lamp herb on the side. She began to gather it and placed it inside a transparent bottle.
Bryan couldn't hide his excitement in fighting this unknown monster. He looked at his surroundings and saw that it was quite wide so he could rampage here all he wanted.
The space between the ceiling and the floor was fifteen meters, and its width was ten meters. This place was enough for him. He just needed to be careful since Lumilia was gathering the materials behind him.
He decided to move forward so that even if he fought here, Lumilia wouldn't get caught up in the aftershock of his battle. He just hoped that this unknown monster was powerful enough to fight him.
After a few moments, the unknown monsters didn't disappoint Bryan as it revealed itself.
The monster had a five-meter tall black furry body. Its red eyes were gleaming in the dark. It has a pair of sharp fangs that could easily tear apart an iron. It has three pointed vines sticking out in its back. Its two-meter long tail was covered in black spikes.
"Whoa! What the hell is this monster?!" Bryan exclaimed while looking at the ominous appearance of the monster in front of him.
Lumilia turned around and saw the figure of the monster in front of Bryan. She was stunned when she saw this. Because the receptionist told her that toxic rats were the only type of monsters that inhabited the sewer. The receptionist didn't even mention the existence of this monster to her group.
All the time, she thought that the monster that was chasing them was the grim toxic rat, the evolved form of the toxic rats. But it looks like her assumption was wrong. She failed to think that another type of monster would appear here aside from the toxic rats.
Her mind started to think of all the possibilities why this monster appeared here.
"Why is a dark vine eater here in this place?!" Lumilia muttered with a stunned expression. She didn't expect the appearance of this monster here in the sewer.
The dark vine eater was a second evolution monster. It means that it was stronger than the grim toxic rats who were the evolved form of toxic rats.
"Not good... I need to finish this as soon as possible." Lumilia thought and she focused her attention on the materials that she needed to complete the quest.
One of these monsters wasn't a problem. But what if dozen of them appeared? Lumilia thought that she should increase her pace.
"Here I come!" Bryan smirked while looking at the dark vine eater. He slightly bent his knees and launched himself towards it.
Boom!
...
Souta was sitting comfortably in his room. He stretched out of his hand and picked up the cup of coffee on the table. He took a sip of it before he looked outside.
"I wonder what's happening down there?" He muttered.
'If you're that curious, then why don't you check them out?' Saya's voice sounded in his head.
"Nope, I don't want to waste my time babysitting them," Souta replied to her. He was just curious about why the quest has a reward of 3 skill points.
He emptied his cup before he stood up and wore a brown robe. A grin appeared on his face.
"It's time to infiltrate the Duke's mansion... I'm looking forward to seeing that secret of his."