The cave didn't budge at all even after the earthquake. There were no signs of a possible collapse as it holds up without any problems.

Stella looked behind them and noticed that there was indeed a massive beast wave approaching them…

​​

"Tsk… Forest Rats… There are too many of them… Quick!"

All the hunter's faces paled after hearing Hendrick's words. If the beast wave was indeed made of Forest Rats, they would have difficulty escaping them unless they brought a bunch of False Ivies along…

That's the only thing that works against them considering their huge number. No low-level Arcane Magic would kill thousands of them in an instant.

"Ahhh… It's being lead by three Evil Beasts! Run! Hurry!"

One of them noticed the three Armored Mud Bears running in front while the rats followed…

"Stupid! They're also running away… Can't you see?"

They have signs of being bitten by these small rats all over their body!

Evil Beast was supposedly the peak of all the powerful creatures. Low-Grade Wild Beasts shouldn't be a problem to them and as a matter of fact, these wild beasts should be their food in this forest…

However, the three Evil Beasts were now bleeding as they run away from the dark shadow behind them.

The shadow has several beads of red light representing the eyes of all the Forest Rats.

The squeaking sound that gets louder and louder also causes tingling in their spine…

'This is dangerous…'

"Wait! Throw their bodies away… They might buy us some time!" One of the Hunters said referring to the inferno wolves and the tamer's bodies that were all lying around…

They immediately understood what he wanted to do so there was no need to ask more questions.

They just quickly acted and kicked the bodies to roll on the ground. They were on an elevated ground so they were hoping that the rats would take time eating the corpses first.

"Run!" The Hunter said as they noticed that the Forest Rats were getting near.

Stella also saw the shadow of the beast wave behind them as she got near to the cave's entrance.

As soon as everyone entered, the sole 3rd-Class Arcanists cast another Arcane Magic using his wand.

"Rock Wall!"

A defensive skill normally being used to defend against incoming attacks was now implemented as a cover at the entrance of the cave.

Due to their vision enhancement a while ago, the sudden darkness in the cave didn't bother them at all.

"Whew~ That was scary…"

"Hahaha… That's true… I just hope that the headquarters can do something about the Crypt Crawlers…"

"Ah… Now that you said it… That's the reason why these rats increased in number…"

Stella heard their conversation as she finally realized why the mission to retrieve any living Crypt Crawlers was ranked C…

Their existence was extremely important to balance the power within the forest… If the numbers of the Forest Rats continued to grow… They might just kill and eat every living creature in the forest.

They needed to have a natural predator to have control in their numbers and avoid these kinds of beast waves...

It would be a disaster for the beasts and all the hunters who make a living here.

After confirming that everyone has entered, they no longer bothered thinking about the Forest Rats outside. They can only move forward from now on and face the Tamers who already entered this cave a while ago.

"The path is narrower than I expected… Knight's move in front. Hunter's stay on our back."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Alright…"

The Knights have full-body armor worn making them the best vanguard in this situation.

The current path can only cover three or four people walking side by side making it a bit difficult to maneuver.

However, the Knights had the proper training with regards to this kind of situation so they were still confident about their formation.

As they move forward, they noticed some leftover food, clothes, and other camping materials scattered around…

No one bothered looking through them as it was filthy and does not smell good.

The cave doesn't have other paths and it remained like that for almost fifteen minutes.

They were now in front of two narrow paths. The left side had a cold breeze while the right side felt like an abyss…

"Mhmm… Interesting… I can't feel anything on the right side… The left side seems to have an underground river or something. Does any of you possess tracking, investigation skill, or something similar?" Lord Castillo asked as he looked around…

"Yes…"

"Alright… We'll also try."

Hendrick representing the Knights confirmed that they have something similar to that skill.

The Hunter's representative did the same…

After a few seconds, they similarly frowned. The right path seems to have something blocking their senses.

"I can feel that my skill is working but I can't feel any response in this path… It's weird…"

"That's true… Not even the rocks or walls can be sensed…"

The right path seems to be mysteriously eating their skills as the Arcane Magic does not work.

However, they still have to go through this path since the footprints of the tamers and wolves were in this direction.

***

'Master… What do you think?'

'Mhmm… I'm also not sure…'

'I see… But since the tamers used this path, we have to see what's inside…'

'Yeah… Right, can you tell Hendrick that you'll take any Arcana that you found inside…'

'Eh?'

'I mean… The elite tamers here should possess an Arcana or two with them. So, just tell Hendrick about your plans…'

'Right now? A-alright, master…'

'Good…'

Reiji has a bad feeling about this cave. Stella still has the pocket watch with her in case he needed to sacrifice it.

After all, he's only missing a single common-rank Arcana for his rank up…

Aside from that, he could no longer use the cooldown cheat with his Take Over since he already maxed the skill.

It means that he can only Take Over Stella for 130 seconds and he had to wait for an hour to do it again.

His Skill Points was also very low as he has 15 left.

If she's in real danger, ranking up to Rare-Rank might be a better option at this rate. However, he had to get one common-rank first…

"Mhmm? So, you want to take any common-rank Arcana that they have?"

As they were discussing what needs to be done, Stella asked Hendrick about the Arcana. Hendrick replied in question and it was heard by everyone. He wasn't waiting for an answer as he thought for a moment.

However, everyone was stunned as she was already talking about the loots. They haven't even seen the elite tamers yet.

"Well, Arcana is quite expensive and I'm also planning to put them into use once we found one…"

Hendrick muttered after making some considerations. An ownerless Arcana could not be used by non-Arcanists and as far as he knows, Stella is not an Arcanists. So giving it to her wouldn't help their situation.

It would be better if the Arcana was used by either Ulysses or Lord Castillo as it might provide some help in case needed.

Stella understood his point but she couldn't give up. After all, this is for the sake of her master…

'Mhmm… How about you tell them that you'll enter the abyss path first…'

'Eh?'

Stella suddenly heard her master's instruction… She suddenly felt nervous looking at the extremely dark right path. Their vision enhancement doesn't seem to work very well inside so she's quite worried.

'Hey… Did you forget your Magic Items? You have Arcane Wall and Life Detection…'

'Ahh… That makes sense…'

Stella still has the Excellent Protection Ring, a Class C- Magic Equipment from Orga. Because she hadn't used it before, she had completely forgotten about it.

'I understand…'

The young girl then volunteered to enter first in exchange for getting rights to the Arcana that they could get.

Hendrick and the others noticed her determination.

"Are you sure about this? Our armor can give us protection but your half-chest leather armor and your stick might be—"

"It's alright… I can manage…" Stella smiled before continuing…

"So, if I managed to find an Arcana in their possession… Would you mind if I have it?"

"Haa~ Alright… If it's fine with everyone… Then, there shouldn't be a problem." Hendrick said as he glanced at the other Knights, Hunters, and the Arcanists.

After seeing that there was no objection, Hendrick decided to let Stella handle it.

Anyway, if anyone objected, they would have to be the one to enter the abyss first…

Obviously, no one would like to go first into the unknown…

"Alright… I'll go now…"

Stella entered the dark path and pulled out a vial of liquid before she channeled her Spiritual Energy to it…

The liquid lit up and the previous dark and narrow passage can now be seen… However, the path no longer looks like a natural passage but a man-made one.

The stone ceiling and walls were clearly made using human technology…

"Life Detection…"

Stella muttered as she activated the skill…

There was no change in her expression as she leads the group inside.