[David]

I descended the stairs and both the girls followed suit. The staircase opened up to a dimly lit passage way. On reaching wider grounds, we soon switched back to the simple battle formation we were following. Seeing the coast to be clear, Alice took out the job contract and showed it to us. The data had been updated indicated that the job had been initialized.

Job Contract

Objective: Kill 15 goblins inhabiting the outskirts of Murcel village

Goblins killed: 2/15 . Remaining kills till job completion: 13

It seemed that the two sentries outside had counted for kills implying that they had successfully encountered their targets. I slowly allowed a grim smile to touch my lips.

"Looks like we encountered the right group" Arianne worded my thoughts out loud. Alice nodded her head and silently we decided to move further down the passage way.

The passage suddenly opened into a wider room. Alice cautiously used Step to move to the edge of the passage and silently signalled that it was clear. I relaxed my grip on the bow and turned to Arianne. Relief was evident on her face.

We moved slowly and cautiously towards the clearance. My eyes widened at what I saw and I unexpectedly let out a sad sigh.

It was like a catacomb.

The were about 6 tunnels , each heading down it's own path. I let out an exasperated growl.

"This ain't gonna work out like this. We could end up deep inside the dungeon and maybe even get lost. We need to do something or the job is going to be invalid"

Both the girls seconded my opinion. I turned to Alice but she was staring at the tunnels without a clue as to how to proceed. I ransacked my brain to search for a way, exasperated, I checked my skill list and then it hit me like a bolt from the blue.

Of course ... There was always that option available. I'm such an idiot for not realizing the use of that skill earlier. I mused dejectedly. I let out a dry laugh causing both the girls to turn and look at me with expectant eyes.

"I got it. I found a way" I chuckled.

"Really?" both of them chorused.

"Yeah. I was dumb enough to forget about it." I said letting out a lazy smile.

I then activated my Detect skill. I had totally forgot about about the skill. I concentrated and could feel my consciousness expand towards the cavern entrances.

I opened my eyes and smirked " Well, whaddaya know?"

"What?" both of them asked with confused eyes.

I let out a low chuckle and said the least possible answer.

"It all leads to the same place." I said while walking towards the nearest entrance.

"Are you sure of this?" pressured Arianne

"Too damn well. Now get ready for battle", I said nocking an arrow.

"How many?" my sister whispered .

"Three " I answered.

We slowly and noiselessly advanced towards the passage. As predicted, the passage opened into a small clearance before leading further into the dungeon. Sure enough, there were 3 sentries patrolling the clearance. This made me even more suspicious as to the dungeon's identity.

My hand instinctively crept towards the potions I had in my bagpack. I shuffled for a bit and slowly gave Alice the signal to advance.

" Can you do long range magic? Whats your level.?" I looked at Arianne.

" I can use some basic f-f-fire magic and my level is 6" she stammered.

I must have looked pretty amazed because I soon found her avoiding my sight.

This can't be good , I thought . I almost clicked my tongue when I remembered that I had given Alice the signal to attack.

She was standing in the shadows next to the first goblin and was looking expectedly at me. I sighed and told Arianne, "Use your fire spell to eliminate the 3rd goblin, the one at the right."

She nodded her head and looked at me worriedly.

I had learned why she gave me that look , the day when I joined the guild. It seemed that Rangers were not very respected in society due to the fact that they stood at the backlines.

I sighed dismissing her look. What is this noob giving me that worried look for? I'm more worried about you, you know? Even those sentries are level 10. I looked back at my sister who was standing with her daggers poised.

I gave the attack signal and let my arrow loose. It seemed as though they had been talking- or growling- or grunting to each other or whatever the fuck it was. Surprise and shock dawned on their faces as they saw their friend go down. both of them turned towards us . The opened their mouths to shout and another one keeled over, with pitch black daggers sprouting from his chest. Slowly, the whole upper body save for the head had disintegrated . It must have been one of Alice's new skills.

Well, most of her skills take up a lot of mana . I recalled.

I had recieved a new notification.

*ding*

You have levelled up your Bow mastery! ( Intermediate Lv 5)

New Skill: Mana Arrow

Mana Arrow

This skill allows you to condense an indefinite amount of mana to form powerful arrows

Ranged Damage: +200%

Deals extra 100% damage for every 100 mana. Mana cost gets lowered on levelling up.

Now this is pretty handy. I thought

I looked at the third one who I expected to be in flames by now. To my horror, I saw the goblin still alive and kicking. Arianne's skill had not gone as smoothly as planned and she let out and audible gulp as the monster caught sight of her. It opened it's mouth in a shrill scream which soon died down after the whole head disintegrated after a slight gurgle, from Alice's daggers.

"Why couldn't you kill it faster?" I hissed at her.

"Hiii- I-I'm sorry. I was-" Arianne started.

"Haah. Well. It was my fault too ,for asking a battle cleric to participate in the attack" I smiled for a bit but then I frowned.

That's odd. How can a cleric use fire spells. Something's fishy.

"Is something wrong?" Alice came up to us and asked worriedly.

"No, It's nothing" I said calmly and Arianne nodded.

"By the way, I found some loot."Alice said with a grin as she came over.

"What did you get?" I asked and Arianne looked at her curiously.

She held up a vial filled with clear blue liquid. I took the vial and activated my Observe skill.

Small Mana Potion

A basic mana potion that helps refill mana.

Refills 20 mana

I sighed and looked at Arianne. "You must have lost a bit of mana for the attack right? Take it."

"But-" she started to protest but I cut her off saying. "Both of us have plenty of mana left. You are a healer. We need you to be at full potential". Alice nodded in agreement.

To be honest, it was Alice who needed it the most, as almost all her skills took more than 60 mana. Due to her inflated stats she probably had a good Mana regeneration but we couldn't be cautious.

"Do you think any enemies are coming?" Arianne asked worriedly.

I activated my Detect skill. I couldn't feel any thing.

I activated it again and again and then,

*ding*

You have levelled up you Detect skill. ( Beginner Lv 2)

Range : 200m

I opened my eyes in surprise and shock.

"No movement but definitely goblins" I hissed to the both of them.

"How many? " Arianne swallowed.

"Around 30"

"So I guess the goblins have made a stronghold here then." Alice muttered. "Where is it?"

"About 180 meters.straight ahead" I sighed.

" What do we do? I think we should retreat and tell the Guild about this" Arianne stammered.

" Nope! We march forward!" I grinned.

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Ciao Ciao!! :D :D