After a few more hours of riding, Chad and Eva finally reached their destination when the carriage stopped, making another unpleasant squealing noise.

"Are you sure it's here? I don't sense that much Qi in this place," Eva asked before jumping off the carriage and twirling her golden hair lightly in the air.

"We took this task from the Hunter's Guild. Do you really think they would give us false information?" said Chad.

"If you're so confident, then tell me where it is!" Eva yelled as she looked around the area, still finding no sign of the dungeon.

"Calm down, Eva. The report said the dungeon was found under the ground" Chad said before landing on the ground as well.

The two no longer bothered to argue with each other and began to search for the entrance, focusing especially on the huge façade in front of them.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for them to find the entrance, as Chad and Eva smiled in sync. Their optimism was not unfounded since this was one of those "dungeon-clearing" missions that carried a great reward.

All they had to do was exterminate all the monsters inside the dungeon and inform the Association that the mission had been successfully completed to receive their payment.

"I had quite a few doubts about this mission at first, but it seems that all my worries were trivial," Chad chortled at the sight of the dark hole that led somewhere underground.

"We were lucky to be the first to take on this task!" Eva grinned, "All the hunters were already mad that they didn't manage to take this mission fast enough, but imagine their faces after we successfully clear it!"

"Eva, don't be cocky, even though it was stated that the ruler of this dungeon is at the Peak-Disciple Rank, we still have to take this seriously."

"Oh, come on! I may only be at the Middle-Disciple Rank, but I have more guts than you, a Peak-Disciple. Where did all your courage disappear?"

"Ah..whatever Eva, let's just finish this quickly" Chad didn't bother saying anything more as he jumped into the hole with the golden-haired woman following from behind.

-

"Leo, you've been dazed the whole time since you got hit by that rock. Are you sure you're okay? Should we stop?" Cale stopped as he saw Leo stumble over the thick root once again. Although he wanted to reach the city as soon as possible, Leo's health came first.

"Don't worry....I only have a slight heada ..."

Thud!

Before Leo could even finish the sentence, he fell face-first into the grass. Cale eyed the prone boy in confusion, still not understanding the reason for Leo's fatigue.

Leo certainly couldn't be tired from training since he had done next to nothing today, and the injury on the forehead wasn't that serious either.

"Go away...Layla...Dad...Where are you?" A bunch of different sentences escaped from Leo's mouth while his body began to slightly shake. After seeing Leo's current state, Cale finally understood what was going on.

'He's traumatized,' Cale sighed before picking the boy up from the ground and throwing him onto his free shoulder. It actually wasn't that surprising that Leo was left traumatized after an incident like that. After all, who would remain calm after seeing their own family, friends, and even the love of their life getting killed before their eyes?

"Unfortunately, Leo, I have no way to help you. It's your own fight and it will inevitably make you tougher," Cale said before marching forth into the woods.

-

After a few hours of straightforward progress, the view in front of Cale finally changed. Although it was just a road leading somewhere in the distance, Cale felt extremely refreshed after arriving at least somewhere. He couldn't lie, it was getting annoying to be in the same forest for so many days in a row.

"Sniff...sniff" Surprisingly, Fenrir, who had been doing nothing but lounging all this time, suddenly jumped off Cale's shoulder as he started sniffing the ground.

"What's the matter, Fenrir? Did you sense something?" Cale asked, but didn't get an answer as Fenrir moved while intently sniffing the dirty road, seemingly picking up the scent of someone.

Cale didn't even question Fenrir's actions and followed from behind, his mind filled with endless curiosity.

-

"Fenrir...I will give you as many treats as you want once we reach the kingdom," Cale vowed after seeing the place Fenrir led him to. In the distance, there was an old carriage positioned right where the route ended.

Surprisingly, there was no one near the carriage, only the horses standing quietly by the side.

"Where are the owners? Should I just steal it?" Cale pondered, looking around the area but finding no one.

"Bark! Bark!" Fenrir suddenly barked as he charged forward at high speed. Cale was quite surprised by such a development and after making sure no one was around, he followed the running beast.

Neigh! Neigh!

Two horses were about to storm away when they saw Fenrir close the distance to the carriage, but their entire struggle proved futile as they were both tied to the nearest tree.

"Bark! Bark!"

Both animals were delighted to behold Fenrir pass them until stopping in front of the huge range. Promptly, Cale caught up with the small wolf and looked around the area for an explanation behind Fenrir's unusual behavior.

"This hole..." Cale noticed a dark passageway directly beneath his feet, leading to an unknown extent. A slight breeze could be felt coming from the hole, evoking Cale of some unpleasant memories.

"This place... this is undoubtedly a dungeon," Cale realized immediately as he glanced at the floor where a few fresh footprints bound, "So the owners of the carriage went into the dungeon"

"Fenrir, I need you to guard Leo for some time, I have to explore this place" Cale mumbled as Fenrir nodded without any arguments, seeing the determination swelling around the skeleton's opaque armor.