Vice stared calmly at Ablerus, able to sense the disdain within the man’s voice. “Let’s send you to the front lines. Problem solved,” Vice said as he glared back at the man.

‘Hahaha, you’re one crazy little shit, Vice, have I ever told you that?’ Favian said.

‘Shut it, he’s being an asshole because of the way that I look,’ Vice replied.

Ablerus’ face contorted and he bared his teeth like a wild animal. Just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by the woman seated next to him.

“HAHAHA, this boy is just too much,” Cally said after which she burst into a fit of laughter. The tension in the room was instantly relieved, and the soured face left Ablerus. Instead, it was replaced by an annoyed look towards the woman. “I quite like that idea of yours, Vice, we’ll let those pesky people from the Mages’ Guild go in first, whilst we loot the whole pocket dimension, how about that? Oops, did I say that out loud?” Cally asked as pushed her hand to where her mouth was beneath the mask. Only seconds later she fell into another hearty fit of laughter.

“All right you two, no need to get so riled up, you aren’t immature twenty-year-olds anymore,” Delron said. He lifted Ablerus up from his chair with ease and sat himself in the middle of the two. “This’ll do, right? Before you two start arguing again. My ears can’t handle any more bickering from you both.”

‘What is going on here? They’re… not what I expected. I knew that Master Cally is a bit, different, but all three of them?’ Vice thought.

“Always ruining my fun Delron, you know he’s such an easily aggravated old man,” Cally said. “What we should do is send a small force into scout ahead for us and note the layout. I suggest we take one or two members from each guild and the police force. It’ll do good for training as well. Any objections?”

Silence.

“Well that settles it, Vice you’ll be the lone member representing our Treasure Hunters’ Guild. I trust you’ll remember your priorities,” she said. Cally wanted him to search for treasure whilst he was there, even if it was at the cost of spending more time in the pocket dimension.

“Yes, Master Cally,” Vice replied solemnly and bowed down to his hips.

.…

Vice was stood at the main entrance to the pocket dimension. The blue barrier dome had a door cut into it, allowing for people to enter and exit at will. Vice was told that this was the one and only entrance and exit. If the party needed to retreat, then they’d have to run back to this entrance.

Both Paul and Anne were next to Vice, along with four other individuals who were filled to the brim with mana. The same person who’d brought Vice and Anne to the tent was part of their party.

“Okay people, I’ve been granted leadership of this excursion, so make sure you listen to what I say. We don’t need too many chefs in the kitchen,” Paul said. “Jason here will be in charge of healing. Despite his timid appearance, I trust him with my life.” Paul gave Jason a swift pat on the back before continuing, “Everyone just introduce what you’ll do for the team.”

Jason, the officer who’d brought Vice and Anne to the tent, stood very sheepishly next to Paul, his hair and eyes a dark red color. He was by far the shortest in the group, only reaching up to Vice’s chest.

“I’m Austin, and this is Jake. We’re from the Adventurers’ Guild so I’m sure you won’t be surprised that we’ll be your defense. We’ll act as tanks against the enemies we find in there,” Austin, a tall and muscular male, said. Both he and Jake looked identical, so Vice concluded that they were twins. The two men looked to be in their mid-twenties, and their black skin was booming with vitality. They also had identical buzz cuts.

“I’m Favor. I’m from the Mages Guild and my magical studies have been focused on water magic. I’m as good at attacking as I am at utility, so please take care of me,” a girl said and bowed. Her dark brown hair was tied up into two ponytails.

“Hi. I’m Anne, and I’m also from the Mage’s Guild. I specialize in tracking magic and have some healing magic in my repertoire. I will mainly be casting barriers however, to protect the tanks,” Anne said in her sweet voice. After speaking she looked at Vice. He simply didn’t say a thing despite him knowing everyone was waiting for his introduction.

“Ahh sorry, that’s Vice. He’s a bit of a… different individual. He’ll warm up to you and speak to you all at some point I bet. He’ll be our main damage source alongside myself,” Paul said. “All right, let’s get on with it.”

The sun was still high in the sky, and Vice could feel the draining effects that it had on his strength. The group of seven walked through the door in the barrier. Everyone except for Vice had already materialized their weapons or spells before entering. Vice examined the area from the middle of the pack, staring at the weapons of his allies in the process. The moment he had crossed the threshold between the material plane and this pocket dimension Vice huffed heavily. The amount of arcana entering his body was difficult to get used to with his first few breaths, but after a while, his body began to acclimatize to taking in much more arcana from the surroundings than it was used to.

“Ahh what is this smell? This is just disgusting,” Favor said. Her white hands covered her nose as she looked around and wretched constantly.

Vice ignored the girl and instead scanned the area they had just walked into. The crimson fog was heavy in the air, and it was difficult to see more than ten meters into the distance. A pungent rotting smell of decomposed corpses hung in the air, however, Vice wasn’t bothered by it one bit. He was stood comfortably within the formation. Austin took the front, with a sword and shield in his hands, whilst Jake took the rear with the exact same weaponry.

“Okay everyone, we move forward very slowly. And I mean it when I say very slowly, Austin make sure you don’t go too fast,” Paul commanded.

The group was only able to cover a small area, and it would have been difficult to truly create a layout for the area due to the fog, but this was easily circumvented through the use of magic. Each member of the group had a golden card in their spatial pouches, and this would be able to scan their surroundings and send the information to the headquarters without them needed to do anything extra. The card, also known as a CC or communication card, was owned by all of the members of the guilds and the police force.

[DING! Hostile forces approaching from the right, coordinates are being transferred to the host right now.] Virtue buzzed into Vice’s mind.

Vice frantically held onto his head before the pain could even settle in. Holding his head seemed to put a damper on his agony, and after a second the uncomfortable sensation left.

“To the right, we’re going to be attacked,” Vice shouted as he prepared himself for battle. He let the mana burst forth from his arcana core, which circulated around his body until finally wisps of purple energy sprung forth from his hands. A claymore materialized into Vice’s hand, which he quickly swung in the direction of the nearing opponent. A purple crescent of energy was released by the blade, which cut through the fog to reveal five Jorogumos.

CRASH!

The energy wave released by Vice crashed into the closest enemy’s legs, slicing them off. The Jorogumo fell to the floor with a loud thud. Blood gushed out of its torn limbs and it screamed out in pain. Before it could try to stop its bleeding, a different Jorogumo pierced the creature's brain with its leg and devoured its slain companion whole with a loud crunching sound.

“Protect the side,” Paul shouted toward Austin and Jake, who sprung forward and stood side by side with their shields defending against the attacks from the monsters. A thin yellow barrier covered their shields as Anne wove her hands into different shapes. Vice knew that this was a lot easier to sustain for Anne than the whole body barrier she’d done previously with him.

WOOSH!

Multiple arrows imbued with red energy were sent flying at the Jorogumos, with Paul constantly releasing more arrows from his flaming bow. A trail of flames was left in the air as the relentless barrage of arrows combined with Vice’s purple crescent-moon slashes. The Jorogumos were forced into the defensive, and just as Vice thought the tide was turning a shrill scream boomed through the area.