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Chapter 34 – Splitting into groups
After going around, or sometimes coming to blows with, the undead wandering the area, we finally reached the entrance of the Graveyard of Sorrows.
“
.as expected, I suppose.”
The Graveyard of Sorrows we came to investigate was deep within a dense forest.
The sky was covered with bluish black leaves and the ruined gravestones standing intermittently around us gave off a gloomy atmosphere.
A truly depressing place.
In the center of the gravestones a rainbow colored whirlpool was floating in the air.
It was the familiar entrance of a Dungeon.
The type of Dungeons that appear depends on the mana of each place.
The reason why an undead type Dungeon spawned at an abandoned graveyard like this, was most likely due to getting influenced by the mana of the forgotten dead.
Of course, in Magic World that was only set dressing and was strictly just flavor text.
“Couldn’t they handle this place with a bit more care
.? Even a Dungeon appeared because of it.”
Luce said quietly while looking at the gravestones.
“Maybe there was a village nearby a long time ago, which was either destroyed
.or perhaps the inhabitants were taken in by La Colina.”
In a place like this where high level monsters tend to roam, it’s all but impossible to move the graves.
Also, if this place wasn’t affected by wandering souls of the forest, then all it would’ve done is change the type of Dungeon that appeared in the end.
“We will be investigating the Graveyard of Sorrows in five groups of four. To most efficiently search the place, each group will travel on a different route and rendezvous before the end.”
Kalos, the leader appointed by the Guild for this time, explained to us.
He had a bundle of maps in his hand.
Even Dungeons that have the same name differ greatly in their internal structure.
A so-called procedurally generated content.
Apparently thanks to the previous investigation and the information sold to the Guild by other adventurers, the interior of the Graveyard of Sorrows was mostly known already.
What comes now is that these twenty people will scour the place for possible reasons as to why a still fresh Dungeon had an unusually large number of abnormal events happen to it.
Depending on what the investigation finds, we may also set out to take down the Dream Lord with human-wave tactics.
There were no limits to how many people could enter a Dungeon at one time in Magic World, so it was possible to depend on numbers to take down a Dream Lord.
That’s the same in this world.
However, it was decided that the reward for it will split evenly amongst everyone, so it didn’t have that much of a meaning besides clearing the Dungeon itself.
Without having the city put a reward on it, the profit ratio is simply awful.
Using numbers to take down a Dream Lord is not an efficient tactic to begin with.
Since most of the time it’s not the HP or MP of the boss that’s the most troublesome, but the Attack, Defense, and Agility, and also the various Skills it may have.
Of course, having more numbers is better, but bringing people who are not high enough level only makes it more likely that the battle will result in a mountain of corpses.
Although aside from the healers, most adventurers here are at least B rank, so rather than relying on numbers to take down a higher level Dream Lord, it’s a situation where we try to maximize safety as best we can while making sure to defeat the boss, so it’s a different story.
“The Dream Lord of the Graveyard of Sorrows is a bone knight called Knight Bone. It’s a 【Lv70】 opponent, so it’s very unlikely we could lose if we all work together to take it down. There may be people here that could even defeat it alone.”
Kalos kept on explaining.
The Knight Bone is a crimson red skeleton covered in armor.
It’s taller than two meters and fights with a large and heavy sword.
Although it has a high damage potential, what it doesn’t have is a ranged attack Skill, so we don’t have to worry too much about an accident happening.
Indeed, it’s at a lower level then even the Rock Centipede’s Evolved form, the Death Armed.
That one was 【Lv75】.
Even without fighting it with a large group, even Luce and I alone could deal with it by ourselves.
“Even so, this Dungeon is in a state where anything could happen. I would like everyone to avoid running ahead by entering the Lord’s room. If someone does that anyway, then I will have to report it to the Guild as intentionally disrupting this Raid Quest.”
Well, that’s an obvious thing.
The main objective of this Raid Quest is the investigation itself, so it would be especially bad if someone were to just waltz into the Dream Lord’s room and defeat the Knight Bone.
“As for choosing who belongs in each group, I’ve done that by considering everyone’s Class, level, and previous relations.”
Kalos announced the group composition and gave out a map with their route marked on it.
My group had Luce and Mabel, the Priestess. Also
.Celt, the Hunter.
It makes a certain sense to pair an experienced B rank adventurer with two newly appointed B rank adventurers and a healer, I guess.
Leaving Mabel aside, I don’t really like the fact that our last member turned out to be Celt of all people.
“Oi oi, if it isn’t the brats from before. Try not to hold me back too much.”
Contrary to Celt’s words, he had a perfectly relaxed expression on his face.
He doesn’t seem to be too bothered by the fact that he got grouped with me, someone who managed to see through him before.
Perhaps he is confident that due to the difference between our positions and life experiences, he could deal with me if it comes to that.
Meanwhile Luce was glaring at Celt with her arms crossed, trying to intimidate him.
“Yaay, I’m glad that I’m grouped with people who I’ve spoken with before. Elma-san and Luce-san seem nice and Celt-san seems reliable too. I will leave the decisions on what I should do to Celt-san.”
Mabel said with a beatific smile.
“That’s surprisingly smart of you, little girl. Well, it’s to be expected though. As long as you are working with me, my decisions are absolute. I don’t accept any objections. I simply have too much experience delving into Dungeons compared to all of you.”
Kelt looked very satisfied as he kept whistling and started heading towards the entrance of the Dungeon with the map we got from Kalos in his hands.
Mabel kept looking at the back of Celt with a slight smile on her face.
“But of course I will do just as the experienced Celt-san said. I will make sure to keep in reserve the MP I would be using on Celt-san.”
Mabel whispered quietly.
After a few quiet giggles she then hurried after Celt.
Truly, she has a delightful personality
..
“
.Elma-san, is that girl really okay?”
“
.well, as long as we don’t betray her, she shouldn’t do anything drastic.”
I answered Luce’s query.
“I’m happy that I can accompany Teacher! This must mean that you recognized me as your disciple!”
“As I said already, I don’t remember ever becoming your teacher
. With you only armed with a sickle like this, I couldn’t just saddle another group with you, since you would only be a hindrance like that.”
As we turned back from hearing Hilde’s loud voice, we heard Kalos saying some pretty scathing words to her.
“Teacher, if that’s what you really think, then, uhm, a sword
.”
“We have some leeway in terms of fighting strength during this Raid Quest, so it’s best if you keep to your sickle like that, which is perfect for preventing you from rushing ahead.”
A harsh assessment.
Although, since Kalos didn’t want to bring her with us on this Raid Quest to begin with, it’s somewhat understandable
.