The clearing before the Eldor Terminal was only a quarter occupied, with most people preparing to leave or enter. Most adventurers would enter or exit at the beginning of the day or at the end since it was somewhat dangerous to camp out in the rainforest. However, once one reached a certain level of power and experience, longer-term missions were possible. Such was the case for Angela's group: especially with Min and the soldier present.
Upon reaching the front of the short queue, the soldier began writing down everyone's names on the tablet. Min didn't notice this last time, but the soldier also wrote their ranks next to their names. This would help any rescuers understand the threat level in case they got lost. Some people had concerns over noob bullying, though, so it was optional to write down.
Everyone stepped through the veil, and once they were all situated on the other side, Angela took out a map and confirmed their route. She looked over to Mark, Joseph, and Min before speaking.
"There are a few territorial beasts along the way to the ruins, and we will inevitably cross into some territories. Mark and Min, you will act as guards for our main group. Joseph will scout ahead and communicate any territorial marks that he finds. While the chances are low that we will encounter any territorial beasts while in their territory, the best choice if we do is to run away…"
This was in the interest of timeliness and danger. Territorial beasts had to be at least E Grade to maintain some sort of ground in this part of the rainforest. So, while they could technically defeat these beasts, it was better to not endanger the researchers and avoid these creatures.
Min had to agree. Who knew what they would encounter in these ruins? They were going to a recently-discovered part that had not been entered yet. If there were some freaks in there, like Han Xiao saw in Felonia, they'd need all the energy they could muster.
…
It had been roughly a day since they entered the rainforest, and given that, they were forced to camp for the night. Up until this point, the student researchers were quite energetic about their surroundings and chatty. Since he was guarding the main group with Mark, he eavesdropped in between chatting with Mark.
One of these students, the one who had flicked the soldier Richard before, was apparently a moderately high ranked nobleman on the Eldor continent. Among the hard to decipher technical lingo, Min heard a few tid bits of information that made him perk up. There were apparently some battles going on around the world between some noble houses. They were hiring a bunch of adventurers, mercenaries, and enlisting their own soldiers to do this fight, though the scale wasn't anything large yet. He couldn't eavesdrop about anything more, though, but Min felt like he was even closer to getting Planet Brighton's Main Storyline mission.
As the day went on, the student researchers began to complain more and more about the environment. It got worse whenever they stopped to camp for the night.
The student researchers gave no help in setting up the camp and only sat around criticizing everyone's work. The soldier, Angela, and Mark seemed numb to this, but Joseph and Min were internally tweaking out. The night watch was better, though, since the researchers simply went to sleep after eating dinner. Some gossiped and kicked their feet for a while before going to sleep, however, making Min feel like he was in some teen drama movie.
It luckily didn't take much longer after morning for Angela and crew to arrive at the general area that the ruins were in, and they didn't even encounter any beasts along the way. Now, they had to search for the entrance to the ruins. One would assume that it would be easy to find the ruin entrance, but the rainforest's environment was constantly changing, so people who hadn't been there before would have some difficulty finding things.
At the helm, Angela stepped up a small boulder before she stopped and took out a magical communication device. It had a small range and would sustain communication when she inputted mana. As she was doing this, though, one of the student researchers went up to her position and took a photo out of his pocket. He looked between the thick foliage and trees ahead before spotting a raised mound of dirt. After comparing it to the worn photo a few times, he nodded excitedly.
"This is it!"
A wave of relief passed through the group. It had been a "peaceful" walk up until this point, making the researchers feel lucky. The soldier motioned to Angela, who was listening to the magical communication device, and made a sweeping motion forward.
"Well, you heard him. Lead us into the ruins."
"J-Just wait a moment!"
She replied while shooing the researcher away with a glare. As the researchers were all loudly complaining to each other, Mark came up and quietly got their attention.
"Joseph probably saw something. Quiet down so we don't attract any unwanted attention!"
These greenhorns quickly quieted down and looked around at each other, beginning to fret. On the sidelines, Min was a little speechless: why did these guys come out here if they were going to tremble at any possibility of danger? And why didn't Lord Halden warn them that this was secretly a babysitting mission!
Soon, Angela turned back to the crew while putting the magical communicator into her bag. She spoke seriously while looking toward the researcher who had the photo.
"Our scout, Joseph, has found evidence of a creature with a small territory residing in the cave ahead. Did you say that the cave was the entrance to the ruin?"
The addressed researcher gulped while nodding. Angela pinched the bridge of her nose while thinking of a solution.
"Just our luck. Both of our Silver ranks are damage dealers, and Mark can't handle a Grade E beast. We'll have to send someone in to draw the territorial beast out while we make an ambush."
Min stepped up and raised a hand. He glanced at the soldier while speaking.
"I think we ought have him defend the researchers while we lure the creature out. It'll be more risky, but we don't know if something could come across and get them while we're fighting."
While he would normally want someone weaker to guard the students, Min didn't want the mission to fail. He also had a feeling that the soldier would stay with the student researchers regardless. Each of them had their own missions, after all.
After discussing the logistics of the ambush, everyone got into position. Min had used 18 of his 218 Energy to summon a bow. Due to his elevated speed and the fact that he could charge an arrow while running, Min had the unfortunate role of bait.
Mark and Joseph took a position above the cave's entrance while Angela made a fortified position on the lower branches of a nearby hardy tree. Meanwhile, the researchers and soldier remained where they initially spotted the cave. The plan was to have some high ground to launch attacks from before going on a more equal level with whatever was in there. It depended on the exact nature of the territorial creature, after all.
With that, Min sighed while letting go of his bow and letting it float beside him. Then, with a hand on the hilt of his sword, he went to the entrance of the cave. At the top rim of the semi-circle entrance was a tin plaque nailed into the dirt. It was parallel to the ground and was easily legible, with it reading "Brosni Ruins #314". Oddly enough, there was another line of writing that said the exact same thing, but in smaller font. With a shrug, Min moved the vines hanging from the cave's entrance and stepped foot into the cave.
It was damp in here, and while he couldn't see the end from here, it clearly wasn't far. With a deep breath, he lowered his noise level and quickened his pace while taking light steps.
It took only a minute for him to trot down to the entrance of the ruin, which was dug into the side of the cave's natural end. When he turned the corner, he saw the form of a sleeping gorilla. Its strong build was marked by intersecting patterns of fierce scars and greying fur. Min froze and tensed his muscles to try and not make a sound. This opportunity…
Holding his breath, Min began channeling energy into an arrow. While doing this, he looked at the surroundings of the gorilla's sleeping place- especially the giant bunker-like doors behind it. The dark, heavy alloy constitution of these doors was kind of puzzling for Min. The so-called "Barbarians" seemed to have been quite advanced, at least in the past.
When Min looked back at the gorilla, he saw it beginning to stir. Surprised, Min quickly put the 12 energy arrow into his bow and pulled the ethereal string back. It only took the gorilla half a second to snap awake and see the Elf stalking his location! But before it could start to get up, Min let go of the arrow.
Swish, pink!
–
-184!
You have inflicted light bleeding, causing -1 hp every second! Dark Jungle Gorilla (Old) is resistant, making duration 6 seconds.
–
"Eep!"
Min turned around and sprinted out of the cave like a Looney Tunes character while the gorilla gave chase. He charged energy into another arrow while glancing at the character sheet for the gorilla. It was level 28 and had good stats, seeming to have been strong enough to possess a harem in the past. However, time took its toll, so the stats had declined somewhat due to age.
While Min was congratulating himself on his luck, he suddenly realized something.
'I keep beating up the sick and elderly…'
First, the Murky Caiman was injured when Min fought it, and now this gorilla was old? He almost felt villainous with this lucky track record. Shaking this thought away, Min quickly pushed off a foot and moved his body to the side, dodging a lunge that devolved into a roll.
Soon after, Min pushed out of the vines covering the entrance to the cave before turning to face the entrance and backpeddling to make space. Grabbing a newly-formed arrow and pushing the fully-formed one to the side, Min pulled it back in the bow while making it to a thick tree. His back brushed the trunk as he made enough space to fully pull the arrow back.
The gorilla burst out from the vines and made a loud roar at Min, as if telling him to buzz off from the gorilla's house. While bearing its teeth at the Elf, Min let go of the arrow and let it fly toward the gorilla. However, it ducked quite deeply to avoid the attack, with the arrow traveling into the cave. The moment it stood back up and made another sound, though, the magically enhanced Joseph and Mark descended from the cave's top. Their swords were embedded halfway into the gorilla's tough shoulders, causing the creature to scream.
A fireball flew by as Min drew his sword while rushing toward the gorilla. While this tactic had some good surprise damage, Mark and Joseph would be in huge danger if they remained.
The gorilla yipped while trying to buck Mark and Joseph off. They barely stayed on while holding onto their blades, with Joseph almost losing his grip. Seeing that Joseph was the weakest link, the gorilla started to roll onto the side with Joseph.
"Raaagh!"
Min got the gorilla's attention and held the sword to the left, telegraphing his next attack. However, when he got close enough and the gorilla moved to counter attack while in the middle of rolling, Min spun counterclockwise before stabbing into the gorilla's side. His muscles flexed, scars intertwining with defined muscle lines, as he held the gorilla up for a moment- giving Joseph just enough time to pull his daggers out and jump off. Mark himself was already long gone, and Angela was preparing another fireball to launch.
The group had done some combat training to help with their synchronization, but Min was not used to fighting with others, so it was harder to adapt to his sometimes unpredictable moves or feints. Thus, the gorilla had ended up blocking the first fireball.
Min held his ground for a moment while giving a quick glance to the Interface, looking only for the gorilla's health points.
—-
Dark Jungle Gorilla (Old)
Health: 1144/1732
—
550 damage done… it was good progress in Min's mind. However, only one target was in front of the gorilla, so it roared and swung its arm at Min. The Elf had to let go of the sword as he spread his stance and ducked low. The gorilla's finger grazed him, dealing 12 damage. Surprisingly, though, the fist cut itself on the bow, which was floating above Min, dealing a good bit of damage.
This was a pretty horrible position though. Min didn't have the position to push off with enough speed, so he decided to hold his ground for a terrifying few moments. Putting a lot of power into his most grounded leg, Min pushed up between the gorilla's closing arms and clenched his fist, delivering a powerful uppercut. This hit was quite powerful on the gorilla's face and, with the fireball hitting at the same time, stunned the creature for a moment. Min used this opportunity to deliver a quick combo, starting with a few hits to the face before delivering a strong kick, all with exceptional form. The gorilla's focus turned to the fireball, bashing its flaming fur against the wall of the cave entrance. At the same time, Min dashed in and pulled his sword from the gorilla with all his strength before getting out quick.
Everyone basically reset their position while recovering and preparing their next attacks. With the fire in its fur gone, the gorilla took one look at the situation before hooting and turning for an exit. It burst out with great speed and made it to the edge of a thicker part of the forest.
This wasn't a horrible outcome, though Min was beginning to be concerned about their exit plan, so he pulled back the saved fully-formed arrow from before and began to shoot…
Boom!
A figure smashed down from a higher tree, his shoulder smashing the gorilla into the ground. Min recognized this as the soldier, who rolled off the gorilla's back and stabbed his greatsword into the gorilla's now exposed neck. It pierced like a skewer through meat, and held for a moment before the soldier pulled it out and spun, turning his body with a hop to maintain momentum. The heavy blade's edge skirted along the dirt before swiping up, taking the gorilla's head clean off.
—-----------------------------------
Richard Luva (Lv. 30) has dealt fatal damage!
"-781"
You have killed Black Jungle Gorilla (Lv. 28) and gained 8,750 exp.
—-----------------------------------
As you killed an enemy that is five levels higher than you, the experience reward will be multiplied by 180%. The total experience possible to gain is 15,750. Your personal contribution was 43.3%.
You have gained an additional 6,819 exp!
—-----------------------------------------------------------
He had shot the fully formed arrow at the Gorilla to get some extra contribution rate when he realized it was going to die. But Min quickly looked away from the system notification and stared at the sight with raised brows. While they were in a place where survival of the fittest applied, and they were trying to kill this gorilla, it still felt a little overly grotesque seeing this.
Still, they wouldn't have to worry about the gorilla being there when they exited. Min went over to check on Joseph and Mark while the soldier caught the falling head from the sky. They had only lost some health and stamina, so Min went over to Richard and looked at the corpse.
"Damn, what made you come out here to finish the job? Are the kids safe?"
Coincidentally, the student researchers came out of the dense foliage and went up to the corpse, inspecting it with visible curiosity. The soldier gave a plain reply while handing the head to the nobleman student, blood still dripping from it.
"The Young Master wanted its head. You. Use some magic to preserve it."
He pointed to the speechless Angela in the trees, who slowly nodded and began climbing down. The nobleman student grabbed the head with a bright, childlike smile. However, whenever he grabbed the bloody part of the head, his expression immediately contorted in disgust as he let go of the body part. It began falling to the ground as he complained.
"GROSS!!!!! I don't want it if it's so wet and mushy!!!"
The soldier grabbed the gorilla head by the hair and tossed it over his shoulder, the head bouncing off its original body. Angela, who had come over and was preparing the spell, stopped channeling mana. She sighed before turning to address everyone.
"While the gorilla is gone and we have no immediate danger, I suggest we take a small recovery break in the cave. We will need energy for what comes ahead."
Everyone nodded while the researchers, Angela, and Min began going into the cave. Joseph and Mark held back to get any valuable materials from the carcass.
(P.S.! For Webnovel readers:
I hear that people don't read author's notes very often, but I would suggest looking at them on this fan fiction. They're typically how I talk to you all and give suggestions for other fan fictions. I don't like bloating chapters with non-story, so that's all!)