As the four of them stepped through the portal’s frame, their surroundings turned to complete darkness for a few seconds. A strange, cold gust of wind washed over their bodies, making the hair on their arms stand up. A few moments later, the light returned, and the scene before them was revealed.
They all fell silent. Before them lay a world dominated by the color pink. Gentle, rolling hills covered in grass and small pink flowers stretched as far as the eye could see. Giant mushrooms with pink caps grew everywhere, some towering high like trees. A neat stone path snaked its way through the hills. But the most stunning part was the sky. The sky itself was a soft pink, and high above, giant creatures resembling jellyfish floated gracefully, their long tentacles dangling in the air.
The air in this place felt cool, and the sweet, heavy scent of flowers was like a strong perfume that stung their noses.
This... this is beyond my imagination, Fyar thought. He swallowed hard, his eyes ceaselessly admiring the surreal beauty of the place. Rasie, Illya, and Zaefal were just as captivated, their eyes wide as they stared at the alien world before them. From their reactions, Fyar knew that this was their first time here as well.
Zaefal was the first to shake himself from his awe. He gave a light cough to clear his throat, then turned to his party while waving the paper scrolls they had received. "Alright, first things first, let’s place this paper on the dungeon entrance."
Rasie, Illya, and Fyar nodded. They each placed one of their artifact scrolls on the portal gate behind them, which was made of an arrangement of hexagonal stones. After that, Fyar took out a map and unfolded it.
"My estimate is that the distance is about a twenty-minute walk," Fyar said, pointing to an area on the map with his finger.
"Twenty minutes huh....." Illya murmured, seeming a bit pensive. As a mage, her physical stamina was the weakest among them.
"What’s wrong, Illya?" Fyar asked, noticing her slightly worried expression.
Illya quickly shook her head gently. "mmm it’s nothing fyar."
Zaefal looked at his teammates one by one. "Are you ready? If you feel your life is threatened or you’re in a dangerous situation, do not hesitate to burn that paper. This is an absolute order. For now, let’s walk toward the cave and gather any artifacts we might find. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful creatures you see here."
Rasie smiled widely, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly. "Heh, heh.kill kill kill kill kill kill killllll"
Illya and Fyar just nodded and answered in unison, "Understood."
They immediately got into the inverted triangle formation they had planned. Fyar was behind Illya, Rasie was at the front left, and Zaefal was at the front right. The distance between them wasn’t too great; they were close enough to still be able to touch each other’s shoulders. They began to walk along the path, their eyes warily scanning the giant mushrooms around them. The ground in this world was uneven, forcing them to ascend and descend small hills.
We’ve been walking for ten minutes and there are no monsters in sight yet. Hmmm. Fyar walked behind Illya, his eyes continuously scanning their surroundings, on guard for any sudden attacks.
"Stop!" Zaefal’s voice was sharp. He stretched his arm out behind him, halting all of them in their tracks.
"What is it, Zaefal?" Illya asked, confused.
"fu*king Human corpses and ugly ass animal," Rasie said softly, her eyes narrowing at something in the distance.
"H-Human corpses?!" Illya was shocked and ran a little farther ahead to see what Rasie meant. When she saw the scene in the distance, her face froze in horror. Fyar followed slowly, his pistol already raised and aimed. His expression hardened, just as shocked as Illya.
About three hundred meters in front of them, in a small valley, a pack of foxes with thick white fur was feasting on human bodies. There were four corpses there, their bodies dismembered. The foxes had three tails, massive claws, and were the size of adult cows. Their pink eyes glowed. There were eight of them in total.
Avebour. Fyar immediately recognized the monster from the book he had read. A level fourteen monster with extremely high physical strength that liked to hunt in packs. Even though their level wasn’t too high, with their numbers and coordination, they could easily eliminate an adventuring party with an average level of twenty if they were careless. Fyar had already anticipated an encounter with this monster and had planned a way to kill them.
"Quick, take cover!" Zaefal whispered. They immediately ran behind a small nearby hill, crouching down to stay out of sight. Zaefal looked at Illya. "Illya, use a sound-dampening spell."
Illya nodded. She moved her staff, and an invisible, transparent dome immediately enveloped them, muffling all sound. "It will only last for three minutes. I’m sorry, I can’t make it last any longer," Illya said with a gloomy expression.
"This is enough. Thank you, Illya," Zaefal said with a reassuring smile.
"Stop that habit of putting yourself down, Illya you doing a good," Rasie added.
Fyar smiled and gave Illya a thumbs-up.
"Right!" Illya replied, her own smile returning slightly.
Zaefal then turned his gaze to Fyar. "What’s the plan fyar?"