Exploring Baltor (3)
Shaura, the Indian-looking man who had begun staying in Lundel around the same time as Ian, was finally taking a leisurely stroll through the village after a week of nonstop activity.
His party members had been unable to stomach Lundel’s food any longer and had headed back to Startia to resupply. That was why he found himself wandering alone today.
“Hmm… There really isn’t anything to do.”
Even so, the reason he kept moving from place to place was simple habit, something that had become ingrained in him over the past month.
Ever since he’d been trapped in this death game called Arcadia Online, he hadn’t had a single proper day of rest. As a result, relaxation felt awkward to Shaura. Unable to shake his anxiety, he simply wandered the village to kill time.
That was when he spotted a familiar face. His feet naturally carried him toward the man.
“Hey there, Adrian. What are you doing here?”
“Shaura?”
Adrian. A Latino man with sharp features and tanned skin. The giant two-handed axe strapped to his back looked completely out of place on him, but he still flashed Shaura a grin.
“What’s up? You’re actually in the village for once.”
“My party headed down today, so I’m on my own. What about you?”
“I got forced to rest after heading down yesterday. I’m bored out of my mind.”
Adrian’s joking tone couldn’t hide how utterly fed up he looked. There was no entertainment to be found here. Like Shaura, he had been aimlessly wandering the village with nothing better to do.
Shaura had no desire to end up like him.
And perhaps his desperate wish was answered, because a good idea suddenly popped into his head.
“Then how about you come out with me today?”
“Just the two of us?”
“It’d be a waste of time otherwise. Still, it’d be better if we could find at least one more person.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Having decided to form a party for the day, Shaura and Adrian circled the village in search of others in the same situation.
It didn’t take them long to find someone.
“Oh! Those two look perfect, don’t they?”
“That’s basically winning the lottery. Let’s go.”
It was Ian, wrapped tightly in her cloak, and Emily, who was clinging to her like a leech.
Ian generally preferred not to play in parties.
There were many reasons, but the biggest one was that she didn’t want to take responsibility. She absolutely wanted to avoid any situation where her decisions put someone else in danger.
But.
‘How the hell did it end up like this?’
She let out yet another sigh as she looked at the people in front of her.
Emily, Shaura, and even Adrian. She knew them all from the Zone 1 raid, but she had never imagined she would end up partying with them. Not even this morning.
Ian glared at the root cause of this entire mess.
“Aww, come on. More people is better, right?”
“Then you could’ve just gone with them.”
“There you go again. Just accept it. It’ll be easier if you do.”
“You’re the last person who should be saying that!”
Emily’s voice was still ringing in Ian’s ears.
If Ian didn’t let her join the party, she would go alone. She might die. And if she died, she would resent Ian for not accepting her into the party until her very last breath.
To think an adult would make such childish threats so persistently. Ian had eventually given in, terrified she would develop neurosis if she had to listen any longer. That was how she had ended up agreeing to party with Emily for the day.
But then—
“Excuse me, do you have any open spots in your party?”
“We don’t— mmph!”
“Oh, you two are also a pair? Perfect. We can all go together.”
Shaura and Adrian had suddenly appeared.
“Don’t worry. I’ve never told anyone about the clothes you’re wearing underneath, Ian— ”
“Uwaaaah! S-stop!”
The only players who knew what Ian was hiding beneath her cloak were currently Shaura’s group.
‘I worked so hard to keep it hidden!’
Fortunately, she hadn’t been exposed yet. But with Shaura holding such a fatal weakness over her, Ian had no choice.
Especially not with Emily staring at her like that.
‘I absolutely cannot let it be discovered.’
Ian couldn’t even begin to imagine how much teasing she would suffer. With no other option, she reluctantly accepted Shaura’s group into the party.
“Anyway, we somehow managed to gather, but the party composition is pretty bad.”
At Shaura’s words, both Emily and Adrian nodded.
As for Ian? Her mind had completely shut down. She was just staring blankly into space.
In any case.
“One shield, two swords, and one axe. Not exactly ideal.”
The beasts of Zone 2, the Baltor Mountains, were all flying creatures. Heading out to hunt in a place like this without any long-range support was basically choosing to play on the highest possible difficulty.
“But where are we supposed to find an archer or mage at this point? They’re all probably already in parties.”
The problem was that most players who used bows or magic were already part of established groups. Even if they searched hard, they might find someone who had stayed behind like them, but that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
That was when Ian raised her hand.
“I’ll take the rear.”
“You, Ian?”
“I know how to use a staff.”
Ian pulled out a staff from her waist. Unlike the ones other staff users carried, it was small enough to be held in one hand. The three of them looked at her with doubtful eyes.
At their reaction, Ian clicked her tongue.
“Then forget I said anything.”
“N-no, we’ll do it your way.”
“Yeah. We can always switch if needed. Haha…”
In truth, she understood their reaction. Even Ian herself was more comfortable with a sword than a staff.
But swinging a sword inevitably led to larger movements. No matter how careful she was, her inner clothing would eventually be exposed.
A staff, on the other hand, only required her to aim at enemies and cast magic. The chances of her clothes being revealed were comparatively low.
That was why Ian had volunteered for the rear. It was also a good opportunity to raise her magic proficiency.
Then why did you show everything when you were with Hakon?
Because he was an NPC. She wouldn’t see him again after this zone, so she had basically ignored him.
In any case.
After somehow settling on their formation, Adrian spoke up.
“So, do we have a destination in mind?”
“I’ve got a rough idea, but I wanted to ask someone first.”
“Who?”
“That annoying guy I always hang out with.”
The group headed deeper into the village, toward the area where Lundel’s warriors gathered. There, they approached Hakon, the great warrior who was swinging his spear.
“Good morning, Hakon.”
“Ah, Savior. Please wait a moment. I’ll get ready right— wait, who are the people beside you?”
“Um… they’re my friends. I’m going with them today, so you don’t need to follow me.”
“If that’s the case, then I suppose it can’t be helped. Please be careful.”
Unexpectedly, Hakon accepted Ian’s words without resistance.
‘Well, he is an NPC. Maybe the system is set so he leaves when other players join.’
Considering how he had acted the first time they met, Ian had expected him to insist on coming along again. She had been worrying about how to persuade him, so this came as a relief.
“By the way, Hakon. I have one question.”
“Please ask.”
“Is there a cave near the valley?”
“A cave, you say?”
Hakon nodded.
“There is one small cavern nearby.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“You never asked.”
“This guy really…”
To think he hadn’t told her about something so important just because she hadn’t asked. Ian had always found him irritating, but today she seriously wanted to punch him in the head.
Her fists were crying. For real.
Whether he knew about Ian’s state or not, Hakon continued speaking calmly.
“However, I personally recommend that you do not go.”
“Why this time?”
Hakon pointed at his eyes.
“It’s quite dark in there.”
Ian’s party arrived at the cave Hakon had told them about.
“That’s the one.”
“Looks like it.”
“It reeks.”
“There’s definitely something in there.”
Ian, Emily, Shaura, and Adrian all had similar thoughts the moment they saw the pitch-black cave.
The smell of something living was wafting strongly from the entrance.
“Are we going in?”
“We came all the way here, so we should check it out. Emily, you have a torch, right?”
“Yeah, I brought one. Just need to light it.”
Ian brought her staff close to the torch Emily was holding.
“Fireball.”
A basic fire spell, aimed slightly upward so it wouldn’t break the torch. The sphere of flame flew quickly and struck the cave wall before vanishing, but it successfully lit the torch.
“It’s not as bright as I hoped.”
“Still better than nothing. Emily, please take the lead.”
“Geez, our Ian really works me too hard.”
“Hurry up before I hit you.”
Ian’s party began advancing properly into the cave.
A chilling wind blew through, and the sound of dripping water echoed. Relying on a single torch, the party moved with extreme caution.
“By the way, I don’t see a single bat. I honestly thought it would be crawling with them.”
“Maybe they went out hunting. If there’s nothing here, that’s good for us, right?”
“What if they come back when we’re leaving?”
“Hmm… I’m sure our leader will handle it.”
“She might abandon you first.”
Even while exchanging pointless banter, everyone including Ian remained tightly wound with tension.
Since they had no way of predicting when or where something might happen, the party advanced with great care.
After quite a long time had passed—
“Ian, how far have we gone?”
“Not sure. According to the map, we should be roughly in the middle… but I can’t be certain.”
“Still only the middle? This place is longer than I thought.”
“Our steps are slow. Can’t be helped.”
Ian’s party had just passed the midpoint of the cave.
That was when it happened.
“Hold on.”
Emily, who had been walking at the front, raised the torch high and signaled the party to stop.
“What is it?”
“I think I hear something…”
She closed her eyes tightly and focused all her senses on her hearing.
-Squeak. Squeeeak.
“Is that… a cry?”
Emily’s brows furrowed slightly. The moment she took one step forward to listen more carefully—
-Flap flap flap!
A loud flapping sound loud enough for the entire party to hear erupted from ahead.
“Ian!”
Before Adrian could even finish calling her name, Ian had already aimed her staff forward.
“Fireball!”
A sphere of flame shot forward at high speed.
-Boom!
But it exploded before it could reach its target. Something in the darkness had blocked the flame.
However, in the moment the fireball exploded, Ian’s party caught a glimpse of what lay beyond the light.
“Th-this… Everyone, prepare for battle!”
There stood the master of the cave that had lived here for a very long time.
A swarm of bats with blood-red eyes, charging straight at them.