Chapter 145: Chapter 145
"Hey Zarin! Come over here!" Ryker could be heard shouting as he walked over and grabbed the D ranked Reaver by the neck and pulled him over.
"Hey Ryker, what’s going on? Why are you pulling me ? Come on, I was in the middle of making some ladies fall for me." Zarin groaned out in anger as he glared at the C ranked Reaver.
"Shut up you fool, don’t you want to become a C ranker?" Ryker asked with a deep frown on his face. "Because I assure you, I want to be a B ranker too and I just need two hundred MP more."
"And I need one hundred and fifty MP, but what’s the mission?" Zarin asked with furrowed brows.
"There’s a rampage of C ranked beasts in a town. If we complete the mission, instead of the usual 70 MP, master Zuki said he would award us a hundred." Ryker replied.
"Really?" Zarin exclaimed with his eyes gleaming but then it dimmed back down. "But just the two of us against three C ranked beasts? That’s too little."
"Which is why I’m tagging along." A voice was heard and the duo spun around to see Kael walking over.
A shield on his back as he grinned towards the duo.
"So let’s go get our MP’s because I just need a hundred and fifty MP to rank up too. I also want to become a B ranker." Kael added as he crossed his hands in front of the duo.
"Alright then, let’s go ahead and complete the mission." Ryker replied with a wide grin on his face as the trio strapped their weapons tighter and then they exited the hall.
A few minutes later, the trio could be seen pulling up into town and they immediately jumped off the carriage before paying the driver.
The bustling town opened up in front of them as they saw several buildings, market stalls and what not. But the people here didn’t look like they were happy as they had frowns on their faces.
As if they afraid of something or someone coming to take them down.
"Excuse me miss," Zarin called out as he stopped a passer by. "Please where are the beasts that’s said to be terrorising this town?"
"What are you doing? Zarin." Kael whispered towards the Reaver as he tugged on his sleeve.
"Are you guys Reavers?" The woman asked and the trio just flexed their palms in front of her as their clan symbol appeared. "Thank goodness our quest reached you all. The beasts are up in the mountains, they only come out at a specific time of the day."
"What mountains?" Ryker asked and the woman pointed in a general direction.
"Okay, thank you for your help." Kael flashed a smile at the woman as they decided to immediately dash towards a path that would take them to the mountain.
The moment they left, the woman smirked as she tapped her forehead.
"They took the bait, they are on the way." She whispered before she decided to give chase trailing metres behind the men.
Ryker, Zarin and Kael were keeping a steady pace as they weaved through the town, trying their possible best to get to the mountains as soon as possible.
They passed a few alleyways, and after a few minutes, they found themselves at the outskirts of the town and a small mountain loomed in the distance.
"Man, that was hard. You guys run fast." Zarin huffed and panted, his hands on his knees as he tried gasping for breath.
"And funny enough, we weren’t running that fast." Ryker scoffed as he stared off into the distance.
"What the hell do you mean by that wasn’t your full speed?" Zarin shot up as he was still huffing heavily.
"I can see a cave in the distance, I feel like that is where the beasts would be." Kael muttered as he pointed to the north.
"Agreed. Let’s move." Ryker said as they proceeded cautiously and silently.
After a minute or so, they stood in front of the caves wide opening and without hesitation, they walked in.
The cave stretched wide and ample, its vaulted ceiling disappearing into shadowy heights, giving enough space for movement without the walls closing in.
The ground was uneven, scattered with jagged stones and patches of damp earth that carried the faint echo of dripping water. Massive stone pillars rose from floor to ceiling in scattered intervals, some natural, some split and cracked, giving the chamber a sense of ancient weight.
Here and there, broad protruding rocks jutted from the walls, creating natural cover.
A dim, bluish glow pulsed faintly along certain mineral veins embedded in the rock, casting just enough light to reveal shapes and outlines while still drowning the place in eerie half-darkness. Shadows clung to the edges of the cavern, deep enough to swallow anyone who lingered too long within them.
The air was heavy and cool, filled with the scent of wet stone, and every sound — a step, a breath, a whisper seemed to travel too far, bouncing across the walls in low, haunting echoes.
"This place seems quite wide yet the beasts aren’t here." Zarin whispered in a low tone as he glanced around but nothing was in sight. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs N0veI.Fiɾe.net
"But why would that woman direct us here and the beasts are nowhere to be seen?" Kael whispered back with a frown on his face.
"Let’s head out." Ryker ordered as he spun around with the others only to see the woman they had met in town standing in front of the pathway with a grin on her face.
"And where do you think that you all are headed?" A voice asked and the trio instantly spun around to see three men coming out of their hiding spots.
One of the men instantly sparked a reaction from Zarin as his eyes widened almost immediately. The bulky man, the metal rocks on his arms lining them like a jewelry of some kind, the long spiky black hair and the jean armless shirt he wore with the devious smirk on his face.
"Gaja? From the Phantom Clan?!" Zarin shouted in horror as his heart skipped a dozen beats in fear.
It wasn’t an overreaction.
"Is he strong?" Kael asked in a low whisper.
"Is...is. He strong? He is a fucking A ranked Reaver of his clan!" Zarin shouted and immediately, the remaining duo shared the horror Zarin felt as they stared at the man who burst into a deep menacing laughter.