Chapter 255 Destroying Half of the Tavern
The tall, muscular man with the gauntlets couldn't comprehend what had happened. Did Damian block his attack so easily? That shouldn't happen! He was confident in his power, and when it came to hand-to-hand combat, no one could excel against him.
So he punched again, and this time, using more strength and aiming at a difficult spot to block: the belly. The attack was even fiercer, barely visible to the naked eye, but Damian grabbed his hand again!
"How?" the man said in a perplexed tone.
Damian didn't feel like answering his question, so instead of saying a word, he kicked the man in the guts, sending him across the tavern, destroying a few tables, and creating a hole in the wall! The man flew toward the street!
The tavern owner knew that muscular man, so anyone capable enough to do something like that to him was no ordinary figure, so no one said a word to Damian. For them, it wasn't a big deal that he destroyed half of the tavern.
Vance, who wasn't paying much attention to Damian before, was now shivering. His power and the tall's man weren't that much different, yet it was clear that the youth before him was way more powerful. Damian sat again on the chair before him, smiling and saying, "Are you willing to talk now?"
The response and treatment coming from Vance were much different than before, as he wasn't looking to end up like his friend, who was now standing near them with apparent bruises and a not-so-happy face.
"Of course. I was testing you earlier… Now, what is that you want with me?"
"Testing?" Damian rolled his eyes at that stupid statement, "I've heard you're forming a crew to explore some ruins. I want to go along."
Damian saw no reason for them to deny his presence. A powerful individual would only give them more chances of survival and success on their mission, and if the place were as big as everyone said, then there would be enough treasures for everyone. However, Damian was more concerned with getting some information about the strange dome surrounding the desert. He wished to leave that place as fast as possible.
"No problem," Vance said, agreeing, "We are leaving tomorrow, so be sure to meet us early in the morning near the front gate. Around 6 am."
That was everything Damian wanted to hear, so after that, he moved toward the tavern's attendant again and got himself a room to stay the night. It was cheap, but the man insisted Damian could have it free. Power could do wonders.
Anyway, Damian used the rest of his day to explore more of the city, trying to learn more about this said place they would explore the following day. Apparently, the information about it was lacking, but everyone saw it as a sacred place from an ancient civilization living in the desert long ago.
It was impossible to know what was true and what wasn't, but Damian wasn't unhappy, feeling like he had lost his day trying to find information about it. At least he saw the city and ate good food from the street food market.
As for the room he got from the tavern? A simple one but more than enough for Damian, who was used to sleeping in the wilderness or having to endure extreme situations. He wasn't that sleepy when night came but tried his best to get some rest before the big event the next day. While laying on his bed, Damian couldn't help but think about his friends and imagine a world where he would sleep and appear out of that dungeon floor, back to his temple on the tenth floor.
But that was all a mere dream, and when Damian woke up again, it was the same as the other day.
Billy, the mushroom, was the one who woke him up, "Don't be late, lad."
Despite their initial meeting, where the mushroom was messing with Damian's mind and trying to kill him, they became good friends. Damian was curious to see how the mushroom would grow and how powerful and valuable it could become. It was, after all, a mushroom in the last available floor of the dungeon where giants, extremely powerful humans, and other races lived so that it couldn't be normal.
After his fight, Damian left the tavern, which still had a destroyed wall, and went toward the city's front gate, where Vance said they would be. Sure enough, a group of five people were there.
One was Vance, who had slick back hair and two swords hanging on his waist. He was surprisingly young, not looking more than 24 or 25. The other was the tall, muscular man looking like a tower. He was bald, had a mustache, and had two slightly bent gauntlets after the fight against Damian.
As for the other three, one wore a dark robe with a hood, and its face had wrappings on it, like bandages. Damian didn't know if it was a man, a woman, or if it was human. The other two were twins, both with bows and two black panthers with them. They were likely beast tamers or something like that.
"Yo, you're finally here," the bald man said.
His voice contained a hint of anger after he lost the other day, but Damian wouldn't miss the chance to make him even angrier, "Sorry, I had to rest after kicking the ass of a bald dude yesterday. Pretty hilarious that fight was."
Vance quickly intervened, "Calm down, you two. Let's move and use the sun as the night here in the desert is dangerous, even for us. All of you, hop on the camels, and let's go."
They all obeyed him, doing exactly as he said. Damian didn't know if they knew each other before long or if Vance had just created the crew, but either way, he also jumped on the camel's back and followed them, going toward the open desert, looking for a way out of that place.
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