It took the team almost 20 minutes to reach the foot of this cliff. It was almost 400 meters high and as wide as a normal-sized mountain.
When their legs touched the red soil, a shiver-like feeling ran through their body. The soil was moist and very heavy like carrying a sandbag wrapped around your leg. This means that walking for long distances in this vast plain will be hell on earth.
'They thought of my leg day.' Acht thought to himself sarcastically. He knew that fighting in such conditions will be very hard so he hoped this soil won't be like this when they find the boss.
Then, the group proceeded deeper into this dungeon plain. It was very quiet except for the rhythmic sounds of their feet touching this moist ground.
Every one of them kept his senses sharp for any small sounds coming from their surroundings. It was already very odd that there were no monsters in this place.
'That feeling is getting stronger.' Acht thought to himself as he touched his head.
The thing that was calling for him was now getting closer and closer. That meant that he was walking directly towards the thing.
Hours passed and the scenery didn't change much, it was akin to walking in an endless loop of despair. Half of the group were now extremely tired and thirsty while the others fared better but not by a huge margin.
Acht was also starting to tire down too. He felt his legs grow numb and his hips were now barely moving in a full-swing motion.
Seeing her team like that, Leislet decided that they must stop for a while.
"We are gonna rest for a while since it seems like some of you are quite tired." She ordered seriously.
Leislet was in a dilemma at the moment, their preparations for this expedition didn't include a lot of things that could help them in these conditions.
They had water and food but they didn't have camping gear for long distances of walking and also other necessities. So, all she could do right now is make them rest and then they must continue or they will be trapped here.
But, as they were about to sit down, Acht spoke out suddenly.
"What's that?" He pointed at the far distance.
The team looked there and they saw something that was way different than before.
It seemed to be a settlement of some sort that had small houses and even the smoke of a fireplace could be seen rising to the sky.
The group immediately stood up again, forgetting about their fatigue. They might have found the place they were looking for.
So, with silent steps, they approached the settlement. When they were a few hundred meters away from it, they hid behind huge rocks that were found on their way and watched carefully for any movement.
Acht was the one closest to the settlement so he was able to see what was going on very clearly.
'Are those…orcs?' He thought.
He was able to see these giant green-skinned creatures moving around the settlement with their huge bats and their grim looks.
They were indeed orcs, but the question that made him look confused is: How were they able to build a settlement with their low IQ?
The orcs he fought were so dumb that he might as well consider them mindless. They didn't have the necessary intelligence to fight an equal enemy let alone build a small society of any form.
Acht's eyes then shifted to the one hiding beside him, Leislet was also having the same thoughts as he was.
"This place is very strange. The massive dungeon and now this. What's going on?" He sent his thoughts to Leislet who shook her head not knowing what to say.
They kept stumbling upon weird things one after the other. This place was simply something humans had never experienced before.
Leislet was very knowledgeable when it comes to dungeons since she was the hunter association president. But, she was as shocked, if not even more shocked, than the people with her.
Now, she had to make another crucial choice that will determine the success or failure of this expedition.
Seeing her nervous, Acht sighed slightly and then nudged her side with a calm look.
She looked at him with a weird look. He could clearly see her lost eyes.
He then told her to come closer for him to whisper something to her.
She accepted and soon her ear was near his face.
"We can't have our leader nervous too, can we? Remember who you are and lead these lost chicks, they all rely on you after all. Understand?" He said with a stern yet somehow soft tone.
His words resounded in her head like an echo. In normal cases, she would be aware of this but now that she was in a restless mood, his words made her regain her composure slightly and nodded her head with a newfound resolve.
Then, she looked at her team with a serious look.
"We will attack this settlement! But, we first need to make a plan." Her voice was cold yet also carried her confidence to her teammates.
Acht smiled slightly and thought.
'She's really a very weird woman.'
He couldn't believe that his words would have such a strong impact on her in this short time. It was as if his words were worth gold for her.
Then, quickly they discussed the way they needed to invade this settlement in the most proficient way.
They then settled on surrounding the place in groups of 2 and then attacking it from all fronts which would confuse the orcs and make them lose the advantage of numbers they have.
After that, Leislet assigned each group and what they should do. 6 of these teams had one S-Rank hunter and one A-Rank hunter.
The last few groups were only composed of A-Rank hunters so they won't be attacking from upfront since that was dangerous. They will instead be the support for these teams from behind if they need it.
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