After entering the 'Roaring Cave' through the entrance, Ken and his team were waiting for mission notification.
However, some of the hasty ones left to explore the dungeon long ago.
Even though Noah urged him to also start exploring the dungeon, Ken stayed adamant and waited to get a notification on his smartwatch.
At that moment, his smartwatch rang.
[Ding!]
Ken and the other group leaders, who were standing there checked their smartwatches.
He projected a hologram from his smartwatch into the air as soon as the notification came.
[Red Ogre - high D rank]
"Let us begin our mission," commanded Ken, his voice echoing through the cavernous dungeon.
Without hesitation, Noah sprang from atop the jagged boulder and strode ahead into the dark cave.
Even though he was walking swiftly his footsteps weren't echoing.
As Noah kept moving ahead and scouted the area, Ken followed in Noah's wake, his thoughts raced like the flicker of a dying flame.
"May our path be clear, and our journey fruitful," he whispered to himself, bracing for whatever lay ahead in the foreboding darkness.
The other three members of the group also followed suit, their footsteps silent as they moved deeper into the dungeon.
Two of them were mages, skilled in casting spells and manipulating magical energy, while the other was a sword user, proficient in wielding a blade in close combat.
They had been carefully chosen by Ken for their unique skills and abilities, and he knew that they were the best chance he had at successfully completing the mission.
A few distances away from Ken's team, Nick was still sitting on the boulder. From his facial expression, it didn't look like he was worried about anything.
As he watched the team disappear into the darkness, Nick's thoughts turned to the mysterious guy.
'I really couldn't find that 'Thanatos' guy.' In the past two days, Nick made his information network run wildly. However, he couldn't find that guy.
He even used some of the perks as a leading member of 'Covenant of Chaos' in the academy and used it to track that guy's location through his virtual world user ID.
However, somehow the hackers he hired failed miserably. Even more, to add, that guy reverse-hacked them and leaked their address to the authorities.
It was a good thing that they weren't doing this mission from their hideout and did it from a cyber cafe.
However, one of the hackers got caught. In the end, that guy committed suicide before the cops could even catch him.
Nick couldn't help but feel a sense of unease about the whole situation.
He had a bad feeling about this mission and that 'Thanatos' guy. Something didn't feel right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"What is he doing? It feels like there are more players in this game." He uttered those words with a smile.
"Let's prob into that guy's power for now." Nick felt Ken wasn't showing everything he got, something was hidden. This was a good opportunity to see it.
He jumped down from the boulder and slowly made his way toward the cave entrance, careful not to make any noise.
***
Ken and his group were walking slowly and steadily. Although Noah was impatient at first, after Ken's few warnings he also decreased his speed a bit.
Currently, they were trying to find clues for Ogre's nest as there might be surely a red Ogre there.
Noah went further for scouting and Ken was keeping his eyes on their back.
"Stop! There are traps up ahead," Noah called out to the group as he gestured for them to move closer.
"What kind of traps?" Ken asked his hand already on the hilt of his sword.
"They look like some sort of snare traps. It seems someone has a lot of experience in trapping," Noah replied, examining the traps carefully.
"Do you think we can disarm them?" Luna asked, worry etched on her face. She had a long staff in her hand, with a mana stone embedded on the tip.
"I can try. I've had some experience with traps," Noah said with a confident smile.
"That's a relief," Marry chimed in. "We wouldn't want to get caught in these traps." She lowered her magic wand.
As Noah began to disarm the traps, Elena stood guard, her sword at the ready in case anything went wrong. After a few tense moments, Noah successfully disarmed the traps.
"Nicely done, Noah," Ken praised him.
"Thanks, Ken. It's all in a day's work," Noah replied with a grin.
As they continued on their journey, they came across more traps, each one more dangerous than the last.
But with Noah's skills and the rest of the group's support, they were able to overcome every obstacle in their way.
"This journey is becoming more dangerous with each step we take," Luna said, as they took a break to catch their breath.
"We have to stay focused and work together," Ken said firmly. "No matter what we face, we'll get through it as a team."
"Agreed," Elena added. "We're stronger together than we are alone.
As the group made their way through the cave system, Noah spotted a small indentation on the wall that looked suspicious. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a hidden trap that could potentially harm the group.
When Noah spotted the small indentation on the wall that looked suspicious, he took a closer look to examine it.
He noticed that there were tiny grooves in the wall that appeared to be connected to the trap.
He hypothesized that the trap was triggered by pressure and would likely activate if someone touched or pressed on the grooves.
To disarm the trap, Noah had to carefully manipulate the mechanism and prevent the trap from being triggered. He used a combination of techniques to do this, including:
Analyzing the mechanism: Noah studied the grooves and other parts of the trap to determine how it worked and what could trigger it. He was able to determine that pressure would set it off.
Isolating the trap: Noah identified the specific part of the mechanism that needed to be disarmed and isolated it from the rest of the trap.
This prevented any accidental triggering while he worked on the trap.
Disarm the trap: Noah used specialized tools to disarm the trap.
He inserted a small hook into the grooves of the trap and carefully lifted the mechanism to disarm it.
Noah returned with a map that he found near a small opening in the wall.
He showed it to Ken, and they both examined it carefully.
He reached inside and pulled out an old, worn-out map.
"Hey guys, look what I found!" Noah exclaimed in joy and came out of the opening.
"What is it?" Luna asked curiously.
"It's a map. It looks like it might be the map of this passage." There was an old piece of paper in Noah's hands.
"Let me see that." Ken took the map from Noah's hands and started examining it.
The map seemed to be old and worn out, but it had a marking on it that resembled the shape of a cave system.
"This looks like it could lead to a cave system," Ken spoke out his thoughts.
All of the team members were dumbfounded. They didn't expect to find the map. With that, they might be able to reach Ogre's nest.
Ken pointed to the marking and said, "This must be the place where the red Ogre resides. We should head in that direction"
Noah nodded in agreement and the group started to move toward the direction indicated on the map.
"But we need to be careful. We don't know what kind of dangers we might encounter." Ken warned them, as a group leader he didn't want any accidents to happen.
The group carefully followed the map and eventually came to the entrance of the cave. As they entered, they heard strange noises echoing through the tunnels.
"What's that sound?" Marry asked, holding her wand tightly.
The path was dark and twisted, and it was difficult to see where they were going.
"I'm not sure. But we should stay alert." Noah tried to see further. However, as it was dark he couldn't see much in the long distance.
"I sense something moving in the distance. We need to be careful." Luna whispered.
"Let's keep our weapons ready. We don't want to be caught off guard." Ken suggested. Ken and Noah kept their weapons ready, just in case they encountered any dangers.
As they walked further into the cave, the group heard the sound getting louder. They could tell that it was coming from a large opening up ahead.
Ken signaled the group to be quiet and they slowed down their pace. They didn't want to alert anything that might be lurking around the corner.
When they reached it, they saw a huge figure in the distance - a red Ogre.
"That must be it. The Red Ogre." Noah exclaimed and started preparing his arrows.
"How are we going to defeat it?" Luna asked.
"We need to work together. I take the front. Luna and Marry will provide support from the back. Elena keeps guarding them in case." After saying this, he turned to Noah - who was getting ready for the fight.
"Noah, cover us and support everyone from the blind spot of the Red Ogre," Ken explained.
"Yes, Sir." Noah saluted and pretended like he was a soldier.
Seeing this, all of the group members chuckled. Noah's these acts lessened the tension before the fight.
As Nick watched the oblivious group from a distance, a sly grin spread across his face. "How naive," he thought to himself, "they have no idea what's coming."
Despite his seemingly somber tone, it didn't look like he was sad.
It was clear that he had something sinister in store for Ken's group.
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