Chapter 29 - Obligatory Adventurer POV

(But it's more 3rd Person I suppose)

In the thick jungle, on an obscure mountain, was a small clearing. Suddenly a group of adventurers pushed their way into the clearing. After a quick scan to determine that the clearing is safe, they collapsed onto the floor.

"Finally..." The man paused to take a deep breath before continuing.

"Why can't these fucking dungeons appear in a city? Or next to a road at least?" Rayes continued, the group's resident thief.

"Is that you, mom?" Another man asked in a dazed unfocused voice.

"No." The armored titan Clint replied as he lowered his friend Gordan to the floor.

"For the last time, your mother isn't here!" Yelled Victoria as she pushed her way out of the foliage.

An audible sigh was heard in the clearing.

"Sophia how many antidote potions do we have left?" Asked Jane, her voice carrying signs of fatigue.

"4 Doses left," Sophia replied from her collapsed position on the ground.

"No mom... I don't want the cane..." Gordan said in a childish voice which contrasted against his wrinkled face.

"Gordan will need about 3 doses," Sophia added on, realizing her leader's intention.

"If you say yes I volunteer for being the one to finally shut him up," Rayes said whilst raising his hand.

"The poison he was affected with should wear off in 15 minutes though," Sophia added.

Jane paused for a few moments, seriously considering giving Gordan the last few doses of antidote. On one hand, she could finally shut him up after several hours of babbling. On the other hand, they were in a relatively safe clearing and they could save the last few potions they had left.

Eventually, discipline won over desire.

"No... We can wait... Unless we get stuck in another fight." She replied with a tone of defeat.

Their journey was not a pleasant one. Most of it was spent running at full speed. Gordan, the party's healer had recovered from his earlier mana sickness a week prior. However, he stepped on a flower which blew hallucinogenic gasses at anything that came near it. That gas also attracts various beasts with its smell. Beasts which have long learned that anything that neared that flower became a nice evening snack.

The scent of the flower had almost completely dissipated by now, only a drugged priest, several exhausted adventurers, and an almost empty potion bag was proof of the flowers effects.

"So many colors..."

"Goddamit can we at least stuff a sock in him?" Victoria asked.

"Way ahead of you," Rayes replied while stuffing a piece of red fabric into the mouth of Gordon.

"Merphf burphp?" A rather confused priest asked.

Seeing her team relaxing, Jane finally slumped against a tree. To the untrained eye, their actions would suggest that they have completely relaxed. However, anyone that came to that verdict would not have noticed that all of them had their weapons within easy grabbing distance. Jane placed her sheathed sword on her lap, Rayes' hands always hovered around his throwing knives, Sophia tightly clutched her wand, Victoria's ears were constantly moving, picking up sounds in the environment, even Gordan, who was drugged for the last few hours had not let go of his staff.

Clint despite stiffly sitting crosslegged on the ground, was the most relaxed of the bunch. his war hammer was left in his bag so he could carry Gordan better, his famous explosives were nowhere to be seen and he was still like a statue. This is because he knew that his weapons were either too flashy or too unwieldy inside the jungle and has decided to trust his teammates with most of the enemies that come.

After a few minutes of silence, the adventurers began talking again.

"How far off are we?" Jane asked Victoria, who has lead them this far.

"We should definitely be close," Victoria replied, pulling out a map.

"What do you think Sophia?" Rayes asked, stirring from his short nap.

"It's hard to tell, I'm not like the Guild Master who can sense slight changes in mana from kilometers away," Sophia replied.

"It's definitely here, haven't you noticed?" Victoria interjected.

"Noticed what?" Jane asked.

"Other than the sounds of beasts and the occasional bird, this jungle is far too silent." She replied.

"It could just be the monkeys," Rayes argued.

"If it were the monkeys this place would be completely silent or filled with screaming," Victoria replied.

"Point taken, you think it's the dungeon?" Rayes continued.

"Yes, have you guys seen a single insect since we came to this mountain?" Victoria continued.

"BLURHF!" The sound of spewing suddenly interrupted their conversation, a priest was kneeling on the ground, a wet piece of red fabric underneath his mouth.

"What the hell is this...." Gordan's voice slowly faded out, followed by the gradual reddening of his face.

"Whose underwear is this!?" Gordan yelled as he struggled to stand up before Clint came and helped him up.

A smirk appeared on Rayes' mouth as he replied.

"You should be happy, you just got more laid than you'll ever be in your life."

"Holy shit, that's fucking disgusting!" A certain distressed priest yelled.

"You should be thanking me," Rayes replied, barely holding in his laughter as he dodged a poorly thrown punch.

"Whose even was it?!" Gorden yelled in between punches. Eventually, Clint stepped in and restrained the priest.

"Just a random whore's back at Falharmus, I thought I'd keep it as a souvenir," Rayes replied with a very visible smile.

The woman of the group, after confirming that it wasn't theirs, all burst into laughter at the same time. Gordan, redfaced, decided to stop and keep whatever remained of his dignity.

Clint lightly nodded in approval towards Rayes, an action that went practically unnoticed. What Rayes did, though questionable was able to destroy the previously strained atmosphere.

The clearing was filled with some light chatter for a while before they got back to the main topic.

"I saw a few greyish black insects moving around, but I couldn't get a clear look at them." Rayes suddenly said, bursting the previously lighthearted atmosphere.

"Same here." Victoria quickly agreed.

"Now that you mention it, I think I saw something like that," Jane added on.

"Most insects in this jungle are camouflaged or are really wildly colored, the fact that most of them seemed to have disappeared right around the time a dungeon is born seems really suspicious," Victoria said.

"Insects disappearing? You think it's an insect dungeon?" Gordan asked after applying copious amounts of purifying light to his mouth.

(I wonder how he explained that to his God? Hey god I accidentally ate someone's ass and I need your op god powers to purify my mouth) (That's probably easier to explain than, I got drugged and someone stuffed underwear in my mouth) (Am I allowed to say this by the way?) (Well you didn't mention a real god so I think your all goods!)

"Maybe, we rarely see a dungeon like that," Sophia added on.

"Afterall, an insect isn't exactly the symbol of fear," Victoria said.

"Well, we'll see," Jane said.

"Are you all ready?" Jane asked.

"I'm ready,"

"Same here,"

"Ready,"

"What a bland entrance," Rayes commented.

"It's literally just a hole in the ground," Sophia added on.

"Couldn't it have at least put more effort in it?" Victoria said. Due to the fact that the entrance is just a hole, she had passed by it several times, they only found it after Sophia felt an increase of elemental particles nearby.

"Well we're wasting time just standing here," Jane said.

And with that.

The first dungeon dive in the Plant Dungeon began.