Too Soon
Corwin, Jorren, Malric, Tavin, and Edrik lined up in front of the cave. It was finally their turn to run it. This was their first real cave run as a group. They were all Level 3 and relatively new to the world. They were directed here by someone in another zone, saying that if you wanted to prove yourself, this was the place.
The group stood there looking at the prompt. They could choose Levels 2, 4, 6, and higher. Level 6 and above was out; of course, it would just plain kill them. The problem was that they agreed to run the Level 2 instance, but Corwin, the de facto leader, was pushing them all to choose Level 4.
Corwin said, “Come on, guys. Don’t be a wuss and go for the safe thing. This is a dungeon, or as close as exists in this world. We came here looking for adventure. We killed that Level 5 boar a week ago; this won't be any harder.”
Tavin said, “Yeah, there were five of us and only one boar. And we had no choice; you went running through the woods making noise. It was either kill it or be killed.”
Corwin said, “I pulled it on purpose. Were you not paying attention? It was no big deal, and we got good loot. I was able to buy this spear with what we got.”
Jorren said, “That spear is junk; you could have made something better. You wasted your credits on it.”
Corwin said, “Don't be a group of pansies. Let's do Level 4 already.”
The whole group finally agreed and stepped into the instance. It was pitch-black on the other side, and two of them collided and fell.
Tavin said, “Who brought the torches? It's time to light up. Maybe we should have done that before walking in.”
Jorren said, “I have one; give me a sec.”
Once the four torches were lit, the two who had fallen acted as if nothing had happened. Deep shadows still covered the wet, mossy walls, and the only sound was water dripping in the distance. Then Malric pointed.
Malric said, “Hey, look at that.”
Everyone looked around but could not see what Malric was pointing at. Finally, he stepped forward and bent down and touched it.
Malric said, “Ouch, that stupid thing bit my finger. Anyone bring bandages?” He then turned around to look for who might have remembered to bring bandages when he screamed again. “Crap, they're biting my legs, help.”
Malric spun and struck the creature with his wooden club, only making it attack more viciously. Corwin pinned its abdomen with his spear. Jorren missed with his axe and cut Tavin's leg, earning a jab from Tavin's spear, before Edrik stepped in and cut off the centipede's head with his hatchet. A system message appeared.
[Moss Centipede — Level 4 Defeated]
◈ ◈ ◈
Corwin turned to the group. “See, guys, this place is easy. Nothing to it.” Five more Moss Centipedes attacked before he could turn back. Malric took bites to both legs, Jorren chopped wildly from one target to the next, and Edrik shoved him aside before he hurt another member of the group.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The fight went on way longer than it should have; in the end, though, all five of the new centipedes lay dead in the cave.
Malric said, “Stupid move, Jorren, for turning your back on them.”
Jorren said, “You have no room to talk; you tried to pet one and turned your back on him.”
Malric said, “Yeah, but you should have learned from my mistake.”
They finally stopped sniping at each other and looked around. They had heard that almost anything you could pick up in the cave could be traded for system credits, so they started to explore the cavern. They all collected the cave moss; they were sure some alchemist would use it for something. They found a pile of cave salt. One of them found a piece of iron ore, and hidden behind a large rock, one of the group found a white piece of marble; they all figured that was the best of the loot.
Corwin started to head to the tunnel to leave the room when Malric spoke. “Hey Corwin, do you think you forgot something?”
Corwin turned around and looked at him. “We killed everything and searched the room. What’s left?”
Malric said, “You know the six dead moss centipedes lying in the middle of the room.”
Corwin said, “What about them?”
Malric said, “Well, did you think to loot them? If everyone looted them, they would vanish like everything else.”
Corwin awkwardly looted every centipede, but nothing happened. Only after the rest of the party looted them as well did the bodies disappear.
Corwin said, “You good now?”
Tavin said, “Only if you want to bleed all over the place. We need to bandage you up before we continue.”
Reluctantly, Corwin pulled the bandages out and started cleaning and bandaging all their wounds. When they were finally ready and they all agreed, they left this room down the only hallway open to them. This time they went slowly, checking in every crevice one step at a time. They finally got to the opening to the next room. Standing in the hallway, the light did not quite shine bright enough, so one of them took their torch and tossed it toward the middle of the room. When it landed, they had a brief glance of something moving, and then the torch was knocked out because of the toss.
Laughing, Tavin stepped forward and held his hand to the left just around the corner. Seeing what Tavin was doing, Edrik did the same on the right side. Slowly Corwin went straight down the middle, moving slowly until he saw something and then stopped. Identifying it, he said. “Iron Shelled Beetle.”
Edrik said, “Another one over here.”
Looking around, they could finally see enough to know there were only two things this time around. Corwin spoke. “Should be easy this time; only two of them, so we can divide them up.” Just as he started to speak, both of them charged straight at him, and he stepped back.
They split up and attacked the Iron-Shelled Beetles from both sides, but every strike bounced off. Small wounds became larger as the fight dragged on, and Corwin finally broke his spear against one of the shells.
Malric tried to flip one over and was bitten for the attempt. After more than ten minutes, the beetles still seemed unharmed while the team's injuries kept mounting.
Tavin said, “Guys, I think this is pointless; maybe we should leave now.”
Corwin said, “We would be laughing stocks if we left without finishing it.”
Malric said, “Better to leave looking like fools than to die a fool.”
That finally snapped Corwin out of it, and he called a retreat. In the end they finally zoned out, but in the process of their running retreat, Edrik lost his round shield, and Jorren lost his axe as well as the broken weapon Corwin left behind. When they finally exited, they dropped to the ground panting.
One of the fighters outside started to laugh. “You got chased out of the cave; that's funny.”
Another more mature fighter pushed the first guy aside and said, “Knock it off, Saul. You were Level 3 once too.” Looking towards Corwin’s team, he said, “You did Level 4, I would guess.”
Malric said, “Yes, and we're all Level 3.”
The fighter shook his head and said, “Too soon,” then after looking at some of the others that were like the first wanting to tease the lower-level guys, he finally said, “My name is Rodger.” He pointed toward the cave. “I am a higher-level fighter. The next time you come to the cave, one of you can stay behind and I will go with you, and we can complete the Level 4 instance. Not a carry mind you, but it will help you finish it and teach you how to do it right.”
The five walked toward the outpost to trade in their loot for credits. The whole way they were arguing about when they would try Level 4 again. Next time, they wouldn't make the same mistakes.