Soon they searched the building; they tried looking everywhere but found nothing that might lead to an underground area.
"There's nothing," Eric said in confusion.
"Did we perhaps enter the wrong building?" Shael said as she turned a corner only to find an old wall that was barely standing with all the cracks in it.
"No, this is the building. The guildmaster gave us a detailed description of it." Gareth then lifted an old board of wood, only to find nothing underneath.
"M-maybe....they casted some sort of invisibility spell with wind magic." Hildia then closed her eyes to feel the electromagnetic mana of the area to see if that were the case. Much to the whole team's dismay, she found nothing.
"There's no magic…" She said silently when Nirra entered the room.
"Sis, was there anything in the kitchen? Or what's left of it?" Ellie asked as she stood up from a crouching position.
"Nothing, just a collapsed floor from above and a wall that is beyond repair," She said with a sigh at the end.
"There's got to be something—a secret lever or button somewhere, or a magic conduit," Eric said in annoyance.
Gareth turned his body towards him and said, "We'll keep looking; turn this entire building upside down if we have to."
As they were discussing their next move. The familiar small fox form of Mofu was rummaging around near the corner of the room, sniffing at a pile of debris. When he turned in a certain direction, he noticed that there was a scent that he had never smelled before, so he followed the train before reaching a small pile of rubble.
"Mofu!!"
They heard the small fox yell from near the corner. He was frantically jumping around while pointing at the small pile of rubble he had found a weird scent coming off of.
"I think Mofu found something," Ellie said as she walked up to the pile of rubble and slowly cleared it. "Give some help here," She asked as Gareth and Nirra walked up to her and assisted.
Once they took off the rubble that was once piled near the corner, they were left with a clear floorboard.
"Mofu!! Mofu Mofu!!" They heard the small fox again pointing downwards.
Nirra scanned the area where they had cleared the rubble and found a latch. When she lifted it up, there was a singular lever that was jutting out from the dirt that was under the floor board. When she pulled the lever, the whole place started to shake and was at risk of collapsing all together.
When the shaking stopped, they noticed that the middle of the room sank, and the floorboards that once were on the floor now serve as steps that transition to cold stone that leads down into the depths of the underground.
"Looks like we found it," Nirra said in satisfaction.
"Yeah, weapons out, everyone, Shael said as she pulled out her bow.
Ellie unsheathed her sword along with Eric. The former revealed her bandolier, which held multiple throwing knives and was ready to use. Gareth pulled out his heavy shield while Hildia cast a fire spell onto her staff, which made the tip start burning so they could see in the dark. Nirra opened the breech of her shotgun, which made the spent shell from earlier eject into her hand and be replaced with two buckshot shells. "I like to keep this for close encounters," Nirra said after loading the shells and closing the breech.
"That weapon gets even more interesting when I see you operate it," Nirra heard Shael say behind her.
"That's my sister, always full of surprises, even if she hides things from me." Ellie said the last part with a tinge of venom in it.
Nirra ignored what she had said and started to follow Eric, who was in front of her. Gareth leads the way, followed by Ellie, Eric, Nirra, Hildia, and finally Shael at the back.
"Follow the line, and let's move," They heard Gareth say as they descended the wooden stairs, which slowly transitioned into cold, hard stone.
When they reached the bottom, there was only an ominous hallway in front of them that was dimly lit with some torches. The only sound they could hear was Gareth's armor clanking and some drops of water falling from the ceiling. At the side, multiple pathways can be seen, totaling six ways to go forward, seven if you include the door at the end of the hallway.
"Watch the corners; they could be hiding from anywhere," Nirra whispered, to which Gareth gave her a nod even though he was not faving her direction.
Their hearts tensed as they neared the first and second hallways, which were facing each other. When Hildia used her staff to light the two hallways up, there were nothing but doors at the ends of said hallways. Their muscles still clenched, though they moved to the third and fourth hallways.
Their muscles twitched as they heard a scream, indicating someone was about to charge them. Before that person would reach them, however. Nirra shot him dead with a gunshot. Her shotgun momentarily brightened up the hallway as the small pellets of lead pierced the figure's robes easily, and a wall of lead slammed into his body with enough force to knock him back a few meters. Nirra noticed another one that was behind him and immediately shot off another shell.
The figure slumped up against the wall due to the blast of her shotgun, which left him bleeding against said wall with multiple holes inside its body.
"Clear," Nirra whispered as she reloaded her firearm. Unbeknownst to them, the rest of her team members were shocked beyond belief.
'just like that, they're dead.' Gareth thought as a drop of sweat ran down his forehead.
'one shot; good thing I didn't hit on her when we first met her' Eric thought as he cringed over the thought of asking Nirra out when they first met.
'what kind of weapon… There are multiple holes in their body in an instant. That would've been painful, Shael thought as she slowly undrew her bow.
'T-that was scary, Hildia thought as she held her chest, which was beating fast due to the sudden bang Nirra's weapon produced.
Gareth, who was the first to recover from his shock, said, "Enough of that; let's move before more show up; they probably heard those bangs."
"Agreed," Ellie said as she positioned herself to cover Nirra's flank.
They refocused their attention on the door in front of them. Not before checking the fifth and sixth hallways, where they found no other enemies.
Soon they searched the building; they tried looking everywhere but found nothing that might lead to an underground area.
"There's nothing," Eric said in confusion.
"Did we perhaps enter the wrong building?" Shael said as she turned a corner only to find an old wall that was barely standing with all the cracks in it.
"No, this is the building. The guildmaster gave us a detailed description of it." Gareth then lifted an old board of wood, only to find nothing underneath.
"M-maybe....they casted some sort of invisibility spell with wind magic." Hildia then closed her eyes to feel the electromagnetic mana of the area to see if that were the case. Much to the whole team's dismay, she found nothing.
"There's no magic…" She said silently when Nirra entered the room.
"Sis, was there anything in the kitchen? Or what's left of it?" Ellie asked as she stood up from a crouching position.
"Nothing, just a collapsed floor from above and a wall that is beyond repair," She said with a sigh at the end.
"There's got to be something—a secret lever or button somewhere, or a magic conduit," Eric said in annoyance.
Gareth turned his body towards him and said, "We'll keep looking; turn this entire building upside down if we have to."
As they were discussing their next move. The familiar small fox form of Mofu was rummaging around near the corner of the room, sniffing at a pile of debris. When he turned in a certain direction, he noticed that there was a scent that he had never smelled before, so he followed the train before reaching a small pile of rubble.
"Mofu!!"
They heard the small fox yell from near the corner. He was frantically jumping around while pointing at the small pile of rubble he had found a weird scent coming off of.
"I think Mofu found something," Ellie said as she walked up to the pile of rubble and slowly cleared it. "Give some help here," She asked as Gareth and Nirra walked up to her and assisted.
Once they took off the rubble that was once piled near the corner, they were left with a clear floorboard.
"Mofu!! Mofu Mofu!!" They heard the small fox again pointing downwards.
Nirra scanned the area where they had cleared the rubble and found a latch. When she lifted it up, there was a singular lever that was jutting out from the dirt that was under the floor board. When she pulled the lever, the whole place started to shake and was at risk of collapsing all together.
When the shaking stopped, they noticed that the middle of the room sank, and the floorboards that once were on the floor now serve as steps that transition to cold stone that leads down into the depths of the underground.
"Looks like we found it," Nirra said in satisfaction.
"Yeah, weapons out, everyone, Shael said as she pulled out her bow.
Ellie unsheathed her sword along with Eric. The former revealed her bandolier, which held multiple throwing knives and was ready to use. Gareth pulled out his heavy shield while Hildia cast a fire spell onto her staff, which made the tip start burning so they could see in the dark. Nirra opened the breech of her shotgun, which made the spent shell from earlier eject into her hand and be replaced with two buckshot shells. "I like to keep this for close encounters," Nirra said after loading the shells and closing the breech.
"That weapon gets even more interesting when I see you operate it," Nirra heard Shael say behind her.
"That's my sister, always full of surprises, even if she hides things from me." Ellie said the last part with a tinge of venom in it.
Nirra ignored what she had said and started to follow Eric, who was in front of her. Gareth leads the way, followed by Ellie, Eric, Nirra, Hildia, and finally Shael at the back.
"Follow the line, and let's move," They heard Gareth say as they descended the wooden stairs, which slowly transitioned into cold, hard stone.
When they reached the bottom, there was only an ominous hallway in front of them that was dimly lit with some torches. The only sound they could hear was Gareth's armor clanking and some drops of water falling from the ceiling. At the side, multiple pathways can be seen, totaling six ways to go forward, seven if you include the door at the end of the hallway.
"Watch the corners; they could be hiding from anywhere," Nirra whispered, to which Gareth gave her a nod even though he was not faving her direction.
Their hearts tensed as they neared the first and second hallways, which were facing each other. When Hildia used her staff to light the two hallways up, there were nothing but doors at the ends of said hallways. Their muscles still clenched, though they moved to the third and fourth hallways.
Their muscles twitched as they heard a scream, indicating someone was about to charge them. Before that person would reach them, however. Nirra shot him dead with a gunshot. Her shotgun momentarily brightened up the hallway as the small pellets of lead pierced the figure's robes easily, and a wall of lead slammed into his body with enough force to knock him back a few meters. Nirra noticed another one that was behind him and immediately shot off another shell.
The figure slumped up against the wall due to the blast of her shotgun, which left him bleeding against said wall with multiple holes inside its body.
"Clear," Nirra whispered as she reloaded her firearm. Unbeknownst to them, the rest of her team members were shocked beyond belief.
'just like that, they're dead.' Gareth thought as a drop of sweat ran down his forehead.
'one shot; good thing I didn't hit on her when we first met her' Eric thought as he cringed over the thought of asking Nirra out when they first met.
'what kind of weapon… There are multiple holes in their body in an instant. That would've been painful, Shael thought as she slowly undrew her bow.
'T-that was scary, Hildia thought as she held her chest, which was beating fast due to the sudden bang Nirra's weapon produced.
Gareth, who was the first to recover from his shock, said, "Enough of that; let's move before more show up; they probably heard those bangs."
"Agreed," Ellie said as she positioned herself to cover Nirra's flank.
They refocused their attention on the door in front of them. Not before checking the fifth and sixth hallways, where they found no other enemies.
