Mukade is confused! [Solo]

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

How did he end up with a party of Landers eager to explore the Londinium Underground? He was pretty sure it was because he had no one to accompany him through the tunnels. As he had a small social circle, there weren't many of his friends who hadn't already formed parties with others and were already somewhere inside the maze of tunnels, mapping the area and searching every nook and cranny for lost treasure. As such, he soon found himself agreeing to escort a few Landers who wanted to join in on the maze craze as well, their thoughts for their own safety clearly missing from their narrow minds. There were many mobs hanging around that he had yet to acquire the strength to beat, his relatively low level due to him being too lazy to get up and grind as long and as hard as he could. Yet, the Landers asked HIM to escort them. He could probably save his own hide by running, but he doubted the Landers could run as hard and as fast as an Adventurer could.

That said, it wasn't like he had much to do at that time, so he simply went with them. Besides, most of the mobs would have likely been cleared by other parties, so as long as they did not decide to venture too far into the unknown areas, he doubted there would be too much of a problem. He had one of the more recent copies of what was currently mapped so far, so as long as he kept a close watch on them, it should be fine.

That was hours ago, after cutting down what seemed to be the tenth kobold, he glanced up only to find his Lander charges pushing aside some rubble and squeezing into a small hole. And what did he say about NOT going too far in? He would call for them to get out of the hole, but practically everybody was already through the hole save him as he had to deal with the last kobold. Sighing, he followed them through.

The new area they had uncovered was a lot darker than before, so the Landers, in their usual folly, lit torches to continue on their apparently exciting adventure into the unknown. He wasn't an expert on monsters, but he was pretty sure 'not lighting a torch' was one of the better ways to avoid running into monsters, because that light could travel for a mile in any direction in the gloom. Not like he had a choice. Then again, he could always threaten to abandon them, because if they were to meet a strong mob around these parts, it was unlikely they could escape without knowing the geography of their surroundings. What should he do?

~

Word count: 463
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 463
Notes: Aiming to finish this thread by next week because I'm busy, so its going to be a short thread about running to the exit with the help of a friendly Foreman Mukade who willingly accidentally smashed open a new path while trying to kill the landers.

Status changed to Solo because I have no friends.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

He really should not have cursed himself. As soon as he thought those words, a loud crashing sound was heard right before the wall in front of the excited Landers burst open, streaks of rubble flying everywhere as a giant centipede stood tall out of the rubble. His interface was quick to identify it as a Foreman Mukade, which was a pretty strong Elite class mob quite a few levels above his own. Yeap, definitely bad news. The first lander to panick was a young man. He immediately dropped what he was carrying, which included a torch and a few bits of rubble to which the purpose of its existence in his hand was questioning in itself.

The young man ran straight for the only Adventurer around, attracting the centipede's attention with a very loud, "AHHHHHH! I DON'T WANNA DIE! HELP!", which probably echoed through the tunnels and likely attracted the attention of every monster within a half kilometer radius. Smart lad, he was. Icyferno could not tell if he was trying to draw attention from the others, or he was just a coward, the latter of which was confirm by a dark patch on the young man's bright yellow pants, visible even in the darkness with only some torches to guide the way.

Almost sighing, he ignored the foolish young man and examined the centipede carefully. It appeared to have just come out of another battle with a good eighty percent of its health, which was not a good thing. On the other hand, its head was weaving from side to side, and Icyferno could not tell what was wrong with it. For a split second, it focused its attention on the young man and hissed angrily before lunging after him.

The poor fool turned to look behind him just as Icyferno swept past on a 「Fold Step」, grabbing the guy by the scruff of his purple and pink striped shirt, a color choice the Adventurer didn't really approve of, as the Foreman Mukade barreled into another wall, creating a new hole in the process.

Two things crossed the dual-wielding Adventurer's mind: First, there was no way he stood a chance against something that could smash a hole in a wall in one hit. Second, if he was crazy enough to bait the thing with the coward, he might be able to shortcut his way through the maze and lead them straight to the entrance, where another party could take care of the beast. Looking back at his motley party of Landers, most of which were, at best, armed with a stout knife or dagger, it was the only chance he could take. He shouted to the rest of the Landers, "Stay back, and follow my lead!"

The centipede's eyes swivelled towards him at the sound. Good, seems it could at least hear well, though it appears... drunk? Had a brewer thought to distract it by luring it with alcohol? In any case, Icyferno was glad that the centipede wasn't at full strength, or in this case, right mind to fight.

While the centipede still had its attention on him, he leapt over it, carrying the screaming Lander with him. The lander would serve as the beacon for the centipede, which was now clicking in annoyance.

As with before, it rushed in a decidedly drunken stupor towards him and his human beacon. The Adventurer waited, tensing his legs, for the right moment, then leaped to the side, watching the centipede attack the wall which he had his back to seconds ago. This strategy might, just MIGHT, work. As long as Foreman Mukade did not recover from his drunken stupor, he could try leading them all the way back from whence they came. He wondered if he would be able to rinse and repeat this same manoeuvre all the way back. It was going to be extremely tiring.

And extremely tiring it was. It took well over an hour just to get that thing to bash through the walls to get to the entrance. Correct that, getting the centipede to crash through the CORRECT walls. It kept wobbling and smashing into the wrong wall, or simply decided to stop digging in and chase after his human beacon, which constantly kept the centipede alert of their location, though the Adventurer would have preferred it if the human beacon decided to wait a while so Foreman Mukade would think they were on the other side of the wall. At the same time, he was worried the whole thing would collapse on them, which fortunately did not happen.

The Adventurers at the entrance were, thankfully, well-equipped and engaged on the Elite mob quickly, shielding the Landers who were quick to scamper to safety. He only hoped that was the last time they decided to explore without a full Adventurer party. Or at least half.

The Landers left the tunnels quickly. And of course, it was only after they left did he realize they never gave him a reward. Damn. Scammed by Landers.

Suddenly tired, he decided to retire for the day, casting one backward glance at the centipede, he mentally cursed it for ruining any chance of a reward before heading up to the city above.

~

Word count: 873
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 463 + 873 = 1336
Notes: N/A