The next day I wake up, freshen up and head to the guild's entrance again to meet the party members.
"There he is! Jayy come here fast!" I hear Cleo calling out to me. Seems like something is up...
"Good morning guys... What's up?" I asked as I reached them.
"Remember the silver ranked Goblin Leader from yesterday? I reported it.. and it seems like it came from a dungeon, possibly a new one. But the issue is, mobs can't leave dungeons on there own, someone needs to go in and wait for long enough that it breaks down. We call this a Dungeon Break, which mostly happens when someone can't escape or finish it in time." Max explained.
"But there was no one nearby... Does that mean the person died inside?"
"No, that way dungeon break wouldn't have happened. The dungeons are only active when people are inside. And there aren't any corpses nearby the dungeon either. Which means the person or people did not die even after the break. Do you understand where this is going?" Max asked me.
"Well.. for starters, a new dungeon was just discovered, which is suspicious. Since it's so nearby, it means the authority had kept it a secret. But... why did they reveal it? Were they testing something.. It attacked us... So were they testing us by getting us into fighting a silver ranked monster? The entire quest might have been a test.. or they changed it at the last second. Due to one anomaly... Me." As I finished, all three of them were looking at me with wide eyes. What? They couldn't conclude this?
"That is the fastest I have seen someone come to the most accurate answer Jay. Is this the Monologue Talent in play?" Sarah asked me, while still in shock.
"So it's true... Why are they testing me? Did they figure out that I am-" I was cut off by Max.
"No! That's not it. Since you were near the crater when Sarah found you... It seems you have attracted HIS attention. This was a test if the force related to that crater had something to do with you or not."
"Too bad he did not account for someone from Everwood family to be your party member" Cleo commentated.
"HIS attention...? Someone with authority in the guild, huh? Since you did not name him... He has high authority I guess. What's up with your family Max?" I brushed off the Mystery Guy's involvement and decide to inquire Max instead.
"Oh.. Uhh.. You know how I am very good at fighting? Specially with a sword? That's because my family is a Establishing Family, which means they have established one of the Major Cities. But that was centuries ago. Now we just fight Monsters and Protect people. I was trained ever since I could walk. The only reason I don't have the Sword grip talent is because I never used a real sword until I became a Protector." He answered awkwardly.
"So your family doesn't own a school?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"How did you-" Max started turning red with embarrassment.
Looking at him the three of us burst out laughing. "It was a random guess."
After a while we discussed about today's quest, which was to scout the area near the dungeon for any goblins left over. Since we might have to fight another Silver Goblin, we decided to stay close enough that we could regroup.
"Wait, we can use the Communicate feature from Party Interface."
I try using the communicate feature and another screen popped up.
Communication Established (Iron)
Currently in Voice communication: Jay Chawla, Sarah Wells, Max Everwood, Cleo Silverleaf.
Description: Mental Thoughts can be communicated in the form of 'Voice' between a distance of 30m.
Along with the pop-up we could see al of the names in our peripheral vision, beside our names there was a symbol which changed whenever someone would say something.
"This is amazing! We can scout silently with this. Wait- Why did you not use this yesterday Jay??" Sarah asked with suspicion.
"Oh I uh.. Forgot."
After Sarah lectured me on keeping things in mind, and a random fireball falling from the sky (I wonder which mage summoned it), that I dodged with Void Step, we head out once again to where we fought the Goblin Leader."
In a specific office two men were seated on a luxurious couch.
"You made a mistake Lysander. The Everwoods are dangerous. I had to tell them that the team we gave the quest to fight the dungeon, died after the dungeon break happened. Doesn't seem like the took it though. Be careful with what you do fro now on." The first man wearing a sleek black outfit said.
"Don't worry Ambrose, I have gotten some interesting intel on our target. Just give me a week. I will figure out if he will be a problem to their plans." Lysander, the hooded figure replied.
"I see.. Fine. But make sure the Everwood child doesn't die from your tests."
"He won't. See you then, Ambrose."
"Hail the Helldivers, Lysander"
"Hail the Helldivers....." The hooded figure slowly vanishes into darkness.