Jorge looked around the large camp. All the members of the Shields of the Burning gathered around the perch he had chosen as his stage; a wagon. He allowed the solemnity of the moment sink in as they stared at the three men before them, maimed and injured beyond reasonable recovery within this here dungeon instance. Jorge did not speak until he felt his silent message get across.

  He met the gaze of every individual, one by one to make sure they were listening intently.

  “To all members of our glorious party, today we stand at a forking paths due to information we suspect. Information we dare not verify.” Jorge stopped to make sure his words set in. “I am sure you all noticed the strangeness we have been battling through. All of you are men and women of great experience and have delved with us for many years. Some longer than others. It should be clear… We may be forced to fight a roaming boss if we do not retreat to the first location of Saving Grace.”

  The entire party broke into whispering among themselves. Each member giving their opinion and experience, some agreeing and others finding it hard to believe.

  Malkim separated from the mass of bodies and stood at the base of the wagon before Jorge. “I agree with our Party Leaders assessment.”

  “So do I,” Sami shouted.

  “And I,” Kalidor said as he jumped to stand next to Jorge.

  Jorge nodded to them all, but he knew better than to think this complete acceptance of his soon to be suggestion. He was confident that all three were likely to vote against him in just a few moments when he tried to get the entire party to evacuate to the only location of safety.

  He continued. “As you see, even our most experienced and powerful members agree. So I must ask. Do we continue to push or do we–”

  “Have we collected enough loot?” said one of the elder members.

  “No,” another answered without waiting for Jorge to respond. “We aren't close.”

  That had been the hope he had clung to if he wanted to convince the party to retreat. Only the eldest members would have been capable of turning the tide of such an overwhelming decision by the other elite members. Yet, it was obvious even they were split amongst their numbers if not leaning heavily towards the opposition. Exactly what he had feared.

  An unsaid testament was made as the rest of the party agreed and the decision to push forward was made.

  Many would die.

  The few to survive would all gain a larger percentage of the pie.

  A fact of life delving the dungeons that threaten the very existence of this world.

  There was a likelihood that we will be forced to fight a roaming boss–

  Once the meeting was over, the party separated into bunches and groups. Everyone already knew their role within the party and began to fulfil them to hasten the process of leaving this battlefield. It would not be wise to stay in one position for too long unless it was a Saving Grace. Otherwise, the danger of doing something so ridiculous would likely result in their eradication.

  In the meanwhile, Jorge sat on the edge of the wagon wondering just how many of them would die soon enough and which among them would survive.

  Kalidor sat next to him, nearly tipping the entire wagon over to his side. It crashed heavily back into place. “We should continue to follow the two high [Class]ers. There is a lot of loot to be had without having to sacrifice our numbers.”

  “Or they could stop and take offense at any point. Killing us all just like they did the dozens of felines we found in the beginning of the day.”

  “Jorge,” Malkim said with firm conviction. “We are dungeon delvers. Our occupation is holy and deaths are not worthless–”

  “It doesn’t feel holy. Seeing men and women you promised to lead head to imminent death. What about Micheal? Isn’t he only eighteen? He doesn't know left from right yet and will be from the first to find an early grave.”

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  “Micheal is the last person you should worry about. The wily bastard has more sense to him than a dozen veterans,” Malkim laughed.

  Sami gave him a signal from afar. It hadn’t taken long for the party to finish up. They were ready to move already.

  Jorge jumped down, strapped his shield to his arm and made sure his sword was on tight around his waist. “Maybe one day we will get lucky enough to find an unmolested weak dungeon that was recently opened out in the wild. Make all the wealth in the world and level our [Class]es beyond reasonable measures. Until then, I wont change, Malkim. I will forever be worried about our survival in a profession that pushes us to the very edges of it. I won’t change.”

  “That’s why you are our leader.”

  Jorge huffed and walked away, the part had already began to move ahead of him. Only Ilaria, a few mages, and Sami remained within the clearing as they waited for him. Everyone else had already gone, including Kalidor. Moving towards the bellowing and fight they had been following and led to this ambush they fell into by Angorian Bears. No one could miss the echoing screams of suffering and pain, the ground shaking attacks, and then the final deafening silence that followed.

  It was likely a pair of elites that had an extremely high level. Worse yet, a couple that had surpassed the maximum levels of their [Class] and joined the ranks of the monsters.

  He shook his head as they left the clearing and entered into the grass talks that towered over them. There was no point in thinking about it now. Free resources were out there for grabs, they just needed to be the first to get to them before anyone else. If they ended up encountering the pair, then he hoped his negotiating abilities would get them some type of deal, or at the very least, escape without any harm coming to their party.

  Though they moved with haste, it was practiced. A careful process they developed after years of delving the depths of dungeons for a living.

  Vanguards, rear lines and baggage carriers, prepared magics, and more.

  Jorge could already guess that the vanguards already made it to the sight of what they suspected to be another battle by the two powerful [Class]ers. He trusted Malkim to lead them until he arrived on the scene followed by the majority of the tanks that were still whole enough to battle. The rest of the party stuck closer together, including Kalidor. They had seen enough ambushes to expect them.

  He stopped in his tracks.

  The grass stalks still covered his vision, but he knew he was only a few steps away from entering the clearing they were targeting. Sami stood in front of him, her back covering the gap.

  “Oh my god,” Sami whispered just loud enough to herself that Jorge could hear her.

  He shared a look with Kalidor, who had rushed to his side.

  There was no shouting from the clearing. No yelling or sounds of battle. Nothing but the dead silence of shock as he pushed past Sami and entered into the center of the battlefield that had occurred. He found the tanks sitting on their haunches. Many had removed their helms and carried pale faces. Not a single person whispered to the other or spoke about what they saw.

  Malkim was standing at the edge of what looked like a tunnel or crater.

  Whatever caused this scene was in there.

  Jorge pushed forward, reaching the giant man and those that surrounded him. He needed to push past a few people to get through. “What’s going–”

  His heart caught.

  Kalidor reached them a second later.

  “T-That’s a Minotaur,” the blindfolded man whispered to him.

  Jorge couldn’t find words to articulate what he felt. It took him a few moments just to respond. “Yeah. A Minotaur.”

  Malkim and the others were studying the body and the damage it endured.

  He, on the other hand, started to survey the entire battlefield to get an image of what might have happened. The massive tunnel that lead into the depths of the underground proved that this wasn’t any Minotaur, but rather a Roaming Boss; A tunnel Minotaur. One of the few that had been recorded in the beastieries about this dungeon. Jorge kept searching as he saw the torn up earth, all from the attacks and hooves of the gigantic thing.

  The longer he spent trying to find what he was looking for, the more obvious it became.

  Jorge could not find a second force of damage that the Minotaur had been fighting. No signs of a monster fighting it and missing at all. No unique signs of damage.

  It was all very much similar to the battlefield they found the felines in. This was definitely the two elites. Only thing they needed to further prove this would be to check the mana signatures in the area.

  He turned to Kalidor.

  “It matches. This was their work,” Kalidor said, proving him correct.

  “C’mon, lets check the body. I trust their assessment, but yours is the most experienced and advanced.”

  Kalidor nodded and followed him closely as they ran up to Malkim and the group. Sami had already gotten there before them and Malkim was kneeling next to the monster with his eyes closed.

  “Jorge,” Sami noticed them arrive. “Jorge. Look.” Her face pale and eyes wide. She stepped out of the way to show him the ghastly scene.

  Jorge felt his face lose all its blood as he stared at the missing head of the Minotaur. Crushed into nothing but paste and skull shrapnel. The Roaming Boss had no shot in defeating whatever it had faced, killed in a fashion that should have not been possible for anyone close to its level. How strong would someone have to be to accomplish something like this? Level 40? Level 45? Level 50?

  “This was an execution. It had no chance of surviving,” Malkim said, opening his eyes and looking back to him.

  “Again. They leave the body and loot around as though its worthless to them? Did a Noble House Patriarch come out to hunt?” Kalidro said as he touched the burned and scarred Minotaur. The same tiny holes that covered the melted bodies of the felines peppered its entire body. It was hardier and more resistant to them, not that it helped in the long run.

  Sami rubbed her face and groaned audibly. “What good would hunting in this dungeon be for them? This makes no sense.”

  “What does it matter? This will solve a lot of our problems. A large Minotaur will sell for a lot even if its missing a head.” Kalidor cracked his knuckles, already imagining how he would harvest the behemoth monster.