Having spent all my energy stones on the upgrade of my monsters, I had made one mistake of leaving myself completely without energy stones. Already, I was reaping the results of my folly.
I could sense that my awareness had been crippled in a big way.
Now it only covered up to the threshold of the cave inward. Initially, in fact, when I had just gotten my sixth power stone, I had felt that my awareness was actually extending beyond the cave toward the surrounding area. Now I was blinded until things happened inside the mine.
That, however, was not a life-threatening situation.
I already had the rats, and although it was not their natural habit to go beyond the cave just for basking, I had them doing just that as soon as daybreak came. Eventually, what I had been expecting happened.
From the rats' senses, I could tell there were people approaching, and soon enough it was confirmed as a group of three people came streaking out from the cliff ahead.
They did not have to come any closer for me to know their identity. The posture and body language of the two scouts I had assaulted earlier was clear as day.
They had returned, but this time they were not alone.
With them was a middle-aged man. If I had to guess his age, I would put him at around forty-five, or thereabout.
I had known that as soon as the two boys gave confirmation that they had indeed found a dungeon, the Gallant Guild, desperate as it was, would make its way at once just to confirm it. It seemed my guess was not far-fetched.
Being a rock guild, they were desperate enough to have some dungeon in their possession, especially if they were recruiting people into their ranks.
As they drew near, my rat panicked and almost retreated, but weak as I was, I still enforced my command.
Hold for a little while longer.
I needed them to see and hear more.
In fact, I had two more rats join their dad at the entrance.
"Something tells me you two have wasted my entire day. I thought we were going further and deeper into the forest. What in the freaking heavens makes you think a mine that is this exposed could be a dungeon?" the older guy asked, his face morphing into utter disappointment and anger.
I could see why.
Behind his back, he was carrying what looked like a quite loaded backpack.
From the look of things, he had come prepared for the raid of his life.
In such instances, I knew the kind of trick the brain often played on its victims. You ended up fantasizing and creating imaginary scenarios to the point of believing them and forming expectations from them.
"I'm telling you, Mr. Ogrey… it's a dungeon," the shorter of the boys insisted vehemently. As soon as his eyes landed on the three rats at the entrance, he panicked.
"There… there. I'm telling you, they are not normal rats. Those are dungeon monsters."
When Mr. Ogrey's eyes fell on the so-called dungeon monsters, he broke out into laughter of pure absurdity.
Then he turned to look at the two boys beside him.
They were not laughing. Their faces were creased and deadpan.
The shorter one looked even more dreadful, as if he were staring death right in the eye.
"You can't be serious. You mean to tell me these… these rats, these tiny rodents, assaulted the two of you to the point of inflicting life-threatening injuries on you? Surely tell me this is a joke. Because if it is, it's not funny."
He stared at the bandages covering the shorter guy's brows and the rest of his head.
"This cost you that?" he asked, pointing between the rats and the injury.
"Well… not exactly, but they attacked me to the point of collapsing. The mine did the rest," the boy said shamefully.
So far, the taller guy had not spoken. His name was Frost, if I remembered right. Leo Frost.
His eyes were dead-fixed on the three rats waiting at the entrance. He did not make any move to approach.
Their fear, however, was unnecessary, because the purpose of these rats was no longer to attack or intimidate them.
In fact, it was the opposite.
To lure them by giving them a sense of false confidence.
I wanted the master to believe that the boys were wrong, that his judgment was the correct one. That they had indeed been attacked by rats, but that these rats were not monsters at all.
The master sighed and took the first step forward.
"I'll be damned if you two are my first recruits," he cursed as he approached.
As soon as he took that first step, I released the rats from their trance.
Without delay, they turned and retreated back into the cave.
"See, your monsters can't even wait for me to reach them. And you're telling me these had enough courage to withstand your threats and inflict actual bodily harm on the two of you? Fucking two of you."
He stopped again and turned around.
"Do you understand how absurd that nonsense sounds? Do you know what would happen if I went to the guild council to register a dungeon whose only proof is rats that scared two coward teens?"
He faltered, then froze in place.
"I am telling you, master," the shorter boy began, but the master raised a hand to stop him.
"No fucking chance."
He swore as he took two cautious steps forward.
"By the heavens… this can't be. It's too near the village. How can this be?"
Now the taller scout, Mr. Frost, looked even more curious.
"What do you mean? Can't see anything?"
"Of course you can't. You are not even a proper F rank. But by the heavens, you boys have it right. This place is a freaking dungeon."
He was already past the threshold of the cave when a notification came alive inside me.
Intruder detected.
Intruder's rank. E rank.
Intruder's affiliation. Gallant Guild.
Guild level. Rock Guild.
This time, there was an extra notification beneath.
Warning. The intruder is the guild master and the founder of the Rock Gallant Guild.
Next, two more notifications followed as the two boys accompanied their master into the cave.
Master Ogrey quickly put a hand up to halt further progress.
"By the freaking heavens, this is getting mad. There's no chance."
"Master, no chance of what?" Frost asked, now clearly curious. His sword was already drawn.
"By the heavens, we've made it. I have made it. If by the gods I have this right, then my guild is about to become one of the most powerful guilds in the whole Midland."
He remained frozen for a while, caught between fear, excitement, and disbelief. Then he turned to his young companions.
"This dungeon you found, boys… it has a freaking core."