ALL NOVEL Chapter 73: Meeting
"Hello, my name is Cole," Cole said while he was studying the tall, middle-aged man in front of him. "My group and I aren't looking for trouble."
"Cole?" John frowned. "What is the name of your two other friends?"
Cole frowned when he heard that. Somehow the middle-aged man knew about Anna and Carter, but then the dots began to connect, and then Cole relaxed. Ryan certainly had been there, and he had mentioned them to that man.
"Carter and Anna… Ryan told you about us, right?" Cole asked, but then he got tense again, imagining that perhaps that group had tortured or done something worse to Ryan, but then he relaxed when he saw a little girl in a wheelchair inside the camp.
"… He never said that your group would be so big," John sighed. "He only mentioned you three… anyway. You guys can come. You look exhausted, and it would be rude to keep a police officer standing like that. My name is John. Nice to meet you."
All of Cole's worries disappeared. His instincts told him that that man wasn't an enemy. Besides, if he were an enemy, he would have lured he and his friends to the dungeon by saying that Ryan was there. In any case, despite the fact that Cole wasn't worried, Anna and Carter weren't that relaxed. Even though they had the numerical advantage, they didn't drop their guard when they entered the camp.
After talking for a while, Cole and the others heard what happened to Ryan and how those people were related to him. It was quite fortunate that he found some friends so soon, and that was why Cole couldn't understand why he left his friends so readily.
"I see…" Cole sighed. "Ryan really looked like a stubborn guy, but I didn't think he would challenge another boss alone… thanks to it, he lost part of his right arm."
"Excuse me…" Anna said. "Why would he leave his fiancee behind?"
"Well… there are some reasons for that…" John face-palmed, while Daniel and Mia lowered her face. "It will make us look suspicious, but talking about such personal matters behind Ryan's back would only make him mad. So, I will refrain from doing so."
"Ah… I can easily imagine that," Cole laughed. "Anyway, when he left this place and where he went?"
"Four days ago, and he headed to Shreveport…" John sighed. "Even though he just lost an arm, he was already looking for another dungeon to clear… that boy is really something else."
"Four days… since then, your group has been training inside the dungeon," Cole said, a bit surprised. "I imagine that you aren't confident in your power to defeat the boss yet. Well, given the information you gave us, that is more than understandable… Do you think we can join forces and defeat the boss? I believe that will benefit us all."
"Of course, if you guys already obtained your first class, then you will be of great help," John smiled. "But even if all of us fight, I can't imagine we defeating the boss without suffering some losses. We need at least one more week to get powerful enough to pull that off."
"I see… then how about we escort a part of your group to the slime's dungeon?" Cole asked. "We will help your group obtain the first class, and that will increase our survivability even more."
"Mmm… what do you two think of this idea?" John rubbed his chin while looking at Daniel and Mia.
"I think it is a good idea," Daniel nodded. "We don't have spells like Flame Arrow yet, but we will need to bombard the Hobgoblin with it."
"I also think that the hunter class will benefit a lot of us," Mia said.
"Well then… we will depart tomorrow," John declared and then offered a handshake. "I'm counting on you from today onward.
"Likewise," Cole accepted the handshake.
That was how Cole and John's group joined forces. Since both of them didn't like to take too many risks, they got along really well. In any case, time was something they couldn't afford to lose, so John and Daniel spent the night looking for a vehicle that would give them the chance to transport the survivors to the slimes' dungeon. They found one, and thanks to it, their movement increased quite a bit.
Although some of the survivors didn't get along at the beginning, all the feelings of uneasiness disappeared when all the members of John's group obtained their first class. From that day onward, they began to be more proactive and also taught others how they should fight the goblins.
Exactly one week after they joined forces, Cole and John decided to challenge the Hobgoblin with all their survivors. They didn't want to lose a single one of them. No one wants to lose part of their limbs either. So, to avoid that, they made a formation. Eight swordsmen would be the frontline, and their sole job was to stop the Hobgoblin's attack. Meanwhile, all the other survivors would attack the monster with Flame Arrows.
As expected, the swordsmen wouldn't be able to stop Hobgoblin's rampage if they tried to attack as well, but even though they broke some bones, the frontline held back the monster while the backline attacked with Flame Arrows. They didn't use gasoline, so the flames only burned the boss.
After just two minutes, the creature died. It was only obvious given that almost twenty people attacked it with Flame Arrows… Still, only twenty-four people had the chance to obtain a class. So, three of the survivors didn't obtain it. However, the next day, a new boss appeared, and those who didn't obtain a class, finally had their chance.
They didn't have much food, but Cole and John decided to make a party and celebrate the fact that they cleared the dungeon and obtained their second class. Unfortunately, the rank they obtained wasn't that high, so the reward they received was just a few extra coins.
"Well, I guess it is time to go to Shreveport," John said.
"You are right," Cole nodded.