The Immortal Player

"These little monsters are easy to handle. But their Queen is one hell of a nut to crack!" Pedro said. Then, he pointed to an opening at the other side of the cave and continued, saying, "The cave might even collapse if we kill it. It would not be a problem for me but… We might get stuck inside this cave for a few days. We can't afford it right now so, all we got to do is run in that direction and get out at the opposite side of the dungeon."

"In your command, Sir Aron!" Neerak said ready to run at any time. The three village soldiers drew their swords in response and simply nodded towards Pedro, indicating that they were ready to move.

Pedro simply smiled in response and returned his focus back to the monsters. As the first batch of newly hatched eggs falls into the hands of Pedro's pen-knife, he charged out of the hole, ahead of everyone else, and shouted, "Let's go!"

"Shit!" Neerak Axutar can't help but curse out of astonishment. That said, his body reactively run behind Pedro and was even able to catch up to him because of his fear. While the three village soldiers followed behind him with their hands tightly gripping their swords and their eyes dead focus on their surroundings—ready to strike anything that would pose threat to them.

The pen-knife eliminated the Baby Ira Spiders, eliminating the threats in that area and allowing them to arrive at the opening that was leading to the dungeon's entrance/exit opposite to where they entered earlier.

At this moment, Pedro still leads the charge out of the dungeon, while continuously slicing the spider webs blocking their path. Fortunately, it would take a few more seconds before the next eggs would fall and hatch, giving them enough time to increase their distance away from the monsters.

It took them several minutes of continuous running before Pedro was able to cut the same thick vines that covered the entrance of the dungeon. Unfortunately, because of the momentum of their sprint, they were not able to halt on time, and they fall at the thirty-foot-high cliff that came immediately after the last layer of vines.

"Waaaah!" Neerak Axutar cried out of fear.

Fortunately, Pedro remained calm and was able to stab his Katana to the rock wall. It did not penetrate that deep into the rock, but it was enough to allow Pedro to slide on the vertical wall and fall safely into the ground.

At the same time, this had allowed him to grab Neerak Axutar and save him from falling straight to the ground. On the other hand, the three soldiers were also shocked at first, but they were able to follow what Pedro did, leaving them with only a few bruises as they reached the ground.

"Phew! That was close!" Pedro said as gasped heavily—trying to catch his breath. He smiled like someone who had a 'thrilling' experience and glanced towards Neerak Axutar, saying, "Are you alright, kid?"

"Kid?" Neerak Axutar frowned, seemingly irritated by Pedro's words. He almost died and Pedro even seemed like he mocking him. Thus, he can't help but feel a bit of anger and was not even able to control his emotions.

That said, Pedro simply stared at Neerak Axutar, making the kid realize that Pedro was his 'boss' and not some kind of relative or people from the village of Axutar.

Neerak Axutar averted his gaze from Pedro and faked several coughs, before saying, "I am alright, Sir Aron!"

Pedro could not help but shake his head in response and said, "That's good! That's good!"

Then, he glanced towards the injured village soldiers and asked, "How about the three of you?"

The village soldiers shook their heads one by one. Then, one of them said, "Other than some cuts and bruises due to the sliding, I did not sustain any major injuries and can still fight, Sir Aron!"

"It's the same for me, Sir Aron!"

"My left hand is a bit numb, but I can still also fight!"

The other two soldiers added.

Hearing that everyone was okay. There was not much reason for them to stay and relax in that area. The wounds that they obtained would surely attract nearby monsters towards them. So, it was really not ideal for them to recuperate at that location despite being unable to encounter any monsters until this moment.

Pedro stood and dusted off his clothes, while saying, "Then… Let's go! Let's find our comrades first before we head to Baliu Village. Finding them should be easy because I got a message from them earlier that they would wait for us somewhere nearby."

Neerak Axutar and the three village soldiers stood and followed Pedro's lead as they searched for Mathew's group. Through chatting in the player interface, Pedro instructed Mathew to cut some trees for them to know their location.

Thus, Mathew sliced down trees that consequently made weak tremors to the ground but was strong enough for Pedro and the four NPCs to know their location. After walking a few minutes to their south, Pedro was able to see the figure of two women and a man with a huge basket on his back.

'It's them!' Pedro thought deep inside. He lowered the cloth that was covering half of his face so that Mathew and Loren would be able to recognize his face.

At first, Mathew was on guard against him, even if he was able to recognize that it was Pedro. However, he relaxed upon noticing some black colored scales on the back of Pedro's neck—which was covered by the collar of Pedro's overcoat to hinder Neerak Axutar and the three village soldiers from seeing it.

Of course, it was not enough as a verification. Mathew sent a message to Pedro, telling him to wave his two hands if they saw each other. Since Pedro did it even 'happily', Mathew can't help but shake his head and smile as he lowers his guard a bit, towards Pedro and his group.

"Where are the others?" Pedro asked with a grin on his face.

"Climbing up from the bottom of the well!" Mathew replied in response.

Afterward, both of them burst into laughter, making Neerak Axutar, Loren, and the three village soldiers frown in confusion. Truth be told, it was only natural that Pedro and Mathew would be the only ones to understand the meaning behind what they said.

If Mathew asked Pedro to waved his two hands upon seeing them, Pedro asked Mathew to say that very same line as an answer to his question. Thus, aside from being a way of confirmation of their identities, both of them did not expect it to be hilarious—resulting in both of them bursting into laughter.

When Pedro was able to calm himself, he glanced towards Loren—who was carrying Sabrina on her back, and asked, "Classmate… Do you need help in carrying her?"contemporary romance

Loren stared at him in response as if she was suspecting that Pedro would do something perverted to Sabrina. Thus, she shook her head instead and said, "I can manage."

"Okay…" Pedro can't help but force out a smile as Neerak Axutar and the three village soldiers glanced back and forth from Pedro to Loren and Sabrina. Pedro glared towards the four NPCs and asked, "What? Do you have a problem with me?"

The three village soldiers simply shook their heads and forced out a smile in response. However, the naïve young man, Neerak Axutar, said, "Sir Aron… It's bad to play with a girl's heart, you know?"

Pedro can't help but force out a smile once again, out of embarrassment to Loren, Mathew, and the village soldiers who were able to hear what the kid said. On the other hand, the three village soldiers could not help but slap their foreheads out of embarrassment to what Neerak Axutar said.

Mathew burst into laughter once again, breaking the awkward atmosphere around them. Then, he can't help but pat Pedro's back several times, while saying, "Expert Bro, where did you get this kid? He's too funny! Hahaha!"

Pedro could not help but sigh in response and said, "He's Neerak Axutar from the Axutar Village that is located several kilometers away from the other side of this mountain."

Neerak Axutar was confused about why Mathew laughed once again. However, since Pedro introduced him to Mathew, he can't help but bow slightly towards him in response and respectfully said, "Greetings respected sir! As Sir Aron had mentioned, I am Neerak Axutar from the Axutar Village. The youngest son of the village chief, Meerak Axutar. It's my pleasure meeting you!"

At this moment, Mathew calmed down as he gestured towards Neerak Axutar to raise his head, while saying, "Lift your head young man! Lift your head! I am Mister Smile, Sir Aron's comrade! It's nice to meet you, young man! I heard a lot of good things about you! I hope that you would not disappoint my expectations, young man."

"I could only do my best, Sir Smile!" Neerak Axutar said, forcing out a smile.

done.co