"Rustle."
'Hm?' Richard looked at some faraway bushes.
'I saw something move.'
"Crack!" A branch broke.
Garrick also turned quickly.
"Something's there."
Richard nodded while William and Dustin looked surprised.
"Again?" Dustin asked.
All four drew their weapons.
"Fuck. They found us out." Someone behind a tree complained.
"Which idiot stepped on that branch?" Another asked furiously.
"Sorry. It's not like I've done this before."
"Why did the boss send us to this creepy place?"
The group of ten armed men kept bickering as they revealed themselves.
"Who are they?" Dustin asked.
"Don't know. But they don't look friendly." William answered.
'I shouldn't have agreed with William to help these two. Now I'm getting dragged into more trouble.' Richard thought.
Garrick pointed his spear at the men only a dozen meters away. "Stop right there. Who are you and what are you after?"
The men stopped talking amongst themselves.
"Ho? Look at that tough looking geezer."
"Hahaha!"
Garrick frowned.
"Drop your weapons and all your belongings. We'll let you go after that." The one who looked to be in charge said.
Garrick looked at these thuggish looking armed men without masks and came to a conclusion. 'They have no intention of letting us go.'
His expression only grew more firm.
"Tsk. Looks like he's not buying it."
"What should we do Klinger?" One of the men asked their group leader.
"Why are you asking the obvious? You know what the boss ordered us to do."
"Kill them."
—
At the same time inside a building near the underground arena, a meeting was taking place inside an office.
"What brings you here young master?" A huge rough looking man in nice clothing asked Reginald Greydell.
"Why do you think, Luke? You're the guy my family left in charge of this shithole, but you can't seem to keep your fighters on a leash and fail to pay us properly."
The big and scary looking man who was used to being the top dog in the underworld of Ashbrook for many years—
Had to grovel in front of spoiled prick in his twenties.
'I fucking hate nobles.'
"I'm sorry young master. But rest assured, the one who put a dent into our betting operations will be dealt with soon."
"You mean that Osric guy? Why didn't you just make him one of your money makers like Piers?"
"We have to be careful about who we approach and take under our wing. Osric rose in reputation and ranks too quickly. We didn't have enough time to investigate him properly before he got the chance to challenge a champion."
Reginald clicked his tongue.
"If you didn't know anything about him, why did you fucking bet that huge amount on Piers?! That money should've belonged to House Greydell by now! You useless piece of shit! How will you fix this exactly?!"
The Stoneclaw Gang leader named Luke, cleared his throat. "Like I said before. We are currently working on it. As a matter of fact, I already sent a team to get rid of our biggest obstacle besides Osric himself."
The 25 year old noble with brown hair and a clean shaved narrow face frowned. "Explain."
"Yes. To our knowledge, Osric's party consists of three other combatants. The first is his most loyal subordinate called William. He is a skilled but low level adventurer. Next is a young newbie called Jayson. He was a new fighter in the arena and apparently has a mana seed, but he poses no threat."
"The real threat is someone else who recently joined him. A veteran mercenary called Garrick. He is one of our elite fighters and swore to follow Osric. He is already extremely strong without weapons, but we suspect he is much more dangerous with his spear. That's why I sent ten of my men to get rid of him."
Reginald smiled.
"Good."
"Well I honestly couldn't care less about this Osric guy and his little adventurer party. My father wants me to either recruit or kill him, but that would be a bother. Just get rid of him for me and pay us the money you promised. That's enough for me."
"Yes young master."
Reginald stood up and left.
'What a waste of time.' He thought.
He turned to his retainer. "Find me someone to have fun with tonight."
"Understood."
Reginald's smiled turned into something hideous and perverse.
—
Things were starting to look awry for Garrick's group inside the monster forest.
Inside the city canals however, Jayson was making progress.
He had just killed the first of four reported Giant Rats and was moving along.
'The smell is getting worse. I don't think it's just the filthy water anymore.'
Jayson could smell the rotted flesh remaining on the growing numbers of skeletons scattered around.
He soon arrived at the first side tunnel to his right.
'I think that's where it leads to the nest, according to the scout report.'
He was nervous, but relieved that there would be less water full of waste now.
As he entered the smaller tunnel, he immediately took notice of a couple small red dots in the distance.
'What is that?'
'Wait.'
"Skreee!"
A Giant Rat came running at him.
"Shit!"