Stuck as a Dungeon Mob

The atmosphere in Arbor Town was bright and bustling. Yet, there was a young man wearing casual clothing sitting down on some steps, looking sullen.

He watched as the children played, avoiding carriages and people. He watched as these people did business and as some even talked to brightly smiling adventurers. The young man felt empty watching the bright smiles on faces he could never again hope to replicate.

"Wiley, you are here again?" One of the knights from before, Faris, came and asked the young Wiley, who only looked up at him lethargically.

"How… How is Agalia?" He asked the knight before turning back to the busy main street of Arbor Town.

"She's… just the same…" Faris said dejected. The talented adventurer showed no signs of overcoming this calamity that had befallen her.

Faris formed a wry smile while looking down at the paved stone stairs which he sat on.

"You can't stay like this forever, how about joining the royal knights? With your skills, you can definitely make it if you work hard enough" Faris' heart was at the right place when he made this offer, but Wiley felt spiteful.

"I don't want my skills to dwindle" He responded sharply. He was indirectly attacking all the Bosque royal knights. Wiley must have felt that if the knights were stronger than he might not have lost anyone.

Faris only formed an awkward smile, uttering no retort. But this worked out as they were immediately interrupted.

"What the- Hey! Get off my steps!" An elderly person opened their house door only to find a person sitting down on them.

"Oh, sorry-" Before Wiley could apologize, the elderly person started to go on a tangent.

"This used to be a peaceful, respectable town! Now look at all these adventurers! Where do they come from even?!" Faris had to try and quell the elder as Wiley made his way off the steps and back into the freedom union with slow, tired steps.

"Please calm down" The voice of Faris faded away.

The Arbor town main street ran by the Freedom Union and it just so happens that Wiley had chosen a building across to sit around on. This union branch's steps were too busy to sit on, and that he was entering the building at that moment was further proof.

Part of the reason why it was so busy was that the branch building was undergoing renovations to increase its size, and the other reason was that it even needed to renovate in the first place. The influx of adventurers from all over Bosque kept the place crowded at all times.

Wiley made his way past the crowded lobby and went upstairs to the nursing room where Clarys was still slowly treating Agalia. She would come in occasionally to treat her and other patients.

"Hi…" Wiley said to Clarys who was performing subtle healing magic before finding a seat. Clarys simply returned a nod before focusing back on her work. Just as she did, however, a commotion could suddenly be heard.

"Who-!" Wiley was angry that they were disturbing the patients.

"The king is coming!" But hearing what the nurse barged into the room and told, Wiley froze. He wanted to say something, but there was great incredulity in the situation.

With nothing to do and no motivation, Wiley had caught himself up to speed with the dealings in Bosque. There was no king! No one had been crowned to replace the deceased regent, and there was also a battle between the nobility.

So then the question was… who exactly was coming?

Clarys shared this confusion and asked the overly excited nurse a question.

"Is his Majesty the father of the princes coming?" Her question was a bit roundabout, but the nurse did nod excitedly.

"I heard he is already in town! He is staying at an inn with the royal knights!" The nurse had all the beans and they were spilling them en masse.

"Oh? So he is paying a visit to this humble branch?" Clarys asked and the nurse nodded.

After the excited health worker left the room, Clarys stopped healing Agalia. She frowned. Would this dampen her plans with Samuel?

More importantly, how did the sickly king who suddenly disappeared arrive at Arbor town? She had been contacted to heal him before so she had been told of his state. It shouldn't be possible for him to live, never mind appear in a backwater town.

***

Much earlier in the crypt, the knights and mages had made it to the first floor safe room. This was the first hurdle W and Bloody had to overcome in order to see the light of day.

"Your Majesty, please cross first into safety" Stuart said to Brennan Bosque who stood not too far off beside him. The king saw no reason to refuse, but W had his qualms.

'Will we really be able to leave just like this?' There was no crazy weapon needed to break through the safe room barrier, there was no need to cut through space-time as a means to bypass the safe room. Brennan just had to walk and they'd be a layer closer to the exit.

The problem was W's sixth sense told him of the wall of yellow they were approaching. It distressed him and as they came to touch the wall…!

W felt an indescribable pressure. If he had to  describe it, he'd describe it as the feeling of entering a space portal without a body. That was right, this was that earlier sensation of pressure.

The main difference however was that it was milder in nature. Bloody had to do a couple of integrations to withstand the pressure, but W's consciousness was fine for the most part.

The others followed after Brennan and finally wore relieved smiles. The knights had taken off their helmets and plopped down on the cold hard ground. The bright torchlight of the safe room highlighted their broad smiles.

"We are almost out!" That was exciting. Brennan Bosque had been stuffed into a spatial pocket, so he couldn't understand the feeling of relieve. The hopes of the knights and mages were rekindled.

"We'll pack up in 15 and leave for the surface" Stuart said, finding himself a seat as well.

While small exchanges happened, W observed closely. The feeling of pressure was persistent and seemed to be slowly taking its toll on both W and Bloody.

'I hope the exit is not anymore troubling' To exit the dungeon they would most likely have to cross a similar barrier. On the bright side, it would go by in an instant. W couldn't fathom another safe room existing.

"Hey, but it's kind of suspicious…" In a distant corner of the room. A small group of knights was expressing their doubts over their experience thus far.

"The king was dashing but almost too much" How could the senses of the king be more honed than the knights that protected him and trained diligently? The only explanation was that he had some sort of fortuitous encounter in the dungeon.

"Well, even if he got lucky and got some sensory power… how does it work?" The knights' discussion was silent, but W still heard it. He had invested some mana into the ear he controlled.

W's blood element that he earned from being part of Bloody possessed the correct abilities to increase senses. The blood element appeared to be one that allowed humans to surpass their basic limitations with more ease than just regular mana reinforcement.

This element would fit a knight rather well, but for obvious reasons having this element was impossible for humans. They needed both life and death, which they didn't even know made any pseudo-element.

Hearing just one group mention their suspicious made W sigh inwardly.

'They didn't buy it but at least they haven't pinpointed the reason' They were for now only believing that Eon had performed some sort of experiment or that the lizardmen that escorted Brennan had a deeper reason.

After this short interlude, the humans were ready to move out.

"Let's go!" Stuart said seriously. The home stretch was just before them.

The first floor of the dungeon was noting special. There were some traps set up by the dungeon as well as regular white skeletons just vibing.

It was therefore no surprise when the knights breezed through this floor. It was no obstacle and at long last, the final steps were in front of them.

"These stairs lead out of the cave of myths, your Majesty." Stuart said, causing Brennan to nod. Both he and W were looking forward to this moment.

Brennan Bosque took his first step towards freedom. He placed one foot down on the steps and climbed them slowly. W's thoughts as he did was anxious anticipation.

Soon enough, Brennan found himself squinting. There were rays of light hitting his face, signaling his exit from the dungeon. A wide smile formed and boundless glee assaulted Brennan's body.

"Hahahaha!" The overly excited middle-aged man let out a rambunctious laugh. The mages and knights that came after him shared similar sentiments. This was a real sun!

Not just that, but the temperature was much more pleasant than in the dungeon, the plains were always fresh to the point of chilly or the crypt that was just cold by nature.

The company exiting the dungeon caused the people outside in charge of handling adventurers to take a curious glance. It wasn't often that leaving adventurers did so in large numbers.

But wait… wasn't that the symbol of the royal family on those pieces of armor?! The Freedom union knew of the royal knights inside, but their departure still came as a surprise.

"Your Majesty, we should find an inn to rest and get up to speed" They were all out of the loop.