My Darkest Dungeon

The Old Road

"Brigands have run of these lanes. Keep to the side path; the Hamlet is just ahead. And to any that choose to impede your progress, dispatch them in a brutal manner, that all may hear of your arrival!"

Three travelers walked cautiously through the woods, sticking to the shadows as best as they could.

"These woods..." Iida remarked, his eyes narrowed, "There is something unnatural about them."

"What, the choir boy not liking this little walk through the countryside?" Bakugou sniped with a smirk. Said smirk became larger when the crusader glared at him behind his helmet.

"The countryside? Or course not." He replied stiffly, looking slightly insulted. "Having gone through rigorous training for years in the ways of the Light, I have of course been through much worse. However," He glanced around, "The flora and scenery of this area is certainly... unique." He finished distastefully.

Unique, Izuku gulped, that's one way to put it.

All around them, the woods appeared to be in a state of decay. The majority of the trees appeared to be infested with large amounts of oddly colored fungi that Izuku had never seen before, several of which he could have sworn were giving off suspicious looking trees not covered with fungi were sickly and overgrown.

"Keep an eye out for those mushrooms, and avoid them if you can," Izuku said softly, eyes trained on one such pile in the middle of the path. I wish I could take samples... The rampant and strange growth seems unnatural, but that isn't exactly something that I've studied much... at all really. And getting to the Hamlet is our current priority anyways.

Maybe I should send a letter to Fumikage...

He was brought out of his thoughts once more by the low conversation of his travel partners.

"I'm just sayin', all that fancy training you keep going on about is completely worthless in the real world. Just book smarts and 'theoretical shit'." Bakugou taunted with a smirk, "If we met a few years ago, you'd have died the moment you drew that metal stick of yours."

Iida sighed in aggravation, "To speak of such things amongst your allies, and during a mission nonetheless... Such inappropriate talk is better spoken when we are not in enemy territory."

"Heh," Bagugou snickered while eyeing the other man, "With as much noise as your armor is making, I ain't worried about the noise of some simple chatting."

"R-regardless Kacchan, if we could focus on getting to the Hamlet for now, I t-think that'd be best." Izuku interjected, clutching his knife. "Y-you can't deny that something feels wrong with the a-area, right?"

While physically the woods hardly provided a welcoming atmosphere, it was made much worse by the unnatural aura that seemed to emanate from the area. Though Izuku had felt worse during a frustratingly uneventful expedition to Antarctica, it was still quite unsettling. He knew that Kacchan didn't believe in the supernatural, but surely he couldn't discount something like this.

"Quite so!" Iida nodded vigorously, "Whatever gripes we have with each other, both of us are employed by Midoriya here, and as such should put forth our all until such a time that our task is complete."

The gun-wielder scowled at the two of them, "Not like he needed more than me for this." He grumbled while thumbing one of his grenades in agitation, "I doubt there's anything that could beat me around here. No need to bring the toy soldier," he sneered, to which Iida promptly ignored.

Izuku was about to respond when all three paused, the trail they were on opening up to a clearing. From where they were at, they could see a small rusty iron fence surrounding a series of old and worn gravestones. Though the small graveyard was still overgrown, it appeared to be mostly free of fungi. What truly drew their attention though was an ornate looking wooden chest just outside the fence, sitting in plain view.