For The Greater Good-World 1: A Corrupted Cove || World//Zero ||

30. An Explanation

"What in the world were you thinking?!" Cal screamed at Alec, his face turning red. Well, redder than it already was.

It didn't take long for the rest of the cove to find out what happened last night. As soon as word was spread, mentors and elites and adventurers alike were in an uproar, shouting blasphemies at the group who ventured into the dungeon. And, as soon as the paladin mentor heard about it, he was furious, and immediately left World 3. Once he found Alec, he pulled him aside away from his friends, already shouting at him, not letting him get a word in for so much as an explanation. There were points where Alec couldn't even understand what he was saying, he was so angry. He'd never seen him like this before, but rather than arguing with him, he took it in. During this session, he glanced around him to see that Symphony's mentor, Melody, was there as well, and like Alec she pulled her aside to give her a "pep talk". Although, she looked to be taking a nicer approach than whatever Cal was doing.

Elliot's mentor, the red-headed berserker, was also the same way. Though, he didn't yell at the defender. He was talking too quietly and he was too far for Alec to hear, but he could tell from the look on his face that he was stern and very upset with him.

Callahan suddenly snapped his fingers loudly in front of Alec's face, getting his attention. "Hey! Look at me."

Alec did, tightening his mouth.

Cal scrunched up his face, looking like a squished, wrinkled tomato. "I am gone for what? Three days? And during that time, you decide to go into a dungeon? Not only without me, but going against the elites' rules? That's two strikes, Alec! Two!"

Alec didn't say anything.

"I mean, what were you thinking?" Cal asked again. "Going into a dungeon by yourself, one that's been said to be dangerous and corrupted. You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I had to!" Alec exclaimed, finding his voice. "There was a group of kids running to the dungeon, and if I didn't do something, then they would've gotten hurt!"

"So could've you!" Cal snapped back. "You should've just stayed here! Don't go off running like that! Or you could get seriously hurt!"

Alec crossed his arms. He knew that he was right, but he felt like he did the right thing. "Symphony said that we had to, or else they would've gotten in trouble. We were just going to—"

"Symphony?" Cal repeated. "Who's that?"

Alec widened his eyes and shut his mouth, realizing what he'd just done. He shook his head. "No, it's not what you think—!"

A horn was suddenly blown, catching everyone off guard and putting them into silence. Cal looked further ahead, and grabbing onto Alec's wrist, he pulled him through the crowd toward the front. There three elites stood, including Lucille, who stood in the middle. The other three were unnamed men, one holding an axe and shield and the other holding duo swords that glowed. They stood silently among the crowd as Lucille spoke out loud.

"I know that we're all a confused mess right now. But arguing amongst ourselves is not going to help. A little explanation will help us figure out what exactly happened." She looked out among the crowd of silent adventurers. "Would any of you, who went into dungeon 1-3 last night, please tell us exactly what happened?"

There was no response for a long time, tense and fearful of getting into trouble. Then someone raised their hand, and everyone looked. It was the old berserker mentor, Feste, the one who thanked Alec and his friends. Lucille gestured for him to come closer, and he did, the crowd moving away to make a walkway for him. He gazed at the three elites, bowed, and then began talking.

"For the past week, we have been getting tired. Tired of our apprentices not progressing through their quests, and not going into dungeons and gaining the experience they needed to go on. It was frustrating not only for them, but for us mentors, as it made us feel like we were letting them down and not teaching them the things that they need to know in order to learn and grow. So, we decided to sneak into the third dungeon by night, so no one would see. We had our defenders and berserkers, myself included, destroy the blockage. When we went in, however, and came across the Dire Boarwolf, we ran in fear. It wasn't like how us mentors remembered it being. It was...fierce. Stronger. More powerful. A lot like the raven in the second dungeon. We thought that we could take it on, but we couldn't. So we attempted to go back. That's when—"