Dungeon Hunters

Several Strange Encounters

"You gave them what?!!?" The Lord General yelled into the phone, slamming his hand on his desk. "Grim are you out of your mind!? You can't send them there, they'll be massacred!... Of course I know what they're doing is dangerous, but even still, that's suicide, even for you...oh you could not...it's not like I could stop them...if they die, it's on your head." He slammed the phone down and put his head in his hand.
"My lord, we could always send someone with them," Isaac Koga said.
"They'll never accept," he said. "They're all too damn stubborn.  Especially that ring leader, Michael."
"So what do you want to do?"
"The only thing we can do," the Lord General said. "Let them go. And pray."

"Look, the Dungeon is right here," Eden said, pointing to the map. The four of them were all sitting in a room back at Central Capitals headquarters. The Dungeon map was laid out before them. "We can take a train from here to this town, Corissville. From there, I'd say it's about a half a days walk to the Dungeon."
"So, we are serious about going after this place, right?" Daemeon said. "I mean, it is a pretty high tier Dungeon."
"Come on, we can do it no problem," Michael said.
"How can you be sure of that?" Riley said.
Michael shrugged. "Don't know, I just am."
"Even if you are," Eden said, "I'm not. Daemeon's right, this is a high tier Dungeon. It's going to be more difficult then anything we've ever faced before. Not to mention, we don't know anything about this place. We're effectively shooting blind here."
"It might have helped if we had asked Grim about it before we left," Riley said.
"Oh please, he was so stingy with his information, he never would have told us," Michael said.
"Back to the matter at hand," Eden said. "Are we sure we want to do this?"
"Well, Grim's right, isn't he? This is what we set out to do, right?" Michael said. "We knew the risk when we first started. We each have a dream to reach, and one dream as a whole, we have to see it through to the end. So, what do you say guys?"
"Eh, why not," Riley said.
"I'm with you," Daemeon said.
They all turned to Eden. "I mean, it's not like I have anything better to do with my time."
"Alright then! I say we head out tomorrow," Michael said.
"Well what else would we do?" Eden said. "Sit here and twiddle our thumbs?"
"If we are heading out tomorrow," Riley said. "We'd better get something to eat and get to bed. We'll have to get an early start, catch the first train out of here."
"Reasonable enough," Daemeon said. "I wonder if they've got anything good to eat around here."

"Sir, they're planning on leaving for the Dungeon tomorrow," Matt said.
"I could only figure as much," the Lord General said. "They're a rather hasty bunch."
"So what do we do, sir?"
"What would you have me do, Matt?" The Lord General stood up from his chair and walked over to look out at his large window, looking down on the city, now aglow with lights that shimmered in the darkness.
Matt shrugged. "I have no idea, sir. That's why I'm glad I'm not in charge."
The Lord General let out a sigh. "Yes, well, it's times like this I wasn't either. I'm not an emotionless monster, you know. I do feel remorse for spying on children. For goodness sake Matt, they're children."
"You're doing what you believe to be best for the city. Children or not, at least two of them could pose a very serious threat. I'm not really a fan of the spying myself, but I understand the necessity of it. A necessary evil, if you will. I am still skeptical of it and your motives, but I've come to terms with it."
The Lord General paused for a moment. "Perhaps not, Matt. Tell Hayley to pull the plug on the surveillance on the four. There's no need for it anymore. You are free to go."
"Of course, sir."
Matt began to walk out the door, but turned just before reaching it. "Sir, permission to speak freely?"
"Granted."
"Why were you so fearful of them when they first arrived? You only have this much surveillance up when Grim comes to do his grocery shopping."
The Lord General took a breath without turning from the window. "Grim is a normal type of chaos.  Granted, he can be unpredictable, today being a shining example of that, but he's still been a constant. These children are a much more unorthodox form of chaos. With two of them having power I'm sure even they're aware of, and one with a rather strong desire for revenge, I was fearful of what I didn't know and of what I didn't understand. This job has taken it's toll on me. I've become too paranoid, then I think I'm not paranoid enough. But I'm taking a chance on these kids. I know they have good intentions and I'm hoping my faith in them will be rewarded. Will there be anything else?"
"No sir. Goodnight."