Prep

Bein flicks his wrist, and the holographic screen disappears. "There are 27 of us in total. We expect the dungeon to have unusual activity. If our assumption is correct, no one should be alone whatsoever," he states coldly, pushing his glasses up. 'Even as S ranks, a simple mistake could get them killed.'

Raising three fingers, he continues, "We will be traveling as a group, but given the dense fog and the unpredictability of the dungeon, there will be nine smaller groups consisting of three people each. You will stick closely together at all times, and yes, that means they'll need to be there when you take a shit," he states with a serious tone.

"Pfff-" In the crowd, people struggle to keep themselves from laughing.

"All of you have been given the necessary supplies to withstand the toxins. There's a slight possibility one of you may get a dose large enough that the potions don't work. For that reason, Yula will be joining us. All of you have been given trackers to identify her location." BOOM! The table breaks into rubble as he places his palm on it. "Don't lose them; these trackers are worth a fortune," Bein states coldly, glaring at everyone. 'If you all knew the lengths it took me to get these... these trackers are made by none other than Lady Lilith herself. They can track anyone in the most chaotic environments. If any of them breaks one, I'll personally take all their possessions.'

Clearing his throat, he walks to another table. "We will be heading down to the lowest floor and attempting to clear a dungeon for the first time in history. We're confident we can accomplish this. The only thing we will be taking is whatever lies at the lowest floor. You may keep anything you find on the way, but please don't be stupid and try using artifacts without us properly inspecting them. You never know, you might unleash a curse." Bein sighs. "Now, any questions?"

He looks around the room at the people hiding their laughter, ignoring them until someone raises their hand with a smirk. "Pfffhahaha, Oi oi, vice guild master, you miscounted. There's 28 of us," he laughs. The man wears black leather pants and a black leather jacket styled with golden lines. His dark brown hair is pushed back, and a scar is noticeable across his face.

Bein blinks and walks forward with a small smile. "Hmhmhm, I think you miscounted," he says, stopping until he's behind Tod. "Then again, maybe I'm tired," he calmly mumbles.

"Pffhahaha," Tod laughs, slamming the table. "It's all good. We all—" Swoosh! The vice guild master sheathes his sword as fast as he unsheathed it, coldly staring at the now-headless Tod rolling on the ground. Wiping the blood off his face, Bein walks back to the front. "That's right, 27. Traitors are not included in this operation. Selling information to our competitors is unacceptable."

The others look at each other before laughing. "Pfffhahahaha! we were wondering when you would get rid of that bastard," Itto laughs, wiping a tear from his eye.

Kael blinks, staring at the corpse. 'I should be disgusted... I should be tripping... why don't I feel anything?' he thinks with a sigh. Covering half his face with his palm, he closes his eyes. 'I might be insane,' he concludes with an exhale.

Raising his hand, Bein makes everyone go silent. "Enough, I know you're all happy we got rid of him, but now is not the time to celebrate." Pushing his glasses up, he points at Itto. "Collect his things, bring me any documents and his contact list. Distribute anything he owned to those who were forced to befriend him." He sits down next to the guild master, leaning his head on his arm.

"Get your dumbass out of here," Itto smirks, kicking away the head like a ball.

The room gets cold and ice spreads slowly. Everyone turns to see Yula with wide, cold eyes glaring at Itto. "How dare you traumatize the kids here. I should castrate you right now," her calm voice pierces everyone around.

"W-what?" Itto jumps back and practically turns to see Kael and Leena yawn. "W-what do you mean? Look at them! They don't care—" He tries to reason.

Yula turns to see Kael and Leena rub their eyes, bored. She turns back to Itto. "How dare you. These poor kids are traumatized," she says as she takes a step, her white hair getting visibly colder as the air around it starts to freeze.

"Enough, Itto is extremely important for this operation, Yula," Cora mumbles, opening her eyes.

"Fine." Yula stops, and the cold air slowly dissipates. "But they're in my group," she states with no room for debate, staring at Kael and Leena. 'No, no, no, no, no, anyone but her,' Kael thinks frantically, turning to the guild master.

With a sigh, Cora nods. "No, Leena is already in a group, and V must travel with that worthless fuck," she mumbles, pointing at the prince.

"But guild master, they're kids, they need someone to—" Interrupting her, Cora and Yula stare at each other. "Yula, this is non-negotiable. You're important; I need you to stay focused at all times." Pointing at Itto and then at Oda, she sighs, standing up. "Itto will travel with V and the prince. Oda and Ryua will travel with Leena. They'll be safe with them," she says before walking past Yula.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Yula turns to Oda. "Watch her closely, okay?" she says in a calm voice. She then turns to Itto and glares at him with the eyes of a demon. "If the boy is hurt, I will make sure you can never reproduce again."

Itto takes a step back. 'What the fuck, why do I always get the bad treatment?' he wonders. "Hey, why don't you yell at Oda and Ryua!?"

Walking away, Yula scoffs. "They're not bad people like you."

"Fuck!" Itto kicks a boulder, shattering it to pieces. "Why the hell did I get stuck with a worthless brain-dead prince and a fucking child," Itto complains outside as everyone is currently talking to their respective groups before everyone meets up again.

"The only brain-dead fucker is you," the prince smirks, flipping Itto off.

"You're pathetic, that's what you are," Itto states, glaring at the prince.

"Ugh... there's no point in fighting that bastard," Kael exhales. "He's got to be the most obnoxious prince alive." He mumbles, looking up to see Itto. 'Hmm... The story wasn't focused on the guild, so almost everyone is new to me, and this guy... he's definitely not weak. I can't comprehend his walking...' he concludes with a sigh.

Itto stands at a firm 6'5". He's muscular but not bulky or slim; he's right in between. He wears a black, almost skin-tight shirt that looks similar to a sports tank top, showing his muscles through the fabric. His shoulder muscles make him stand out. He's without a doubt strong. His pants are baggy, black, cotton-like pants that honestly look comfortable. His skin is a darker tone, and he has whitish-purple hair that falls to his shoulders. His eyes are a light purple with a hint of dark blue. 'Why are adventurers so tall?' Kael taps his chin. 'No, that's wrong. I can't assume all adventurers are tall simply because S ranks are.'

Kael stands up. "The guild master thinks highly of you, huh? You must be really strong."

Hearing him, Itto grins. "Of course I am. You think I'm some wack-ass bastard like him?" he says, pointing at the prince. "No way. Let me tell you something, kid." He grabs his sheathed sword with two fingers and holds it up horizontally. He lets it go, and as soon as the sword touches the ground, it breaks it apart, creating a crater that sends a shockwave. "My sword is slightly heavier than the guild master's. Do you know how many people can master a weapon with this weight? You're from the great empire, right? I'm strong enough to fight Duke Alister."

Kael blinks, hearing him brag. 'What the fuck type of artifact is this...' Kael thinks, scratching his head as he reads the system window.

[Cyon]

[One of the 5 remaining thunder swords. Crafted by a mythical ore that can only be harvested from heavenly lightning. In ancient times, these swords were crafted regularly; however, the recipe has been lost in time over billions of years, and only 5 remain.]

[Durability: 997/1000]

[???]-[???]

[Notice: You're incapable of learning its skills as you do not have a lightning affinity. If you weren't such a weak bastard, you could've forcefully used its skills.]

'You could've kept that last part out,' Kael clicks his tongue.

[Nope, eat shit (☛´∀｀*)☛]

'Get the fuck out of here,' Kael thinks with a sigh. "That sword looks awesome. Where did you get it?" he asks, tapping his chin.

"I fell through a hole a couple of years ago, and as I was fighting my way out, I found it stabbed right through some kind of lich I fought. That monster was not normal," Itto responds as he puts it away.

"Pfff, you sure talk a load of plant shit. You're just a weak bastard. I'm sure you bought that sword at a kid's party," the prince sneers.

Itto glares at the prince, his grin turning devious. "One of these days, I'm going to shatter every bone in your body," he says, clenching his fist and walking closer. "As soon as this operation is over, when the guild master no longer takes care of you, I'm going to make you regret stepping out of your princess mansion." He mumbles, punching the wall the prince is leaning on, causing it to crack.

Meanwhile, in another part of the town, Leena looks up. "Wooooow, you're tall," she says as Oda stands up.

"Hmmm... you're energetic," he exhales, looking down to see Leena circling him and climbing him like a child. 'Don't worry, kid. I'll keep you safe. If I don't, my sister will yell at me,' he thinks, patting her head.

Pop. The popping of gum can be heard, and Leena turns to see a figure. She has straight black hair that falls to her shoulders with nice bangs, wearing black shorts and high boots as well as a white and black tank top. From her visible stomach, a tattoo can be seen spreading all the way down her right leg. It's a bird, but it's hard to tell what it is with her clothes on. Her eyes—one black and the other striking blue—give her a unique, captivating appearance. In her hands, she spins two guns, a beautiful color mixture of silver and copper with black edges. These are custom-made Crimson Tide revolvers Bein requested after the auction.

"You've gotten addicted to those new toys. Have you been practicing archery at all?" Oda asks curiously with his husky voice.

"Hmm, archery is in the past," she replies, spinning one of the guns faster before suddenly stopping and shooting into the sky. "These are the future," she states with a toneless voice as two birds fall from the foggy sky.

"If I recall correctly, you were pissed with the idea of replacing bows," Oda mumbles with a hint of amusement.

Leena turns her head back and forth, watching them both curiously. Her crimson eyes twinkle, staring at the guns. "I've never seen something like this!" she says excitedly, running up to Ryua.

In a flash, Ryua points one of her guns at Leena, but in an instant, Oda appears in front of her, covering the muzzle with his hand. "Ryua, she's a child," he states calmly.

Ryua looks up without an expression and puts her guns away. "I'm sorry, it was an instinctive reaction."

Oda moves his hand and flicks his wrist, "I know. Control yourself next time, or I won't hesitate to break your toys," he mumbles, splattering any remaining blood from his palm away as he pours a potion over the bullet hole.