Chapter 15: Betting On The Future

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"*How did it come to this?*"

The trio was at the hall after a false information from Bacchus, with Helen ending up playing chess with Coco of all people, much to Dean's and Serena's surprise as they never thought that Coco would be capable of playing such game, let alone being patient enough to do so "she sure is full of surprises" whispered Serena to a nodding Dean and as they were playing, Helen then smiled as she moved her queen and ended up taking many of Coco's pawns, with her tearing up and seeming ready to smash the table much to everyone's horror but she could do it.

Sitting on the couch, away from everyone else, was Ravel trying to avoid the trash that littered the room while trying to read a book.

Everyone else was scattered throughout the room, off doing their own activities until Korag came walking down the hall and entered the room with a bottle of booze in his hand. "Alright, everyone looking alive. I've a got an announcement to make." He said the moment he walked in, causing everyone in the room to gather around. "So, I got a mission for you guys, but this time's different. This isn't some ordinary mission given by HQ or allies of the squad. This mission was given to us by the Wizard King himself. Apparently, a new dungeon has appeared and he wants us to investigate it,except this one's in dicey location. Popped up right near the boarder of our enemy nation, the Diamond Kingdom. The Wizard King wants this done quick before those shiny heads get any of the good stuff." He said before taking a chug from his bottle and the trio gulped from the pressure.

"A dungeon? Ruins filled with treasures, ancient objects and magic? T-That's exciting!" said Dean that had excitement and even greater anxiety due to the magnitude and importance of the mission "To be honest, I believe it's not something we could do alone." he said, with Helen and Serena nodding in agreement while concerned.

"That's why you're not going alone." Korag stated. "I've decided to put all you newbies to the test. All five of you are going." He said looking at the trio, Ale and Ravel, with the latter having a shocked and disgusted face upon hearing it.

Dean then got excited upon hearing Korag's words "Amission with Alessandro? Hell yeah!" he shouted excited and then stopped realized "Oh right, will we have a supervisor again?" he asked curious, hoping to have Juno this time.

Ale was tying his regular Katana to his side while deep in thought "*Big bro said he was leaving to do some training, but this dungeon would've been perfect for that.*" he complained to himself before looking at the rest. "I'm sure this dungeon run will be interesting. I hear people find plenty of unique things on them such as rare treasure or even grow their magic power and potential! So, count me in!" He exclaimed excitedly!

"Growing one's magic? Incredible" said Serena excited.

"Ugh, do I really have to go on a mission with commoners?" Ravel wondered with a disgusted look "Obviously, whatever is inside that dungeon is befitting of a princess such as myself." she tossed her hair our, flaunting herself. "So, I think I should get everything of value that's found there." she placed her hands on her hips, continuing to flaunt herself.

"This will test your team work in a real life or death mission. Sure, the flower picking had some interruptions, but that was unaccounted. In this one, you're fully aware of the consequences you're going into. Also, it will give you five a chance to get along. Now, of course, I'm not going to send you into battle with an enemy nation by yourselves." He spun his bottle for drinking it. "Gahhh" he put it back and looked at it "You'll all be killed on the spot if you did." He mumbled quietly to himself. "So, like that last time, another senior member will be tagging along with you. Now, lets see." He scanned the room to see who would go.

"Ooo, ooo, pick me daddy! I'll go! It'll be my first mission with my new friends. Also, I'd love to beat those diamond heads to a bloody pulp." said Coco in excitement and cheers, jumping up and down to get her father's attention.

"Hmm, alright then. I'm counting on you to keep out for them." he said to her.

"Yippy!" She jumped up and landed behind Helen and Serena, wrapping her arms around them and pulling them in tightly. "We're gonna have so much fun!" She shouted excitedly.

"*Kill us.*" where the thoughts of the terrified girls while the boys froze upon hearing that Coco would be their supervisor "U-Um, Captain? My foot suddenly doesn't seem well." said Dean while smiling nervously, with him trying to leave from the room in vain as Serena was pulling him.

"Miss Coco, huh? Awesome!" Ale said out loud as he obviously didn't share the feelings of unease that the other three were feeling. He then slammed his fist into his open palm and smiled "Let's make sure to kick some Diamond Kingdom behind! I call dibs if we find any swords!!!" he claimed excited.

The trio looked at him in pity due to him being unaware of the danger according to them, but they then took a deep breath "Well, we have to focus on the mission, don't we?" said Helen "For the record, any non-sword weapon and equipment there, magical or not, is mine!" she exclaimed passionately as she put her hands on her sides in pride.

"The same goes for me about books, scrolls and the like!" claimed a fired up Serena while Dean also got fired up.

"I think a gauntlet or something would be good" he said, with Ravel looking at all of them with disgust and contempt as they did their claims.

Coco grabbed Dean's collar shirt while he tried to scurry away and wrapped her free arm around Serena and Helen's neck, tugging them in tight "Alright, troopers, follow your private to the exit, grab your brooms and lets' march to the dungeon post haste!" She shouted excitedly, trying to sound like a military leader.

"Umm,Miss Coco." Alana interrupted, catching her attention. "If you're trying to talk like a military, then I believe the word to call yourself is general, not private." she corrected, much to Coco's embarrassment. "Also, I'll be more then happy to get you closer with my magic." she offered while holding up her grimoire.

"Nooooooo!" She shouted holding her arms in an X gesture. "Im leading this mission and i want to do this without any help from any of you. That includes getting there and back." She demanded.

"If you insist." Alana said putting her grimoire back down.

"Now onward troops! TO THE DUNGEON!" She shouted marching towards the exit with Dean being dragged by the collar and the girls strangled by her other arm with the other two walking behind her.

twenty minutes passed

The six of them were flying with their brooms at full speed "Can't wait to see what a dungeon is like!" said Dean who was excited along with Serena and Helen.

"So, Commander Coco, how long do we have until we reach the dungeon?" asked Serena curious "Shouldn't we have taken Miss Alana's portal transportation to preserve mana and stamina?" she asked again in a little bit of a complaining tone.

Coco, who was standing on her broom as if it was a skateboard, looked back and crossed both her arms in an X gesture. "Nooooo!" she whined "It's no fun if we get someone's help. It's way more fun to do the whole adventure at its fullest!" she complained frantically, waving her arms around.

Ale was seen laying on his back while riding his broomstick, looking at the passing clouds as the team continued onward. "*I wonder what we'll find there. I hope something cool, so I can talk to big bro about it!*" He thought to himself with a gleeful smile on his face.

A lot of time passed, with the time being now noon and as they were flying, they reached a mountain area and then "hey, could it be?" wondered Serena as she saw a big rocky entrance on the mountain's base that was emitting faint mana, with Dean smiling in anticipation.

Coco took a stance onto her broom and emitted more power into it, causing her to fly fast through the air, leaving them behind. "Weeeeeeee!" She cheered in enjoyment as she zoomed through the air. "Try to keep up noobs." She cried out to them, her voice almost an echo to them by now. She performed spinning tricks and stunts on her broom as she was flying to show off her enjoyment.

Ale gently tapped on his broomstick with the bottom of his heel causing it to suddenly pick up speed! Despite him looking as though he wasn't paying attention, he heard Coco's challenge.

"If that's how you want it people, let's go!" shouted Dean who couldn't take it anymore and rushed while descending, much to the concern of the girls. "W-Wait Dean!" shouted Serena concerned as she quickly followed him along with Helen.

After a while

Everyone was now outside the dungeon, with the rocky entrance being much bigger than they anticipated and Dean and the girls especially, were amazed "So, this is a dungeon. From outside, it doesn't look much, but I feel the current of mana coming from it and inside must be tremendous."  commented Dean who now became fired up "So, Commander, shall we go?" he asked Coco eager.

Ale landed down and looked at the entrance in front of them and casually smiled, hiding how truly excited his body was. He could feel the hairs on his arm standing on end "Looks like we're finally here."

Ravel landed down as well and looked at the entrance with widened eyes "Amazing, you can feel the mana slipping through the rubble. If that's how much is coming through, I can't image how it will be inside." she said out loud.

Coco stood standing in front of the group staring at the entrance with a confident grin. "Hmm." She took a minute thinking with her hands on her hips. She then raised her foot and slammed it onto the rubble blocking the entrance, causing the rubble to tremble until they burst apart in separate directions, creating an opening for them. "Ok noobs! Let's move out!" she said raising her arm up.

"Please, be careful next time Commander." said Serena smiling while sweat dropping "You might destroy something for no reason." she mumbled with a little anxiety due to Coco's knack for destroying things.

They all went inside, with the path inside leading downwards, with Dean struggling to look around due to the bare amount of light "Um, Ravel, wouldn't it be better if you generated some light? At this rate, we might activate a trap if we don't watch where we are standi-" he tried to ask, only for Helen to touch his left shoulder.

"Excellent idea, Dean, so, Bright Sword!" said Helen as she brought out her gold broadsword which was shining, filling the path with light, with him smiling while Serena then grabbed his attention by touching his right shoulder while smiling. The light revealed walls filled with wall paintings that were either faded or destroyed by the cracks filling many parts of the walls along with greatly expanded moss.

"Fufufu, don't worry about traps Dean. Me and my drones will check if there is something hidden." she reassured him while she created two drones that flew in the distance and her eyes began glowing, with her smiling "No hidden traps for the time being, how curious." she commented while being surprised a little bit as she expected one or two traps ahead.

Ale looked forward and placed his hand on his non-magical katana. "*Nothing immediate, this is odd. It could be we're not the first ones to arrive, if someone else did, they could've set off any traps. Would make sense.*" Ale thought to himself. "Hm, I wonder what's inside! I bet we'll find something awesome!"

"Yeah, I totally agree, Ale, it will totally be ex-" said Dean who was in front of him and turned his head to look at him, with him smiling at the also excited Alessandro and then he became alerted with widened eyes as he sensed something and run to the front, with him stopping and beginning to smell the air while surrounded by a magic aura.

"Um, Dean?" asked Helen who couldn't believe what he was doing, with Dean then undoing his aura.

"Weird. It's faint, but I *definitely* sensed something and now, I got a mix of different smells." he said troubled while having his hand on his chin "Tt could be either creatures that made this dungeon their home" he said while thinking troubled "or...".

"Right, as a if a vermin as disgusting as you can have keen senses as good as that." Ravel said, tossing her hair back.

"Oh, there's someone here. I can sense it." Coco said with a confident grin, staring straight ahead unflinching. "I know exactly where they are. Let's go greet them, shall we?" she said excitedly.

"See, Ravel? I indeed got the smell of people thanks to my magic." said Dean while smiling cockily at her and then turned his attention at Coco "Wait, Commander, does that mean there are enemies here?" he ended up asking serious.

"Let's go find out!" she shouted before sprinting ahead of the group into the darkness. As she ran, her foots steps could be heard clearly in the distance until it suddenly went quiet a lot sooner before her footsteps could fade out of their line of hearing.

"Commander Coco?" shouted Dean without getting any reply "Sorry guys, I will go bring her back." he said while heading towards the darkness.

"No Dean, come back!" pleaded Serena while extending her hand to him after getting lost in the darkness, with her then feeling a sudden bump.

Her hand bumped into Ravel's back who went running after Dean. "Wait commoner! I refuse to let you get closer to the treasure that rightfully belongs to me. As your princess I order to you cease and let me p..." She cried out to him running after him until her voice and footsteps was cut out the same way as Coco.

"Her too?" wondered Serena who couldn't believe that Ravel herself would go after Dean and then turned her head back to Helen who then sighed.

"Sigh, they sure are a handful, aren't they?" she wondered giving up, with Serena chuckling at that remark.

"Huh? Where am I?"

Dean ended up in another location after a couple of minutes running in the darkness, with him now being in an open space that had huge wall paintings covered in moss and small waterfalls flowing down or upwards and then, he turned his head back "that voice is R-!" he tried to say.

"How dare you turn your back on me while I'm speaking to you, filthy commoner?" Ravel asked in a commanding tone walking up from behind him. Her foot was then caught in a stone tile sticking out of the floor and tripped over, falling onto Dean.

"Agh, sigh, can't you watch where you step?" asked Dean complaining and then sighed displeased while having Ravel on top of his stomach.

Ravel then noticed what happened with widened eyes "UGHAA!" she cried and slapped him in the face. She then crawled back and covered her chest with her arms with a blushing face "How dare you, putting your hands on me, trying to sed..." her face grew even more red just thinking about what she was going to say. "How dare you try to make them moves on me? I am your princess, and you are a filthy commoner."

Dean had a vein popping up while holding his right cheek "Huh? *S-Seduce* you? I was simply walking and then you fell on me! If anyone is trying to seduce someone here, then it's *you* , and now you slap me to fake innocence!" shouted an angry and perplexed Dean while pointing at her.

"A princess such as me would never engage in such vulgar actions with the likes of you." she said angrily.

"As if I would want to do anything wild with you!" he claimed and then took a breath "As for what you said before, I simply didn't hear you, Ravel, so drop it." he explained and then looked around to see where they are "so, what happened? How'd we get separated from the others?" He asked curiously.

Ravel calmed down and looked around her "Oh, I didnt even notice." She said in awe "Looks like we've fallen for a trap. That darkness must have been a spatial magic that transports those who walk into it into another part of the dungeon. That girl's light sword was keeping it from affecting us until we stumbled out of her field of light. I thought that scan magic user was going to detect the traps, yet she missed this one? This is why we royals don't put our faith in you commoners."

"Helen's sword was protecting us,huh?" wondered Dean "Also, if Serena of all people missed this one, then it must have been a trap made to specifically *avoid* any form of detection." he deduced while in thought and then looked at her "As for what you said, I believe you are indeed unable to believe in everyone." he said serious and annoyed, with him now walking "Let's look around, shall we?" he suggested coldly.

"Hpmh" Ravel turned her head and crossed her arms in frustration as she followed him from behind. She then looked over to him and lowered her arms down onto her hips "Just so you know, the trap may still be activated, so if you get too far ahead of me, we'll be split up even further." She informed coldly.

Helen was now alone with Ale and Serena, wondering what to do "They still didn't come back." said Helen worried and looked at the others "I suggest me and Alessandro go check for a while and you stay here, in case anyone returns." she suggested and Serena nodded, with Helen looking at Ale "Do you agree?" she asked him.

"*Weird...their magic power...*" Ale thought to himself as he couldn't shake off the feeling in the back of his mind "Sounds good!" Ale exclaimed happily as he walked forward. "*I could be wrong, so checking won't be too bad.*"

The two of them went on ahead, leaving Serena, with the only source coming from Helen's sword, darkness returned as they headed further and further away. Serena ended up alone, with boredom slowly getting into her as now ten minutes passed and she was still alone "grr, that does it!" she said to herself in anger and then headed towards the darkness.

Meanwhile, in another part of the dungeon, an explosion occurred followed by immediate darkness once it subsided, annihilating several traps that were activated simultaneously. "Is this seriously the best traps this dungeon has at preventing outsiders? Heh, you'd have be pathetic enough to fall for ridiculous traps like that." A voice spoke in the darkness.

"It doesn't matter how weak these traps were, we wouldn't have to waste time dealing with them if you didnt set them off." Another voice spoke.

"Enough, you two, stay focused." another voice commanded. "Now, let the operation begin. Split up, find the treasure room, kill any Clover soldiers you find" The voice said.

"Yes madam." they both said with all three silhouettes looking towards the open path, shrouded by the darkness with glowing red eyes.