The rest of his team followed close behind Karl and the two Orcs that he had dragged with them, leaving the last three chasing them to catch up.
Inside, the area looked much like the underground dungeon that Karl had seen in the mountains near the frost giant border. It was full of ruined black towers and strange fungi the size of trees, but there were no signs of Dark Elves, and instead some sort of shadow slime monsters had taken over.
To Karl’s senses, they appeared to be at high Ascended and low Commander, similar to the dungeon in the Golden Dragon Nation, but this one required ten people to enter.
As the Orcs considered their options, Karl took out the device and activated it, hopefully stabilizing the dungeon so that whoever showed up next would see it as a done deal. The device vanished as it was activated, so he could only hope that it worked properly, but that was not his responsibility.
He had done what he agreed, and activated the device in the proper location.
With his entire team inside the anomaly with the Orcs, there might be questions about what had happened to stabilize the dungeon. But that was a minor inconvenience, and the Chieftain already thought that it was a sign from the Gods, and not mortal tampering.
“Do you know these creatures?” The defeated suitor asked, looking to Karl for answers.
“No, but I know a few things about them. They’re stronger than you are, some of them by quite a bit. They are also going to be aggressive, but won’t be likely to swarm us unless we get too close to them.
They will stay near their spots unless we antagonize them, other than the roaming patrols.
Other than that, I know nothing about their skills, so be sure to remember how they fight so that you can tell the Chieftain. If he has to hear it from me, he will have your hide for a trophy.”
The Orcs laughed as they realized that Karl was exactly right. The boss would not be happy if the human was the one with answers for him.
“Alright, we should find out what they can do. What sort of fighters are your people?” The Orcish woman who had just beaten her potential suitor asked.
Her voice was smooth, and her tone more eloquent than expected, closer to what Karl had heard from the older Orcs, and far from the tone and language she had used during the challenge.
It seemed that she had been hiding her intelligence from her dimwitted friends, perhaps to avoid being called the Orcish equivalent of a nerd.
“We can call some Golems, and we’ve got a mage and a berserker in addition to the clerics.
Don’t worry, if you get injured, we will heal you. This place is meant for ten people to work together, not for two groups of five to fight with each other and the mobs.” Karl explained.
“Thank you. That will make our lives much easier. We have shamans with the clan, so we will treat your mage like that, fighting from the back.
The Werebear looks like she can fight, so she can come up front with us. What sort of fighter are you?” She asked.
“I’m somewhere between a mage and a warrior. But I usually rely on my beast friends to help out. They’re pretty tough. But we can do without them today, and let them rest.”
At least they could rest until the group ran into trouble, anyhow. It would be less difficult for the Orcs’ pride to accept.
The woman nodded and motioned for her comrades to join her as she advanced on the first group of the shadow slime monsters.
Ophelia joined them, as she was the only Commander Rank fighter on the front lines, and sending Karl against Ascended Slimes was just rude.
Even sending Cara or one of the other beasts would obliterate the threats in a matter of seconds. But for the rest of the group, it was a good fight.
Thor extended [Eternal Lightning] over everyone, startling the Orcs. But they were happy to get defensive magic on their side for an unknown fight, and they happily charged into battle.
The fact that they managed to do it without a war cry seemed like it required great effort for them, but they didn’t want to make so much noise that they would pull everything to them at the very start.
The slimes turned to engage the Orcs as they approached, and their bodies shifted shape.
They were using their innate ability to mimic what was sent at them, taking on the appearance of both the Orcish team and Ophelia in her Werebear form. It was quite the spectacle, and Karl was glad that they hadn’t sent any of the spell casters closer to the group.
There were only five slimes, and Karl assumed that they shouldn’t take too long for the melee attackers with Ophelia’s help, but the Orcs that had been chosen seemed to be having a particularly tough time doing any damage.
“Dana, mind helping them out?” Karl asked.
Everyone needed the experience, especially the young Orcs, but when Dana started to attack, it became clear that the issue was the opponents, not the attackers.
Her spells weren’t doing much damage at all, only leaving small damaged craters, and the slimes were fighting on, undeterred.
Curious, Karl hit one with a [Rend], and cut off an arm, but the creature kept fighting as black ooze poured from the wound like blood.
It wasn’t regenerating, and it fought like it was dying of slime loss. That was a good start, but the amount of damage that it took from attacks was ridiculously low.
Not like him or Cara, who ignored a base amount, but as if they were three times as durable as they should be, at the same power level.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have found the perfect training ground for Orcs. They’re not too powerful, but they can really take a beating. Do you want me to start going all out, or should I hold back and let you fight?” Karl asked.
“Let us fight. The wimps need the help.” The Orcish woman laughed.
“Alright. We weren’t in a hurry anyhow.”
It was easier not to argue with the Orcs on that one, even if it was going to start getting dark soon.
The rest of the Orcs chuckled, and Dana moved forward so that she could attack more effectively, while Karl threw attacks at the slimes that might have gotten around the Orcs defences and put them in a bad position.
That way, Lotus and Tessa could mostly relax, though Tessa had cast a weapon blessing on everyone to increase their damage.
By the time that the first group fell, they were beginning to all work well together in a group, and Karl was ready to start joining them in the fight. While he wasn’t in a particular hurry, they didn’t want to be here all night, and these slimes could take a beating, even if they didn’t do much to [Eternal Lightning].
With that in mind, Karl led the way to the second group and began the attack as soon as the slimes started to change.
They took on the appearances of the attackers, but they didn’t take on the skills. At least not as far as Karl could tell.
At the very least, they didn’t take on the ones he got from his beasts, or he would have made the second encounter a very dangerous one for everyone involved.
The second group did have a mage of sorts, though.
It was a blue slime monster, and it cast water bolts at them that had Hawk nearly in a frenzy, wanting to come out and punish the creature for existing.
[Relax, we will let you all out to fight the bosses if the Orcs aren’t doing a good job.] Karl consoled him.
[Like that will happen. Once you and the Dana Mage start going all out, the boss won’t stand a chance.]
Karl smiled inwardly at the petulant bird. Hawk wasn’t wrong, though. If he really went all out against a target two full Ranks below himself, even the boss monsters would only last a few seconds.
As fun as it might be to get loot, the Orcs were here for a different reason.
