Dawn approached.

The sun emerged from the eastern horizon while a party of eight came out from Hollowrift mountain.

The veterans were at the forefront while the amateurs and the newbies lingered at the back. The eyes of Ruford and Simon were red, still tired from the four short hours of sleep. They yawned and stretched nonstop. They glanced back at the newbies, expecting to witness worse from them. But what they witnessed left them surprised and worse.

Both of the newbies were seating on the yaks as steady as mountains, just like the veterans ahead of them.

Did sleeping cuddling together gave a better, deeper and more satisfying sleep?

A few minutes into the journey, the snowfall intensified. The already low temperature dropped even lower. But the journey continued.

They needed to finish the mission before afternoon and head back to Hollowrift. Else, they needed to stay out in the wilderness at night. And here in Ariel Mountains, it was akin to suicide.

The journey continued. The more the distance between them and Edenshield increased, the more dangerous the path became. The snow became thicker, the trees became denser, the wind raged faster while the snowfall became heavier. Even though no beasts assaulted them, dozens of eyes were fixed on them. An eerie pressure squeezed the formation; everyone inched closer to each other.

Soon, the party reached its destination. The snowfall slowed down. But nothing could be seen beyond a range of five meters, nothing but pure whiteness. But despite the poor visibility, everyone was sure of one thing- there was a huge mountain ahead.

The leader strolled forward and took out a thick map from his backpack. His eyes teetered between the map and the mountain ahead. Confirming this was it, he put the map back in its place.

He began to circle around the mountain. Everyone followed. After trotting three hundred meters or so, an opening came into view. It was a dark cave. It was big enough for all of them to stroll in easily.

“Dismount.” The leader declared and jumped off the beast. His feet dug into the ground to the knees.

The other seven got off from their mounts as well.

“Surprised?” Ruford asked, turning back to the duo. “Grizzled Yaks are great beasts to have in the snow. But outside, they are nothing but baits for the beast.”

“Shut up.” Simon punched his shoulder. “They scored perfect in the written test while we barely passed. You think they don’t know of the smell Yaks emit outside snow?”

“Tsk.”

The duo dragged themselves into the cave. Adrian and Irene followed.

The cave was dark. Light barely came from in from the entrance. The torches carried by the leader and the two archers dimly illuminated the room.

All of them were in a narrow corridor of sorts. There was only a path forward, with no hints of end in sight.

“Don’t underestimate this cave.” The leader said. His words echoed back. “The tunnels are not limited to just one mountain. It’s just that there is only one known entrance. Thirty years passed since it’s discovery, and we have yet to explore it all. Stick close to me, lest you want to get lost, or worse- get into a death zone.”

“Death zone?” Ruford gulped.

Bron, the brown haired caster, removed his head covering. “The most dangerous designated zones in the Hirossian Catacombs. Nobody knows what’s in those zones- for a very valid reason. Nobody who ventured into those places survived.” He took in a deep breath. “Not even a calamity class.”

The two amateurs subconsciously took a step back. Their face grimaced. “Isn’t that… isn’t that…”

“Too exaggerated?” Bron chuckled. “The calamity class that died was from the High Table. And this is almost a public knowledge- known to members of all the major factions in the Empire.”

The two gasped. A member of the glorious High Table died in this place? They took another step back. And they came here, out of all places, to hunt?

“Relax.” Bron waved his hand with a smile. “There are only three death zones and seven red zones in the known parts of the catacombs. If you don’t venture into those, the rest are not that difficult for us.”

“We are going in.” The leader turned back. His eyes locked on Adrian and Irene. “Ready yourselves.” He began to walk ahead.

“Let’s see how you fare.” Ruford snorted and followed the four veterans as closely as possible.

Simon gave the duo an apologetic smile and rushed to join the five.

Adrian and Irene began to walk ahead as well. Unlike the cautious approach of everyone else, they were completely relaxed.

They seemed to go lower and lower every step they took. Undoubtedly, they were going underground. The magic torches fought against the darkness, but they were not exactly winning. Nobody could see an inch ahead of the ten meters mark- except Adrian and Irene of course.

Even without their magic senses, they could see what was fifty meters ahead. There was nothing but plain earth in sight. Their senses were peaked. Though their were dozens of beasts including a couple of high levels in their range, none of them were close enough to give them trouble.

The more they walked, the higher the temperature rose. According to the maps Adrian had witnessed, there should be a hot spring not far from there.

And in such a cold place, warm places like those were the only spots where cold blooded animals like the winter python could survive. But the place was at least five hundred meters from their current position.

“Where’s the closest death zone from here?” Ruford asked, his eyes darting everywhere.

“Relax.” Bron laughed. “It’s past our destination. But there’s a red zone relatively close by. But don’t worry, we will not be taking any sort of risk.”

Adrian’s eyes twitched. His lips slighted to a smirk. Two minutes later-

“Grrrrrr.” Growling noises echoed.

The leader us trapped the spear from his back.

“Get ready.”