The Acknowledgment - Volume One

Smooth So Far

                Winter arrived early to the raiding camp the next day and found Richard, an athletic young man with spiky black hair and a friendly face. A suit of gray armor with brass highlights, a blue midsection, and a long purple cape with white designs. Richard's squad was around camp, waiting and waking up from a night of rest, prepared. "Excuse me, are you the MDA agent from yesterday?" He asks and walks up to Winter, "I am," he replies. "Good! Other than our porter, everyone is accounted for!" Richard explained, "What happened to him?" Winter asked, "They just didn't know. One of our own could carry the baggage. We don't want to endanger one of the hauling team members nor the mining team members," he explained, "No sweat, I'll carry it-" Winter grabbed it- "Are you sure? We don't want to burden you with extra weight!" Richard asked Winter, and he nodded, "Really, I'll be just fine," Winter responded, "If you think so," Richard bowed his head and smirked.

                "I look forward to working with you. I'm Richard, and I'm going to be leading today's strike squad," he reached out to shake Winter's hand, "Mr. Greats," he replied, shaking his hand. As they were preparing in front of the entrance of the dungeon, just about to enter the dungeon, Winter lifted the backpack, "I could even fight with this on, although it does get in the way sometimes-" he thought, slipping the backpack on- "I hope the bags aren't too heavy!" Richard commented, "Not at all," Winter responded, "Woah, it's weightless for him!" He thought, standing beside Winter.

~>System<{" The [Player] Has Entered a [Dungeon]!"}>It rang just as he stepped foot inside<~

                His head turned to see the other squad members walk through, "They're not that different from yesterday's strike squad. The only difference is there aren't any S-ranks other than myself," Winter thought before looking to the dungeon. "Strange, it feels weaker than yesterday's," he mumbled, "We double-checked what rank it was, and it was lower than yesterday's. If it were any higher than this, the main strike squad would be here instead," Richard explained, starting to walk in. Winter followed him, "I can tell quite easily that they consist of eleven A-ranks and six B-ranks. If they're in any other guild, they wouldn't be in second place-" Winter thought, watching everyone step into the dungeon- "I guess they're right. It is weaker than yesterday's, but why do I feel like I did before that Collapsing Dungeon?" He looked into the dungeon, taking a deep breath in, "I'm probably just imagining things, right?" Winter asked himself, "Don't discount your instincts when they've been proven to be right," Ultima explained.

                The strike squad entered the dungeon, finding massive pillars with small clusters of mana crystals at their base. Rising to the cave ceiling, they gradually curved into the peak of the cavern. "Alright! Let's get started!" Richard turned his head back to the rest of the group. "I guess the Hunters guild has two or more strike squads like this one," Winter thought, watching the cavern enclosed around them as they entered an enclosed space. Richard inhaled and exhaled, calming his nerves. "This is my first time leading a strike squad after joining the Hunter's Guild-" He thought, sweat running down his face- "If I can complete this raid, I'll be the official leader of this strike squad!" He looked towards where his vision ended and where the darkness met the cave, where he heard a soft russell of fur. "I can do this! I'm still an incredibly strong A-rank!" Each of the members prepared for an attack, standing in rank. Without a word, they were ready for anything hiding in the darkness. "Immediately? That's quick for a team without hearing any orders," Winter thought, staring at the others.

                The sound of running came from the deepest part of the darkness, "There's more than two!" Winter watched as several glowing red eyes through the darkness, "What are those things?" Richard yelled his shield up in a guard stance. Several wolf-like monsters broke free from the barrier of darkness, approaching the strike squad quickly. "Dungeon jackals?" Another member asked loudly, the tank was the first to be targeted. Two leaped at them, the first striking his shield, and he slapped it away. He stabbed the second with his spear. Richard cut through a third that tried to attack him, and Winter cut the jackal that the tank sent flying. Richard looked up, watching five more jackals rushing toward them. Another swordsman leaped over the tank, landing on his feet to cut through two with immense speed. "Get down!" Gina yelled, gathering several large rocks as spheres of magical power in each of her hands. A curvaceous young woman with red eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and wears a black corset with a miniskirt, thigh-high boots, a red hooded cloak with white fur trims, and long white leather gloves. The swordsman ducked down, just in time for all of these stones to be launched at high speeds at the jackals. Each of the stones landed their mark and tore through the remaining jackals.