Lys pushed open the heavy door to the guild hall, and the familiar creak of the hinges mixed with the low hum of voices could be heard from inside. Selene stayed close behind him, her steps even with Lys as she finally finished explaining how magic power and its hierarchy worked in this world.
The moment they stepped in, the shift in the place hit them.
This wasn't the usual relaxed guild office where adventurers traded stories over drinks or checked simple quest boards (Not that it ever was, LOL). Tables had been pushed together into one large surface covered with maps and notes. People moved with purpose, adventurers checking straps on armor, sharpening blades with quick, practiced strokes, staff members carrying stacks of papers and maps between desks. The air smelled of oiled leather, sweat, and the faint smoke from lanterns lit early against the coming evening.
Lys scanned the busy room and spotted Maya near the central table. She stood straight, no obvious limp left from the earlier fight. The cuts on her arms showed angry red lines under fresh bandages, but she looked solid on her feet.
When her eyes met his, she gave a small nod and stepped away from the group she was talking to for a moment.
"Sara resting?" Maya asked, voice low and straightforward, but carrying real care. The question wasn't just polite. After everything that had happened out on that road, the way they had fought side by side, covering each other when death felt seconds away, something real had formed between her and Sara. Not to mention, she was the first witness to how powerful Sara actually was.
"Yeah," Lys said simply. "Bertha's with her, so we thought we should let her rest alone for now. Plus, Selene checked on her again before we left. She should be okay with rest."
Maya nodded once, slowly. "Good. That's good." She didn't say more, but the small softening around her eyes told Lys enough. Maya definitely cared for Sara now.
Before Lys could add anything else, the others around the big table noticed them. Vessa looked up first, her sharp gaze landing on both of them. Rhuvia stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, while a handful of Fiora hunters, several veteran adventurers, and a couple of guild staff filled out the rest of the circle. Rhuvia didn't make it awkward. She simply tilted her head toward the open spots, pointing there for Lys to sit.
"Join in," Vessa said, voice carrying clearly over the room's noise. "You two need to hear all of this."
Lys and Selene moved into the group, fitting themselves into the circle around the map. The conversation picked back up without missing much. John and Vivian had handled the immediate practical side. They had pulled together food stores from the village reserves and what the new settlers brought, stretching it into basic meals for the next few days. Some empty houses and the old church building now served as temporary shelters. Vivian managed some cots and blankets, which were now being distributed.
The arrangements they managed to make with only some people's help weren't comfortable or perfect; families still squeezed into single rooms, but it kept people off the streets and under roofs for now.
Lys also heard that a few hunters from the Fiora tribe had already taken up guard shifts near the walls. This was the reason there were so few of them present in this room, as most of them were currently watching the tree line.
Lys listened to the updates, while nodding along, but he could still feel the heavier mood underneath the logistics. People spoke in short, clipped sentences. Trying not to waste words, as well as time.
Then Rhuvia leaned forward, palms flat on the edge of the table. The room quieted almost instantly. "And that covers the people for now. The real problem is still coming. This great dungeon break is already worse than a standard one. But that Quillbear horde in the first wave? That's a very bad sign; I hope we all agree on that. It was far more dangerous than we all expected."
Lys shifted his weight, frowning, not getting Rhuvia's point about how just having Quillbear as a first wave of monsters made the whole dungeon break situation worse than it already was. So, he asked the question, "And what kind of bad sign are we talking about exactly?"
Selene jumped in, knowing Lys knew less than most people present here. She tapped one finger on the rough sketch of Gaiya Forest drawn on the map and started explaining to Lys, "In a normal dungeon break, the first wave should be the easiest part. It is just pressure building from below, pushing out the weakest monsters from the upper floors. That's how it always goes, according to every record we have. The undead and hobgoblins you saw earlier were small groups, isolated incidents. Strange, yes, but nothing that is worth panicking over."
Vessa picks up from this point, interrupting Selene's explanation, "It is still bad; she is right, it is not worth panicking over. But a full horde of Quillbears showing up at this early stage is another story. It means the first floor itself is already destabilized. Stronger monsters are forcing their way up faster than they should. If the top floor is pushing out creatures like Quillbears, then we have to ask what the hell is happening on the lower floors. Records are clear on this; every known dungeon puts weaker creatures higher up and saves the real threats for deeper down."
"So if the first floor already has strong monsters running loose, the deeper levels must be completely backed up, full of more strong monsters. The pressure of monsters overflowing must be so high that they are being forced to come out at this early stage."
Just as Vessa finished, a heavy silence settled over the table. One of the adventurers muttered a curse under her breath. A Fiora hunter gripped her spear tighter, knuckles showing white.
Lys felt the words sink in, turning his earlier calm face into something colder. Selene's face also hardened beside him, her hands clenching at her sides.
She spoke up, voice sharp and direct, cutting through the quiet. "If you've already diagnosed the problem this precisely, then what's the actual plan? You wouldn't drag all of us here just to say the village is screwed, right?"
Rhuvia straightened up slowly. She met Selene's eyes straight on, with no hesitation. "Yes, there IS A Plan. A strike team goes into Gaiya Forest, locates the dungeon entrance directly, and forces it closed before the next overflow cycle hits the surface. We cut the problem off at the source instead of waiting for waves to keep crashing into us. Yes, I know this hasn't been done by anyone yet, proven only in theory, but I say this is the only way to save this village."
Selene stared at her. The disbelief showed plain across her face, no dramatic gasp, just raw, unfiltered shock. "But that's a death mission. Who in their right mind would actually volunteer for something like that? I sure as hell wouldn't go, and nor will I let Lys to go."
Vessa's mouth curved into a small, confident smile. Not cocky or loud. Just the quiet certainty of someone who had seen guilds pull off impossible things before. She spoke with a quiet confidence that was not on her face before, "Girl, Never underestimate a guild for finding volunteers."
The words barely left her mouth before movement rippled through the room. Three veteran adventurers stepped forward first, their gear already strapped tight, faces set in hard lines. Right after them, Maya moved without hesitation. She took one clear step into the open space beside the table, shoulders squared, eyes steady on the map like the decision had been locked in her mind long before this meeting even started.
No one had asked them. There were no big speeches or pressure. They simply stood there, ready, with the weight of what they were stepping into hanging thick in the air.
Lys just watched them all standing side by side, chests tight, with the guild hall's busy noise fading into the background as the mentality of these volunteers hit him with full force.
All of them had a face that said the decision was made. Now they were just waiting for the Guild Master's permission to go into the forest.