There were a lot of things in Ren's mind as he watched the fiasco, but one saying stood out from the rest of them.
'One did not need to be afraid of a godlike opponent, but one should always be wary of pig-like teammates.'
And that saying was so accurate at their current predicament as he watched Silvia's group fight a single Lava Hound.
It felt like it was the first time the girls were working as a team, and Ren even lowered his expectation, but he was still left disappointed at what he saw.
Among the group, besides Robert, Jack, and Vida, who was standing at one side, enjoying the show, the only one who was useful was Pamela. She was the only one among the Golden Phoenix who was acting true to her class while taking into consideration of her positioning.
There were three White Mages in the group, not counting Vida, but only Pamela was healing Nikolai, and the rest were throwing whatever spells they had at the Lava Hound without regard to their position.
Most didn't land. Wasting their MP, but the ladies didn't mind as long as they could get the Lava Hound.
Meanwhile, Ruru stayed at the back, curled into a ball.
Ren knew that they were new to this, and they had to start from somewhere, but this was a mess.
If this kept up, the group would OT (Off Tank) the aggro from Nikolai, and the next target would surely be Lucia since she was casting water spells like a mad woman.
Even Silvia forgot her cool and joined in the fray though her attacks were only doing so much against the Lava Hound's tough rocky hide.
While on the side, Robert and his friends were laughing at Silvia and the others. He didn't even bother to point out their mistakes since he was a veteran and all. He was just casually chatting with Jack and Vida, even making a bet on who would kill the Lava Hound first.
"Ha! I got you!" Lucia grinned, pink hair swaying as she shot another water spell, and it landed directly against the Lava Hound
The Lava Hound released a loud roar before the magma glowed on its rocky hide while its bulging stomach was pounding against its skin like it would explode.
BoOmM!
Lucia was grinning from ear to ear at her success. But her smile soon faded when the Lava Hound popped, and in its place were little hounds the size of an average dog that breathes fire. There were around six of them, and all went after Lucia.
"Agh!" Lucia screamed and ran away from the incoming spits of fire.
However, these little Lava Hounds were light on their feet though their defense was weak compared to their giant form.
In a matter of seconds, they caught Lucia, and dribbles of fire rained upon the latter.
"Aw! Hot!" Lucia stopped screaming when she realized that it wasn't that hot. It was just warm to the touch, like the bath she used in the cold early morning. But her HP was flashing red before her eyes.
[ You have suffered from BURN
–5% HP every minute ]
–20 (BURN)
"That fuck ya' all been standing there?! Heal me! Quick!"
"On it!" Rafaela and Rosie said simultaneously, and both cast [Cure] and [Heal] at Lucia, wasting another chunk of their MP.
"Oh, sorry, I thought she was referring to me," Rosie giggled.
"She was obviously referring to me. I'm the best healer here," Rafaela said, and the two girls argued.
"Never mind that, you guys, the monsters are still alive!" shouted Pamela though her shouting voice was still soft, drowning still from all the commotion.
Lucia was still running for her life and the little Lava Hounds were still chasing after her.
It was a complete mess!
"Mister, I think we're doing good." Nikolai was beside Ren and gave a thumbs up with a toothy grin on his face.
Ren sighed and massaged his temple. What part of this was good?
Eventually, the Little Hounds were defeated with another round of casting spells here and there. And by the time everything was settled, only Pamela and Ruru had enough MP in Silvia's group to go into the dungeons further. The rest simply exhausted their MP to half from just a single enemy.
"At least we got the chest." Lucia flipped her hair, unbothered. She then zoomed at Ren, and the latter took a step back when Lucia's red eyes sparkled like rubies. "Just how much is your INT to land that kind of hit?"
Ren ignored her and addressed Silvia. "I think we have to regroup. Half of our members MP are already gone. It's best to recover some MP in the village before proceeding onwards."
It was not too late to go back and retry again. However, they couldn't use that strategy forever since reaching the Boss's room would take double or even triple than the expected time of accomplishment.
And he was afraid the others would claim firstblood if they continued to re-enter the dungeon.
Firstblood was good, and all since your name and group were permanently plastered on the stone of fame and leaderboards. However, the slot after that was equally important too.
After the different modes were unlocked, like Hard, Nightmare, and Sadistic, it was all about time. A race with other guilds on who could best the dungeon in the hardest difficulty within the shortest time possible.
However, it didn't apply to their current predicament. They have to go back and replenish their MP. It's just the beginning of the dungeon anyway.
"Forfeiting this dungeon is not an option," Robert said as he walked towards the others.
"I think we should." Silvia faced Robert. She was annoyed, and it showed on her tone. "Thanks to you not helping us, we have exhausted too much of our MP."
Robert merrily smiled. "My job is just to be the MT, and as I said, this isn't the Boss's room, so there is no need for me to go in there just to defeat a single enemy. If your group knew how to attack, then you might have conserve a lot of MP. Don't lay the fault of your inexperience on me. It's not my job to educate you."
Silvia was speechless, while the others were livid.
Robert was supposed to be a veteran. And he even claimed the Leader's position. Wouldn't it hurt him to teach them some strategy of attack since they were entirely clueless in coordination and positioning?
"Anyway, going back to the village and taking a rest there would take half a day. Are you sure you want to risk getting firstblood with that? You do know that Scar's group is just behind us, right?
"Another thing, forfeiting now would damage your reputation," Robert continued, "Think about it. It's not even thirty minutes, and we are all forced out from the cave before that huge crowd."
". . ." Silvia's face went red while the others looked amongst themselves.
Humiliation.
That was the only word for it, and their guild would be the talk in the forums as the very first guild who couldn't last even thirty minutes in Vulcan's Cave.
Humiliation!
Something that neither of them wanted.
Robert was right. Golden Phoenix would be the laughing stock of everyone before their guild could even be established. Who would join them afterward?
They couldn't afford that kind of setback this early part of the game. They couldn't be known as a group who couldn't last thirty minutes in a newbie dungeon. The first impression was always important. It was the only thing people would remember for a long time.
Silvia looked over at Ren, and something in her eyes didn't sit well with him.
Ren looked away. "Do as you want."
Silvia expected Ren to be cold, but she was still stunned at the indifference in his voice.
Now she was torn. She didn't want to pick Robert's side and made Ren feel that his opinion didn't matter. But she had no choice. For her guild, she had to do what she thought was right.
When Silvia couldn't find her words, Pamela rescued her. "How about we pressed forward and let things progress as far as we can before we decide to forfeit?"
"Yeah, that's right." Alicia clapped her hands together. "It's a bummer if we leave now. We can still press on even with half of our MP."
Rosie nodded her head. "And besides, there are no monsters in the main path because of their slow respawn time, right? I think we can last for another hour or so before all our MP went out."
"We might even reach the Boss's room," seconded Rafaela.
"That's the spirit," Robert encouraged, but none of the girls paid any attention to him.
They were still salty that Robert and the others just stood on the side while they looked like a fool out there trying to kill just a single dog.
Robert's eyelid twitched when all the girl's attention was on Ren.
When did he steal the spot light? Just because his magical damage output was high? Robert sneered in his mind.
Ren was aware that all eyes were on him. He sighed and waved his hand, back facing the others. "Do as you want."
The women looked at each other and giggled.
Ren was cold, but at least he looked out for them. Evident by how he suggested going back to town for their sake.
A cold man with a warm heart was truly the best! The girls thought.
