— Erik —
"Let's rest for a moment, then head down to the second floor."
At my words, my men let out a sigh of relief, finally able to rest.
After a couple of hours navigating the labyrinth, we had finally found the entrance to the second floor.
Luckily, after the incident with the mimic, we hadn't run into any other trouble, and our pace had remained steady — thanks, in part, to that guy's guidance.
I glanced at Adel, who was staring absentmindedly at the staircase leading us down.
Honestly, I still couldn't quite understand how he had survived here alone, but after watching him fight and move through the area, I was starting to get it.
The thing was, I couldn't shake this feeling of dissonance. I could accept his combat skills as a natural talent or even a blessing from the gods, but his behavior had a maturity that didn't match a boy his age.
Sure, sometimes he said silly or meaningless things, but that only made me more suspicious. It was as if he was trying to project an image that wasn't really him. But why?
Or maybe… maybe that was just how he was. I won't lie, understanding Adel was seriously complicated.
"How are you feeling?"
Alfred walked up to me while I was lost in thought.
"I'd say good. It's been a while since I fought with my life on the line. I already feel a little stronger."
"I feel the same."
Because of the ban on Grade 2s entering the Explorer-controlled dungeon, both my and Alfred's growth had stalled, but now, we could finally get stronger again.
"I saw you talking to Adel earlier," I whispered, making sure he didn't hear.
Alfred let out a long sigh.
"I asked him why he helped improve your reputation before."
That was something I had wondered too. I had a few ideas, but given Adel's personality so far, none of them seemed to fit.
"What did he say?"
"He said that since he's with us now, the stronger we get, the better it is for him."
Hearing that, I couldn't help but think it was complete nonsense, but…
"Do you believe him?"
Alfred looked thoughtful.
"At first, I thought someone was backing him, but the more time passes, the harder that is to believe. Even this dungeon… At first, I thought they had found it themselves, but if that were true, why wouldn't they claim the dungeon's core?"
"Maybe they're not strong enough," I said, though even I didn't sound convinced.
It felt like a stretch.
"You really think someone capable of growing a monster like that wouldn't have the resources for a yellow-tier dungeon?"
I had no real way to argue with that.
"Also, if there were another faction involved, we should've found some trace: money, people, anything, but none of our scouts found anything strange."
I scratched my head, irritated.
"What an annoying feeling. He knows pretty much everything about us, but we know nothing about him… except what he doesn't bother hiding."
"Think of it as a lesson. In the future, you'll find yourself in situations like this often. In those moments, you'll have to rely on your instincts and experience."
Instinct, huh…
Strangely, my instinct was telling me not to mess with him.
"Wow, calm down. If you keep scratching your head like that, you'll scrape off what little brain you've got left."
Hearing that annoying voice, I turned, irritated — and there he was, the source of my stress, wearing that smile that made you want to punch him in the face.
I just didn't let it show.
I'd realized the bastard had a bad habit of provoking me just to see my reaction, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
"We were discussing how to proceed."
"Huh…"
Just as I thought, he didn't seem to buy it at all.
"What else can you tell us about the second floor?" Alfred asked, stepping in.
"As I said before, since I was being chased by the boss, I couldn't see much. But expect a lot of traps and more Grade 2 monsters."
Not much, but better than nothing.
"And today, how far do you plan to explore?"
At his question, I looked at Alfred, who seemed to be thinking the same thing I was.
"We just want to get a feel for the second floor. Then it's better to head back. We've seen the potential this dungeon has for our faction. Now we just need to find a way to get through without alerting the others."
"That won't be easy."
"Has anything ever been?"
At my reply, he seemed momentarily surprised.
So, he can show something different.
— Adel —
We descended the natural staircase in silence, carved directly into the rock. The air grew damp and heavy, and a metallic, sickly-sweet smell, like rotting blood, began to fill our nostrils.
The second floor of the dungeon.
Here, the natural torches were much less frequent. Some rocks gave off a faint violet glow, but it was barely enough to make out the ground, and that's where our gear came into play. Alfred moved behind us, Erik led the way, and I stayed in the middle with the rest.
Since my group and I were all Grade 1, there wasn't much we could do, except provide some support. The others now carried spears or bows for longer reach.
My role was tactical support and report anything strange, since I'd already been here.
The first enemies didn't take long to show up.
A sudden burst of black mist covered an intersection, and from it emerged two twisted figures. They looked like former soldiers, now monstrous corpses, bodies bloated with pustules, armor fused into flesh, eyes without irises.
"Mutants!" shouted Erik.
The two Grade 2s launched into action. Alfred charged with his two-handed sword, stabbing it into the first monster's chest, but it responded by lifting Alfred clean off the ground with unnatural strength. Only a precise blow from Erik, right at the base of the skull, made it let go.
They managed it easily because unlike the mimic, which was at the peak of Grade 2, these ones were just at the start.
I moved along the side, watching. A third monster appeared from a side path, crawling like an insect. It had three arms and a mouth sewn shut with metal staples.
"Behind!" I shouted, pointing with my halberd.
One of our guys, a young man, reacted in time and blocked with his shield, but was still thrown back by a massive impact. The others formed a defensive line, and we managed to hold it off until Erik decapitated it.
The farther we went, the harder the fights became. These undead were stronger, and had some intelligence, using the environment to their advantage. Some had strange organs that exploded on contact, releasing toxic gas or acid.
At one point, as we passed through a narrow corridor, I suddenly stopped.
"Everyone stop."
Erik turned, confused. "What is it?"
I pointed with my halberd's handle at a section of floor. "There. See that raised surface? It's a pressure mechanism, likely a trap. Anyone here know how to disable it?"
No one answered, but I wasn't surprised. Unless you had a special blessing, disabling a trap in a dungeon was extremely hard. Even I thought it was a waste of time.
"Better to trigger it now, and hope it disables safely."
"Isn't that dangerous?" someone asked.
"It would be way more dangerous if we forget it's there and trigger it while running for our lives."
After my explanation, no one objected.
We took a monster's corpse and tossed it onto the plate. Instantly, a wall of arrows fired across the tunnel and embedded into the opposite wall.
"Free arrows." I joked.
"Good. Take those arrows and let's move." Ordered Erik.
We pressed on, through rooms and tunnels. My senses were on high alert. I had a feeling things wouldn't keep going so smoothly — and soon, I was proven right.
I felt the rune on my wrist vibrate, and I gave a complicated smile.
Finally decided to show up, huh?
Not even for a second did I think it wouldn't activate — especially now, on the second floor.
Just as I turned, the dungeon walls shook. Pieces of stone fell from the ceiling, and from every nearby tunnel came a chorus of guttural, inhuman cries.
"WE'RE SURROUNDED!" I shouted.
From every direction, hordes of Grade 2 mutants appeared.
"FALL BACK!" Erik shouted. "RETURN STONES, NOW!"
Everyone reached under their cloaks. Tension exploded. Two men were immediately overwhelmed, while Erik and Alfred held the line with strong swings.
And me? I was already running.
Don't blame me — I was the only one without one of those stones. The best the others could do was slow them down, right?
One by one, the group began to vanish.
I was getting ready to escape down a side corridor, but then I saw Erik fighting with blind fury, his stone still in hand. I was sure he had it ready… then I saw him roar in frustration, gripping the stone.
"It won't work!" he growled. "It's cracked!"
Only, when he turned around, everyone was gone. Poor guy.
A wave of monsters hit him.
He kept trying to activate the stone, but nothing. It must've been damaged during the fight. That's why you always need to check it.
We were alone.
He had the bulk of the monsters, but many were heading toward me as well, and if I didn't move fast, I'd lose my chance to escape.
The problem was… if I ran, Erik would die, and with him, many of my plans. On the other hand, helping him would be way too risky, and since they didn't even give me a return stone, I was even less inclined to help.