Dungeon — Seventh Floor.
"Gannu, you're charging too far ahead! Monsters are circling from the side! Idiot, idiot—right side! There's a Needle Rabbit sneaking up! Emma! Link! Cover fire!"
Charles hopped and waved his arms, barking orders.
"Hey, kid-bro, stop slacking off and go lure away those Killer Ants!" Emma shouted over.
"I've been watching for monster movements this whole time—how is that slacking?" Charles shot back, then glanced toward Sven and yelled:
"Rear guard! Prioritize the threat on the right!"
Thwip—
An arrow buried itself in the ground at Charles' feet.
"Less talk," Link snapped. "Unless you want one of my arrows through your skull, get over there and lure away the Killer Ants on the left!"
"We're bosom companions, comrades in arms—how can you point an arrow at me?" Charles protested, stamping his foot in outrage.
"Keep yapping, and you'll end up like that Needle Rabbit."
Another arrow whistled through the air, straight through a Needle Rabbit's eye, killing it instantly.
Charles gave an awkward grin. Since entering the seventh floor, he'd been using his "supporter" role as an excuse to shout instructions at Gannu and the others—even though they never actually listened.
Satisfied, he finally stopped his loud "commanding" and obediently pulled a pouch of monster-attracting herbs from his large pack, activated it, and sprinted toward the Killer Ants on the left.
---
In a narrow passageway, Charles was sprinting with a massive iron-banded ale keg clutched in his arms, four or five Killer Ants skittering after him, their chitin rasping together in a grating chorus.
Their deep crimson armor plates covered their entire bodies like steel, and their gaping mandibles made Charles—on his first real dive—uneasy.
"How the hell did Bell stab through the gaps in their armor with just a dagger?" he muttered, thinking while he ran.
With the dissection knife in my hand, I can't even scratch their shells.
The only thing I can rely on… is my skills!
A faint rustle echoed from above—rapid insect legs scrambling over stone. Charles looked up and met the scarlet, faceted eyes of a Killer Ant clinging to the ceiling, its mandibles flexing as strings of viscous saliva dripped down.
"Ugh, disgusting… They shouldn't be able to see me from here, right?"
He stopped abruptly, braced the keg to block the dropping ant, then used the momentum to flip the lid open and take a deep swig.
Heat flared from the divine blessing on his back, pumping endless stamina through his veins.
A Killer Ant's claws raked across his shoulder, tearing fabric but leaving only faint scratches.
"You guys… want a drink too?"
Charles grinned, and a phantom image of a bearded dwarf appeared behind him, mirroring his motions. Together, they raised the keg and smashed it into the ground.
Boom—
A wave of wheat-colored ale burst outward, slamming into the surrounding ants. Their armor shattered as if struck from above, and they collapsed limply.
Hah—
Charles exhaled deeply.
The medium durability and damage resistance boost from Drunken Rampage, combined with the small durability bonus from Burdened Stride, temporarily pushed his Endurance stat close to B-rank.
With Endurance-based damage amplification, the strike hit almost as hard as a C-rank dwarf wielding a two-hundred-pound warhammer to the head.
And with an area-of-effect like the Black Wind of the Sword Princess, it was pure carnage.
Setting the keg down, Charles drew his knife and dug out the magic stones from four Killer Ants. When he got to the fifth—still barely alive—he paused, then stuffed it into his backpack.
"How could I forget my dear, beloved brothers?" he chuckled.
Killer Ants released pheromones when near death, calling their kin for help—making them a natural mob-gathering tool. Many strong adventurers in certain "other stories" had started their rise using this very trick.
But…
"They're not that fast at calling reinforcements. Better deliver this to my dear brothers while it's fresh!"
He hefted the keg, pressed it down over the wounded ant to keep it from escaping, slung on his pack, and jogged toward Gannu's group.
---
The Food Storehouse.
An off-route area on the dungeon's fringes where few dared tread. Here, hungry monsters gathered to drink the secretion of luminescent moss. Naturally, they were vicious—pouncing the instant they spotted prey.
Now…
Charles arrived with his "gift" and rejoined the others.
Gannu's chipped, dulled greataxe cleaved another Killer Ant in two.
"Hey! Why are the numbers going up?!" Swen grunted, holding a Killer Ant's mandibles at bay with his sword.
"This is the Food Storehouse. Of course there are more monsters here," Charles replied matter-of-factly.
"Damn it. Where's the Blue Moth? Anyone see them?" Gannu didn't stop swinging, even as three more Killer Ants pressed in.
"At this rate, my gear's going to break. Not sure I'll even earn enough to repair it."
The seventh floor was suited for those with potential between E and D rank. Gannu's group barely had one stat at E-rank and weren't used to the environment yet—leaving no time to think about terrain advantages.
Charles, with nothing pressing to do, scanned the area. His eyes lit up as he pointed to a side chamber at ten o'clock:
"There! One, two, three… nine in total!"
"Perfect!"
"I'll go catch them!" Charles volunteered and sprinted toward the chamber—only to be yanked back by his collar.
"What are you doing? Let me go or they'll fly away!" Charles kicked in protest.
Link smirked. "If it's just you, how do we know you won't lie about the count and stash the loot for yourself?"
"You misunderstand me! How could a brother do such a thing?" Charles tried.
"Since you're our brother, you'll help us, won't you?" Link grinned, pulling out a pouch of monster lure powder and shoving it into Charles' arms.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Charles' eyes widened.
"Old rules. You run interference for us, kid-bro."
Link grabbed Charles to throw him forward—but staggered when an unexpected weight pulled back.
"The hell—so heavy!"
Charles' keg weighed nearly two hundred pounds. Without a Level 2's strength, tossing him was a fantasy.
Clicking his tongue, Link whistled, loosed an arrow to drop a Killer Ant near Gannu, and shouted to the front:
"Go!"
The others understood, hacking a path through the monsters and leaving Charles alone to face the swarm.
They even called back, "Brother, help us! It's my dying wish!"
Charles started after them—only to be body-checked to the ground by Gannu.
The keg rolled free, along with a few magic stones collected earlier.
Gannu hesitated for a moment, then grabbed Charles' pack.
"Little bro! I'll keep this safe for you!"
Without another glance, he tore the bag from Charles and dashed into the chamber.
Lying prone as the swarm closed in, Charles slowly raised his head.
"Wanting everything… will only be your undoing."
He hadn't expected the plan to go this smoothly—he'd been considering throwing the pack in after them later, but now… much simpler.
Feeling the Killer Ants closing in, Charles took another deep drink from the keg.
The powerful damage reduction left the ants unable to harm him. Most of the swarm followed after Gannu and the others instead.
Once their silhouettes vanished, Charles slammed the keg down, crushing the nearby stragglers into dust.
He slipped off the main path and watched as more ants poured toward the chamber, then followed quietly, keeping to the shadows outside.
Inside, Gannu's party had captured the Blue Moths and were now standing back-to-back against the surrounding monsters.
Charles grinned, raising the keg and shouting into the chamber:
"Lord Gannu! I'm here to help!"
Gannu turned and froze for a moment at Charles' battered state.
Impossible… How did this kid survive that many Killer Ants, and still have the strength to come back?
But then he smiled.
"Well done! Truly our dear friend, our beloved companion!"
Still alive? Good—one more use left in him!
"Little bro! Quick! Lure these damn bugs away!"
"Alright! No problem! Brother Link—watch my aim!"
The next instant, a half-man-high hunk of iron came hurtling toward Gannu.
What the—?!
Instinctively, Gannu swung his axe.
Crash—
The keg exploded, drenching the four of them in a flood of high-proof liquor—almost pure alcohol.
Charles chuckled. "Kek. Let the fun… begin!"
Before they could react, the backpack Gannu had taken flared with light from a magic stone lamp Charles had ignited earlier.
A heartbeat later, fire roared up from the pack, racing along the liquor and engulfing Gannu in flames.