As soon as he said the word core, I knew I was fucked up. I mean, the dude had not even begun exploring, but he already knew about the secret I had been trying to hide this far.
I knew that most dungeons only existed as an ecosystem, not exactly as a sentient thinking thing. A dungeon that had a core was highly coveted, as I could tell from the greedy look on his face.
Immediately, he set the heavy bag down and began to dress up. Within a short while, he had adorned armor, and his entire composition transformed into that of a seasoned adventurer.
Fucking crap, I swore inwardly.
And to think this twist had come at a point where I was utterly helpless.
No energy reserves and no hope of making a sudden change of plan. I had to stick with whatever I had now, but even for a blind man, or one that knew nothing about dungeons, it was clear that I was outmatched.
I stood no chance of stopping this man.
After finishing his preparation, he passed his backpack to Frost.
"You two stay behind me and don't do anything sudden."
I did not believe the people being told this even needed the warning.
They did not look slightly eager to enter the cave.
That fact was made clear by the shorter guy's question.
"Can't we wait out here?"
I did not know whether Frost agreed with him. His countenance was tricky to read.
I could not tell whether he was eager to follow the master in or sided with his comrade's suggestion of staying behind.
In any case, the man in charge put all such hope out of question.
"Not if you want to stay part of my guild. Cowards have no place in my team."
With that, he turned and began to walk inside.
Almost a meter in, and my first hope got burned.
"Stop," Mr. Ogrey said, raising an arm to halt further progress.
"This is interesting. An F rank dungeon which has already learned to deploy slime strategically?"
And there went my hope.
Master Ogrey reached into his pocket, and out came a tiny vial of bluish liquid. It was so small that one gulp hardly filled half his mouth, but as soon as he swallowed it, I could feel something had transformed within him.
He pocketed the vial and turned to his companions.
"This is where your attention saves you. Don't let any slime touch you. Watch closely and put your feet only where I put mine, and keep your hands to yourselves."
With that, my hope of ambushing the group flew with the wind.
Now only one thing remained for me.
The leeches.
And if you asked me if my slime, which was the most discreet, had been burned at a glance, what chance did the leeches stand?
After a while of exploring the corridors closer to the entrance, Mr. Ogrey withdrew what looked to me like a compass. As soon as it came out of the pouch, the needle spun like it had gone crazy and then settled on one direction.
My direction.
"The core finder will show us the way," Ogrey said, hardly able to hide his excitement.
"This way."
But while his mind was distracted by excitement, I decided to make my first move. I had hoped to delay it for a while, but the sudden twist of events had rendered any delay catastrophic.
One mass of slime had been positioned close to one of the wooden support beams of the mine.
I had another layer of slime just beneath the plank supporting the entire beam, and when I commanded it to pull apart, the beam came hurtling down toward the group. The two young companions let out scared yelps.
Mr. Ogrey was also caught unaware.
They managed to step aside, and the beam fell between them harmlessly. But it was not harm that I had intended.
It was a distraction.
Three of my mana leeches had already attached themselves to the master's clothes. I instructed them to position themselves where his companions behind him would not see, and where they could easily access and begin draining mana from the man.
My only hope was to weaken him quickly before the core finder led them to my spot.
Luckily for me, that was not the only thing the falling beam had achieved.
Through the scare, the shorter teenager grabbed one of the corridor walls where my slime was. Under my quick instruction, it offered no resistance when he pulled his arm away.
His feet had also stepped off the required path as he jumped out of harm's way.
Once again, I attached myself to his boots, still offering no resistance.
The same happened to the taller scout, though only on one of his boots.
I was not so lucky with the master.
After that, they no longer explored random corridors.
They moved with purpose, following a path that brought them closer to me with every passing second.
This was proving pathetically easy.
At this rate, they might as well have been strolling in for a calm walk and landing themselves a dungeon core crystal.
Maybe I should have taken that option for expansion, or at least opted for enhancing my protection more.
Everything I had chosen instead was burning before my eyes. Everything.
I could sense that even my mana leeches were having no success with him.
They were biting, but it seemed the fluid he had taken had made his skin thick and impervious to them.
I'm fucking doomed.
Honestly, I had no doubt this was my end, and what a pathetic way to die a second time.
I had no choice but to trigger the slime's restriction.
Luckily, in his eagerness and excitement, the master had also placed his boots on a well hidden layer of slime. But to my utter shock, when I allowed the restriction to work, it did nothing to the man.
The other two came to an abrupt stop and let out sudden yells.
They could not lift their feet from the ground.
"We're trapped. Master, we're trapped," the shorter boy screamed, but the master did not even look back.
"We're fucking trapped," Frost yelled.
"Just stand still," the man shouted back. "Don't move. The slime won't do anything. They're too small to cause any lasting harm. I'll be back in a minute."
I could sense the greed in his voice.
He felt that freeing his two companions would only delay him further from the goal he so deeply coveted.
At this point, I had no option left but to watch my death approach.
I had always known that if a more powerful adventurer entered while I was still an F rank dungeon, I was doomed.
I just had not thought it would be this soon.
Maybe I should have killed the two boys when my rats still had a chance. That way, they might not have reported to their guild master.
I might have had more time to upgrade and grow stronger.
However, regrets could not help me now.
Soon, the man was standing exactly above my pond.
I knew this was the moment. He only had to dip his hand into the murky water and claim his prize.
I did not believe even the layer of slime above me would stop him.
And true enough, I saw him give a gleeful laugh as the core finder finally stopped directly above the pond.
"This is too easy," the man said.
"But then every dog has its day. This is my day, and by God, I will have those bully guild masters in the city lick my toes."
"Mine will be the biggest guild in the whole Midland."
I still did not understand all this excitement.
I was a freaking F rank dungeon. What good would I do him against the masters of powerful city guilds?
Clearly, there was something I was missing that was driving the man insane.
He dipped his hand into the pool, and sure enough, it passed through the slime.
The slime did nothing to restrict him, even though I had enforced it.
However, when his fingers closed around me, he could not grasp the crystal.
I watched in confusion. His hand was passing straight through me, making no contact at all.
"What is happening?"
As soon as I thought this, a notification appeared.
Your barriers have failed. An E rank intruder is trying to claim you.
The only thing stopping him is that the dungeon has already been marked. Only the original marker can retrieve the core.
What?
Only the original marker?
Another notification followed.
Your original marker is Leo Frost.
Rank F rank.
Guild affiliation.
Gallant Guild.
Frost?
Suddenly, I realized that the incident when the scouts fled the cave during the first attack had not been meant to happen.
At least, not according to the master.
Otherwise, he would not have tried.
Surely, he must have known that only the original dungeon marker could claim a core.
Frost must have acted on his own will, against the guild.
If that was the case, then Frost must have had his own plans.
Master Ogrey seemed to grasp this after repeatedly dipping his hand into the pond, only to withdraw it with nothing but trash and rock residue.
"Fucking hell."
A thought seemed to strike him, and he froze, his face creasing.
For a second, he looked terrified.
Petrified, even.
"No fucking way. Not a chance in hell."
The prospect clouded his previously gleeful expression.
"Someone must have marked it already."