“What is it?” the female adventurer asked. “My name is Maddy, and this is Theo. If there’s anything we can back you up on, we owe that much.” “Unless it’s going deeper into this dungeon,” Theo said, coughing into his fist. “I don’t think we’re going to accomplish anything other than getting killed if we try to.” “Don’t worry. We didn’t go through all this effort to bail you out just for you to get killed,” Arwin said, speaking quickly but firmly. Killing the Crag Lizard had probably bought them a little bit of time and energy — and they needed to rest for a short while and gather their energy again anyway. “It’s something outside of the dungeon. My name is Ifrit. I—” “Oh, shit. The smith!” Theo’s voice lit up with recognition. “I heard some people talking about you. The guy that really likes…” His eyes drifted over to Lillia and he cleared his throat. “Well, that checks out.” “Yes. That would be me,” Arwin said without missing a beat. “My group is currently trying to establish a bit of a name for ourselves in Milten. If you want to pay us back, swing by our street and check out what we have to offer.” “That’s it?” Maddy blinked. “We aren’t really all that rich. If it’s really expensive, as much as we’d like to—” “It’ll be well within your price range to stay at the inn at the bare minimum,” Rodrick put in. “You won’t need more than a gold or two.” The two adventurers glanced at each other, then nodded. “If that’s really all you want, then we can definitely try. Is that really all?” Anna and Lillia both nodded, then glanced to each other. “Seems we got the same,” Lillia said. “What about you? Was it just the delivery of the monster?” “Yeah, but given how big it was, I’d say it’s a pretty big delivery. I hope we end up with some of the meat as well. You’d probably be able to put it to good use.” “It would be odd for the Mesh to take something away from us, so I’m sure we will,” Lillia said. “How is everyone doing on energy? As much as I’d like to sit around and recover completely, I think it might be smarter to get moving before we can’t anymore.” “Probably the right call,” Rodrick said. “Do you know what direction we’re headed, Arwin? It slipped my mind.” “Yeah. There,” Arwin replied, pointing toward where the band of force from [Dragon’s Greed] had been pulling him. “We’re in the equivalent of the second room right now, but we might not be far from the third. Everyone keep your guard up.” “I don’t think it’s possible to let it down here,” Olive muttered. “I didn’t get to do much that time around, so I’m ready to leave whenever. I just wish I could do something when my opponent wasn’t standing around and waiting for me to hit it.” “Don’t worry. Once I get a little stronger, I’ll be able to use Imprison a lot more effectively,” Reya said. She hesitated for a moment before putting her hand on Olive’s shoulder in an awkward pat. Arwin nearly bust out laughing. The difference between the adventurer that had literally scaled the side of a behemoth to jab a tiny dagger into its eye and the girl before him now was stark. Olive didn’t seem to notice. She just gave Reya a distracted nod. “Thanks. I just want to be able to be more useful on my own. There’s no need for a warrior that can’t fight.” “We’re a team,” Arwin said. “There are roles for each of us to play, and you might not get one in every fight. That doesn’t mean you’re useless. If you were a solo adventurer, I’d agree that you’d need to be better at handling everything yourself. But you’re a part of the Menagerie now — and that makes your inability to participate fall on my shoulders.” Olive blinked in surprise. “What? How?” “I’m the one who was calling the orders after the fight started. I didn’t utilize your abilities properly. We had the tools to do it, but I was more focused on myself than calling shots,” Arwin said honestly. “Working in a proper team is something I’m still learning. I promise I’ll get better at it.” It’s amusing. As the Hero, I was general in name only. I didn’t make the strategies for the overall battles and I just trusted my teams to cover my back while I focused trying to kill Lillia. I didn’t have to consider anyone’s abilities other than my own. Lillia seems like she actually has some experience with planning things out. I need to rely on her — and the others — more. A distant rumble shook the dungeon. They all exchanged looks. It definitely didn’t sound like a monster, but something had definitely happened. Their time was running out. “Let’s get moving,” Arwin said. He re-activated [Dragon’s Greed] one more time to scout the path forward, then set off with the rest of his guild at his back. They made good time through the dungeon. There really weren’t many monsters, which was probably a result of all the adventurers already having cleared the area of weak enemies. The only things that would be left alive were the ones too strong to be killed by the average Journeyman Tier. It wasn’t long before the forest thinned and they found themselves in a wide, grassy plain. Scorch marks and scars on the earth spoke of battles past, some more recent than others. There was still no sign of enemies, so the Menagerie continued ahead at a brisk pace. They soon left the plains, which were likely the third room, and entered a flatland made of entirely dry grass. Hills rose in the distance, flanking a tall black tower that rose three stories into the air and cast an imposing shadow in the fake sunlight. Nothing had to be said. The Menagerie set a course for the tower. The barren plains were just as devoid of monsters as the grasslands had been and it wasn’t long before they’d climbed the hills and got their first look at the base of the tower, which Arwin suspected to be the entrance to the fifth room. They weren’t alone. Rising up from the base of the tower was a large, black-scaled snake. [Overloading Life Constrictor — Journeyman 9] The Life Constrictor was easily twice as long as the Crag Lizard. A portion of its body seemed to be trapped underground and four heavily armored adventurers faced off against it. Being buried beneath the ground didn’t seem to have made the snake any less lethal. The bottom half of a man had been flung to the base of the hills, marking at least one fatality.