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Chapter 177: The Black Tower

“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?”

“That’s all,” Arwin confirmed. “I would suggest you leave this dungeon immediately, though — and if you don’t mind, keep everything you saw about our abilities to yourselves. As far as everyone else is concerned, I’m just a smith and there’s nothing special about my companions. We’d like to keep it that way.”

“I swear we won’t say a word,” Theo promised, pressing a hand over his chest. “Not that anyone would believe us if we did, but don’t worry. As far as anyone else is concerned, your team just finished off a monster when we were badly injured. That’s it.”

“Thanks,” Rodrick said. He flashed them a grin. “Safe travels. Don’t get into any fights on the way out. It would be a waste if you got killed after we went through all the trouble of saving you.”

Maddy and Theo didn’t need to be told twice. They repeated a hurried round of thanks before darting off in the direction of the dungeon exit that the Menagerie had come through. They were so caught up with still being alive that, somehow, neither of them noticed the fact that the body of the massive lizard was missing.

Lillia shot Arwin a look. “You’re responsible for the body going missing, I take it?”

“Achievement,” Arwin said with a nod. “Mesh delivery service. It’ll definitely save us a lot of effort.”

“That’s convenient,” Lillia said. She paused for a second before turning her gaze to the backs of the retreating adventurers. “Was it really fair to ask them to come to the inn?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Arwin asked innocently. “I didn’t make them do anything. The Mesh shouldn’t have any issues with it.”

“It feels a little bit cheap, don’t you think? They’re basically being strongarmed into going.”

“Eh. I’d say it’s fine,” Anna said, shaking her head. “I mean, we did just save their lives. Coming by the inn is a pretty low cost. It’s an effective business strategy.”

“You’re supposed to be the voice of reason here,” Lillia said through a sigh. “Thank you, though. I can’t protest too much.”

“More importantly, does anyone else need healing?” Anna asked. “That was a nasty fight.”

Nobody spoke up.

“I think we’re all fine,” Reya said, speaking up for the first time since the end of the fight. A small frown pulled across her lips. “The Mesh just told me that I was making progress along my Challenge.”

“That sounds like a good thing,” Olive said. “Better to get rid of the Challenge by completing it rather than by failing it. What’s wrong with progressing it?”

“Apparently, it consumed the Title I should have gotten for killing that thing,” Reya said, casting her gaze back at where the huge monster had been. “I think it’ll give me a better one when I complete the Challenge, but I could have used the power now.”

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“Don’t stress about it. It’s not something you can control,” Anna advised. “Just make sure you don’t get yourself killed before then. I can’t tell if that attack of yours impressed or scared me. You aren’t as resilient as Arwin or Rodrick, so please keep that in mind.”

“I know. I just saw the opportunity and had to take it,” Reya said.

“I think we all understand that feeling,” Olive said, her gaze pulling away from Reya and raising to the forest beyond her. Her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword. “Just make sure you control it. It serves you well until it doesn’t.”

They fell silent for a few minutes, taking the time to focus on gathering themselves again in preparation to continue deeper into the dungeon.

“Did anyone else get anything worth noting from the fight?” Arwin asked.

“Improved Skill Selection Achievement,” Rodrick said.

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.

It didn’t look like the dead adventurer’s allies were faring much better. Their armor was cracked and heavily damaged, and one of them was leaning heavily on her ally. The adventurers had managed to leave several serious cuts on the monster’s scaled form and one of its huge fangs was cracked — but they weren’t going to win the fight.

Nobody even had to say anything. They all burst into a sprint down the hill toward the other adventurers before anyone else could die.

“Godspit. What are those idiots doing? Why aren’t they running?” Reya yelled.

Arwin went to respond, but the words caught in his throat as one of the adventurers fighting the snake turned just enough for him to catch a glimpse at the front of his armor. There was a small badge on it.

Even at the distance Arwin was at, he recognized it instantly. The bright red with a shimmer of gold wasn’t easy to forget. The adventurers were members of the Ardent guild.