Chapter 51: Smoke signal.

That question was unnecessary. Of course, she was going inside. She had not come all this way to turn around and go back empty handed. The first dungeon had those special herbs that were worth a lot, this one had to have something special too.

Zyra blinked, turning to Hunter. "The entrance is right there, but we have to remove those dry vines first." She jogged over quickly to the massive mound and pulled on a vine. It didn’t budge. "Dang it. There are just too many of them, and we don’t have the time to cut them all down."

Hunter joined her, crouching down to feel the vines. "If we can’t clear the entrance, then there was no point in coming here and I hate wasted trips. We need a fire to loosen the vines. Do you have a lighter?"

"I have something that works better than a lighter," Zyra said confidently. She summoned for the squirrel from the beast domain.

It popped out of thin air suddenly, making Hunter wonder where it had been hiding all this while. He had questions, but the timing was not right. He looked at the small squirrel that could barely satisfy Tyrant if he had it for dinner. What could it do?

The little squirrel blinked its big, innocent eyes, looking around the dry wasteland in utter confusion.

Zyra held the squirrel up to her face. "Alright, little buddy, listen up. I need you to wiggle your tail. Wiggle hard until your tail catches fire. We’ve done this before at the brothel, so it should be easy now. Just do it fast."

The squirrel gave a tiny, dramatic gasp, its front paws clutching its chest as if Zyra had just insulted its entire family. It squeaked unhappily, clearly protesting the manual labor.

"Don’t give me that look," Zyra scolded playfully, shaking her own hips a little to demonstrate. "Like this! Just wiggle and I will get you those delicious nuts that you love."

Hunter stared at them, his mouth wide open. Their time was running out, Cade was still looking for them and here was Zyra, shaking her butt and hips, while coaxing a squirrel to do the same!

"Zyra... what in the world are you doing?" Hunter asked, rubbing his temples. He tried his absolute best to keep a serious face. He really, truly did. But the sight of Zyra seriously wiggling her waist, paired with the squirrel finally giving in and aggressively shaking its furry little butt in mid-air, was just too much.

"Hahaha!" Hunter burst out laughing, "Do not tell me that this is a Soul maiden thing as well."

Tyrant joined his master in laughing. Which was more bizarre to Zyra, compared to what she was doing. "Hey, don’t laugh! If I were you, I would join such that the little guy is encouraged to do his job!" She shot back, her cheeks turning a little pink, though she couldn’t help but chuckle too. This is embarrassing but who cares? Survival comes first! she thought.

Suddenly, the squirrel’s furious wiggling paid off like last time. A bright, bigger spark ignited at the tip of its tail, quickly bursting into a healthy, blazing fire. The squirrel puffed out its chest proudly, turning its head to give Hunter a smug look.

Hunter clapped lightly and smirked.

"Good job!" Zyra praised. She carefully took the flaming tail and pressed it against the dried-out vines. Within seconds, the dry vines caught fire. Because the plants were so dehydrated, the flames spread like wildfire, crackling loudly and devouring the blockage in a massive, roaring blaze. The entrance to the tunnel began to reveal itself.

Zyra smiled, feeling a wave of relief. "It’s a dungeon within a dungeon."

But her smile quickly vanished when she saw the expression on Hunter’s face. He wasn’t looking at the tunnel. He was looking up at the sky, his face completely pale.

"Zyra..." Hunter whispered, his voice worried. "The smoke it’s like a signal. More people will find their way here."

Zyra looked up. Because the area was so dry, the fire hadn’t just cleared the vines...it had created a massive, towering column of thick black smoke that stretched high into the sky, visible from miles away. It was basically a giant bright sign pointing exactly to where they were. "Let us hurry."

They rushed inside the tunnel, Zyra glanced at Tyrant that was staying behind because even if the tunnels were big, the tiger was bigger.

"Keep watch, if you can’t handle trouble, shrink and find me." Hunter instructed.

Only a minute after they made their way inside, Cade arrived. He let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to light a signal fire for us. Thought you ran fast huh! Guess you are not fast enough." He pointed down at the tunnel entrance. His clothes were still dusty from the previous battle, but his eyes burned with pure malice. "Thanks for the shortcut, Hunter. Saves me the trouble of tracking you down like the dogs you are."

Behind him, his surviving goons filed out, guns raised and aimed squarely at the dark opening below.

"What do you think they’re hunting for in there?" one of the goons asked.

Cade smirked, looking down at the smoke billowing from the entrance. "Are you daft or just brainless? Energy stones, of course. Hunter always has the inside information; he must have come here because of this. Why else would someone like him come to a small dungeon like this? Listen up, boys...we let them do the digging, then we take the loot and gut them."

He snapped his fingers, pointing at a small group of his mercenaries. "You five, draw that tiger’s attention and keep it busy. The rest of you, with me. We’re going inside."

The tunnels grew wider and wider the deeper they went. At first, it was a tight squeeze, but soon, the ceiling arched so high that a small house could have fit inside.

Hunter looked around, his jaw practically dragging on the dirt floor. "Exactly how big are these moles? Because if they’re the size of a car then they are very strong."

"Is the great Hunter Magnus afraid?" Zyra asked lightly with a smile, though she was gripping her weapon a little tighter than usual.

Hunter chuckled. He adjusted the chubby little squirrel resting in his arms. The squirrel’s tail was glowing bright yellow, acting like a fluffy, living flashlight that cast long, dancing shadows on the tunnel walls. "You’re doing great, buddy," Hunter whispered to the rodent. "Just keep your tail bright and please don’t pee on me."

Suddenly, a soft ding! echoed right inside Zyra’s mind.

She blinked as the system screen materialized in her field of vision. Floating in the center of the screen was a giant, empty glass jar. It slowly rotated in a circle, and Zyra could see little horizontal lines etched into the side, marking different milestones like a giant measuring cup.

[ Ding! Mission activated!

Mission: Fill the jar with energy stones.

Note: The higher the milestone you reach, the better the rewards! Don’t be lazy, Host]

The mission was not ridiculous, but the image of the virtual snake holding a whip was a little too much! She clenched her jaw. Was the system using her as a free energy stone miner?