Chapter 35: The Hidden Cache

For several moments after the Tidepool Basilisk disappeared, no one moved.

Daren remained crouched near the center of the chamber with one hand resting against the stone, while the tank leaned heavily against his shield. Marcus sat several feet away with his staff across his lap, breathing hard through his nose, and the healer had lowered herself beside Lilith near the rear wall.

The sulfur pools continued bubbling around them.

Defeating the boss had done nothing to clear the room.

Yellow vapor still hung thick through the cavern, and the heat that had built during the fight remained trapped beneath the stone ceiling. The healer coughed into her sleeve before wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"We shouldn’t stay here long."

The tank nodded but made no effort to stand.

Zion noticed how thick the vapor was in the chamber. He had been so focused on whether the basilisk could actually stop them that he hadn’t thought much about what happened afterward.

The boss was gone, but the sulfur field didn’t suddenly become pleasant just because someone defeated it. They still had to breathe the same air, cross the same heated cavern, and recover whatever mana or strength they had left before moving on.

His attention shifted toward the passage that would eventually lead deeper into the dungeon.

That could be useful. Whatever waited on Floor 3 wouldn’t necessarily be fighting adventurers at full strength. Anyone who made it through the sulfur field would already be tired, injured, low on mana, or carrying damaged equipment.

He looked back at the exhausted party and felt a quiet satisfaction settle through him. Floors didn’t have to work separately. He could make one floor weaken adventurers for the next.

That was definitely going into his plans for Floor 3.

Movement near the rear wall pulled his attention back.

Lilith stood up first.

Her legs trembled slightly as she pushed herself upright, and one hand remained flat against the wall until her balance returned. The black color had completely disappeared from her right eye now, though the skin around it looked slightly darker than before.

She lifted her head. Her gaze went straight to the reward chest that had appeared near the opposite side of the chamber.

The Boss Drop Chest.

She took one step toward it but Marcus moved faster.

He planted the end of his staff against the stone and used it to push himself upright before hobbling across the room. One of his boots was still visibly damaged from the acid earlier, but that didn’t stop him from reaching the chest first.

Lilith’s brows pulled together.

"Hey."

Marcus grabbed the lid.

"That’s mine!"

He opened it anyway.

Lilith stopped several feet behind him.

Marcus looked over his shoulder, and the irritation that had been sitting beneath his expression since the fight returned almost immediately.

"You did nothing to deserve it."

Lilith stared at him.

Marcus turned back toward the chest. "You ran away in the middle of the fight."

Her expression changed.

"I didn’t run away."

He ignored her and reached inside.

Lilith stepped forward, her fingers curling at her sides.

"I was sending my chains through the wall!" Her voice rose sharply through the cavern. "Without me, none of your spells would have even hit the boss."

The room went quiet.

Daren looked toward her. The healer lowered her hands into her lap. Even the tank finally lifted his head.

No one said anything.

Lilith’s chest rose beneath a sharp breath. The calm expression she had worn through most of the dungeon was gone now, replaced by open frustration as she turned toward the tank.

"Say something!"

She pointed at him. "You promised me the next drop."

The tank met her eyes for only a moment before looking away. His hand moved along the edge of his shield. "Too late. You should have gotten to it quicker."

Lilith’s pointing hand slowly lowered.

"Marcus already got it."

For a second, she simply stared at him. Zion did too.

That was his answer?

Lilith turned back toward Marcus just as he straightened beside the chest. A pair of dark leather boots hung from one hand.

They were simple, but clearly better than the pair he had been wearing. The leather looked thick and new, the soles were reinforced, and Zion could already tell they would probably sell for a decent amount if Marcus decided not to keep them.

His mood improved immediately.

"Finally."

Marcus sat on a low section of stone and pulled off his damaged boots. He slipped the new pair on, pressed his heel against the ground to settle them properly, then stood and tested his weight on each foot.

Apparently satisfied, he looked at the ruined pair still hanging from one hand. Then he tossed them into the nearest sulfur pool.

Lilith’s hand lifted.

"Wait—"

The boots hit the surface. Acid hissed immediately. The leather curled inward and darkened before breaking apart, while the soles lasted only a few seconds longer before disappearing beneath the yellow water.

Lilith’s raised hand remained in the air for a moment. Then she slowly lowered it.

Zion frowned. He didn’t know why she had tried to stop him. Maybe she thought the old boots were still worth something. Maybe throwing usable equipment away bothered her.

Whatever the reason, Marcus hadn’t even looked back.

The tank finally pushed himself away from his shield and walked toward Lilith.

"We should go."

Lilith looked at him, but he stopped a few feet away instead of meeting her eyes. His jaw shifted once before he glanced toward the exit.

"We no longer have any use for you in our party."

Lilith went still.

Zion’s attention snapped toward him, he found his tone unacceptable.

Daren adjusted the strap across his chest and looked down at the cavern floor, while Marcus had already started toward the doors in his new boots.

Lilith’s lips parted slightly, but the tank continued before she could answer.

"We hired you because we needed a Hexweaver. We’re done with the dungeon now."

Her fingers tightened against the side of her skirt. For a moment, she simply stared at him. Then her hand slowly relaxed.

The tank looked away first and followed Marcus toward the exit. Daren hesitated only long enough to glance toward Lilith before going after them.

The healer remained behind. Her eyes lingered on Lilith’s face, and her mouth tightened slightly before she gave her a small, apologetic look.

"I’m sorry."

Lilith didn’t answer.

The healer lowered her gaze and hurried after the others, leaving her alone in the middle of the boss room.

Zion watched the doors close behind them with a growing urge to punch someone.

Marcus was first on the list. The tank wasn’t far behind him.

Daren’s position was still under review.

Unfortunately, Zion was still a skull and had no hands, which was beginning to feel like a much more serious limitation than it had earlier.

Lilith stayed where she was until the sound of the others’ footsteps disappeared completely. Only then did some of the tension leave her shoulders.

Her head lowered, allowing several strands of black hair to fall forward around her face, and one hand moved toward the cavern wall as though she needed the support more than she wanted to admit.

She remained there for several seconds before finally pushing herself upright and starting toward the exit.

Her steps were slower now. Every few feet, her fingertips brushed against the wall, and once she stopped entirely to steady herself before continuing.

She never called after the others or tried to catch up with them, even as their footsteps faded farther ahead. By the time she reached the intersection where the party had made their wrong turn earlier, they were already gone.

Lilith stopped.

The route back toward Floor 1 stretched ahead of her, but instead of taking it, she turned her head toward the dead-end passage.

Zion immediately understood.

"She definitely saw it."

His anger disappeared beneath a sudden burst of excitement. She had noticed the hidden cache after all.

Zion rushed his attention ahead of her and opened the reward panel before she reached the small chamber.

[Hidden Cache]

[Current Reward: Rough Leather Gloves]

His excitement died almost immediately.

"No."

There was nothing technically wrong with the gloves. The leather was thick, the stitching looked intact, and they were probably useful enough for a beginner adventurer.

But after watching Lilith hold the Tidepool Basilisk in place while the rest of her party attacked it, Zion suddenly hated them.

They were fine, just not for her.

He glanced back toward the hallway where Lilith was slowly approaching.

"She deserves something better."

He opened the reward catalog and started scrolling. Weapons, armor, potions, jewelry, and dozens of random pieces of equipment moved past his awareness. A reinforced belt appeared first, but he dismissed it almost immediately.

A small enchanted dagger caught his attention for a moment before he remembered that Lilith hadn’t used a weapon once during the entire run.

Then a black cloth hood appeared.

Zion paused. It looked appropriate. Then the preview covered most of the model’s hair.

"Nope."

Her hair was too beautiful to hide. He kept scrolling.

A collection of jewelry appeared farther down the list, and Zion slowed as silver rings, thin necklaces, dark gemstones, and several decorative pieces moved past him.

Then he saw the bracelet.

His attention stopped.

Several thin strands of silver twisted together around a narrow clasp, with small black crystals hanging beneath it on delicate chains. Each crystal had been cut into a slightly different shape, causing them to move separately whenever Zion rotated the preview.

It looked almost too pretty to have come from a dungeon chest.

The black crystals caught the light. He immediately pictured them against Lilith’s pale wrist.

"This is the one."

He selected it before thinking any further.

[Purchase Silver Nightglass Bracelet?]

Zion confirmed without hesitation.

[Purchase complete.]

The notification disappeared. Only then did he realize he had never checked the price.

His attention drifted back toward the item description for half a second before he noticed Lilith nearing the chamber.

He closed the shop. He could deal with that later.

Zion removed the rough leather gloves from the cache and replaced them with the bracelet.

[Reward removed.]

[Silver Nightglass Bracelet assigned.]

[Manual reward placement complete.]

Nothing about the outside of the chest changed, but Zion felt considerably better about it.

Lilith entered the chamber a few seconds later. She moved carefully around the first cluster of mineral formations, trailing one hand along the stone as her eyes searched the rear wall.

Then her gaze caught on something between the rocks.

Her brows lifted slightly. She crouched and reached into the narrow gap, fingers brushing against the edge of the hidden chest before pulling it toward her.

Zion moved closer as she rested both hands against the lid.

Then she opened it.