Chapter 51: Rumors (Part 2)

Another notification appeared in the corner of Zion’s awareness.

He glanced toward it almost lazily, but the moment he recognized the party, his attention sharpened.

Gareth.

Mara.

Elias.

June.

The four of them entered Floor 1 looking completely different from their first attempt at the sulfur caves. Their equipment had been repaired, their clothes were clean, and none of them carried the same exhausted posture they had worn when they retreated from Floor 2.

More importantly, they were already discussing what waited below.

"We know the slimes drop from the ceiling," Mara said as she walked, rolling one shoulder beneath the strap of her pack. "And we know that fire works."

Elias adjusted his grip on his staff. "Fire works too well. I burned through half my mana before we even realized something was draining it."

June frowned as she looked over at him. "We still don’t know what was doing that."

"Then we conserve mana until we need it," Gareth said. His eyes stayed on the pasture ahead, already tracking the route they had taken last time.

Mara walked backward for several steps so she could face the others. "And the boss?"

"That’s the problem."

Elias glanced toward Gareth. "There’s barely anything useful going around about it. I heard someone call it a basilisk."

June shivered and rubbed both palms over her sleeves.

Mara noticed immediately. "You don’t like reptiles?"

"I don’t like anything with scales that wants to eat me," June replied. "Especially something big enough to be called a boss."

Mara smiled. "Don’t worry, I’m here. I won’t let it touch you"

Zion followed them with growing interest.

They had come prepared, and not only with supplies. They had information now.

He had watched plenty of adventurers learn between attempts, but there was something satisfying about seeing the same party return after failure and immediately adjust around everything that had gone wrong.

Floor 1 barely slowed them.

They followed nearly the same route as before, avoiding unnecessary fights and cutting across the pasture with enough familiarity that Zion could tell they had already memorized most of the layout.

Within minutes, they reached the Horned Ram.

The boss lowered its head.

Gareth raised his shield.

"Mara, left side."

She was already moving.

Mara slipped one dagger free and circled around the ram, keeping several steps outside its charge path while watching the movement of its front legs.

"Elias, wait until it commits."

Elias exhaled slowly and lowered the end of his staff. His fingers remained tight around the wood, but this time he held back instead of wasting mana early.

The ram charged.

Gareth planted his feet.

The impact rang across the pasture as the creature slammed into his shield, forcing his boots several inches through the grass.

Mara moved the instant its attention locked onto Gareth. She darted in from the side, dragged one blade across its hind leg, then slipped back before the ram could turn.

"Now," Gareth called.

Elias raised his staff.

A compact burst of fire struck the ram across the shoulder.

June stayed close behind Gareth with one hand already glowing faintly in case he needed healing, but the fight ended before she had to use much.

The Horned Ram disappeared into smoke, leaving a chest behind.

Mara reached it first. She crouched and opened the lid while the others gathered around. A simple dagger rested inside.

Her eyes brightened. "Nice!"

She pulled it free and tested the weight in one hand before sliding it into an empty sheath beside the others.

"I’ll take that."

Gareth looked down at the collection already hanging from her belt. "You already have enough knives."

Mara rolled her eyes. "There is no such thing."

Elias snorted as he started toward the stairs, and June followed him with a small smile.

Zion watched the four of them disappear into Floor 2. This was the part he had been waiting for. The moment they entered the sulfur field, Gareth stopped.

Without needing to say anything, each member of the party pulled out a strip of cloth.

June tied hers around her nose and mouth first. Mara did the same, sweeping her hair out of the way before tightening the knot behind her head.

Elias tried to tie his one-handed while still holding his staff, struggled with it for several seconds, then finally looked toward June with obvious irritation.

She sighed and stepped closer. "Hold still."

"I had it."

"You absolutely did not."

June tightened the cloth behind his head, then patted his shoulder once. "There you go."

Elias adjusted it over his nose. "Thanks."

"Try not to breathe too much."

He looked at her.

"At this rate, I’ll try not to breathe at all."

Gareth finished tying his own cloth and moved to the front.

They continued. The first stretch of corridor had nearly ended their previous attempt. This time, Elias already had his staff raised before they reached the point where the first slime had fallen.

When one detached from the ceiling, he reacted immediately. A controlled flame struck it before it could reach June. Another slime dropped farther ahead.

Mara shifted aside instead of rushing it with her dagger, clearing the path for Elias.

The second burst of fire was smaller than the first. It was just enough to finish the slime, causing it to collapse.

Zion noticed the difference right away. Elias was conserving mana as best as he could.

The entire party moved more efficiently now. Gareth kept everyone farther from the walls whenever the corridor widened, though after watching them for another minute, Zion realized that was more coincidence than understanding.

None of them had identified the Mana Leech Crystals yet. Every time Elias passed too close to one, the faint drain resumed. He never noticed.

Neither did June.

Zion continued watching, curious to see how long it would take them to figure it out. They had solved one problem. There were still several left.

The group reached the first major split in the floor without trouble.

Mara slowed. Her eyes moved toward one of the side passages, and Zion recognized the look on her face before she even spoke.

"Should we look around a little more this time?"

Gareth glanced back at her.

Mara smiled beneath the cloth covering her face, though the expression was still obvious in her eyes. "People outside were talking about rare loot in a hidden cache somewhere on this floor."

There it was again. Zion leaned forward slightly.

"We came here to clear the floor," Gareth said.

"I know."

Mara adjusted one of the daggers at her hip.

"But if there’s a hidden chest nearby, it would be stupid not to look."

"The chances of us getting a rare drop are low."

"But not zero," Mara argued. "And we already got one good item from this dungeon. What’s stopping us from finding another?"

Elias looked toward Gareth.

June did too.

Neither of them said anything, but the hopeful look on both their faces made their opinion obvious. Gareth stared at all three of them for a moment before his shoulders finally lowered.

"Fine."

Mara’s eyes immediately lit up.

"We look around for a little while," Gareth continued, pointing one gloved finger toward her. "If we don’t find anything, we stop wasting time and go straight to the boss."

"Deal."

June smiled beneath her face covering, while Elias turned his staff in one hand and immediately started studying the walls with much more interest than before.

Zion watched them continue down the corridor. The bracelet rumor had already changed the way adventurers were moving through his dungeon.

Even Gareth’s party couldn’t escape it.