Rickard grumbled as he entered the forest. No trace of High Priest Kvutar within the town. He had returned to the castle to grab a bunch of water purification jars for the locals, and there was a feast as his reward.

  Sadly, he couldn't even properly enjoy the girls' attention. Mostly because they were all really fat, but even beyond that his mind was on other things. "This pce gives me the heebie-jeebies.", one of his buddies said, breaking Rickard out of his reverie. "What was Sir Kvutar even doing in there ?"

  "Najabel told us he was looking for someone.", Rickard said through gritted teeth. "Keep your eyes peeled and weapons at the ready. There's no telling what we'll find in there.", he continued, feeling his buddies nod behind him.

  So through the forest, they walked in silence, cresting the unstable ground. It was a pce that was eerie in its beauty. Rickard had never been much of a greenie dude, that was for weird grano chicks, but he couldn't deny the forest looked stunning, even if his mood prevented him from truly appreciating it.

  A part of Rickard wondered if she was truly in there. What would he even do ? He didn't even know her beyond "some weird bitch that spread rumors about him", and even that was a stretch.

  His mood darkened further. Just how much did these rumors deny me ? Maybe some payback's in order... Sure, she's weird and kinda ugly, but who cares ? He shook his head, his knuckles whitening on the pommel of his sword. Sir Kvutar is our priority right now, not her, he reminded himself.

  Unless she killed him. Rickard shook his head, forcing the idea out of his head before he decided what he would do if it was what had happened. Instead, he focused on the forest. The smell of a fruit hit his nose, and he took it in deeply, grounding himself.

  Zoemie woke up from her sleep. It had been a retively agitated night, despite the ck of dreams. Still, her training over the st few days had paid off. She was starting to finally feel something approaching a degree of confidence. Her spells were coming out faster and she was starting to finally be able to fight properly.

  Still gonna need to do some more, Zoemie thought. She was still anxious about it all. "I am not built to become the strongest ever, that's for sure..." Even if I could reach the top, I don't wanna spend all my free time training. "And all that'd bring me are assholes looking to fight the strongest." She sighed, and shook her head. I need to eat.

  Zoemie teleported to the kitchen, eating breakfast, and after completing her subsequent routine crashed on her bed. She wondered idly what she would do before her first training session. Her results had been improving, she could feel it.

  She could use her spring shoes better than before, and she actually managed to nd blows boosted by the momentum. Her spells were also coming out faster, and she was managing some pretty complex attack sequences using everything at her disposal.

  The one thing that really unnerved Zoemie despite everything, however, was the fact she didn't have any idea of who was coming and what abilities they had, so she had to prepare in general and hope it would be enough. I'm still not completely confident about a straight fight... She smiled, having a sudden idea.

  She closed her eyes, before turning her mind to the cave she had "fought" the old priest in. There, she upgraded it to have permanent, pitch-bck magical darkness to everybody but her and Xajymzia. There. Who said it had to be fair ?

  Xajymzia dashed to the side, avoiding the construct's fist attack and bsting it in the face. It protected itself with its arms, so she used this to her advantage to build more space between herself and the golems, before shooting the archer construct in the face as well with her autocannon arm, using the recoil to propel herself to the side.

  It was a fancy trick she had grown to appreciate to sidestrafe her enemies at a speed they couldn't quite easily follow. She used her sniper arm to lodge a hit in the armored construct's shoulder, which dropped its weapon from shock, before Xajymzia smashed herself into it with a noise of shattering materials.

  Another trick she had discovered. Since her upgraded body was very resistant to damage, she could simply smash herself into her enemies to inflict damage to them. It was not to be used outside of the dungeon, however, as the dungeon mana cushioned a lot of the recoil she would suffer and repaired the remaining damage.

  Of course, as the enemies were coming to them for this fight, this wasn't a problem for this specific instance. Xajymzia smiled. She was getting better than ever at actually fighting with her construct body, which was further helped by the upgrades she had done to it. If her past enemies were to return, she could annihite them here and there and barely break a sweat.

  Xajymzia focused as the archer construct fell to pieces under focused fire, confident.

  Yuulvan closed his eyes, as he looked over the information at his disposal. He had taken the time to read more information, further refine his idea of what he was pnning to do.

  His original approach had been smarter than he had expected. Explosives, huh... Yuulvan knew that he would have to be careful with this. The ability to destroy entire castles with minimal effort sounded great on paper, but Yuulvan knew that if such a weapon were to spread, the kings and lords would go to unfathomable lengths to snuff it out in any and every possible form.

  They simply couldn't tolerate to have any random peasant capable of breaking down so easily the symbols of their power and authority, out of, if nothing else, sheer pragmatism. At the same time, he needed to see what other uses he could have for explosives beyond destruction. If nothing else, to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

  Sure, there were people like the Bleeding-Hands who could destroy entire castles barehanded, but they weren't normal people. And that would go against his original goal of making the commonfolk's lives better to begin with.

  No storage should be involved. Immediately distribute the completed fertilizer within the ground. He would have to add some innate calcution system within the beacon to avoid excessive amounts and ensure nothing became unstable. Also add a guard to prevent extraction of the substance by third party.

  Yuulvan nodded. Many would find it tiring to constantly have to look over and think about such implications constantly, but he didn't have the margin of mistake to spare for carelessness, especially with such destructive power. Whether it be 2-7-4 or his current fertilizer research. There was simply far too much at stake.

  He teleported to his practice room. The boulder spell was basically done at this point, and Yuulvan was quite satisfied with it. He was extremely pleased to have come to the Greatwoods. He had gained much from this dungeon and would likely continue to do so for a while still.

  Yuulvan had no doubt that whoever was coming wouldn't be much of a threat to them. No one short of Demon General Galneira could threaten this dungeon, and the woman was too... reasonable and diplomatic to go on a rampage that easily, and if someone else paid her she might even get suspicious of her client.

  Yuulvan focused on his boulders, moving around as the boulders did, a slight smile on his face. I shall have to visit Hreijinda and tell her about this dungeon earlier than I expected. He would talk about it with Zoemie first, of course.

  Rickard moved through the forest, the morning dew glistening off the leaves in an impressive show. They had sin a few monsters here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. His entire body was shivering unpleasantly, this forest made him really uneasy, and Sir Kvutar's disappearance did not help.

  They had saw neither hide nor hair of the man even as they went into the forest, a part of Rickard was anxious they were completely off-track. A sound snapped him out of it as his mage buddy hit the floor with his staff. "There is a dungeon further in the woods.", he said.

  Rickard projected his mana outwards to sense it. "Shit.", Rickard spat out. "How far ?", he asked his mage buddy. He could sense it himself, but couldn't tell the exact distance to his current position.

  "A few hours, give or take.", the mage answered. "We'll likely reach it by afternoon." Rickard took a deep breath, assimiting the information, before turning to his buddies and calming his voice.

  "Okay.", Rickard said. "Let's get close to there and see if we can find anything. Remember : our goal is finding Sir Kvutar, not dungeon diving.", he said to his buddies, although he was really more speaking to himself. "We'll only get in there if we can confirm Sir Kvutar went in first."

  All of his buddies agreed. He had asked them yesterday if they were okay with the assignment, but all of them had been categorical. They owed Sir Kvutar up to their lives, after all.

  Zoemie jumped up from her bed as someone entered her domain. There they are, she thought, their presences a lingering menace. She immediately switched to her combat outfit and teleported to the living room.

  She feared it was Neth for a second, then she remembered Neth was still back in the Before, and gritted her teeth. As she moved to observe them, a sharp, unpleasant feeling arose in the back of her head. This shit again ? God, I am sick of it ! Why does no one else deal with that garbage !

  Zoemie's eyes bulged out as she finally id eyes on her fated enemy. Rickard. "So it's you, huh ?", she said, feeling the old man's presence behind her. She quickly activated the curse on her mask, before shutting it down as the heat on her face told her all she needed to know.

  "Do you know him ?", he asked behind her, Zoemie taking a deep breath. I didn't expect him, but I'm not compining. If there was one person Zoemie was fine with killing, it was him.

  "His name is Rickard. He raped another girl at school. Everybody knew. No one cared.", Zoemie snarled, the feeling in her head piercing through her skull. Just, what the hell is wrong with my head ? She could barely stand to even look at the bastard !

  "Five of them. The man himself, and... an axeman, a mage, a rogue, and a priest.", Yuulvan counted. "With three of us, that means we'll have to think a bit about our approach."

  "Are you going to fight with us, old man ?", Zoemie asked, seemingly a bit out of it as she looked at the old man, who simply smiled.

  "It had been my intention from the very moment the High Priest came.", he answered, closing his eyes. "You've done me many great favors. To leave you in the dust would be most uncouth from me."

  Zoemie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "...Thanks, old man. I mean it." She looked at him. "Don't get yourself killed.", she continued, the old man nodding as Zoemie's mana-empowered words turned into a minor curse.

  She considered casting it on the five assholes, but decided to wait a bit, as she didn't want them to run away. "I will not. I promise.", he answered, and Zoemie smiled slightly, before getting slightly suprised by Xajymzia's heavy steps coming out of the corridor.

  "Something is off.", she said, looking at the quintet who seemed to be looking around. Zoemie emitted a grunt of confusion, so Xajymzia crified. "According to the scanner, this... Rickard's best talents are bows and healing magic. However, he appears to be wielding a sword."

  "Of course he would.", Zoemie snarled. "A bastard like him cannot accept anything other than being the hero. Supporters don't get bitches, you see ?", she expined, her disgust dripping openly.

  "I think we can expect this Rickard to primarily wield fire magic, then, as it's his second best talent. Let us figure out our approach.", Xajymzia said. " I'd say divide and conquer would work best.", she continued, clearly drawing on her experience with the three adventurers that came before.

  "Yes, I agree.", Yuulvan approved. "In general, this is what works best against newer adventurers. I'll deal with the mage and the fighter.", he continued, before turning to Zoemie, who nodded.

  "I shall handle the rogue and the priest.", Xajymzia continued. "Do you mind teleporting them a fair distance from me ?"

  "No problem, got it.". She took in a breath. "Thanks. Both of you.", Zoemie said. Means I only have Rickard to deal with. Both of them nodded, and left.

  Zoemie thought about how she would do things for a bit. Xajymzia had taken pce in the left part of the dungeon, while the old man seemed to be waiting in the meeting room, before he teleported to a small clearing, floating above a tree stump with magic.

  She grinned, and focused her magic, splitting up the five men and cursing them to make them incapable of inflicting lethal injuries. Fuck, was more tiring than I expected. But at worst, she could keep Rickard waiting a little while using her regeneration skirt.

  Not like he would ever find his way out of the darkened cave anyway.

  The rogue and the priest looked at eachother. "Where are we ? What happened ?", the priest asked, the rogue looking at him.

  "We got separated.", the rogue answered. "Keep an eye out and stay on your toes. Death can come from anywhere in here.", he continued.

  Xajymzia smiled as she observed the two men. The rogue was right, after all. He could not even begin to imagine what he would face here. She knelt, her body not making a sound as she turned her arm into a sniper end, and locked onto the priest. After all, in any boss fight one ought to shoot the medic first.

  Zoemie knew this better than most. Xajymzia loaded a projectile in her arm, with a tree-bypassing enchantment on it. A part of her wanted to go all out with chemical weapons and her full arsenal, but the cover of the woods was too important to destroy so recklessly.

  She let loose a first projectile, and prepared for the hunt.

  The axeman and the mage looked around. "Where the hell did they go ?", the axe-fighter grumbled, his weapon unlimbered.

  "Some powerful teleportation spell. And I can't override it either, nor break through the Dungeon's teleport interdiction.", the mage expined. "Which means the Warden is very strong, or at the very least stronger than us."

  The axeman grumbled as the duo stepped into a clearing. An old wizard was floating above a tree stump. He opened his eyes, staring them down with electric blue eyes. And he stared at them like they were ants in need of an hard heel.

  "My name is Yuulvan.", he said, before frowning deeply. "And I cannot allow you to do in here as you will." The axeman chuckled, preparing his weapon, while the mage started to cast a buff, which was immediately disrupted.

  The old man raised an eyebrow, looked distinctly unimpressed.

  Rickard blinked. There had been a fsh of magic, and now he was... somewhere. It was goddamned pitch-bck, though. He lifted his shield carefully.

  "Anyone here ?", he asked, the silence answering him. "Dudes ? Were the hell did you guys go ?", he continued, nothing answering him other than an echo.

  Before he could even say anything more, something smashed within his shield with overwhelming force. Rickard narrowly avoided getting sawn in half on the spot, his shield only surviving the strike because he had reflexively channeled his mana inside.

  He internally thanked the master of arms for kicking him around that much as he tried to swipe into the darkness, but whatever attacked him dodged. He turned behind himself on a reflex, blocking another strike and feeling pressure against his elbow, Rickard needing to infuse mana in it to prevent it from snapping under the pressure.

  "DOWN !", the rogue screamed as he threw the priest onto the ground, something whizzing past their head at an unspeakable speed. It was only his survival instinct honed by decades of rough life on the streets that made him avoid the attack.

  "We need to get out of here ! And regroup !", he shouted, the priest agreeing as they got up, the rogue leading him sideways to the origin of the projectile. Simply getting closer was too dangerous, and going further away would just leave their backs exposed.

  The priest suddenly stopped. "I sense a warp !", he said, pointing with his arm to the direction they had been running towards, the rogue leading him sideways once again before the priest screamed.

  Something had hit him in the shoulder. And to the rogue's experienced nose, it smelled very foul, a sensation only heightened by an unpleasant, almost burning smell of flesh being attacked by something he didn't know of. This is very bad.

  The rogue felt every hair on his body rise as he realized what they were up against. A type of fighter from Outside, that Rickard only spoke of when buzzed, specialized to pick off enemies at very long range. A sniper.

  Yuulvan looked at the men. He had been right. He could smell it, in their auras. Neither of this men should ever be granted any form of power over a woman. The axeman especially.

  Thankfully, he knew his victory condition. The mage couldn't hurt him. He was too predictable, seemingly only knowing the cssic schools of combat spellcasting, which Yuulvan could easily disrupt. Most likely a reject from some magical academy. Unless he had a very powerful antimagic item, he was a non-threat, and even if it came to that Yuulvan had options.

  The axeman was the problem. Yuulvan couldn't overpower him easily in close combat and his axe could actually be a threat, despite the curse Zoemie had casted on them. Plus, even if magic was to be shut down, it wouldn't affect his performance much.

  However, Yuulvan had the perfect solution to him, which he had learned in this very dungeon. The boulders spun around him quietly, hidden from mundane sight by a clever enchantment. All I need to do is to lure him into charging me.

  He smiled internally. Time for some verbal jousting.

  Zoemie snarled internally, the feeling within her head raging. Shit. What does that keep happening ? She had teleported some form of potion to her hand which had smoothly dealt with her mana exhaustion before rushing in. Wonder where Xaj got it.

  Zoemie took a deep breath, and reconsidered. That shield of his is going to be a problem. Zoemie wasn't truly skilled with a sword, despite her training, so she didn't quite know how to bypass it. But the thing seemed to have enough magic in it to be able to block her raw power.

  Fists are out of the question here. She had the advantage of range, after all. Zoemie smiled and she cast a lightning bolt spell, it coming out very quickly and discharging on Rickard, who grunted as he casted a fireball that Zoemie smoothly dodged with a sidewarp. Too slow.

  Bastard has some kind of magical resistance artifact, though. Zoemie grumbled internally, noticing its effect, the feeling emitting a piercing sense of annoyance before Zoemie's head cleared enough to think about her approach. Magic at range won't work that well. Physical at range ? But I'm shit with a bow, and my only other option is slow and inaccurate.

  Zoemie frowned. The accuracy boost alone probably isn't going to be enough for that attack to nd. I'd need to prevent him from dodging, but I have no spell to root him in pce... Zoemie's eyes went wide as she smiled. ...Wait. I might be able to trick him into limiting his own mobility.

  Zoemie closed her eyes. I know this is going to look like bashing my head, but trust me. I have a pn, she said, trying to talk to the feeling in her head. Then, she smiled, she unlimbered her sword, channeled a weight increasing enchantment in it, and charged at Rickard with murderous wrath.