Sarah's exploration deeper into the dungeon with Jill, the fire mage, and Devon, the warrior, was mostly uneventful, which was strange. This area was supposed to be suffering from the threat of a dungeon rush, meaning there should be more monsters than usual, not fewer.

  "I found more blood," Devon commented as he pointed the end of his hammer at a patch of stained stone.

  "Yet no corpses," Jill replied as she telekinetically controlled a fireball to illuminate the area around them. There was some dull light given off by blue stones embedded in the dungeon, but it was always best to have someone on the team who could provide extra light.

  "Not that strange if another team is down here," Devon said as he pressed forward.

  Sarah nodded. The lack of corpses could be explained if another large team with the objective of collecting corpses for sale were here. Since it's the first floor of the dungeon, I guess it will be a team from the Iron Legion or the Guild Association. The other guilds wouldn't bother unless the dungeon rush threat got so bad that the Guild Association called in a favor.

  They continued in silence for a while until Jill called out to them.

  "Stop."

  Devon paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Sense something?"

  Jill had her eyes closed and her face scrunched in concentration. "I think..." she paused before opening her eyes. "There's a monster around the corner."

  Devon raised his war hammer. "A strong one?"

  Jill shook her head. "Just a lone skeleton."

  Sarah's ears twitched, and only now did she hear the soft clicking of a distant skeleton moving. So, these are the capabilities of a C-grade mage. To be able to detect an enemy further than my ears is impressive—I need to hurry up and level up to catch up.

  "Should I deal with it?"

  "No, I'll get it." Jill flicked her wrist, and the fireball she had been using to illuminate their surroundings shot forward and curved around the corner. A second later, there was a thud. Jill snapped her fingers, and a second fireball manifested and floated beside them.

  Devon clicked his tongue. "I'm bored to death here, and you take all the fun?"

  "You're the only idiot that would find a dungeon fun, and that skeleton was carrying a crappy bow." She glanced between them. "I think we should avoid any risky confrontations as we lack a healer."

  Devon snorted. "Risky? We are C-grade Hunters, Jill. What could possibly harm us down here?"

  "That's what I thought, and now my boyfriend is dead," Sarah hissed under her breath without thinking.

  "Ahem," Devon coughed into his hand. "Maybe you're right, Jill. Best to take it cautiously. Those skeletons are tough bastards to crack without magic anyway. Now, onwards we go!"

  Jill just chuckled, perhaps to lighten the mood. The trio continued without any incident for a while longer until Devon was the one to stretch his hand, indicating for them to stop.

  "What is it this time?" Sarah asked.

  "People up ahead—two of them."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Sure enough, Sarah heard the sound of armor a second later, but this second person Devon spoke of moved lightly, possibly using a skill given to an archer or thief.

  It was rare for people to kill one another in dungeons, as the monsters were usually enough of a threat on their own, and there were serious repercussions should someone escape and report a murder to the Guild Association. The worst of all was being labeled a 'reaper,' meaning a bounty was placed on your head, and you were to be killed on sight like a monster.

  Because of that, Sarah wasn't exactly anticipating a fight, but it was still good to be vigilant. Tightening her grip on her sword, she waited with Jill around the corner while Devon stepped out into their path to make their presence known. While intentional killing was rare, accidentally thinking someone around a corner was a monster happened all the time, especially on the first floor, which was full of weak hunters who lacked high-level sensing abilities.

  "My name is Devon, C-grade Hunter with the Stormbringers guild!" he bellowed down the corridor as he leaned on his war hammer. "State your name and affiliation!"

  "Brandon from the Iron Legion!" the approaching warrior shouted in response.

  Jill brought out her phone from the inner pocket of her robe and opened an app. Quickly typing in the name, she searched the Hunter database and shook her head. "He's not listed as a reaper and has no bounty."

  Devon nodded in response before shouting down the corridor again, "Warrior of the Iron Legion, do you require assistance?"

  "Yes, that would be appreciated, fellow warrior!"

  Devon grinned. "This is going to be fun."

  "Don't show off too much, Devon," Jill reminded him.

  "Aw, you're no fun, Jill," Devon chuckled as he picked up the war hammer and led the way. Sarah and Jill followed, and soon, they encountered Brandon and a woman holding a bow. The first thing she noted was the lack of a silver aura coating them, which was typical of those from the Iron Legion. Next, she saw the blood caking every inch of Brandon's armor and massive tower shield. The pair seemed to be in full retreat while fighting off a small group of wolves that were chasing them.

  "Iron Legion, duck!" Jill shouted as she extended her hand. A second later, a roaring wave of fire exploded out from her fingertips, engulfing half of the corridor and annihilating the wolves.

  "Jill!" Devon glared at the mage. "Again?!"

  Jill shrugged with a cheeky grin. "You were taking too long."

  Sarah could somewhat understand Devon's frustrations as someone who clearly enjoyed the thrill of battle; having any opportunities to get in there and smash some monsters with his hammer, deprived of him, must have been wearing on his patience.

  "Thank you, fellow Hunters," the warrior Brandon said with sincerity. He seemed exhausted to the bone as he leaned on his shield.

  "No worries," Devon replied half-heartedly.

  Sarah looked between the two. "Are there only two of you?" She couldn't help but ask. The whole reason everything had gone wrong with Joe was because of the rule the Guild Association enforced, which required all groups to have three members. It was done for understandable reasons, such as reducing the chances of murders and weaker classes, like mages or healers, being arrogant and going in by themselves unprotected.

  Brandon's eyes widened. "Oh, right! Fellow Hunters, I implore you to assist us in retrieving our fellow Hunter. We were forced to leave him behind during the dungeon rush."

  Jill narrowed her eyes. "You left one of yours behind?"

  "I had no choice," Brandon snapped back, shaking his head. "Sorry, it's just some strange naked man who appeared out of nowhere, dragged a group of wolves to our rear, and broke our formation. Until then, everything had been going to plan."

  Sarah felt her heart freeze in her chest. "Did you say a naked man?"

  It was unlikely, but could it have been Joe? His corpse had been suspiciously missing, and she couldn't think of any other reason there could possibly be a naked person down in the dungeon.

  Brandon nodded and turned to the archer. "Aria, could you tell them about him while I chug this stamina potion?"

  Aria stepped forward and said in a stern voice that matched her appearance as a serious archer. "It was bizarre. I was focusing on assisting Brandon and our mage with wiping out the endless horde of wolves when I suddenly heard someone crying out for help behind me. Turning, I saw a naked man running toward us on all fours like a dog. I used appraisal on him, and it told me he was level 2 with no class, but then he used magic."

  Sarah narrowed her eyes. "What magic?"

  "Golden lightning, I believe the spell was called Holy Smite."

  Sarah exchanged a glance with Jill. She had noticed traces of that spell on the wall near where Joe and Jonathan's corpses had gone missing.

  There was no doubt about it. That person had been Joe.

  "Where is this strange person now? You see, we are actually looking for him."

  Brandon threw the glass potion to the floor, smashing it. Raising his tower shield, he gestured behind him. "Right this way."

  Patreon is 10+ chapters ahead!