“Dae, on your right!”

  “On it!”

  I raised the massive shield and blocked the volley of stingers firing at me and the chanting Tetra. I peeked out from behind it and growled at the giant flying dragonflies hovering above us.

  "The expedition team was currently at the twentieth floor, in what was known as the Large Tree Labyrinth.

  As per its namesake, this part of the Dungeon looked to be inside of a giant tree. The walls, the ceiling, even the ground looked to be made out of wood. And all around it were pnts of all abnormal variants, making it looked to be a forest kingdom.

  And perhaps due to the forest theme, many of the monsters we had encountered so far were mostly insects or pnt-based creatures. There were a few times we nearly hit a Dark Fungus and nearly self-destructed from it.

  And thanks to the wide-open area we were currently standing in, the flying annoyances that were the Gun Libellus had taken to firing their stingers from above at a range far from any of us could reach

  At least, all but two of us.

  “Hiyah!!”

  The swarm of Libellus immediately got taken out with several swings of Lisa’s chain sickles. In response to this, they flew even higher to get a further range from us.

  “Lisa, duck.”

  An arrow then flew above my head and struck its target in the abdomen. I gnced back at Drake who was now wielding a bow due to what happened to his knives yesterday. I was surprised how skilled of an archer he was.

  A few more arrows were fired and took down most of the flying monsters in no time; some even impaled two or more in one arrow. Parts of the now dead monsters rain down in front of us and I could hear Tris squirm beside me behind her own shield.

  “Damn it, why does it have to be bugs…” She grumbled.

  “Hey, if you got compints for the Dungeon, you are welcome to voice it!” Drake called out.

  “I would rather not get a monster party spawn on us, thank you very much!”

  “If you guys are done back there, mind giving the front lines some support!?”

  At Garos’s cries, Drake turned his bow to the front of us and started firing at the Bugbears our shield wielders were holding back; Leos and Garos pushing against the pack of monsters as hard as they possibly could. The arrows flew and struck the monsters, getting them to back off a bit and allowing our vice-captain to strike back with his sword.

  Past them were a flurry of strikes by our fastest attackers, Jirou and Kyumaru dashing left and right as their swords sshed into the pack of Lizardmen and their flower shields while Jeanne had taken to dealing with the rger Trolls.

  “Magic is ready!!”

  “Alright! Everyone, clear back!!”

  “Ignis Lumine!!”

  Tetra unloaded her spell, arcs of fmes flying towards the monsters as everyone pulled back away from the area of destruction. The resulting bombardment resulted in the attacking monsters getting blown to bits.

  A few stragglers managed to survive the spell, but they were quickly taken out by our attackers in no time at all.

  Once all the monsters were finished off, me and Tris made our way to collect all the magic stones and drop items left behind. Some of the stones, we had to cut the dead monsters’ bodies open to pull it out, which wasn't fun at all.

  “That should be all the drop items we need for this floor.” Leos noted as he checked the haul in the massive bag I was given to store them in.

  “That’s faster than I thought.” Jirou noted in awe, “Looks like it was the right call to bring the newbies with us.”

  “More hands make less work, as they say.” Jeanne told him, “So, what else is left?”

  “Um, let me see here…” Garos took out a rolled parchment paper from his pack and read through it, “We left only those from the Mad Beetles and Sword Stags.”

  “We haven’t encountered them yet. Let’s head to the lower floors.”

  Getting back into our usual formation, we slowly and steadily made our way down. Thankfully, those annoying Libellus don’t spawn in the lower floors, so we had an easier time dealing with most of the monsters we came across.

  At times, we changed formation to have me or Tris in the vanguard with a massive shield alongside Leos while Garos took out a few monsters our attackers had missed.

  “How are you holding up?” Leos suddenly asked me as we slowly moved down a level.

  “I’m doing okay. Though using a shield was way harder that I had imagined.” I noted as I rubbed my sore wrists. Leos and Garos sure were tough to deal with this all the time.

  “The trick is to push into the attack.” He told me with a grin, “Bracing would only work against long range attacks.”

  “Ah, I see.” I’ll try that the next time we encounter more monsters.

  “Still, I’m impressed with how well you have taken to the Supporter role. I was certain you would dash out to sy any of the monsters in front of us the first chance you get.”

  “I don’t think I’m that bad.”

  ““Yes, you are.””

  I let loose a groan when Tris decided to add her own thoughts to it. “But to be fair, you wouldn’t be able to fight like you normally do while lugging that backpack around. I bet you will get the Artel Assist Skill when we return.”

  “Oh, please no. I think Drake would get a heart attack if she dashed about carrying that giant backpack.” He then paused and mused to himself, “…though it would be interesting to see that.”

  “…actually, I had been wondering about that.” I asked them, “How does one get Skills?”

  “Hm, Skills are quite rare, and more difficult to obtain compared to magic spells.” Leos stated, “The requirements to get one are vague at best, and there is no way to know what kind of skills you will get. Most Adventurers almost never get any skills in their entire career.”

  “Really? Then Tris getting the Artel Assist is…”

  “It’s pretty shocking, to say the least. I’m honestly quite jealous. I have been an Adventurer longer than either of you, and yet I don’t have a Skill or Spell.”

  “You’ll get there someday.” Tris told him, “Who knows, maybe you’ll get a Skill after this expedition.”

  “Hopefully… otherwise I’m nowhere close to achieving my dream…”

  “Dream?” I asked.

  “Oh, you heard that?” Leos nervously ughed with a blush, “Well… the reason I became an Adventurer was to be a hero, like the Braver of the Loki Familia. And with me right now, I’m nowhere near that goal.”

  “I see… but I think you’re pretty close to being one.”

  “Huh?”

  “I mean, heroes are those that protect people, right?” I pointed out, “And back at the 17th floor, you protected me from the Goliath. So technically, you are one.”

  “…”

  “…hm? Is something wrong?”

  “Ah, no! Nothing’s wrong!”

  “Pft-hahaha!” Jirou suddenly ughed from the front, “Isn’t that nice, Leos? A cute girl just called you a hero in the most technical sense.”

  “Oh, shut up!” Leos shouted with red tinted cheeks which only got him to ugh even harder.

  “It’s fine, Leos.” Jeanne added, “Every boy dream of becoming a hero at one point in their lives.”

  “You too, Jeanne…!?”

  “Did I… say something wrong?” I asked worriedly.

  “Nah, you did just fine, Dae.” Tris assured me.

  “Huh…” I wasn’t convinced but decided to not think too hard about it.

  “Hey, isn’t that a Vouvire!?”

  We had descended down a couple more floors and taken down a few more monsters required by the quest. All of the sudden, Lisa cried out loud and drew our attention to her. Following her finger, I saw a humanoid dragon monster half the size of a Troll with a distinctive red gem on its forehead just wandering about between the trees.

  “Oh, we are lucky.” Jirou whistled in awe.

  “Lucky? Why?” I asked curiously.

  “Vouvire are rare monsters that almost nobody would come across.” Leos expined to me, “That red gem on its head alone can be sold for a small fortune, and that’s not including its drop items.”

  “Small fortune?”

  “At least 9 digits.”

  “…That is lucky.”

  “You said it.”

  “It doesn’t look like there are any other monsters around.” Drake noted.

  “Then let’s get it before someone else sees it.”

  “Kyumaru, wait! It’s still—”

  Not hearing our vice-captain’s warnings, the Renard dashed up to it and unsheathed his sword in a strike. The monster reacted quickly and blocked his attack with its long nails. With a growl, it pushed him back before hitting him away with its long serpentine tail.

  “—a dragon.”

  “God damn it. Jirou, Garos, with me. The rest of you hang back.”

  At Jeanne’s command, most of the attackers charged at the half-dragon humanoid monster. The rest of us grouped up, with me and Tris took the rear with our shields while Lisa and Leos took the front with Tetra and Drake in the middle.

  There was no telling when the Dungeon would attempt to drop a Monster Party on us, so we were on high alert.

  The fight with the half-dragon humanoid went as well as it could with four second-css Adventurers. With Garos and Jirou drawing the Vouvire’s attention, Kyumaru and Jeanne were able to attack it as much as they liked. Even then, it looked to be quite difficult for them to take down.

  Its scales were hard enough that their weapons could only leave scratches on it, its wings acting as pseudo shields and its cws were as long as daggers that sshed against Garos’s shield and leaving grooves in them.

  It also didn’t help that its massive tail could whip hard enough to send any of them flying back, with the sole exception being Garos.

  “This is going to take them a while.” Lisa noted.

  “Yeah, hopefully—”

  “Dae.”

  “Ah, right.”

  I quickly closed my mouth to prevent another Goliath incident from yesterday. The Dungeon sure knows how to screw with Adventurers…

  “Hey, since Leos had told us why he wanted to be an Adventurer, what about the rest of you?” Tris suddenly asked, “Why did you all become Adventurers?”

  “That’s pretty out of the blue.” Lisa noted, “Why the sudden interest?”

  “Curiosity, mostly. It has been a year since I entered this Familia, and yet I don’t really know much about the rest of you.”

  “That is true…” I mused. I don’t really know much about everyone else except for my fellow rookies.

  “Mm… my reason is nothing special, really.” Drake stated, “I was born into a Familia and just ended up becoming an Adventurer.”

  “You were born into the Hecate Familia?”

  “No, another one.”

  “Oh yeah, you converted from the Miach Familia, didn’t you?” Tetra noted.

  “They are the Familia we bought our potions at, right?” I noted. I’d been to their pharmacy once to help stock up for a previous expedition. “The one that has only one member?”

  “They used to have more.” Lisa added, “But I heard they ended up owing a rge debt to the Dian Cecht Familia and everyone left, with Miss Naza being the only one to remain.”

  “That sounds terrible…” I mean, they just left when their Familia was shouldering a heavy burden. And Drake is one of those selfish jerks?

  “It’s more complicated than just running from debt.” Drake argued, “But I wouldn’t lie that it wasn’t one of the reasons.”

  “I’m sure you have your own reasons.” Tris noted.

  “As for me, well…” Tetra nervously ughed, “I was an orphan when Lady Hecate invited me to her Familia. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I accepted and here I am.”

  “Oh… sorry for bringing it up…”

  “No, it’s fine!” The Amazon girl assured her, “I’m just gd that I accepted her offer! Now, I have a home and a family!”

  “Ahaha, that’s nice to know.” Lisa chuckled.

  “What about you, Lisa?” I asked.

  “Me? Well… to be honest, it was a long time ago, so I don’t quite remember—”

  “I think Jirou had mentioned offhand that you came to Orario looking for a husband.”

  “I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!!”

  Leos flinched at the sudden rage the Pallum was unleashing; though that got Tris blinking in surprise at the revetion, “Wait, you came all the way to Orario just to get hitched?”

  “I was young once!” Lisa cried out, “And, well… Finn did look quite dashing, and I might have thought that becoming one would give me a shot at being his…”

  “So you were a Braver fan girl?”

  “Yes… Ah, my dark past…”

  Drake patted her back in an attempt to reassure her, though it only got her to sulk a bit more.

  “Hey, I don’t bme you.” Tris noted with a shrug, “For a Pallum, Braver is a hunk.”

  “What about you, Tris?” I asked, “Why did you become an Adventurer?”

  “Me? To be honest, I didn’t intend to become an Adventurer.” Tris confessed, “I came to Orario to get a fresh start. I was content with getting any job I could find, but I ended up getting fired from every job I got. I was broke and homeless when Lady Hecate invited me in.”

  “And you couldn’t exactly turn down a job and a pce to stay.” Lisa concluded, “No wonder you were so enthusiastic when you first came.”

  “I wanted to prove to you all that I can make it through as one.”

  “I think you had more than proved yourself when you got the Artel Assist Skill.” The Pallum told her, “And considering our goddess, she isn’t the type to just kick someone out. If anything, once she got her eye on you, she wouldn’t let go.”

  “Most definitely…” I muttered to myself. I could still remember the chase she and I had months prior.

  She was really persistent…

  “Ah, Dae! You haven’t told us your reasoning!” Tetra excimed.

  “I think we all know why Dae became one.” Lisa noted, “Speaking of which, how is your search for your missing memories going?”

  "Nowhere, sadly.” I sighed.

  “That bad, huh?” Leos muttered, “Eh, give it some time. I heard Amnesia is temporary, so they should return sooner or ter.”

  “I sure hope so…”

  “Even if you don’t,” He pced his hand on my shoulder, “You’ll still have a pce here. You can make new memories with us, ones that you would never forget.”

  “Smooth, Leos. Smooth~!”

  “S-Shut it!” He shouted back at Tris’s teasing with a heavy blush.

  “I still don’t get why we can’t just hit her head and get her memories back that way?” Tetra asked.

  “Because that is not the way to cure amnesia, no matter what other people said…” Drake sighed, before turning around, “I think they are finishing up with the Vouvire.”

  We turned our attention back to the fight as we saw the second-css Adventurers finally take down the rare monster.

  Kyumaru and Jirou attacked from its fnks which it had no choice but to block with its cws. Garos then managed to get it to attack him with its tail which he blocked with his shield. In the brief moment after its strike, Jeanne managed to get close and stabbed the monster right in its heart with her spear.

  With one final shriek, the Vouvire colpsed and turned into dust. All that was left of it was the red jewel on its forehead and one of its cws.

  “That took longer than expected…” Lisa noted, “I guess it is still a dragon-type monster, after all.”

  “Good job, you guys!” Tetra cheered.

  We all walked forward to join them—

  “DAE, LOOK OUT!!”

  It happened in an instance. Leos grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I turned around and saw him raise his shield up to brace for something, a deep grimace in his expression. And then…

  *SWISH*

  *BLAM*

  Something rge smmed into him, sending him flying and crashing into the tree hard; his bones breaking on impact with a loud sickening crunch.

  Garos was the first person to notice the monster's first attack. And Leos was the first to react to it in attempting to defend against its strike despite his low level.

  And he paid dearly for it.

  “LEOS!!”

  A Troll, one unlike any they had ever faced before, suddenly appeared behind their lower levelled members from out of nowhere. It was at least a head taller than the average Troll; its ash-grey skin looked almost like rocks; its body was covered in spshes of blood while it wielded a stone club smeared with the same crimson fluid.

  Its abnormal appearance meant one thing, one that struck fear into his gut.

  ‘An Irregur!?’

  If there was one thing that Adventurers feared in the Dungeon above all else, it would be encountering abnormal monsters.

  Going by the term Irregur, these monsters were often stronger, rger, and far tougher than their normal counterparts; almost to the point that they were a Level higher in strength. Any surprise encounter with such beings almost guarantees certain death to any ill prepared Adventurer.

  And one such monster had taken out one of his comrades so easily.

  “GROAARRRRR!!”

  ‘This is bad… Leos may be a Low-Css Adventurer, but his toughness is definitely the best among the ones in our Familia. He could handle hits from most monsters in the Middle Floors. If he got taken out so easily by that monster…’

  “Get away from there!!” Kyumaru shouted as he ran towards the abnormal Troll.

  “Be careful!! That monster has to be at least Level 3!” Garos shouted as he dashed after him with his shield raised.

  The Renard leaped at the monster and sshed at it, but his bde could only scrape against its rocky skin leaving nay a scratch while parts of his weapon’s edge was scrapped off instead. Unperturbed by the attack, the abnormal Troll swung its massive club at him.

  Garos managed to get in front of Kyumaru in time and attempted to block its strike like Leos had done. And like him, both the vice-captain and Renard were sent flying and crashing into the trees.

  “Garos! Kyumaru!” Lisa cried out.

  “Shit!” Drake picked up a petrified Tetra, “We need to move, now!!”

  “No need to tell me twice! Tris, Dae, let’s move!!”

  “B-But what about Leos!?” Tris cried out, “We need to help him!”

  “It’s too risky!! We would all get wiped out before we could do anything!” She told the rookie Adventurer. ‘And even then, it is highly unlikely that Leos survived that attack…’

  “B-But—”

  “Look out!!”

  Tetra’s warning had them turning around and seeing the giant Troll swinging down its club at them. Lisa quickly tackled Tris and Dae out of the way, the massive stone weapon just a few inches from directly hitting them.

  “Sorry, Tetra!”

  “Whoa!!”

  As the Troll raised its club again, ready to strike at them again, Drake dropped Tetra and drew his bow. He took aim at the monster, then fired an arrow at it and pierced its eye. It let out a loud shriek as it reeled back in pain, dropping its club while clutching on its injured eye.

  “Now, run!!”

  Not wanting to waste the chance her comrade had given her, Lisa grabbed the wrists of the two rookies and dragged them with her away from the monster, with Drake following suit with Tetra under his arm like a bag of potatoes.

  After the massive Troll had pulled the arrow out of its eye, it let out roar and dashed at them, not even bothering to pick up its weapon in its fury; its massive feet creating tremors with each step taken. Due to its long limbs, it was able to catch up with the fleeing Adventurers in no time at all.

  “Take this!!”

  “Guh!?”

  “Captain!!”

  Unfortunately for it, the Captain of the Hecate Familia managed to intercept it and stopped the monster in its tracks; Jeanne swung the end of her spear into its face as hard as she could. The attack had it stumbling back a few steps before managing to stabilize itself.

  But before it could react, Jirou leaped at it and sshed at its chest. His bde couldn’t break through its tough skin as well, but the strike did managed to leave a small scratch on it. The monster retaliated by swiping at him, Jirou managed to dodge the strike by leaping back before retreating back to Jeanne.

  “No good?” She asked him.

  “Its skin is way tougher than I thought. I could break through it if I strike it a few more times, but…” Jirou grimaced as he looked at the scrapped notches on his sword’s edge, “I’m not sure if my sword would hold till then.”

  “A Troll with hard and spiky skin… I seemed to recall a simir description pinned on the Guild’s announcement board when I st checked… if I remember it right, it was estimated to be Level 4 at least.”

  “Wait, seriously…!? No wonder Leos got destroyed in one strike… I doubt even Garos could handle more than one attack from that thing…”

  “ROOOAARRR!!!”

  “T-This is…!”

  As if facing the Irregur was bad enough, the Dungeon had decided to add fire to the fuel by getting a horde of monsters to dash towards the adventurers, the dreaded Monster Stampede. The number of monsters stomping towards them was enough to have the ground quaking.

  “We’re boxed in…!” Drake grimaced, “There’s no way out…!”

  “What do we do!?” Tris cried.

  “There’s no choice…” Jeanne steeled herself and gave the order, “Me and Jirou will handle this Irregur. The rest of you, try to hold out against the Stampede as long as you can.”

  “T-That’s crazy…! We can barely handle a Monster Party on the seventeenth floor!”

  “We have no other options. The Irregur is too much for anyone below Level 4, and we can’t afford to divide our forces any more than we already have.”

  “B-But…”

  “…Understood.” Drake nodded as he drew his bow, “I’ll take command. Tetra, start chanting.”

  “…A-Alright…!” The young Amazon nervously nodded as she began her chant, her magic circle appearing under her.

  “Lisa, sorry but can you handle the front lines? I’ll try to provide you support as much as I can.”

  “I’ll try.” Lisa nodded as she drew out her kusarigama.

  “Tris, do you still have the tower shield with you?” She shakily nodded and he continued on, “Take point in front of Tetra. Try to stop most of the monsters from getting to her. She is the cornerstone for our survival.”

  “A-Are we seriously going to do this…?”

  “It is either this, or let them tremble over us.” He pulled back the bow string and took aim, “But at least like this, we have a slight chance to get out of this alive.”

  “May the shroud of the nd protect thee; Terra Evlogia!”

  Tetra unloaded an enchant on Tris, who gave a short sigh before walking in front of the young girl and braced with her shield; the young Amazon already began chanting her second spell.

  “And Dae, help out… Dae…?”

  Drake looked over at the half-elf, who only kneeled on the ground with an unfocused gaze. He grimaced at the sight as the reason for her behaviour formed in his mind.

  ‘Crap, she is in shock… If I had more time, I’ll try to snap her out of it, but…’

  “Tris, guard her as well.” He told the fellow Low-Css Adventurer, who nodded before pulling Dae close behind her.

  “The ground will be scorched and reborn! Ignis Lumine!!”

  With the final chant, a barrage of fire magic was unloaded onto the incoming monsters, and their battle for survival commenced.

  …To be continued…

  Yup! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter!

  The st couple of months had been exhausting, so I didn’t have the energy to write this chapter. But I managed to finish it, so here it is.

  For those unaware, the Irregur that they are facing is an abnormal monster that was mentioned offhand in Sword Oratario. It was just an example for Irregur monsters, so I thought to use it for this fic.

  As for its Level, it was stated to have killed hundreds of High Css Adventurers before getting sin by the Freya Familia, so Level 4 seemed to be a right fit.

  With that, I thank you all for reading this!