Snow’s day was hectic the moment she woke up. She had forgotten how busy it was working back in the store, signing off papers, and even assisting with healing. Even now, more new Sleepers were being awakened from the Overflow as many came over injured. 

A few times, Snow had talked with the remaining guilds on destroying the third dungeon without the help of the other guilds, but she sharply declined. For some reason, she had a nagging feeling that they must stay outside for a few more weeks before moving. 

She knew that staying inside the third dungeon would become a lot more complicated; she was, honestly, slightly worried. Still, she knew that worse came to worse, Mr Rogers was bound to move when things became bad. This was her insurance and belief that all was not lost.

Red’s company that she worked for, Red Flower Nation, brought in more magicians to assist in teaching and controlling the rampant disorganization from the new Awakened. There was too much to learn as they were needed to quickly become part of modern society. 

Even the Dragon Express had sent in more people to help in managing the field operation. There were just too many things to do as she felt swamped with paperwork. 

Finally, Snow was able to take a quick break. It took her over five days to get things under control. Even though Heather did a fantastic job without her in the beginning, there were too many things that Heather couldn’t get done without Snow’s approval.

Snow stepped outside, enjoying the afternoon breeze that she dearly missed. She has been cooped up for too long. The last time she went out was when she assisted in helping the injured, but there weren't many that needed it. 

Angie, who was busy running errands for Snow, came over with a small bag of food that she had bought from Sam. 

“Saintess!” Angie ran over, handing her the bag in hand. 

“Thanks.” Snow gratefully took the food from her. Almost every day, she had personally asked for Sam’s food. She was impressed that his food was quite tasty. When he heard that she asked for him specifically, she remembered how excited he was and vowed to be her personal cook. 

Usually, she would have cooked for herself, but lately, she felt a bit lazy, and her time was short. She needed every second to complete her work. 

Angie glowed with pride. She rocked on her feet, waiting for Snow to compliment her more, but Snow didn’t say anything as she munched on the chicken. There really wasn’t much she could think of in teaching as using light magic was a lot simpler compared to the others as it was mostly through the arts of her emotions. The stronger the urge she felt of wanting to heal them, the stronger the magic became. 

When done, Snow destroyed the box of food and headed straight towards Falcon. Angie trailed behind her like a puppy. 

She arrived in front of a large building specially carved out and replaced with blacksmith equipment and furnaces. In a short time, Falcon had covered the walls with weapons that she had never seen before. Each one was much fiercer and more beautiful than the next. 

Her eyes trailed across the wall, finally resting upon a white hilted katana with a black sword. On the center of its blade were intricate words of an ancient Atlantis. Snow had wondered when and where Falcon had taken the time to learn such history. 

But even still, something about the sword called to her. She felt the glittering black blade had a life of its own. 

“You like that?” Falcon said, hammering a blade on the furnace. His usual goggles were tightly on his head, focusing on his work diligently. The loud clang of his hammer echoed with clarity that it brought shivers to Snow. 

Snow was startled that Falcon knew where her gaze was cast without turning around. 

“Yes,” Snow spoke with such a commitment that it even surprised her. She didn’t expect that she wanted it that badly. 

Falcon chuckled, finishing up his last hit against the sword. He placed his hammer down, stretching his tired back. “That beauty is called the Sword of Yin and Yang.” 

“That is an unusual name.” 

“It is. I wasn’t the one who gave the name.” 

“Wait, you didn’t?” Snow didn’t understand what he meant. Who else, but the creator, would create a sword that would give it a name?

“The sword did.” 

“I’m sorry? What?”

“The sword has a soul, Saintess,” Falcon teased. “A blacksmith hears the voices in it and gives the name that it has decided upon itself.”

“So, is there some kind of spirit living inside it?” Snow was trying to articulate what he was implying. The only thing that she could think of was that their sword was some kind of spirit. 

“You can say something like that.” Falcon shrugged. “It chooses its beholder as well, and from my guess is that it rang with your soul.” 

“I guess?” Snow still didn’t quite understand how a sword can choose one’s name and people, but she had read about such instances when it came to special weapons made by famous Dwarves. 

“Take it. My gift.” Falcon waved his hand. He went towards the back of the room, shuffling around. Metal upon metal sounds could be heard, making Snow wonder what he was doing. 

Without a second thought, a bit worried that Falcon would take back his word, she stepped towards the Sword of Yin and Yang. Her hand reached out, taking both the sheathe and the sword itself. 

A jolt of energy washed over her fingers as she ran it against the hard texture of the snakeskin. An instantaneous connection was felt, and she knew that the sword in her hand was a part of her that she felt as if it was her own. With a quick swing, a soft hum tickled her very ears, becoming louder until she was engrossed in it. 

Excited by the gift, she sheathed it as her hand tightly wrapped around. 

With a loud clunk, Falcon came out with pieces of armor that she had given for him to fix and upgrade. Even though it was the same armor that Falcon had gifted her, he had explicitly called her to bring in the armor for an upgrade. 

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It looked a lot different from before. The pure white was a lot more dazzling than before. Ryzar’s feather dyed in gold decorated the shoulders, giving it a slight fluff. One would have thought she had wings tucked behind her. 

When the light hit the armor, she saw a simple shimmer of nanotech embedded into the precious metal. Shimmering slightly golden whichever way it turned. It was completely different from the other armor that Players and Hunters wore. Snow’s armor were both handcrafted and used with  advanced technology that the Dwarven blacksmithing had personally developed by Falcon himself.  

Such intricate, delicate balance of the two was Falcon signature design, and he used as his  personal tester for his products. 

“I was playing with a few things on the armor,” Falcon said as he tapped it with knuckles. “The nanotechnology on this is quite interesting. It self-heals any broken pieces if you give it some time. So far, it's able to withstand a level A class monster attack, though anything higher than that, you will have problems. I integrated it with the special mark that you have on your face, which allows you to have claws, helmet, and a tail. It responds instantaneously when any attack is aimed at you as the armor will appear and disappear when you want to put it on or not. It's quite fascinating to know that the item that you got is old magic and trying to figure out how to make it work together with the rest was a bit tricky.”

“Thanks a lot, Falcon.” Snow reached towards the armor that she was given. She felt a spark of power coming from her tattoo as the armor itself connected with it. 

Instantly, the armor disappeared, leaving Angie in awe. 

“No problem,” Falcon chuckled. “Glad that you are still alive and kicking. To see someone like you go in and out of dungeon diving is impressive. In the past, I thought all receptionists would be stuck up in their booth talking with customers.”

“You and me both,” Snow chuckled. It felt like yesterday when she was just tolling away doing her paperwork in a safe environment. She never dreamed of being out on the field, slaying monsters, dying, coming back from the very dead, and even joining in on dungeon diving with the Players themselves. If someone had told her this was what was going to happen, she would have laughed at such absurdity. 

“Either way, its good to see you out there with the people.” 

“How so? I’m just doing my job.” 

Falcon slowly shook his head, “You’re their anchor Snow. During these tough times, to see a young woman, fighting to live for another day is an inspiration to the other Natives. I wouldn’t be surprised that was where the name Saintess stuck to you.” 

“Oh, god, please no. I’m just doing a job, nothing more.” 

“Keep believing that.” 

Snow shrugged, “Anyways, I’ll bring you some more good monster materials for you to play with.” 

“You do that, I’m going to need some more premium stuff to finish a couple of these orders.” 

Falcon headed straight back to his furnace, picking up his hammer once again. He went back to work, leaving Snow to watch silently. She knew that he was a busy person, and dallying here would only shorten her much needed break. 

Quickly, she stepped out to continue her stroll throughout the camp.

A loud voice shouted towards Snow, waving his hand overhead. People looked over, figuring out what was going on, getting up, and wondering what was going on. Some even got up, coming over towards the trailing voice that sounded close to panic. 

“Saintess!” The young man waved his head over his head, rushing over towards her with bated breath. A slight craze was present in his eyes, telling her that something was wrong. His greenish dyed hair covered most of his face, and only a slimmer of his eyes were seen.  

Snow snapped towards the voice, unconsciously getting used to being called a Saintess, wondering what was going on. She didn’t know who was calling for her.

“Saintess!” The young man ran over, abruptly stopping in front of her. He huffed and puffed, leaning forward, trying to catch his breath. He wobbled for a moment, trying not to faint. 

Stepping forward, she raised up her hand towards his head and let out a soft light. Her energy seeped into his head, allowing him to become stable. 

“Saintess,” the man weakly said, trying to get his voice out.

“May I ask who you are, and is something wrong?”

The man grabbed Snow’s arm, pulling her a bit too close to her body. “My name is Jacob, and I am a guild member of the RedVelvet. We need your help!” A bit of panic could be heard from his voice, tugging at her arm to follow him with such force that she stumbled. 

Snow snatched her hand out of his hands, pulling away as she was annoyed. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t pull me.” Her words were laced with ice. 

Jacob froze, realizing how pushy he was. “I’m sorry.” He quickly replied. “But we really need your help. They are all trapped!”

“What about Ego and Bluevera?” Snow had sent the other two vampires with them. She had thought that they would be able to fend off the other monsters without any problems, but was she wrong? Was the dungeon too strong for even one vampire to help clear out the monsters that occupied the dungeon or was the dungeon another unique dungeon similar to the one that she had just come out of?

“They disappeared.” Jacob bluntly said, “While we were fighting the dungeon boss.” 

To hear that the dungeon specifically targeted the two vampires and spirited them away was unheard of. Did they have such power to get rid of them all in one go? Such troubling thoughts bothered her, bringing in a new set of rules that she didn’t understand. 

“Tell me exactly what they were doing. Are you sure they just up and disappeared?”

“Yes.” Jacob nodded hard to the point she thought his head would fall off. “We were fighting against the Hollows, getting close to eradicating it, and out of nowhere, it sent out a powerful wave of energy. When I came to, the vampires were gone, almost as if they were eradicated.” 

Eradicated. Such a word was not something quickly done against two noble class vampires and the top two of the Player’s guild. If this was true, then this was a dangerous raid. 

“I came here to ask to save the others trapped in the castle.” 

“Castle?”

“The dungeon is a flying castle; I was lucky enough to escape and make it back. My team was assigned to make it out alive, but things happened. We were ambushed multiple times, picking us off until I was the only one alive.” Jacob's words were heavy; his shoulders slumped. “I don’t know if they are all alive anymore.” 

Snow reached over, gently patting him on his shoulder. Her heart reached out to him, feeling his sorrow and sadness. The burning desire to live was etched in all human hearts, and she knew the despair that one would fall into. 

“Let’s go.” She said, “I’ll go.”

Snow let go as she walked ahead. The other Players that were paying attention to their whole interaction jumped up to quickly follow behind without question. More and more people started to follow out of curiosity or wanting to know what was going on as a large group of people streamed behind her. 

Even Mike and Dairen ran over, wondering why there was such a large number of people heading towards the east of the city. Everyone knew that the direction that she was heading towards too was one of the last two remaining dungeons that were left. 

Already, it has been a week since the group had made it back to camp with no communications whatsoever. It was worrying for Snow as she wondered if they were even alive. 

“Snow, what’s going on?” Mike finally caught up to her. “Did something happen?”

“Yes, the second group is in trouble, and we need to fish them out.” 

“It’s that bad?”

“Most of my teammates are captured,” Jacob said in a hurry. “I believe in less than a week, they would all be killed.” 

“What?!” Mike was flustered in what he had heard. “How can two thousand experienced Players and Natives alike just get wiped out so easily? You guys had two A-class Noble Vampires escorting you.”

“I- '' Jacob went silent, his head cast down embarrassed at what Mike had said. It was true, they had the top two guilds and two A-class noble vampires entering a dungeon. To be quickly subdued was a mind-numbing thought. One would have thought that Jacob was joking if it wasn’t for Snow’s serious expression.

“Do you think you can gather the rest of the team?” Snow said in a hurry, while she was power walking towards the second dungeon. 

“Yea, just give me a bit of time. I can also bring Rodney’s team.” 

Snow shook her head. “No, Rodney needs to stay here and protect the camp from the Overflow. Heather told me that another Overflow is bound to happen in the next three days. We are going to need a strong group of Players to stay behind.” 

She didn’t want the dungeon lord to pay too much attention to them. Snow knew that any Players that entered into any dungeons were watched continuously, and something big as an army would attract the full attention of one. 

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.” Mike understood what she was implying. He turned around, rushing back towards the camp. 

It took a while to get to the second dungeon.

Compared to the last dungeon, the cemetery, this dungeon was on top of the skyscraper building. 

Snow glanced up, realizing how small she felt. She entered the broken doors, click on the elevator. With a loud beep, the elevator opened as her group packed in to be lifted to the top floor. 

There were no more than three hundred Players that followed behind her, most of them were from Mike and Darien's Gold Phoenix guild, which were half, while the other half was still at the camp. 

She stood waiting-- a bit impatiently. She felt cramped by the number of Players that followed her. Red and Angie were stuck close to her, almost hugging her. While Dairen was glaring at the two to not misbehave. 

Eventually, the ding of the elevator opened as everyone surged forward. 

Snow quickly went straight towards the final door that led her to the roof. She pushed open and stepped out. A harsh wind smacked her on the side, driving her for a moment until it cooled off. She stumbled to steady herself. 

Finally, Snow was able to steady herself as she stood up straight. 

A large bluish-black portal was widely open, flickering, and glimmering in the middle of the roof. 

“What kind of monsters are there?” Dairen stood next to her. “The only info that we got was flying type monsters, but even then, it's not enough.” 

“Jacob,” Snow called him over. Jacob was dallying from behind. He looked a bit terrified at going back in, but he still pushed himself over towards her like a lost lamb that was going to get devoured. 

Snow called him again, “Jacob.”

Jacob came over, his body started to shiver. 

“What monsters would be inside?”

“Gargoyles and Pirates.” 

“Pirates?” Snow was thrown off by his words. Mostly because she didn’t expect pirates to be the answer to her question. 

“Saintess, please. We can not get caught.” Jacob said with a plea. “If we are caught by the pirates, we will die.” 

Snow heeded his words very seriously as she knew how dangerous on how dungeon dives were. Already three weeks had passed since the dungeon opened, meaning the level has increased exponentially. 

“Isn’t that a given?” Dairen spoke from behind. “All dungeons are dangerous.” 

“Yes, but still…” 

“You are getting way too worried.” Dairen rolled his eyes, “Anyways, the other should be here soon. I suggest we get ready to head in.”