I was surprised when I saw Sero rise up to meet the incoming Common Ratling. Her form was cloaked in flames and blades made of fire circled around her in a mesmerizing dance of fire. With a roar of defiance, she intercepted it, driving a flaming sword into its outstretched hand.
The Ratling hissed in pain and yanked its hand back, causing black blood to gush out that instantly evaporated under the intense heat being radiated by Sero’s magical form.
That was dope! Why didn’t she use this on the first one? Would’ve saved her a caved in chest and a lot of pain! Maybe she didn’t have the time? Who knows, hopefully there'll be another time when I can watch how she does that in more detail.
Anyway, the rest of the party were doing pretty well, especially with Pal there. No other Common Ratling showed up, so they managed to kill them off at an acceptable pace. I still didn’t have a clue as to what happened to Pal.
It was like he turned into a completely different person, his eyes were filled with bloodlust and hatred as he casually ripped Ratlings to shreds. With his bare hands too! Like what the hell was that? Wasn’t he supposed to be a tank? Where did this ungodly power come from?
I couldn’t even look inside his soul! That was the worse part! That weird energy suffused his entire body, and it was growing too! Steadily, I thought it was bullcrap at first but then I checked on him after a few kills and it leaped up by a good bit!
Something fishy was definitely up with this guy, I couldn’t tell what yet though, so I turned my attention back to Sero. She was handling her opponent pretty well, the ratling was now fighting on its left leg, its last one.
I could tell that the fight was over though, and I was proven correct when a flaming claymore swiftly decapitated the Ratling, the next instant it was gone in a flash of light, leaving behind a large leather pouch and a bone dagger.
Her flaming form winked out of existence the next second and she staggered as exhaustion slammed into her. A wave of unknown energy appeared out of nowhere as well, seeping into her soul and doing something to it.
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Her exhaustion seemed to almost vanish after that, which was quite odd. She moved over to the pouch and pulled it open, gasping as golden light shone on her face.
“G-gold! Golden coins! But why? Why are there gold coins here? What madness is this?!”
“What!? Gold!? Check the dagger!” Shouted the mage, breaking formation as he dashed over to Sero.
“No! Lad come back with the light!” Shouted Pal but his call fell on deaf ears as the man only moved faster, leaving him alone in the darkness. He managed to crush the few remaining Ratling fairly easily though, even in almost complete darkness.
Sero moved to pick up the dagger only to jump back as a circle of azure flames suddenly burst into existence around the weapon. The old man stepped through a portal made of the same stuff a second later.
“I’ll be taking this, guild rules and all, I’m sure you understand right? Lady Sero.”
“No, I don’t! What do you mean by guild rules? The greed in your eyes is obvious! That silver item is mine, and mine alone. Where were you when I nearly died to one of those things!? Where were you when I was exhausting myself to protect the party!? HAND. IT. OVER.”
Wow! Greed was really a powerful motivator when it came to humans! I did NOT expect things to splinter this quickly. Maybe on the second floor, but for it to happen on the first? I clearly underestimated the items I made yet again, and caused utter chaos by doing so.
The old man looked uncertain, it was clear he didn’t want to hand over the dagger, but he also didn’t want to get on the wrong side of Sero either, or rather her family. There was no way Sero could beat such a man like him, but maybe someone in her family could?
Pal quickly arrived and was filled in by the mage, who was eyeing the pouch of gold with greed in his eyes.
Things got even sticker when Pal asked for his loot.
“Well, as per guild rules any damage to equipment must be paid for by the party who did it. As such. I’ve decided to hold on to your share of the loot, to make up for the costs in damage to the training doll and for the Mana stones. And technically the dungeon belongs to the Adventurers Guild under crown law, so I am not in the wrong here.”
“That’s horse crap and you know it! What crown laws? Give me my loot and I’ll pay you back after I know how much I owe, it's our loot! You did not contribute, like at all!”
Wait a second, own me? Sorry my guy, but I don’t fancy being owned by anyone, mortal nor god. The longer the conversation continued the more disgusted I became, the old man was just a slimy snake. The fact that he was the guild master made it even worse!
Someone like him couldn’t be trusted with money nor power, it was clear where it would end up. Both Pal and Sero worked hard for their loot, for him to take it away like that and hide his greed behind convoluted rules disgusted me to no end.
Hard work deserved an equal reward, and I wasn’t about to let some old man take away the hard-earned rewards of others because he felt like he was powerful enough to do so.
With a rumble the boss door to the boss room slowly opened, darkness spilled out of it in increasing waves, snuffing out the mage’s light like a candle in harsh winds.
“Guild master Bob Issac! The almighty one has found your blatant greed sinful! COME! LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENES TO THOSE WHO DISPLEASE GOD! KAKAKAKA!”