“Prioritise the mission above everything else.”

Viv left those last words with Hyacinth, half expecting him to never return. For the first time in a while, he considered the possibility of failure. He was placing his hopes on someone who would be the lowest rank in his army, someone whose fate was to get used as a pawn on a chessboard.

Still, he had no choice but to do it. If he could, he would happily send one of his goblins outside. The repeated beatings had taught them self-reliance and competence, even if their strength was lagging behind. That would change when Hyacinth came back.

He dedicated his new free time to memorising spells. He was getting better and better at it, though it could also be attributed to the crack in the dungeon core. Both the limitation on his memory and the connection with the titanic soul were now weaker. At times, he was tempted to let the dungeon core shatter just to see what would happen. His instinct told him he wouldn’t die, but he couldn’t see his life strings to be completely sure.

And so, time passed. He celebrated Lyn crafting his second chain and Artorius reaching aura extension by granting them new weapons. The trick was to seclude a treasure chest and let Lyla open it every day, amassing both gold and mana stones for the future. He also observed Tamiel hanging out with Lyla, listening to stories about her home, about half-mix society and the wonderful things that were outside the dungeon.

As for Zagon and Blade, well, they weren’t worth observing. Viv had grand things planned for Zagon, though that required Hyacinth to come back. As for Blade - he was entirely mediocre. He was content to stay on the first floor and spend time with goblins who would die hours later, just slightly tougher than a regular goblin. Viv was tempted to sever the connection between the two, but there would be no point in that. His soul could handle more than a thousand regular goblins.

Tamiel had asked him why he didn’t name more of them. If his soul was so mighty, why not name every monster in the dungeon? The answer was simple. He had too much pride to name creatures who would never amount to anything great in their lives. Only those with potential deserved to be named.

Days later, the second-floor expedition returned, ready to face Viv’s creatures once more.

“They don’t know what they’re missing. It’s going to be so fun.” Noe said, skipping along the ground.

“It’s understandable. If it wasn’t for the duke giving out gold for information, I would never volunteer to be the one going in first. It’s a miracle we’ve survived,” Famir replied, casually shooting at the goblins.

There were only five of them this time - the three members from Wolves of Chaos, Kael, and Noe. A new golem, made entirely out of stone, walked alongside Kael. Halfway through the first floor, Noe jumped and landed on the golem’s shoulders, hitching a ride.

“Your golems are too plain. Take the demon goblin and make a puppet out of him. He’s the most interesting goblin I’ve ever met.” Noe yelled, entering the guardian’s room.

“I wish I could. The Association forbids flesh golems, saying they’re too unethical. If they wanted to prevent dark magic then they should stop hogging rare materials and golem blueprints. They do that and then wonder why a rogue golemancer signs pacts with devils and crafts things that you couldn’t imagine in your deepest nightmares.” Kael’s voice, while still neutral, was raised for everyone to hear. His puppets recklessly assaulted Xeel, moving faster with rage.

Noe’s song stopped as he held open his mouth. “That’s the most you’ve said all week. I didn’t know you were so passionate!” He jumped up from the golem as a whip of darkness almost decapitated him. “Let me tell you about Raegel when we get out. He would love a blood or a flesh golem.”

“Forget it,” Kael muttered, moving the strings on his puppets and tossing the dancer puppet into the air. It pirouetted in the sky, twisting and twirling. Its blue blade cleaved through Xeel’s body, a clean cut that split his heart in two. The puppet landed heavily on the ground, rolling to mitigate the impact.

“Now that was beautiful,” Noe said, replaying the cut in his mind a hundred times over.

“Can’t believe we almost perished to this thing a while ago, aye?” Hycan elbowed Ray. He was leaning on his spear, taking deep breaths.

“It’s a lot scarier when you’re facing something for the first time. That’s why we have to be careful on the second floor,” Famir commented, recovering the arrows. If they were quick, he could use the goblin’s darkness to corrupt creatures on the second floor.

“Come on, let’s go,” Famir said, beckoning Kael and Noe. He was the leader of this expedition group by the value of having the most adventuring experience. They descended to the second floor, the sight no longer as impressive after facing death here.

“We’re not going to the mushroom meadow or the firefly chest. Our only objective is to find the third floor. If we can’t find one, that means the dungeon hasn’t created it yet. Frankly, I hope that there isn’t a third floor. At the rate this dungeon is progressing, only B rank adventurers would be able to explore it.” Famir stood at the entrance of the floor, staring each adventurer in their eyes, deadly serious.

“Ray and the dancer puppet will be at the front. Are you sure you won’t let your copper golem lead?” Famir looked at the towering creature made of metal, comparing it to the slender puppet. One could mistake it for a human from far away.

“No. He will protect me. That’s his job.”

The copper golem didn’t move, but he was menacing enough to make Famir back down. He scowled at the golem, and for just a second, he thought the golem was staring back, cursing him in its mind.

“Right. You, the golem and Noe can stay in the middle. Hycanand the wooden death beam puppet will stay back here. I’ll scout ahead of you all, retreating if I see anything wrong. It’s a simple formation, but since you guys won’t reveal your abilities, it’s the best I can do.” Famir sighed, walking side by side with Hycan. They proceeded through the plains, crushing any monster that stood in their way.

“You should be more polite to them. They’re going to be a solid B rank group after they join forces.” Hycan nudged him, whispering so quietly that only a half-mix could hear.

“And so will we once we get this information back to the duke. Remember, strength isn’t everything when determining rank.” Famir said, frowning.

The expedition this time was long. They started the search in the middle of the forest, staying together. Not long after, they found the abandoned church. After seeing the first hundred spiders, the group rapidly retreated from it, sending Noe to take care of the problem. Viv sadly looked at his dwindling mana regeneration as Noe massacred the spiders there, none of their bites affecting him. The drider put up a short fight, but it wasn’t strong in combat. Next time, Viv would have some proper defences for those like Noe.

Viv made the beasts scatter across the plains. There was no use in sending them to death, except in cases where he needed to distract them. Only through the valiant sacrifice of multiple cheetahs did the adventurers not discover the underground dungeon. It would have raised serious questions otherwise.

Hours passed as they circled the plains, Noe’s music keeping them energetic. “Finally!” yelled Hycan, spotting a gate in the distance. “That’s a big monster.” Noe whistled, squinting his eyes. They cautiously approached closer, drawing their weapons.

A thousand metres from the gate, the grass turned red. Organs and body parts littered the ground, animated by necrotic energy. The dancer puppet picked up a severed human arm, but the moment she did, it jumped at her, grasping her face and crushing her throat. With no hesitation, the puppet ran its sword through its neck, skewering the hand. As it pulled the sword out, the soft metal merged, the puncture mark no longer there.

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“Freaky. Now that we’re closer, that looks to be some sort of stitched-up monstrosity. This dungeon is full of surprises. Let’s go.” Noe’s two swords began to hum as he plunged his swords into the grass.

“Stop for a second. I don’t suggest fighting the creature in its home territory. Whatever this grass is, it doesn’t bode well for us.” Famir yelled out to Noe and Kael, touching the blood grass. He rubbed the blood between his fingers, bringing it up to his nose.

“What do you suggest?” Kael replied, the wooden puppet tearing through the grass with its light.

In response, Famir raised his bow, grabbing a fire-red arrow. His bearing changed as he took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing. Drawing the bowstring to his cheek, he aimed the arrow at the distant monstrosity. Tense seconds passed as everyone raptly watched. He exhaled, a streak of fire following the arrow as it raced from his bow. Like a meteor, it crashed into the creature, engulfing it in a blaze of fire, an explosion that covered its entire body. A horrible screech rippled through the plains, rustling the grass and making the blood boil. Body parts started assembling themselves into zombies and skeletons, rising from the ground.

As the smoke faded, they saw the monstrous chimera charging at them, moving alarmingly fast for such a massive creature. It left craters behind every time it took a step, lightning ravaging the ground.

“Prepare for its charge. Clear out the zombies in the meanwhile,” Famir bellowed, aiming another arrow at the creature. Another straight hit tore away the creature’s flesh, but it kept on charging. Both Ray and the dancer puppet held the front, killing zombie after zombie. They weren’t tough individually, but there were a lot of them.

The chimera’s figure became larger by the second, running as fast as a lightning cheetah. Hycan stomped on the ground, a massive jagged spike of rock emerging from the ground. The chimera crashed into it, the sharp edges impaling it. But it didn’t stop, lightning and momentum carrying it forward. It was bloody, half of its body gone already, but none of that stopped it.

Ray tensed his body, focusing his aura. He tracked the chimera’s movement, seeing its eyes filled with madness. It charged past him as his spear shot out like a serpent, but to his surprise, it hit the air. At the last moment, the chimera jumped in the air, soaring like an eagle for a few moments.

Then, it hit the earth. The ground exploded, torn asunder by a sea of lightning, a thunderous impact that knocked everybody off their feet. The chimera’s main target, Kael, had dodged out of the way, but he was too close to avoid the blast. He fell into the crater, lightning coursing through his body. The chimera lunged at him, its three heads tearing and biting, but he was pulled away at the last moment. The dancer puppet carried him in its arms, jumping out of the crater.

“Ow, that fucking hurt,” Noe yelled as he stood up. “I can’t let my new partner die that quickly, can I?” He walked over to the bloodied grass, pressing his hand against the ground. Bit by bit, the grass lost its red hue. The avatar of a grim reaper stood above him, becoming more vivid by the second. The ground rumbled underneath him.

Before the chimera could chase after Kael, a flash of green appeared in its vision. Ray’s spear went through the deer’s head, its antlers losing the dark glow. He quickly retreated as the chimera roared, now only two heads remaining. It roared in anger, its blood rapidly leaking from its body.

Instead of pursuing Ray, it stopped, the cheetah’s head falling silent. The wolf head let out another roar, this time silent. The blood from the ground began to rise, forming a vague figure. A second chimera, made entirely out of blood, started crawling on the ground, remembering how to walk, how to fight by the second.

The blood chimera engaged Ray, slamming into him with monstrous strength. He yelled in pain, soaring through the air and crashing into the dirt. He rolled around, spitting both blood and earth from his mouth. He retreated, luring it back to his party. Hycan and Famir were blasting the oncoming army of zombies, keeping them at bay.

In the meanwhile, Noe somersaulted through the air, the reaper’s scythe cutting into the chimera. Its skin was weak, but underneath it was muscle that softened the blow. It reared its body, stomping down on with its massive hooves, but Noe was too agile for the lumbering beast. His twin blades lacerated its flesh, drawing its blood.

The chimera turned around, lightning crackling in the air. Noe leapt to the side but was too late to avoid the crackle of lightning bolts that streaked in every direction. His blood-red projection protected him from most of the blow, but his body still spazzed from the remaining static in the air that wouldn’t ground itself.

Taking this opportunity, it jumped in the air, extending its hooves, its full attention on Noe. It fell, waiting for the satisfying crunch of bones, but all it felt was its vision going white. Before it stood a wooden puppet, the metal tube on its arm bursting with light. Noiselessly, a burst of light engulfed the chimera, evaporating its body.

Nearby, the dancer puppet landed on the ground, a thin blue sword in its hands. It swung up at the falling chimera, or at least the bits that remained of it. A beautiful arc of blue light cut the thing into a thousand pieces. A shower of gore fell on the puppet as it looked up, blood staining its face.

The explosions from above stopped, the blood clone collapsing. Nearby, the zombies stopped running, now idly walking around in the grass. The copper golem carried Kael in its arms as he stared down, making sure that the chimera was truly dead. Adrenaline faded from their veins as they let out a sigh of relief.

Then, out of nowhere, the ground quaked and collapsed, spilling open to reveal a titanic worm beneath them! Noe desperately dodged out of the way, the reaper swinging its scythe downwards. The deadly edge split the worm’s mouth, Noe barely making it out of the way. Unfortunately, he was the only one that did. Kael yanked the dancer puppet to the side, but Devourer was aiming for it. It wildly slashed with its sword, cutting through the worm’s flesh, but no matter what it did, it couldn’t avoid the worm’s maw.

Just as quickly as it emerged, it vanished beneath the surface, burrowing into the dirt. “After it!” Kael yelled, but the rest of them stood by, looking at the solid ground beneath them. “It’s not dead, I still feel the connection.” Kael’s voice went as quiet as a whisper. He closed his eyes, his hand slashing an invisible sword.

Minutes passed of Kael’s body wildly jerking around, running in one direction and slashing at thin air, but eventually, he stopped moving, collapsing to the ground. Noe squatted down, his head tilted to the side looking at Kael.

“The damn fire goblin took her. I lost the connection. The worm brought her to an empty room underground. The mage wrapped her in chains, putting strange talismans with sealing runes on her. Let’s go, we need to find her.” He stood up, but halfway through collapsed on the ground, coughing up black blood.

“I hate to break it to you, but we aren’t getting her. How do you think we’ll find her? And even if we do, I don’t think any of us can burrow a thousand feet underground. Unless you have a special talent you haven’t told us about?” Kael swung his arm at Noe, but there was no sword in his hand. The copper golem picked him up and started to lumber away, the wooden puppet following by its side.

“What a pain. I’ll make sure this guy doesn’t die. You guys can take care of harvesting the chimera. Go check out the third floor while you’re at it.” Noe skipped away, the grim reaper slowly merging back with his body. The wolf-mixes stood in confusion, wondering what the hell had happened.

Viv cursed himself for not having any creatures nearby. They were protecting the puppet, nowhere close enough to kill Wolves of Chaos. Still, he observed the sealed puppet, the lumirock core in its body burning bright with immense energy. He realised that the chimera wouldn't be able to kill two B rank adventurers and a C rank team by itself, so even getting a single puppet was worth it.

Meanwhile, the wolves descended the tunnel, breathing heavily with each step. They were yelping and yelling at each even before they even reached the third floor. And when they did, they stared at the giant volcano, mouths agape. One look at the roaming beasts made of fire made them scramble up, back to the safety of the third floor.

“I think that’s it for us in this dungeon. I’m not risking the third floor. This was already deadly enough.” Ray plunged his spear into the dirt, standing next to the gate. The air smelled of death and decay, but at least it was cool.

“I agree. This dungeon is too much for us to handle right now. We’re going to be rich anyways.” Hycan chimed in, sitting down on the ground.

“Let’s start buying up all the fire-resistant equipment in the market before we report this back. It’s going to be a waste if the duke decides to close this dungeon down, but it’s unlikely. Especially after seeing that obsidian. My gut instinct tells me that place is a goldmine.” Famir nodded his head, examining the gate in detail. Then, they began to make their way out of the dungeon, completely forgetting about the other two.

As for them, they wandered the dungeon for hours on end to no avail. Viv gave up on trying to kill them an hour in. The pair was too powerful for the second floor to handle, with them being immune to poison and all. Eventually, they had to give up, but not before Kael yelled out a thousand different curses in a different language, damning the fire goblin to hell.

And so, the dungeon became peaceful again. The two would come back every day to search, but Viv buried both the hole and the puppet, saving them for later. He carefully manoeuvred the monsters around the couple as more people started to flood in, hearing news about the third floor.

A week later, a bloodied Hyacinth stumbled into the dungeon, holding a sword to his neck.