I ponder the two favors Bri just asked me for, considering their true meaning.

Asking to see the mystery item I have seems like common sense for a legendary craftswoman. She's definitely curious about what kind of item is powerful enough to collapse a dungeon on its own.

Her request to enter the labyrinth and rank up, on the other hand, seems to have some hidden meaning behind it.

It isn't a mere coincidence Bri is wearing far superior gear today than at our last meeting, and the fact that her eyes immediately perked up the moment I said I had access to the Labyrinth adds to my curiosity.

Bri speaks up again before I have the chance to respond.

"If I'm going to be working in the big leagues of the international trade scene, I'm going to need to level up and pull my weight."

I smile as my suspicions were correct, and she continues.

"My mana control is on par with some of the Elites in the Association, and rivals many ranked-up hunters."

I nod, thinking back to our last meeting how she somehow sensed me using my legendary stealth skill while being ranked up and 150 levels above her.

Considering that ranking up over doubles a hunter's mana control in seconds, and usually grants them a unique buff; Bri could be an even more formidable opponent than I imagined.

"True, your mana control is impressive for not being over level 500."

"It's from the years of light magic usage and consumption of mana consumables whenever they come by in the local market. I have to stay on my toes to stay stronger than the other black market crooks in this city but have never had the chance to get much stronger. Considering my Black Market position and the Association's knowledge of it, I can't get clearance to enter the Labyrinth and rank up."

"So my little stunt before our last meeting gave you some perspective?"

She nods.

"I need to get stronger; it's about time."

I smile and reply.

"Sure, guide me to the dungeon so we can do my item test, then I'll bring you to the Labyrinth right after."

We shake hands and I turn to leave, but she stops me mid-stride.

"Hold on a minute, I have to get all my gear and supplies ready. It should take over 2 days to make it up to a floor with ranked-up monsters, right? And you're sure the 20th-floor boss room isn't in its 7-day cooldown period?"

I laugh and wave my hand for her to follow.

"Just grab whatever you'll need for a single short hunting session. I know a way to bypass the bottom floors and bring us directly to where you need to be, don't worry about it."

She looks shocked for a split second, but shrugs it off.

"The surprises never end when you're around, do they?"

I shake my head.

"Oh I'm sure they won't. I have a lot to fill you in on, and I'm hoping I could learn a thing or two from you about crafting in the near future as well."

"Of course, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have."

I turn to wait by the stairs while holding the map she gave me of a dense green forest, showing a small black X labeled "Green Ridge Lookout Dungeon". There are no other markings on the map, and a few trails that lead to it.

Bri gears up even more, throwing on a few extremely high-grade rings and necklaces, even putting on a matte black tight-fitting breastplate with an extremely high defense stat. More of her exposed skin is covered, and she even wears a pair of black combat boots for better agility and speed. She's fully decked out with 10 full slots of +100% multi-stat boosting items along with some element imbued gear as well.

One of the items is a pair of gold-colored contact lenses that once she places on her eyes, her entire face shifts to an unrelated person. However, using my extremely high mana control and perception on full blast, I'm able to see through it and she looks no different to me.

She walks across the room and passes right beside me down the stairs.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Follow me, I'll lead the way."

I activate conceal and make my cloak shift back into its business attire form. Then, follow right after her, deactivating my hush skill.

As we pass Bernard on the 2nd floor, Bri speaks up.

"I'll be out on business for a while, close up the shop once it gets late if I'm not back in time."

He looks up from his book, stands from his chair, and bows slightly.

"Of course, Ms. Briana, have a good night."

Then, we leave through the front door moments later and walk to the outer edge of the city in the direction that I remember taking my C-Class Exams.

As we step onto the dirt trail out of the city into the forest, I ask a question.

"Are there a lot of dungeons like this out here? This forest is where that Labyrinth was in my last exams."

Bri nods while she picks up the pace.

"A lot of dungeons pop up all over the outer regions of the city. Of course, not as concentrated in areas of high population skill users, but there's always overflow."

I match her speed, and the lush green trees by our sides start to zip by in the blink of an eye.

"And no one guards or monitors them? They're just abandoned out here?"

The craftswoman reaches her top speed, and we stay at the same pace, zipping through the forest as the sun begins to set.

"Some lower-level ones are left unguarded, but they're always patrolled by the association. Some are even farmed exclusively for their rare materials. The one we're headed to is a high C Grade dungeon. Anything over a High D Grade rating always has armed guards watching in case of a break that needs to be dealt with or reported."

We run through the forest further until Bri points to a tall mountain in the distance. It reaches up into the sky almost 2km high and is fully covered in dark green trees. With my excellent eyesight and increased perception, I can see a closer-up view even from far away. Near the top, there is a huge 100-meter stone cliff wall drop off with a natural flat overlook above it.

If one were to stand on top of that cliff, they'd get a view of the entire valley we're running through right now.

"That's it. The dungeon is right on top of that ridge."

I activate a gust of wind magic beneath my feet and turn to Bri.

"How about we take a shortcut?"

In the same moment I see the bottom of her boots light up with a white glow, and wisps of her own wind magic come out. We're both propelled into the air at the same moment and begin walking through the sky, and up toward the top of the mountain.

"Element imbued boots to fly? Interesting craft, I didnt know a hunter without the same skill as the element imbued item could wield it."

"Not usually, but if blood bonded and the user has high enough mana control to overpower the fighting spirit of the original slain monster its possible. Even same element imbued items can be tricky. I'm sure you remember the deadly nature of your sword before you got strong enough to control it."

"Yes, I remember. That makes sense."

I activate my all-seeing eye as well as my enemy detection skill and sense the swirling blue dungeon portal right atop the ridge like Bri said. However, I sense two other readings up there as well...

I whisper under my breath as we fly through the sky at a constant rate.

"You were right, it is guarded. We have what seem to be two elites, or at least two guards that are nearing the Elite status. A level 424 and a level 439. They're strong, but sneaking past them shouldn't be an issue."

She agrees as we change trajectories and curve our upward motion around the mountain's backside. Bri activates her light magic in a shimmering wall in front of her, and I activate my stealth skill as we finally land on the opposite side of the mountain's ridge.

The wall of magic Bri conjures distorts the light in front of her, making anyone of lower mana control looking straight at her believe there is nothing there at all. She's able to make multiple light magic walls in a cube formation to be invisible from all angles. My stealth skill makes me completely undetectable too as we both slowly walk into the clearing that opens up to the view atop the valley.

The sun begins to fall below the horizon, and the lights of the city are visible in the distance as the entire valley below the mountain is covered in the remnants of the golden sun's glow.

On the other side of the clearing, the blue spinning mass of energy is visible with two armored guards standing on either side. They look tired and bored but don't move from their posts about 5 meters away from the dungeon portal.

One guard has a legendary grade extreme strength skill while the other has an advanced fire magic skill. They either got very lucky to awaken upgraded skills, or they're very well situated with the Association to the point where they would give them upgrade crystals. My money is on the latter.

It doesn't matter though, Bri and I slowly walk right past both of them, and neither bats an eye as we walk straight into the swirling portal.

The bright blue sky, beating hot sun, and yellow sandy desert floor hit my senses as we're spawned into the dungeon.

Bri lets out a laugh as our feet hit the sandy floor with a light thud.

"I haven't done anything like this in quite a while. It feels nice to get out of that workshop."

I nod, deactivating my stealth skill and replying with a chuckle of my own.

"Glad you're having fun already, but the real show is about to begin."

My gaze spreads across the rolling sandy hills, and in the distance, rock formations arise from the desert floor.

"What kind of dungeon is this?"

We walk further in, and Bri responds.

"A sand golem dungeon. If my memory is correct, they spawn in around level 360 to 380. The boss sometimes passes level 400. These monsters are great for training Association grunts that want to give their try at being elites one day, but it's hardly used anymore because most golems don't drop any loot other than mana crystals."

I nod, using enemy detection to see a few of the sand golems Bri was talking about in my mind's eye using the skill's new legendary grade perk.

"I see... this dungeon should be a great trial run. Let's get deeper inside; I don't want the exit portal to be harmed by my test."

We airstep upward and get much deeper into the dungeon, soaring high enough to avoid all pointless mob fights before I finally stop in mid-air. We hover about 30 meters off the ground with endless hills of sand and rock on all sides.

Bri speaks up.

"I've waited long enough, the anticipation is killing me. Let's see this magic item you claim can actually collapse a dungeon."

I do a final scan of the dungeon to make sure no humans are inside other than us, then activate my item storage skill.

"I think I've waited long enough too. I'll take it out right now."