Sargon was watching the battle in front of him unfold. The party of four was managing it, but just barely. The heavy armoured warrior was pulling all the damage towards himself letting his armour absorb it. Meanwhile, the spear-wielding boy was sidestepping busy [Warrior Ants] and stabbing at their sides with his spear.

The ranger dispatched the spitters using her arrows while the support produced some sort of barrier which contained the acid projectiles, at least to some extent. It appeared that she could take care only of one projectile at a time, taking a few seconds to blow or force the acid globs to fall on the ground prematurely.

One of the acid globs made past the sabre wielding warrior, barely missing the blocking swing of his armoured arm. Not only he was keeping the ants busy, but he also was countering acid projectiles too. The glob continued flying towards the support and the rogue. Support diffused the current acid glob she was working on and then directed her attention at the one which made past their warrior.

However, it was half a second too late. The acid hit the side of the ranger’s head; she was too busy shooting at the warrior ant, which attacked their spear warrior, to notice. Ranger tried to save her companion but looking away from green ants was a mistake for which she will suffer dearly.

She screamed as her skin started to melt away leaking liquified flesh. The acid was extremely potent, eating at everything with ease. She continued to trash and scream for a few more seconds and then stopped abruptly. It found its way to her brain through her ear canal. Not even a minute passed and she was dead.

Sargon gasped at grim sight wanting to rush and try to offer help for the injured girl, he did not realise that there was nothing he could do. He still was unable to go, the hand on his shoulder stopped him from doing that.

He didn't know why but Demi-Ura was putting a lot of force in her hand. Whatever it was, she had her reasons and Sargon didn't try to force his way out.

The things looked like it will turn from bad to worse at any minute. However, because of luck or the sheer power of will, the adventurers took out all of the ants without any more casualties.

Instead of celebrating or mourning the fallen compaction the adventurers started to bicker between each other. The biggest part of it was not whose fault it was but how should they split the loot. What shocked Sargon the most was that they could not agree who takes what from their recently deceased party member. They were like vultures fighting over the dead body.

“I will take her boots you can have the cores she has.” A spear warrior said.

“That is not fair. Do they even fit you? I want the boots too!” A woman disagreed with him.

“How about we sell the boots later and split the profit. You can take her vest instead since he already has one.” A heavy armoured man offered.

“How about the bow? It is useless to me. As a support, you could learn to use it?”

“Not happening. And If I took the bow, I know you would decrease my share of monster cores.”

Sargon gave a look at Demi-Ura who was nodding in agreement or shaking her head while the adventurers were talking.

They continued to argue until more or less everything was agreed. The body was stripped almost naked and everything of value shared between the trio.

The grip on Sargon’s shoulder loosened and regardless of what he saw he decided to approach the adventures. He did so slowly and made sure he was loud enough so he didn't spook them.

“

An adventurer. Hi!” A spear warrior greeted Sargon with a smile.

“Hello.” Sargon said while getting a better look at the gruesome sight of what was left of the woman with a partially dissolved head.

“Oh her… No need to worry. Just another casualty in the dungeon. She got careless and got hit by acid. There was nothing we could do.”

“I guess so. Do you know this floor well?” Sargon asked trying to steer away from the conversation from the grim topic.

“It changed recently, you should know, but you are in luck. We know what to expect from it.”

“Is that so? Like what?”

“Well, I would not tell you but… But since we lost one of our party members why don’t you join us and I will tell you all about it.”

After everything Sargon had seen he was not so sure he wanted to join them. The spear warrior noticed his hesitation and continued.

“There usually is an ant nest nearby the mushroom forest and it is full of ant nectar. That stuff tastes good and sells well, I am sure you heard of it. We did a raid on it three times already. We know what we are doing and what to look out for.”

“Why are you telling me this? Won’t I just lessen the amount of loot you get?” Sargon was skeptical about it.

“What? No! There is more stuff than all of us could carry, believe me. It would take at least two dozens of us to empty it. We need you for numbers, the nests tend to be guarded by [Armoured Ant]. That one is a tough cookie to crack.”

“Cookie?” Demi-Ura appeared out of shadows slightly startling the trio.

“My companion.” Sargon smiled at their sudden reactions.

The spear-warrior looked at Demi-Ura and turned back to Sargon. The warrior’s face had a frown of dissatisfaction for some reason.

“A demi-human… I guess he can join too.” He did not sound too pleased and misjudged her gender completely.

Sargon had mixed feelings now. The warrior’s reaction to Demi-Ura caused some concern. It shouldn't be so if they needed numbers. He was just about to decline the offer but...

“We will join.” Demi-Ura accepted the offer before Sargon could decline.

“Are you sure?” He whispered towards her.

She nodded, Sargon stared at her slightly confused so she nodded again to affirm him.

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“Amm, lead the way.” Sargon said with a shrug.

“Good, good. I am glad you joined” spear-warrior put a fake smile.

“You are newbies like we were a week ago. But you will learn quickly.” Armoured warrior said.

Sargon smiled back at him, a week was not that much. The trio was almost as new as he was, all they had was better equipment and a bigger count of dead companions that’s it.

“The insect armour fellow, Wasi, he is a warrior type who draws the attacks. I often support him in melee combat, name Nirah by the way. Lee here is our healer.” He finished pointing at exotic looking woman.

“I can cast a few defensive spells and barriers.” Lee said in a thick accent.

Sargon knew their roles already from watching them while he was hidden, but they didn't need to know that.

“As you can guess I am a melee type too. I can support Wasi and make sure enemies don't attack our caster and support. Demi-Ura, by the way, is a caster.”

“Oh, I thought he is a rogue.” Nirah sounded surprised.

“Not a he, she. She is a female.” Sargon corrected him unwilling to let the misunderstanding slide as no one corrected Nirah. Didn't the rest of Nirah's party want to object him or were confused about her gender too?

Demi-Ura didn't have much in the chest department but her hips and legs were definitely feminine, not to mention her womanly voice which sounded light and smooth.

“Oh sorry. She did sound kind of feminine but you can never be sure with demihumans, especially if they are still children.”

“Not a child!” Demi-Ura interjected.

“Sorry, Sorry. I didn't mean like that. Look I will come out straight. I have never interacted with demihumans much before so excuse my ignorance. I meant no offence, let’s work together.”

Demi-Ura gave him a nod.

“Let's get moving.” Wasi urged the group.

The newly formed party made their way out of the mushroom forest towards the tunnels. Nirah was leading their way from a tunnel to a tunnel. He appeared to know where he was taking them.

Sargon kept an eye on everyone including Demi-Ura who decided to keep a good distance from everyone. If one looked from a side, for them it would appear that Demi-Ura did not belong in the party and was merely stalking it. Sargon didn't mind it too much since he knew she is shy and slightly antisocial.

“Should be close.” Nirah informed the party members. “Actually it's here.” He corrected himself pointing at one of the tunnels.

Sargon squinted to see better, the lighting was not the best. Midway in the tunnel, he could see a massive ant guarding it.

“[Guardian Ant]?” He asked fearing it might be something he had encountered before.

“No, I told you it is [Armoured Ant]? How does [Guardian Ant] even look like? Must be one of the noob monsters we skipped.” Nirah clarified.

“Can’t fight it in the tunnel. I will lure it out then you two take it from the sides.” Wasi told Sargon their usual strategy.

“We had a ranger to blind the ant but… You know. Maybe your mage can do something?” Nirah asked Sargon instead of asking Demi-Ura directly.

“She can cast confuse on it. But if it is an advanced monster it might not work.”

“It should have some effect regardless.” It was Lee this time. She usually stayed quiet and participated in conversation only then she had to say something.

“Okay, I am going. Ooooooo!” Wasi shouted as he charged inside the tunnel.

There was some clattering and more shouting but shortly after Wasi came running out of the tunnel with [Armoured Ant] in tow.

As soon as the ant popped its head Demi-Ura cast [Confuse] on the ant and did her best to sustain the spell. It did not render the ant harmless but made it a lot slower.

The heavy armoured warrior turned around with a jump and slammed his sabre on one of the mandibles keeping the ant’s attention on himself.

Sargon like Wasi jabbed at the monster from the sides. Sargon’s coa hit the exoskeleton and bounced off leaving only a minor scratch.

“It is called [Armoured Ant] for a reason. Look for a weak spot.” Lee tried to help.

“Aim for the joints.”Nirah further clarified knowing that Sargon probably would be able to tell where the weak spots were.

Sargon did just so, swinging his weapon at the joins of one of the legs. There was no armour there and he was able to dismember the and easily. The hard part was finding a good position and time to strike. If he missed only by an inch his weapon would just bounce off and get chipped.

He slashed at another leg but was unable to slice through the joint completely as it moved. Meanwhile, Nirah was doing a good job and was able to take two legs off. The ant swayed to the front unable to keep the balance. Sargon used the opportunity to get closer behinds ant’s neck and jabbed his coa in between the armour while taking a good aim.

The blade connected and he pushed harder separating the head from its body.

“WOW! How did that happen?” Wasi asked surprised.

“One of the week spots, no?” Sargon looked at Nirah.

“Did not know about that one.”

Sargon smiled. Nirah probably had at least a week’s worth of experience ahead of him, but there still were things which Sargon knew and Nirah didn’t.

“Let’s get the loot then.” Wasi motioned for the others to follow as he went deeper into the tunnel.

Sargon could not believe this was it. It was almost too easy. But then again, there were five of them now.

“How about the core?” He asked as everyone passed the ant uninterested.

“You will break your weapon before you get it out.” Lee told him.

“We tried it. The effort is not worth it.”

Sargon gave the dead ant a second glance and followed the rest of the party, Demi-Ura was just behind him. He was ready for whatever comes next, may it be the promised loot or another ant type monster. He didn't trust this party at the beginning but it seemed that everything will be fine.