Climbing up the mountainside took all of Bazel's endurance. The trail was thin and many parts were rock ledges cut into stairs, making it difficult to find good footing. Bazel just wasn't cut out for this kind of physical exertion – sweat poured down his face and his clothing under the armor he wore was soaked.

Everyone else chatted amongst each other without a care.

After the harpy raid back in the town, Alexander told them how to get to the harpies' nest. He made it sound like a simple walk up a mountain trail, but Bazel thought it was torture.

The conversation continued from when Bazel asked about how to better utilize his skills. Paris got on a roll talking about all kinds of tactics and different ways of training that could help them. She really enjoyed teaching if her cheery demeanor was anything to go by.

She's not even sweating! Bazel realized as he looked back at her, how does she do that?

"We need to consider your team dynamics." Paris said, "Every class has things they are good at, and they can usually fulfill more than one role. We just need to figure out what roles each of you should do."

"What's a role?" Samara asked.

"A role is a position that someone takes in a team," Paris pointed at Samara, "Take yourself for instance. Your class is Guardian, they excel in defense, but can also deal damage when needed. The role they generally take is that of the tank."

"What manner of thing is a tank, Lady Paris?" Risken asked.

"It's a motorized vehicle and weapons platform with treads and armor plat–" Paris saw everyone's vacant expressions and smiled sheepishly, "That's not important, I guess. For this discussion, a tank is the person who stands on the front lines and takes damage, giving their teammates a chance to attack."

"Woah!" Samara stopped and turned around to face Paris, "You're saying I should intentionally get hurt just to buy time for everyone else?"

"Sort of?" Paris stuck her hand out and tilted it side to side, "But, with all your armor and the shield, you won't actually be injured too badly. Also, you have skills that are specifically geared towards negating any damage that gets through all that."

"Huh." Samara started walking again while pinching her chin in thought.

"It's the same thing you did when you and Bazel were fighting the snakes." Paris playfully punched the air, "Remember how you blocked their attacks while Bazel set up to deliver the final blow? You were able to take out, what, fifteen of them in a couple hours?"

"Six… teen." Bazel spoke between heavy breaths.

"That's pretty good!" Paris pumped her fist, "The two of you were already fulfilling roles without even knowing it."

"Lady Paris," Risken tapped her shoulder as he walked behind her, "What other roles exist?"

"Ah!" Paris held her hand up and began counting them off with her fingers, "There's the tank, which I already mentioned. There's the dealer, who's responsible for actually doing the damage, controllers who keep the enemy at bay or lead them into position, and various support roles, like healers and buffers."

"I am afraid we will need further explanation." Risken said.

"Well, like I said," Paris waved her hand in Samara's direction, "Samara here is a Guardian, so she can fulfill the role of a tank or a dealer. For this lineup, I would suggest sticking with tank and buying skills that support that role."

"Bazel," she pointed to the back of the formation where he was struggling to keep up, "is a Swindler. They are really good at being controllers, but as you've probably noticed, they can be dealers as well. I would suggest leaning into the role of dealer, especially if you're going to use firearm type weapons. Although, you might look into getting more skills that allow you to be a controller if the situation requires it."

"Finally, Risken." Paris nodded to the prince, "You're a Poet, and they are generally a support class. You can fulfill the roles of a healer and a buffer by using your skills to increase the abilities of your teammates and keeping their health up."

Bazel thought he was starting to see how it all might work. The way Paris suggested it, Samara would be in charge of facing the enemy head on, keeping himself and Risken safe. Bazel would be in charge of attacking the enemy with everything he had, while Risken could enhance both of their abilities to do so.

The only problem with the whole thing was that it had a point of failure. If one of them were to be taken out of a fight, it would be much harder for the other two to survive a difficult battle.

Maybe that's why she mentioned each of us fulfilling more than one role…

Bazel already learned that Risken could fight on his own using his skills in concert with his abilities. Even though his class was meant for a support role, he could do a lot of damage as well, given the right circumstances.

Samara was probably the best suited for combat, having almost equal ability to defend and attack. If Bazel and Risken both fell in battle, she still might be able to handle the enemy on her own.

But, as for himself, Bazel didn't think he could match what they were able to do. He already knew he was capable of dealing lots of damage using the Xanadu, but there were drawbacks as well. The time it took to load the gun and fire it was only ten seconds, but a lot could happen during that time. Sure, Risken could use his skill to reduce the wait, but that took time as well, and he might not have it if they were facing a powerful opponent.

Earlier, Paris suggested that Bazel might want to try using another weapon. Now he seriously considered it.

The Xanadu was chosen as his weapon by Samara, and she only thought about it after learning that he could boost his strength by stealing it from the enemy. Bazel thought it might not be the best thing for him, now.

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However, it was easy to use.

The other consideration that made the Xanadu a good weapon for him was its simplicity. Point and shoot – that's all he needed to do.

Bazel never learned how to use a weapon before, as a beggar had no reason to fight. He doubted he could handle a sword with grace and precision like Risken, or a mace with strength and brutality like Samara did. In that sense, something like the Xanadu was perfect for him, except for its ridiculous size.

Maybe there's smaller versions?

Samara pointed ahead at the trail, "There's an alcove. You want to take a break, Bazel?"

"Please."

They walked up to the area Samara indicated – a wide, flat portion of trail with a small rocky overhang. A ring of rocks and some ashes showed that someone had used it for a campsite in the past.

"This is good," Paris nodded as she looked around, "Maybe we should just stay here for tonight and go to the nest in the morning."

"I, for one, would not be opposed to that idea." Risken said while finding a spot to sit.

"I brought some sandwiches," Samara made her blue cooler appear from her inventory, "There's some drinks in there, too."

Bazel sat on the ground and tried to catch his breath. Maybe he was imagining things, but it felt like breathing became more difficult the higher they went. Not only that, but Bazel remembered that each floor of the dungeon was only a couple hundred feet high, much less than the height of the mountain they were climbing. It was possible that the mountains took up more than one floor, or there was magic that made everything inside the dungeon bigger.

Who can say when gods are involved?

Paris and Samara made a fire with some wood they found lying in the alcove. It wasn't enough to keep it burning all night, but it was something. There were still a couple hours until sunset, but Bazel was glad for a chance to rest and recuperate.

Bazel retrieved a couple sandwiches from the cooler and offered one to Risken, who happily took it. He also got a couple cans of "Grey Sisters Magic Brew" from the cooler. The cold coffee was somehow refreshing, and despite not liking it much the first time he tried it – the taste was growing on him.

Samara and Paris also got some sandwiches and drinks for themselves. Everyone sat around the small fire eating in silence for a few moments. Once Bazel had scarfed down his sandwich, he asked Paris a question.

"Can you tell me if there are other weapons like the Xanadu?" Bazel made the large gun appear from his inventory and held it in his lap, "Maybe smaller ones?"

"There are smaller ones," she nodded, "but maybe I should explain what they are to begin with."

"I am also intrigued by the nature of Master Bazel's weapon," Risken pointed at the gun, "it is most unusual."

"Maybe in this world," Paris said, "but where I come from, they are pretty common."

"Oh yeah," Samara looked at Paris with her head tilted, "I keep forgetting that you came here with the dungeon."

"That's right," Paris nodded, "I'm from another world, one called Olympus. Olympus is where the gods live– well, my gods anyway. But they have many worlds under their control. Anyhow, that's not really important right now. What is important to this lesson is your world, or rather the level of technology in your world."

"We do not study or advance technology here," Risken said, "the divines do not allow it."

"Yes," Paris gave Risken a strange look, "I'd like to hear more about that later. For now, let's just say that the world I come from, as well as all the worlds under the control of the pantheon are very technologically advanced."

"Long ago," Paris looked distant, "people from the same world that my gods are from invented something called firearms. They were an easy to use weapon that combined aspects of chemistry, simple mechanisms, physics and metallurgy. The science behind them is actually pretty fascinating, but we can save that for another lesson.

Paris summoned her interface and used her finger to draw something on it. She turned the interface around so everyone could see it. The crude drawing she made was a tube with a handle and a trigger.

"The basic concept for a firearm is this. The tube, or barrel is used to guide a projectile called a bullet, or sometimes round." She drew a small ball in the back of the tube, near the handle, "The bullet goes here, and behind it is an explosive material called gunpowder."

Somehow, Paris made the drawing come to life, and a silly looking explosion shaped like a ball of smoke appeared, pushing the bullet out of the tube.

"The gunpowder ignites and propels the bullet out of the barrel." She pointed at the animation playing on a loop, "What Bazel has works on this principle in its most basic form. In fact, the Xanadu Gun is the name of the first gun to ever be invented."

"Normally," Paris dismissed her interface, "using a gun would require you to load the gunpowder and bullet yourself by either stuffing them down the barrel or using special mechanisms built into the gun. We took this a step further by using aether."

"All the firearms available in the dungeon use aether to create the materials inside the gun." Paris waved her hand and shook her head, "The process is a bit much to explain, but just know that the gunpowder and bullets are real, and they were created using your own aether."

"As for the Xanadu," she pointed at the gun on Bazel's lap, "it is considered a heavy weapon, and it's actually much less common than the regular firearms. Since it uses so much explosive material and heavy ammunition, it requires a lot of strength to use. Also, I'm sure you've noticed that the recoil on it is ridiculous."

"You mean how it pushes me back when I use it?" Bazel asked.

"Exactly!" Paris nodded with a smile, "All of that requires strength to use, strength that you don't naturally possess. But, there are smaller firearms that don't require strength. Instead, they are considered to be Agility and Sense weapons."

Bazel summoned his own interface and looked over his stats.

《 Bazel

Swindler, level 6

Rank E

Experience: 7689/8800

Health: 70/70

Aether: 160/160

Credits: 3,575

Stats:

Strength - 6

Stamina - 8

Agility - 7

Sense - 15

Intelligence - 18

Spirit - 17 》

"That would probably work better," Bazel nodded as he looked at the screen, "My Agility is only seven, but my sense is fifteen."

"Agility is an easy stat to raise," Paris said, "If you factor in buffs you can use like [Drain Agility] or Risken's [Song of Hermes], you can have much higher Agility than strength, which would make normal firearms do more damage."

"I never thought of that," Samara said, "honestly, we bought the Xanadu on impulse just so Bazel could have a weapon to use."

"It makes sense," Paris shrugged, "I mean, with the ability to drain strength, I can see why you went for it. Maybe after this job, we can look into getting him a regular gun, and he can use the Xanadu as backup."

"But," Bazel pointed at his screen, "I still need to get my Agility up."

Paris smiled at him. It wasn't her normal, friendly smile, but one that conveyed a predatory hunger directed right at him. It made him shudder.

"Lucky for you," she said, "There's a trainer here who can whip you into shape in no time!"