Karsten had never been particularly adverse to conflict - He had even gained just gained a little experience fighting monsters, and survived fighting a Boss monster.

Still, he was not confident in defeating the man before him at all. The man was like the blue version of The Hulk.

By the way - just thinking about it, that bat was far too powerful for a level one monster.

‘Isn’t a level one Boss supposed to be something like a bear, or something? The bat we fought was more like a level five monster. Was there an abnormality with the dungeon? But Henry didn’t even mention it… Are the dungeon Bosses in this world just like that? Is this Hell difficulty, or something?’

The Goliath tilted his head slightly, snapping Karsten back to attention.

“Ah, hi! We saw your entry at the Guild. You wanted to go to the Ant Hill?”

The giants expression eased and he nodded in enlightenment.

“That is correct. Please, come in.” The man rumbled.

Standing to the side, he gestured for the duo to enter.

Not daring to reject the man’s offer, Henry and Karsten glanced at each other before heading in.

Room 26 was small, a two person twin bedroom with a simple table and chair in the middle. Through a small window between the beds, light tricked in, illuminating the sitting area.

Occupying one of the chairs was a tall, muscular woman that Karsten figured could only be Haressy.

Her skin was gray, more so than Malek’s that had a deep blue tint to it. Her hair was dark brown, wavy and tied into a low ponytail. She wore a simple, light-gray and brown outfit, and she immediately struck Karsten as someone down-to-earth.

As the two foux cousins entered, she got up from her chair and offered her hand to the two.

“Hello! My name is Haressy, and this is my brother Malek.”

The two greeted her politely and got down to business.

The four stood in a loose circle in the middle of the now stuffed room.

“Me and my cousin, Henry here,” Karsten began, gesturing towards Henry, “, just came here from Alles. We cleared the level 1 dungeon there, but only barely. We wanted to go straight to a level two, but it isn’t really realistic for us to delve with just the two of us. Especially not in an A2 dungeon.”

“That was wise,” Haressy nodded. “My brother and I had the same thought. We have very little experience in dungeons, you see. We were recently kicked out of- I mean, we moved out of our home in the forest a few days ago, and both decided we wanted to become Adventurers. We have delved into one dungeon, the one in Gelliy, but we did not kill the Boss there. I only barely leveled up, and my brother is still at level 1. We, much like you, wanted to challenge this level 2 dungeon directly afterwards, but we are not strong.”

Marek nodded in agreement, and Karstens smile stiffened slightly.

‘Level or not, this man could snap me in two with his pinky.’

“We decided it would be best to put in an entry with the Guild and wait here for a couple days. We are glad it paid off!” Haressy smiled, and extended her hand yet again.

“It’s a pleasure working with you!”

Karsten laughed and shook her hand again. “It’s a pleasure working with you two as well, my new Giant friends. Wait, is calling you Giants offensive?”

Haressy chortled and shook her head, “No, no, it is fine.”

“Phew, good. I was afraid your brother would kill me, or something,” Karsten laughed.

“What? Of course not, my brother wouldn’t even hurt a pillinsect!”

“Haha… Sure.”

For the next hald an hour they went over their classes and talked briefly about who should play what roles in the upcoming dungeon raid. During the discussion, Henry posed his earlier idea of centering their strategy around the siblings drawing fire, and gained the cooperation of the two Goliaths.

After they were done, Karsten and Henry bid their new temporary party members goodbye, having agreed on entering the dungeon at first light the next day.

Walking down the stairs to the first floor to book their own rooms, Karsten exhaled a calming breath.

“That guy looked like he could have killed us by waving.”

“Yup.”

“And he’s level 1? What’s that even supposed to mean? What does that make me?”

“A pillinsect.”

Karsten sighed. “His sister was nice, though.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s a Druid, right? Having someone who can control animals and dirt when going into an A2 with ants is probably gonna save us a lot of time.”

Henry agreed. There was likely no better choice for companions better for this particular dungeon in the region.

"We were pretty lucky.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

They each booked and retreated to their own rooms, Henry bringing his spear from their shared bag and Karsten bringing with him a pastry from the bar.

~~~

Munching on a delicious bun with berry fillings, Karsten sat down on the bed of his small rented room.

He’d chosen the cheapest option available, not wanting to waste any money on things other than what was absolutely necessary.

He’d decided to put berry filled buns high up on the list of necessities.

Finishing the bun and brushing his hands on his thighs to get the crumbs off, he reflected on the last few days.

He’d thought about this on the long walk to Alles; The environment in this world was quite odd. There was something that didn’t feel right about it.

Obviously, it was another world and the environment would not be the same as Earth's. Still, Karsten felt that something was off. It was a strange feeling, and not one that was easily described.

It was as if some balance was skewed. He remembered the forest, how tall the trees were and how extreme the plant-life was.

Then he thought about the grasslands, and how there was seemingly not even a single rock protruding from the ground, as if it were a bare Minecraft world. Not even a single flower could be seen for kilometers.

Karsten knew he was probably wrong, but he couldn’t quite let the feeling go. It was a feeling he felt in his bones, and it made him think, perhaps the anxiety he had felt since he got here was not only because he had been teleported away from his homeworld.

Karsten shuddered.

He wanted to look into the matter, but what made this difficult was that whatever had made the world this way - if anything weird had even happened at all, nobody around him seemed to think anything was off. If he started asking questions like “Why are the trees so tall?”, people would just think he had the mind of a child. The golden star pin didn’t help in that regard.

He shook his head, wishing he could shake the thoughts out, and lay down on the thin mattress.

In the early-evening sunlight, Karsten fell asleep.

~~~

Karsten slept through the whole night, only waking up groggily when Henry had knocked loudly on his door, telling him to get up.

Still with a lingering anxiety deep in his chest, Karsten got up and got dressed.

He found Henry and the Goliath siblings in the lobby of the Inn, having already eaten breakfast.

“Do you need to eat before we go?” Haressy asked.

Karsten shook his head, patting the bag of holding at his hip. “No, no need. I have some snacks in here I can munch on on the way.”

Haressy nodded, and they all got up and left the Inn, heading towards the Guild Office to register that they were partying up for the raid.

As they entered the Guild Office, they were greeted by the same, merry old man as the day before.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Oh, hello, lads and ladsies! Henry, my boy,” He said excitedly, “I have a surprise for you today!”

Henry frowned, sensing this ‘surprise’ wasn’t something he was going to particularly enjoy.

The old man waved his hand to the side, ushering over a girl that was sitting in a recliner by the entrance. She stepped up beside him, and the old man placed his hands on her shoulders with a proud smile on his face.

“This is my granddaughter, Allis. She just chose her class last week, and is still level 1. Do not be fooled by her level, however, she is the most talented wizard this world has ever seen.” Saying so, he folded his hands politely behind his back and looked at Henry expectantly.

“...”

“...”

Karsten couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

Willfully slapping his ‘friend’ on the back, he pushed the man forward.

“How exciting!" He exclaimed, matching the proud smile of the Official. “Henry has been talking about this all of last night and this morning. I cannot tell you how excited he’s been!”

The grandfather visibly sighed in relief. “Oh, that is great. My little Allis here has been fretting all night, I am glad she is not the only one.”

"Grandpa!" Allis chided, but the Official only laughed.

“Oh, how romantic. She simply has to join you in the raid.”

“No, I don’t-”

“Marvellous! We were hoping you would ask. If not, I believe a certain anxious little someone would have cried himself to sleep.”

“Karsten…”

The Guild Official pushed his granddaughter gently forward, then turned back and darted behind the counter.

“You younguns can get going immediately, I have already handled the registration.” Saying so, he picked up a slip and handed it to Karsten.

“Thank you, grandfather in law. You really know how to bring the hopeless young singles together!” Patting the old man on the shoulder, Karsten turned to leave. The giant siblings followed hesitantly after, and finally followed by Henry, wearing the most forced smile the group had ever seen, and a fretful, blushing woman.

~~~

Eying the group suspiciously, the guards on duty at the dungeon entrance checked the slip to see if anything was out of place.

The group that was entering this time was rather strange. Most notably, there were two Goliaths that intimidated even him, a level 3 Warlock.

There was also a Bard that smiled in a way that unsettled him.

Lastly, there was a level 2 Spearman and a level 1 Wizard that looked like they’d been forced on a date, or something. The man’s smile was a fine line, and the woman kept glancing at his biceps.

“What an eccentric group…”

“Hm?”

“Oh! Eh, no, nothing. Y-you can enter.”

‘My habit of blurting out my thoughts has gotten worse…”

“Sorry?”

“Nothing. Go away. Sorry, I mean go in. You can go in.” The guard slapped his hands to his face, wanting to go hide in a hole.

“...Sure. Thanks.” Karsten and the rest glazed at each other briefly before heading into the dungeon.

~~~

As the dungeons theme was ‘ant hill’, it was, as expected, pitch black as soon as the party entered.

Before Karsten could summon his Eldritch Horror Cutie Eye of Eternal Grace And Beauty again, however, a small, white light formed in the air, illuminating them as well as the brown, round dirt tunnel before them.

Allis’ blush deepened at the others’ attention, but she mustered up her courage, stating, “I-I’ll handle lights. I can walk last… I won’t be a bother, I swear.”

“That’s probably best.” Henry said flatly, moving towards the front of the group.

Before he could take more than a few steps, however, a giant arm blocked his passage. He looked up at the bald Malek, who was looking down at him calmly.

“I think I should go first, as planned.”

“Right, I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

Malek nodded and started walking down the tunnel. Luckily, the tunnel was rather in diameter, so everyone had enough space to move comfortably.

Haressy fell into step behind her brother and was subsequently followed by Henry, Karsten and finally, Allis.

The tactic the group had agreed upon the day before was three different setups.

The first one was the one they were currently in. They expected that the further down they delved, the more ant monsters they’d see. Therefore Karsten was placed at the back, or nearly at the back, in order to save his Magica for the deeper stages and the boss fight. Now that Allis was with them, at least the strain of keeping up a Light spell would be cut.

During the entire delve down until they reached the Boss, Malek would go first. This was both most convenient with regards to drawing fire and efficient elimination of the monsters, but also made it possible for him to gain massive amounts of experience points. If all went well, he would reach level 2 by the time they reached the Boss.

Haressy was behind Malek for AoE support, as well as to slow down the enemies while Malek and Henry switched places if Malek’s stamina fell too low.

Henry was third to catch any stragglers along with Karsten, and for the aforementioned reason: Switching out with Malek.

Karsten’s role was as support. If he saw a hole in their defence that the others had missed in the heat of the moment, he would fill it by casting Vicious Mockery or Healing word where it was needed.

His new, additional role was to make sure that Allis both stayed safe, and got the chance to kill an ant here and there.

Dungeon diving without getting XP was a waste of time, after all. Karsten had pushed for her to join to annoy Henry, but he would still make sure it was worthwhile to her.

As they delved deeper and deeper, the first group of ants confronted them.

At this time, the value of their detailed planning showed its value.

As the savage ants came rushing towards them, many running on the walls and ceilings, they met them without taking a step back.

From the back of the group, Allis watched in unveiled awe.

‘Grandpa said they met yesterday… How do they have such good synergy?’

“Hey, I’m letting one through!” Kasten yelled over his shoulder.

Allis was startled out of her stupor as she saw Karsten lock a smaller ant towards her using a horrifying, flying eye.

Her fists clenched in fear, not knowing if the enemy was the ant or the eye, or both.

Not having any time to think, she flung both her arms up and yelled, “F-Fire Bolt!”

A bolt of fire shot off from her hands, traveling through the air like golden lightning. Yet, when it reached the demon eye, it passed right through, hitting the ant.

The and made no sound, but its legs shook in pain as it fell to the ground, the carapace on its face charred.

“Headshot!” Karsten exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. “Come on, finish it off!”

Allis’ breath slowed after the initial shock, and she followed the strange man’s suggestion.

She raised her hands again, pointing them at the ant writhing on the ground. This time when she spoke, her voice was a little more steady.

“Haa, haa, Fire Bolt!”

The yellow and red lightning struck the ant again, this time in its midsection. The and tensed up one final time, then its legs felt limply to the ground.

“Great job!”

“Woah!”

She almost fell backwards when Karsten abruptly raised his hand at her.

She looked at him with a worried frown, and after she didn’t respond for a few seconds, he realized what was wrong.

“This,” He said, pointing to his hand, “Is a High Five. You’re supposed to hit my hand like this,” He hit his palms together, producing a slapping sound.

“See?”

Allis’ brows furrowed as she asked, carefully. “A High Five? Do you mean like, those High Five?”

Karsten tilted his head slightly, not understanding what she was getting at. In the end, he did as he often did, and simply shrugged, “Ah, sure? Yeah.”

‘...Is he a follower of the High Five? The Eldritch Gods? No, how could he… But that horrible eye… By Sallis!’

Looking at how Karsten was looking at her so expectantly, she steeled herself and said an internal prayer. Taking a step forward, she hit the man’s palm with her own, then proceeded to take a handful of steps back.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing! I’m just not feeling safe being so close to the… to the monsters.”

“Oh, got it. You still want me to send a few your way?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Karsten nodded, then turned his attention back to the front.

Malek had handled the onslaught of the ants far better than any level 1 should have been able to, his limbs flowing and punching through the air like he was dancing a bloody war dance. The sheer strength he portrayed was impressive, and it made Karsten think he probably had a racial bonus in Strength for being a Goliath.

Haressy, that was standing a couple meters behind her brother, was performing wonderfully as support, even though she had only been in a dungeon once before herself. She was sometimes off with the timing of casting spells at times, letting a few through, but overall her presence was felt by the ones behind her.

They continued like this for a time until Malek called out for a switch, swiftly swapping places with Henry.

Spear in hand, Henry met the first ant that came rushing at him with a swift kick, a loud crunching sound coming from under his foot. Spinning his spear, he got to work.

As Malek retreated, Karsten cast Healing Word.

“You’ve fought well.”

Malek smiled warmly, feeling the words closing some of the few scratches on his skin.

“Thank you.” He breathed.

As the hours passed by, the party continued at an even pace. Still, dredging through a never-ending wave of ants without pause wasn’t something any group of level ones and twos could do. Retreating as quickly as they could, the party created some distance between themselves and the ants. After a while, the ants stopped pursuing them, leaving them time to rest and recuperate.

At this time, Allis and Karsten healed the wounded members of the party using Healing Word and some potions Allis had brought.

They continued like this for a long time. Fighting, then retreating. Fighting, then retreating. When they ran out of potions, they went even slower.

As Karsten was starting to worry whether they would reach the Boss room first or if he would faint from Magica exhaustion, they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

Figuratively. The tunnel was still as dark as ever.

As they got closer to the entrance of the tunnel, where it led out to the Boss arena, the rush of ants slowed to a trickle. Finally, it stopped.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the group sat down, leaning against the slope in the tunnel wall.

Karsten took a breath of stale air, and performed the Song of Rest.

Fighting the Ant Queen with jelly for limbs wasn’t possible, after all.

Our hero, our hero, claims a warrior's heart

I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes

With a voice wielding power of the ancient nord arts

Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes

As the song ended, the whole party let out a sigh of relief; Stabs closing and energy restored, they stood as one, ready to bring death to the Queen.