We stay by the road leading to Roheb. I sit and train my mana control. Axi is doing the same. One hobgoblin pokes in his nose. I sigh. It’s the second day. We don’t have a problem with food, as we can easily find enough prey for our small group in the surroundings, but hunting takes some time from observing the road.

Should I pull Axi for a quickie? No, no… We need to save Anastasia. This task is dangerous enough without me derailing it even more. An hour later, we spot a cart moving on the road towards Roheb. Finally!

I creep closer to the road while making sure the shrubbery will hide me. The rest of the team follows. We lie for some time, and I raise my head and observe the group. The cart is pulled by a horse. Someone drives it. A few people are on the card, some in armor. Great. This is exactly what I waited for.

Wait, I need to wait… I prepare a few clots and wait until they are the closest to us. Now! The clots hit an isolating barrier. Over the whole cart. Fuck! Who even does something like that?!

“Something strikes the barrier!”

Axi throws a small ax and hits one of the four adventurers in the shoulder.

“Go!” I shout.

“Ambush! Hobgoblins!”

The cart driver jumps down and crawls under the cart. The rest prepare to fight. I buff everyone. Two melee fighters engage Axi and two hobs, but my side has a definite advantage.

“Fuck! They are strong.”

“Yeah. You don’t stand a chance.” Axi says, to which they only grimace.

“Kill the old one first!” The mage says this to the archer, who shoots an arrow at Axi. Soil armor makes the puncture shallower, and she just rips the arrow out, the wound closing overtime saturated with vitality.

The mage casts a water spell and muddies the ground. Axi’s armor slowly comes down. Then, the mage starts controlling the mud, sending it under hobs and making his friends footing secure.

Not good! I send an orb of isolating mana at the mage, which startles him, but not for long. Archer fires again, this time hurting Axi more. Two hobs fight the adventurer with a handax in his shoulder, but the mage concentrates on Axi's opponent, keeping his guy alive.

Axi throws another hand-ax at the previous guy. Mud raises to intercept, but the hand-ax pushes through, and the adventurer blocks with his shield. Ax burst with flames, burning the warrior.

“Shit!”

Hobs try to finish him off, but the mage intervenes.

“I won’t be able to hold them long! Finish them!” He shouts to the archer. I throw several orbs at the archer, plus a clot. I feel his shield giving in, but he shoots regardless. Clot hits. I throw a spear, forcing him to dodge.

Axi’s opponent’s head flies. She rushes at the mage, which abandons two hobs and casts two orbs. Chaos mana! Two orbs break on Axi’s Mana Shield. The mage changes to fire, but Axi’s seizes the mana. He goes back to mud, but the ground under Axi is no longer muddied as much, since she changed her location. She pushes forward and cleaves the mage in half. Damn. She destroyed his clothes as well. We need them for the plan!

The archer coughs and falls down. My clot found something important. One remaining hob stabs the burned fighter. I leave the shrubbery and come over to the second hob. He has an arrow in his head, and his soul is flying around. I rip the arrow out and push a very generous amount of vitality into his head. I place the soul back in his body. There! Hob wakes up.

I move to the cart.

“Wait! You can speak. Right? We can negotiate.” The merchant says.

“Why would I?”

The man grimaces. He surely knows his situation. “Anything. Anything you want. I will sign a contract!”

I heard about contracts from Anastasia. They are secure.

“We are taking everything from you. I may let you go for also telling me everything I want to know.”

“Yes!” The merchant forcefully smiles. “The terms?”

"That, and don’t go to Roheb for the next year. Don’t tell anyone about us.”

The merchant nods, and then, after a moment, panics. Then he grits his teeth and relaxes. “It’s done. What do you want to know, sir?”

Is it? I don’t feel anything. I shrug. Maybe it should be like this. “What do you want to sell in Roheb? What do you want to buy? Any interesting rumors you are bringing over?”

The merchant is more and more confused until he gets it.

“Lord, why not use this merchant, then? I can get you into the town. No need to learn all that boring stuff.”

My mouth hangs open. I didn’t expect this. Is this the peak of being adaptable? Anyway, should I? The contract doesn’t force your hand. There is only a backlash for breaking it. Besides, I doubt the guy will be very cooperative. It would be better to rely on my superior acting skills.

“Sorry, but I can’t risk it.”

He takes a look at Axi, but she doesn’t add anything. The merchant sighs and explains. He brings clothes, some steel, and fancy food products. He wants to buy the remains of monsters for crafters. No interesting roumors.

We change into humans’ armor and clothes. Axi runs back to the camp and brings the girls. There are some clothes in the cart as well. We rip one and create cloth masks. After that, Samantha takes the reins, and we drive the cart toward the town.

I considered going to Adam and his village for help, but that's risky. Not only are adventurers probably lingering around, but why would Adam help me? He sent an emissary to beg me for peace when I had been strong. He may as well decide to kill me when I'm weak. There's quite a bit of humans there. Given that only a few of us survived, we may even lose to the villiage in an open fight.

A few hours later, we see the town. After another half an hour, we are near the gate. Samantha is the driver. Two guards are staying near the gate.

“Reason for entry? And why mask your face?”

“Trading. I’m a merchant. Why asking? I don’t remember guards asking me this the last time I was here.” Samantha replies.

Guard snores. “I don’t want to be here as well, but we have a witch on the loose.”

“Witch?” Axi raises her head, and I start looking around for escape routes. The horse? Can I ride it? Maybe? This can easily devolve into a fight. At least the guards are not that strong.

“Yeah. She escaped into the dungeon. Your guards may be able to get themselves a reward. Why the masks again?”

“There is a plague to the south. Masks helps.”

“Show me your face. You can stay in the distance.”

Samantha takes down her mask.

“The rest?”

“My wife caught the disease. I can’t catch it, or we will all die of hunger." I answer and prepare a few clots. Axi gives me a look. Come on! Play along!

Guards grumble. “A plague is the only thing we lack. Go inside.” Samantha hits the horse, and the cart slowly moves through the gate.

Inside, I hope to relax, but I instead have to stop myself from vomiting. The town smells just as nice as Fikeral. Maybe I’m too used to the forest’s fresh air.

“What now?”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“We are lucky. We already know where she is.” I ponder. “We need to gather information, though. Let’s go to an inn. I will give you girls all our money. You can try to sell the merchandise from the cart as well. Buy whatever you like, but wait a day first. For now, ask in the inn about the witch.” I instruct. We move through the street. Axi and two hobs look around and generally behave like country bumpkins.

“Don’t look around like that, or you will give us away. Do you think we stand a chance if all these humans turn hostile?” I admonish them in goblin language.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Look around, but try not to show it too much. We are supposed to be caravan guards. It’s not strange for us to be looking around a bit.”

We reach an inn and pay for storing the horse. The problem is the cart. Space in the town is premium. The inn is only in the town because the town is in decline. The innkeeper asks us why we didn’t leave the cart near the gates, where it would be guarded. We just pay extra for storage.

Half an hour later, we sit in the inn. Me and the hobs are sitting at a table. The girls are sitting at a table closer to the innkeeper. The inn is mostly empty. Beside us, there are only four more people. Two of them are a couple. The two remaining are two men drinking in the corner. I’m guessing the business is better in the evenings.

“I’m interested in that witch. Is she dangerous?” Samantha asks.

“That’s what the governor’s men say. Again, she is reported to be in the dungeon, so you don’t need to worry.”

Axi is manageable, but two hobs just can’t sit on their asses. Should I buy them alcohol? I quickly reconsider. Better not. I have a feeling it's a terrible idea.

“Innkeeper, give us four a nice meal. I’m feeling hungry and generous.” I say.

“No problem.” Innkeeper smiles. “I love wealthy patrons. Are you adventurers?”

“I suppose. We mostly guard Miss Samantha here. Her father is quite a successful merchant. She is trying to follow in his footsteps.”

Samantha makes an embarrassed face. “I’m doing fine on my own…”

The innkeeper smiles. "I'm sure you do. There’s no shame in having a loving father.” He says.

“Let’s talk about the dungeon.” I change the subject since Samantha doesn't know what to say. I don’t want anyone to dig into our background too much. “Is there a reward for the witch?”

“Aye. A full gold coin. Mostly recovered from her last captor.” The man snickers.

“Oh?”

“The guy got a nice reward for her. Three gold coins. For some reason, he decided to bail her out. Some say it’s mind magic or a curse. Some say she seduced him. Regardless, she killed him after he stopped being useful. His name was Ferdinand.”

Is this the same guy who wanted to meet with me? If so, it's good that he's dead. Good job, Anastasia!

“But why is the witch in the dungeon?”

“Who knows? They say it’s because it’s hard to find her there, but some say she is planning something bad. Again, the governor’s men are staying at the sword, so she can’t destroy it.” The innkeeper shrugs and moves out, presumably to bring out food.

“Don’t remove your masks. This is a spoon. You take food into it and move it to your mouth.” I quickly explain it to my table. I show them how to bring a spoon to my mouth from under the mask. “Look at the humans there. Just behave like them.”

“Why are we even here? We need to go to that dungeon.” Axi nags me.

“Patience! We need an exit plan as well.” I stop as the innkeeper comes closer with a broth. It has quite a lot of meat in there and otherwise smells nice. “Thank you.” I say, and Axi tries it like I showed her.

“It’s delicious!” She shouts, and I give her an eye.

“I’m glad you like it, but why eat with a mask?”

“There’s a plague to the south. Masks help.” I rush to explain.

The man frowns. “But we are not in the south. Beside, you can’t keep it at all times.”

“It’s not only for me. I have decent Vitality, but who knows? Maybe I’m sick and can infect you. It’s better for everyone to be cautious.” Mentioning a threat to him, the innkeeper wisely gives up.

I eat a bit, and it’s indeed delicious. I think one of the hobs is crying. Damn! That’s what happens when you eat rotten meat for a year. I sigh. Mission!

“I’m thinking about catching that witch, but I was never in a dungeon. What is it like? Also, how long has the witch been hiding there? What's about guarding the sword?”

“There were four days from her escape. As for the dungeon, you are better off asking in the Adventurers Guild.”

Right. I see it. Four goblins walk into an Adventurers Guild… just like the start of a joke. I mean, I did that in Fikeral, but I was leading a small army, plus most of the adventurers were outside of the town. I’m not planning to court dead.

“I will go there, but living here, you must also know some things. Why didn't they catch her? Is the dungeon that big?”

“It’s a maze. And it keeps changing. I heard tracks are gone after several minutes, so it’s hard to track her.”

“Maps?”

“There are some, but mapping is expensive, plus the maze changes every month or so. I heard those changes are not that big, but in a maze filled with traps and goblin ambushes, they can kill you. After a year or so, you have a completely different dungeon. Again, you can find the most recent map in the Guild.”

“Traps? What kind of traps?”

“No idea. Try Adventurers Guild.”

Damn. “What about the goblins? Won’t they escape into the town?”

The innkeeper chuckles. “You are speaking about Dungeon Break. Most things in a dungeon can’t be brought back. If you try, your treasure will scatter like dust in the wind. That’s what I heard. Goblins are the same.”

I frown. “But some things can be brought out?”

“That’s the point of keeping the dungeon. And the Experience Points, I suppose.”

“How do you distinguish which is which?”

“No idea.” The innkeeper stops for a moment. “I heard mages can tell by looking at mana or something, but I don’t’ really know. The sword in the center is real, but it's the core of the dungeon, so removing it will get you an execution.”

"Well, thank you. At least they won’t make a fool of me in the Guild.”

The man chuckles. “Glad I could help. Feel free to leave a tip.” I do. Samantha and Nancy rent a room, and we all go there.

“Girls, as I said, you can have most of the money. Make sure you won’t be suspected, though.” I say.

“Don’t worry," Samantha says, her eyes burning with desire as she looks at the pouch.

“We also want to help Miss Anastasia. People in the camp didn’t like her much, but she was always nice to us.” Right. I almost forgot Anastasia had been helping them for a season. No wonder they didn’t protest too much.

“What now?” Axi asks.

“We go to that dungeon. I will talk. We are there to catch Anastasia, officially. This aligns with our true goal.” I ponder. We need parchment or a map. I don’t want to get lost in the maze.

“I’m taking some cloth from the cart.” This will make a spare pair of clothes and a map. I just need a piece of charcoal, and that would suffice. Food? I frown. I can buy it. Water? I suppose the same. We buy food from the innkeeper and waterskins in another shop.

After that, I led the party to the dungeon. There are quite a few people around. I’m pretty sure I saw a priest. The place is pretty neat, with a few buildings around. I guess someone is constantly guarding it.

“Good afternoon. Is the bounty on the witch still standing?” I ask.

“Sure.” One of the guards says, “But it’s still 20 bronze coins for entry.”

“Twenty?!” I shout. That’s quite a lot.

“For a person.” The guard grins. “Why do you hide your face?”

“A plague to the south. Trust me, in a month or two you will have one as well.” I sigh and give him a silver coin. “Any advice?” I just gave him 20 bronze as a bribe.

“There’s quite a lot of people in there. Don’t mess with them, or you will never make it out alive.”

“Thanks.” The guard opens a room. It’s a choke point, filled with holes around it. Great. I hope they don’t know who I am.

I walk inside the room and shiver when going over the threshold. The heavy door closes behind us with a bang. A bit ominous. I don’t linger and walk into a magical barrier. I can’t feel anything specific about it, only the greater density of regular mana. Whatever mana type it’s utilizing, it’s likely above my skill for sensing mana.

There’s actually a team staying right near the entrance. They don’t do anything. They just wait for something.

“Something wrong?” I ask.

One of them sighs. “No. She will try to leave at some point. We may as well wait.”

I grimace. I will need to kill those. Later. “Good luck.”

“Go die.”

I don’t respond, but Axi shows them a middle finger. Should I draw the maze? I’m not good at drawing. I look back. Sigh… “Axi, you have good Dexterity, right? Can you draw the maze?”

“Sure.” She shrugs.

“Make sure you draw corridors proportional to their actual length. And start small. We don’t know how big this dungeon is.” We march forward, but it quickly becomes apparent that we forgot about something obvious. Lighting. It’s dark in here. The group at the entrance had a torch, but we don’t have anything. I concentrate on Mana Sense skill. There’s nothing. Only things we brought in and our vitality mana. Wait! I can’t feel earth mana in the ground, but there's a bit of air mana in the air.

Is this what the bartender explained? That mage knows what’s real. “Axi, could you make some fire so we can see anything?”

She creates a small flame over her finger. It’s not enough to completely show us everything around us, but we at least see each other. “I can keep it indefinitely. It’s using my regeneration for such a small flame,” I nod. She can make it bigger, but she will be losing mana.

I try to spread my vitality mana. It works for feeling our surroundings, but it’s suppressed. Another proof that there’s some kind of mana in here that I can’t perceive.

We move for a few minutes until something rapidly flies at us from the side. It hits each of us, and eight goblins appear in our field of vision, each wielding primitive spears. I pull out a small bone from my arm and recognize that it left something in me. Poison.

I take a few steps back and buff the rest of the fighters. Axi moves into the group, killing them one by one. She burns another goblin, while two hobs fight the rest. I send a clot into one of them, but it’s destroyed by the goblin. “Catch one of them alive!” I order. Axi makes short work of them and pushes one of them to the ground. I move over and inspect the goblin. No vitality mana inside. I send some of my own vitality mana, but it’s suppressed by another type of mana. I take out my sword and kill the goblin.

You have killed 1 1st tier dungeon monster. You have earned 30 Experience Points.

“Those aren’t vitality lifeforms. I don’t know what they are, but my magic doesn't seem to affect them much. How are you?” I ask Axi.

“Fire mana in me seems to be burning some of the poison. I will be fine.”

I nod and send her a bit more vitality. Two hobs have it worse, but the poison doesn't seem very strong. Unless they receive more poison, they are likely to survive. The corpses slowly melt into the ground. Their weapons also melt. No food for us. Dungeon seems more problematic than I thought. Those dungeon monsters are not very strong, but they have the environment on their side.

“Axi, can you show me the map?

I frown. "Where are we?"

“Somewhere here? Sorry, I didn’t bother drawing when fighting.”

I grunt and take the map. It seems I will have to do it myself. This dungeon is annoying.