A drunk Hector unsheathed his sword with his right hand, and then gave it some test swings. He shouted in pain. The weapon fell and clattered on the stone. For some reason, the metal weapon made more noise when it struck the black rock than his shouts. Too bad he didn't impale himself while he was at it. He was more than useless. Hector was a liability. I didn't want to test the contract loophole I allegedly found. Could I defeat these five knights? Maybe. Could I protect Kara while I did that? Meh. These guys were all level fifty to sixty veterans.

But the time and location to bicker and infight was not right then and there. We were about to be attacked. More chitters. It was coming from above. I took the directional lantern and tilted it, pointing up. A sea of brown fur appeared. Were these… squirrels? Brown bats? No, there, a fluffy tail. Why were they on the ceiling?

The light seemed to irritate them so I took the spotlight down and changed the lantern to all-around light by flipping the mirror tabs on the sides out and down, then lowering them so they could slide into the bottom. I left the lantern on the ground.

More squeaks. Angry ones. Chatter and squeals.

"Prepare for combat. Against small creatures, you use a fast weapon," I said. The first order was for everyone, and the second was a recommendation for the pikemen.

Then all hell broke loose. Dozens of flying squirrels flew down at us. More like a controlled fall. I didn't recognize these monsters from any bestiary. They looked too normal but if they were what the Dungeon went with for its third floor, they might be a menace comparable to the Mantids, at least.

"Don't be fooled. If they are down here in such numbers, they are monsters! Attack to kill!" I shouted over the cacophony of chirps and squeals from the monsters.

I was so distressed and out of my normal game, I forgot to identify them. All I cared about was to kill as many as I could and survive the encounter. I shot a few of them. The arrows didn't even slow down after impaling one or three of these creatures. I could shoot more arrows but they were coming down too fast. I would be almost defenseless if they caught me with a bow in my hand. Instead of switching to a dagger, I bent and removed Scout's Oath string, letting the bowstring fly off into the distance as the weapon flung it away. The ends of the staff were as fast as a dagger but with more reach.

The squirrels I shot fell down, unconscious. The collision with the ground did nothing to them. They only died when someone went out of their way to crush them underfoot.

> Your training and experience increased your Scouting Skill to rank V. Benefit: When not in combat, you move 10% faster per rank without loss of awareness.

> For killing level 25 Squirracula, you gained 94 Experience points.

They were considered rare by the System. We had thousands of them falling around us. Lucky us? I guess?

"Squirracula," I said at the same time as the knight who finished the critter. "I have no idea what the name means!"

Another squirming monster was also crushed by a boot, this time Hector's. It was a plump one. When the boot came down, the monster burst into a shower of blood.

The remainder of the Squirracula swarm squealed and dropped. The first wave that descended upon us earlier reached melee range. These critters could have a relatively high level but they were only Rare and their body type wasn't too sturdy. Given, they were a few times tougher than a normal squirrel and had a good amount of HP, comparable to, say, William who was uncommon. But we also were several times stronger than an ordinary human.

We couldn't miss the Squirraculas. Each swing of the blade went on, catching bodies until the arc ended. Sometimes these bodies caught on us, instead. The problem with fighting with short blades was that we didn't have the reach to keep the enemy at bay. Especially when the enemy had no qualms about climbing on their dead and dying brethren and rushing down the blade to bite at our gauntlets. Everyone fought against the descending carpet of murderous fur, even Kara and Hector. The Lordling's form was terrible with his left hand. But as I said, you just needed to swing with enough strength.

Squirrel corpses flew everywhere, painting us and the ground red. I was glad for my hat and its Force barrier. It kept my face and hair clean.

But the others weren't so lucky.

"I got squirrel bits in my mouth," a drunk Hector the Wolfertinger Slayer complained. His helmet, obviously, had an open face.

"Fuck you... sir!" A knight replied. Two Squirraculas tried to chew the glowing gems on his helmet.

Damn, the mental stress was tearing us apart. If we didn't curb this animosity, the Dungeon would dine like a king today. But we did a good job killing the first batch of monsters. Some living Squirracula scurried on the floor, some wounded, some intact. William was running around crushing them before they could climb his legs. Sleepy proved he needed a single bite to kill each squirrel and was abusing his speed to go between targets at a fast pace. I got another level up (25) from their efforts since we counted as a single entity and nobody in the group had an Exp sharing feature.

Then the second wave hit. A carpet of brown fur descended and the squirrels latched to our clothes and armor. That's when the monstrous squirrels showed their true horror. Their tiny mouths were circular with needle-sharp teeth as long as my pinky finger. They bit everywhere blood was, and tried to carve into our flesh. The teeth were so fine and long they could pierce between the links of mail armor.

Two knights started to scream as they panicked. Hector dropped his sword but swatted the squirrels away and off from him barehanded. No, he had a bottle in his left hand.

They were bloodsuckers. Kara screamed and I didn't hesitate to help her get the monsters off of her. Once latched, their teeth seemed to ignore HP and go straight for the prize. Our blood. We needed AOE. The wheelbarrows had alchemical fire bombs but they were lost before we even got to use them.

"Sleepy, ball lightning! Go big, not hard!" My intent was conveyed by our soul bond.

Sleepy didn't charge much. He released bursts of lightning that shocked and stunned dozens of Squirraculas. It was very effective on monsters that weren't latched on metal. The armor plates grounded the lightning, a known effect. The Wolfertinger ran around the group, sparks flying from his antlers and bursts of weak lightning alleviating the pressure on us.

"Bahhhh!" William ran around with dozens of Squirraculas stuck on his wool.

"Sleepy, help William!"

"Level!" One of the pikemen shouted. Soon, the other one also called a level. Hector didn't say when he leveled up.

The kill notifications were too much to count. Everyone had to disable them. I got yet another level (26).

Some Squirraculas bit through my pants where the boots ended and drew blood. Sucked blood. These were vampiric squirrels. I had to use a dagger and stab them.

More monsters came from all around. Those who fell elsewhere and not on top of us. I had no idea how many but they had to count in the thousands. When I managed to look around, the light was almost drowned in monsters. A lot of tiny claws clicked on the stone as the Squirraculas that landed away from us rushed our way.

We fought and fought and killed. But the swarm was endless. One of the knights had a Squirracula enter inside his armor, in a gap somewhere. He screamed and dropped down, rolling on the ground. The Squirraculas covered him.

A Squirracula-free William ran around with Sleepy on his back. Sleepy was lying close to William's horns and touching them with his antler nubs. But the little guy's MP was bottoming out. I could sense the magical exhaustion.

But the rewards were worth it. I gained yet another level (27). Then another two (29) at once in one particularly effective ball lightning. With Sleepy shocking and damaging almost every Squirracula out there, I also gained dozens upon dozens of solo kills and shared ones too. It was unfair but I didn't care. I shoved most of the points into Clarity to give Sleepy a bigger MP pool and more damage too.

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But my fellow delvers were hurting. Everyone, including me, had dozens of bite marks everywhere the little demons could reach. Our HP was useless. And every missing drop of blood weakened us.

"Close ranks, turtle up! Help others with monsters in hard-to-reach places!"

As my level climbed higher than the Squirraculas', the leveling speed plummeted. I reached level thirty, then thirty-one.

> You gained the Perk, Summon Sandpaper. Spend 10 MP to conjure a 0.2sq.m sheet of diamond dust sandpaper with any grain you want. Conjured sandpaper vanishes after 24 hours. Diamond dust cannot be traded or used as either reagents or crafting materials. Attempting to do so will trigger an early dismissal.

> You gained the Perk, MP transfer. You and your bonds may move HP between any of you at a ratio of 3 spent MP to 2 gained MP.

> The next Perk for both of your Classes is at level 40.

I almost choked when I saw the Perks. One was… rather useless while the other was fantastic. I immediately sent two hundred MP to Sleepy. He spent it to shock a carpet of Squirraculas into oblivion. I gained level 31.

Wait. How was the lightning not affecting William?

I sent Sleepy another 200 MP after drinking a MP potion. William changed direction and ran into another horde of monsters. Sleepy cast his spell again - though monster abilities were not actually spells - and the flash started right next to William's ram horns. The burst then washed around William as if he had an insulating bubble.

Bloody Hell. William's horns could parry even AOE attacks?!?!? But the setting made me suspect he had to touch the horn to the attack's source. Or vice versa. But I was proud of the two for figuring that out.

In other news, I hit level thirty-two.

*

*

Soul Scout (rare) Level 32 Attribute Base Bonds Efficiency Total Strength 240 21 110% 287 Dexterity 177 28 130% 266 Endurance 210 32 140% 338 Intelligence 159 5 110% 180 Wisdom 185 8 130% 249 Clarity 85 19 120% 124 Charisma 51 1 120% 62 Health (HP) 352 56 1787 Mana (MP) 128 30 349 Stamina (SP) 160 20 677

*

*

The stench of blood and carrion was almost unbearable. We were all alive but some of us were heavily drained. The little bloodsuckers were relentless; We had to kill every single one of them.

Three knights and one of the pikemen couldn't even stand up. They lost more than two liters of blood.

Blood restoration potions existed but they required a well-fed person to work. Using them on starving people was unadvised. It could very well kill them.

I took a backpack from my quiver and handed each person a bundle of trail rations. It was enough to sustain a person for a day if they rationed it. Which they didn't. Hector and the men inhaled the food. Only Kara had the discipline to eat only the recommended amount.

This was bad. The infighting for food and water in situations like this one doomed almost as many Adventuring parties as Dungeon traps.

Speaking of water, I set my MP-fueled stove and an alchemically treated pan. I added a conical glass lid and a rubber hose, then attached the hose to another pot. I used a frying pan to scoop blood from the many puddles that formed. Now that the ground was painted red, it was easier to see the slant.

During the next hours, I distilled more than a hundred liters of water out of the Squirracula blood and all the urine we produced. The taste was crap but it kept us hydrated. The still lid worked very well. Not much vapor was lost.

I would have distilled even more if Hector hadn't interfered.

"Where is the way to the Core!" He shouted his question in my face.

If I could get past the Mantids, I would have walked with Kara that very moment.

"I don't know. Go figure it out yourself."

He poked my chest. "You Are the Scout! It is your job to –"

A knight dragged the lordling away when Sleepy started to growl viciously. The Wolfertinger Sire was level forty-seven when we killed him but Hector was hale and had dozens of booster potions running in his veins. I wanted to see a crippled Lord face the pup in a revenge match.

Then, Hector broke free and ran toward me. His boots shone and he blurred, even to my perception. The useless weight we all carried this deep had his tricks and trinkets but didn't use them now. What else did he have?

I couldn't intercept Hector. If he wanted to attack me, he would get a free hit but powerful items like these boots of his had very limited charges per day. Instead of coming at me, which would break our contract and make him an Oathbreaker, Hector kicked the stove, causing the boiling blood to splash and breaking the glass lid. No more distilled water.

"Dude!" I shouted.

"Arrest him!" Hector ordered the knights.

"Sir, we can't," the lead Knight answered.

"Gods damn it, George! I thought we were friends!" Hector complained. "Why did you betray me so? How can you be so incompetent!?!"

Not friends, no. Hector thought he could make me his underling.

"Me too," I lied. "Now, I know only one thing. My supplies are not communal property."

With the knight holding onto Hector's left arm, I used the time to pack my things. The stove wasn't damaged but the distillation setup was ruined. Maybe I could fix it but by then the blood would have congealed.

"Kara, come with me. Let's scout for the exit."

Hector wasn't done yet. "Captain, I order you to stay!"

She gave the Lordling a long stare then spoke with the coldest voice. "I am sorry, sir. Not helping George Scout would be detrimental to the mission. I cannot in good conscience stay idle."

We left Hector screaming bloody murder and went toward what I believed to be the center of the room.

Now that I had the gimmick figured out, I could use my estimation error reduction Skill to keep track of the floor inclination. We climbed the soft incline for almost one kilometer before we found it. Right close to the center, the ground descended abruptly forming a cone. In the middle of the cone was a circular trapdoor that probably doubled as the third-floor boss room.

I set up one of my lantern posts and commanded my bonds to stay near it. Kara and I returned to the blood fields to let Hector know we found the way deeper into this murder hole.