Are you sure this is safe? What if something jumps out and eats us…”

“That’s why we have hired adventurers, so stop worrying about nothing.”

“But…”

“No buts! Let’s just focus on the task at hand and you’ll be back in your stuffy room in no time.”

“I hope you are right Alanna, I just don’t like dark places...”

Two people were talking while being accompanied by a group of adventurers. One burly warrior in chainmail was behind them, clearly keeping watch to prevent any monsters from attacking them from the rear. Two similarly dressed men flanked them on each side, while a better-armored gentleman led the group from the front. Only one person in the group looked different, wearing leather armor with a bow slung across their chest. They were also upfront, seemingly keeping watch of any movement, ready to inform his party of any incoming danger.

“Of course, I’m right Eugene, aren’t I?”

The person talking seemed to be a young woman in her late teens. Next to her was a man of similar age and thin stature. Both looked more like scholarly types and their clothes resembled something more fitting for a library than monster-infested dungeons. Despite the obvious unease in the young man's voice, his companion carried an air of confidence, though perhaps misplaced given their surroundings.

“Young miss, it would be better if you remained silent, the monsters in the Dungeon react to sounds…”

The young woman turned to one of the adventurers surrounding her for confirmation of her claim but was met with a rebuttal. The man seemed annoyed for some reason but didn’t want to voice his opinions more negatively.

“See, I told you to be quiet, that’s why we were attacked so many times already!”

“Hah, that’s why Master hired these adventurers for us, don’t worry, they will protect us from these monsters. Stop being scared, they are only F ranks, are you even a man?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

The young man glared at the young woman, but his momentary bravery was interrupted by a strange clacking of bones resounding from the side. A skeletal monster emerged from the shadows and started running toward the group. Eugene, frightened, instantly ducked behind the woman named Alanna.

The skeletal monster charged forward with unnerving speed, its bony limbs clattering against the rocky ground. However, the adventurers didn't seem perturbed by its appearance, even less as it targeted the heavily armored man at the front. The monster raised its corroded weapon and brought it down swiftly, only for it to bounce off the man's armor. In a matter of moments, the creature's body crumbled from a direct hit by the man's large two-handed blade, and its remains were now scattered on the ground.

“Looking for something back there?”

Alanna turned to Eugene who was hiding behind her like a scared rabbit. Her tone was teasing, and the young man quickly straightened himself out after realizing what he had done. His face went red from embarrassment as he stammered out an excuse, but Alanna merely chuckled and patted him on the back reassuringly.

“N-no I was just a little startled by the reflection the torches made, it made it look like there were more of them coming.”

“Sure there were. Come on, Eugene, let’s keep moving. We’ve got to finish the job Master assigned to us.”

“Yeah, sure… but couldn’t he have just bought those crimson felle roots at the next action.”

“You know how he is, he's impatient and doesn't trust adventurers to handle them correctly. If you don't dig them up in a specific way and store them instantly, they'll lose half of their potency. You won't be able to make good products with low-quality ingredients... or at least, that's probably what he would say…”

She shrugged in response to the question. The girl knew their master was a peculiar person, and perhaps had sent them here to gain more life experience. Her friend seemed quite scared and would likely learn a lot from this little expedition.

“Now, let's go, the Adventurers probably want to go back home just as much as you do.”

Eugene nodded and they ventured deeper into the dungeon cavern, the air grew thicker with the scent of damp earth and mildew. The torches lining the walls provided just enough light to illuminate their path, casting long shadows that danced eerily across the rocky terrain. Along the way, they continued to encounter more monsters but none of them proved to be much of a challenge for the experienced adventurers accompanying them.

Despite Eugene's initial fear, he began to relax slightly as they progressed, reassured by the competence of their hired protectors. Alanna, on the other hand, maintained her air of confidence, seemingly unfazed by the dangers lurking in the shadows. Eventually, they arrived at a long bridge that would bring them to the area they would find the roots.

“I wonder how deep this is…”

Once there, she couldn’t help but look down into the chasm, where nothing but darkness awaited them. The abyss seemed endless and no one had yet confirmed if there was anything valuable down there, due to the monsters occupying its side walls. People had tried already and sometimes people ended up falling to their death.

“We are almost there, let’s just get it over with Alanna.”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

There was nothing down there and she knew it but right as she was about to turn away from the depths she noticed something. A little glint of light shone from below and her curiosity was piqued.

“Wait, there is something down there…”

“There is?”

Alanna asked Eugene, who for some reason had a frown on his face. The adventurers around them nodded at each other and moved forward as if they had something to add. Some time ago, there were mentions of monsters using bows to attack people traveling through the bridge. It hadn't happened since, but they had to assume the worst and act accordingly.

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“Can you see something?”

The armored man, seemingly the leader of the party, turned to the man wearing leather armor. This adventurer was clearly an archer, with eyes capable of seeing things at a distance much better than anyone else in the group. After urging the young woman to take a step back, he began to peek, and to his surprise, he was able to see something.

“... There is something down there… It’s a white bug and it’s getting chased by something… shit, what are those things doing here.”

“What is it?”

“Giant Shade Spiders…”

“What?”

Their leader replied in a panicked voice after hearing the words uttered by the archer. However, before he could panic any further, Alanna’s voice resounded from the side.

“Calm down, those are only the Lesser variants and they seem to be rather small.”

She was holding a spyglass which was shining brightly. On the side a strange symbol could be seen, glowing and making her tool look otherworldly. The adventurers looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to have such a useful tool with her. Alanna quickly scanned the area below, focusing on the white bug being chased by the shadowy spiders.

“It looks like some sort of insect... Wait, is that an ant? Not a regular one either but a…Gleaming Mana Ant and some sort of silvery variant of it! How, wonderful!”

Her voice indicated excitement as she almost leaned over and fell into the chasm while looking through the magical spying glass. Her entourage wasn’t sure what she was saying and if the ant was dangerous but they knew that those spiders shouldn’t be there.

“Can you get them?”

“Sure, let me try.”

The leader made the decision to stay for the moment, knowing the characteristics of the spider monsters. Even if they were attempting to climb up, the brightness of the torches here should keep them at bay. While they didn't take damage from the light, their senses couldn't handle brightness too well. They would become disoriented in environments filled with light and avoid them.

“...”

An arrow was notched into the archer's bow, and as he took aim, he held his breath. At first, he pointed at the malicious-looking spiders, but then an idea dawned on him. If they were chasing after the strange white insect, wouldn’t they seize the moment it was dead? There was no reason to waste his arrows on all of them if he could just get the white ant; then the spiders would probably retreat. Many times monsters frenzied into long chases, and only when their target was captured did they relent.

“No, don’t!”

However, before he could target the white ant, one of his clients grabbed his arm to stop him. It was the young girl that identified the ant with the help of a magical tool.

“What are you doing? Get back!”

The archer was puzzled by the young woman's sudden interference, but she was still someone that he needed to listen to. He could tell that she was serious and perhaps there was some reason that he didn’t comprehend just yet.

“Don’t kill it, don’t you know how rare Gleaming Mana Ants are?”

“It’s rare?”

“Yes, we’ll pay extra, we must capture it instead!”

He was stunned by her words and quickly looked to the party leader for confirmation. The man thought for a second and nodded. It seemed he was intrigued by her words, and if the ant was indeed a rare monster, then they would be rewarded for catching it, or perhaps for the monster parts it could drop. After getting confirmation, the archer changed his target and started firing his arrows at the spider monsters instead.

The archer's arrows flew true, striking the pursuing spiders with deadly precision. One by one, the shadowy creatures faltered and tumbled off the walls, their bodies crashing down into the abyss below. Eventually, the creatures started slowing down as they approached the top of the chasm, where torchlights impeded their progress. The ant they were chasing seemed injured, even missing one of its legs, but it managed to crawl all the way up to safety.

“It does look like a rare monster, I don’t think any books mentioned this evolutionary variant. Could it really be the first of its kind?”

Eugene's comment was heard by the adventurers who smiled. If what these kids were saying was true, then their commission from this easy mission could increase several times.

Alanna couldn't help but feel a sense of relief wash over her. She had been genuinely worried for the creature's safety, she did not really care for the rewards that it could provide as her reasons were different.

“Come on, let’s go help it! Oh, gosh, I can’t believe that this is happening!”

The ant was able to crawl up the chasm but it didn’t look good. From up close, its body looked dented in a few regions and it seemed to be struggling to move. Alanna attempted to rush to the creature but she was stopped by one of the adventurers.

“Stop, it's still a monster and is dangerous.”

It was heavily injured, its status screen indicating that its hit points were in the single digits. At first, it seemed that the monster wanted to retaliate. Its antennae started wiggling around in an attempt to cast a spell. The adventurers surrounded the young woman to stop her from going any further, but before the monster could continue casting, it just flopped forward.

“I told you that there was no danger, it just ran out of mana and stamina. If we don’t help it, it might die! Now let me through!”

The adventurers reluctantly let the young woman through. Their biggest concern was her safety as if they allowed her to be harmed, then their heads would roll. Alanna carefully approached the injured ant and could barely hide her excitement. This was a rare opportunity to interact with such a unique creature, one that could potentially hold valuable insights into the world of monsters. As she knelt down beside it, she could see its silvery exoskeleton shimmering faintly in the torchlight.

“Hey there, little one.”

Alanna spoke softly, extending a hand toward the barely moving ant.

“It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you.”

The shimmering monster didn’t react as it was fully passed out from exhaustion. She knew that the small creature wouldn’t last long and if it wasn’t taken out of this dungeon, then its life would probably end.

“How did this thing come here, it doesn’t look to be a dungeon spawn but an independent monster.”

“Interesting isn't it? Perhaps there is an ant colony down there… but how did it even survive? This variant usually gets eaten right after birth or is unable to hatch by itself. It needs to absorb a lot of light which is usually non-existen in the ant made tunnels, very interesting.”

“You’re quite knowledgeable about this stuff, are you trying to become a tamer or something?”

“This is just simple monsterology, you should know this too!”

“We don’t all have time to read obscure knowledge in our free time…”

Eugene seemed annoyed by the claim but also interested in the creature's origins. It was a known fact that dungeons could connect to outside spaces where other monsters resided. This seemed to be the case here too as within one dungeon, monsters that were created there would not attack each other.

“Young Miss, what are you planning to do with that?”

“We are going to take it with us, of course.”

She quickly replied while also moving behind her friend Eugene. The young man was wearing a rather large backpack, and from within it, she pulled out a rectangular box. After placing it on the ground, she pressed her thumb against a strange symbol, which soon began glowing with the same magical light as her spyglass earlier. The box started to expand in size, transforming into something that resembled a cage with a handle on top.

“It’s good that I took the monster cage with me, now we can bring this ant back and show it to Master! This is much better than those boring roots!”

“Master will punish us if we don’t bring them back though.”

“You’re right… I suppose you’ll have to carry this little for the time being.”

“Huh? Why me?”

“Because we can’t have the adventurers do it, they need their hands for the weapons. Don’t worry, I’ll take the backpack.”

Alanna's quick decision left Eugene with no room to argue. With a resigned sigh, he accepted the cage and placed the ant inside. To help it regain health, a potion of healing was poured over its form. While it would not restore the missing leg, it would take care of some of the injuries.

The ant stirred slightly as the healing potion took effect, its once-lifeless antennae twitching faintly. Eugene secured the cage's lid and, with some effort, lifted it, the weight surprising him despite the ant's small size.

"Careful now, Eugene."

Alanna cautioned, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"You don't want to drop our new friend."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with."

He nodded, though his annoyance was clear. Soon the group resumed their trek through the dungeon. Meanwhile, in another location, a different scene was unfolding. A suit of bronze armor had finally reached a safe ledge, which led into an illuminated tunnel…