Orrin held his breath as the first giant floating fish from hell swam through the air nearby. Smaller schools of Skylight Anglers started to group as they pecked at the blasted ground where the exit to the dungeon once stood.

“They’re not attacking us,” Iona whispered from between Orrin and Rhys. They continued to make their way north toward the door to the next floor. “Is it working?”

“I think it is,” Orrin responded quietly. “Keep moving.”

Orrin kept his [Map] open to avoid the larger groups as best he could with whispered instructions to Iona. A brief splash of blue against all the red surprised him.

“Either Sloane or Hamish are alive,” Orrin called out in a soft voice. “I see one of them on the edge of my [Map].”

Orrin didn’t suggest going to meet up. As cold-blooded as it sounded, he wrote them off when they’d left before the attack. After finding the coin in Iona’s pack, he trusted neither of them.

Orrin noticed Rhys stopped walking when the rope went slack between them. Two shimmering figures waited a few steps in front of him but Orrin avoided staring. Daniel was right. It hurt to look directly at [Camouflage].

“Why are we stopping? We aren’t clear of this yet,” Orrin spoke as he got close.

“Sloane and Hamish are the most likely suspects to have sold me out,” Rhys said, his voice still tinged with anger. “If they’re alive, we should…”

“Ignore them completely and get to safety,” Orrin cut him off. “Name one good reason why we shouldn’t escape first and let somebody else deal with capturing them?”

“They tried to kill Iona and me,” Rhys paused for a moment before adding, “and you. They should be dealt with here in the dungeon. It’ll be easier than outside where somebody can save them or pay to have them disappeared.”

Orrin’s estimation of Rhys dropped a little at the casual suggestion of murder.

“I only saw one marker,” Orrin explained. “One of them could be dead already. We don’t have enough information. It’s safer to get back to school first.

“But—”

“You’re assuming it was Hamish and Sloane. What if it was only one of them? What if Hamish is innocent in all of this and just wanted some extra experience? What if we find him but Sloane died in the tsunami of monster fish that whoever attacked you summoned to one place? I’m surprised either of them is alive, to be honest. If I set up that attack, I’d have used it as an opportunity to take out the entire team, not just you. If nobody is alive, this entire thing would be written off as bad luck in the dungeon.”

Rhys didn’t respond but Iona finally added her voice. “Rhys, he’s right. My priority is getting you to safety.”

“What else?” Rhys’s voice had taken the steely cold timbre again as he questioned Orrin. “What else would you do if you’d set this up, Casimir? Since you’ve given it so much thought.”

“I’d have somebody waiting on this floor near the next door as well. I’d have somebody else at the seventh floor’s entrance. Maybe even back at the dungeon entrance. As many contingencies as I could afford, in case you made it through,” Orrin answered truthfully, having already tried to think of anything else they might encounter. “I’m not seeing anyone else on this floor right now, but I’m keeping an eye out for it. If Hamish or Sloane are partnered up with whoever wants you two dead, I think we should be running for the exit and not wasting time arguing. We know where they are but they can’t see us. They can’t find us. You’ve seen how fast I can run, Rhys. If I wanted to kill you, all I’d need to do is leave you.”

No further words were exchanged. The rope pulled taut and Orrin continued to bring up the rear.

After another twenty minutes, the incoming swarms of monsters began to thin out. Orrin estimated between two to three hundred Anglers were now swarming the spot where the assassin’s aggro spell went off.

He reapplied [Camouflage Ward] when it ran out every five minutes. His only warning that the time was up was the sudden appearance of Iona and Rhys in front of him. The sixth time it ran out, two Anglers noticed them and changed direction.

Iona dropped her bag and stood in front of Rhys. “Take Rhys and run. I’ll hold them off.”

“We can take them,” Rhys said, his face drawn. He’d recovered a bit from the shock of the attack but Orrin knew that kind of sudden trauma was lurking just beneath the surface.

Iona shook her head. “It would take too long. More will come to the sounds of… what are they doing?”

Orrin dropped his hand as he finished casting [Decrease Strength] on both multiple times. His mana regen potion finally wore off and he swore as he saw his mana pool not recovering as fast. “Can they track us if we disappear again?”

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Iona turned her body so she stood between Rhys and Orrin.

“For fuck’s sake. I’m not here to hurt you. This isn’t the time for a heart-to-heart. Answer the question?”

“I’m not sure,” Rhys said as he gently pushed Iona to the side. “What kind of spell did you cast?”

“Go kill the one on the left. I’ll take the right.” Orrin walked away, ignoring the question. He used a newly summoned [Ice Sword] to hack the Angler to pieces.

Experience Gained: 500 XP

“Could you do that to them the entire time we’ve been here?” Iona asked as they regrouped, leaving the sashimi pieces covering the grass behind them.

“It costs a lot of mana,” Orrin lied, handing them the rope. “Let’s try and avoid any more fights.”

Orrin continued to watch his mana go down over the next hour. He knew [Mind Bastion] helped him think logically but found another fun trick. It helped him keep time by counting. It wasn’t perfect but without a watch, Orrin improvised as best he could. Every three hundred count, he had his camo ward ready to go. He didn’t see another blue dot on his [Map], despite keeping it running most of the time. Either Sloane and Hamish were dead or they were keeping out of their path.

“I need a break,” Iona finally spoke, piercing the silence around them. Only a few random Anglers passed them over the last ten minutes.

Orrin watched as a hole appeared in the ground, pushing dirt up into a hillock. Within a minute, an entrance down into the once-pristine grass appeared.

“Neat trick,” Orrin said, looking into the dark cave she’d created. It reminded him of a computer game he played for a while with square blocks. He always went exploring too far from his base and made small covered dirt houses to avoid the nightly monster attacks. Orrin sighed. He missed video games.

The trio moved inside and Iona closed the entrance, leaving them in darkness. Orrin heard rustling sounds as Iona went through her backpack and the sudden burst of light surprised him.

A light cube, Orrin figured. The clump of metal she’d had in her bag was like his heater cube.

“I told you this would come in handy,” Iona bragged as shadows flickered off the tight hole in the ground. She’d shaped a small circular room with the compacted dirt and even left a raised seat along the edges for them to sit. Everyone’s feet touched but it was still comfortable enough to rid Orrin of the stress of constantly watching for an attack.

Orrin noticed something else. Iona wasn’t tired. Rhys’s robe, on the other hand, was soaked in sweat. He leaned his head back against the wall and took deep breaths.

Orrin felt bad for not noticing earlier. His own stats were buffed up, with a quick top-off here and there as needed. Iona gave the impression of a hybrid fighter and mage build, with enough strength to carry that big pack around. Thinking back now, Orrin realized Rhys was using his glaive as a staff and leaning on it more.

“Are you ok, Rhys?”

“I’m fine,” the man snapped back in the darkness. The light of the cube was only a little better than a fire and something about being underground made it seem darker.

Orrin grunted in frustration. He was not going to let Rhys exhaust himself and die after saving him. “You’re not fine and if you don’t communicate with your party, you’ll slow us down. Are we pushing too hard? We can rest until you’re recovered.”

Rhys said nothing but settled back a little more. Iona nodded thankfully toward Orrin.

Keeping one eye on [Map], Orrin kept playing with [Merge] as he had been doing for days. There had to be some combination of spells that he already had that would help him get out of the collar. He had twenty-five ability points to spend. He had twenty-four Administrator points to spend.

After a few minutes, Orrin groaned in frustration and rubbed his temples.

“Thank you for that,” Iona breathed into Orrin’s ear.

He jumped and felt the confinement of the space. Rhys’s chin was on his chest and a light snore echoed in the room. Orrin turned toward Iona. She’d moved closer to him, giving Rhys a few extra inches to stretch out.

“For what?” Orrin tried to see where the exit to the tiny space was and failed.

“Talking back to him and making him rest. Nobody gets away with challenging him back home. He does whatever he thinks is best. It’s one of his greatest flaws. His mother gives him everything but someone to contest him. He doesn’t listen to me when I do speak up and I worry he’ll do something pig-headed one day while I’m not around that gets him killed.”

Iona rarely spoke more than a couple of words around Rhys. Now that he was resting after pushing himself to keep up with them, she opened up to Orrin. He knew she was attractive but with her sitting so close, he couldn’t help but notice it again. Her deep brown eyes drew him in as the shadows continued to dance on the wall.

“What do you think our chances are? Of surviving, I mean.” Iona’s voice was close to breaking.

[Mind Bastion] was still on. Orrin kept it running the entire time to be safe. He couldn’t afford to break down in a stressful situation like this. He knew it was a crutch but it was convenient and useful. A darker part of his mind told him to use this opportunity.

Iona was scared and confiding in him. With her walls down, she appeared much younger. Orrin forgot that both of them were his age. They kept the act up of being adults well.

Tell her ‘I’ll protect you’ and she’ll be a great ally. She could be my way in with Rhys. Orrin felt disgust flare, even through [Mind Bastion].

He let the skill go and felt the fear and uncertainty of the situation fully for the first time for hours.

“I think if we work together, we have a chance. I’ll do my best to help you keep Rhys safe. I have a few tricks up my sleeve still. We need you recharged though. Get some rest. I’ll keep watch until he wakes up.” Orrin told her the truth. He didn’t want to lie or give her false hope.

She blinked hard twice and nodded. She turned to move but hesitated. Looking back, Iona rested a hand on Orrin’s shoulder. “Thank you. No matter the outcome, you helped us and I’m in your debt.”

“Friends don’t keep count of that stuff. Buy me a cup of coffee when we get out of here and we’ll be good,” Orrin joked.

“Oh, I can do better than that,” Iona exclaimed, grabbing her pack. “This might not be good after sitting all day and I don’t have any cream to go with it, but…”

Iona pulled a waterskin from her bag and offered it to him.

“I already had some water earlier,” Orrin said with a smile. “Thanks though.”

“It’s coffee.”

Orrin seized the skin before she changed her mind. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me.”