At Iona’s suggestion, they swung wide so as to approach from the northern side of the floor exit door. Orrin admitted her idea made sense. Either Hamish or Sloane’s blue dot on his [Map] confirmed one of them was waiting a few dozen yards from the exit. As the last remaining way out of the dungeon, keeping watch from nearby was smart. Orrin’s secrecy regarding his own skills, specifically [Map], gave them a slight edge. Without it, the betrayer would have the upper hand on their unsuspecting victims.

“They haven’t moved once,” Orrin whispered almost to himself. “Is there a good ambush point near the door?”

“There shouldn’t be anywhere to hide near the exit,” Rhys responded. “As far as I know, neither of them has any spells for invisibility either but I didn’t know you could do this. It seems my information sources need updating.”

“You had me investigated?” Orrin asked as they turned and began to backtrack. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised that Rhys tried to dig up information on him. It was just a new experience to be interesting enough to warrant that kind of attention.

“Of course,” Rhys answered, tugging on the rope that connected them. They moved slower and closer to the ground as they approached, keeping the tether that kept them from wandering off in one hand while holding their weapons in the other. Orrin didn’t summon a sword yet and kept to the back. “You arrived at the Sanerris School with no known backers, bypassed the pre-required classes to gain entry into a highly sought-after magical theory class, and an unknown party entered your room to leave a dead animal hanging there. Half of the reason I’m even taking classes here is to make good connections for my family and my future. You switch between being someone worth knowing and someone to avoid. With the way the teachers talk about your genius, I thought it was worth getting to know you. When you had your incident in your room, I thought you might leave. You didn’t and it made me more curious. When my mother sent her missive that we should join the dungeon raid, my money was on it being you who showed up.”

“Someone broke into my room and it just made you curious?” Orrin moved to a standstill, causing the rope in Iona’s hand to pull her to a stop as well. “I guess I should add you to the list of suspects.”

Orrin’s spell timed out and Rhys’s visage came into view. Looks of confusion and anger crossed his face in a flash before he realized he was visible. The young lord calmed his emotions and moved back toward Orrin.

“You stayed and even kept the same room.” Iona kept herself between the two young men but Rhys’s stress must have finally reached the breaking point. “You obviously know who broke into your room and took care of them. The only alternative would be you aren’t scared of whoever it is and are sending a message by staying in school. Professor Graem wasn’t bluffing during orientation. People die here. Sometimes it’s a failed experiment but assassinations aren’t off the table, as you’ve just seen firsthand. It’s why Iona was sent with me. It’s why we have the security of our dorms, for all the good that seems to have done. If I was a suspect, you would never have agreed to go into this dungeon with us. What possible reason could I have to do that?”

Orrin wanted to tell him off and explain the plan he and Graem had put together but movement on his [Map] drew his attention away from their little spat. The entire discussion was whispered but sound carried on the plains. His immediate fear of an attack from their lost party member faded quickly, as the blue dot sat exactly where it had been.

“Shh,” Orrin hushed Rhys and put a new [Camouflage Ward] up. “Monsters incoming.”

During the entire trek, Orrin maneuvered them around the roaming Skylight Anglers, keeping them from having to enter any fights. The frame of the floor exit was in the distance, just a few hundred yards away. Their potential saboteur was positioned another hundred feet or so to the south. At the far edge of his [Map] sat the pond that broke the monotonous waves of grass.

Six Anglers were traveling away from the pond and toward the door. One of the Anglers trailed a little behind the others, but all six would be upon the blue dot that marked their teammate in a few minutes.

The original plan to recon who was nearby and then figure out what to do was dead in the water. Iona would follow whatever Rhys decided and he wasn’t in the best frame of mind for making sound decisions. He wanted revenge. Orrin wanted answers.

“Six of them are traveling right toward Hamish or Sloane. We aren’t going to have the time to talk about this. I’m going to grab whoever it is and drag them through to the break room. Get in there and wait for me.” Orrin let go of the rope. “Or go ahead and get back to safety. I’ll find you later and tell you what I find out.”

“Why should we trust you?” Rhys asked, making Orrin flinch at the volume of his voice. “This could all be part of your elaborate trap.”

Orrin wasted precious seconds sneaking close to Rhys. It wasn’t hard to do even though he was semi-invisible. The bent grass under his feet hadn’t shifted since Orrin cast his spell.

“Just get Iona out of here safely, you idiot. If you don’t trust me by now, you never will,” Orrin whispered, making Rhys step backward. Then he ran.

Orrin ate up the three hundred yards to the door with barely time to ponder on how much he used to hate running. The more he got used to the increased dexterity, the more he was beginning to enjoy stretching his legs. It didn’t hurt that he was moving as fast as a car.

Checking the [Map], he frowned at seeing only five Anglers. He pushed his bad counting skills out of his mind and came to a stop near a tangle in the tall grass.

“Hi again, Sloane,” Orrin spoke as he began pulling the braided grass apart. The woman had somehow twisted the long blades into braids that covered her from head to toe. It was almost a burial shroud and once he pulled the first few apart, he realized why.

Sloan was fucked up.

Her left foot was gone, bitten cleanly away by an Angler. Above the missing foot but below her knee, the leg bone was broken, splintering off at the wrong angle. A multitude of cuts scarred her torso, with her burns from the light magic attacks along her arms. Her face was covered in her own blood, multiple open lacerations oozing. One eye was closed with a gash running through the middle. Orrin couldn’t see if the eye was gone.

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“Sloane, can you hear me?” Orrin glanced in the distance and could see the Anglers barreling toward him. Except now there were only three of them and something bigger chasing behind. “Oh shit.”

Orrin made sure Sloane was breathing and checked on her with [Identify]. Her HP was low. Low enough that Orrin cast a [Heal Small Wounds]. Sloane moaned as she regained semi-consciousness.

Now that he was close, Orrin could see the trail of blood and the divots in the ground where she had used her quarterstaff as a cane. She must have walked and fought her way to the exit only to collapse from blood loss this close to escape.

Her constitution was high enough that even with Orrin’s boosted healing powers, she would need professional attention. He could simply dump more mana at the problem, but keeping her docile until he got answers would make asking the questions easier.

He tried to be gentle as he picked her up, but despite his increased strength, Orrin wasn’t skilled in fireman carrying the dead weight of another person. He noticed her quarterstaff in the dirt beneath her and almost dropped her as he swiftly put it in his [Dimension Hole].

Orrin sprinted toward the exit as he checked his [Map]. The other blue spots that marked Iona and Rhys were gone, meaning they’d entered the doorway. The stone frame doorway that was so close. He heard a cry of pain from an Angler, a sound he didn’t know they could make.

Later, he would blame his inquisitive nature. He was only three steps from the door when he turned to look. From all their fights, the Anglers had never moved fast enough that he was worried they could catch up with him.

They’d also never been running from their only natural predator before. Two Anglers remained and Orrin caught a glimpse of the behemoth that swallowed one of them as he scrambled backward. He practically fell through the doorway, not having time to use an [Identify] but knowing this was not something he wanted to fight.

He was still carrying Sloane as he entered the break room between floors. Orrin caught himself before he tumbled and cursed aloud.

“That thing is terrifying,” he muttered to himself. “Did you guys see…”

Orrin trailed off when he realized he was alone.

Fuck. Orrin really thought they’d have waited but either Rhys was still shaken up or Iona had pushed her ward out to the seventh floor. They’d be able to turn right around and leave. At least they’re alive.

He did a closer investigation of Sloane. The number of broken bones, bites to her flesh, and shredded skin were nothing compared to the amount of internal bleeding and the concussion she’d suffered. Orrin wasn’t sure if she’d used a health potion and gently set her down before sitting cross-legged near her.

Slowly, Orrin healed her. He practiced the new technique he’d picked up after his fight in Battle Class to target specific areas of her body. He used only level one healing, as he wanted to study the way the mana moved around at the most basic intensity. Closing the worst of her bleeding wounds was easy. He could see the problem and willed the mana to stay in that area until it returned to normal.

He encountered more difficulty in fixing the internal bleeding. Through his mana, her insides looked like they’d been through an earthquake, all shaken and shattered. Her health fell slowly but steadily between healing until he simply layered the mana on those injuries and let her body do the work instead. It took more mana that way but if there was anything he had to spare, it was his mana pool.

Sloane groaned as the mana made its way into her head and cleared up some of the concussion. The scars along her face remained but she’d been lucky to not lose an eye.

“Sloane, can you hear me?”

“Where am I?” Sloane reached up and rubbed her eye. Flakes of blood crusted and fell. His healing didn’t clean her and she was still covered in blood and dirt. “Am I dead? Nope. I can’t feel my toes. That sucks. How’d I survive?”

Orrin explained where he’d found her and bringing her through the door to the exit room. He mentioned the larger monster that was chasing the Anglers and eating them, too. Sloane’s eyes became clearer as he talked and he helped her sit up against the wall.

“I also was able to grab your staff. I know how you fighters get about your weapons,” Orrin said, pointing to the corner where he’d already left it. “It’s yours if you can answer a few questions about what happened in there.”

Sloane stiffened at the change in tone. Until now, Orrin hadn’t mentioned Rhys or Hamish but as they were the only two left from their party, it was obvious what he wanted.

“Is Hamish alive?” Orrin asked what he thought was the easy question first.

Tears welled up in Sloane’s deep brown eyes. “I had to do it. I didn’t wanna but he made me.”

Orrin clenched a fist but kept his face calm. “Who made you? Do you know why?”

“I don’t know why. He said we could get more experience taking down a few more beasties on our own. After that explosion, I tried to go back to check on everyone but that’s when he attacked me.”

Orrin’s hand released. “Hamish attacked you?”

“Yeah, I thought that ya knew and that’s why ya asked. We fought and then more Anglers than I’ve ever seen swarmed all over us. Hamish was torn clean in two but I dove headfirst into one of them bastards. I killed it from the inside and escaped. I couldn’t see the doorway anymore and it was covered with the fish so I assumed every one of ya was dead or escaped. I made my way to the seventh-floor door but had to fight the entire time. I lost my foot trying to kick one Angler while another struck me from behind. I was so close when I felt my body give out. I barely was able to cover myself with the grass. I gave myself even odds of never waking up again. How’d you even find me?”

Orrin didn’t have a lie-detector skill, which now that he thought about it would be a really handy thing to get later; however, he believed her story so far.

“Did you see the person try to kill Iona?”

“What?” Either Sloane was an amazing actress or that was genuine concern on her face. “Did she escape? What about Rhys?”

“They’re both fine, I think.” Orrin stood and paced the floor. The resting room between dungeon floors was bare and not huge but he made sure to keep out of quick reach of Sloane as well as between her and the doorway. “Did you put a coin in Iona’s bag?”

“What are you talking about?” Sloane pushed her way off the wall and stood on one leg to face Orrin. “Casimir, are you accusing me of something?”

“I’m asking questions after an assassination attempt where two of our party members left shortly before the ambush. From what you’ve said about Hamish attacking you, I’m leaning toward him being the traitor. I don’t know why he would attack you and you could be lying.” Orrin rubbed his eyes. “I don’t really have any authority to arrest you or anything Sloane but you have to admit it’s suspicious.”

“I wanted more experience, ya know? I’ve been in here before with Hamish. We fought well together in the past. After his first attack,” Sloane touched her side where Orrin had healed a cut that might have been from an axe, “I tried to back away and talk to him. He kept coming at me and just said he was sorry it had to be this way. I don’t know what is going on.”

Orrin saw her eyes dart to the door to the next floor. “If you try to run, you won’t get away. Let’s return together and you can tell your story to Professor Graem. I’m sure Rhys already gathered some people near the exit.”

Orrin readied himself to attack. She spun a good story but if she tried anything…

“I’m innocent but I’m not scared of a healer with wind magic. You have the weirdest class I’ve ever heard of, Casimir. Don’t you worry your pretty little head. We’ll get this all sorted.” Sloane made a fist and hit the wall. The stone rippled as a shockwave hit her quarterstaff, launching it into the air.

Orrin was halfway to casting a [Decrease Dexterity] when she caught the staff and placed it under her arm as an improvised crutch. “Let’s go, then.”

Orrin sighed as he followed her to the doorway. They stepped out to the seventh floor. Orrin heard a bird call in the distance and saw the splashing waves of a beach off to his left but ignored it as he took Sloane’s arm and pulled her out of the dungeon.