Fayette peered into the doorway, looking for any sign of the creature she had just kicked away.

“That was a fast one, without my [Dangersense], I would have been completely caught out.” She eventually said.

“Did you get a good look at it?” Mireille asked, eyes searching through the room. “Was it one of our targets?”

“There was something strange about how it looked... It was kind of blurry. I couldn’t really make it out at all.”

Mireille thought for a moment. “Could it be... a monster? That sounds like some sort of skill. Elise, you didn’t tell us anything about monsters being here.”

The [Labourer] flinched. “There’s not supposed to be any monsters down here. We used to come here as kids, there wasn’t anything like that.”

Mireille frowned. “I guess we should have expected something like this with how abnormal these rats have seemed. Do you see anything in there Fay?”

The [Maid] kept her eyes focused to the front. “Nope, nothing. Should we go forward? I could maybe try something that should help clear the room.”

“Do you think we can handle them? This might get dangerous.”

Fayette paused, considering. “I think... I think we can handle them. It was fast and hard to spot, but didn’t seem that strong. If we’re alert, we should be able to do this. Elise, what do you think? You are the one new to this. Ready to face some maybe-monsters?”

“If you two can, then I’ll do it too.” Elise replied, holding her broom ready.

The [Seamstress] nodded. “Alright. These seem like troublesome sorts, so let's do this carefully—room by room.” She gestured at the different exits from the room. “I’ll put up a grid of wire over each exit as we move, which should keep things contained. You’ll need to do most of the clearing, while Elise supports you. Alright?”

Elise nodded and gripped her broom tighter. “Alright.”

Fayette did not nod, but began activating an ability. “This is my first try at this, so we’ll see how it goes. Try not to get any of this on you.”

Fayette kept held her left hand out, and began focusing on her [Spicy Cooking] skill. Before, she had used it to spice up food directly—efficient, but not what she needed here. I want to spice things up more generally. Just give me the stuff itself. The ability activated, going on cooldown for a while, and a handful of red spice appeared in her hand.

Fayette tested it out with a lick and flinched back at the spiciness. This is like pure, concentrated spice. She looked at the powder with whole new eyes. So delicious! This is such a useful skill!

She then looked at the dusty room around her and sighed. Such a shame to waste good spice, but, well, here goes nothing.

She threw the spice onto the ground in front of her and took hold of her broom with both hands. She activated [Sweep Dust]. The spicy powder, along with a whole bunch of dust in the room, got sucked into a swirling vortex around her broom.

Fayette focused on maintaining the vortex, not interrupting it for a release. She felt the ability losing power, so she knew that she couldn’t tarry.

“Alright, I’ll clear out all the nooks and crannies here with this—should knock our friends out well enough. Elise, Mirelle, finish them off for me, would you?”

She didn’t wait for a response, and moved into the room. She jumped out, running the red-tinged vortex of dust along the edges of the room. Mireille and Elise followed behind her. It didn’t take long for her to get her first catch.

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As she approached the first corner of the room, she again felt her [Dangersense] flare up. The presence coming from the corner she was approaching, so she didn’t slow down. No, she rushed in faster and pushed the broom. A shape tried to rush through it, but once it got mixed in with the dust and spice, it lost its bearing and crashed to the ground, disoriented.

Fayette stomped on it, then continued moving. She trusted that Mireille and Elise could finish it off for her. Next, she had to move past a doorway, and her [Dangersense] flared again. How smart exactly are these things? Now they’re just rushing at me when I get close. Strange.

“Got two coming here!” She shouted and swept out her broom through the doorway. She managed to hit one creature, but another one had ran along just beneath her cloud of spice. It moved in fast, closing in on Fayette’s leg.

However, just as it was about to reach her, a needle pierced its hide and hooked through, pulling it back. “Watch out Fay, this one almost got you!” Mireille shouted as she tugged the creature back into Elise’s waiting broom, which smacked it down on the ground.

Fayette made sure the other creature got plenty of the spice on it and left it behind, disoriented. The [Maid] kept moving, she could feel her hold on the ability fading—she would have to release it soon.

She swept another corner, and encountered no resistance. However, as she moved to run at the next doorway, she felt her [Dangersense] flare up stronger than it had so far. Much stronger. She looked out, and saw that at least 5 of the creatures were rushing at their group from the other side of the room. Bloody hell, that’s a bunch. Guess I angered them. Well, no time better I guess.

She finally released her [Sweep Dust]. She had managed to cover almost half of the room with it, so the amount of dust she had gathered into the vortex was quite significant. She swung her broom out in an arc and the spicy dust flew out, covering the whole other half of the room. The effect would be diluted with the thing spread out over such a large area, but at least she could ensure that she hit everything.

“We’ve got lots more incoming! Watch out!” She shouted, as she turned her broom around in her hand. She cast a quick glance back and saw that Mireille had managed to cover one of the entrances with her wire net, while Elise was finishing off one of the creatures Fayette had left behind. Best I give them a minute.

Fayette turned back, and saw her cloud of dust sweep the room. Several blurry figures were revealed as they were coated in the stuff, making their blur effect useless. She could see them stumble around, disoriented by the assault on their senses. Fayette moved in.

She ran in fast, and jumped on top of one creature, while at the same time batting at another with her broom. She felt the crunch under her boot at the same time as her broom splatted the other one onto the floor. The creatures were confused, but recovering. She needed to act quick.

She activated [Cutlery Control], and let it pull knives from her pockets into her right hand, which she then threw out at the more distant foes. More were appearing, figures revealed by the dust. She managed to hit three, and the knives slid into the enemies smoothly, injuring, though not killing. Nice, at least they are easier than kobold scales.

However, by now the creatures had recovered from the spice, and three of them rushed at Fayette. She waited calmly, and batted at the centremost one with her broom. The one to the left was snared by a needle passing through it, while the rightmost one got smashed in by Elise’s broom. Fayette’s allies had also gotten time to move in for the support.

The room was silent.

[Efficient pest control, good job! Experience shared with party.]

[Progress towards next level: 45%]

Mireille looked around warily. “Was that all of them? What do you think Fay?”

The [Maid] thought for a moment. “I’ve gotten my spice over every nook and cranny of this room, so we should have flushed them all out. I think this room is clear.”

The [Seamstress] nodded. “Alright, I’ll move and secure the entrances. Keep an eye out for trouble.”

As she rushed to rig up the next entrance, Elise slumped down, leaning on her broom. “That was... Is it always like this? It felt so close to going bad! I didn’t manage to do much of anything at all...”

“I guess it’s tough for a beginner, though you did carry the lantern.” Fayette replied.

Elise flinched and looked up at the [Maid]. “... I guess I’m mostly good for carrying stuff then. Not too surprising”

Fayette thought for a moment. What type of advice would a proper veteran hunter give here? She smiled. “Next time, just focus on hitting them with the broom! I think you got three, right? That’s decent.”

Elise stood up and smacked her cheeks. “Ok, I can do this! Just focus on the broom! Alright...”

Fayette left the [Labourer] to her mutterings and turned to examine the creatures they had just fought. The blur effect seemed to fade with their death, but curiously, the corpses were still remaining behind. Are they not monsters after all? I could’ve sworn...

Fayette took a closer look and saw that they definitely looked like rats. Big rats. Though, there was something wrong with the bodies. She felt an instinctual enmity with them, a distaste from deep within. Something was wrong here. She peered in for a closer look.