The sun rose in the horizon, and its light illuminated the city. The light came through the window and shone in Fred's bed. He stretched his body and got up from bed. The warm sheets and soft bed made it hard, confort was welcome anytime in life, but he had to get up and go to the guild, he didn’t want to leave his teammates waiting.

After taking a shower and arranging his equipment in a backpack, he ate his breakfast in the inn’s lobby and walked toward the guild. He had bought some necessary supplies, and some rations. They couldn’t just go to the second layer without enough preparations.

Arriving at the guild, he could already see his teammates waiting for him, as always. “Always late Fred. Don’t you feel ashamed?” Emmanuel said while shaking his head.

The others instantly shukled and Diana slapped his back. “Stop messing around Emmanuel! You know he’s not late.”

Amanda placed her hand on Fred’s shoulder and said. “Don’t bother with him. Let 's go.”

They entered the dungeon and steadily proceeded through it. Even though they could easily take care of the monsters, they still had to be careful. A slip and one of them could die, a sword to the neck could kill even a strong adventurer.

They took care of the boss of the first layer, and this time proceeded into the tunnels instead of turning around. They descended the tunnel slowly, and for a long time. “How long have we been going down?” Emmanuel asked.

“I think it has been two hours at least.” Oliver replied. “But I can see some light ahead. I think we’re getting close.”

The group walked silently, until they could see the exit. Fred thought about volunteering to scout ahead, but he knew he would grab the enemy's attention by showing up. Oliver could come and go unnoticed, offering both intelligence and the element of surprise.

“Wait for a second.” Oliver said and disappeared.

Every time Fred saw Oliver disappearing, he felt chills on his spine. He simply vanished. “If someone from the facility with skills like his came to kill me, would I even be able to defend myself?” This thought haunted him sometimes, but he focused on the mission. “Someday I’ll find that place and destroy it.”

The group silently waited for Oliver. After a few minutes, he returned. “You guys will love to see this. The way is clear. Let’s go.”

They anxiously walked forward, waiting to see the second layer. There were things said about it. But one thing that stood out amongst all rumors, was that it was a sight you’d never forget.

As they left the tunnels, they were illuminated by the light coming from the faraway ceiling. Many huge crystals were stuck in there, shining their light upon everything that stood beneath. Forests and rivers appeared in front of them. It was like looking at a landscape outside the dungeon. The trees were tall and robust, and the rivers were full of fish. There were critters everywhere.

For Willfred, it didn’t look like a dungeon at all, it looked like a piece of the outside world was taken and placed in here. The group stood still for a second, admiring the sight in front of them. Nobody was expecting that.

Fred looked ahead and said. “It’s better if we keep going.” The others broke out of the spell and began to descend the hill the entrance was located in. As they approached the forest, they could smell the plantlife. As soon as they had approached the forest, and gotten out of an obvious place, where everything from kilometers could observe them, they decided that it was best to sit down and plan how they would proceed.

Oliver scouted the surroundings, but found no sign of dangerous creatures.

“This is very different from what I expected.” Diana blurted out as she looked around.

“Nobody could expect that…” Amanda replied. “Either way. We now have something to work with. The fact that the second layer is an open place could be a problem because we couldn’t find a place to hide properly when we need to rest or retreat from a battle. But those are only some of the things we’ll have to deal with.”

Everyone nodded. There was no discussion in front of facts.

“I think we should proceed with much more caution than we initially intended. We don’t know the enemies, and caution is never too much.” Fred said. He really wanted to test his skills on this floor, but they had to watch out for danger.

After talking for a bit, they decided on a cautious approach, and only to engage when they were sure about their targets and the surroundings. They didn’t want to attract more enemies during a battle.

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After making sure to remember the landmarks to know the way back, they began to explore.

They looked for tracks, and soon found what they were searching for. There were deep impressions left on the dirt, according to Oliver, the creatures were bipedal. He didn’t know the exact footing, but according to him, they were orcs.

“If they all have the strength of the boss of the previous layer, the difference in strength will be ridiculous.” Oliver said while crouching. “What I fear the most is that the orcs come in variations like the goblins, with archers and warriors, there could even be an orc shaman. That wouldn’t be something unheard of.”

“So that’s why the teams in our city mostly stay in the first layer… If the difficulty between layers is that big, I understand why they would rather stay there.” Diana said while looking with suspicion at a nearby bush. It was a really comical sight.

“Haha….” He couldn’t hold it in, and the laughter left him. His teammates looked at him and snickered.

Emmanuel patted his shoulder and said. “You laugh in the face of danger, a true man! Huahuahuahua!” He laughed as well. The others had smiles on their faces and shook their heads.

“Two madmen.” Amanda said while turning her eyes.

Oliver looked at the tracks and said. “Let’s track the enemies.”

Fred nodded and they followed after the trail.

The orcs' steps were heavy, and it was not hard to track them down. They found many other creatures in the forest, none that could be a threat to them however.

After half an hour, Oliver stopped and said. “Those tracks are fresh. They are probably nearby. Let me find them first.” The others nodded and he vanished from where he stood.

After ten minutes, Oliver returned. “I found them.” His face was somber and dark, they immediately knew that something was wrong.

“What happened?” Amanda asked before anyone else could.

“The orcs had engaged a team of dungeon delvers minutes before. The team is dead, they are now eating their remains.” The group didn’t say anything and just stood there for a few seconds. Fred took a deep breath and said.

“How many orcs are there? What about variation?”

Oliver 's eyes focused on him and he answered. “There are five orcs in the team, two archers and three warriors. There was a sixth one but the other team took it down.”

Fred nodded and continued. “I know that this is hard. But we have to take those orcs down. Even though their bodies will still be there, we can at least honor them by burying their bodies.”

The others slowly nodded, and Oliver guided them. They assumed their usual formation and marched forward.

After five minutes, they were near their target. “They are after those trees.” Oliver whispered to his team. “It’s better if we make use of the element of surprise.” The others nodded and got ready to engage as soon as they could see their enemies.

Fred raised his hand, and made a countdown with his fingers. As soon as his fist was closed and he swung it forward, they advanced. Fred went in front this time, prepared for anything that could happen.

The smell of blood instantly assaulted his nose. He looked around and saw the orcs devouring human bodies. With sword in hand, he approached the closest archer and cut it down. The creature couldn’t even struggle before it was beheaded. The others reacted and went for their weapons, an archer loosened an arrow in the direction behind Fred. Knowing that his teammates were there and not wanting to risk it, he summoned a shield on its path and angled it so that the impact would lead the arrow upwards.

The shield cracked, but the arrow was deflected. “After the skill got upgraded, even a hob charged arrow couldn’t break it.” He thought and looked back to see where his teammates were.

They stood in place, horrified by the sight of human bodies in front of them. “Snap out of it! If we don’t fight, we’ll die just like them!” Fred roared while running toward the other archer. Unfortunately, a warrior intercepted him with its spear, and he had to stop his charge.

Hearing Fred’s warning, his teammates immediately realized their mistakes and dashed forward.

The orc warrior Fred was fighting against was much stronger than the boss he fought before. Even though it was not in terms of raw strength, it had a much higher skill with its spear, and each attack was quick and fatal, aiming at a vital point;

He didn’t have more time to look around, and had to trust his teammates to take care of the others. Fred invoked two swords and began to harass the orc. After a few exchanges, the orc finally couldn’t evade both the swords and Fred, and slipped up, leaving an opening for Fred. He took the opportunity and thrusted his sword in the creature’s heart.

He turned around to look at the situation and saw that it was not that bad. Emmanuel was fighting against an orc warrior that used a greatsword. The orc was being played around, but he couldn’t get an opening on the creature to deliver the killing blow.

Oliver was fighting against the remaining archer, weaving around it, and leaving small cuts on the creature. His class was best suited for speed and hiding. “If he had an attack skill, he would be much stronger.”

Amanda was burning the remaining warrior, or what remained of it. The creature was surely dead even before getting close to her.

After Fred began to help his teammates, the fight was quickly over. The element of surprise gave them the upper hand, making the fight much easier than a direct confrontation.

You’ve leveled up to 13!

You’ve leveled up to 14!

Your skill infinity armaments leveled up to 13!

Your skill infinity armaments leveled up to 14!

……

He ignored the notifications and helped his companions

They dug some graves and buried the adventurer’s remains. They were quiet through the entire process, and Fred was sure each member of his team was reflecting on what happened on their own.

After the bodies were properly buried, Fred took the lead and said. “It’s better if we keep exploring.” The others nodded and followed him out of there.

They only looked for skill shards, but after finding none, they got out of there. They were not in the mood to loot weapons.