For a long while the only sound that could be heard, aside from the quiet whirring – which sounded as if it was laughing – of the portal at the back of the room, was the wheezing of the leader of the Steel Lion group as Katie stood over her victim.
“Did you follow me?”
She kicked out again.
Thud.
More wheezing.
“Huh? Answer me!”
Poor SilverLion just kept wheezing, grabbing his family jewels in pain.
Katie raised her leg, intending to strike again, but the magic was broken. Sam sprung forward, grabbing the girl and jerking her backward while Silverlion’s subordinates sprung to help their boss up.
Surprisingly, Katie didn’t fight against him, but for some reason, Sam couldn’t sense the easygoing aura that almost seemed to envelop the cheerful (and murder-happy) girl. Instead, she was radiating cold anger, while her mana was rather agitated.
“What happened?” Sam asked quietly, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer.
Katie shuddered a little and turned to him while using one of her hands to flip the visor of her helmet up. Her eyes looked rather sad, but determined.
She answered quietly. Almost in a whisper.
“He is my brother… I thought he followed me…”
Sam couldn’t help but blink. SilverLion was the preeminent berserker’s brother. ‘Now there is a pair…’ he mused. ‘Though that means that she comes from a rich family. According to the tropes, she must either be in conflict with the brother or parental units. If this is like the tropes…’
He nodded.
“What do you want me to do?”
It was Katie’s turn to look in surprise at him.
“What? What do you mean?”
Sam glanced at her brother, who seemed to be finishing pulling himself together and answered.
“You’re on my team. I’m in your corner. Do you want us to leave?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. After a few tries, she shook her head and gave him a weak smile.
“I made this problem. I’ll deal with it.”
Sam nodded.
“Alright. I have your back,” he told her, then took a step back next to Clarissa, who seemed to be excited at the prospect of drama, while Dan was anxiously holding his club.
Finally, SilverLion managed to get enough air into his lungs to speak up. His face, instead of anger was filled with honest confusion.
“Katie, what the hell? What did I do?”
Katie clicked her tongue.
“Why are you here, David?”
“To complete a quest to get reputation for our guild.”
“Your guild is based in Deepanchor.”
SilverLion’s, or rather David’s eyes darted around, resting on Sam for a moment, before returning to the shorter girl, who, despite the height difference, seemed to be looming over the knight.
“You know why I’m here…”
‘Well, there is a flag…’ Sam thought as he listened to the siblings talk.
“So, you’re not following me?”
“No? Why would I follow you?” came the confused question from the brother.
“Huh…” For a long moment, the siblings eyed each other, no doubt non-verbally communicating something, before Katie nodded. “Alright. I believe you.”
With that, she turned around and walked back next to Sam, slamming her visor down. Then she plucked Puffball out of nowhere and began to aggressively pet it.
At that exact moment, Sam received a private message.
[Katie (KittenKnight): I will explain later.]
Sam reached up and patted the upset girl on her shoulder, then looked at the gaping knight.
David pointed at Katie and exclaimed.
“You kicked me in the nuts!”
Sam raised his hands in a placating manner.
“Now, let’s not squabble about who kicked who in the nuts.” He received a dirty glare from the brother and the sister simply snorted next to him. “You seem to be healthy, so how about you guys continue the sibling quarrel out of the game and we can concentrate on the dungeon?”
For a second, the leader of the Steel Lions gaped at him, and Sam thought he would continue with the argument, but in the end, the man swallowed and nodded tersely.
“Agreed.”
The rest of the knights looked at each other, and Sam saw one of them glare at him.
‘Hmm, is he going to backstab me, or is he going to backstab me?’ he mused as he observed the angry knight staying at the back of the group. ‘The question is why? Is he angry about what happened to his boss or just doesn’t like me?’
However, in the end, he knew it was just idle speculation. The angry guy could have been the leader’s lover and was simply angry because he was worried.
After a few minutes of preparations, which Sam used to give a few orders to his teammates, SilverLion and he stepped in front of the fracture portal.
Instantly, a screen appeared before them.
[A new fracture!]
[Fracture: Auxiliary Storage Cavern #BC/G-7]
[A rarely used storage cavern that was only filled with dust and some forgotten boxes. The workers of the Storage Cavern want the thing gone. Authorities were called in, but because it appeared in an empty Storage Cavern, it is not a priority. Help put the workers’ worry to rest.]
[Time Limit: Until the Outpost Guard arrives!]
[Charges: Unlimited]
[Entry Limit: 10 people]
“Ten people huh…” read out loud the knight in his literal shining armor.
Sam nodded.
“Indeed. Though not much problem. There are four of us, so only you need to choose who you will take.”
Still looking at the screen, David spoke up idly. “And what if I only want to take my team and leave you out?”
Sam just chuckled. “I’ll stop holding back your sister…”
David grimaced. “Touché…”
With that, he did an about-face and walked up to his team and began whispering with them, no doubt deciding who would come with them and who would stay to protect the site.
Sam simply waved for his team to stand next to him. They spent the next few minutes watching as the Steel Lions organized themselves.
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The fracture from the inside was nothing exciting. Though, instead of going downhill or looking like an abandoned mining shaft, it looked more like a maze made from a warehouse. As they traversed through the maze, they happened upon all sorts of odds and ends. Everywhere they went, dusty boxes and ladders were lying on the ground, surrounded by remains of all sorts of tools and equipment. At first, they broke open all the boxes in the hope they contained some extra loot, but all they found was fluff and even more dust, so after the tenth box they simply ignored them.
Though Sam made sure to check out each and every container with his sensing skills as he didn’t want to be ambushed by a mimic or miss out on an artifact.
Their team contained Sam, Dan, Clarissa, a still somewhat angry Katie, and from the Steel Lions, David led five knights, including the one that glared at Sam.
They had two with giant shields acting as tanks, two of them were mages and David was holding a greatsword, though compared to his sister, his sword was much more elegant instead of the razor-filled monstrosity that Katie preferred. The angry guy was holding a spear, though Sam could feel that his mana was somewhat between the mages and the tanks. ‘Probably some kind of hybrid class, a Spellspear…’
Their enemies turned out to be some kind of dust golems mixed with poison spirits. Apparently, the room was so abandoned that the fracture took it up as a theme. The monsters were basically some kind of sludges made from dust, mud, and poisonous substance. ‘Probably the runoffs from the smelting and mining processes…’ They fought by sending blasts of dust or spewing poisonous sludge at them. His cleaning spell was getting some real workout.
Some were humanoid-shaped, and some were just giant blobs of materials, raring to devour the invaders. They came from the ground, walls, and even from the ceiling. And their drops were rather mundane. It was an eclectic mix of small crystals that Sam knew were useful for enchanting, and metal fragments. One of them also dropped a small wooden box that was bigger on the inside than on the outside.
‘Useful items, if it can be monetized…’ he thought as he dispatched another dust monster with his sword wreathed in spinning air.
Around him, in the latest room filled with monsters emerging from all over, his teammates and the Steel Lions were doing the same.
His inherited memories didn’t tell much about the dungeon, as it was considered a low-value fracture. It only provided material for low-level enchantments and the drop rate for the storage chests was too low. If he remembered correctly, the fracture’s loot table contained a few skill books, mostly poison or earth-slash-dust natured. There were rumors about somebody finding some kind of ultra-rare skill book, but nobody could prove it or find information about it. At least according to the memories that he had inherited.
It could make money, but not as much as the one they had just left behind. Glancing at the Steel Lions who were excitedly collecting the recent spoils, Sam had only one thought. ‘They don’t know that…’
Sheathing his sword, he went up to the materials and waited until the Lions organized it.
Before they entered, they agreed on a forty-sixty distribution of the miscellaneous materials, while they would roll for the important items. Thankfully, Magic Unbound had a built-in dice roller.
Unceremoniously, he was handed a bunch of crystals and ores while the rest was pocketed by one of the tanks.
“Thanks,” he spoke to the Lion, however he only received a grunt and glare. SilverLion’s minions were surprisingly quiet.
Instead of bothering them, he made sure his team was alright, then turned to David.
“Ready to continue?”
“Sure…”
And on they went.
They slew hordes of dust monsters, some of them amusingly shaped like bunnies, as they went forward.
The Steel Lion team was at the front as they had actual tanks while Clarissa was smack dab in the middle, healing whoever was wounded, and valiantly ignoring as one of the mages set up near her continued to flirt with her.
Apparently, they just didn’t like to talk with Sam…
Sam was moving around, striking at monsters that were occupied by the tanks, or distracted by Katie or David, making sure to showcase his mastery of wind magic. It was rather paranoid, but he simply didn’t trust the Lions.
Dan was the same, standing near Clarissa and the other two mages from the Steel Lions and taking potshots at the monsters. He was actually in charge of looking up and shooting down monsters that wanted to drop on their heads.
His fire magic was much faster than the water and lightning magic that the other two mages specialized in. Especially, because the water mage was more of a healer than a damage dealer.
As they walked through the maze created by the unstable dimensional energies, Sam spent some time observing the knights, leveraging his inherited memories.
The two mages were nothing special. Granted, they had excellent equipment, but they were loud-mouthed and flirty. Sam suspected that they were ‘friends’ of SilverLion, moving in the same economic circles, or slightly below him. However, the Spellspear and the tanks were a much different story.
They were silent and stoic, moving with precision and fighting, which seemed to come naturally to them. ‘They probably got some training in real life… Maybe bodyguards?’ he mused as the group went forward.
During their journey, nothing slowed them down much. There were three mini-bosses, but they were dispatched rather quickly. They were just bigger, stronger, and sturdier versions of the monsters they had met.
The first one was humanoid, using its speed and transforming its appendages into weapons to try to kill them, the second one was a giant blob with an enormous amount of health points, while the last one was a giant bunny that breathed balls of dust and sludge at them.
It amusingly dropped an enchanted broom, perfect for sweeping up dust efficiently.
The Steel Lions were so disappointed by the drop they didn’t even roll for it, so it automatically went to Sam’s team.
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After the last mini-boss, they spent a few minutes resting, more for their mind than their body, as the fracture wasn’t exactly a challenge.
Sam used the time to check his notifications.
First, he dealt with the messages from Lucy about the company, then he turned his attention to the rest.
The first one was the long-awaited level-up.
[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!]
[You are now Level 41!]
[Gained 2 unassigned attribute points!]
[Gained 1 MAG for going on a cleaning spree!]
He quickly assigned the two points to Endurance and Dexterity, then continued to read the rest of the notifications.
[Mana Channeling is now Level 2!]
[Mana Shield is now Level 68!]
[Mana Resonance is now Level 4!]
[Mana Tempered Body 25!]
[Thanks to using both your mana and body in synchrony, you gained the subskill, Synchronization!]
[Synchronization: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) Your body and mana move as one. You gain 2% casting speed and attack speed per skill level thanks to this.]
‘Now that’s a cool skill! It seems I was right in focusing on foundational skills…’ he celebrated internally while keeping a blank face on. From the memories he gained, he knew that there was actually a temple in a high-leveled area where one could acquire this skill and it was a highly contested area in the future that may never happen, as it was a prerequisite of another martial arts skill that everybody wanted.
[Mana Gaze is now Level 6!]
[Controlled Slash is now Level 2!]
[Triple Mana Slash is now Level 2!]
[Mana Body Enhancement is now Level 64!]
[Mana Disruption is now Level 14!]
[Spell Layering is now Level 15!]
[Mana Construct is now Level 15!]
[Light Ball III is now Level 2!]
[Clean IV is now Level 6!]
Sam couldn’t help but chuckle seeing the Clean spell shoot up so fast. It was rather funny literally cleaning up the monsters in this fracture.
[Wind Bullet III is now Level 9!]
[Wind Explosion is now Level 2!]
[Wind Movement is now Level 32!]
[Aerodynamic is now Level 2!]
[Wind Edge III is now Level 7!]
[Wind Affinity is now Level 60!]
[Active Meditation is now Level 47!]
He couldn’t help but look forward to seeing the Active Meditation skill at maximum level, as then he could learn Battle Meditation that would make him even more powerful. One of the core skills of monk-type players, but every warrior-type player worth their salt acquired it one way or another.
[Spirit Link is now Level 35!]
[Spirit Connection is now Level 3!]
[Advanced Shadow Footwork is now Level 11!]
[Shadow Grace is now Level 5!]
[Shadow Burst II is now Level 2!]
[Shadow Shield is now Level 22!]
[Shadow Affinity is now Level 28!]
[You immersed yourself in the shadows, moving ever-forward, granting you the subskill, Shadowstride!]
[Shadowstride: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) The shadows lighten your body, allowing you to travel further than before. For each skill level, the stamina consumption of movement skills decreases by 5%.]
Another excellent passive skill. Seeing as he focused a lot on speed and movement skills, it would naturally be a very useful skill.
[Advanced Sword Mastery is now Level 15!]
[Basic Armor Mastery is now Level 44!]
[Calm Heart is now Level 47!]
[Steady Heartbeat is now level 4!]
[Flow is now Level 44!]
[Focused Flow is now Level 5!]
[Surprise Strike is now Level 3!]
[Earth Resistance is now Level 11!]
[Multitasking is now Level 80!]
[Parallel Processing is now Level 10!]
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After the small break, their journey continued.
They slew monsters, collected the rather lackluster loot, and so on, repeating it until they reached the deepest part of the maze.
How did they know it was the deepest part?
The dust was literally standing in small hills and the stacks of old boxes created walls they either had to break through or go around.
Finally, they reached a small hall that led to another bigger hall, the dust already spilling out of the door.
No doubt, the home of the boss.
Sam stopped for a moment, and the rest formed around him, staring at the doorway.
He looked over at the leader of the knights and spoke up.
“Ready?”
However, instead of an answer, Sam received something rather different.
The spellspear roared a wordless battle cry (causing the Steel Lion players to glow with unearthly light) and shot off toward him, the tip of the spear wreathed in purple mist, while the two tanks jumped forward, attempting to box him in.
‘Oh, dear… It seems I have been backstabbed. Who could have seen this?’
He only had time for that one thought, as the spear wielder was in front of him, the spear thrust straight at his face.