Mark told Samara about his intent to return to a place where the undead congregated.

"That was where my group fought hers," he said. "Do you know anything about it?"

Samara shook her head. Due to her lonesome nature, she did not have much influence in the Mage-Thief's group, even though her strength made her one of the top members. The others respected her, but it was clearly not enough. Otherwise the children she took in would not have been used as sacrifices.

This also meant she knew very little of her plans. Mark would have to confront the Mage-Thief with no prior knowledge. On the other hand, the power of his team did greatly increase. For one, Samara was no slouch of a Warrior. He had seen her kill a group of animals as swiftly with her dagger as with her bow. Most of her skills were concentrated around her bow, but she had a few skills bolstering the speed and accuracy of her melee attacks.

Combined with the bear and three supporting fodder minions, Samara became very good at killing. She could instantly kill anything they encountered as long as his minions could tie them down. Samara also preferred to scout ahead, letting him absorb most of the corpses while she was gone.

Occasionally, they'd enjoy a rest stop along the way. And each time, Mark would make sure to leave the corpses behind, letting her cook them a delicious meal. He had to admit, it was quite enjoyable to have someone take up other roles in his party. They shared very few words during this time.

He leveled up to Level 22 by the time they reached the undead area. Meanwhile, Samara was at Level 21, a small distance behind him. Mark had managed to cast the spell without alerting her directly, though her brows did furrow for a bit.

Then they stopped at a bend in the tunnels. Samara put a finger on her lips. She preferred to speak in signals, giving them the stealth advantage at all times. Someone was approaching.

How she figured that out, Mark couldn't understand. But he hid his minions anyway. They stopped and waited for the figure to emerge from the darkness.

As a familiar man stepped into the light, Mark's eyes widened. He stepped out from the darkness and shouted, "Theodore!"

Theodore looked surprised, but a small smile emerged on his face. "Hello, Mark. I see you've done well for yourself."

"Yes. How are the others?"

"We didn't succeed." His smile turned ferocious. "A woman did something I cannot easily describe in words."

"You mean the Mage-Thief?" Mark described her features, from her invisibility to her red hair. Then he told him about the people he encountered and how they exploded.

Theodore nodded. "That happened to us too. We were close to winning the battle. Then she appeared." He sighed. "I barely escaped with my life. Don't know about the others though."

Mark stood there in silence. After hearing no response, the man let out another long sigh and continued walking. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Leaving. I'm not fit to be a leader." Theodore's shoulders were slumped and he lacked the same energy in his steps as when he first met him. "I just wanted the best for my people in these mines," he said. "But my decisions caused them to get killed. So I've decided to go alone this time around."

"Good luck to you," Mark said. "I can defend myself though. Can you tell me where they went?"

Theodore stopped. Then he turned around and took out a map. "We were able to find a map of our surroundings," he said, and brought a shaky finger down onto a red dot. "This was where we last fought. I have no idea where that woman went but I know she's alive. Call it intuition."

Mark studied the map for a while. He traced a route and nodded.

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"Good luck and goodbye, Mark. Watch out for her tricks."

"Goodbye," Mark replied. He didn't believe Theodore would die here, though. The man was extremely talented.

Warrior - Level 22

"Your leader?" Samara asked.

"Yeah," Mark replied. "He's powerful. Strong enough to fight off a horde of undead alone. But he still lost to that woman and her explosions."

They continued to travel down the tunnels, following the map in each of their decisions. A strange numerical text only readable with Identify showed which parts were good to focus on. He took the route containing more Level 24 monsters.

The map was quite a boon. Once they had reached Level 20, enemies below that level didn't give much experience. They needed to seek out more difficult fights to push them over the next threshold.

Sharing the experience with Samara was alright, since she was so skilled. They didn't have to spend much time in these areas and were able to quickly move from cavern to cavern.

Since Mark didn't find an enemy at Level 25 on the map, he determined Level 25 to be some type of bottleneck greater than the others. He told her this and she returned a nod. With the threat of the Mage-Thief, an unmatched determination rose in them both, and they cut their rest times short by half.

A good way into their route, Samara once again put a finger to her lips and they hid in the shadows. The torchlight became darker as they walked deeper, but she seemed to have better eyesight than him. He had described the members of Theodore's group to her, so when the signal came to approach, Mark did not hesitate.

"Hello there," he said, surprised at who it was. Hannah, the silent rogue. He could tell that she, too, was surprised, judging from how quickly her eyes flickered around.

"It's me, Mark. Why are you so nervous?" he asked. Hannah didn't answer though. Instead, she tripped on herself as she ran back from where she came.

Mark did not pursue. Though it had only been a few days since they last saw each other, her appearance was as suspicious as Theodore's.

"I think we should take a detour," he whispered to Samara. "That crept me out." Her behavior immediately made him think of the explosion. Could she have fled because she didn't want to die like that? Threatened by the Mage-Thief, she was now returning to provide information about them?

She nodded and they swung in a different direction. With her pathfinding skills, the network of tunnels was much easier to traverse. It was not long before they drew near to a dangerous spot indicated on the map, though not as dangerous as some other places.

Mark had his undead bear enter the cavern first. It was lower in height than all others he had seen before and a single torch's light was enough to reach the ceiling. So when a few Feral Goblins appeared, he wasn't too surprised.

Samara's arrows took down the enemy group within seconds, even faster than his Magic Missiles could land. Even hobgoblins, equipped with better armaments, fell in moments beneath her bow. The skills she used reached a rhythmic tempo and it felt like watching dominoes fall.

Mark did his best to match her attacks. His Death Bolts improved rapidly in both speed and strength, approaching the level of his Magic Missiles. They were much faster to form and were more deadly too.

After wiping out the goblins in the immediate area, they continued deeper into the cavern. Inside was a small shrine containing a tiny, twisted statue which the goblins seemed to worship. Samara nocked three arrows on her bow, sending them soaring into the hobgoblin's necks.

Slaying the goblins was a little too easy, since none of them came close to their level. He wondered why this place was marked as dangerous. After turning the statue around, he Identified it, and his eyebrows rose a little. According to the system, this was a religious idol. And it once held a connection to a deity.

"Do you think Warlocks and Priests exist in this world?" he blurted out. "Sorry. Not sure if you know these terms."

She nodded. "I've read fantasy books before." With some hesitation, she said, "During my time as a forest ranger. I didn't really have much to do except read."

Mark smiled. "Do you want this? Maybe it can help improve your class or something."

She shook her head. "I prefer my bow. It's familiar to me."

Mark shrugged and threw the statue into his bag. "Let me take a break here," he said, while she went off to scout ahead again. He always said he liked studying magic after each battle, but in reality he was pulling the corpses into his pocket plane. For good measure, he made sure to blow up a few bodies with his necromancy to give him an excuse.

Mark kept his minions guarding the entrance to the cavern to prevent others from finding out his secret. Just in case. It was a good precaution, and it saved him from having to kill someone innocent.

A hint carried itself over the magical connection to his undead, and he closed his pocket plane. Instead of Samara, Hannah appeared again. And Elise was standing right next to her.