According to the map of the third floor, they were only in the east section of the mines. That Mage-Thief had to be heading towards the center. It contained higher challenges and thus better loot, after all.

That meant Samara was guaranteed to follow. Mark was also ready to seek avenues to greater strength. He still needed to accumulate levels and assemble better minions once he returned to Earth. But they had a third member of the group who seemed a little hesitant.

"What about you, Elise? Where do you think you'll go?"

Samara wanted revenge, but Elise did not. Chasing after a powerful enemy did her no good. Now that she had the chance to flee, to run away from all this conflict, would she take it?

Elise stopped and stared at the floor. Though her confidence had increased once she gained a proper class, some doubts clearly lingered. Her strength in combat was primarily built for fighting the undead, not humans. The enemies they faced would only grow stronger and begin to target her as their primary healer. Relying on them to protect her would not guarantee her safety.

"What are your goals, Elise?" Mark asked. Her eyes were in turmoil as she looked back up.

"Safety," she said. "I don't want to die." Diving into danger headfirst was the opposite of her goal. Yet there was another factor telling her to continue onwards with the group. Her voice shook, but she also tentatively said, "I don't want to be alone."

Samara opened her mouth slightly, then closed it. Mark nodded. Though she could stay behind in the easier parts of the mines, returning to Earth in peace after the tutorial ended, she didn't have anyone to stay with her. Spending three weeks in isolation was too much for her to consider.

And it was clear that the world had changed. Even if she tried to stay out of conflicts, others might still try to attack her anyway.

Elise became resolute. "I'll join you," she said. "Let's go."

There were a series of secret tunnels marked on the map as the quickest way to the center of the mines. Assuming the Mage-Thief went down this route, she'd have a much greater head start on them. But it should also be safer as well, especially considering their current might. Catching up would not be too difficult.

The secret tunnels were straightforward. They contained no real enemies other than a few miscellaneous insects who had found a place to hide. Those weren't even Level 20, so the place was quite convenient to them. Mark's group simply ran down the corridor, ignoring emergent tunnels to their sides, and came out from the final exit leading to the central area.

It would still take a full day of running, and then some. Elise pushed herself to keep up the pace. Though she had gained Strength from the potion, her Vitality and Endurance stats were lower than the others. Not wanting to slow them down, she pushed her magic to their limits, finally attaining healing abilities, in addition to an infusion of stamina per cast.

With her support, they were able to reach the center a few hours earlier than expected. They used this extra time to rest quietly. Once they entered the new environment, there was no telling what would happen. Mark took the time to slip away and rearrange his items, including the cauldron. He simply said he hid it somewhere - which was true. Nobody would ever find it again. Other than his Pacified Goblin.

---

"We're here," Samara said as she peeked out the tunnel. Unfortunately, the path ended in a long drop. Although there were tunnels to return to the east wing, it would take a long time for them to travel there. "Last chance to back out," she said.

Elise shivered, but she eventually took the initiative to climb down on her own. Samara was clearly pleased with her decision, evident by the soft smile on her face. The two women supported each other as they descended together.

Meanwhile, Mark looked at his minions and realized they wouldn't be able to easily make it down themselves. He considered his pocket plane, but the chance it might alert his teammates was too high. So he had the non-magical orc carry the skeleton mage on its back as a precaution.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

But this method meant the orc became clumsier. It had to take a longer drop, absorbing more damage to protect his skeleton mage properly. Meanwhile, the other skeleton minions did their best to survive. One fell against a cliff rock and broke apart, while the other two sustained large cracks on their bodies.

Mark healed up his skeletons the best he could, but he didn't expect them to last for long. Samara and Elise also took some light scratches, though they healed themselves up just fine. His orc mage and goblin warrior remained unharmed.

"I need more skeletons," he muttered to his companions.

Elise took out the map for him to consult. Immediately, his gaze moved to a place marked with a skull. He Identified the small runic description embedded on it.

Level 25 Undead Zone

"What an interesting piece of magic," he marveled, pointing at the spot. "Let's go here."

To pass the time, Mark carried the map in his hands, trying to see how it functioned. Whoever created this had the power to block magic from flowing through the entire item. This technique isolated Identify to specific sections, allowing its creator to imbue different descriptions all over the map.

Elise had already scanned through it. Now Mark was getting his chance to try and memorize everything. It would take too much time and energy to carry it around unfurled, or unroll it every time they needed to make a decision. The map's weight was starting to hurt, and he needed his orc to walk alongside him with a helping hand.

"Do you have a plan?" he asked Elise. While they discussed where to go next, Samara's expression twitched. In frustration, she hesitated to speak, and finally said her words just as the conversation grew more detailed.

"Should I put stat points into improving my magic?" she asked Mark.

Mark turned to look at her. He could feel her struggles and thought about his own experiences having stats non-aligned with his build. "I'd say so," he said. "Extra Vitality gave me plenty of buffs that I never expected, though I was planning on using it for something else."

Samara let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't want to do something wrong," she said. After asking the question, she began to focus on herself again. It was clear she had placed her recent stat points into Intelligence or Wisdom. Mark hoped she'd be able to learn how to cast Identify soon.

Mark discovered another few undead zones nearby the one they were heading to. Most of the descriptions were all vague, but one of them stood out to him. It explicitly told him that there was treasure buried there. "How many of these treasure descriptions have you found?" he asked Elise.

"There's a bunch," she said. "Every wing has some. But I noticed the map isn't complete. I found some areas corresponding to the places where we traveled, and they didn't have those descriptions."

There were seven areas in the central area with unique descriptions. Five of them were highlighted with treasure, but the other two warned of additional danger. Yet Mark was intrigued. One of those was designated a zone for plants and animals while the other contained undead. Perfect for him to explore.

Something stopped Samara in her tracks right as Mark was about to speak. She knelt onto the floor and stared.

"There are people here," she murmured.

"Already?"

She nodded. Then shook her head. "These are the remains of tripwire," she said, holding up a loose piece of string. "There was a trap placed here. Triggered by someone else."

"Weird. So there are two forces ahead of where we want to go?"

"Seems so," Samara said. "Should we keep going at the same pace?"

Mark nodded. Fear was the last thing on his mind right now, especially with a powerful force of two undead orcs. They caught up to the unknown groups in no time, managing to catch a glimpse of fire in the air before it faded away.

Mark's team waited at the entrance of the cavern, listening for clues. But there were no movements even after quite some time. He sent Samara in to check it out.

She returned a few minutes later, beckoning them to follow. Elise gasped when she saw the scene from afar. Four corpses were on the floor. And eating their bodies was a massive undead creature with two heads, blocking the path in the middle of the cavern.

Sparks of flame sputtered from one of the mouths as it bit down. The other one dripped saliva, dissolving a body into liquid.

Undead Twin-headed Lizard - Level 25

"Think we should go for it?" he asked. Four corpses didn't mean there weren't other people waiting around for someone to attack. It looked like they were a part of one group, so the other one had either fled or were waiting for someone else to come.

Samara nodded. "If you can reanimate it as a minion, it would go a long way."

"Sure. We'll have to watch out for the second group, though. Prepare to be ambushed." Mark looked around. A small outlook hung above, a place to let her stay and watch over the entire area. He pointed at it.

After climbing up, Samara signaled at them to begin.