The group retrieved Trillia's helmet from the shop and chatted about their most recent delve at length. It had honestly gone quite well, all things considered.

Alfred spoke up during a lull in the conversation. "I think instead of retreating this time. You all should set up camp inside the dungeon. Regardless of how deep you make it. Some dungeons are massive entities that will force you to delve into them for days on end. You should get used to how mana flows and taking shifts for watch. Especially if the end goal of your group is to go out into the world and explore. You never know when you'll run into brigands."

The group nodded at his advice which prompted Amelia to speak up next. "We should talk about rations in that case and things we can do to lighten our load. Trillia and I once borrowed a bag of holding from General Ralrouk, and it made our lives significantly easier. Maybe that should be a short-term goal for now. Delve deep enough to get a storage item of some kind."

Malor tilted his head at that and grumbled. After a few moments of the others staring at him, he spoke. "I could try to enchant us one. Storage items are really hard to make, from what I've heard. It might be a total failure and be prohibitive on mana costs, though."

Trillia nodded. "Lord Arlyss said something similar to me once. I have the mana to burn, as long as it's not too crazy. Maybe I could put only the heaviest stuff in there? Like the chitin we got yesterday."

The others nodded, and the chatter continued. Alfred and Marg seemed content to host the little group of misfits in their home for now. Trillia felt as if it was almost comforting for the two of them to have so many younglings around them.

Frederick smacked the table as a realization dawned on him, startling Ialu, who jumped up, ready for a fight. "That reminds me! Red River is going to be putting in some mining nodes on one of its floors! I said that maybe the two of you would like to delve some time."

Marg scoffed and shook her head. "We're far too old for delving into a dungeon. Even one as kind as Red River."

The group of five leveled looks at Marg and Alfred as the motherly figure sipped a hot cup of tea. Alfred chuckled softly. "We could dust off our equipment, I guess. Blow off a little steam and maybe get some ore in the process."

Marg shot him a glance but seemed to be seriously pondering the idea. "Maybe. We'll think about it."

Frederick seemed happy with that. The group agreed to get a solid night's rest and meet up at the dungeon's entrance tomorrow.

-=- Tomorrow -=-

Trillia yawned and stretched. Trying to get the sleep out of her bones. She and Amelia had been the first to arrive. Both of them had packed some basic food and water and were in the process of helping each other don their respective armor. Layla was the next to show up, and the girls helped her get into her armor as well.

The boys showed up together, chatting about the shop and enchanting. The two were becoming fast friends. Their armor was already on. Trillia bounced up off of the rock she had taken as a seat. "Are we ready to go?!"

Everyone looked at the far-to-high-energy person and nodded. Trillia spun excitedly and marched them off toward the dungeon.

The first floor was a breeze. The group had ironed out some of their early issues and was considerably more coordinated today. The second floor also went much smoother. Layla cast her spell that allowed the group to see through the basic illusions in place, and the group quickly found itself on their fourth abomination kill. They decided not to rest between kills. Realistically the only thing any of them needed to recover was Stamina.

Layla kept their health topped off, and Trillia was quick to refill mana in a pinch. The girls would also regularly use [Restorative Chant] on the others to help keep Stamina up. They mostly didn't keep using it to top everyone off because doing so tended to call more enemies to them. Red River was quick to make sure he didn't just let them top off for free.

Soon, the group made it to a familiar blue barrier. Amelia and Trillia exchanged glances and looked back at their companions. "It's been a little while since we've been here. We will fill you in on what we know." The girls proceeded to do just that before taking their initial approach to the barrier. Trillia broke it with ranged attacks, and Amelia protected the group with elemental bulwark.

As the barrier fell, the familiar bowl-shaped arena was present before them. The hybrid was lounging in the center, the massive ice-plated body of a dungeon megapede with the ogre's torso. As Trillia took her first step into the room, it gave them no time to plan. Bow in hand, it loosed three arrows at the ground under their feet.

The hand with the indigo gem in it hefted the now-glowing gem into the air, and a heavy mist filled the room. Trillia immediately jumped off of the ledge with Ialu at her side. Malor and Frederick stayed on the rim of the bowl. Amelia and Layla joined Trillia. The plan was simple, sever the tail that swept the ledges.

"[Intercept]!"

Trillia heard the clank of Layla intercepting an attack. Trillia didn't even know the attack was coming, but she was grateful to her friend all the same. Trillia raised her arm and began a constant barrage of mana bolts. Amelia had begun singing. She sang a soft, haunting melody that drifted through the mist-filled room.

You're under the effects of [Banshee's Eerie]!

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Allies have their Agility doubled.

Allies cannot be confused or charmed.

Enemies must resist the effects of the user's Presence or be stunned until the skill ends!

Trillia grinned and raised her right hand, letting mana tear through her veins, and spells flowed freely. Trillia was long past the need to chant for most of her skills.

"[Titan Swing]!" Trillia recognized Frederick's bellow, and the chittering screech coming from in front of her let her know that they had struck true on the tail.

Layla intercepted two more attacks before a third and fourth slammed into the acolyte's torso and sent her flying. A fifth and sixth attack appeared from the mist, and Trillia threw herself to the side, cursing under her breath. The hybrid hadn't been nearly this fast before!

The temperature in the room dropped rapidly, and the sound of bubbling acid filled their ears. Trillia snatched her hand from the ground as a thin coating of the freezing acid began to fill the bowl. "Everyone up! Get on the ridge, quickly!"

Trillia whistled for Ialu, who had gone forward to bite their enemy. The wolf ran out of the mist towards her, covered in acid burns. Trillia grabbed onto her back, and the two tried to scale the slippery slope of the bowl. Thanks to [Banshee's Eerie] and Ialu's already ridiculous agility, they managed.

Just as they got to the rim of the bowl, a familiar scraping sound filled her ears as the tail began ripping the ice apart along with everything in its path. Ialu turned and began running the other way. Trillia hadn't heard her companions at all in the last few seconds of battle, and worry settled in.

Just as she was about to call out, the scrapping stopped. The mist vanished. Trillia cursed once more, knowing that the dungeon had stopped the fight. A dozen goblins swarmed out of holes toward Malor, who had been impaled with a trident and pinned to the wall. Half his face was gone from a spray of acid breath.

Trillia's heart dropped at the sight. She glanced over and saw that Layla was trying to heal Amelia, who was missing an entire leg that had been lost to the rising acid. Frederick seemed mostly unharmed but still shaken.

There, in the center of the room, Trillia saw the problem. It wasn't a single hybrid. There were two of them. One crawled down from a hole in the ceiling that must have been covered with an illusion. The mist covered the hole. Red River had stepped up this boss encounter as well. The hybrids said nothing, one crawled back into the ceiling, and the other coiled up in the center of the bowl again. Entirely unbothered by the freezing acid around it.

An hour later, the group was in the healing hall. The goblins had gained a significant array of healing skills and classes. The damage to their group had been mostly healed. Though, whatever mental damage might have been done by the pain was still very real.

Malor shook his head in anger. "Four fucking skill levels in acid and ice protection. How are we supposed to defeat those things?!"

Amelia growled low, sharing in his anger. "The step up is absurd! We can't get the levels we need from the first floor to fight the boss of the second floor!"

Layla sat with her back against the wall, and her eyes closed. Frederick looked disheartened as well. Trillia looked around at the goblins, who said nothing, and simply went about healing the group in silence. "Maybe we should scout the area surrounding the city? Find a small nest to clear and gain some levels. We could also just spend some time on the second floor killing the abominations. They still give decent experience."

Frederick looked over at her as she said that, as an idea was brewing in his mind. "How much of that chitin do we have? The stuff from the abominations?"

Amelia and Malor's anger settled a bit as the armourer began speaking. Amelia pulled out a journal and quickly glanced through it. "Counting what we got this time? Maybe thirty pounds of usable material."

Frederick nodded and looked around at the goblins. "Let's meet up at the shop. I need to check on a few things around the city. Don't worry, guys. We'll progress. This is just a minor setback. Remember, we're doing this to get better as a team and learn our strengths and weaknesses."

The group nodded at him and slowly filtered out as they were fully healed. Each thanked the goblins and left small trinkets on their way out as thanks.

A few hours passed, and the group was in the shop. Fred was talking to his parents, his armor the subject of the discussion based on them standing around the table.

The group had waited outside the dungeon to show up at the shop as one. Not wanting Fred to have to repeat any information. Alfred gave them a nod and motioned for them to come closer.

The armor sat on the table, and Fred had a piece of the chitin sitting next to his chest plate. "We're trying to figure out how to incorporate the chitin into our armor. Or make the armor itself more modular. The abominations aren't harmed by that acid stuff that they all spray about. Layla said that Red River sets up entire floors to help advance skill levels, right?"

Layla nodded, and the others listened with interest. "I think the orcs and minotaur are overlooking a component of the second floor. What if Red River fully expects you to make armor out of the other creatures on the floor? What if you're expected to know how to make those modifications, and it's just waiting for the delvers to figure that out? No offense, but orcs tend to brute force every single problem they run into."

Amelia snorted, and a grin spread across her face. "Us minotaur aren't much better."

The others didn't argue. It was true, after all. Frederick continued. "The wolf leather is highly resilient to fire mana. Which is what Paws uses in that nova of his. This chitin is highly resistant to ice and acid. I think the expectation is that by the time you're in the lower levels, you are protected against a wide array of elements. That's why I think some people get so far. They have skills that bypass the need for armor."

The group pulled out the rest of the chitin plates they had and watched as Alfred and Marg continued to write and re-write armor designs a dozen times. Malor leaned in and tapped a piece of the chitin. "Could we meld it? I've never tried, but I've heard that you can meld certain materials. Not entirely unlike the alloying process you once described to us."

Trillia perked up at that. She hadn't heard that word before. Marg grabbed a piece of the chitin and pondered the question. "I've seen a few folks who can meld. But it's usually one person who has alchemy, armorsmithing, and enchanting. We could attempt it as a group, though. It'd be rather dangerous work."

Layla chimed in, in an unusually chipper tone. "I can cover healing, Amelia can cover stamina, and Trillia can cover mana! There's no time like the present for all of you to attempt something dangerous and learn new skills!"

The group looked at the happy little acolyte, and Alfred nodded. "Can't argue with the girl. We're in a rather unique set of circumstances." The man looked at Malor, Fred, and Marg. "Feel up for some experimentation?"

The group nodded, and new plans began getting drawn up. Over the next few hours, a dozen books had been brought out from personal collections to try and find a process for melding that would work for a group. They agreed to use some of the scrap armor first, with the wolf leather to make fire-resistant gear.

Trillia felt as though this was going to be a long process. If it worked, they'd be able to progress much more easily.