Mama looks at the doorway heading back, "Are they strong?"

I shake my head, "None of them seem that strong, but I'm not entirely sure."

She nods her head, "I see. Please let me know if any truly strong individuals show up."

"Sure thing, I'll keep an eye out."

I didn't really notice it at first, but now that I look at them closer, I start noticing that a lot of the people out there have green hair. No one has hair nearly as bright and vibrant as Trista's or Mucky's, and some even look nearly brown, but at least half of them have noticeably green tinted hair.

'I wonder if they're related. Same clan, maybe?'

The group of people don't seem to be doing anything in particular, so I decide to stop spying on them for now. I'm about to enter my consciousness in order to pass the time, when suddenly, I remember something. Trying to be as stealthy as possible, I take a couple pieces of rock salt out of one of my storage rings.

'I'm pretty sure the storage device that Trista gave to Constrictor was one of these...'

I start trying to remember what symbols were covering the device, when I remember that Constrictor is still nearby. I once more send my soul outside the dungeon, and proceed to search for Constrictor. As soon as I find her, I search her clothes until I find the storage device.

Considering what it does, creating its own space to store things, I'm prepared for the symbols to be extremely complicated. I even hope for complicated symbols that might give me more of a challenge, but...

'So simple?'

On its entire surface, I can only make out a few symbols. Something interesting though, is that each symbol is connected to every other symbol on the device. And even though there's qi running through them, none of the symbols seem even similar to the ones in the golems, which absorb qi.

'Where do they get their qi from, then? Wait...'

I look down at the rock salt in front of me and use my soul to start investigating it. Sure enough, just below the surface, there are veins of qi stretching throughout each piece of rock salt. The qi inside seems to be in some sort of stable, crystallized state, which might explain why I never sensed it until now.

After scrutinizing it further, I find that the rock salt in Constrictor's possession, which is now some sort of storage device, has a couple parts that have been chipped away. Each spot exposes one of the qi veins, on top of which symbols are carved.

'I see, so those symbols must extract qi somehow.'

Retracting my soul, I single out one of the rock salts in front of me and locate the qi veins that are closest to the surface. After finding them, I start scratching away the surface of the rock salt. Before long, the qi veins are fully exposed, but I feel a headache coming on as another problem presents itself.

'How do I get it flat enough to carve symbols on?'

There's no way I'm going to be able to carve symbols on the jagged surface I just created. For that matter, I'm not sure I'll be able to carve symbols on the bumpy surface elsewhere on the rock salt. Thinking back to the storage device, it did seem to have a fairly smooth surface compared to a normal rock salt.

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And so I start brainstorming, trying to think of a way to smooth out its surface. I try using my claws more, but that only seems to make it worse. I try grinding it against another piece of rock salt, but not only is it really loud, it's also very hard to do with my current dexterity. Running out of ideas, I even try using my soul to smooth it out, but the rock salt is too strong. It would probably take several days just to make it smooth.

"Is that it? I get this far, only to be stopped by a technical difficulty?"

I try simulating the symbols in my mind, but of course it doesn't work. I don't know nearly enough about them. For that matter, I'm not even sure how I would simulate them. I mean, how do I even go about creating an extra space?

'Man, I really wanna learn more about these. I wish there was some sort of book that I could read...'

Eventually, I decide to just use my soul to slowly erode the surface of the rock salt. As I work, super fine dust floats down through the still dungeon air, slowly building up and making a ring around it. By the time people start standing up, I've already smoothed off nearly a quarter of the rock salt.

'Huh, this is going faster than I thought it would.'

Pleasantly surprised, I stick the pieces of rock salt back into the storage ring that they came from and stand up as soon as Mama does, after which we head to the center of the room along with the rest of the group.

"Is everyone prepared for the next room?" Trista, who seems to have calmed down considerably, asks.

Sitting beside Trista is Mucky, who has been sticking close to her ever since a while ago. I wave at him, and as soon as he notices me, he waves back while grinning.

Trista looks at everyone individually, including myself, "I am being serious this time, I would like everyone to answer me. We need to be in peak condition."

Ruth is the first to nod her head, "I'm fully recovered."

I also nod my head, and everyone else confirms in their own ways as well. Everyone, that is, except for Iron Keep, who merely grunts. Trista is clearly perturbed by his response, or lack thereof, and only calms down a bit after breathing deeply several times.

After a few seconds, she stands up, "Well then, let's go."

Mucky stands up as well, tugging on her sleeve, "Sis, what's wrong?"

She flicks her arm, removing her sleeve from his grasp, "Shut up Mucky, nothing's wrong!"

I'm about to try and comfort Mucky when, contrary to my expectations, he actually smiles and starts laughing, "Now you're acting like sis! Why do you always act so weird around other people? You were starting to make me worried."

Trista seems to be at a loss for words, as several emotions flicker across her face. Eventually, a barely perceptible smile seems to creep up, before she hardens her expression and turns around, sweeping her gaze across everyone again.

"Iron Keep, you'll be the vanguard, try to keep the golem's attention. Lei, you can back Iron Keep up and distract it if he gets overwhelmed. Ruth, Green Horn, you two can support them. I only ask that you try to limit the golem's movements."

Trista then crouches and looks at me, "Lyna, can you understand me?"

I nod my head, after which Trista's eyes widen and she mumbles something about holy foxes being different than she expected.

'Why are you so surprised? If you're going to ask, shouldn't you be prepared for me to say yes?'

After her moment of shock, she quickly composes herself, "I hear holy foxes have a pretty powerful ability. Have you awoken yours yet?"

I nod my head again.

"Good. I'd like you to stand back and look for any opportunities to attack."

'Right, like I'm just going to stand back in a battle this interesting...'

Trista stands back up and looks towards the golden golem, which stands just past the doorway in front of us, "Stephan and I will also be attacking the golem with Iron Keep and Lei. If anyone has a chance to destroy the golem, take it at your own discretion. If we succeed in defeating it, I'll raise everyone's pay to one thousand spirit stones. Fight hard, and don't die!"

I can almost feel my blood boiling, though I'm not quite sure if it's because of the imminent fight or Trista's little speech.

'Maybe both?'

I start anticipating the fight even more as the seconds pass, but I'm suddenly sobered up by a tap on my back. Turning back, I see Mama looking at me.

"Yes Mama?"

She leans down and whispers, "What is 'discretion'?"

"Ah, when you use your discretion, it's like deciding for yourself whether something is a good idea or not."

She releases an 'ah' as she straightens back up while nodding her head. I turn my attention back to everyone else just in time to see Trista take a step through into the next room. Before her foot even touches the ground, the golden golem's head turns in our direction.

'Here we go!'