Murr and Kron watched as the red-headed elf put on his helmet and stepped into the swirling yellow gate of Balrock’s Mine. The ocean breeze blew onto their backs as if urging them to follow.

“Hey,” Val said. “You two sure your guy is up to the task? I gotta know since my life is on the line here.”

Murr smiled just like the confident son of a merchant he was. “Sam isn’t your average tank. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Maybe, but I think I’ll wait out here till you guys get to the first mining area.”

“That’s reasonable,” Kron said.

“But waiting for your buddy is a bit boring. So how about we make things a bit more interesting?”

As if he sensed easy money, Murr’s pink ears swiveled toward the purple-haired dwarf. “What do you have in mind?”

“Ten coins.” He rubbed his fingers together. “We’ll bet on if there are any monsters hiding at the entrance. And we’ll be able to tell if your tank comes out unscathed.”

Murr crossed his arms and considered.

Kron, being a bit less eager, asked, “What if he just takes care of them and leaves without issue?”

Val grinned. “Then I’ll still be out 10 coins, yeah? But this mine hasn’t been used for a long while aside from a few miners dabbling at the first mining vein now and then. So I’m thinkin’ that I’ll win.”

“Agreed,” Murr said solemnly.

Kron frowned. “Isn’t this betting on Sam’s life?”

“No, this is wagering on his skills, which our miner here is doubting. Besides, he’s not a normal tank.” Murr grinned. “I’d be worried if he was.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see. Won’t we?” Val said.

***

No one knows who first decided that the tank should go first when entering an unfamiliar dungeon, but it was considered best practice for one to enter and look around to ensure the area was monster free, then come back out. Because they sometimes created traps at the entrance and the only person who could survive a sudden attack first was the guy with the best defense.

Even though my main defense was my agility, I still had the best chance to survive a surprise attack compared to the other two. And honestly, it eased my mind that I could keep them safe.

A nervousness and excitement ran through me as I entered the yellow gate alone. Since this was a known dungeon, we were able to research what to expect from it before we left. The entrance was supposed to look like an empty mine with rails, old broken carts off to the side, and a few glowing mushrooms here and there providing natural light. And that was exactly what I found.

But nobody had mentioned that the shrooms were an eerie pink. I mean, I would have mentioned it if I were them.

Then again, adventurers—who we received our information from—weren’t known for caring about the color of plants unless they were dangerous or worth money.

As I walked deeper into the initial cavern, I recalled the information we gathered about this dungeon was mostly about two types of mobs. While it predominantly had a type of bipedal lizard that looked a little like a hound, we should also occasionally find large crab monsters that feed off the lizard-dogs. Of course, there was a rumor that, now and then, the corpse of an adventurer who died would rise from the dead and attack anyone it found. But that was just a rumor. Using necrotic mana to animate corpses was very illegal, and any dungeon with undead was obliterated with great prejudice by the Empire itself.

I assumed that was because of space issues. When you had limited space to build, you didn’t need skeletons crowding the place. Of course, it could just be that necromancy was loathed by the fae.

Just as I was about to leave, a dark boulder fell from the ceiling. Even though it was only the size of a large doge, it absolutely would have crushed me if I didn’t use Dangerous Dodge to avoid it by mere inches.

That was when I noticed the rock was actually a large rock crab.

Since it was a small monster, I first tried going around it. It used its creepy black legs to sideways walk to get in front of me. When I tried the other direction, it still blocked me.

As it turned out, this crustacean had a crabby personality.

I took out Blood and Honor. Just before the monster thrust its large black claw toward my stomach, I redirected it. The crab’s strength was no joke. My feet left shallow tracks in the dirt.

Wait a second! Weren’t these crabs supposed to be the more dangerous of the two enemies?! Why was this thing so close to the entrance rather than deeper in the cave?

Its smaller, faster claw jabbed toward me. I dodged the claw by jumping over it.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Briefly, I considered running for the gate and grabbing my party, but there was no telling if this was the only enemy or not. I couldn’t let my team enter a dungeon and immediately face danger if I could take care of it myself. Plus, this might be a good test of how much I’d grown in the past couple of days.

I stabbed toward it with one aura-infused sword.

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It blocked using its claw. With my other blade, I jabbed it toward its little red eyes, and sparks flew off it.

This was harder than I expected. Where were the weak points of crabs again?

It must have sensed my frustration, because it scuttled sideways and back, bringing its large claw over for a bludgeoning swing. Some rude jerk had left a pickaxe lying in the entryway, which I discovered when I tripped over it while getting away from the blow. When I tried to stop myself from falling, my armored foot landed in something squishy and pink. I slipped, landing on my ass.

Fuck. Where was my Elven agility when I needed it?

The crab saw that I was in a bad spot and scuttled over to me. With one claw, it attempted to scoop me up.

Yeah, not happening. Not knowing if it would work, I activated Dangerous Dodge again while sprawled on the ground and kicking backward. I slid across the dirt floor a few feet and banged my helmeted head against the wall. Stars danced in my vision. With a grimace, I made a mental note to grab a better one later, or at least remember to use Cover Body.

The crab shifted its body weight from side to side, trying to confuse me.

Fortunately, this gave me time to think. I had eaten crab once in my past life. Trying to get the tiniest bit of meat was so frustrating that I ended up watching a whole video on how to crack it open like a chef. Could that work with this monster? Well, it was worth a try.

It might be large for a crab, but it was still smaller than me. Let’s see. The first step was to get it on its back, and the best way to do that was to approach it from behind. But it wasn’t slow. I needed some kind of quick movement technique. Like teleporting or something, which I obviously didn’t have enough aura for.

But maybe...

I put my swords away and lay down on the ground. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. This was insane.

The crab, seeing a meal just lying there waiting to be eaten, crawled over. Right before it could scoop me up, I Dangerous Dodged between its legs. My armor almost touched its hard, paler belly as I flew past. Then kicked out with my aura-infused foot. The crustacean flipped away from me and onto its back.

Its limbs froze like I’d shocked it. Since I couldn’t let it recover, I quickly threw my swords into my inventory, pressed my foot to its belly, and grabbed one leg with both hands. Then, using literally all my physical strength enhanced by all of my aura, I twisted and pulled. It popped out far easier and messier than I thought it would. Actually, the whole crab just sort of died right there with its limbs curling in on itself.

That was when my legs turned to jelly and my perspective shifted as I fell on my ass. I was entirely out of stamina. My arms couldn’t lift even a feather.

Honestly, I should have seen this coming. If anything came toward me now, I would be a sitting duck. This wasn’t good. Why had I done something so stupid? And why had it worked?!

My ears strained to hear any strange movement.

Dong! Dong!

Ow. My ears.

Congratulations! You defeated your first higher-leveled monster completely solo to protect your party. You are a true tank!

* Reward: Grand Translucent Helm

Really?! I received gear for this?!

Was it even any good? Blood and Honor were fantastic weapons, but I received them for finding a bug.

After a minute, I recovered enough to pull a stamina potion from my inventory. While downing it, I had the thought that Chef Ryan would definitely like the crab.

I tried shoving it into one of my slots and surprisingly, it fit... though the removed leg needed a separate hole.

While I was there, I pulled out the reward I received and examined it. Honestly, I wouldn’t even think it was there, except that I could feel its weight and smooth surface. When held just right, its surface appeared crystalline. I had to say, the design was badass.

Grand Translucent Helm - Soulbound - Deep in the fires of the God’s Forge, a minor godly smith beautifully designed this helmet and gave it as a gift to the Goddess Belinda. While she has no need for it she thought it should go to someone pretty, whose expressions she wants uncovered.

This helmet perfectly protects the wearer’s face from all damage, it only decently protects the rest of the head based on the owner’s level.

This item is soulbound and cannot be transferred to another.

My cheeks burned. I rubbed the side of my jaw.

Well, what could I say? She might be a spiteful goddess, but she had good taste.

I replaced my dented helmet with my new one. Aside from not feeling any breezes on my face, I couldn’t even tell I was wearing a helmet.

From all that sliding around, dirt got into some very uncomfortable places. I quickly cleaned myself up by sending my armor into my inventory, brushing off my body, then putting it back on. It looked new! While Tough Nut was overpowered while also being terribly painful to activate, Game Sight was just blessedly good.

***

After I did a more thorough scouting of the entrance where I made sure to look up, I decided that it was time to return. I strode out of the gate.

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I grinned. “I’m back! Did you miss me?”

Murr held his hand out to Val. “That’s ten gold.”