After we’d jogged over to Kron, I noticed a third stranger who looked like an elven rogue, bringing up the rear. The rogue nodded to a golem tank, who constantly scanned his surroundings. They shared a look that showed that they’d been working together for years.

A catfolk mage placed one hand on her hip and frowned at the corpse-filled cavern. “I don’t think I’ve ever come across a necrotic dungeon like this before.”

Kron gestured to her. “This is Hellvian. She’s here to save you.”

She nodded to us. “Fortunately, you two saved yourselves! Which just leaves me with the inspection for necrotic energy.” While grimacing, she kicked a dead crab’s claw out of the way. “So far, I don’t sense any, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hidden. To help me with my search, I’d like to ask you some questions.”

“Go for it,” I said.

“How did you manage to kill all these zombies off?”

I went into details about what I experienced down here, while Murr interjected here and there to clarify. We both left out the skills we created and our new magic items.

When I was done, she nodded. “And when you two killed the undead before, they didn’t fully die, right?”

I nodded.

“I didn’t get a kill notification,” Murr said. “Though I don’t know how they could still be considered not dead if their brains are mush and they don’t move.”

She took out a notebook, wrote a few things down with a charcoal pencil, and then closed it with a snap. “That’s all the information I need. It might take me twelve hours to finish my search for necrotic energy and you three look tired, so you should head back first. Be sure to drop by the guild. They need to know you’re safe. The last thing they need is the Quince family on their ass for sending you all into a changed dungeon.”

I nodded and turned to leave the cavern before pausing. I jerked around and rushed back to Hellvian. “Wait, how do we get out of here?”

If the staircase to the first floor was just down the hall, I might cry.

She pulled out a thick piece of folded parchment and handed it to me. “Get into the habit of making your own maps. You’ll need it when you start delving into new dungeons at higher levels. The reason the guild doesn’t give new adventurers maps is so you can practice doing it while things aren’t as dangerous.”

I opened it and studied her hand-drawn map. Almost Immediately, I found the cavern where we were. I followed that to the exit. Apparently, while we did go in the wrong direction, we were still four corridors from the stairs.

“How did you manage to find us, anyway?”

She gestured to the elf rogue. “Ruffulos has a tracking ability. Once Kron brought us to where you three vanished off a cliff and we realized that you had gone deeper into the cave system, he managed to track you here from the stairwell, though we did have to clear away some of the zombies.”

The rogue nodded towards us.

That was some crazy good tracking skills. But these three were high-level adventurers.

I pulled out a piece of paper and a charcoal pencil, then roughly copied the map. Fortunately, I’d had plenty of practice making floor plans in my past life, so drawing something like this came naturally. Actually, I almost felt like I was about to activate my Architecture job. Since I only received it through my past-life’s memories and have done anything in reality to level it, my job was still dormant.

“Thank you... for coming to rescue us and for the advice.” I handed Hellvian her map.

She casually threw it into her inventory. “Guild members need to stick together. I’d be ashamed to call myself an adventurer if I didn’t come help.”

“With the zombies dead, can you still find necrotic energy?” Murr asked.

She nodded. “If it’s here, I’ll find traces of it. I might be reduced to level 10 while I’m here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still have my abilities and spells. It will just take me longer than it normally would.” After a brief pause, she said, “Also, whether I find anything or not, you three did good, so don’t worry. You followed proper procedures. Frankly, I’d rather be called on a hundred false cases than one that proved true.”

That was a relief. It would suck if her team considered this a waste of time.

***

Once we opened the doors to the guildhall, everyone turned to us and cheered. Val sat at a table, drinking with his buddies. When he noticed us, he cheered the loudest.

The miner stumbled over with a smile on his face. “You made it back alive! I knew you could do it.” He gestured to a dwarven cleric at a nearby table with his mug of ale. “Josh here thought you wouldn’t make it, but I told him you’d be sure to return with all your limbs intact. You three are tough as cockroaches... or maybe rough diamonds?” He blinked.

I grinned. “We are that. Thank you for notifying the guild for us.”

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Kron nodded, then leaned to me. “Actually, that was me. As a non-combatant, Val isn’t built for distance running.”

His cheeks turned red, and he scratched the back of his head. “Well, to be honest, I found a few friends nearby with a couple of ropes I could string together, but when I told them I was gonna return in to save your asses, they stopped me.”

I rested my hand on his shoulder. “That was the right choice. You shouldn’t be in a dungeon by yourself.”

He nodded.

“And we made it back alive, anyway.”

There were more cheers and calls for drinks.

Val held his nose. “Though I really hate to say this, but... You should really go take a bath. All of you smell like rotten meat.”

“Not a bad idea. Mind telling the guild that we made it back safely?”

He nodded. “I got you covered. Go rest.”

***

After taking a shower where I scrubbed every last inch of my body till my skin was red enough to match my hair, I finally left the bathroom to join Kron and Murr. They both looked like they’d also lost a layer or two of skin.

We broke out some simple rations and ate them together in exhausted silence.

I finished my water and turned to the two. “What level did you guys reach?”

“I’m almost to level 11,” Murr said. Then he excitedly brought out a dark gray slingshot that had several onyx gems inlaid in various locations. While it didn’t look that impressive, I could tell he was happy with it. “And after reading about this Cold Fire Slingshot, I can’t wait to see how much stronger my attacks will be. It can also use Advanced Shot. If I craft some of the more unique ammunition designs, I could increase my Artificer skills.”

I nodded. “That’s great! I’m thinking that we need two days off after the mess we just went through.”

Murr winced. “Well, we did level more than we were supposed to, so taking a couple of days off to practice isn’t a bad idea. I’ll tell Val tomorrow.”

“Since you reached level 10, you already know my level.” Kron yawned, then brought out a luxurious-looking pile of dark blue fabric. “This Azure Mage’s Cape is very useful. While it doesn’t appear to be all that special, it should double my current mana capacity.”

“So it lets you cast harder, and faster, for longer?”

He nodded. “I really like my big blue cape.” Then he threw it back into his inventory. “How about you, Sam? How are the Gloves of Acid Resistance?”

I pulled the black gloves out and they kind of flopped in my hands like they were made of rubber. Actually, they reminded me of a fancier version of those long black dishwashing gloves from my past life.

When I pulled them on, they felt like a tight and rubbery second skin. They were not that comfortable. Man, those thigh highs really spoiled me. “These might be a little pointless for me.”

I brought up the window with my new ability, pinched it, and handed it to them.

Minor Acid Resistance - Rank G - Your skin has been burned and healed so much that it has developed a slight immunity towards acidic substances. Now, instead of having your hand melted off immediately, it will take far longer! Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, you decide!

Note: To increase this ability, find stronger acids and use them on yourself.

Murr tapped his chin in thought before pointing to me. “I’d save those gloves. They’ll come in handy if there’s ever a time you need to stick your hand in an acid pool. They also aren’t soulbound so, if you increase your acid resistance enough, you can just sell them off.”

I shrugged. I’d take his advice. Every good gamer was a hoarder at heart, anyway.

Actually, while I had my character sheet open. I added my new attribute point to Body.

Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 10 and finished the Hidden Quest - Balls of Copper!

You now have the passive and defensive aura skill - Copper Cock Cupper.

For completing the Extra, you’ve earned the magic item: Tearless Eyeliner of Enhanced Vision.

Copper Cock Cupper - Rank J - Passive - An aura surrounds your groin area in a thin layer that has the protective strength of a copper codpiece.

While active skills were easy to create, it was significantly more difficult to develop a passive skill. Those were a useful type of skill that was on all the time, but didn’t use up a lot of energy. Having a passive defense protect my groin area was exactly what a tank like me needed if I was going to reach level 300 in four years.

But what was with that eyeliner?

Before I could tap the item that appeared in my inventory, another pop-up interrupted me.

Hidden Quest II! Balls of Nickel!

Reach level 20 without taking any shortcuts or wearing a codpiece! Reward - your Copper Cock Cupper upgrades to a Nickel No-Nutcracker skill.

Extra - If you finish this quest without covering your ears during your fights, you can earn a Special Item.

Was the special item even worth it? I mean, I might go up against a monster who had sound attacks. At that point, I’d have to cover my ears and lose the special item, or find a way to make earplugs.

I pulled up the information on my new item.

Tearless Eyeliner of Enhanced Vision - Soulbound - This godly Eyeliner was created for the Goddess Belinda by the heavenly alchemists, who were trying to find a way to enhance her already perfect looks. As a natural beauty, she obviously doesn’t need it. To show her appreciation of your hard work in testing her system, she’s graciously awarded you with this.

When this item is applied correctly, it has several effects that will last for 2 hours or until the eyeliner is washed off:

Everyone Looks Better in Eyeliner - However attractive you are, you are now 1.3x as good-looking.

Enhanced Vision - Your eyesight will improve by one level. Things that were once blurry will now be crystal clear. Perhaps too much so.

Increased Perception - Things you normally wouldn’t notice will now be very obvious to you. They might even be outlined in yellow.

Warning: Do not sleep with makeup on! You should wash off the eyeliner before going to sleep or it will temporarily damage your skin and eyesight.

Uses: 10000/10000

This item is soulbound and cannot be transferred to another, however, you can apply it to someone else.

Dear Belinda... What the hell? Why do you keep giving me your trash... I mean, it’s useful to me, but it’s still your trash.

She did not answer my prayer and heartfelt request for answers.