With Veronica's Rest being off-limits for the time being, Amelia's party was forced to take on quests from farther out with a less steady source of income. Meanwhile, there was no guarantee they'd have a comfortable place to sleep and what little they could earn day to day had to be spent on accommodation and meals. It was unfortunate, but it wasn't exactly unexpected. This was how things were in most places, so it was something they'd have to accept. It wasn't like they'd be able to remain in Bluelight Cove City forever. That would only stall their growth when the dungeon no longer grew fast enough to provide a sufficient challenge for them.

"What quest do you think we should take on next? This one would require us to travel to a village a few days out to take care of a wolf problem. We'd be well suited to it thanks to Elwin's ability to set [Traps] and I could likely help by creating pitfalls with my earth magic."

Amelia said. Coryas shook his head as he replied

"We shouldn't take any more long-distance quests. We'll be able to enter the dungeon again soon and the pay isn't worth it anyway."

They had already taken on some similar quests over the course of the last month, but she knew he had a point. Helping villages that couldn't sufficiently protect themselves tended to result in poor pay as they also didn't have the coin to pay for the help. If they did, it was likely they'd want someone more capable than their low-level party anyhow. Still, the guild tended to look favorably on adventurers who took such quests even despite the lack of monetary rewards and would give extra reputation points, which were a necessary part of increasing one's rank. Even a high-level individual might not be considered S-rank within the guild if they never took on guild quests.

Of course, despite how confusing it was, someone might be referred to as an S-rank individual without having the formal ranking within the guild. Since class skills and experience-based levels could see to it that you were still considered quite strong within the adventurer community, it wouldn't exactly make sense to refer to someone strong as an F-rank. Since levels were something only the individual themselves could see via their system, it wasn't like one could be referenced with those numbers. Supposedly, according to what Amelia had read, even Dungeon Masters at times had systems that ranked individuals, but it was more so based on their raw power rather than the formal ranking with the guild.

"What about this one? It seems the guild has been having trouble with another bandit group just outside the city."

Elwin asked only for Coryas to shake his head as he dismissed the idea.

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"No, we could end up getting caught up in an investigation for months and you know how hard it was on Amelia when people ended up dying the last time."

It wasn't exactly as if their group couldn't handle a small bandit group, but they did usually have to collaborate with a more experienced group. Coryas was a confident fighter and Elwin was good at setting up [Traps] to cover their retreat. Her earth magic, which she was becoming more proficient in as time went on, was even useful for collapsing the ground inwards to keep reinforcements from swarming them too quickly.

However, Coryas was also right that she was still having nightmares after she had accidentally ended up collapsing a portion of a building only to have a few of the bandits die a rather painful and brutal death. Some were stabbed through with broken pieces of wooden columns meant to reinforce the building while others were decapitated in the blink of an eye. Her abilities weren't even strong enough that such a thing would normally have been possible. She just hadn't realized quite how rotten the structure of the building the bandits had been using as their base of operations was.

There were other quests that also had to be dismissed for similar reasons. Escorting merchants, investigating missing individuals, clearing a mountain pass of wild [Monsters] to make it safer for merchants to travel between cities, etc. There were even quests for adventurers in other kingdoms due to them living in a coastal city that often saw merchant ships coming and going. However, none of those quests were suitable for their current goals.

After spending way too long looking things over, they finally decided to settle for a low-level quest to collect medicinal herbs in the nearby forest. It was unlikely that it would pay very well, but it would ensure they could return in time for their local dungeon to be open once more. That was the most important thing right now, especially since a new floor guaranteed there would be new opportunities to make a profit.

The challenge rooms were a bit difficult for them to complete, but it wasn't like it was impossible. Amelia could use magic to pause the wall push [Traps] in the tropical parkour room and both the firewalk and maze challenge rooms were more about patience than anything else. As for the boss [Monster], they had yet to attempt taking it on due to how little time there was between it being added and the second floor being unlocked. They only even knew it existed because one always appeared before a new floor was added to a dungeon.

Some things could be assumed just based on the other details of the first-floor layout. For example, a floor that only has gargoyles for [Monsters] should also have a gargoyle for a boss [Monster]. A floor with a tropical rainforest was going to be the same for the whole floor. Since it was one of the lower floors of the dungeon, it also guaranteed the danger level would be at an appropriate level for adventurers at her party's level. Still, it was better safe than sorry, so they'd likely wait until they could learn more about it so they could prepare appropriately.

"Alright, I've cleared things with the receptionist. Let's go!"

Coryas said. Amelia merely nodded, silently following his lead. She really couldn't wait until Veronica's Rest was once more open to the public. It would be so nice to relax in a comfortable bed and eat a proper meal once more!