Rieren knew that in an ideal world, she shouldn’t have killed that Abyssal. She actually wished the monsters would succeed in their endeavour to incorporate this tiled dungeon full of cheap traps and disgusting slimes into their desperate ploy for taking over the Mortal Realm. With the dungeon in Lionshard mountain no longer theirs, they had to find a new one.

That said, she couldn’t have avoided fighting against the Blightmane. Now that she had discovered the presence of other cultivators, especially two people who were obviously connected to the Archnobles no less, she was forced to change her tack.

Earning their trust would accomplish a different goal she had begun to formulate. One that would ensure she wouldn’t get into any trouble at the end of the dungeon.

Of course, that unfortunately required her to be ruthless against the Blightmane.

Thankfully, Rieren and the others eventually came across evidence that all wasn’t lost for the Abyssals. Despite the portents at the dungeon’s mouth, it seemed they weren’t as stymied as she had first thought.

They had been travelling somewhat awkwardly for a little while now. Mercion and Kerolast couldn’t decide whether they wanted Rieren to lead—and thus take the brunt of any danger they might discover—or if they ought to be in front so as not to lose any honour.

In the end, they settled on a compromise. One of them would be behind her at all times while the other would carefully keep pace with Rieren to her left. Kerolast and Mercion constantly interchanged their positions. Apparently, if there was any notion of violating propriety through their antics, it didn’t occur to them.

“What were you hoping to find in this dungeon, Rieren?” Kerolast asked.

Before she could reply, Mercion came to her unwitting rescue. “I believe you are overstepping with your interrogation there, Kerolast.”

“Well, must we not know upon whom we are placing our trust?”

“Yes, but one doesn’t blithely demand the hopes and dreams that another harbours.”

“Rest assured, my lords,” Rieren said. “My hopes and dreams do not lie within this dungeon.”

Mercion raised his brows at her. “Is that so? Then pray tell, what manner of temporary reward were you seeking?”

“Who’s overstepping now?” Kerolast muttered, just loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to mistake it as anything but a rhetorical question.

“At the end of the dungeon, there is a little old sword that Elder Molgin wants,” Rieren said. “I am to retrieve it for him.”

Mercion patted the hilt of his own sword appreciatively. “Ah, a powerful weapon, I take it?”

“Actually, no. Just an old, weathered relic. My master wants to inspect it for Forging reasons.”

“Forging?” Kerolast asked.

“It’s a Profession, Kerolast,” Mercion said. “A secondary class you can get later.”

“I can get another class? Oh my.”

And thus began their talk about classes and whatnot. Rieren had successfully diverted their line of thought, though she supposed that was as much due to their own flitting nature as anything she might have done.

But they all fell silent when they reached their first Abyss Rent.

“What in the world is that?” Kerolast asked, a little horrified.

Mercion’s face had turned grim and pale. “An Abyss Rent.”

“Oh no. Not good. Not good at all.”

It sounded as though they both knew the severity that the presence of an Abyss Rent in the middle of a dungeon signified. Well, severe for those who lived nearby or had some other vested interest in the dungeon.

She had suspected Mercion and Kerolast weren’t touring the dungeon just for the fun of it. And now, she had found the impetus to make them reveal their intentions.

“May I ask if there are more of these Abyss Rents throughout this dungeon?” Rieren asked when they finally paused. “I was warned there might be, but I am uncertain how many we might encounter.”

Kerolast’s eyes seemed to be burning through her back. “This dungeon is the centre of much of our troubles.” He paused. “Well, it will be soon enough, now that we know there is an Abyss Rent here. At first, we only thought some of the Abyssals had made camp. But to think there is an actual Abyss Rent…”

Rieren had no trouble imagining him fanning his face behind her.

“Do you live nearby, my lords?” Rieren said.

“These lands belong to the Ordorian clan,” Mercion said with all the pride that he was attempting to use to mask his fear. “We will not allow any monsters to besmirch our territory.”

A lot of things were starting to become clear, though for some, Rieren still needed to make some logical leaps. Mercion had been sent here to investigate the possibility that the dungeon might start spewing Abyssals that might then begin harassing the Ordorian lands.

The populated regions might still be a ways off, but they must have heard what was happening elsewhere all over the Elderlands. Investigating before things got worse for them was par for the course.

Their journey took them through more traps and tunnels. Rieren was well aware of most. She guided them past pressure plates that would have doused them in burning oil, took care of boulders before they could be crushed, and was fast enough to deflect away arrows after the men accidentally activated the murder hole traps.

But they finally baulked when it came to climbing onto a ledge before another large chamber and taking a vent to avoid all that lay within.

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“How dishonourable!” Kerolast said, mustache bristling. “We mustn’t run from creatures like these slimes. To think, what would we even say, that we ran from gelatinous blobs that don’t even have brains?”

“I understand.” Rieren nodded sagely, though in truth, she was battling down her rising annoyance. “But this way will be faster. I think we should stick to this route in order to reach the dungeon’s main chamber before anyone else can.”

“Anyone else?”

“Well, we might not be the only ones who seek the treasures that dungeons hold. My master told me to be wary of other adventurers who might wish to take what I seek.”

“I think I agree with the girl on thus count, Kerolast,” Mercion said.

Rieren would have been grateful, but “girl” made her eyes twitch. She had an inkling she had lived longer than both of these louts combined.

“Are you certain, Mercion?” Kerolast looked almost longingly at the chamber and the darkness within, almost as though he would sorely miss crushing the life out of the slimes that were lying in wait. “After all, we have a name to uphold. Especially in front of an audience, don’t you think?”

Mercion patted Kerolast’s shoulder with something that looked like a brotherly smile. “It will be alright, Kerolast. Come, let us be done with this dastardly dungeon. Lead on, Rieren.”

Rieren nodded, then climbed up onto the little duct. She led the way, Batcat following just behind, the men farther back. As before, she had to use her steam to clear the duct of any slimes that lay in wait for an ambush.

But they had a surprise awaiting them in the room Rieren exited to. There was no floor for them to land on. Instead, the vent opened onto a lightless pit, spanned only by a series of columns floating in space. To make matters worse, the columns were moving on their own, bouncing off one another, and spitting fire to boot.

“What’s going on?” Mercion asked from behind. “I hear strange noises.”

Rieren reported what she saw. “I will go ahead. Please wait until I can make sure we can cross safely.”

She didn’t recall this obstacle from last time. Perhaps she had taken a different path, or perhaps the dungeon had made this one new in this timeline, just for people like her who had already gone through its tunnels once before. Whatever the case, she would have to find a way to get past it.

It wasn’t as dangerous or complicated as the floating platforms in the last dungeon had been. Rieren needed to time her jumps so that she landed on the top of each column, but also aim them so that she landed where they would be, rather than where she saw them at the moment of her leap.

As she had thought, it turned out to not be that difficult. Rieren was able to hop across the array of floating pillars with relative ease. They weren’t too fast. She also made sure to jump from her pillar before it could collide with another.

There was another tunnel at the far end. Rieren resisted jumping down to it once she had reached the last column. She still had her companions to think of.

“Will you be able to cross the pillared chasm, my lords?” she asked across the obstacle course.

Mercion didn’t look at all sure if he could. He was observing the way the columns moved with critical focus, but there was no sign of confidence on him. Just trepidation and fear. Rieren had a feeling Kerolast wasn’t far off.

“I think I can manage it,” Mercion eventually said.

Rieren wasn’t so sure. But then, she couldn’t disagree and shame him, especially in front of his companion. Even worse, if she let him attempt a jump, and then he fell to his death, that would put a dent in her plans as well. Conundrums, conundrums.

As Mercion jumped to his first column successfully, if with a dangerous wobble, Rieren began hopping back towards the vent.

With his companion now gone, Kerolast was finally able to poke his head out. “I knew we shouldn’t have come through this accursed vent. Now look. We’re supposed to jump across a chasm spanned by drunken pillars!”

“Oh, come now, Kerolast.” Mercion jumped onto another column, teetering again as though he was the drunk one here. “It isn’t so bad. One just needs some timing and a sense of balance.”

“Is there no other way?”

Rieren shook her head as she paused halfway back the way she had come. “If you look down, my lord, you will see a little balcony. I believe we are meant to cross this chasm one way or another.”

“Perhaps there is an easier way down there. Or perhaps, if we had wings like that little flying rodent of yours.”

Rieren glanced to where Batcat was flying around the columns. It seemed to be enjoying itself. “I do not think cats qualify as rodents.”

“Come, come, Kerolast,” Mercion said. “Surely we—ahh!”

Rieren jerked her head to where Mercion had jumped to, heart leaping into her gullet. She had thought the man had missed his jump and fallen into the lightless depths below. He had fallen, but he had somehow managed to wrap his limbs around a column, halting his plummet.

That didn’t relieve Rieren, though. He was on the side of a column, which meant he was moments away from being crushed against another onrushing pillar.

There wasn’t a moment to waste. She didn’t heed how Kerolast shouted in alarm, or how Batcat had stopped flying either. Instead, she quickly jumped to the exact column that Mercion was barely clinging onto.

“Grab my hand,” she yelled. “Hurry.”

Mercion reached up, but he was too far down. He was trying to shimmy upwards but was having difficulty. All the while, another column was fast approaching to crush him to fleshy pulp.

“Jump,” she said. “Now.”

Mercion growled, then let go and somehow managed to leap marginally upwards. It was desperate, nothing graceful about it at all, but he had reached just high enough that Rieren could grab onto his outstretched hand and pull him up right on her shoulders. He yelped as their column crashed against the one that had been about to collide with him instead.

“You saved me,” he said, sounding disbelieving. “Now if you could put me down…”

Rieren didn’t answer. Instead, she continued jumping, returning back towards the vent. “Lord Kerolast, if you please, it is time we left.”

She had raised her hand up towards him. He still looked doubtful, but it didn’t take long for him to see what Rieren was actually offering. The way she was still carrying Mercion was all he needed to know.

“We must reach the end of this dungeon, yes?” she said. “Hurry!”

Growling and muttering to himself, Kerolast pushed himself off the vent’s ledge. Rieren grabbed him before he could protest and subjected him to the same treatment that she was offering Mercion. She slung him over her other shoulder and carried them both across the obstacle before finally landing safely on the other platform just before the tunnel.

“We have arrived,” Rieren said, setting both men down.

She realized that neither would have liked how she had treated them. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if they both took great offence.

But the fact that she had taken them both for a ride on her shoulder had paid off. Neither seemed willing to speak of it or bring it up. Kerolast was obviously flustered, muttering as he straightened his robes and patted his mustache to its original shape. Meanwhile, Mercion was looking ahead into the gloom.

“We are at the end, aren’t we?” he said, glancing back at Rieren.

She nodded. Past Mercion, she could see a set of large doors at the end of the short tunnel. The floating pillars had been the last obstacle before the main chamber.

“We thank you for bringing us here, Rieren,” Mercion said. “You have our utmost gratitude. Isn’t that right, Kerolast?”

His companion looked surprised at being called up, but the thickset man straightened himself and nodded tightly. “Of course, we wouldn’t have been able to reach this location with such relative ease without you. You are quite the cultivator, Rieren.”

When she looked at Kerolast, she found that he was being genuine. He was looking at her with a mixture of gratitude, awe, and even a hint of subservience. Strange to think that she had finally won him over.

“It was my pleasure to assist you, my lords,” Rieren said. “But you sound as though you no longer wish for my assistance.”

Mercion laughed. “Oh no, we’d like your help with… whatever is lying in wait for us past those doors. It’s just… that might have been the last opportunity we might get to express our thanks, so best to take advantage of it.”

Rieren smiled. Then started to feel minorly terrible about what she was about to attempt past those doors. She kept her feelings well-hidden, though. She had to see it through no matter what.

Even if there was a great chance that neither of her new companions would make it out of there alive.