The money Arath and Ben received from Ruby was such a perfectly measured amount that, as they just found out, there was not a single coin less or more than the cost of Alchemist's services. They brought the Blood Bat in, gutted it and extracted as much blood as possible. It wasn't as fresh as it could be, but according to the specialist's words, it was good enough. The process of creating the mixture would take two days.

In two days Clara would no longer be in this coma-like state and could began living her life once again. This piece of news was both relieving and shocking to Arath and Ben who had been slowly losing their faith. Finally, Tower decided to give them a break and let them enjoy their moment of happiness. They informed their teammates that they wouldn't go to the third floor yet, as they wanted to be present at the moment.

This way, the team of four once again ventured into the dark corridors of dungeon and spent a whole day clearing it. Once again, the second floor was busier than ever with carts going up and down and even a small camp of mercenary guards was set up, as the way from First City to the third floor was an over ten hours trip.

During most of the cycles the first solid settlement would be located on the fifth floor, which was the first one with sun, trees and everything one needs to be happy. It would become a sort of resort for the rich and a market town for the Heroes and Scouts. Seeing sun was something many people dreamed of, no matter the age, resulting in a brand new branch of business - tourism. It was not a common practice overall, but it wasn't that hard to find some bored aristocrats with too much money on their hands who wanted to experience an adventure. A safe adventure, with assistance of many professional dungeoneers, but an adventure nonetheless.

The trip was rather fruitful but not groundbreaking, monsters in the outer parts of second floor were still plenty and competition was hard to notice. They stumbled upon two other teams who had the same idea and just shared any crucial info, wished good luck and went their own ways. After selling his part of loot to Ruby, Arath felt safe and financially stable once his pouch started to weight a bit.

But that didn't last for long as groceries had to be done and the rent wouldn't pay itself either. Having dealt with all the troublesome matters, Arath finally had the chance to sit down and take a break.

'The ceiling looks really nice, I wonder who designed it. Was it someone like me? What kind of person was...' His words were floated away and his head softly landed on pillows.

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The events of recent days wore him off completely, he had no strength in his muscles whatsoever. He felt like a bag with too many rocks, one more stone and the cloth would tear to shreds. He was constantly stressed and put in dangerous situation, there was no way it wouldn't take it's toll on both his mental and physical state.

He was waken the next morning by Ben who definitely couldn't hide his emotions, excitement on his face was like a thunderstorm, hard to miss. Not only was it visible, it was also audible.

"Get your ass up, you lazy dwarf!" Ben forcefully dragged him out of the bed and glared as if expecting something.

"Dwarf? Who do you call dwarf?" Arath was still half asleep, but knew when he was being insulted. "I'm just the perfect size, it's not my fault you are a giant!"

"Perfect size? Maybe for a child, now get up, Alchemist said the antitoxin would be ready today."

"Today doesn't necessarily mean right now." He rubbed his eyes and put on his clothes.

"I know, I know. But don't you think we should throw some party?" Ben was like a little puppy, if he had a tail it would be definitely be wagging like crazy.

"Party? Is that what you do in your world on occasions like that?"

"Exactly, she will have survived a near-life situation, I think it's more than suitable."

"Sure, what can I do?" Hearing Arath's answer, Ben grinned from ear to ear and barged out of the room.

They checked on Clara's condition, just in case, and went to the kitchen. There weren't many ingredients and Ben had no idea what half of them were supposed to be, but with a little bit of his friend's help they managed to cook some decent-looking soup and prepared a thick slice of meat. It wasn't often when they had the chance to eat this kind of meal so they both became more excited with each passing second. The smell was so good that even the dead would leave their graves to have a taste, yet Clara turned out to be resistant to such earthly pleasures.

When everything was ready to be served, they covered it and quickly set out to the Alchemist's. He was a bald man with dozen chins and greasy hair, but had a good look in his eye. If there was a man one would trust after just one gaze, without a doubt, it would be him. He invited the two inside his shop and clumsily reached out for a small glass bottle.

"You came just in time, come sit down for a while." The man waved his hand and pointed at an old, red sofa. "It's not often that I prepare a potion like that, it's good to know that there are still people who care about each other."

"The one we needed it for is a dear friend of ours, we couldn't just abandon her." Arath explained.

"I see, I see. But not to worry, she will be fine once she drinks it." He handed over the bottle and smiled.

"Thank you master, you saved her life." Tears slowly appeared in corners of Ben's eyes.

"Oh, oh. No need to thank me, you paid after all." He waived away the compliment. "Now go, save your friend, please come here later to tell me how she feels."

"Yes, of course. Will it work instantly?"

"No, of course not. But she will probably be back on her feet in two days or so."

"Two days? But... the party..." Ben went silent.