"Ben, is there any way you could track someone down for me?" Arath asked hoping to find Rym and others easier.

"I don't know, best I can do is try." The other man answered.

"I'll be counting on you." He said and turned around. "Let's meet in 5 hours in our home."

"See you."

Arath's best bet was to go ask around in shops, inns or around the Tower. More and more resources were available, thanks to progress made in conquering the Tower, resulting in bigger crowds of citizens of First City. It was around this time of the cycle that shops hired the most hands to help and made either the highest profit that allowed them to survive or lost the competition and had to close their doors. With so many people around it was both a curse and a blessing when looking for someone.

The man visited establishments, one after another, and found few clues on some of his companions whereabouts but nothing too certain. Vague answers of drunken men didn't sound like the most reliable sources of information, yet they were the only ones available. With the clock signalling the beggining of the underground night, Arath opened the door to his apartment and shared everything he had found out with Beniamin.

"Tomorrow let's try to group up with as many people as possible and get back in there." Ben couldn't wait to help Clara and his patience was running low.

"How are you doing cultivation wise?" Arath was interested in his friend's improvements.

"Could be better, could be worse." He answered. "Skin on my torso and arms, most bones and all that stuff in my hands is awakened.

"Clara will be shocked when she hears how strong you have become." Having heard the compliment Ben could not help but blush which made Arath laugh the hardest in the past few weeks.

With the arrival of a new day, the two set out in search of help, to their surprise, thanks to Arath's clues combined with Ben's special ability, it wasn't hard to find the first person, which was Kanina. She was one of the leaders of Ice Elementalists and was in her late twenties. Despite her age and much richer experience she didn't even need to be convinced, the moment Arath mentioned creating a group she was all in. Her only condition was that important decisions concerning the entire group would be taken only after most other crucial members agreed.

The second person turned out to be a much bigger problem. No matter how hard they tried to convince him, Garr who fought on the first line with Body Element at his disposal, standed firm and refused every proposition they could offer him. His reasoning was simple, he didn't want to get involved in a business so stinky and once again risk his neck for a cause he didn't support nor even understand.

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Having given up on him, the group moved on to the next candidate. Rym was sitting at the bar in a run-down tavern on the outskirts of the city, drinking some cheap mushroom alcohol. His hair looked messy and an foul odor attacked Arath's nose as he approached the man.

"Hi Rym, good to see you man." Arath sit down next to him and ordered a drink just as poisonous as the man's next to him.

"Arath? What are you doing here?" A glint of suspition in his eyes was easily recognisable.

"First of all, I wanted to see how you were doing after all that mess."

"Not too good, otherwise I wouldn't be here, you know?" A strike of pain twisted his face as he spoke these words out.

"And what about Hatse? How is she?"

"Cold as stone, two meters under the ground." A tear formed in Rym's eye and slowly run down his cheek. "If you really cared about us, you would have at least come to the burial ceremony. I know this is not your fault, you didn't even get to know us, just don't pretend this is something it's not, you know?"

Arath was stunned by the man's words, he wasn't expecting to hear such a painful statement. As weird as it was the reprimand saddened Arath more the news of Hatse's death.

'How do I approach this now? He thinks I don't care about him and if I ask him to join I would look like the worst bastard that has lived in this cave.' Arath didn't even take a second to self-reflect, he had more important things in mind, at least for him.

"So what business do you have with me?" Seeing the younger man's hesitation, Rym decided to cut the facade. "If you keep on misleading me, you can as well leave me alone."

"We are making a team to go back to the Tower and I was wondering if you would be interested in being part of it." Arath didn't want to anger Rym anymore and complied with other side's wish even though it hurt his pride.

"I might be interested but I need to hear more details."

Arath stated how loot would be shared, where would the team go and his plans for the nearest future. Decision making process and other teammates weren't of much interest to the older mercenary and he seemed to be only interested in how stable the income would be and a very faint smile appeared on his face upon hearing of cooperation with a shop for selling loot and resources.

After hearing most of the details the men shook each other's hands and came to an understanding. With two more members, the group had much bigger chance to succeed but there was still a dire need of a healer. Rym's answer to this question was incredibly simple.

"If you need a Healer just go to Healer's Guild and hire one."

"But aren't they incredibly expensive?" Arath wasn't convinced, in his opinion fellow dungeoneer would be the best choice.

"Incredibly expensive, but also incredibly reliable and damn good at their job. After all they need to protect their guild's good name, you know?"

He discussed the issue with the other two companions and heard a similar opinion from Kanina. Being left with no other option he scrumbled up all his savings and hired a half-decent Healer with relatively good recommendations.

It was time for Arath to go to the Tower once again, but this time as a Captain of a small, but proper team.