The team was sitting and laying in awkward positions, caughing their lungs out and scraching their eyes like madmen. Beneath their feet was a soft, sponge-like surface thanks to which the group was able to survive the fall. Arath, even though he closed his eyes and tried to block the nostrils with his hands before the impact, was struggling to get the spores out of all holes in his body. Nothing was safe, his entire armor was covered with white fungal spores but there was no time to worry about such details. As soon as they could freely breathe and see, the team rushed towards the waterfall and carefully washed any traces of blood away.

"That was close. Is everybody alright?" Arath asked while trying to light up a torch.

Due to the humidity and ubiquitous water the task was not an easy one, or to be more precise - quite impossible. Cursing and throwing insults at the poor torch, he gave up after few minutes, visibly displeased, after all it wasn't pitch black. The mushrooms they landed on were bioluminescent, allowing Arath to see few meters around him.

"One, two.... three? Is someone missing?" Panic started to appear on his face. "Ben?"

"Over here!" A voice shouted from the other side of the fungus.

"Rym?"

"Still alive."

"Kanina?" His voice trembled.

"Ready to kick some ass."

"Meton?"

The only answer was silence, the healer was nowhere to be seen or heard. Teammates looked at each other, pain filling their eyes, altough for entirely differerent reasons as it would come out just a second later.

"USELESS. I spent so much money on his services and guess what, he didn't even do his job a single time. Not even once! Fuck." Arath punched the ground angrily and his eyes started to burn with wild passion.

Ben, who started to cry, looked at this scene completely dumbfound and confused. Kanina and Rym also weren't fond of his behavior but didn't dare to comment.

"A man, one of our companions, just died and you worry about money? What the hell is wrong with you, man?" The Hero just couldn't comprehend Arath's behavior.

"It was everything I saved up..." The leader didn't manage to complete the sentence before a fist was flying towards his face.

"Shut up!" Numerous tears were flowing down Ben's chick as he desperately tried to vent his anger and stop Arath from saying anything that would make Ben hate him.

The target of the attack skilfully evaded and jumped to the side in a blink of an eye.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"Stop. Don't act like a child, this is a dungeon, people die here. He knew what he signed up for, there is no point in crying over spilled milk." Arath just said without any emotion while keeping his eyes on Ben.

"So we should just let the unfortunate die? It wasn't his fault!" He couldn't accept this way of thinking.

"Save the weak, abandon the stupid and mourn the unfortunate. If he couldn't follow simple orders and died even though there was a way out, he wouldn't have lived in this world for long anyway. You need to understand this if you plan on surviving." Arath's calm voice was getting on the other person's nerves.

"Do you even feel anything at this point or is your heart rotten to the core? What about Clara, should we let her die too? After all, she knew what she was getting into, right?" Ben couldn't stop his tears and started to shake uncontrollably.

Another fist flew, this time Arath's. Hearing his friend talk this way made something, hidden deep inside his chest, snap. There was no way Arath could just walk by after this comment. The hit landed on Ben's stomach and raised him from the ground for a second. The power and precision behind that punch were the result of countless hours of training and dungeoneering.

Breathless, Ben stagerred and treid to sharply inhale but only after a few tried did it work out.

"What. the. hell." He looked at Arath in pain and disdain.

"Don't talk about her like that. Friends and mercenaries are two different things, you idiot. Now, let's get going before we wrap ourselves in another mess. We have what we came for." Leader of the group announced before turning around and searching for routes to get back on the stairs.

Having activated his Wandering Eye, not even ten minutes passed before a relatively safe route was spotted. He announced it to the rest of the team who then followed carefully, doing their best not to fall into the black pit beneath their feet. Half an hour, and countless heart attacks, later they were back on the track.

'Did I do something wrong? I really don't understand Ben's thinking, it's as if he hadn't see anyone die before. I know I reacted too aggresively but damn, this idiot, how could he mention Clara here?' Arath's confusion grew the more thought he gave to it and slowly replaced anger.

The way back down was surprisingly more dangerous than one might have thought because of how steep it was. The slippery surface of polished stone didn't make the job any easier so after a while they decided to just hold each other's hands, walking in a single file. Step after step, meter after meter, the team slowly walked down the narrow corridor in awkward silence.

"I'm sorry Arath, I shouldn't have gotten so angry. This place has a different culture and values after all, I can't really blame you. I don't know what got into me." Ben apologised in a low voice about half way down and lowered his head.

"Keep you eyes on your steps, you can bow all you want after we get back, but now is not the time for it. By the way, I'm sorry for hitting you too, I know I overreacted." Arath smiled bitterly.

Atmosphere brightened a bit but awkwardness was still so thick, one could easily cut it with a knife. With no more surprises and just one fight with two spiders the portal on the island finally was clearly visible. The group went back to their normal formation and began their journey through the lake. Kanina, breathing heavily and on her last legs, freezed the water beneath and led everyone safely back home. The traffic on the island was heavier than usually due to the new floor and tons of materials travelling to the First City. Iron and other precious metals were the main resources that were excavated on the third floor, and found in abundance. Because the floors miraculously reset after each cycle it was practically impossible for the materials to deplete. The reset in itself was both a curse and a blessing for the people of First City. Caravans of miners and adventurers hired as bodyguards endlessly poured through the teleporting circle.

This marked the beggining of years of prosperity, the best time for any citizen, adventurer or not.