"We are going back! Get your stuff and get up." The leaders ordered everyone to finish the break and prepare for next few hours of march.

That day's escapade proved to be more than profitable, carriers' bags were full to the brim with corpses and minerals. On their way back the mercenaries talked about how they were going to spend the money and how they hoped to be the first ones to get to the fifth floor.

"I will build a small house for my family there and we will make a fortune by selling food and fruits and everything. I can't wait." A man with a respectable mustache said.

"I would eat it all by myself, I haven't had any normal food for eleven years. I still remember when my mom bought me an apple and every single one of my friends couldn't forgive me for not sharing." A woman in her late twenties commented.

"What does it taste like?" Arath asked.

"You have never had any fruit? Poor boy. If we get to the Safe Heaven the first one I find I will give it to you." The woman answered with a kind smile on her face.

"If he survives." An older man broke the cheerful atmosphere and brought everyone back to their senses. "It's our first time here in this cycle and we have already lost two good people. Other teams were less fortunate, you can still get eaten by the leviathan on our way back if you don't keep your guard up."

"Yes, yes mr. dark reality." The woman answered. "We will hope that you can save us if we happen to be in such a situation." She didn't even flinch and brushed off the comment with a joke.

The conversation went on for the next hour, Arath found out that "mr. dark reality" wasn't trying to destroy their hopes but was a very experienced man who witnessed too many deaths to allow anyone to needlessly die anymore. Man with the mustache told him that the grim man's name was Blyde and that it was his forth cycle inside the dungeon. Blyde was one of the most experienced members of the team and Elizabeth's right hand as he had the most knowledge on the floors and was the only Leafer who had ventured further than eighth floor.

When they finally arrived at the Well another group was trying to make it's way through the raging waters and get to the safety of dry land. They seemed to be terrified for some reason and their faces were so full of horror they hardly resembled humans anymore. Arath looked around to find a source of this behaviour but quickly noticed red dots on the lake's surface. The dim light didn't allow him to take a good look but he knew one thing - this was most certainly blood and judging by the the overall mood, most likely human.

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"Light Elementalists, give them some light, they are going blindly." Elizabeth was trying to help the other team.

Balls of light appeared in hands of two men and slowly drifted towards the lonely adventurers. As soon as they hung in air above their target's heads the mercenaries exclaimed in surprise and moved even quicker. When they were about to reach their destination a huge head appeared next to them and swallowed them whole. No screams, no fight, nothing that could indicate that over six people died in that moment. Everyone who witnessed this scene couldn't believe what had happened and their eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

"The Leviathan is extremely hungry today. And to think that we will have to fight it. I get goosebumps all over my body." Blyde said.

"FIGHT? You mean this thing!?" A young man that replaced Arath as the squire was not going to accept what he had just heard.

"Yeah, this is the boss of this floor." He answered nonchalantly and approached Elizabeth.

The leaders ordered their followers to prepare for the take off and stand in formations. Once they were all ready they embarged and proceeded forward with nothing but focus in their minds. Leviathan didn't show up, making the group incredibly grateful to fate for it's blessing and after crossing the lake they all sighed in relief. They entered the array and all of a sudden appeared in a smaller cave with even less light.

"Hey, man. Would you fancy getting some food with us?" The man with the mustache patted Arath's back and asked. "We know a great bar with good food, want to tag along?"

"Sure." He answered. "I don't have much money but I guess it is worth to let off some steam from time to time."

"That's the spirit." Woman and few others led the way.

"By the way, you were a scout, took part in few fights and watched the lake with Water Boys. What is your element? I couldn't quite see it." The woman asked.

"Space." He answered

"Wow. So you are one of the few gifted youngsters. We are all either Ice or Water so our prospects are not as high as yours. Remember us when you get to the top." She laughed.

In no time did the group accept Arath as their new member, once they were all outside the Tower they headed straight for the market disctrict. Having taken their seats and ordered food everyone introduced himself to the newbie. Mustache man was called Rym and the woman's name was Hatse, Arath couldn't quite figure out their relationship but they seemed to be close.

"So, why exactly did you decide to go into the dungeon? Is you mother sick so you try to earn money for her or something like that?" Rym asked.

"I don't really know, it looked like it was my only option. I mean I can fight, know how to survive on my own and don't have any money so it was natural to me, to be honest." He explained.

"I see, my reason is money and only money. I always wanted to have a mansion and enjoy eating fresh food every day. Elizabeth on the other hand is a completely different case." She said.

"Yeah, don't ever ask her for the reason for dungeoneering. At first she gets sad and then she starts to preach some ridiculous ideals." Rym laughed at their leader while taking sips of his drink.

"Like what?" Arath got curious.

"She is just like her father, she believes that if we reach the top of the Tower and defeat the last boss we will be freed and the cycles will be broken. If you ask me, I say that's bullshit. Even if the Tower has a last floor we will never get there."