Zach let his hand go. Instantly, his center of balance was off, the sudden emergence of danger made him voluntarily lean back. At the same time, the knife had not ended its misdemeanor. The one that held it went for the assault. Stabbing at the stationary Zach before targeting the hand that was gripping the outcrop. Out of reflex, he let go and immediately found another outcrop to hold. But his focus waned. His toes slipped, and Zach started swinging like a pendulum with only his fingers keeping himself attached to the lateral cliff.

He cursed silently, clenching his jaw tight. Enduring the pressure on his fingers as he eyed the dark hole. Rather than floundering in despair, Zach thought of the unthinkable, he kept his body swaying back and forth, and by a whisper through his lips, an orb of light suddenly brightened the dark. He heard a groan from the hole, and then he went all out. Zach swung himself hard and leaped towards the hole feet first before his whole body went through the unknown cavity. The Lantern Orb followed and was like a sun in this dark cavernous space. He saw two people blinded by the light, covering their eyes as the one holding the knife, swinging it erratically. Zach’s feet found the ceiling and kicked it off like it was a platform. Hurling himself at the perpetrator, and knee-kicked the assaulter right to the ground.

The yelp of pain escaped from the assaulter letting him know it was a woman. But it did not matter to him. Once anyone attacked, he or she was the enemy. Zach pinned her down to the ground, pulling her hands to her back. His strength made her groan, and despite her effort in trying to get up, her strength could not beat Zach’s enhanced strength. Zach grabbed the knife that almost injured him, and placed it close to the neck of the assaulter.

“Don’t move or I’ll kill her,” he said to the man standing across him. The torchman who fled from the jaws of the Tyrant Lizard. From first impression alone, the torchman did not look like a fighter. The modified robe he wore and the face of a meek man in his mid-thirties were far from the likes of Orland or Ryden.

“Please don’t, sir!” the torchman said. His eyes had adjusted to the sudden brightness of the orb, and now he worried for the woman pinned under Zach’s knee.

“Don’t? She tried to kill me, and you’re asking me not to do the same?” Zach said.

The torchman was silent for a while as it was a reasonable response for Zach. But he was quick to snap out of it. “Please understand, sir, we fear for our lives,” the torchman said. “She saw something crawling on the wall, and she thought it was one of those smaller dragons trying to get us.”

‘Dragons?’ the word baffled him a bit. Then he realized what the torchman meant. From tales, and lore in Brittania, dragons were creatures of legend, and their description could be somewhat similar to the dinosaurs he had been seeing in this jungle.

“So does these dragons manage to reach here?” Zach asked.

“Fortunately, no sir,” the torchman said. “They can climb the cliff, but not the overhang.” The torchman glanced at the woman beneath Zach a few times, probably worried or so.

“So if they can’t, how did you reach here?” Zach asked the million-dollar question. He himself felt the difficulty in climbing the lateral cliff, and he could not imagine this puffy cheek torchman managed to climb through that.

“It’s her, sir,” the torchman said. “Savreen saved my life. If it wasn’t for her, my grave would be in the belly of a dragon.”

‘Savreen? So she’s a Mirdouin,’ Zach thought. He looked at her carefully, and indeed she carried the traits of the desert people. Tan skin, sand-color hair, and deep brown eyes. It was as if these people were made for the desert.

“Get off me,” Savreen finally said with a thick accent. Glaring at Zach, despite not being able to see him.

“And you,” Zach ignored her and turned back to the torchman. “What’s your name?”

“Lindelof, sir,” Lindelof said. He cast his eyes to the ground rather than meeting with those intimidating eyes of Zach.

“So what are you?” Zach asked.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I am just an acolyte of the Highbrow Union, sir,” Lindelof said. “I bare no threat, and will not have any ill will to you, sir.”

It was a surprise he did not expect. Another highbrow after Tobias. Well, judging from the attire Lindelof wore, he should have expected as such. Both of them shared a similar aesthetic besides the modified version Lindelof wore. He assumed Lindelof cut off the robe below the knee for ease of moving in the jungle. In a robe, the jungle would be the worse match. Despite the answer, it wasn’t what he wanted.

“It’s not what I’m asking,” Zach said. “I’m asking what class are you? A knight? A healer? Or perhaps an archer?”

There was hesitation in Lindelof’s eyes. But he still answered. “I am a healer, sir,” Lindelof said.

“Is that so,” Zach replied. Eying the highbrow man with the thought of unraveling through his skill. Identify shone, and Zach saw what the nervous highbrow was hiding.

[Lindelof Wilborn(Lv.0)]

[Species: Human]

[Title: -]

[Class: Mage]

[HP: 160/160]

[MP: 80/80]

[SP: 60/60]

He did it. Zach really managed to see Lindelof’s status window, albeit a simple one where he could only see a few and not the whole. Nonetheless, it was good enough for him at the moment for his Identify was still at level one. Yet the thing he sought was laid upon his eyes, the so-called healer had straight out lied to him, and he could understand why he did it.

“Do you know the punishment for lying, Mr.Wilborn,” Zach said nonchalantly. His casual tone hid a subtle threat that Lindelof could detect as he never told Zach his last name. The highbrow acolyte was now shaking in his boots, subconsciously shifting his feet backward, fearing what this man might do to him.

“Do the girl know you’re not a healer? Zach asked.

“Who cares if he is or not,” Savreen bellowed from underneath. “Just get off your ball sacks from my back and let me go.”

Zach put a little more pressure to keep the girl piped down, and glanced back at the man he was questioning.

“If I tell you, will you let go of my friend?” Lindelof said, and contrary to his expectation, Zach let Savreen go before he could answer. The Mirdouin shoved off Zach’s hand and put some distance between her and Zach. Her guard was up, readied for a fight. But Zach paid no mind to her.

He walked over to Lindelof’s side, and the man backed away. “For a highbrow to choose that class, you must be a highly curious one,” Zach said.

“You know I’m a mage?” Lindelof asked.

“Not knowing or not, it doesn’t matter,” Zach said with a nonchalant tone. He turned his gaze to Savreen, who had been glaring at him non-stop.

“Give me my knife back,” Savreen said.

“After what you’ve done with this, that’s a definite no, miss rogue,” Zach said. That last bit he said prompted a surprising response from the lass herself. It only lasted for a few seconds before returning back to a glare.

He assumed it first, considering she had a knife on her. It was well within the assumed weapon for a rogue-based class, which was the utility type of class. Then he confirmed with a peek.

[Savreen Qhan(Lv.1)]

[Species: Human]

[Title: -]

[Class: Rogue]

[HP: 200/200]

[MP: 70/70]

[SP: 90/90]

He was right. His assumption about the rogue’s given weapon was indeed a knife. But after looking at their stats, they were surprisingly low, especially on the third night. He even questioned whether they had killed anything besides surviving. Then it dawned on him. Unlike from where he was, perhaps the creatures here were too strong for them to even nick a wound, and if it was, then tough luck for them.

Yet the biggest question was how both of them reached here with this kind of level? Lindelof said it was due to Savreen, then the lass here must be the one that climbed all the way from the bottom to here.

“How did you do it?” Zach asked. “How did you climb such a ridiculous cliff?”

“Like you did,” she replied as she was quite a character.

Seeing the conversation wouldn’t go anywhere, Zach turned to the thing that interested him the most after the tension went down. His eyes went beyond where Lindelof stood as at the back were engraving on the walls with unique characters, patterns, and symbols, and at the center of it all was a stone door.

“Sir, are you also a mage?” Lindelof asked. He was finally relaxed a bit seeing Zach had no intention of hurting them, at the moment of course. The curious mind of a highbrow prompted Lindelof to ask about the floating orb that gave off light.

But Zach paid no heed to him. He approached the door, and let his hand feel the carving on it. “Have you tried opening it?” Zach asked. Turning back to Lindelof and Savreen.

“Don’t answer him,” Savreen warned. Her words made Lindelof share glances with her.

“He bears no ill will,” Lindelof said.

“You don’t know that,” Savreen said. “Have you forgotten about those noblemen from the capital? If it wasn’t me, you’ll not be here, smart-ass.”

Their quarrel did not bother Zach. He had experienced it before with Orland and Cyrus as no matter where people were, conflicts would surely arise. It was probably on the line of something like the nobles forcing the low-born to do their bidding and so forth. It was a common thing back in Brittania, and unless people realized they had the power to fight back in this world, then that social norm would still continue.

Seeing his search for a way to open it turned to a dud, Zach relied on his eyes.

[Dungeon(Lv.15-20)]

[Locked. Find the key.]

An unexpected find. It was something that worth a smile as the man who was once from modern earth felt giddy about this game-like mechanics. He turned back to the quarreling duo, and said.

“Highbrow, help me find a key.”