Zach drowned himself in the bloodless battle. But something was odd. Those straw hands that always grabbed him were considerably less than before. His eyes roamed around and he was not wrong. Despite his incredible effort of thinning the horde, there was not much that one man could do all on his own. Yet surprisingly, the horde was less.

Zach could not get this off his mind and raced back up to the cavern mouth. Standing at the edge, he saw a group of scarecrows leaving behind the majority, running back to where he first fought the wave.

His eyes narrowed. Their actions did not make any sense. After all the waves he had conquered, never once had these straw-men had retreated. In their nonexistent eyes, they only saw Zach as their target and nothing else. Then his eyes widened. A thought that came to mind.

“It can’t be,” he said.

Without a second to waste, Zach leaped off the edge. He landed on top of a scarecrow and rolled over them as he was quick to transition into a running stance. Chasing after the scarecrows hoping he was wrong. But by the time he arrived, he noticed the direction of this group of scarecrows changed. He eyed the front of the pack, and that sand-color hair was hard to forget.

Zach clicked his tongue. He hated himself for being right as now someone else had thrown their self into this ruthless dungeon. Again, it was time for him to save the day. Sprinting down the flower bed, closing between him and Savreen.

He did not shout nor did he alert of his presence. Right at that moment, Savreen glanced to her side, she stopped and jumped in surprise. Zach lightly tackled her from the side and lifted her off her feet. He placed her on his shoulder and immediately made a one-eighty.

Savreen struggled on his shoulder, and right as she was about to give a piece of her mind, the sight of the sea of scarecrows chasing after them let that idea go. Soon, the duo was far away from the front pack of the chasing scarecrows.

Yet the lifeless moans that haunted her ears for those few minutes of her life returned back. She glanced behind her and saw Zach running towards another sea of scarecrows, and this time they were a lot more than before.

“What are you doing?” she shouted. Frantically hitting Zach by the back, trying to stop him from doing the dumbest shit.

Then the ground was far. It felt like flying for the desert lass as she had never expected to be this far from the ground. Then the fantasy was gone. The rough landing made her hit her head on Zach’s back. She glanced behind and saw Zach stuck on the cliff side as he started climbing to the top.

At first, she was shocked. Thinking that Zach was one incredible person that could fly unlike he had ever seen before. But much to her little disappointment, it was only a huge leap, and not flying.

Once they reached the safety of the higher ground, Savreen finally found her feet on the ground. She was quick to put some distance from Zach, looking at him with wary eyes. Looking around, the first thing she noticed was Zach was alone.

“Where’s the old man?” Savreen asked. Her eyes darted here and there, searching for that happy-go-lucky pleb.

Zach did not answer. Glancing to the side, not meeting those big brown eyes. From Savreen’s perspective, the overpowering man was acting rather strange.

“And what was that? Are those really scarecrow?” Savreen asked. Taking another peek down below where countless more of those straw men trying to climb to where they were.

The silence irked the dungeon’s newcomer. She could not stop fidgeting around, anxious about whatever was going on. She thought of wanting companionship that left her behind but now she was quick to regret leaving the safety of that lonesome cocoon she made.

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She raised her fists at Zach. “I’m not asking again, but where—” an accidental glance inside the dark cave made her fall silent. She saw a silhouette of a hand, and the worst-case scenario bombarded her imagination.

“What did you do?” she asked. Glaring and fearing at the same time.

Zach still did not dare to look at her. But his lips parted. “Lindelof is dead,” he said.

“You killed him,” Savreen said. Saying something she shouldn’t say when up against a man like Zach.

Zach nodded in silence. Then for the first time, he looked at Savreen. His dead eyes stared right through the desert girl’s eyes, and the stare made her feel goosebumps all over her body.

“Be wary of the cave,” Zach said. Right before she could ask what he meant, Zach jumped off the ledge. It was becoming a norm to him as he cut these scarecrows limbless and brought back their bodies to the cavern mouth.

Savreen saw his fight up top and it scared her of how unbelievable power this man was. She even regretted saying those words to Zach as she realized it was a mistake that she should not have done. Then the limbless scarecrows were thrown to her feet. They wriggled in their inability to move as Savreen just stared at them in shock. She hid her emotion well, trying to mask whatever she felt through that cold mask she always wore in front of others.

Then the next thing blew her mind. Zach threw the knife in front of her, and he told her to pick it up. The moment she did, he started explaining what she should do. She was skeptical about why Zach was doing this, but under Zach's gaze, she had no other choice but to comply. After ending the first scarecrow, she received the notification.

It was the second time she saw it. As the first was through an unsavory event. But before her mind wandered through that recent memory, Zach’s words brought her back.

“For your three new points, focus on your agility. Placing two points to agility and one point to strength,” Zach said.

“And why should I follow your words again?” Savreen asked. That tone of hers was never changing.

“Suit yourself,” Zach said. He was not bothered to argue, and let the Mirdouin lass decide for herself.

For the sake of the late Lindelof, he would help her survive. Despite his bad impression of her the first time they met, Zach felt obligated to help, considering she was acquainted with the highbrow. Some might ask why helped someone when they were just mere acquaintances? But when someone felt guilty, he would do anything to get rid of it even through such vague reasons.

Zach got closer, and the act made Savreen nervous. She involuntarily raised the knife at Zach, and before she could do anything stupid, Zach snatched it off from her like taking candy from a baby. They were so close to each other at that moment as Savreen could feel Zach’s breath against her skin.

She could feel her heartbeat as she retreated her steps. Yet the cavern wall stopped her track. She felt powerless in the situation and despite having the thought of running, she knew she could not. Savreen gave in to her fate, and let her eyes close.

Seconds passed, and yet nothing happened. Her eyes opened, and Zach was no longer there. She went back to the edge, and the man was again embroiled in the fight against the moving scarecrows.

Soon, the same thing happened. It was a repeat like last time. Zach brought up more of these limbless scarecrows for her, and she questioned why he was doing this.

Another batch landed on her feet along with the knife that was rightfully hers to begin with. She saw Zach sitting on the ground, leaning by the wall, resting his eyes for a moment. Then she heard his voice.

“End them and level up,” Zach said. “That way you won’t die so easily.”

The message was received and Savreen glanced back at the silhouette in the deeper cave. She did not want to see what happened to Lindelof, but what Zach said was right. If she wanted to live, killing these creatures was the way to go.

She complied, and the cycle began once again. Hours went by and soon night took over the dungeon’s sky. Savreen had raised her level to seven, and Zach had almost ended the ninth wave.

In the end, he left one of them alive, limbless. He figured things out at the late phase of eliminating them. Believing that leaving one alive would maintain the wave at ninth as he thought a good rest was necessary before the coming of the last wave, half of a thousand that he alone would be fighting.

Zach brought Savreen back down to the valley, before going back up again. By the time he returned, the lifeless body of Lindelof rested in his arms.

Savreen saw and was shaken. The wound in his stomach looked horrendous. Now she realized why Zach had been adamant about making her strong.

Zach began to dig the ground with his bare hands. His eyes were still dead, and just the thought of burying Lindelof almost put the young man to tears again. But he fought against it. For some reason, he did not want to let others see him cry, especially a stranger.

Soon, Lindelof was buried with a boulder as a tombstone. There it was carved.

‘Honoring Lindelof Wilborn. A man that I would love to get to know better.’