CHAPTER 61: [ C-TIER DUNGEON COMPLETED ]

His stats slowly returned while he sat on top of a root, looking at the tree in the middle of the room.

He took a deep breath, and opened his profile.

[ Name : Veil ]

[ Level : 32 ]

[ Archetype : Specialist ]

[ Class : Beholder ]

[ Fate : Command, — ]

[ Effects : Darkness, Will Breaker’s set, The Weight— ]

"32? So quick..."

Fae approached while sheathing her swords with care. She sat next to him, her mask back to its white color.

He let himself fall on his back, his hands underneath his head while staring at the ceiling hidden behind the naked branches.

"This is just the start."

He took a quick peek at his spells, the list appearing floating above his head.

"No new spells," said Alexander to his silent listener.

Fae’s gaze unwavering, he wondered what she saw in him.

"Let’s rest. It’s not like we have a home to go back to anyway."

She nodded, laying down right next to him.

He got his bottomless bag on top of his chest, and started rummaging through it.

It required a bit of concentration, but he eventually got his hand on covers that Brak had thrown in.

Some dungeons took weeks to complete, Gilded Order once left for an entire month. Some thought they had died, speculations were everywhere online.

So, Brak giving them survival gear wasn’t so stupid.

Still, he didn’t think it would be used because they had nowhere else to go.

He used to believe home was were his things were. Now that his things were gone, destroyed by those who fear him, it was hard to tell where home was.

He turned his head toward Fae, still gazing at him.

And eventually, everything faded to an ominous black.

—

Waking up from that terrifying dream made Alexander sit straight up.

Fae sat upright as well, puzzled by the sudden movement.

He took a moment, breathing and contemplating.

"Fae."

She slightly tilted her head, waiting for the question.

"Those visions, you have them?" he asked.

She paused a moment, then nodded.

He couldn’t even tell what they were, or what it said.

His dreams had been infected, at the mercy of a creature whose every word tempted his brain to go insane.

His dreams were distant in his mind, he never remembered his dreams before yet those new ones lingered.

He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like, to have those visions without Sunder’s mark.

Alexander got up, dusting himself while stretching his neck.

"This isn’t comfortable. Remind me to get something soft for us to sleep on."

Fae nodded while rolling the covers tightly. She handed them to Alexander, who let them fall into the bottomless bag. He then gave the back to her.

"Get everything you can find, no need to filter we’ll let Brak take care of it."

Fae left his side, walking through the room to find anything that could’ve came out of the fight.

As always, a dungeon core did come from the boss, but otherwise it was a modest haul.

Fae walked around the tree, making sure nothing had been missed that could’ve potentially been hidden, before coming back to Alexander.

"Let’s go."

They both exited the room, the doors now wide open.

The previous room with the multiple spriggan corpses also had a fair share of loot. If anything, they had probably made more money there.

The amount of cores was impressive, and some interesting items did drop—such as an emerald ring and a pair of leather gloves.

He watched her collect everything, before moving on to the previous room.

After retracing their steps, they finally arrived at the entrance of the dungeon.

Alexander waited before the portal, his mind far away.

"The world outside doesn’t want us there," he said.

Fae’s hand held onto Alexander’s cloak, as if she wanted him to know that she was there. That she wouldn’t let go.

He patted her head with a soft smile on his face.

"The rules are simple. Don’t kill civilians. Despite what they’ve done to my apartment, it’s just a line we can’t cross."

She nodded.

"As for other dungeon runners, if they make a move on us you may do as you wish."

She nodded again, her free hand going to rest on the hilt of her sword.

In a decisive single step, they crossed the portal.

The world shifted, from the stone room to the alleyway.

It was night, the temperature a lot colder than what he anticipated.

The guild he showed the entity’s voice to was gone, no signs of them anywhere. Instead, members of the Adventurer’s Guild hidden inside a black van was all that awaited them.

He could feel their gaze through the tinted glass, they had seen him come out—most likely calling it in.

Alexander waited, then a few seconds later they came out.

Two men came out, wearing the typical black suit with the nametags on it.

They approached with a deep frown on their faces, their eyes jumping back and forth between him and Fae.

"Cultist, even you must know that there are rules to this. The app distributes dungeon access, so that everyone gets a fair treatment. Your guild, ’Solo’, has been found to break this very simple rule."

They stopped once they were about two meters away, their hands going into their pockets, something that made them look like thugs.

Do I use [ Whispers Beyond ]? Or should I just leave...

He could feel Fae tensing up, ready to pounce.

"You assigned me a starting dungeon that was bayond my level and tier, hoping to get rid of me. You broke your own rules."

"I was informed that a glitch—"

"A glitch?" cut Alexander, his tone low and dry.

He then pointed at the portal behind him.

"The guild made its stance very clear already. Why wouldn’t you come after me, inside this dungeon after I took it from those guys? You know what you did is one of the reasons why."

"Listen, cultist, you’ll find no empathy here."

"The second reason," continued Alexander, ignoring the comment, "is that you hoped I’d die trying to complete this one."

The man scoffed, then looked at his partner.

"I guess you’re not that stupid, cultist, but it seems you’ve let us down once again."