As Elizabeth still stood there watching the party, she decided to go off to the bonus room. See, she hadn't gained insane experience like the rest. But, that thought slipped out of her mind. Even her guts wouldn't dare to go out there, alone. But she resolved to increase her level, somehow.
But at the moment, it was time to return and collect their dues. After all, they needed the money. They always needed money, as it turns out living in this world wasn't as simplistic as they thought. As they opened the tavern door, the owner greeted them.
"Well, you survived. I'm quite impressed. Well, first, the money. I'm not trying to flatter you guys out of anything after all. Well, time to close up. I suggest you guys make your way to an arms dealer- your weapons are crude and falling apart.
It wasn't bad advice, as the homemade weapons had worn away for a pretty long while. But, they still stood. An as such, they were thought of as fine until the tavernkeep's friendly reminder.
They then arrived at the blacksmith's forge. This time though,
number "1" on his apron, proving he was high in his league. Sadly, it was quartz league, but he could certainly be promoted to bronze soon.
He didn't seem surprised at all to see the party. "Ah, welcome back. How did the dungeon treat you?"
"Not bad. We found a map and fought a bunch of spider monsters." "Well, that's nice. Yet, I believe that you are here for business inquiries?" "That's correct. See, there's a problem..."
And of course, the gods were that reason. Higura, God of Power, spoke up. "Hey, I just read a Korean manga! In that, they had a system of ranks. So let's make everything go from F-rank to SSS-rank!" "Really? I think you're stupid." blurted the God of Nature, Hajime. "I am not!" "Yes you are!" shouted the God of War.
"Stop it already! It's annoying!"
"Why are you so mean?!"
"Because I'm the God of War!"
"Ooh, ouch. Come on, have you read a single Percy Jackson novel? Ares ain't all that bad..."
Anyway, after much deliberation it was made. But it was tweaked, of course. Back to the blacksmith's.
"Well, our light leather is now a leather tunic... So, we need it to be something better. Price to reforge all 3? 500 GP."
"Oh, that's not too bad. I guess we can afford it."
"Yay, let's do it!"
"Yeah, let's!"
The party quickly paid the price and left. They then went to a general store. They were low on provisions but could buy some and sell anything they got out of Laxius Dungeon. In fact, the escape was so fast they hadn't even counted what they got from it! So, they opened Chamber's bag to find out.
"Well, we got 100 gold pieces, and 10 cobalt pieces. Now, the items are: 1 x Waterskin, 1 x Meat, 2 x Bread, 4 x Water, 3 x Wine, 5 x Salt, 7 x Pepper, 9 x Oil, 7 x Spices, 6 x Ore." "Well, any armor or weapons?" "Yeah, an E++ Basic Magic staff. But shouldn't we keep that?" "Yeah. Give it here." said Lia. Chamber gave it to her, and sold anything they didn't need. They still keep a piece of ore, and two pieces of bread, the meat, 2 x salt, and the waterskin, filled with 2 x water. They then booked a large suite in the nearby hotel.
Lust put out the fire in the hearth, and ordered food to be delivered to their room. After a bit of time passed, the door swung open. A maid entered, carrying a tray. She placed it on the table and bowed. "Welcome back. If you need anything, please do ask." "Thanks. We'll be sure to."
"So, what should we eat?" "Something spicy, I think." "Mhm, yeah. A soup would be nice, actually." "Why not order some bread with that?" Maybe a stew. More hearty." They deliberated, and ended up ordering beef carrot stew, 2 loaves of bread, a little cake, and 8 small meat pies.
After that, they decided to go watch the night market. The group took a walk around town, and noticed it was completely deserted. People weren't even inside their houses.
"Huh, wonder why everybody's gone home early..." "Maybe they heard there was a demon attack." "Yeah. And there was one, wasn't there?"
"Yep. The god of war was called away."
"Hmm... Well, whatever. Let's check out the night market." They walked up to the stalls, which had mostly fruits and vegetables. But one caught their eye. It sold potions by the look of it. As they crept closer, an old man walked out.
"Hello. Why are you out this late? Shouldn't you all be home, sleeping?" he asked. "Well, yes. We were just checking out the night market. But it seems you all cleared out." "Ahh, I understand. A demon came, and then a whoosh! Powerful arms came out of the heavens and tossed that thing around like a dinghy in a raging storm!!" "Oh, so if the threat is gone, why are you still scared?"
"Honestly, the town's been having problems lately. There's a den full of dangerous wildlife to the north, and whenever the town guardsmen are sent, they come back bloodied- or not at all. Not one has said the den was finished. We'll give you some gear, a map, and 500 GP if you clear it out."
A new voice came in. "Yes, please do so! The town might be ravaged soon! With the demon attack, not to mention reports of other attacks, who knows when they might attack!" It was the panicked voice of a girl, no older than 16.
"Well, if you both say so. Anyways, I suppose we'll be off to wherever it is."
"Uhh, well, we're not exactly sure where it is..."
"Here's the things we'll give you early; a map, a compass, 50 GP, and our gratitude. Please, take care of our town."
"Thank you very much. Have a nice day!"
After handing the girl the money and goods, the group started walking off. The girl ran up to them. "You came!" she exclaimed. "What? Who? Oh, you're talking about us?" Kyoko asked. "Yes. I'm Amethyst, and I'm just a girl.
Lust doubted that statement. Just looking at her, she was beautiful. The type that's either rich, or just sort of is. He couldn't decide what type, but it didn't matter! Her beauty was undeniable.
"So, you're on a quest to take out the den?"
"Yup. And we have a reward."
"Well, we'll be sure to give you our best work, sir."
"Wow, really? Thank you! You're all so kind!"
"Right. Anyway, I'll lead you to the place." Amethyst led them to the outskirts of the forest, where there was a campfire. There were 5 adventurers there. Two boys, one girl, and two men. They sat on log benches, discussing what they were to do.
"Ahh, Amethyst. And it seems you have brought some friends!" Exclaimed one man. "Well, this group is to take over the clearing for you. See, they are getting paid and looked strong, so we decided to have them instead."
"O-oh. Alright." The older boy looked a bit depressed. Examining the boy's expression, it was quite clear that he had been trying to date Amethyst for a while now. Perhaps that would have made him a hero, or something. None of them really knew the customs of the world.
As such, they entered the dungeon, Wjedczie punched out the entrance fee monster, which this time was a gargoyle. They entered the dungeon, and the first chamber opened. It had rows of coffins, and a table with an embalming tool, rolls of linen cloth, and a few scattered pieces of silver. Not even enough to equal 1 GP. There was also some bread, which was oddly fresh. Maybe someone had brought grave goods recently. Maybe someone was in there.
Anyway, Peter decided that he was going to take a bite of the bread. He bit into it, and it- well, tasted airy and soft. It seemed to be made of wheat and baked in a clay oven. So, how bread tastes. In fact, there was nothing out of the ordinary with it. Peter then proceeded to eat the rest of the bread.
But, even so, the noise woke up one of the dead, still buried with gear on. Though it had eroded, he was still partially protected. He made some sort of noise, and woke up a few others.
Lust simply slashed forth with his sword, cutting one of them. Yet, there was no flesh. He did seem visibly wounded, however. So he slashed again, this time busting an arm bone. He was once again very wounded. Finally, Peter stabbed him with his spear, spilling him into a pile of bones. But, there was still the matter of the four others. Armed with knowledge, they went forth and the battle begun.
Once more, Lust cut down another of the undead. And so, they kept fighting. However, each time they cut down one of them, one more would rise up. Soon, it became clear that they were being outnumbered. The adventurers began to fall, and one by one the monsters rose up.
"I'm sorry, but I must retreat. You're stronger than I thought." "Just because you're stronger than me doesn't mean I have to die here. Let's regroup at the entrance, then fight those guys together!"
Somehow, that statement improved their teamwork. They all worked like cogs in a machine to cut them down, shoot them, stab them, or destroy them with magic, until Lia found and destroyed the miniature tombs they were coming from.
As they went into the second bit through an iron door, they finally made it to the last room. They had found a little treasure in the other sections, but nothing very important. Then, it seemed the strongest entity came out of there. Out crawled a skeleton with odd clothing on. Eventually, Kyoko realizes what he is: a lich!
"What!?!?"
"This is bad. But we have to kill him!"
Lust tried to slash at the lich, but it dodged his blow. Instead, Lust grabbed Kyoko, and pulled her away from danger. "Thanks! Now, stay here as long as you can." He moved towards the lich and slashed at it again. This time, the blade didn't pass through.
Kyoko watched the battle from afar. Meanwhile, Lust continued attacking. The lich struck back with a wave of necrotic energy, which hit Lust. His attempt to duel the lich failed, and Wjedczie came in. But this time, he was riding a horse! Nothing particularly impressive, but a mare.
He charged, hitting the lich with his spear. It hit the lich hard, giving Lust time for the final blow. Finally, his chain kunai cut through the lich's clothing, striking the ribcage. The lich busted open in a near-impressive display of all two-hundred-six bones in his body flying over the room. They opened the final chest and found: A C-rank Normal Bronze Ring of Blood, and C+-rank Schiltron Spear. Lust got the ring and Peter the spear.
At the end, something buzzed in the bodies of Wjedczie, Lust, and Lia. They pulled up a near-bursting screen. It alerted them:
You have reached Level 10, your first Class Evolution. Now, choose what you wish to be. Five options popped up on the screen.
They were titled "Footman" "Ranger" "Mage" "Support" and "Horseman". Each of the three debated inside their heads: Which to choose? To Lust, it didn't matter. But, secretly, something on his screen popped up.
No one else could see it, as it was so dim, but there was a secret option. He could barely make out "Torturer". He decided to choose it but then another screen popped up. "What class would you like to be disguised as?" It gave him the four options. He then chose "Footman". The other two chose Horseman (Wjedczie) and Mage (Lia)