Before they could decide to fight or flee, they heard running from a distance, quickly followed by a chant.
"Rise from the ground and create an impenetrable shield, [Stone Wall]!"
The ground in front of the shield bearer shook as a wall of stone rose from the ground, blocking off all of the Sentient Gem's attacks.
Sol shouted at them, "This way, quickly!"
The adventurers, without hesitation, ran towards the passage Sol was at. The wall Sol created was hit by a barrage of stones that broke it down within 10 seconds, but it gave the group all the time they needed.
The moment the party entered the passage, Sol cast another spell.
"Rise from the ground and create an impenetrable shield, [Stone Wall]!"
And another.
"Rise from the ground and create an impenetrable shield, [Stone Wall]!"
And one more for good measure.
"Rise from the ground and create an impenetrable shield, [Stone Wall]!"
Three walls back to back blocked the entire passage, draining almost all of Sol's mana. By placing the walls against each other, he hoped the thickness would reinforce the defense of the wall.
"That should hold them back for now, but let's not stick around; follow me!"
Sol led the party through the route he came from and arrived at the entrance of the floor. The entrance and exit of every floor are the only safe spots where no monsters can appear, as the monsters don't travel between floors, with the exception of dungeon outbreaks.
Finally getting a chance to breathe, the adventurers collapsed on the ground, with the mage even sprawled out on the floor.
The warrior caught his breath and talked to Sol.
"Huff, Huff. Thanks man. You saved our asses."
Sol smiled back at him, "No problem, I'm glad we all got away safe and sound."
The shield-bearer then spoke up, "Hey, thanks for saving us, but I'm still bleeding. Can you heal me, Maddie?"
The priest shook her head. "Sorry, Frederick, I am absolutely spent, so you gotta wait a bit while I recover some mana."
"Ugh… Fine, it's not life-threatening anyways."
Sol then interrupted and suggested to him, "If you don't mind, I can heal you."
With [Increased Mana Regeneration] at level 8, it allowed him to recover a decent amount of his mana by now. More than enough to cast a healing spell or two.
Surprised, Frederick nodded, "I won't ever turn down a heal."
Sol searched through his mind for the water-based healing spell and cast it on him.
"Form a veil of water to mend and restore, [Aqua Ring]"
Water then appeared above Frederick, and like a curtain, flowed through his body downwards. His cuts and bruises disappeared as the water coursed through his body. 5 seconds later, the spell was complete, and it left Frederick healed and conveniently dry.
"Woah, never experienced a water element heal spell before. Feels weird, thanks!"
Maddie then asked, "Thank you for saving us, what's your name?"
"I'm Sol, and no problem, I just happened to be in the area."
"No one simply dives into a monster house to save others. Most would escape to report it as soon as possible to prevent more deaths. So truly, thank you."
Unsure how to respond to her statement, Sol responded with another question instead.
"What do you all plan to do now?"
"Us? Head back. I think we had enough life or death encounters for one day."
The mage sprawled on the floor, sat up and yelled, "For a day? More like a week, gonna take a break after this and just stick to easy quests."
The warrior shook his head, "Spooked so easily from a small setback, how are we supposed to become the number one party in the city with that mentality."
Sol tilted his head curious at what the warrior meant, "The number one party?"
Frederick nodded, "Yep, it's pretty self explanatory; we just have to be considered the strongest and most active party in the city. I know it's a bit embarrassing to gloat after being saved, but we are one of the top five parties in the city right now, Radiant Historia."
The warrior spoke with a determined expression, "We actually came to the dungeon to level up to catch up to the number one party in terms of levels, and when we participate against the invasion, we will definitely accumulate enough merit to reach B-Rank. Then we will hold the number one spot."
The mage interrupted, "That's if we don't die before then. We stumbled into a monster house because someone confidently said there was 'nothing to worry about, it's just some floating rocks'."
The warrior being called out defended himself, "T-that was just a fluke, Caiden! What are the odds of walking straight into a monster house!"
The mage, Caiden, shook his head, "It's that kind of careless mentality that will prevent us from reaching the top. We need to take a step back and analyze the situation."
"If all we do is 'analyze,' we will never get anything done! We should just go and do it!"
Thinking he had heard enough bickering, Sol tried to change the conversation.
"If you are heading back, do you want me to accompany you all and protect you?"
Frederick, taking it as a chance to stop the two from fighting, responded, "No thanks. You have done more than enough for us. Once we rest up, we can make the trip back with no problems."
Sol thought to himself, 'I am just a bit away from maxing out my skill, so I should stay and finish it.'
He then told the party, "I understand, I will head back in then."
Sol began to walk back into the 8th floor of the dungeon to get the last Sentient Gems as he heard Maddie yell at him.
"It was nice meeting you Sol! Hope we see you again."
Sol nodded back, "Me too."
Sol then headed back to the dungeon to gain more levels and finally started maxing out some of his skills.