Liam and the rest reached the front liners and found them resting in a small cavern under the wizard's light spells. Blue mushrooms illuminated the place but they weren't enough to clean and sharpen blades.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"We dealt with tentacles demons, luckily no one got harmed, but we faced one large stone devil. Magic bounced right off its skin as did our blades, we had to retreat." Jamile replied with a worried face.
"I wanted to break it with magic…" Sara looked down.
"I stopped her; it's too dangerous for a wizard to get close to a monster." Jamile cut her in place.
"They are squishy indeed. She'll die from a single hit." Jack looked at Sara, "Don't let it get to you. Stone demons are always a pain to deal with."
The old wizard from before approached, "Young lass, calm down. I've seen many wizards risk their lives, they died and I stayed alive. Clearing this dungeon is only worth money, and you can't put a monetary value on a life."
"He's right." Alice said. "This quest isn't worth risking a life for."
Jamile nodded, "You're right, C-ranker. That is why I want everyone to survive. It'll be another matter if we were defending the city, but now we're just seeking wealth." He smiled, "Wealth doesn't benefit dead people."
"I disagree." Liam said, staring at Jamile.
"Disagree with what? That she should throw her life away to beat a single demon?" Jamile growled back at him.
"No, I can understand that part. What I disagree with is the notion of playing everything safely." Liam pulled his halberd, "The only reason you'll need to risk your lives is that you don't know how to deal with a monster. Instead of saying it's not worth risking your life for it. Say you're going to find a way to kill it safer."
Liam walked between the B-rankers and saw a young woman sitting alone in the corner holding a certain weapon.
"You over there." He approached her.
"My name is Lydia… what do you want?" She growled at him.
"Bec-de-corbin. Can I borrow it from you?" He handed her his halberd and scimitar.
"C-ranker! Stop it, you'll die." Jamile growled at him, "What would that weapon help you with?"
Liam glared back at him. "You've grown too strong without struggling much. You've forgotten how to beat open far stronger than yourself. Remember the first time you almost died to a monster, how did you fight?"
"It was an embarrassment that I don't even want to remember it. I lost to a rooster as a kick and got all scratched up," Jamile looked away with a shy face.
Liam took the bec-de-corbin from Lydia and took a stance, "Just imagine, a rooster coming toward you. One hit and you'll lose an eye, no, let's say you'll die." Liam jumped back and started running around while looking back.
"You keep an eye on his claw and beak, try to see if there is anything around you can use to kill him, think where a strike will hurt him the most, or when to even attack." Liam stopped and swung the bec-de-corbin.
"You kill him by attacking the moment he's about to jump at you. You notice that by looking at the wings." He swung the bec-de-corbin.
"What are you getting at?" Jamile stood.
"I hate two kinds of people, those who won't try and those who don't want to learn." Liam started walking ahead of the front liners, "I'll kill the stone demon."
"Wait! You'll die." Jamile growled.
"I won't," Liam waved his hand, "If you want, come and watch. It'll take a while, but I'll certainly win." He then stopped and turned toward the wizard Sara. "I did say that but… can you cast a light spell where I'll be fighting the stone demon? I do need to see him clearly."
Sara stood, "I can do that. I guess it doesn't harm to see well." She followed him, and so did everyone else who was going to watch.
"Jamile…" Jack growled, "He won't get himself killed, will he?"
"I don't know, but I rarely saw someone with such confidence in his eyes. He'll either die or win, there is another option." Jamile sighed.
"He'll die soon; adventurers like him never survive for long." Jack grunted, "I'd feel sad for Alice, she's been with him for a while, wasn't she?"
"They are in a relation?"
"I don't know, I've only heard they live together." Jack scratched his head.
"Then they are in a relation. You better give up, I don't know about Liam, but that Lass has a lioness in her eyes. I can't help but feel that she'll one day reach S-rank," Jamile looked at Alice who sat away and walked with them to the other side of the group.
"I can't see that. What makes you say so?"
"Those glowing blue eyes and cold stare she has when focusing. Just look at her, I'll be scared if she yelled at me in the street, I'll think it's an S-ranker." Jamile smiled.
"You're right. She's intimidating now that I looked at her closely." He giggled.
On the corner, Alice walked beside the wizards looking straight forward at Liam's back, her full concentration focused on him and her eyes began to glow faint blue. The hand that fed and saved me from the streets. The one who comforted me when my withdrawal bouts hit. And the one who almost killed a man for my sake.
Stone demon…I'll rip you to shreds if you as much as scratched him. You aren't harming my hero.
Liam could see the stone demon forward. "He's there. I can sense his demonic magic." Sara growled, "Do you want buffs?"
"Just the light magic is enough. I want to prove a point; getting buffs won't help my cause." Liam charged forward.
"At least wait for me to cast!" Sara growled, "I call a spark of magic to illuminate my surroundings!" [Light Orb]
The light magic reached the ceiling just as Liam jumped at the stone demon, swinging the bec-de-corbin's hammer head at him.
The attack bounced easily as the massive, ten-foot-tall, roundly shaped grey demon growled, swinging his thick arms down.
Liam slid between the demon's legs and avoided the attack. Right after standing, he smacked him in the back with the hammer.
A bec-de-corbin is similarly shaped to a halberd, the only change is that the axe head is changed with a hammer, and the rest is pretty much the same, with a spear-like tip, and a spike opposed to the main head. If the halberd is a mainly chopping weapon with piercing at the side, a bec-de-corbin is mainly a bludgeoning weapon with piercing at the side. It can be used with [Halberd Art] Albeit it's a bit inefficient and hard to manage.
After several swings, Liam smiled, he could see on the chest of the demon, a small crack. He didn't inflict it there, but it was already in place, he only needed to spot it while dodging the demon's attacks. Just like human skin when it dries. It's bound to crack at some point.
The path to victory became clear in Liam's eyes.