***
The next day.
From the two black pouches Morgan got from the two Cobalt dorm groups, there were 58 plates, 8 carmine gems, 10 amethyst gems, two wolf fangs, two white spider threads, and a black boar horn.
Since Adeline's team helped yesterday's bet, Morgan had to split the loot. Although it was a small amount, it was better to maintain the alliance with Adeline.
Morgan put all the items he needed into his group's black pouch. As for the rest, it would be handed over to Adeline.
[Black Pouch Storage:]
[107 Plate]
[8 Second-level monster essences]
[1 Third Level Monster Essence]
[1 Golden Pattern Rib]
[2 Herbal Leaves]
[1 Red horn wolf bone]
[2 Wolf Fangs]
'This amount is enough for me. It's best not to be greedy and maintain a good alliance,' Morgan explained.
Morgan stepped out of the cave where he was hiding. He looked outside and felt the soothing atmosphere as if he was in heaven. The peacefulness of the place made Morgan worried about the situation of Albert, Lilia, and Adeline's group.
He opened the system map and saw where Albert and Lilia were. Morgan saw two green dots in another place and were together. However, the young man had also noticed the presence of red dots surrounding Albert and Lilia.
"Some monsters seem to be surrounding them. I can't let this happen!" said Morgan.
With the help of his map system's navigation, Morgan dashed away from the falls to the east to reach Albert and Lilia. It was a fair distance away, but Morgan was sure he could arrive in time.
"All of you, wait for me!"
Elsewhere, Adeline and two members of Morgan's group were still defending in one of the rooms in the cave, safe from the attacks of the roaming monsters. They initially thought exploring the cave would be easy, but the monsters' strength was stronger than expected.
"They must have noticed we're not finished with the cave hunt. We should be able to get out of this place alive after they come to help," Adeline explained, occasionally sighing as she realized this exploration had stalled due to her lack of skills.
'If only Morgan was here, maybe we wouldn't be struggling like this,' said Adeline.
'I really suck. I'm the strongest among them, but I failed to protect them,' Adeline lamented, her hands continuing to clench in frustration at her inability.
Parker and Albert were still standing close to the entrance to the cave room, where they had taken cover for a moment. Lilia was busy recovering Adeline, who was wounded and exhausted.
"Don't worry. I'll recover you," Lilia explained.
"Thank you, and sorry to trouble you, Lilia," said Adeline, to which Lilia responded by clearing her throat.
"Are we going to be trapped in this place again, Adeline?" asked Parker.
"If one of you can break through the swarm of third-level monsters, then you can go to the headquarters to send help," explained Adeline.
"My energy is drained after fighting them earlier. It's gonna take a while to recover and leave here," replied Parker.
Adeline fell back into silence with her eyes closed, occasionally sighing as she continued to blame herself for her inability to protect her group.
They had come with another group, but the group had separated from Adeline right on the lower floor of the cave. Now, Adeline could not be sure of the group's condition.
"Don't overthink about it, Adeline. You're making your mana flow unstable," asserted Lilia, troubled by Adeline's unsteady mood.
"Sorry, Lilia."
Adeline's eyes were closed as she sat cross-legged and relaxed. Lilia stretched both hands forward, bringing up a magic circle that emitted blue energy distinctive from her water attributes.
As she recovered Adeline's condition, she kept thinking about Morgan. There hadn't been any news from the dorms about Morgan, whether he had woken up. However, Lilia fully believed Morgan would wake up and recover soon.
"Someone's coming!" declared Parker, causing Albert to alert and Nancy to immediately stand before Adeline, protecting the girl.
Screams of agony could be heard echoing in the cave, constantly reflected by the walls of the place until it was clearly heard by Adeline's group. They realized something; the screams were not human voices but the monsters'.
"Who exactly is coming?" asked Albert.
"I don't know, maybe Tobias came to save us," Parker replied.
"Go and help him. He'll have difficulty defeating those third-level monsters," Adeline ordered.
"But what about the security in this room?" asked Albert.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of Adeline until she finishes recovering," replied Nancy.
A look of confidence spread across Nancy's face, a sign she was confident that she could protect herself and Adeline while Parker was away. Without wasting any time, the two young men walked out of the room and went to help the man there.
Parker and Albert continued to run to the top of the cave. The screams they heard must have come from the cave entrance, which happened to be filled with third-level monsters that Adeline's group had difficulty dealing with.
From where they were, the two could vividly feel the pressure of a powerful magic aura from above. This power was familiar to Parker; the young man guessed Tobias had come to save them.
'This power? It must be Tobias,' Parker explained.
[High Magic: Meteor Fire]
'This strength? Is it Morgan?' asked Albert.
They arrived at the upper floor of the cave and saw the carcass of the red-eyed ape monster lying dead on the floor. With such a powerful fire element and an unusual spell, the two young men kept wondering about the identity of the person who attacked this monster.
From the far end of the cave, Parker and Albert clearly saw the figure of the young man standing in the middle of the pile of red-eyed ape carcasses. Their eyes were shocked and widened when they discovered that the young man who had come to their rescue was Morgan.
"M-Morgan?" greeted Albert, shocked.
Morgan looked back and smiled widely as he waved his hand, greeting those who came to get him.
"How are you guys?" asked Morgan, walking past the carcass of the red-eyed ape until he was right in front of Albert and Parker.
Albert looked Morgan over from bottom to top, sensing something different about the young man. However, right now, it was not the time to find out what had happened to Morgan.
Morgan took a black pouch from his storage bracelet and handed the item to Parker. Parker gasped, unsure of what Morgan meant.
"It contains the pieces for your group. During yesterday's battle against the Cobalt dorm students, I managed to get my hands on two of their black pouches," Morgan explained.
"Y-You should not have to do that. You're the one who defeated them; you are the one who should take all that stuff," Parker insisted, pushing Morgan's hand away to politely refuse Morgan's offer.
"We're an alliance. I can't let my alliance partner not get any benefits," Morgan said.
Morgan tossed the bag until Parker captured it fully. Parker could not help but accept the pouch. Albert patted Morgan on the back, amazed by Morgan's ability to kill the monsters.
"You're truly terrible. You could kill them easily; even Adeline had trouble doing so," Albert replied.
"I could kill the monsters because their vitality had been drastically reduced. I have Adeline and her group to thank for that," Morgan added.
The three continued to walk down the steps until they reached the cave room where Adeline was recovering. Albert and Parker came and met Adeline, followed by Morgan, who went into the room.
"M-Morgan?!" startled Adeline, widening her eyes.
Adeline got up quickly with a heart full of confusion, not expecting Morgan to have woken up and gained strength. Just as Adeline was about to walk towards the young man, Lilia dashed past her, leaving Adeline stunned into silence.
"I'm glad you're okay, Morgan," Lilia revealed, smiling broadly after showing a spiritless and lethargic face for a while.
Seeing Lilia's closeness with Morgan made Adeline's eyes look down and occasionally clear her throat. Morgan is a terrifying young man who manages to defeat Jake. It's not surprising that many girls love him, especially Morgan's figure, which looks handsome to a young man his age.
"Sorry for making you all worry," Morgan said.
Adeline smiled slightly, daring to walk forward right beside Lilia. She also congratulated Morgan on his recovery and said that Morgan's presence gives hope to this group to be able to continue exploring the cave.
"But you're not fully recovered, Adeline," Nancy explained.
"This is more than enough. Half my strength is fully restored," Adeline emphasized.
Morgan picked up a blue gem of the carmine type and tossed it to Adeline. Adeline accepted the gem and broke it with her right hand, the blue gem's energy flowing straight into Adeline's body.
"Alright. So, what's the layout of this cave?" asked Morgan, crossing his arms over his chest.
"From my scouting, there's a junction at the bottom of the cave. From there, we'll take a route to the right, then keep going until we reach a second junction. There, we can take the middle path," Parker explained.
"Is that so, huh? I'll help you at the front line."