Adeline and Parker didn't mind at all. Once everything was ready, the group left to retrieve the chest from the cave.
Morgan and the others needed to be cautious; even though Parker had done scouting, monsters could wander around again.
Along the way to the lowest floor of the cave, the group encountered several third-level monsters of different types.
"HURRY UP AND ASK FOR HELP!" said someone from the lower floor, causing Morgan and the others to pause their steps.
A girl was running fast from there with a body covered in wounds, crossing the intersection and meeting Adeline's group. Adeline didn't know the girl's identity, but she certainly wasn't from the Viridian dorm.
"H-Help us. We need your help defeating the centipede monster down there," the girl explained, her eyes glazed over as she pointed downwards.
Morgan, Lilia, and Albert were shocked because they looked familiar with the girl's face. It was obvious that they were from the Tan Dorm.
"Lara?" asked Lilia, confirming.
"L-Lilia? Is that you? Then he must be—"
"I'm Morgan. I'll help you all," Morgan explained, and the girl named Lara smiled with relief.
They stepped into the right-hand route intersection, where they should have entered on the center one. Adeline shook her head, wondering why Rune students always acted so carelessly.
"What should we do?" asked Nancy.
"We follow and help them," Adeline replied.
In the end, Adeline and her group went to the right route to help Morgan's group. Morgan arrived at the lower floor of the cave alone, witnessing a horrifying sight he had never imagined before.
Human skulls were scattered on the cave's edges, with a foul green liquid oozing from the centipedes. Lilia and Albert responded with widened eyes, not expecting to encounter such a horrible monster.
"T-That's a fourth-level monster, one level below a fifth-level or earth-level monster!" declared Lilia.
'A fourth-level monster? I can't kill it, even using my true power,' Morgan explained.
'What about you, Morgana?' asked Morgan.
[I don't want to touch those disgusting bugs. You'd better run.]
"What should we do?" asked Albert.
Adeline arrived and joined in the shock with a wide-eyed look as she realized a huge fourth-level monster was in this cave. They were unlucky; escaping from the centipede monster was hard.
"We'll leave here. Tell them to come here," Morgan ordered, and Albert agreed.
Albert told the two young men from Lara's team to come closer. Once they were near Morgan, they quickly left the place and returned upstairs.
Morgan was the last one in line. The young man would ensure the entire team escaped successfully as he blocked the centipede's approach.
[High Magic: Wall of Fire]
The young man chanted several defense spells along his way to the upper floor. This was done in the hope of holding off the millipede centipede.
Finally, Morgan arrived at the top floor right at the intersection of the three lanes. As Parker had said, everyone entered the center route to retrieve the treasure buried in the cave.
"There's the chest," Parker explained, and they all got a good look at it.
There were three chests with the same color between them. Adeline opened one of the chests and saw that the number of plates was much bigger than those in the other cave chests.
'The number of plates is much more,' Adeline explained.
Since three groups made it to the chest's location, Adeline was forced to divide it into three parts. The total number of plates stored in the chest was 35; if it was divided among three groups, one group would get about 11.
"This is your share," Adeline explained, handing the plate to Lara.
Surprisingly, Lara refused the plate because they had helped Lara's group. Lara also didn't mind if Adeline divided the plates into two groups. This was a relief for Adeline.
This made each group get 17 plates. For the remaining plate, Adeline handed over to Lara's group while handing over the total gems obtained from the chest.
There were other items in the third chest: two third-level monster essences, a twin-headed lion's blood vial, and white swan wings.
Morgan took the blood vial and white swan wings, while Adeline took the two third-level monster essences. Now, everyone had gotten their share. Their job was to get out of the cave safely.
It wasn't difficult for them to leave the cave, as Morgan had defeated all the third-level monsters at the cave entrance. Plates, gems, and some monster essences were scattered on the floor, waiting for someone to grab them.
"Nancy, help Lilia and Lara collect everything. We'll divide it up again," Adeline explained, and Nancy agreed.
After checking the cave was safe enough, they started collecting all the plates, gems, and monster essences. There were 16 plates, two carmine gems, and 1 third-level monster essence. Adeline offered it to Morgan, but Morgan refused.
In the end, Adeline halved the prize to Lara's group. Lara's group thanked Morgan and Adeline once again for their kindness.
"Come with me to the Viridian hideout. Tobias really wants to talk to you," Adeline invited. Morgan shook his head.
"My presence is no longer accepted there. If you want to know why, you can talk to Alice about it," Morgan insisted.
"I met up with my dorm mates. I'm going to follow them back to where the Tan residents stay," Morgan said.
"Is that so? I'll find out about it from Alice. Be careful, Morgan!" stated Adeline, saying goodbye and running off into the forest.
Lara walked over to Morgan, grateful that she could see him again. Lara did not hesitate to tell him what happened in Tan's dorm after Morgan's disappearance.
"The situation was completely out of control. Since the people consider you dead, they have no choice but to appoint Jared as the leader again," Lara explained.
"Right now, Tan's dorm group is at odds with the Azure dorm people. You should return to help us," Lara pleaded.
"All right. Lead the way there," stated Morgan.
A big smile spread across Lara's face. The girl would gladly lead the way for Morgan to Tan's dormitory hideout. Lilia and Albert also followed behind, curious about the condition of the students from their dorm.
Occasionally, Lara would tell them about the difficulties of Tan's residents. Few were reluctant to enter the cave due to their lack of skills. They could only rely on fighting against first-level monsters.
'For students with marks one and two, their best option for not getting killed is just to fight first-level monsters,' Morgan explained.
'If it continues like this, it will be hard for me to get that extra reward,' Morgan said.
Morgan continued to stare ahead, following Lara as she led him away. They entered the forest, heading down a small valley and jumping over a stream. From afar, Morgan could feel the energy fluctuations like a magic clash.
To Lara and the others, they could see the blinding magic from ahead. Lara became anxious. The location ahead was Tan's dormitory hideout.
"It seems like the Azure Dorm students are attacking again!" stated Lara.
"I can't let that happen!" declared Morgan.
[High Magic: Wind Speed Acceleration]
A layer of wind appeared under Morgan's feet. Morgan jumped high onto a tree branch, speeding from one branch to another. The power surprised Lara and the others.
'H-he can do that?' asked Lara, gasping.
Morgan's eyes saw several students holding back the magic attacks of the Azure dorm students. Among them, Morgan saw neither Jared nor Hilda.
Morgan landed powerfully in the center of the magic clash, creating a strong gust of wind that sent the students flying backwards. As the dust flew around, they couldn't see who was coming.
"Who is it?" asked one of Tan's dorm students.
"It's Morgan," replied Lara, arriving with Lilia and Albert at the spot.
"What? Morgan? I thought he was dead," explained the student.
The wind blew, clearing away the dust that continued to fly. The students gathered behind Morgan, clearly seeing the Tan dorm leader's face.
"You boys attacked my dorm residents when I wasn't here. Now, I wonder if you still dare to attack us!" declared Morgan, standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Tch! Morgan. We're not afraid of your threats at all. You are weak, unable to defeat us!" snapped the student ahead of Morgan, a resident of the Azure dorm.
"Then try it. I bet everything in my black pouch," said Morgan.
"How many plates do you have?"
"127 plates!" said Morgan.
"Wh-What? There's a Rune student group that managed to collect over 100 plates this fast?" asked the student, shocked.
Not only he but the students from the Tan dorm couldn't hide their surprise either. According to them, for the first week, the highest number of plates that could be obtained was 80 plates. To pass and be in the top 20, it had to be at least more competitive with the other groups.
'H-How did he manage to collect so many plates?' asked Lara.
Lilia smiled, and so did Albert. They both knew very well what Morgan's abilities were like, so this battle would not affect Morgan very much.
Tempted by Morgan's plate count, one of the five Azure dorm students lunged forward with a fist wrapped in blue aura, the water element. The student's pace seemed slow in Morgan's eyes, making it easy for him to dodge and counterattack.
[Mid Magic: Dragon Fire Fist]
Morgan slammed into the student's stomach with his fire fist magic, making a flame beam appear from behind the student's back and causing him to vomit blood on the spot. He fainted right before Morgan.
"What, defeating him with a single strike?!" Some of Tan's dormitory students were shocked with gaping mouths; few cheered happily.
The young man took the student's black pouch and stored it in Morgan's storage bracelet. Morgan's eyes saw that there were three black pouches in front of him, waiting to be plundered by him.
"This is bad! Let's report it to Gerald!" stated another student, choosing to retreat.
"It's not that easy," Morgan explained, reaching forward and casting a quick-fire magic spell.
[High Magic: Circle of Flame Prison]
A circle of flames appeared around the four students of the Azure dorms. The flames grew so strong that they threatened the four's lives. From behind, they watched as Morgan walked over with striding steps and a terrifying aura.
"After messing up around here, you want to leave just like that? I don't think I can let you boys do that," Morgan declared.
He raised his hand and clenched his right palm, revealing a fiery iron chain that shackled the four Azure dorm students' bodies. They knelt in despair as the fire chains bound their necks, arms, and legs.
'What a terrifying power. Is this the power of our dorm leader?' asked Lara, amazed.
Morgan arrived inside the circle without being affected. He took three of their black pouches by force, making one of the students furious because he had collected plenty of plates.
"You'll pay for what you've done to us!" the student snapped.
"I look forward to it, but no one will know I did this to you," Morgan explained.
Morgan opened his palm and swung it to the side. Instantly, the chain of fire tightened so much that the four students choked, their faces turning blue.
They suffocated to death in the center of Morgan's flame magic circle. Morgan deactivated his magic as he took a deep breath; it had been a while since he had committed a murder like this.
"I won't let anyone come and mess around here. As long as I'm here, the Tan Dorm will be fine."