After hearing Ethan's explanation, the group fell into a brief silence. Naomi looked around at everyone, considering the situation before speaking up.
"Since there's an anti-magic field here, all spellcasters should leave the cave," she ordered.
With Naomi's command, all the magic-users exited the dungeon, cutting the group in half. The remaining members were mostly physical classes: thieves, warriors, and swordmasters.
Naomi turned to Ethan and said, "You're the leader. What's next?"
Ethan nodded, taking charge without hesitation. He scanned the area and began explaining, "On *Hard* mode, the *Treasure Cave* has two bosses—Slasher Black Rye and the man-eating monster, Tek. The regular enemies here are also 10 levels above us, and all of them are hidden in stealth..."
"Can you stop with the unnecessary talking and just tell us how to beat them?" AFKandChill interrupted rudely. He was still sulking after being defeated earlier and clearly wasn't over it.
Ethan shot him a cold look but continued without engaging in a fight. "The main challenge here is that without a priest's *Light* spell, we can't reveal the stealth units."
AFKandChill retorted, "What's the big deal? We still have hunters with pets that can detect stealthed enemies."
"Sure," Ethan agreed sarcastically, "but how many hunters do we have?"
AFKandChill looked around and realized there were only two hunters in the group. Not ready to back down, he pressed on, "Then what's your plan?"
"If you're going to ask me for a plan, don't interrupt when I'm explaining it," Ethan said sharply, his patience wearing thin.
Naomi, who had stayed quiet until now, remained silent. Ethan could sense her watching but decided he would take care of things his way. His voice grew colder as he added, "Even though we don't have many detection skills, I know where all the thieves are hiding. Just follow my instructions."
With that, Ethan moved forward. As he took a few steps, a hidden thief appeared from behind, aiming a dagger straight at his head. However, Ethan seemed to have predicted the attack and sidestepped easily, countering with a swift slash to the enemy's throat.
"There are eleven thieves scattered in this cave," Ethan explained as he pointed to different areas. "Three on the left near the wall, five by the dark river on the right, and another three ahead."
"Let's start by clearing the ones on the left. Shield warriors, move forward. The rest of you attack once they reveal themselves."
"Oh, okay!" *OverallSuspender* responded, stepping forward with his shield raised.
As he neared the spot Ethan had pointed out, three curved blades suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Block!" Ethan instructed.
*OverallSuspender* raised his shield just in time, deflecting the blows. Following Ethan's orders, the rest of the team launched their attacks, taking down the three stealthy thieves.
"Dustwalker, you're amazing! You took them down so easily," *OverallSuspender* said with admiration, as he looted the corpses.
"He's just lucky," AFKandChill muttered under his breath, still not willing to admit Ethan's competence.
Ignoring the comment, Ethan directed, "Now, let's move to the right side."
Following the same strategy, they took down the rest of the hidden thieves in the cave with relative ease.
"Do you want these items?" *OverallSuspender* asked, offering up the loot he'd gathered from the thieves.
"No, keep it," Ethan replied, uninterested in the low-tier gear.
Naomi then spoke up. "What's next?"
Ahead of them stretched a long, natural corridor, about 300 yards in length with multiple branching paths, resembling a labyrinth. It was filled with traps, and a single misstep could lead to disaster.
"What's next is what we've been doing," Ethan replied coldly.
"You..." Naomi was taken aback. She had only asked a simple question, yet Ethan's tone was so sharp.
Without explaining further, Ethan called out, "Any thieves here trained in trap disarming, step forward."
Three thieves emerged from the group.
"You're going to take point. I'll guide you through the traps, so don't worry," Ethan assured them.
"Understood!" the thieves responded.
Thieves were often used as scouts in unknown territories due to their trap detection and disarming skills. After the previous fight, the group's confidence in Ethan had grown, so the thieves quickly took their positions and advanced into the narrow corridor.
The air inside was damp, and the floor was muddy, making each step feel sluggish.
*Snap!*
Ethan snapped his fingers, summoning a flame that danced at his fingertips. The sudden burst of light caught everyone's attention.
"I thought magic was forbidden here? How can you cast a fire spell?" Naomi asked, puzzled.
"It's not a fire spell," Ethan replied casually.
Not all magic users were affected by anti-magic fields. Spellcasters relying on mana-based magic—like mages tapping into the goddess of magic's network or priests using divine spells—would be blocked. But magic from external sources, like Ethan's, wasn't affected.
Naomi blinked, taken aback. She had initially thought Ethan was a thief based on his dagger-wielding combat style. But seeing him use fire, she had assumed he was some sort of mage. Yet, according to him, this wasn't magic at all. So what was he?
"Aren't you a sorcerer?" Naomi pressed, confused.
"Not your business," Ethan said bluntly.
With *Create Fire Out of Nothing* illuminating the cave, the thieves continued disarming traps as they pushed deeper into the labyrinth.
"Three meters ahead, there's a trap on the ceiling," Ethan called out as the thieves moved forward.
Following his instructions, they carefully disarmed each trap they encountered.
"Turn left, there's a shooting mechanism on the wall about five meters in."
"Watch your step—there's a pit full of venomous snakes. Don't wake them up."
Thanks to Ethan's precise guidance, the group made steady progress through the labyrinth.
After about half an hour, they reached the far end of the cave, where light began to filter in from an opening ahead. Ethan extinguished his flame and allowed a faint smile to flicker across his face. As he passed by a certain spot in the corridor, he casually brushed his hand against the cave wall.
"Ahh!" A scream rang out from behind.
The group turned in shock to see AFKandChill, who had somehow triggered a trap. A row of iron spikes shot up from the ground, piercing through his foot.
"Dammit! Why the hell was there still a trap here?" AFKandChill cursed loudly, his face twisted in pain as he pulled the spike out of his foot. Glaring at Ethan, he accused, "What the hell, man? Why didn't you tell me there was a trap?"
"Oh, I must have forgotten," Ethan replied, his tone indifferent.
"Forgot? You did that on purpose, didn't you?" AFKandChill growled.
"Watch your mouth. You don't want to make accusations you can't back up," Ethan warned, his voice cold.
"I *know* you did it on purpose, you bastard! I'll cripple you for this!" AFKandChill snarled.
"Oh? You're going to cripple me?" Ethan's eyes flashed with a deadly glint. A playing card suddenly appeared between his fingers.
"Say that again, I dare you."
"I'm going to cripp—"
*Whoosh!*
Before AFKandChill could finish his sentence, a card whizzed through the air, slicing cleanly through his ear.
"Ahhh!" AFKandChill screamed as blood poured from his ear, which had been severed clean off.
"The next time you speak out of line, it won't just be your ear," Ethan said, his voice calm but dripping with menace as he flicked the card in his hand for emphasis.