"That?" Max felt proud as he said confidently. "I have always been very good with swords, so when I started practicing, I somehow managed to learn it."
"Somehow?" Alice asked, her tone suspicious.
Max smiled upon seeing that and explained. "It's like this. During the no-rank dungeon, the boss was a Goblin Swordmaster, so I exchanged a few moves with him and voila, I managed to comprehend the Sword Aura."
He added with a smirk, "Oh, by the way, I killed the Goblin Swordmaster in the process of learning it."
Alice looked at Max with narrowed eyes. "You don't seem like you're lying, but I have a hard time believing you."
"Why?" Max asked curiously. Although he had made things up, the story behind how he comprehended the Sword Aura was true. He didn't understand why she would doubt him.
Alice looked at Max deeply and asked, "Do you know about Auras and Concepts?"
"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "I just heard about the concept thing from the description of Sword Aura."
"I figured as much," Alice chuckled. "If you knew the value of these two things, you wouldn't be so casual about it."
"Then tell me about it," Max asked, his curiosity deepening.
"That I can't do," Alice refused.
"Why?" Max asked.
Alice shot a glance at him. "Because I can't. You need someone qualified enough to teach you about Auras and Concepts—someone who has already comprehended a Concept."
She added, "My explanation would only raise questions for you, and I simply don't have answers to them."
Max pondered her words and felt that it made sense. Asking someone to explain something they didn't understand themselves was a foolish thing to do.
"You have to hurry and join the guild first," Alice said, looking at Max. "Only the top five guilds and the five super families have many individuals who have comprehended a Concept. Therefore, only they are capable of teaching you."
Max nodded in understanding, though he also understood that it was her way of saying he should join the Phoenix Order guild as quickly as possible.
"Enough of this, let's enter the canyon and see what's stopping these people from killing the boss," Alice changed the topic and began descending toward the canyon.
Amy followed quietly behind her.
'This girl is smart,' Max mused as she followed behind them.
Coming down, Max noticed the Storm Canyon was like a path to the boss chamber, with many monsters blocking their way—or at least, that was how things should have been.
"All the monsters had been cleared by the group that came before us to kill the boss," Alice said, seeing no monsters in sight. "So from here on, we'll have an easy run."
"That's very good. Let's go and see what's taking them so long to kill the boss," Max smiled as he shot forward.
Alice and Amy also quickly followed.
***
Some time later, they arrived before the boss chamber. They could see the huge door leading to the boss room, but something even more serious—or disturbing—caught their attention before the gate.
They stumbled upon a grim and haunting sight—tens of corpses lay strewn across the ground, their lifeless limbs scattered haphazardly across the scene. Blood and body parts were scattered everywhere, with not a single corpse having intact body parts.
"What happened here?" Max froze in place, his breath hitching as his eyes took in the gruesome scene. A wave of discomfort washed over him, his stomach twisting at the sight of the lifeless bodies and the sheer brutality laid bare before him.
It was his first time witnessing such cruelty and carnage, and it left him feeling deeply unsettled.
"Damn, seeing scenes like this with goblins is one thing, but with humans… it's completely different," Max muttered under his breath. Turning to check on Alice and Amy, he expected to see similar discomfort on their faces.
"Huh?" Max froze again, his eyes widening in disbelief. Unlike him, who was struggling to keep his composure, the two women stood calmly amidst the carnage.
Their expressions were steady, as if the horrific scene before them was nothing out of the ordinary.
For a moment, Max questioned himself. 'Am I too soft? Or are they just… used to this?'
"Are you okay?" Alice asked, her voice laced with concern as she noticed the beads of sweat rolling down Max's face.
"I-I'm fine," Max said through gritted teeth, his voice wavering slightly. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Turning to Alice and Amy, he offered a sheepish smile, his face tinged with embarrassment. "I was just… a little overwhelmed by the scene," he admitted, his gaze turning to the gruesome sight before them.
Alice nodded, seeing Max was fine, and turned her attention back to the scene. 'What happened here? No being in an F-rank dungeon should have the power to cause such a scene.'
"H-Help! Is someone here?"
Just at that moment, a faint voice sounded from one of the scattered corpses.
"Someone is still alive!" Max said with wide eyes, turning to Alice.
"We might save him if we act fast," Amy said, shooting toward the corpse.
Alice frowned, but she also followed.
Max didn't hesitate, and he too dashed toward the corpse.
When the three of them reached the scene, they spotted a man riddled with injuries all over his body, moving slightly. "Here," his faint voice reached their ears.
They quickly came to him intending to help when things took an unexpected turn.
Max, Alice, and Amy suddenly felt an immense force seize their bodies, rendering them powerless. Before they could resist or even comprehend what was happening, they were lifted into the air as if by an invisible hand.
Then, with terrible speed, they were hurled toward the walls of the canyon.
BAM!
Their bodies slammed into the wall and got stuck there. They couldn't move, as if they were being pinned into the wall by an invisible force.
"What is this? I can't move!" Max's face twisted in frustration as he struggled to move his body, but it felt as if some invisible force was holding him in place.
Alice clenched her jaw, her eyes flashing with anger. "It's a trap," she said through gritted teeth, her face dark with realization.
"It's indeed a trap." The man they had come to rescue suddenly stood up. Soon after, another four individuals stood up with him.
Seeing them, Max's eyes went wide with shock. "Bouncer Squad. They are the Bouncer Squad!"
"Bouncer Squad?" Alice frowned, turning to them. "Who sent you?"
"That doesn't matter. Just know that I am Morel Lokus and I am the one who call shots here," the man with bright red hair down to his shoulders smiled with a sinister look. "You see this scene…" He pointed at the corpses around them. "All of them had to die because of you, and now you three will end up like them."
"No, we won't," Alice shouted, her entire figure bursting into red flames. However, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't move her body.
Max frowned upon seeing that.
"Don't waste your energy," the man said with a sneer. "Unless you're someone in the Adept Rank or at the peak of Apprentice Rank, you can't hope to break free from the force pinning you three to the wall."
He added proudly as he took out a small stone with strange markings on it. "Someone paid a very heavy price by adding their blood essence into this runestone. Although they lost their power by five levels, they made sure you die a gruesome death." He then quickly put it away like a prized possession.