Teaming Up

The dungeon's tunnel was spacious enough to accommodate a small house. Dante couldn't help but wonder about its origin. It resembled a labyrinth, where one could potentially spend an entire day lost, unless aided by someone skilled in navigation or possessed an uncanny stroke of luck, leading them in the right direction no matter where they go.

There it is. A few meters ahead, Dante spotted a circular platform with the familiar stone hovering above it. Similar to the place where he found the stone slab, the tunnel transitioned into a cavern. In the center stood the teleportation platform, surrounded by scattered opium red plants and lifeless vamp worms. They just piled up their offerings? How filthy.

The cavern stretched at least a dozen meters high and the cave's walls were uneven, but one section stood out—an odd, circular indentation.

"Your nose is right, Panthy," Trina declared, twirling her staff to remove traces of green blood.

"Of course I'm right," Panthy praised himself, chest puffing then retracted as the name given to him by Trina frustrated him. It sounds gross. 

Panthy was confident about their destination. Using his keen sense of smell, he caught the scent of the opium red and the faint aroma of the teleportation stone.

Curly chuckled from the side, then raised his hands towards his teammates. Suddenly, green orbs materialized and streamed towards his squad, entering their bodies. Their weariness vanished, and Curly's Skill revitalized them.

"Thanks, Curly," Trina expressed her gratitude, and Samantha nodded with a smile.

"Thanks, but what if this green orb has some side effects?" Panthy thanked Curly, but couldn't resist adding a pessimistic remark which made Trina shot him a sharp look, and Curly smiled wryly. Samantha massaged her aching forehead.

Before arriving here, Dante had battled another horde of tailed bats. Since the Skara Guild was close behind him, they ended up joining the fight. It made him uneasy, feeling like they were stealing his experience points, but he chose to let it slide.

This also provided an opportunity to see their Skills in action. Samantha, the leader, wielded control over the wind, which she honed into a cutting force against their adversaries. The girl with a fiery temper displayed impressive strength. When she activated her Skill, her staff enlarged, suggesting she might have the ability to enlarge other objects as well. Panthy's panther Skill was innate, and the curly-haired holder had a supporting Skill.

They decided to let Dante collect the monster cores first, watching to see if he would try to take all of them or leave the ones they had personally defeated. Luckily, he showed no signs of greed, which put the team at ease.

Samantha's eyes brightened. He's not too bad, after all.

After studying the platform for a moment, Dante made his way towards it. He had to clear away the piled-up red plants and vamp worms to reach the stone. As he kicked away the worm monsters, he heard Samantha's voice, "Eka, let's team up against the boss."

Dante turned around, saying nothing, and waited for her to continue.

"I understand you're powerful, but if we join forces, we can take down the boss more easily and reduce the risk of injury," she proposed. She chose to let her guard down a bit, swayed by his actions in not taking all the monster cores. Although Panthy had a different opinion.

"Just make sure you won't get in my way," Dante replied after a pause, then went back to his task.

Samantha's eyes brightened. She raised her hand, summoning a gust of wind that swirled around the platform, sending the obstacles scattering to the side. The circular platform was now clear of red plants and monsters. This spared them the effort of having to clean it manually.

"It might help if we share our Skills," Samantha proposed. "I can manipulate wind, A-rated."

She then gestured towards the other girl in her team, "This is Trina. She gained formidable strength from a ritual and can enlarge objects. She's rated B."

"Apologies for the belated introduction," Trina declared, striking her staff against the ground and lifting her head, "I'm actually the strongest in this group. So mind your manners. And here we have Panthy and Curly." She motioned her staff towards the two men.

The feline stepped forward, shooting a glare at Trina before she responded with a smirk. "I have the ability to transform into a powerful panther, as you can see. I'm not inclined to trust you just yet. What if you decide to sabotage us? What if you—"

"Don't pay him any mind, he's always a bit pessimistic, but he's rated B," the leader interjected.

"Hey, I'm their support. Also B rated. If you're feeling tired or if you have any wounds, just let me know, I've got a Skill for that," Curly chimed in.

"You can call me Eka. I'm rated C," Dante considered which Skill to share, but ended up saying, "My Skill? I'm strong."

This left the four holders momentarily speechless. Shameless, Trina thought. Samantha chuckled, pleased that Dante had more to say than a single word.

"For a C rated, you must be quite talented," Samantha praised, sensing the atmosphere lightening as they moved towards the stone.

"You don't have to disclose your Skill if you'd rather not," she added. It was common for holders to keep their Skills private, and even if shared, it was often something fairly obvious. "By the way, are you a member of any guild?"

"Tribunal Guild," Dante replied.

Samantha pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "Doesn't ring a bell, sorry."

"Tribunal Guild? That sounds familiar... Oh, I remember now. Manny is their agent," Curly said, glancing up from inspecting his equipment.

"Ah, you're familiar with them?" Samantha inquired. Dante was also curious; as far as he knew, their guild wasn't particularly well-known.

"I met him at a bar..." Curly explained, a hint of embarrassment in his voice at the mention of a bar. "He tried to recruit me, but I declined, of course. It seems he's found a strong one."

"I see. Good for them, then."

After checking their equipment, they turned to Dante, puzzled by his lack of bag or gear. His response was simple, "I don't need it."

After a while, they gathered around the floating stone.

Curly and Panthy closed their eyes, taking deep breaths trying to adjust their state of mind. Then, the sound of stone crashing disrupted their concentration.

Startled, they opened their eyes to find Trina holding her staff with both hands. Beneath her weapon lay the obliterated teleportation stone.

The girl in the robe blinked at them, seeming oblivious to her seemingly rude action. Even Dante, standing to the side, was left speechless. Samantha, however, appeared unfazed.

"Why are you all staring?" she complained, her body turning into white particles.

Before they could react, their vision was engulfed in white, and a feeling of weightlessness surrounded them.

Silence.

Then, the peculiar wall trembled. It split open from bottom to top, revealing a sphere—or rather, an eye—taking up half the height of the cave. After a moment, the strange wall closed once more.