Doubts

" Wait ! I left early yesterday. What did you guys do ? " Caspian grasped the key correctly. 

" Us ? We killed the golden mouse. Collected wheat. Burned the stalks. " Claire answered easily, skipping over the diamond mouse. After all, Caspian did not say, so she did tell. 

" Why ? you could have left them just like that. " Caspian screamed at her. 

" Hey ! It's common sense to burn the stalks to prepare fields for the next crop. Wouldn't the dungeon return to normal look by the time 89's hunters enter ? " Claire asked dumbly. 

She did this owing to habit, where most dungeons with food crops will regrow crops in a certain duration, even without reset. This habit was found accidentally eight years after the current date … it was another curiocity kind of information known to hunters. 

Few crop-like dungeons existed in lower tiers. She bet on the off chance that this dungeon would be one of the few that conform to this rule. 

Seems it is not. 

So, the 89th saw the blackened ashes and thought that the reapers had taken over their dungeon, thus placed the military ? 

Isn't this worse for the person Caspian was trying to rescue ? while they have this formation, won't the reapers come at the usual time they have decided upon ? 

" We have no choice. We need to keep a watch tomorrow. " Caspian mused. 

Claire's shoulders slumped. 

" I will check after one hour. If the military was still there, we have no choice but to cancel the plan. " Claire mused. 

She did not think of such great repercussions from her actions. After all, Rat dungeon is not even the most profitable dungeon owned by 89. To be correct, it was one of their worst performing dungeons. 

When she returned after an hour, there was no one in the dungeon. 

Claire remembered her yellow marks from yesterday. What she does is just vandalize the dungeon walls with a chalk piece. She does it in a grid. When the dungeon resets, not all pieces of the dungeon are newly formed. Further you rise from the ground up, there are more of these spots. These spots are very asymmetrical, random and operate by rules of their own. 

However, there is one common rule that applies to most of these spots. The items touching this part of the dungeon do not get reset. I.e. you can store supplies within the dungeon. Claire found this on her own in the future, and she was experimenting with it in multiple ways to see the best way to use it. 

Now that she has calmed down a little, Claire realized this mouse field is probably far more important than she thought before. Otherwise, Caspian would not feel this strongly about returning to it, nor would he think that the reapers would arrive despite the military presence. 

So, she can not half ass her watch tower either. 

She flew up with Caspian in tow, and settled on the island. She retrieved one of her bamboo poles, chopped its two ends off. Then, she split the bamboo into thin pieces, wove a fence-like flat pattern on one side. In the end it looked like a sign board with too small legs. She held it, arrived at the mousefield. 

The walls are like a cave, with columns spreading haphazardly. Three spots had rubbed off chalk lines on them. One at shoulder length and radius of a meter, other at knee length, length of two meters, but only a height of a few inches. Other was in the center of the ceiling, with a radius of ten meters. 

Claire chose the spot at shoulder height, for it was out of the way. She bore two holes in the stone. Inserted the bamboo fence through the fence. The foothold was ready. Now, she has to do the second part. 

This one's a little hard. She cut a boulder that could fit a man standing, then removed the upper one inch layer intact. A feat that required her complete concentration and use of more than fifteen of her elements. She took this boulder, and put it atop the bamboo platform, leaving a few millimeters gap with the dungeon wall, covering up the bamboo platform. 

After doing this, she gently carved a viewing hole in the boulder. One can stand or sit on the bamboo platform and watch what's happening in the entire dungeon. 

It would have been great if she could protect the boulder with some means, but unfortunately, she does not have the necessary skills or knowledge. 

All the same, the last experiment she wanted to conduct was to see if a person could stay in this safe platform attached to the dungeon while the dungeon resets. 

For the first time, she blinked while in the dungeon. 

Looking at the little rock fixature she made, it was perfect. It blended seamlessly with the other columns inside the dungeon. So much so, it looked like the dungeon has always been this way. 

" ah! I am a genius ! " Claire praised herself, as she looked at her work with satisfaction. 

She returned to the slime dungeon, and from there, to Caspian, who was feeding his turtle. 

" The military retreated, so I think they must have assumed we were injured. " she said conversationally, as she took him to the slime dungeon. 

She teleported him to the boulder watch post she made. 

" See ! You can watch the entire dungeon through here. " She told him. Opening the peepholes she installed. 

Caspian eyes filled with wonder and awe. 

Just .. just who in the world goes to this much trouble to hide in a dungeon where they could fight and win so easily ? To be this much cautious and cowardly … It subverted all he was taught. 

Though Claire worked for a long time, and used a lot of elements and skills he himself could never use, he can still manage to do what she did, albeit with more time. It did not even cost much. Yet, almost all their trainee camps would rather run headfirst into danger. Because not doing so is dishonorable. 

For the first time, Caspian wondered if all he learned was correct. Why should they run headfirst into danger, why should they always protect the captain, why should they never ever hide the dungeon drops ! Why should they work so hard for just a bowl of food ? Why is being strong in a single element the most praiseworthy ? 

Claire fed him without asking for much. So, he thought of her as a pushover. 

However, looking at how fast her response was in the presence of bullets, how she was able to kill the golden mouse … she is by no means weak. Perhaps, he could still kill her if he uses his strongest skill … or can I ? Caspian wondered for the first time. He put her in the water prison. Ideally, it should choke her, but Claire found a way to breathe. He could make that small drop of water prison as large as a lake, but … can a water prison the size of a lake keep her bound? She has one trick after another. Now, she even knows a way to keep watch here through dungeon reset. 

Though the slaves are not given much information, over the course of time, some information did trickle in. 

All slaves face their first selection as soon as they are born. They go through a mirror test, like the one he has shown Claire. The ones with no clear mana core and a scattered mana core are culled. No one knows where they go. These babies are then raised in a communal home, literally like wild animals. They fight for everything, from food to clothes. The losers are culled every year. At four years old, they take their second mirror test. This determines the strength of the element. Then, they are taken to the awakening. 

Many die. The ones who survive are sent to apprentice camp. If they are selected, they rise through ranks, becoming an official hunter. Every ranking test has a reward. It's either a skill or an item. Items are directly given, but for the skills, experienced hunters will bring you to the dungeon to kill the boss monster directly. If you survive, you are good. Otherwise, just forget it. 

Like that, when one rises through ranks, after amassing at least four skills, they are graduated as mercenaries. Once you become a mercenary, you are considered an adult, no matter your age. You are given a chance to buy a blood book, through which you can find your family. Ideally, you find your family, through them, establish a clan, and if your clan becomes powerful enough, you can even become the head of Wulin. Ofcourse, it's a rigged game. 

Just after the last hunt, Caspian bought his blood book. He was surprised to find he only had one family member. He searched for his brother, and came to know, he will be entering the mousefield as a reward. If he misses this meeting, he can not find information about his brother any more. In the worst case, his brother would die fighting the monsters. 

But now, for the first time in his life, Caspian wondered - is Wulin the supreme in the world ? Can he not live on except as a Wulin mercenary ?