"Hap!" Enrick yelled as he lunged forward with his lance, piercing two goblins in a single thrust.
"How much longer, Agatha?" Eusta called, parrying an orc's swing.
Eusta's axes had been buffed with a light infusion by Vi. Aside from the usual damage boost, the enchantment also granted a slight bonus to accuracy.
As for Agatha, I stood beside her as she chanted her spell.
"Just give us a couple more seconds!" I shouted, parrying a goblin's attack.
My job was to keep Agatha from being interrupted.
At the moment, I had two goblins to hold back — a manageable number, for now.
"Let's switch, Eusta!" Enrick called as he stepped into the orc's path, tanking its blow with his shield.
Eusta nodded and retreated.
The orc let out an angry growl that made the entire room quake.
Even so, Enrick planted his feet and stood firm — an immovable wall no matter how many times the orc struck.
"[Shine]!"
Vi swung her staff like a bat as she cast the spell.
The ball of light shot forward, exploding in a blinding flash behind Enrick.
The orc quickly took his hands to his eyes and smiled backward as he had been blinded by the spell.
"He's stunned!" Vi called as Eusta defended her from an incoming goblin.
"[Wind Hammer]!"
My spell connected, launching one of my two goblins away.
"Eusta!" I shouted, warning him about the goblin hurtling his way.
"Got it, little man!" Eusta roared, spinning mid-step and slicing the airborne goblin in half.
"Agatha! His roar attracted more goblins — we need that spell ready!" Enrick barked, stabbing the stunned orc in the shoulder.
Behind me, I could feel Agatha shoot him a murderous glare, but she kept chanting.
The last goblin in front of me grabbed a stone and hurled it toward Agatha.
With no time to think, I leapt in front of her and took the hit.
It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Even if this dungeon was far beyond my level, having a competent second-year group at my side was the only reason I was surviving.
The ground began to rumble harder. The sound of countless goblins closing in grew louder by the second.
My opponent started circling, desperate to reach Agatha.
But it didn't notice the bulky shadow suddenly looming behind it.
The goblin barely turned before Eusta's axe split it in two.
"Thanks, Eusta!"
"No problem, little man!"
Eusta and Vi closed in on our position, and even Enrick disengaged from the orc.
We all formed a protective ring around Agatha as she chanted her dark-element spell.
"Thank god I don't have a dark affinity!" Eusta laughed.
Agatha answered with a sharp stomp on his foot.
He wasn't entirely wrong — dark magic was the slowest of all affinities, though its power more than compensated for the long cast time.
"Here they come!" Enrick warned, raising his shield.
Eusta and I followed suit, weapons ready.
The horde poured in from every entrance, shoving and trampling one another in their rush to attack. Amid the sea of green bodies, the orc stood tall despite its shoulder wound.
"So many goblins!"
"And it's still the third floor!"
"Agatha!"
Agatha growled as she finished the final words of her chant.
The goblins surged forward, flailing claws, fangs, and weapons — even injuring each other in their frenzy.
"[Clophone's Field]!"
Agatha's book flared with a dark-purple light that dropped to the ground like a raindrop.
The moment it struck, that aura spread across the floor like a creeping infection.
When it touched the goblins, jagged black-and-purple spikes erupted from the ground, skewering them instantly.
Tier-three spells were like that — devastating and absolute. An entire horde gone in seconds.
"Now!" Enrick roared.
I sprinted forward, weaving through the forest of impaled bodies.
The orc had dodged some of the spikes, but several had pierced its lower body, crippling its mobility.
"[Feather Dart]!"
Leaping from corpse to corpse, I pelted it with rapid, weak projectiles — each one chipping away at its health.
"Don't forget me!" Eusta shouted, charging in. The orc raised its arms, trying to block the barrage.
I was pushing myself — fast movements, timed spell failures for mana refunds, relentless casting — but the pressure was working.
With one final leap, Eusta and I attacked together.
"Ahhh!"
His axes slashed from the orc's collarbone to its chest.
I drove both daggers deep into its waist.
"Gaaaah!" The orc roared, calling for help.
"Help won't arrive, buddy!"
"[Light Beam]!"
Vi's spell pierced clean through its skull.
The orc collapsed, lifeless.
"Wait—!" My daggers were still stuck. Even in death, its muscles clamped tight.
It toppled onto me.
"Alen!"
Some, like Enrick and Vi rushed over in concern, while Agatha and Eusta burst out laughing.
"Help!" I wheezed, pinned under its massive weight.
"You gotta pump more iron, little man!" Eusta cackled as he and Enrick lifted the monster's corpse.
"He's right, Alen. You're pretty lanky," Enrick added as I yanked my daggers free.
"Stick arms..." Agatha teased, covering her mouth to hide her smirk.
"Stick arms? Is it that bad?" Honestly, I'd always focused on agility over muscle.
"You probably look great under your clothes..." Vi said with an awkward smile. "Your arms are kinda skinny, though," she added in a whisper.
Everyone nodded slightly. Maybe I did need to work on that...
"If he gains muscle, won't he lose some agility?" Enrick asked. "He seems built for speed."
"Right!? You get me, Enrick!"
"You should still train your strength a bit more."
"...I'll do my best."
The group's laughter carried as we began looting the room.
"So many mana stones," Enrick muttered.
"What can I say? I'm the best!" Agatha puffed out her chest, proud of her massacre.
"As expected of a tier-three spell," Vi remarked, cleaning her staff with a cloth.
"You could help us, you know!" Enrick complained.
"Stick my hands inside a monster? No thanks!" Agatha shuddered.
"And you, Eusta?" I asked, slicing open a goblin's chest.
"I'm on backpack duty."
"Why don't you ask me?" Vi interjected.
Enrick and I exchanged a glance.
"You... don't seem like you'd enjoy it," Enrick said.
"How would you know if I've never tried?" Vi huffed, clearly offended.
"Want to learn?" I offered, handing her a dagger.
"Thanks for the offer!" she smiled, crouching beside me.
After teaching her the basics, I let her try.
It... did not go well.
Vi butchered the goblin with messy cuts, struggling to find the mana stone until I stepped in to help.
"Make sure to clean your clothes thoroughly," Enrick advised.
Vi just nodded happily — apparently proud to have tried her first monster gutting.
With the room looted, it was time to move on.
"This floor should be clear now. I think we just killed every last goblin here," Eusta said as he and Enrick took the lead.
For a third floor, the sheer number of monsters had been surprising.
"And we still have at least three more floors," Agatha sighed, drinking a small mana potion after the massive spell she pulled off.
"Three? Given what we've seen, I'd say five," Vi guessed as she also drank a mana potion.
"Actually..." Enrick's voice trailed off.
We were standing on a natural stone bridge connecting the room we'd just cleared to the next area.
From here, the scale of the dungeon was overwhelming.
Beneath us yawned a massive pit, its depth impossible to measure. The shadows swallowed everything, and even my class's passive vision skill couldn't pierce the darkness.
"I hope this dungeon isn't that much longer," Enrick finished quietly.
"Aaahhhh..." I couldn't hold back a long yawn as we walked.
"Tired already, Alen?" Vi asked.
"Today's been... a day," I admitted.
"I can imagine," Agatha said, glancing around the cavern. "The duels, the confrontation with the Montanev queen, and then you had to sit through the nightmare of getting an artifact licensed..."
"And now you're here," Eusta added.
"You could've told us you weren't coming," Vi pointed out as I yawned again.
"Nah. I already agreed to join you guys, and I do need the coins. Even if I'm tired, it's worth it."
"Then let's make the most of this dungeon!" Eusta said with a grin.
"You can tell us if you really need a break, Alen," Enrick offered, the calm authority in his voice reminding me why he was our leader. "We could stop, let you nap."
"I'll let you know if it gets that bad. I can still keep going."
"We should rest once we reach the stairs to the next flo—"
"Alen!"
Huh? Why are they yelling my name as if something bad just happened—?
Why am I suddenly airborne?
Why am I now falling?
Ah... one of them must have triggered a trap — a massive swinging hammer that just caught me full-on, knocking me clean off the bridge.
Now I'm plummeting into the abyss, consciousness fading from the impact.
Just great...
Really great how everything's going dark while the bridge — and my friends — shrink above me.