The Warrior first nudged the sphere gently with the tip of his blade.
Seeing no unusual reaction, Linna stepped forward, squatted down, and cupped the sphere in her hands, examining it closely.
The surface of the sphere was smooth and unmarked, devoid of any runes, yet it felt slightly warm to the touch.
It felt as though something was slowly flowing within it, and her excitement gradually began to build.
“It's a good item,” she said, her tone unable to hide her excitement.
“The mana fluctuations are very strong, but I can't identify the material. It's highly likely a core component of some ancient magic item.”
“How much is it worth then?” the Archer immediately leaned in, his eyes full of anticipation.
Linna rolled her eyes at him and replied, “Hard to say, but with this level of mana intensity, if we take it to a reliable appraiser in town, it'll go for at least this much.”
As she spoke, she held up three fingers.
“Thirty gold coins?” The Archer's eyes instantly widened.
Linna didn't answer, merely wrapping the sphere carefully in a soft cloth and putting it into her backpack.
“Keep it safe for now. We'll talk about it when we get back.”
Odos nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to call everyone to leave, chaotic footsteps suddenly echoed from the distance.
It wasn't just one person, but a large crowd.
The five of them reacted incredibly fast, immediately retreating to both sides of the stone door. The Warrior raised his shield once more, and the Archer notched another arrow, aiming forward.
Linna's staff also lit up with a faint glow as she stood ready.
The footsteps drew closer and closer, and figures gradually emerged from the dungeon's mist.
They wore uniform equipment and marched in neat ranks, led by a man clad in heavy plate armor with a spear slung diagonally across his back.
Odos recognized the attire at a glance.
Kaylon, the Captain of Silver Heart.
He breathed a small sigh of relief and raised his hand, signaling his teammates to lower their weapons.
“It's the Silver Heart people,” he whispered to his team.
Hearing this, the Archer put away his arrow, the Warrior lowered his shield, and the glow on Linna's staff dimmed.
Silver Heart was not an enemy, but they were certainly no saints either.
They were highly renowned in the Blackcreek Town area, and ordinary adventurers would always proactively make way for them.
The Silver Heart team marched past them in an orderly fashion.
Most of the members had smiles on their faces, and low conversations drifted over from time to time.
“The tenth floor, we finally conquered it!”
“We have to get a good drink tonight to reward ourselves.”
“The girl from that tavern last time is still waiting for me.”
Laughter mingled with the sound of footsteps. The relaxed atmosphere felt almost like an outing, showing none of the exhaustion of having just gone through a battle.
Kaylon walked in the middle of the group, his plate armor still stained with wet blood, and the tip of his spear chipped.
But there was not a trace of a smile on his face; his brow was tightly furrowed.
His gaze swept over Odos's team as if they were nothing but pebbles by the roadside, not pausing for a second, nor did he utter a single word.
The entire team quickly passed by, their footsteps gradually fading and dispersing into the darkness.
Odos's team remained pressed against the roadside, only letting out a slow sigh of relief once Silver Heart's figures had completely vanished and their footsteps could no longer be heard.
“They really seem to have conquered the tenth floor,” the Archer muttered in a low voice.
“With such a large team, they must have been fully prepared,” the Warrior chimed in.
“The tenth floor...” Linna murmured thoughtfully, staring in the direction Silver Heart had disappeared. “Just what level must the monsters down there be?”
No one could answer that question, but everyone knew it clearly in their hearts.
It was absolutely not an existence their small team could handle.
Odos shook his head gently, cutting off their train of thought.
“None of our business. Let's go, back to the surface first.”
On the other side.
Kaylon walked in the middle of the team, the laughter and chatter of his members seemingly muffled by a thick pane of glass, never reaching his ears.
His mind had already drifted elsewhere.
Ronid had been missing for two months now.
That mage who wore gold-rimmed glasses and always wore a fake smile—the Deputy Captain of Silver Heart—had vanished into thin air without a trace.
Initially, Kaylon thought he had gone to his 'Sweet House' again.
That was Ronid's private hiding place, where he kept women he had bought, tricked, or abducted from various places.
But this time, it had been far too long.
For two whole months, Ronid had never disappeared for such a long period.
Kaylon had sent many people to search everywhere, but they always came up empty-handed. Even Ronid's close confidants had no idea where he was.
Every time Ronid left, he only claimed he was going to 'pursue art,' and in truth, he had never revealed the location of the 'Sweet House' to anyone.
Not even to his closest subordinates.
Kaylon had already reported Ronid's disappearance to that lord, who only gave a cold, two-sentence response:
“Find him. I want him alive, or I want his corpse. He has something important on him that must not be lost.”
Kaylon did not know what that 'important thing' was, but the chill in the lord's voice left him too afraid to ask any questions.
Over these past two months, he had sent out no fewer than ten batches of people to search for Ronid, yet they still found no clues.
Ronid seemed to have been completely swallowed up by the earth.
What gave him an even greater headache was that the alliance formed by the Cross family and several other nobles was accelerating their progress in conquering the dungeon.
Silver Heart's cooperation with them was merely superficial, a matter of mutual convenience.
On the surface, the other party coveted the dungeon's resources, while Kaylon was secretly working to fulfill that lord's plan.
Though their goals seemed aligned, there were dark undercurrents surging beneath the surface.
Once the Cross family caught wind of that lord's true purpose, this fragile cooperation would instantly shatter.
It would be replaced by a fight to the death.
In his hand, he held a formation array that could monitor the 'key'—a token personally handed to him by the lord behind him.
Two months ago, every time this formation array reacted, it pointed in a certain direction on the seventh floor of the dungeon.
Kaylon had personally led men to investigate, but they found nothing.
Not long after, the formation array went completely silent, like a lifeless stone.
No matter what method he used, there was never any further response.
And the timing of Ronid's disappearance happened to coincide perfectly with the failure of the formation array.
Kaylon never believed in coincidences.
He faintly suspected that there must be some unknown connection between Ronid's disappearance and the anomaly of the formation array.
It was just that he couldn't see through this connection at the moment.
He slowly exhaled, pushing down the thoughts in his mind as he continued walking forward.
The surrounding members were still talking and laughing, completely unaware of Ronid's disappearance, the failure of the formation array, or that lord's secret plan.
In their eyes, as long as they followed Kaylon, had money to make, wine to drink, and women to keep them company, that was enough.
Sometimes, Kaylon even envied their simplicity.
On the surface, he was basking in glory, leading a powerful team and conquering the tenth floor of the dungeon.
But only he knew that the pressure was already as heavy as a mountain.
Although the tenth floor had been taken, the level of the monsters in the dungeon was getting higher and higher, with even Level 6 monsters appearing.
Though uncommon, they were all Boss-level existences with immense destructive power.
Although they could still control the situation for now, the team's casualties were also steadily rising.
He didn't know how much longer he could endure such days.
“Captain,” his deputy caught up from behind and asked softly, “the exit of the eighth floor is just ahead. Should we let everyone rest for a bit?”
Kaylon shook his head, his tone firm. “No need. Go straight to the surface. There are still many things to deal with.”
The deputy didn't ask further, merely nodding and retreating back into the ranks.
The team accelerated their pace.
Rate on N.U.
