Outside of the shelter, everyone went out into their own business. Amaryllis and Xalazuniox were the first to depart, their schedules too busy. Glom and Tinkwezilsky went to the storeroom to retrieve an Essence meter while the others remained in Bezzias' laboratory. Serena approached Nero with Altia in tow.

"Nero. I'm sorry I made you angry."

She did but he'd be damned if he had to admit. So he lied. "I told you that you could choose anything, and you did. Look, I'm upset. I'll be honest with you. I still want you to be my sister. I still want to keep you close. Altia feels the same."

"I do," Altia said from Serena's side.

"But the fact that you jumped sixteen levels in one go is hard to accept. But it is not the end of the world. You can't delve in low-rank Dungeons anymore. There's that. I bet you already felt the bite of the limiter on your Charisma."

She nodded. "Yes. The limiter blocked sixteen points. I had to do it. I had to claim my birthright, my family's wishes are damned."

"We understand that. But now we need to catch up. And we will do something good out of it."

"You'll need this," Serena said. She took a leather bag from her dimensional pouch. "All the cards you left with me," She kept taking things out, "The device to reset the Dungeon. And all the cards I picked up while you were away."

"Feels like you're dumping them on me," He joked.

"And your Essence. Take it all," She pushed another bag full of clinking crystals."

"You should keep a few million for you. Pocket money."

"I did. I'm not stupid, Nero of the minnid tribe," She crossed her arms, huffed, and looked away.

"And let me tell you, if you become my sister, I'm the elder brother. You'll be the little sister."

Serena smiled. Now that she cleared things with Nero, she could relax a bit. After she delivered leverage to the guild and Lyceum, her value to either party would be close to zero. They could still come after her for petty revenge but that would be beneath them. Being forced to live as a commoner, to them in their thrones and marble ballrooms was enough punishment.

"I'll think about it. Good delving, brother."

"Thanks. You gotta show me your other Skills later," The way he said implied a lack of trust. Nero quickly corrected himself. "I am very curious about what build they planned for you. No, that's not what I meant, erm... I want to see how the

"I will," She handed him one last card. "You might want to equip the [Lesser Dimensional Pouch] now."

"It is better if Altia has it. I already have the midnight upkeep of the shelter," He gave it to Altia. "It will store even more things if she's the one to use it and she has an item that recovers mana."

"You should get one. Or maybe make a build with that [Druid] card for everyday use. If will use stamina instead of mana."

"That... I'm not at the level of using a purple card for 'everyday use' yet."

She chuckled. "Don't undersell you. Amaryllis didn't give you that task for nothing. Her airheadedness is an act. If you can make the Dungeons safer, that's a huge boon. Now, go. We all have our battles to fight."

They took a normal carriage. Glom and two Lyceum guards plus two guild officers were going with them. It was both a show of force and to avoid any ambushes from those hunting Serena. The wall around the Dungeon was in the same way, manned by twelve guards instead of the common four. The same lieutenant came looking like he wanted to stir trouble but he just gave up when he saw the guards and a direct order from Amaryllis. The kingdom simply couldn't let the whole guild and its members depart. It seems they came into some sort of compromise since the loyalist students' mutiny. Or the mutiny Holmes incited and quelled at the same time.

Nero had to ask. "Quite a few busy days, right, lieutenant? Anyone inside today?"

"We had fourteen parties of delvers yesterday. Only five people came out. Twenty parties of five people today. Twenty-one with you. To speed up tax collection, it is a flat three thousand Essence per person now. Paid upfront."

From the ground, the squiig flicked his tail and cleared his throat to get the lieutenant's attention. "The Lyceum will pay the taxes."

Glom gave the lieutenant a bag of crystals and took two receipts. They vanished into his dimensional pouch, a must-have for the diminutive races. The flat tax could be steep on novice adventurers but to them, it was pocket change. After they passed the portcullis, Glom hopped on Nero's shoulder.

"I don't like what is going on here, and I think I know what they are doing. Don't raise suspicion and do take care inside. Let's do a thorough check of the portal first."

When they reached the portal inside the small walled area, Glom showed him a new device. It had a screen just like the Arbitrium but set on a rectangular and rather flat brick of metal. It had a grip, not unlike a sword coming from the bottom and a piece of metal in the shape of a U coming from the top.

"This is the Essence meter. It can give more detailed information about the Dungeon status than [Essence Analysis]. You'll take it with you inside. Do a measurement every five kills. We should be able to monitor the Dungeon's energy levels closely. The information will be recorded in a data card inside the device."

Nero took the device and passed it to Altia. She put it in her [Lesser Dimensional Pouch], which had a volume of one hundred and twenty-five gallons. He also scanned the Dungeon with [Essence Analysis], something that he vowed to make a habit.

Name: Rafflesia's Meadow

Rank: I

Grade: Orange

Condition: Stable

Occupants: several

"Did you see that, professor?" He asked with discretion. Glom nodded.

"Yes. That was my fear. They are not sending people inside to find her. They are sending people to die and force an evolution of the Dungeon. Once the Dungeon evolves, her survivability alone in there will plummet. Maybe when the Dean talks to that contact they found, it stops. But It might be too late for this Dungeon. The boss will be stronger but her level will be lower than before as much energy was consumed by raising the grade. I'll contact the Lyceum and the guild while you are inside and ask for more personnel. We will have to interdict this Dungeon, I'm afraid. There's no Dungeon grade above orange. If this place attempts to raise a grade again, it will explode. Rafflesia in all her might will be free to walk the earth again."

"But if we interdict this Dungeon, they will think we are trying to hide the fact we are taking the princess out," Nero pointed out.

"Exactly, but they can't act openly against us. They are agents of Coriander and the war is now inevitable. At least the delvers inside aren't as dangerous as before. They are just throwing bodies now. Our intelligence says they are recruiting thugs and thieves now. You don't need to have any circumspection in killing them. I actually urge you that you do hunt them."

Altia approached them. "Won't it be bad if we kill them? Won't the Dungeon grow?"

"No," Glom shook his head. "If you kill, the Anima will flow toward you. If a monster kills them, it will go to the Dungeon mostly."

Nero didn't like it, but the thought of an orange Dungeon exploding

"Off you go. Take care. You can't tell what you'll find in there."

"You too watch out, professor. At least in there, we know the threat is limited."

Nero held Altia's hand and crossed the portal. What they saw made them lose their breakfast. The stench of dozens of corpses all strewn around the entrance grass patch. Those they could identify looked like the dregs of society. Scars, signs of malnutrition and disease, criminal organization tattoos, and threadbare clothing. The green grass was covered by a red mulch. Their bandoliers and belts were all piled up on a corner, the pockets open and torn.

"This is terrible!" Altia gasped and retched.

"Don't speak. Let's move to the flower patch," He lowered his goggles, changed classes and fired mana bolts at the nearby trippers. With a safe distance, he turned back. "I'm going to gather the Arbitrii, Altia. Do a measurement like the professor asked and pay attention to our surroundings."

Nero swapped to the utility build and recovered all the Arbitrii. It would be useful to keep a tally of how many dead fed the Dungeon. The fireball burned and dried most of the fluids. He used his sword to saw off the bones and remove the bracers. Into Altia's pouch, they went forty-five devices.

"My guess is that they recruited members of rival gangs and once they were inside the Dungeon, one group decided to settle old grudges," Nero speculated.

"I heard sounds of combat in that direction," She pointed to the north.

"Let's see what are they made of. I'll get some flames ready just in case."

Altia readied her whip and snapped it in the air before she felt ready to enter a fight. Nero finished summoning a hundred flames and they moved north. Nero used his rifle to kill the trippers in their way while Bruce took care of retrieving the drops.

"Is it just my impression or the flower glade is bigger?" he asked.

"I was feeling something odd as well. We killed almost double the number of trippers to reach the treeline."

Inside the forest, the bodies started to appear a few yards in. A dead delver here, another there. Nero didn't stop to check them. They reached the melee, a dozen frontline warriors holding back Stomper and a few shamblers. Wounded people were at the back, leaning against trees or just moaning on the ground. Casters, support and ranged damage raiders were at the back. But it was obvious they lacked healers or those were long out of mana. The ones taking the brunt would break anytime. Stomper slammed one of the defenders and sent him flying five yards back. He didn't get back up but wasn't dead.

"Incoming!" One of the raiders shouted. "There's someone over there," he pointed at them.

Nero deployed his shield and moved a bit to cover Altia. "I won't interfere with your fight," he shouted. "But if you shoot a single arrow my way, I'm taking you all out." He also sent his flames forward the maximum he could without firing them.

"Help us then! We can reward you," Another one, a half-elf with a craggy skin, almost rock-like proposed.

Nero felt bad. When he killed the other raiders, they were attacking Serena. Now? It was murder. One of the raiders was pummeled by Stomper and hit his neck against a tree. Nero's Arbitrium lit up.

Compatible Anima detected. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.

For defeating a foe two times your level, you gained +1 Charisma

That was... terrible. Level two? He didn't need to do anything. Stomper alone would kill all of them.

"Altia, they are levels one or two," He whispered to her.

"And their gear is crafted. No Attribute bonuses whatsoever."

"I'm not slaughtering them," He said feeling a heavy pressure on his heart. "Let's watch the fight."

"Did you notice they are all male?" Altia commented.

"Yes. It is a sad truth that men are more prone to become criminals," Nero remarked bitterly.

The shamblers killed two more and the front line broke. The few melee fighters panicked and ran. The shambers couldn't run but they weren't slow. Stomper bashed one of them in the back and they heard the bones snapping. The shamblers went for the back row.

"I can't. I can't just watch," Nero fought the knot down and sent his flames at the other shamblers. It was overkill. The monsters burned with the initial damage, even before the first burning tick applied. Then he switched to [Archer] and raised his rifle. He charged [Piercing Shot] and poured three points of mana and stamina into [Empower Attack]. His shot exploded Stomped's neck. Altia automatically used [Potion Toss] and showered a mana potion over Nero. In hindsight, that was a mistake.

"Hey, thank you! You guys are pretty strong, aren't you?" The one that looked like their leader said.

The couple had the full attention of everyone and the few that could stand were approaching them. Altia drew two cards, combat consumables but not of the harmless kind.

"We have many wounded here, miss [Chemist], could you spare a fellow Adventurer a potion?"

"No," Altia replied. "And if you were real Adventurers, you would know better than to beg supplies. Let's go away," she pulled Nero's cloak. "These guys are on their own."

The leader walked even closer as the others surrounded them.

"You are not going anywhere. We outnumber you. You may have killed the monsters, but I know you spent all your juice on them. Your gun is overheating. Give us everything you have and we will let you live."

They closed their encirclement.

"Really?" Nero asked. "You guys have no idea of proper Dungeon etiquette. You don't even have the minimum knowledge about how real Adventurers work. We would never burn all our attacks and leave us defenseless in front of others. Not inside a Dungeon."

"You are just some rich kids that stumbled into the wrong place. We'll kill the man and share the woman."

That was it. Nero slung his rifle. He exchanged a glance with Altia and she nodded. He activated a skill of his Archer build, [Cougar's Speed], activating both modes for two points of stamina and mana. His Agility raised 20%, from 50 to 60. And his movement speed by 50%. He moved. The novice raiders, with their white Classes and Skills, maybe green, could barely track his location. For them, pure unarmed strikes were more than enough.

"I didn't want to kill you even though I should. But nobody threatens my wife."

Altia's whip cracked, the vine stretched and ripped open a gash across the leader's chest, splintering the ribs along the way. They weren't expecting her weapon's reach. A group of three came after her and she triggered one of the cards, activating [Potion Toss] immediately as the object came to be. The vial broke and a green cloud rose, swallowing the three. They coughed, retched, and fell on the ground, poisoned.

"I think it cooled enough," Nero said and drew his rifle.

He aimed the bare minimum and let the bullets fly. Shoot, reload, shoot more. Without [Shadow Coating], the roar of the gun rang for hundreds of yards in the otherwise quiet forest. Lightning ran through the metal rings around the barrel of the weapon, launching bullet after bullet.

"Mana!"

He called and saw the baby blue mist descend over him. Shoot, summon ammunition, reload, shoot more. Not even those on the ground, wounded or dying were spared. He got two Accolades from the slaughter. Dexterity and Agility. They were too low level to grant Altia any boost. A couple shamblers stumbled into the scene and were throughly dispatched by the [Jester]'s wrathful barrage of bullets.

Sillence reigned again. Nero lowered the muzzle of his weapon, his Arbitrium warning him of the low charge for his clockwork devices.