We ended up waiting another four days before we sent any of the scouts out. During those four days, the scouts relentlessly trained their [Stealth,] even bringing it up to the second level. I, on the other hand, spent my time practicing my defensive capabilities. I still couldn't reliably fight against two enemies at once, but I was getting to the point where I could hold my own against an individual opponent. Granted, it wasn't very realistic to compare a skeleton to a dungeoneer, but my fight against the last one had given me a scare. The fact that they moved faster, hit harder, and had seemed to have almost limitless stamina, ended up making most of the Sentinels, and myself, desire much more strength that we currenly had.

When the scouts finally did go out, they first checked the third floor for signs of more dangerous dungeoneers, lesser numbers of goblins, or a higher number of dungeoneer groups in general. They ended up finding nothing out of the ordinary. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved, or worried. After all, a healthy dose of paranoia had already saved my life once. After being paranoid paid off, it was a bit hard to simply let it go. I had already developed a habit of sharpening my sword when I needed to relax.

Eventually, I did decide to send the scouts back up to the second floor, albeit without their normal gear. They were a bit unwilling at first, but after I explained the dangers of wearing armor, they relented.

In the few days that followed, they reported that there were very few other skeletons on the floor, and not one that had been alive for more than half a day. It felt less like we were recovering, and more like the second floor was just being mopped up, the stragglers unable to do anything to defend themselves.

Our second floor hideout was nothing but an ash covered grave. None of the skeletons who had been on the second floor during the suspected purge were found. The most we did find were a few shattered arrows. If nothing else, they put up a fight before the end. Personally, knowing that almost two dozen of our brothers and sisters were killed by dungeoneers, I felt a flicker of anger rising.

We'll make them pay for this.

I wouldn't let my anger control me however. I pulled the scouts back for the time being, as there were far too few skeletons on the second floor for us to move around freely. We would have to wait before going back up to recruit, and to re-arm. In the meantime, I suggested my plan to Rivena, Rivax, and one of the scouts, a man named Kellor.

Naturally, they refused it, but not for the reasons I had suspected they would.

"You've been making most of the decisions so far, so if you were to go further down into the dungeon, and then get lost, or die, we might very well become little more than a disorganized mob." Kellor had stated, while absently fiddling with one of the knives he'd picked up from the strong dungeoneer's equipment.

"So far, you're the one who has named every skeleton here, and that kind of action has more impact that you think. We were nameless before, and now each of us is unique. If you were gone, I'm not sure who would take your place, or if anyone would even be willing." Rivena was meditating amidst her Sentinels, but her words still made me hesitate to argue.

"We're all too weak to go further down. You are too." Rivax had been reparing his shield using some of the wood from one of the spare beds. The other Sentinels nodded at his words, but didn't say anything. He didn't seem to talk much. None of the Sentinels did, really.

Altogether, their words made an annoying sort of sense. We didn't have the manpower to attempt to send a different group down, so we'd have to take the time to recruit and train some skeletons before implementing that plan. For now, I mentally shelved it for later.

Instead, I decided to take a look at my status, to see if anything had changed since I leveled.

Name: Broken Skull 8:42 PM Race: Undead Sub-race: Skeleton Class: N/A Sub-class: N/A Level: 6 Available Skill Points: 4

Hp: 100/100

Mp: 12/12

Stamina: N/A

Head: Healthy

Torso: Healthy

Left Arm: Healthy

Right Arm: Healthy

Left Leg: Healthy

Right Leg: Healthy

Buffs:

Debuffs:

I had to admit, I was genuinely surprised, seeing my new Hp and Mp stats.

I guess being a named monster allows me to get a bigger boost when I level. I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

I didn't bother looking for skills at the moment, as I didn't plan on getting into many fights in the next few days. Rather, I was planning on training myself to better deal with the threats we might end up facing in the future, without needing to rely on skills. After all, there was no way I wanted to have to face off against someone who could overwhelm me on their own. I threw myself into the sparring with gusto.

After a grand total of two weeks, we finally ended our little lockdown, and the scouts went back up to the second floor, although they still didn't take their equipment, as we needed to focus more on recruitment for the time being. The combat team was a bit unsure of themselves at this point, but after I pulled the most leader-like among them aside, a woman named Lilith, and giving her some advice, it seemed like they would be just fine. Rivena and her Sentinels would stay behind, along with the equipment procurement team for now. I stayed behind as well, so that any skeletons recruited by the scouts could be brought to me for their naming, and basic training, for which I would enlist the help of four of the Sentinels.

Personally, I was ecstatic that I wouldn't have to be out there risking my life for the moment, although I felt a little bit less enthusiastic about the fact that I wasn't going to be getting much stronger. I decided to make that another task to be dealt with, as I didn't want any skeleton thinking they could just kill me without worrying about getting hurt in turn. The last time was more than enough of a warning in that regard.

While the Combat team and the Scouts left, I ended up getting together with the rest of the equipment procurement team. The name had finally become too annoying to me, as it was way too long to say, so I decided I'd just call them the E.P.T. for short.

The de facto leader of the group was a slightly more heavy-set skeleton named Jack. At the time of his naming, I'd been surprised by the naming sense of whatever system was in charge of it. It had been somewhat random before, and it had named me what felt more like a title, than a name. At the moment though, I no longer questioned the insanity of whatever the hell made this world work.

I had asked them to help find anything that might be able to either repair, or at least maintain whatever gear we could get our hands on, at the very least until we found a more reliable source of weapons and armor than the chests on the second floor.

I hadn't suggested using the chests I assumed were on the third floor, mainly because I figured those would hold the gear that the goblins were making use of. Thus, I was hesitant to actually get anything from them, lest it start a pointless conflict. We were, after all, technically guests on the third floor, so it wouldn't be wise to mess with them, at least while we were still recovering.

They ended up accepting the request with little fuss, although they made no promises, based on what had previously been found in all the chests we'd searched before. The whetstones and other supplies would likely be hot commodities for us, since we might only be able to get them from killing dungeoneer groups. On the bright side, we might be able to find other things once I could get a group together to head deeper into the dungeon, checking chests for good items here and there.

So long as none of the other floor's residents find out, it's not a problem. I hope.

After discussing a few of the finer details on what to be on the lookout for, I ended up laying back on one of the less broken beds. I wasn't able to get tired, but I didn't quite know what to do at this point, so I simply rested for now, as all the other tasks were either completed, or on track to being completed.

-----------------------------------

Kellor had decided to work alone, while the other scouts were pairing up to have an extra pair of eyes just in case either of them missed something. He had been working on upgrading his [Stealth] for the past week, without taking much of a break, and had gotten it to level three, something which Broken Skull admitted he hadn't done. It honestly filled Kellor with a sense of pride, since there was something Broken Skull wasn't good at. The way he showed leadership was quick, and decisive, leaving little room to doubt his capabilities. Just knowing this little tidbit of information let Kellor feel a bit more confident in himself, as he was a bit self-conscious, considering he had been without equipment before joining the scouts.

Currently, he was wandering the second floor with [Stealth] activated, and he almost couldn't stop himself from laughing as he managed to avoid the returning dungeoneers, who were far less cautious than they were before the supposed purge that Broken Skull had mentioned, during their week of lockdown. It was far too easy at the moment, much unlike how the fight against the lone dungeoneer on the third floor had been, as told by one of the Sentinels he'd spoken to, after they got back, hauling the corpse of said dungeoneer. The Sentinel spoke about his own deeds, pushing back the whirlwind of a human every time he tried to run away. Kellor was sure some of it was exaggerated, as the dungeoneer couldn't have been all that tough, since he hadn't survived. However, he wouldn't begrudge everyone the morale boost. In fact, he had been happy that everyone was motivated to do their part, as it filled their small camp with a sense of liveliness.

While it had been awhile that they couldn't leave, it was made easier by that fact, since there weren't many arguments among them, and instead the camp was filled with discussion and debate on the best course of action for each group, and what their jobs would be.

It was for this reason, that Kellor approached the group of three skeletons that were still stumbling around, looking very uncertain about what they should be doing. At least one of them might prove to be a worthy recruit, although it saddened him that others might refuse the offer to join up.

At least one. I must bring at least one of our brothers and sisters back to Broken Skull.

There weren't many skeletons on the third floor, but they were proud of themselves, despite being few in number.