As I waited for Lilith to ambush the scout, I continued my nonsensical verbal abuse, the sentry doing a fairly good job of remaining knelt on the ground. The words kept coming out unbidden, but completely random. At one point I shouted at him about bamboo hut blades, whatever those might be.

It did the job well enough though, as Lilith appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, her rapier flashing toward the dungeoneer. However, what was supposed to be a simple assassination failed to occur, as the scout turned his head just in time, both noticing and rolling out of the way, scrambling backwards faster than I could even consistently move. Luckily, Lilith wasn't one to lose focus if something went wrong, and she continued forward, weapon slashing and stabbing, as the scout maneuvered about in order to avoid the blade, but also to stand.

Looks like he has some experience after all. I need to get better at figuring out who's experienced at being down here.

I nodded once to the sentry in thanks, and started sprinting for the scout, prepared to use one of the skills I'd acquired in the last two months if Lilith couldn't kill him before he started running away. Which is exactly what happened, as the dungeoneer finally scrambled to their feet, deflecting an attack with a dagger I hadn't seen on his person before.

Where did he get that?

Without missing a beat, the dungeoneer turned and ran, obviously using a skill to speed up their own body. Lilith struggled to keep up, using [Haste] on herself in order to do so. I did the same, needing every boost I could get.

Haste: Expend mana to increase the speed of your actions, and to increase the rate at which you can physically react.

Mana cost: 5 mana to activate, 1 mana per 3 minutes to remain active.

The mana consumption was fairly good, considering the skill itself had cost me a fair amount of skill points to obtain. It also allowed me to use other skills in tandem with it, and I was thankful for what felt like a decently sized mana pool to draw from. With the skill active, I caught up to Lilith in record time, pumping my legs harder and faster than I'd done almost every other time except for when I chased the dungeoneer back on the third floor.

The problem though, was that the scout was still slowly managing to get further and further away from both of us. Whatever skill he was using, it was on a level higher than what [Haste] could possibly hope to match. No matter how hard I pushed myself, I simply couldn't match that kind of speed.

Neither Lilith or myself spoke as we chased after the bastard, both of us knowing what needed to happen. We also had to be fully focused just on managing to keep up with him without using extra skills, as we weren't the only things down here. This proved itself as the scout ran past a few orcs that were just walking out of a hut. The orcs were alert, and as he ran further from them, they turned to see us. Their ugly faces twisted into an expression of fury.

"Lilith!" I shouted once, both a warning and a question.

"I see them! Go!" She didn't stop moving for a second, and neither did I.

We couldn't waste time fighting the orcs, so instead of trying to do so, I didn't bother hiding my presence anymore. I slammed my foot down a bit harder than before, activating the skill I had been prepared to use. [Thunder Step] cracked out, sending an incredibly loud noise as I essentially teleported forward, past the orcs and right next to the scout. I didn't bother checking to see if Lilith was keeping up, knowing full well that she could handle fighting or avoiding three orcs if she had to.

I swung out with my axe, intending to slam the blade down into the back of the scout. Naturally, I missed, as they pulled away from me at just the right moment, instead getting a nasty cut along their arm from where my axe passed by. He cried out in pain, as he seemed to kick his speed skill into a higher gear, pulling away from me again, this time more easily, as [Haste] couldn't keep up.

I couldn't use [Thunder Step] many times, but I was admittedly debating on whether or not I should just burn all my mana to ensure they died, risking it all in a last ditch effort.

Fuck it, I don't want you living to see tomorrow bitch!

Before I could dump all my mana into a few uses of [Thunder Step], I saw Lilith flash past me, having activated another skill of her own, increasing her speed a few notches above my own.

"Thought I should let you have some of the fun! I've got him if you can keep anyone else off of me!" She mentally shouted as she attacked rapidly, managing to slice into the scout a few times, though none of the hits looked very deep, as the scout continued dodging and weaving as he ran.

"How long can you keep that speed up?" I asked hurriedly, letting go of my preparations to risk everything.

"Not very long! Keep those off of me!" Lilith yelled back, pointing her rapier toward what happened to be an exit from the third floor, along with a group of dungeoneers waiting there with some torches to illuminate the area.

"Consider it done!" I didn't bother waiting any longer, using [Thunder Step] to place myself amidst the waiting dungeoneers, already swinging out with my axe, catching a woman in the neck, her cloth robes doing nothing to stop my blade from biting deep into her flesh. She didn't even have time to scream before she was falling backwards, as I let go of the axe, turning to slam my shield into their guardian's face, easily breaking his jaw and feeding him all of his teeth. Before he fell over, I ripped what seemed to be a longsword from a scabbard at his waist, continuing to turn as Lilith and the scout passed by me, slashing upwards at a now retreating cleric, who was holding a mace unsteadily. They were horrified at what had happened in the span of a few seconds. They were experienced, but not experienced enough to last more than a few seconds under my crazed assault as I held only a few skills in reserve. By the end of it, I was covered in their blood. I didn't even watch as they fell, leaving my axe behind in favor of the longsword now slick with blood. I ran up the stairs to the third floor, following the droplets of blood left behind by the scout.

It didn't take long to find Lilith and the scout in what was coincidentally, the same dome I had fought in awhile back. The scout wasn't able to completely overpower her, but she was still having a hard time under what looked like a dizzying tempo of attacks. However, the second the scout saw me, wielding the longsword of his friend, my shield covered in his blood, the scout turned and ran. I think I even saw a few tears fall from his face as he did so.

I shared a look with Lilith as we both ran with full force to keep up. "You weren't bad there. Almost as fast as me." She said simply, her words a light challenge, though not a malicious one. "Still got more power than you ever will." I retorted, as the scout spotted another group of dungeoneers up ahead.

"Help me, please!" The scout screamed pitifully, and the dungeoneers almost visibly jumped from fright, before readying their weapons for the unseen potential enemy down the hall, before the scout came into the dim firelight of their torch.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" One of them asked, before the scout simply ran right through them, not stopping even to catch his breath. "Robert, we should-" Their sentence was cut off as both Lilith and I appeared from the darkness, cutting through the unprepared dungeoneers like a whirlwind. I noticed afterward that in the chaos, one of them had managed to knock a weapon against my skull, cracking it severely, although I didn't lose any fragments, nor my sight.

Fucking of course... Why not? Why not make me relive the same tired old joke? You know what, I don't care. I don't care anymore. It doesn't matter, I'm not even gonna get it healed, fuckers.

I grumbled as we went, occasionally having to use a burst of speed to keep up with the bastard, as we went from the third floor, to the second. The scout couldn't take any direct routes at this point, because of how desperate we had become to catch and kill him. Every time I saw a group of skeletons, I yelled for them to hurry and block the stairs to the first floor. Some went to do so, while others just stood there, watching as me and Lilith struggled to kill the bastard.

"If he gets out, they learn where to hit us for their damn raid!" I shouted, as the scout literally ran up and along a wall to avoid a group of unarmed skeletons, who ineffectually grabbed at him. Even wounded, I had to respect him for being able to pull off such a feat. It wouldn't stop me from killing him of course, as both Lilith and I forced our way through the gaggle of bones. "No time to stop!" I shouted, as I ended up knocking a few of them over as I passed. They were admittedly annoyed by our desperation, but not enough to actively attack us like the first skeletons I had ever come across.

Our efforts to get skeletons to block the stairs to the first floor bore some fruit, but not enough, sadly, as there was a group of dungeoneers clearing them away, and the scout was getting too close. "Help me! They're after me!" The scout yelled, and the dungeoneers turned, preparing to strike out at us as the scout came out of the darkness, passing by them. "Lilith!" I shouted.

She sped up, until she was right in front of them, her rapier flashing out as she sent a hurricane of steel their way, as I ran up the stairs I hadn't bothered to climb those few months ago. At the top of them, I found just a long hallway, with several signs and at my end, several scarecrows, where obviously new dungeoneers were practicing in order to go down into the depths. Many of them looked up and over as the scout ran from me, screaming the entire way at this point. His lungs must have been burning as he finally slowed down, apparently out of mana. I looked at my status for barely a second, finding that I still had enough to catch up with him and kill him, but not enough to get away if the new dungeoneers attacked. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to stay up here to kill the inexperienced pricks.

Just him. Just kill him.

I ran forward, ignoring the gazes of the whelps now behind me. None of them had dared to come toward the blood covered skeleton.

I could see light ahead, hear the voices of people on the outside, laughing, talking, living. It infuriated me, but not nearly as much as the scout almost running out into that light. That warmth. I wouldn't catch him before he got out. So I did the only thing I could think of. I hefted the sword, and I threw it with everything I had, as I came to a stop just at the edge of the dungeon.

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

People had been starting to stare as the man ran out into the staging area for dungeon expeditions. He was filthy and wounded in several places. He was out of breath, on his knees, staring up at the sky with tears streaming down his face, looking happy to be alive. Then a sword flew out from the dungeon entrance, and went through his armor and clothing, stabbing straight through his stomach. He looked down at the blade, as blood forced its way out his mouth.

Several people looked at the entrance to see a single skeleton standing there, covered in blood, holding a heavily damaged shield. It was clearly wounded, several cracks spiderwebbing out from above its right eye socket, and missing a rib or two. The skeleton took them all in for a moment, before letting loose a bloodthirsty roar that sent shivers down the spines of the less experienced dungeoneers. It then ran back into the dungeon, before anyone could think to kill it.

For a few moments, nobody said a word, the roar having echoed throughout several streets closest to the dungeon itself.