Vivian watched in horror as the dire wolf in front of her was killed. The blue and red mass of slime had already spread across its head. Because she had been careless in the first layer, Vivian knew exactly how helpless that wolf was feeling. Of course, she would be a sorry excuse for a raider if pity held her back. Vivian gathered her wits and forced her trembling legs to stand. The mage chanted quietly, praying that the slime wouldn’t notice as a wave of electricity surged across her palm.

“Eh? Why…attack?” A heavenly voice called out.

In her surprise, Vivian lost control over the lightning bolt. The unstable magic caused a backlash that shocked Vivian. The mage fell back onto the ground. Her entire body twitched violently, but she managed to remain conscious.

This was a common mistake among new mages. A caster needed to concentrate as they chanted. The amount of focus required was based on the mage’s talent and familiarity with their chosen spell. A more experienced mage would have completed their attack even after being startled. Though, a truly experienced mage wouldn’t have let themselves be startled in the first place.

Offensive magic was Vivian’s greatest weakness. Vivian was so used to this backlash, that she reflexively cast a healing spell on herself. She stood up again, just as the slime finished off its prey.

The slime sat on top of the wolf, apparently waiting to see what Vivian would do next. This kind of thoughtful action was incredibly strange for a slime, but Vivian was too terrified to notice. The mage hastily prepared another lightning bolt, only to falter again. This time, she wasn’t lacking concentration. She was lacking mana. Her party had already fought several times before being ambushed by Nico’s wolves. Vivian knew that she was running dry, but fear got the better of her.

When a mage failed to cast a spell because their mana was insufficient, it caused a completely different kind of backlash. Vivian felt the energy in her body drain away. It was sucked out by some unknown force as a toll. In exchange, the incomplete spell faded without causing her harm. Vivian fell to her knees and her eyelids drooped. The mage grit her teeth and resisted for as long as she could. After a few seconds, she finally succumbed to the backlash’s after effects.

The slime tilted its head in confusion as Vivian lay on the ground and fell asleep. Mana was tied to the body’s stamina. When one ran out, the other would too. Because Vivian drew out more mana than her body was capable of, she couldn’t stay conscious.

“Why…sleep?”

Of course, the slime didn’t know any of this. Mavis had simply watched a woman try to attack it, explode for some reason, miraculously heal herself and then fall asleep. The slime decided that it still had a lot to learn about humans.

After a moment’s hesitation, Mavis stuck a tentacle down the wolf’s throat. It rooted around for a few seconds and then pulled out two cores. One was glowed with sinister black and red light, while the other was golden. Mavis tucked the treasure core inside of its body. It came to rest alongside the featureless mask, which had been wrapped up within the slime’s green cloak.

Only humans wore clothes. Mavis liked wearing them too, but they prevented it from moving properly. The slime hid its cloak and mask away while it was racing through the trees. This turned out to be a stroke of luck, because Vivian never recognized it as anything other than an overgrown slime.

Mavis turned its attention to the wolf’s core. The sphere’s unusual red glow clearly reflected the blood moon’s influence. Mavis shuddered. It had intended to heal the human with this core. She was sleeping during a blood moon, so there was obviously something wrong with her. However, when Mavis looked at the core and then at the woman, it suddenly lost control. Maybe the core somehow resonated with it, or maybe the sight of a defenseless human was just too tempting. Either way, Mavis couldn’t stop itself from lunging towards the sleeping woman. It coiled around her body and slowly worked its way towards her throat.

“No…do…not…want…hurt.”

Mavis fought back with all its might.

“You don’t want to kill this woman?”

The slime froze. It suddenly noticed a man standing in front of it. Mavis had no idea how it could have missed this person’s approach. Even if the slime was distracted, he shouldn’t have been able to get this close.

“So noble. I can’t say that it suits you.”

Mavis triple-checked its senses, but they weren’t lying. This man was semi-transparent. He didn’t seem to be hidden by a magic tool. Mavis felt that he was somehow both there and not there. The man’s face was obscured by a black bandanna. He wore a dark cloak that radiated with the energy of a powerful enchantment. His gloves, boots, pants, shirt and every other piece of equipment all carried the same intimidating aura.

“But I owe you. So, I’ll be returning the favor.”

Mavis quickly congealed into a humanoid form and prepared to defend itself. The man pulled out a silver dagger and suddenly vanished. When he reappeared, Mavis felt something smash into its core. It had been struck by the flat of his blade. The slime’s form collapsed. As its consciousness faded, Mavis heard the man say something else.

“If he’d died in the first layer…Well, that would have just been embarrassing.”

- - -

Team coordination, skill and equipment. Those were the three pillars that determined a raiding party’s power. Most people preferred a balanced approach. They formed close bonds with teammates, trained hard and slowly built up an inventory of magic tools and enchanted gear. Others were lucky enough to take the easy road. Their families had already accrued several valuable treasures, which they passed down to their children. These raiders enjoyed a massive advantage over their peers. Finally, there was a third group of raiders. Maybe it was because of their personalities, past traumas or just a warped sense of pride—but they chose to fight alone. These raiders balanced on a two-legged table of skill and equipment. Very few people started out on this path, but a surprising number of veterans ended on it. To other raiders, these veterans exemplified an important truth.

It doesn’t matter how you get there. The only thing that matters in a dungeon is strength.

This was something that Theo had been told again and again. Now that Mavis had left, his table stood with one leg and two stumps. Teamwork was never going to happen, and so Theo decided to focus on improving his equipment. Fortunately, the blood moon was a perfect opportunity to farm for treasure cores. Theo went with his original plan and left Nico’s hunting grounds from above. Afterwards, it didn’t take long for him to find an opponent.

A brown and white blur darted through the forest. Theo drew one of his daggers as it approached. The raider positioned himself behind a young-looking tree and waited. He grinned as a deer charged towards him. Coincidentally, this was the same kind of monster that he’d eaten earlier.

Even though it had tasted like wild game, the beast in front of him could never be mistaken for a simple herbivore. The deer monster stood half a head above him. Two heads if he counted its antlers. Powerful leg muscles tore at the ground beneath it. Theo could tell that it only had two methods of attacking. One simple kick from this monster could easily snap a raider’s ribs, or give them a concussion. Alternatively, it could gore humans with its frighteningly sharp antlers. When Theo saw the deer lower its head, he didn’t have to guess which was coming.

Theo stood still for as long as he possibly could, and then quickly dove out of the way. The deer monster struck the tree behind him with a mighty crash. Theo had no allusions that it would be stunned from the impact. After all, this was clearly the monster’s favorite attack. The deer’s eyes tracked its prey as it prepared to follow-up. Then, the beast let out a startled cry. Its antlers had been embedded in the young tree’s soft bark. Theo didn’t waste any time, he picked himself up and rushed towards the trapped deer. A dagger found its way into the monster’s throat.

After that, the fight ended quickly. Theo carved out the monster’s core and swore when he didn’t see a golden orb.

Maybe finding Mavis had used up all of his good luck.

Theo shook his head and searched for another monster. Less than five minutes passed before a new enemy appeared. Theo’s mouth hung open in shock as an uprooted tree rushed towards him. Carried by six spider-like roots, the tree monster extended one of its branches and swiped at Theo. The surprised raider dodged with ease and after evading a few more blows, he figured out what it was. In hindsight it was obvious, but Theo had never seen a wood golem before. Plenty of rock golems pretended to be boulders, so it made sense that a wooden one would mimic a tree.

Theo let out a slight chuckle. This creature’s disguise was a lot more convincing than a certain slime’s. Even after using Theo’s limbs as a reference, Mavis had trouble creating fine details. The small hairs on arms and legs, veins just beneath the skin, the slight color variations that could be seen on any human’s body. These things seemed impossible for Mavis to replicate. But Mavis didn’t falter because of these challenges. Every time it reshaped its body, Theo could tell that it was just a little bit closer than before.

Another branch swept past Theo’s head, pulling him back to reality. Ultimately, this golem wasn’t a significant threat. Theo could see that it’s body was made for ambushes, not direct combat. Monsters like this were at a clear disadvantage during a blood moon. Their instincts told them to hide and wait, but this event forced them into the open.

When he thought about hiding, Theo couldn’t help but wonder if Mavis had understood his warning. Humans were dangerous. Even if the slime escaped from one, more would always follow. The obvious solution was to hide. If Mavis never showed itself to humans, then the rumors about a masked outlaw would fade away. Eventually, Mavis would be able to live a peaceful, yet lonely life inside this dungeon. Hiding out on the surface wouldn’t be a terrible option either. But that assumed Mavis would stay away from human towns. Theo frowned. That was very unlikely.

The raider dodged another swipe from the golem. He channeled a little bit of mana into his dagger, bringing the weapon’s sharpness to its limit. The change wasn’t much, but it helped him prune the tree’s branches. After it had been disarmed, the golem watched helplessly as Theo carved out its core.

Grinning, he held up the treasure core and immediately opened it. A pair of leather vambraces appeared in his hands. Theo looked at them curiously. Where there would normally be hardened leather or metal, instead there was wood. A quick appraisal told him that these vambraces were purely for defense. By channeling mana into them, Theo could make the wood ‘grow’ into a small shield. With a little more mana, they would magically toughen his body. This was a similar, yet inferior version of Yale’s enchanted coat. Even though it was weaker, Theo wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. Equipment that could boost a raider’s speed, strength and toughness all at once was legendary. Theo knew that coat must have been incredibly expensive. For the second layer, these vambraces were quite strong.

Theo suddenly remembered that Galt had used a similar item. If Mavis had brought it back, then he could be mowing through these second layer monsters with ease. Unfortunately, equipment on that level wouldn’t be enough to buy his freedom. All veterans wore things like that. Cities didn’t release criminals because they wanted ‘great’ treasures. Outlaws existed to find extremely valuable treasures that would then be used to strengthen their country. Raiders normally owned everything they took out of a dungeon, which threatened to create a massive power imbalance between citizens and the state. This system was one of many methods that countries used to retain power.

The thought of Mavis being kept as a country’s secret weapon both amused and angered Theo. He shook his head once more and sighed. Try as he might, Theo couldn’t get that slime out of his head.