It didn’t take long for all of us to leave the dungeon. Unfortunately, to facilitate our evacuation, we had to show some of the secret paths through the dungeon to the adventurers. Some of their eyes had widened when we showed those paths to them, no doubt wondering what else the dungeon hid.

Outside the dungeon, our group fell into an uncomfortable silence. An uneasy truce was made after Starla came out, it was obvious to them that we were not in league with the Shadowmancers… however they didn’t know what to do with us.

It made me grit my teeth. For them to assume that the dungeon was their property simply because they knew about it. What arrogance!

Well it was a moot point.

‘An orb of corruption? Damn…’

Some of the mages could be heard to sigh. I was hesitant to speak, wanting to know the details of the orb that had been used, but I was not ready to engage this group just yet.

I started sending most of the squirrels and hares deeper into the forest. Obviously this couldn’t go unnoticed by the adventurers and mages but they didn’t move to stop us. Why would they? We didn’t have anything obviously rare or precious that they would be willing to fight us over.

Well most of them. One of the adventurers seeing my squirrels, hares and goblins start moving out quickly and disappearing into the forest started making a fuss. I recognized him, it was that same adventurer that spoke out against the swordswoman, Tetiana.

‘Why are we letting them get away?! They obvious have treasures from the dungeon! You there, go kill them!’

One of the mages said he was a noble. I didn’t like what ever group this represented already. If they could raise such an arrogant idiot like this… better to have stupid enemies rather than stupid allies.

Two swordsman started making their way towards us. I had truly never relaxed my guard anyway, keeping my hand on my sword.

‘Stay your hand!’

Tetiana roared out at the two who were moving glaring at them.

I sent a quiet signal to the warriors around me. There were about 100 armed squirrels that were still with me and 80 hares. The goblins had already moved out, leaving only Tolk with us. They were slower thus I got them moving first.

I wondered who among the humans had the greater authority. If it was the weaker noble who had more authority than the swordswoman, then it would turn into a brawl.

The two swordsman had stopped, looking hesitant.

I waited, my entire arm like a spring, ready to whip out my sword at the slightest motion.

‘What are you doing? You are my bodyguards! You will do as I say!’

This fool! Truly an imbecile! This is our terrain, and we have the greater number. Surrounded and outnumbered yet he threatens us? The only true worry we have is the swordswoman, but she doesn’t seem to be keen on increasing hostilities with us.

‘If either of you move a single step, I will cut open your stomachs and strangle you with your own guts. You and your noble master.’

This declaration made clear once and for all who had the higher power. The angry noble glared at Tetiana but perhaps he wasn’t completely lacking in wisdom since he kept his mouth shut.

Tetiana turned to us and said, ‘I want to talk to your leader. And Starla as well.’

I nodded my head to Tolk who went to bring a tired Starla over.

As we sat down, Starla started to explain what had happened. She had been cautioned not to tell this adventurer group about signing a dungeon contract or meeting Alex. It wasn’t clear if they caught on to that.

A few minutes after we had started, a mage came to talk to Tetiana. He looked apologetic as he said, ‘The young noble of House Torne wishes to join the discussion.’

His face was also familiar. He had been the leader of the second group of adventurers that came to the second group. That fiery noble was in his group. It seemed the relationship was not so clear cut.

The sound of clenched teeth could be heard from Tetiana, she hadn’t removed her helmet the entire time we were speaking however I imagined a look of frustration must be on her face.

‘Tell the young noble that this is guild business. Not any of his concern!’

‘What do you mean none of my concern?!’

He had walked to where he had been speaking, bursting into the conversation.

‘This is our dungeon and these animals have no right to it. Why are you even speaking to them? Why not just kill them? Or are you, the great Rank B swordswoman scared of these rodents?’ He smirked at Tolk, ‘And monsters.’

There was the sound of three swords leaving their sheaths. Levine and Tolk had heard what had been said, even Starla had a look of fury on her face.

The third sword wasn’t mine. It was surprisingly Tetiana who had drawn it.

‘These people saved Starla’s life. One of the adventurer guild’s own. Others in town may abide your intolerance but I will not.’ She raised the sword until it rested a finger’s breadth away from his nose.

‘Lady Tetiana! Please stay your sword! Although you will escape retribution the rest of us will not be so lucky!’ The unfortunate mage cried out in alarm.

Things were not shaping up well. There were three different groups that came to the dungeon from where ever this town or city was… excluding the shadowmancers that had infiltrated their ranks.

Of the 3, the adventurer’s guild were the most friendly with us. Our act of rescuing Starla made them see us favourably. The other two factions, one was led by the noble, the other by the city mages. The noble’s group seemed intent on controlling the dungeon through force. I didn’t know which side the mages were on.

A full blown argument had blown out. The noble, anger evident on his face backed away but regained some of his courage when his two bodyguards joined him.

‘Even if we won’t kill them, we can’t let them go free! I want whatever items those shadowmancers were carrying!’

I had had enough.

‘You are a fool,’ I was angry, so angry. Why did we have to endure the insults and belittlement of this man?

‘And I have had enough.’

At my words the 100 armed squirrels and 80 hares behind me drew their swords. What made the more astute mages and adventurers present narrow their brow was that the sound of swords being unsheathed could be heard from all around us, hidden in the forest as well.

The mages felt a shift in the mana as the fire squirrels started preparing their fire spells, while the hares started preparing to use holy power.

The display made the adventurers pause but the only person’s reaction I was watching was the swordswoman. No one else mattered, no matter what, we could destroy the rest even with heavy casualties but the swordswoman was an expert! Not someone we can crush with just pure numbers. If she stood against us, we would have no option but to fight a retreat. Even if she simply stood neutral, she wouldn’t allow us to kill the mages freely. Only if she sided with us…

I looked towards Starla. She had recovered a bit from her mana drain, enough for spells but the mental and physical exhaustion of the ordeal cannot be erased so simply. But she returned my gaze then struggled up to stand next to Tolk. Around her the light of mana started to condense into small sparks of blue light.

Seeing this finally drew Tetiana to action.

‘ENOUGH! These dungeon folk have rescued one of mine! Sheathe your swords!’

Some of the warriors started lowering their weapons however I didn’t give the signal to lower ours. I didn’t trust them… moreover they had not given me reason to assume they were trustworthy.

I had become less naïve. Less idealistic. Trained by Rox and tutored by Alex, I was not going to leave such an opening for any treachery. And my suspicions were proven correct.

The light of mana suddenly surrounded the nobleman who then shot forward right towards me. Seeing this, the swordswoman flew forward as well.

Seeing their charge attacking, his bodyguards cursed as light shone around them as well, with them activating their skills. They were even faster than the nobleman, obviously a higher rank than him. They were only aiming for halting the swordswoman from instantly killing the young noble. There was a clang of metal as both swordsmen were blown into the air, their swords flying out of their hands. Their task was complete though, since with the delay, the nobleman had flown towards me.

I was calm. This nobleman seemed to be using a fairly high ranked skill. Good in speed and attack. But… he was so awful. Obvious in his movements and intentions. His attack too was simply a straight path that shot right towards me. Did he think I was going to wait calmly as his sword rushed towards me?

So I pivoted my feet and turned my body to the side, and as he reached me, I stepped back while my sword, still sheathed whipped out and hit the back of his knees.

He obviously hadn’t been in any proper fights, he crumbled to the floor in pain.

I waved back all my squirrel and hare troops, and they made a half circle as they opened up a space for my confrontation with the noble. Even the swordswoman had stopped and the mages and adventurers made the other half circle.

In my head I was in slight turmoil. I hadn’t been sure how to handle this. Alex was fighting whatever the Orb of Corruption did and Rox had stopped answering to our calls a while ago. Thus as the most senior member of the dungeon, leadership fell on me.

And the decision that befell me at this moment was… what do I do about this moron that was trying to kill me? It was obvious he was from an important family, just as it was obvious that the adventurers held contempt for him. However that didn’t mean I could willfully just kill him in front of all of them.

What would Alex and Rox want me to do?

What did Alex and Rox want for our dungeon?

What was Alex making the dungeon into?

Safety. That word floated in my mind. All the changes that had happened to the dungeon had emphasized safety. The traps, the secret caves, the false second floor. Greywall. Defense, misdirection. But above all, it was to provide safety.

Myself, Levine, Tolk and Eva, as the upper circle directly reporting to Alex and Rox knew that Alex was trying to perform a great magic summoning, one that he lacked mana for which resulted in our efforts to gather it for him.

Yet always, he prioritized making the dungeon safe for us to try and live in.

That’s when I realized it, he’s making a Haven. A sanctuary, one for us to live in…

The awful noble swordsman had struggled up. He was pressing some small orb to his knees. How pitiful, a small injury and he is willing to use an item to heal?

‘Give up. You are not enough to beat me.’

With a roar the swordsman rushed to attack me once again, a different light shining around him.

So obvious.

This time I wasn’t going to play easy. With a small dash to the side, I pushed off the ground hard, leaping high into the air and landing on the side of a tree. Using my free hand I grabbed the tree. Then leaping again I jumped to another tree. By the time I had jumped another 2 times, the swordsman had lost track of me while I had moved to flank him.

Then, as quietly as I could, I jumped out and landed behind him and smashed the back of his head. I didn’t hit too hard, only wanting to knock him out but I’ll admit I hit a little harder than I absolutely needed to. It was quite satisfying.

From the corner of my eye, I could see that the swordswoman had been arguing with the mage in charge of the other group, holding him in the air by the front of his robes. The mage was so agitated he missed the sight of his charge falling unconscious onto the ground.

I looked at the adventurers and mages around me.

‘I will make a few things clear to all of you. I do not want to fight with you. However if you are like this miscreant on the floor here, I will fight to the death. I have spared him his death as a sign of good faith,’ I know Rox would smack me for letting him live however this wasn’t a situation where I can kill of them. Especially that swordswoman… damn it.

I narrowed my eyebrows in anger as I looked down at the unconscious noble. I truly wanted to end his life before he brought any trouble to us. But I could feel the tension in the air, if I acted, a battle would break out. I had to let him live. I cursed before walking back to my troop.

One of the nobleman’s group finally moved forward carrying him back to a waiting healer to wake him up. As he woke up an angry shout could be heard as he tried to scramble and grab at his sword again. I prepared myself. This time he would die.

‘He cheated! He ran away! He didn’t face me head on like a true warrior!’

It was obvious to all that he had suffered a miserable defeat.

I looked over at him and said, ‘You are very foolish Mr Nobleman to think that simply because you have stronger stats or a higher ranked skill that you would be stronger than me. Remember, we are fighting on MY land, and the very trees around us are my sword and shield. So don't be cocky with me, or next time I won't give you a warning. Only death will await you.’

It was true. How could he beat me here? In the forest outside the dungeon entrance, I had walked here thousands of times. My win over him was complete, a dominating achievement.

‘How dare you! Wait till I go back to the city and bring back everyone…’

‘SHUT UP!’

He was interrupted by the swordswoman. It seemed she too had finally had enough.

She whipped around sword in hand and placed it level with the tip of the nobleman's nose

She kept her blade there and said

‘You have disgraced us all enough for today, every word you say from now until we return to the city, I'll move my sword an inch closer to the back of your head.’

The nobleman finally shut up.

Tetiana then glared at the mage, ‘And you! How incompetent can you be that you cannot even control your own charge?!’

The mage looked with a despairing face, 'He is the son of a noble milady, although you have the power to be free from the consequences of what happened today, the rest of us… we’ll be lucky if we simply get fired after this.'

Tetiana had her eyes narrowed at this.

She turned to us and said, ‘I believe it would be best if we parted ways for a day or two. To let... tempers cool down. Let us meet again in a few days’ time.’

‘I agree. However I have two conditions. I do not want that nobleman there when next we speak.’

Tetiana nodded at my request and asked, ‘That’s fine, what is your second request?’

I narrowed my eyes, ‘I do not want anyone to follow or track us.’

She paused as she looked at me before nodding, ‘What about Starla? I do not believe she is being kept hostage by you…’

‘She will remain with us for now. She has stated that she does not know if there are more shadowmancers within your ranks.’

My words sent a chill through some of the surrounding mages.

‘Very well. We will meet in 3 days in front of the dungeon.’

With no more words, I signaled to the troop. We no longer hid our abilities with the squirrels leaping into the trees and the hares dashing with their strong legs, the adventurers disappeared behind us rapidly.

We would see them again in 3 days.