Nuri sat with two others of her squad on the second level of the newly renovated adventurer's guild, it was quite a shame it had been in the middle of construction when they had arrived. But, she found the view at least somewhat comforting, especially while she had to consider how to somehow get through one of the strangest [Uncommon] dungeons she had ever entered or even heard of for that matter.

  It was as if it were obsessed with small tunnels, from what she could see when she looked above the entrance of the colloquially named 'Slime plains', she saw what the locals called the 'Burrows'. And at the sight of it, all she could do was harrow.

  If Ben had still been with them, she could've easily told him to just mine through. Whatever consequences would come from it could easily be ignored with Zander in the front, taking whatever the dungeon could throw at them with at best a flinch or two.

  Too bad that Ben was dead, taken away from the mortal coil by draconic means. At least, it seemed that headquarters was happy to hear of the dragon's proposal. Not especially so, but still happy.

  Not that it was her business anymore, whether they took up its 'Deal' was probably up to the emperor himself. Maybe even the retainers would step up along with the duo of zeniths that held hegemony over their respective duchies, a mere squad leader would not have even the slightest mote of influence on their decisions.

  Neither was it possible for Kail and Iles, nor was it possible for the strongest of them behind her on the first floor who was being mighty pathetic. If not for the fact that he could definitely beat her and everyone else at once, if with a bit of trouble, she would've already started to bully him for having to harass a girl to have even the slightest chance- Especially since she was a waitress.

  Sadly, she couldn't do a thing. The entire team dynamic hadn't really changed with Ben's unfortunate death, they had a healer, a defender, an attacker and a wayfinder. The undecided master of one had always just done as he pleased, sometimes acting as a mage, another time as a medic or even a defender in place of Zander even if lesser than him.

  The real question was how to deal with the tunnels, such a thing was never once included in the 'Standard procedure for [Rare] cores' she had been directed to follow if nothing beyond them came up. But without a fast way to get through the rock, she was actually considering having all of them training or . Lest one of the members of their smaller than standard squad was taken by surprise by an unexpected slime hidden in a recess of the tunnels.

  She needed to find a path to victory, a path to overcome this hurdle in her career.

  Ignoring the drunk wallowing to her right, coming from someone the head of the guild claimed to be his fellow guild master, Nuri for some reason felt

  twinging at something to her left. Behind her, it told her, was something that would lead to the completion of her goal.

  With the door to the guild opening with neither haste nor waste, she turned her head towards the place her skill told her of- Even if she was surprised by both its initiative, probably from how obvious a path it should be, and at the fact it even considered something this abstract a 'Path to find'- And found there, at the entrance, a certain {Jack of all trades} whittling away at a block of wood.

  No wonder

  helped out, Ben hadn't died- Somehow.

  She froze at the sight, her eyes tracking him as he took a mere glance before making his way to the stairs and then up to the second layer of the tavern. Finally coming to their table, sitting where Zander originally sat before he went to try and shoot his shot.

  And there he just sat, continuing to do as he wished without even a single word. Typical, for him at least "So, you were alive..."

  Ben however gave her only a mere "Yes."

  "Well, good to see you with the living buddy, I was worried I'd have to learn how to cook," Iles himself was less concerned about his cook's social tendencies, patting him on the shoulder without even a moment of pause "Try not to do anything too crazy now, remember; I can't patch up broken bone, at least not well."

  Ben paused for a moment as his comrades hand left his shoulder, and asked "Do you want to level up your skill?"

  The defacto healer laughed at the question and asked rhetorically "Of course I would, but its not like you'd just break one of your arms for it... Would you?"

  It seemed like he quickly realized, with the looming silence and the lack of answer from Ben, that it was possible. Honestly, Nuri herself wasn't even surprised anymore, it was more surprising that he got away from that dragon alive. How he could even gather the courage to ask it for - Well, maybe it wasn't 'Courage' exactly. Courage was the ability to overcome fear, Ben probably never even felt fear "How did you even find your way here?"

  "

  ." He directly stated, taking his in-progress wooden sculpture up for a quick check; twisting it around with a satisfied smile.

  However, in contrast, Nuri herself was immediately plastered with a frown 'Shit, I'm going to lose my job soon.'

  And she wasn't the only one with a frown, Thalos- Swordsman of magical inclination- Himself holding one due to a certain large male that was harassing his bar girl. He had actually needed to put in a lot of effort to get a proper waitress for his, and maybe Zera's, establishment.

  He was going to bear with it if he just shot his shot like a regular person, but he wasn't going to permit what the pretty high-level was doing "Hey, wee wee boy, hands off."

  Standing up from his stool while cracking his neck, He held his sheathed sword's handle with the other. Though, all he got back was an annoyed glare "What's it to you?"

  "Sad to say, but we don't do appetizers. And even more sad to say; the girl's not merchandise." He took a quick moment to use on the guy a head taller than him, calmly getting ready to beat him black and blue.

  ...Troublesome, this was going to be troublesome. He didn't even get good information on their actually important stats or skills, a consequence of having his skill at only level 12, but at least it seemed that his skills weren't as polished as his were.

  He really needed to refine a bit, but that would be such a pain~

  "Stop me if you can, little twerp." The physique-inclined class holder scoffed as he turned around to face Thalos properly.

  -And Thalos already hated his guts, did the guy not even have any kind of perception skill? Considering the probable difference in agility, he would be able to at least dodge most attacks without a scratch on him. But then again, considering his high physique his attacks would also need a bit of 'Do or die' spirit to land anything actually significant "Let's take this outside then, big guy. Don't come if you think you'll lose."

  "Nah, I'd dwarf you any day. Remember to clench your teeth, and girly; you don't need to worry for me, I'll be back soon!"

  Thalos couldn't help but feel like he heard her cuss under her breath, something about 'Freak' or 'Loser'. Not that he'd ever admit it, he would actually rather convince the guy that she was swooning over him... To honor his newest [Rare] skill of course, not to make him look like a [Legendary] dumbass.

  It'd definitely be funny though.

  Not taking note of those who were taking the time to watch him and his new foe, he started to think about how to tear the higher leveled opponent down.

  From the information that he obtained, it seemed that he was either not focused on specifically or was focused on levels instead of skills. But considering the rare skill whose level was around 10, with the guy's level along with the information a quick offered:

  It seemed that his skill levels wouldn't be anything significant, or could be referring to lack of control over skills. Still, it seemed he had some kind of artifact- Or a skill, even if the latter was unlikely considering information already gathered- on him to counter specifically. , especially at level 27, was not going to be unable to even tell someone a few levels below himself.

  This was less noticeable with his own artifact, that one worked on appraisal skills generally instead of only the most common of them. Though the most important difference, the reason it was as difficult to produce as it was, was that it could give fake information to any who had not properly leveled their skills. Though, of course, his model was a bit on the lower end and could be bypassed by even a fairly rudimentary .

  Later on would be able to use as a replacement at maybe level 50 or so, not a competent one perse. Still at its current level of 25 wouldn't be able to do any such thing, and the level half-way to the zenith wouldn't be something he'd touch any time soon, the realm of a master was not one attained with ease.

  Thalos, ruminating about what he would do, lead the way without a single trace of his annoyance or planning process shown.

  Though Zander, who followed him with a small smirk, had his own considerations 'Damn you mouth! Why can't you just shut up for once! 'You don't need to worry for me'?! 'Girly'?! What were you thinking?!'

  But despite both of their thoughts, neither back downed from the coming combat. Whether because of pride, boredom, annoyance, public support or maybe a combination of multiple factors.

  Taking the initiative themselves, those that once sat in the tavern stood up themselves. With anticipation of a good duel they followed the two, while three imperial operatives walked along with the wave not knowing why everyone was going outside to watch a mere beat down.

  Though Nuri did wonder who would be the beaten, mostly because it was her 'Companion' involved. She wasn't one for arenas, but watching one or two fights wouldn't do her any harm. Just casual bouts though, not full blown brawls.

  As the guild master, who she was certain she heard the name of but couldn't for the live of h- Thalos, that was his name- And Zander readied themselves in the middle of the street, she found herself surprised as both local and alien inhabitants began to gather at the sides.

  Sword drawn, Thalos gestured with his middle and index fingers with arm stretched out and the other fingers contracted "Come at me, big guy."

  And watching with a slight bit of surprise that his opponent didn't spout a few taunts back before they started, he was happy to realize that the brute had- At maximum- 40 agility, probably like 35-ish. It was such a significant difference that didn't even find the need to ask if it needed to help, as the swordsman that had decided to forgo his magical prowess for a moment stepped to the side before the punch to his face even reached him.

  With sword raised, his being focused and bestowed upon it power beyond normal technique. Smashing it down with its blunt side as the implement against Zander's side, taking purposefully mild but still noticeable effect on the form of its target.

  Zander kicked out forwards as his balance seemed to unnaturally sway away, taking a sharp breath not at any pain but instead the surprising amount of speed held by his foe. Habitually one of his hands reached to his waist- His right one specifically- smoothly letting it take place in a gauntlet of [Uncommon] rarity.

  He ripped it off its intentionally cheap and replaceable binding, using it and the hand inside to block a vertical slash directed at him while backing away and letting his other hand also enjoy the comfort of non-[Common] metal.

  Though he found that it took only a moment for the opponent to reprise his attack with a diagonal swing which bypassed his right hands attempt to block, it once again causing a certain strange phenomena that disrupted his balance and stance at the same time. It being even more intense, leading to Zander worrying of the slight possibility it became more and more potent with each strike.

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  He ignored the confusing situation of more than a dozen people- The count still growing- Coming to watch them fight. First he needed to deal with the buzzing fly in front of him, but it was a bit too fast to hit with regular means. Luckily, this wasn't the first time he had fought an enemy that had a far higher agility stat nor would it be the last, he already had a counter measure prepared.

  Actually he had two, but the latter was far too powerful and volatile to use for something like this. Still, the former needed certain conditions to work properly, one of those being born from the unhurried backward steps he took to create distance. Then he just needed to wait for the other to chase after him, which he did as Zander had foreseen many months ago when he had formulated this scheme.

  Though sadly his foe hadn't gotten high off of a predicted victory as of now, taking a prudent stab which once again held the power of the strange skill that annoyed him so- It being a bit stronger than the last time. If it was as he worried, he would have to finish this before its effects completely took him off his feet.

  His will was steeled as he took another few steps back, raising his right arm to make sure his head and neck would be safe from any attack- Though just a little too high, leaving a certain amount of room for Thalos to exploit with a slice to the gut which he expected to be blocked even if it came from the opposite side of the very much free left arm.

  But it weirdly felt as if it had gotten stuck in something not as hard as metal but more durable than any regular material, it had gotten stuck in the side of a being with over 60 points in physique. Thalos immediately let go of his sword the moment he realized, but it was too late.

  With right hand confidently clutching the left shoulder of his foe, Zander prepared his ace in the hole while taking a deep breath to spite the somewhat mediocre pain in his side. His left hand clenched in an instant, a certain skill granting it great power. The only [Rare] skill he held beyond , the only art he had ever truly trained to obtain and improve. Its stature was not born of the presence of an aspect, but instead stood tall with its quality.

  He would never regret the year or two of grueling training to obtain it- Even if it cost him a lot of money to convince the martial arts school along with currying a bit of favour with the principal of said organization- Especially in times like these.

  With , even at its low level, showcasing its full glory Zander couldn't help but smirk at his accomplishment finally taking centre stage. Ignoring the strain on his arm nor the damage he would suffer soon, he said with a smirk and a chuckle "Clench your teeth."

  Thalos did as told immediately, a massive frown instantly forming on his face as he watched the nieve of untold power and a speed beyond what he had determined the large man to hold. If he had to take that, then he wasn't holding back.

  He let the somewhat constricted left hand take hold of it with the grip of a man who felt he was in the face of death, in quite the literal sense.

  Squeezing

  and at the same time, even using his own skill in order to punch at the person holding his shoulder with his free hand while imbuing it with the small bit of thunder mana he could aspect before his doom arrived.

  Not even realizing the system had started to reward him in the face of a calamity looming, his head began to move back along with the rest of his upper body with his left shoulder as a pivot point as

  advised. And near the height of his speed which the small amount of mobility he was allowed could offer him, the fist slammed into his face.

  With his shoulder now loose and his face soaring a bit too far from his feet in a horizontal, he took the initiative to bend backwards and slam his feet onto the relatively new stone road; letting him naturally spin into a backflip from which he hopped as soon as he landed to both maintain his momentum and get a bearing.

  His entire motion had been fairly perpendicular to the street, a lucky fact considering the onlookers. From what he could feel, two of his teeth were clearly loose even if not completely separated from his jaw and his nose was probably broken considering how he felt it fall in on itself. A small price to pay for taking that attack, and it seemed he had paid less in the exchange. The man he had viciously struck with thunder mana as a sudden little blow to free him had seen better days, his face a bit scorched and his left arm clearly worse for wear.

  "Thunder which resounds throughout this fragile world," That attack wasn't just to win an argument nor to knock him out, it had crossed a line long unspoken "Take your rightful place and judge the fool that dares defy me along with me as my muse; thunderous acclaim."

  Letting the air reverberate around him, he already prepared for the next step as his hair flowed up slightly in response to the spells effects for the first few moments of his activation.

  He'd make the bastard bleed, even he had a limit to how much he could hide, and when faced with someone who had actually tried to finish him off one could be certain it had been reached. He'd put out all the standard stops minimally, first an enhancement spell, then something to resonate with "O' thunder, bless my blade of forged ore, heated in flames wrathful forever more; roaring brand."

  'Shit, shit, shit!' That punch had been supposed to get this done and over with, considering the guild master's high agility he thought he would be defeated easily with one hit. Now, he was left with an arm constantly whining of the pain and a foe that didn't even seem that wounded preparing more than one enhancement spell.

  ...Zander ran away like the wind, relatively slow in comparison to that which he was running away from. But he wasn't expected to escape, he just wanted a more open space without so many spectators hindering him. Though he wasn't exactly certain whether or not the change in location would be favourable or not, if he kept to the current arena he'd probably lose anyways.

  "O' fire, manifest within my weak and fragile heart, burn brightly and bless me with the power to continue without falling apart; heart of flame."

  The words fell once more, but Zander kept on running for a bit. Stopping to turn around in full the moment he realized he heard no more chances, meeting a stroke of the sword with his right hand the next moment.

  He nearly tripped the next moment, a strange and violent ripple bursting through his entire body with the contact point as the source, his ears deafened by the roaring sound of something.

  Before he could regain his footing, having realized that whatever that had just blown his most functional arm to the side did not grow with each strike, his chest was met with another slash. It sinking in how screwed he was as he clearly noticed the sting born of a double-handed grip instead of of the one handed trickery that stood tall just moments before.

  He reeled as he was once again laid completely bare with whatever skill kept messing up his stance, reaping a small bit of joy as he saw the sword stuck in his abdomen still. Rapidly tightening his muscles to keep it in place, his eyes looked up to determine how and where to strike.

  They only saw Thalos' fist.

  As he trailed off the daze while hearing ringing and rumbling in his ears, he was hit by slash upon slash on his chest and legs. Him instinctively protecting himself above the shoulders, Zander finally felt like he was at a dead end. had long since been in effect, the oldest of his injuries already beginning to gash despite what he assumed to be .

  "O' wrath," He heard spoken, it assumed to be the person currently backing him into a corner. It seemed he'd have to use his second counter measure, if he didn't feel the threat of serious injury or even death now looming he wouldn't dare use it "manifest; arc spark."

  With the sharp echo of flickering sparks, he peeked between his hands enveloped by metal and saw Thalos once again bearing his signature frown of tension as his sword still flickered with stray electricity.

  'Who!?' That was his only thought, as his eyes hurriedly surveyed the crowd which he once trusted to watch the show to its close without a hint of funny business to be seen the whole while.

  Luckily, he didn't need to sleuth out the perpetrator. They had taken the initiative to reveal themselves in a rush towards him, specifically from the area where the onlookers had first gathered- From behind him. Without hesitation he rushed past the sturdy roach of a man, instantly preventing a pincer attack from the two sides.

  As he did so, he gave his previous main foe a quick slash to the side with , and . All of them working together for one brutal attack that would leave any unleveled foe bleeding out on the floor splayed out in a daze- He had tested it.

  With an calm hopping turn, he continued his now backwards retreat as he gazed as the currently chanting foe he had just today seen for the first time in his life. He had about 26~ mp remaining, though he wouldn't be exactly sure until he had a moment to reorient himself and check his status.

  He wasn't exactly sure what would be the best course of action, but some extra protection wouldn't hurt nor would information either "Bless my skin, prove your superiority, affirm your station,"

  In the midst of his chant he quickly used both and , the former being basically useless while the later revealed a relatively even spread of stats and not a single skill's level. Though it did reveal a rare skill; .

  There were others shown of course, but the hasty glance he could afford didn't allow him to calmly examine what he had been shown "Reverberate and protect it; resounding armour."

  Sparks and crackling yellow coursed through his entire body from top to bottom, Thalos himself feeling the thunder ripple through him at the same pace. It wouldn't do much, but the effects were worth the few- 4- mp that he spent on it as a low tier spell. It would both disrupt attacks and slow them down slightly while also having a relatively weak effect similar to that of and 'Roaring brand' coming together- Significantly weaker in fact, but it was still worth it.

  Though, he suddenly found some kind of mist appear before him; it revealing the interloper directly in front of him with fists ready.

  With him going backwards, the 50-ish agility of his foe could catch up to his near 80 points. At least, enough for a right hook to come directly for his gut.

  He shifted his sword, holding his hands high while his sword pointed below as to redirect the force of the strike. But as knuckle clashed with iron, the fist pushed through his defense without halting or swaying, reaching his gut with ease. Hitting him with a fist with its palm facing upwards directly in the main part of his digestive tract.

  But while his intestines screeched in pain and his stomach pressed inwards to reduce the impact, which had already been somewhat been reduced due to his retreat, he felt that the power behind the fist should've caused a lot more damage. And then he realized it, Thalos was soaring up diagonally towards the sky.

  His mind was in chaos as he watched himself fly up in a way that predicted a parabolic descent seconds later, he couldn't understand why the man chasing after him hadn't let his guts be destroyed as they should've. They must've had a reason, but he couldn't tell what it was.

  It became obvious however, as the man's next attack came. Though the guild master did not realize it as an attack at first, it seeming more like something for a chant than a direct attack. With two fingers splayed out with the rest weakly brought to their palm's centre, they let it cross the void before them diagonally in Thalos' direction.

  But he heard no incantation spewing out from any person's mouth outside of his own, and quickly realized it was no spell but instead an art. As his words began, he once again held his sword before him, this time with the side of the blade held by his left hand to protect his vital parts "Copper and tin below the soil,"

  He knew the cast of a mere 5 mp of metal mana would do little, especially considering 's low level of 6. But it was the best purely defensive spell he knew, even if he wouldn't be able to get it out before he strangely felt a large gash force itself onto him. But it seemed his sword had worked as a buffer just as he'd hoped, his neck unfazed and a streak of untouched clothing disrupting the marks that appeared on his chest "Smelt and take my body as your mold; bronze complexion."

  The attacks continued, the person chasing after him chanting a few words. From what he could hear despite the roaring winds while worrying about the building he was predicted to fall against, it was something about 'Solid' and 'Air'. Afterwards, a certain white... Clouds maybe?- It was plausible considering he had , actually, it was probably clouds- Those clouds seemed to form a set of steps up towards a future position of his arching motion.

  From what he could see, the attack that landed atop him was determined by tracing the air. So, if he predicted where he'd be hit he could determine where to put his sword and where to focus the effects of his protective spells. And with two traced attacks countered surprisingly well, he found the man once again with fist ready to hit him in the gut after a soft chant under his breath.

  If he couldn't stop or redirect it like last time, then what he had to do next- Now sitting at the latter half of his flight- Was find out how to counter it even slightly. Everything had a counter, he was sure of it. Every spell had a weakness, and every art held a flaw. Maybe there were some exceptions, but those weren't things that appeared below [Legendary], otherwise his father would've talked about it in his nagging tirades.

  But he didn't have time to consider that, whatever claw art or spell they had used was far more crucial. He would just prevent it from doing too much damage, by using his sword as a buffer between the art and his chestal region.

  'Wait a second... Is this bastard laughing?' The thought instantly flashed in his mind as he once again felt himself fly through the air once more, he was one of those battle maniacs. he had seen one before, who knew if he was even related to the other guy.

  From what he could tell from the now descending madman, even if he were already once again using his strange art without consideration for potential exhaustion Thalos felt he would have enough time to look behind him for any relevant information after preparing his sword for the next onslaught.

  He first looked towards the house he was primed to hit, it seemed he was going towards the second floor instead of the first. He honestly expected to go towards the roof, but it seemed that the descending motion had fought against the propelling force used. Maybe it something kinetic then?

  It would take less than two seconds for him to reach the wall, but even despite the presence of a window for him to edge towards his eyes drifted up to the sky above. And as he suddenly felt two different attacks form on his body- Ignoring the fact that his blockade had somehow been countered with a second attack- He saw the clouds above move away and the sky stir slightly.

  ...The sky?

  Not looking back, he noted how the gashes felt weaker than before. Nonetheless pouring out mana and using it to propel him towards his right, expelling and bursting it with his mediocre and respectable .

  Rolling on boards of wood after falling backwards through a relatively small and mediocre window, he had already begun to analyze his surroundings. It wasn't a large house, and it seemed that the owner had been relaxing at the table to his right, maybe planning to take a mid-day nap in a bit. Not that it was important though, what was important was the shining- No- Glistening light of the outside world coming through another window at the other side. It seemed that he wouldn't need to break a wall to reach another house on the other side.

  The roll he had prolonged for a period of time beyond what was necessary led way to a relentless dash despite a blood dripping from his long since torn clothes and temporarily mildly tanned skin, out of which he leaped head first out of his second window of the day.

  If that technique really did disrupt the sky with pure force, then it should've been able to easily put him down. That meant that it was probably related to an aspect, maybe cloud, maybe air. It didn't matter, it was related to the sky- Maybe it was even the sky aspect. If it were, it would be bad, or good. It might be a very low level [Epic] skill he was facing off against, and considering that a low level art was usually easily countered if one knew what they were doing...

  If he could take that card out of the opponent's deck, his chances of victory- Or survival if he were being realistic- Would spike up towards the sky.

  If the sky was the medium, then he needed to block it out. He couldn't blot out the very sky however, even if some might be able to. It might be a bit desperate to do so, since it might fail to work. But he needed to go underground, and there was one place he knew that could bring him down to the depths of the earth however much it would probably hurt both him and his opponent.

  The dungeon, the 'Slime plains', it would make a perfect arena for his pathetic loss, his desperate retreat or perhaps his pyrrhic victory.