Chapter 31: Dungeon’s Death

The group encountered more monstrous bugs before returning to the headquarters. This time, they faced a humongous tarantula accompanied by another centipede. Sven was visibly panicked as two monsters advanced simultaneously, but the girls remained calm—they knew they still had an ace up their sleeves: Hiro's doping ability.

"We'll handle the spider! Can you two take care of the centipede?" Rebecca asked.

"Eh? But that spider is tough! Sven should buy us some time with the centipede while the rest of us deal with the spider!" Garland protested. He was taken aback at the girl's boldness against their foes.

"Alright," Rebecca agreed, nodding.

"Hiro, boost me, please," Cecile whispered. Tapping her stomach indicates that she wants to speak to Hiro. Instantly, she felt her body strengthen as Hiro's skills activated. This time, Hiro used both his adrenaline and amphetamine boosts on both of them instead of the usual dexterity enhancement for Nana. Nana's bow was new, and its string was a bit more rigid than the one she was used to. Cecile swiftly navigated through the tarantula's legs, her glowing blue sword slashing through its limbs with precision.

Nana, meanwhile, peppered the tarantula with arrows, each one hitting its mark and puncturing its eyes. As the massive spider stumbled helplessly, Garland lunged forward and delivered a decisive blow to its head with his greatsword. Hiro immediately canceled his skills, letting the boosts fade. He was concerned about Cecile and Nana's nutrient levels—they hadn't eaten lunch, and his skills significantly accelerated their energy consumption. If he keeps his doping up, he will have to sacrifice his precious cell storage to counter the cost. He had autophagy and nutrient storage skills, so he definitely could forcefully inject some nutrients into Cecile and Nana. However, there was no need to do it now. Cecile and Nana should be able to fight against the centipede with Sven and Garland.

Cecile and Nana both glanced at their stomachs, where Hiro resided, wondering why the boost had stopped. A sudden wave of hunger surged through them before receding. They ignored it and engaged the centipede.

A few minutes later, the group sat sprawled on the ground, exhausted but victorious after defeating the centipede.

"Was that your secret skill?" Garland asked, intrigued. "If you're willing to teach it to us, I could vouch for you to be accepted as knights—or even become commanders! Your strength seemed to double when you fought the tarantula."

"Well... ehehehe…" Cecile responded with a sheepish smile, avoiding the topic. She wanted to boast, but she knew it was not her ability.

"Here." Rebecca offered Cecile and Nana her lunch. It was a tasteless piece of hard bread. Through sense-sharing, Hiro could tell it was barely edible. The coarse bread was paired with pungent salted meat that hadn't been preserved properly, leaving a faint taste of rot. Hiro thought grimly that he'd rather let them eat his tentacles if they were hungry—it might hurt a little, but it would surely be better than this kind of culinary torture.

"I'm hungry... I really don't like this skill," Nana sighed as she bit into the bread. Hiro sighed. Nana was conscious about how much she ate. Hiro noticed she seemed to hold off some of her meals.

"Well, it saved us this time. You should be grateful not many have innate skills like that! Here, have some pickled fruit. That adventurer's ration is terrible, isn't it? Let me take you to one of my father's friends later. Their bread isn't as hard and keeps longer. The sausage doesn't taste like it's mixed with expired meat either," Sven said as he offered Cecile and Nana some pickled fruit.

The sweetness of the fruit was a welcome reprieve, soothing Nana and Cecile's taste buds. Hiro, however, silently cursed Sven for being a spoiled rich kid. It turned out he wasn't far from the truth.

During their break, Sven and Garland shared stories about their hometowns and backgrounds.

Sven was the son of a merchant. His parents doted on him, but he knew he wasn't suited for the family business. With a large build and poor math skills, he chose to become a soldier instead. After outperforming the other candidates during exams, he was recommended for knighthood. Overconfident, he quickly found himself humbled by his seniors. And so, he was now a squire or junior knight. He and Garland were promised to be a full-fledged knight once they were level 30.

Despite his setbacks, Sven's parents were proud of him for succeeding in the military. His sister, inspired by his achievements, tried to follow in his footsteps but could only manage to become a town guard. Her skills were mediocre at best.

Garland, on the other hand, came from a farming family. His great-grandfather was a knight who cleared the land of monsters his family was now farming. For his achievements, he was awarded a greatsword that Garland is now using. At first, his parents preferred Garland to be a farmer, but after recognizing Garland's talent with the blade, his parents entrusted the greatsword to him, hoping it would serve him well in his journey.

"Your personalities seem to clash, yet you're the best of friends, aren't you? How nice…" Cecile said as she passed them the water canteen from their backpacks.

"Bwahahaha! Many have said the same!" Sven and Garland laughed heartily, slapping each other on the shoulders.

"We sure did fight a lot at first! I hated this guy when we started out. But when we were surrounded by monsters, he didn't leave me behind. That's when I realized this bastard is my brother!" Garland said.

"Even though that bastard senior knight left when his sword broke! How shameful!" Garland retorted.

"You tell me! And they call themselves knights!"

"Eh? You guys were used as bait?" Cecile's tone turned sour, her smile fading. Rebecca immediately cursed the knights.

"Well, to get experience, we were often sent to the front lines. That's just how it is. Sometimes, things didn't go according to plan. Something went wrong during the retreat. We've had our complaints to the headquarters, they kinda listened? But they didn't do anything but dish out some light punishment to those knights. Anyway, we're alive. That's what's important. Everyone values their lives too. That's human nature. Let's not talk about it too much. We might get scolded if someone overhears us bitching about our superiors."

"Okay... Well, we're technically knights too," Cecile admitted, glancing at Nana and Rebecca, who nodded in agreement. With that, they ended their break and began tidying up their belongings. However, Sven and Garland kept talking.

"Eh? Really? I see. No wonder you're all so strong. Who is your lord, if I may ask?" Sven said as he and Garland volunteered to carry the backpacks. So far, the loot from the monsters consisted of magic stones, some antennae, spider silk, and bits of carapace armor.

The monsters in this zone were few but large and difficult, so the loot was minimal. Hiro felt dissatisfied, but the group seemed content. Sven talked enthusiastically about how the carapace could probably be crafted into armor.

When they finally returned to the second-floor base camp, they reported their findings.

"You found another set of stairs? Good! Finally, I can wreak some havoc! My muscles were getting sore while waiting here!" Angus said, a broad grin on his face. Hiro couldn't help but wonder what he was really doing here.

"You're going in? Were the monsters here too weak for you?" Cecile asked curiously.

"Yeah! After killing a few monsters, I realized they're only challenging for adventurers around level twenty until forty. Malus here suggested I stay and provide support. He said killing things that are too easy would dull my senses."

"You shouldn't take experience away from the younger adventurers, King Angus," his secretary said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Fine. Now, let's head to the next floor!"

"What about the plan to secure the second floor?" Cecile asked.

"I'm just going to take a peek. You seem tired, Cecile. Why don't you guard this base?" Angus smirked.

"Yes, sir," Cecile replied.

"Let's finish off the rest of our rations and call it a day," Nana muttered. "I don't think we'll see any more action, and I'm still hungry."

"The king has just ordered us to guard this place, so we can't leave," Rebecca answered. "But I agree—no more combat for now. What about you, Sven? Are you continuing?"

"Well, that encounter with the two bugs gave me a scare. If you guys didn't help, we couldn't have handled it. We might have been able to fend off one, but two? We'd be risking our lives," Sven admitted. He turned to Cecile. "Oh yeah, we never got around to asking—who's your lord?"

"We're from Daneswald. Just recently hired, by the way," Cecile replied.

"Daneswald? As in that Daneswald family? The same family as Seraphine Daneswald?" Sven and Garland exclaimed. "You guys were recruited by him?"

"Eh? No, we were recruited by Marissa, his sister."

"Does Seraphine have a sister? That's news to me." Sven and Garland exchanged puzzled looks.

"Well, we're just commoners. It's not like we know every noble family around here," Garland shrugged. "Have you met Lord Seraphine by any chance?"

"Ahahaha... we've met him. He's a nice brother," Cecile said with a wry smile.

"We've seen him fight too. That was… intense," Nana added, her eyes distant.

"Whoa! You've seen him fight? That's incredible! I heard no one has ever beaten Lord Seraphine in a straight-up fight—not even another symbiote user!" Sven exclaimed.

"I heard he managed to repel enemy symbiote users who tried to assassinate him. He's invincible!" The news was distorted in some way, but Cecile's team didn't care enough to correct them.

The group chatted animatedly about Seraphine. Hiro understood that in some countries, symbiote users were treated like idols. A few hours later, Hiro felt something shift within the dungeon. A screeching sound echoed, and the entire cave began to tremble. Cracks formed along the walls, and they seemed to shrink toward Cecile and the others.

"This is my first time seeing it… so this is the dungeon's death," Garland muttered. "Our big boss must've killed the dungeon's boss. He said he was only going to take a peek. Damn! I wanted to see how King Angus fights."

"That's a strange sensation. I've only heard my seniors talk about it," Sven nodded.

"What happens now?" Rebecca asked.

"The dungeon loses its power, and it either turns into a normal cave or collapses entirely," Garland explained.

"Collapse!?" Cecile panicked.

"In a few years, usually, so there's no need to rush. If there's an ore vein, specialized miners will come to extract it from the dungeon's corpse," Sven added.

"Ah, but our seniors also mentioned that we must watch out for occasional cave-ins, especially in corners or dead ends. Those tend to collapse first."

"Well, we're next to the stairs, which is part of the main dungeon road. This section should be the sturdiest," Sven shrugged.

And so, the group's dungeon adventure came to an end. Hiro wanted to play with the girls, but they were busy, and the inn they stayed at had thin walls. Now that Hiro felt a deeper connection with the girls, he was more self-conscious about doing anything to them in public.

Moreover, his newest host, Luna, kept knocking for his attention. Hiro could vaguely sense when his cores in Marissa and Luna were being called by their hosts. Luna, an energetic girl, had completely overcome her fear of symbiotes. Now she wanted to play with Hiro all day.

Hiro wondered if it was appropriate for the princess of the kingdom to be so lax. He'd always imagined princesses as poised, studious, and dainty. Luna had the looks, but she certainly didn't have the demeanor.

Hiro decided not to shift his consciousness to her just yet. Cecile and the others were still outside the city, and it wasn't entirely safe. The dungeon might be dead, and no more monsters would spawn, but there could still be remnants lurking somewhere.