Life was easy.
Well, as easy as being stuck in a cave full of monsters could be. Group 3 was progressing through the cave with surprising efficiency. Excluding that first mishap, they dispatched the other monsters with finesse and ease.
This was largely thanks to Talio and the bald man doing most of the heavy lifting. The blonde carried his own weight, however, the twins...
'Fucking useless!'
In Talio's words, at least. The strain was starting to pile up. After all, he was only human. Luckily, after that fight with the spider, the blonde had given him a spare lantern. One less thing to worry about.
If there was one consolation, it was that no other humans had attacked them yet to dwindle their numbers for more prize money. But that was only a matter of time...
Bro has most definitely jinxed it.
And that matter of time seemed to be sooner rather than later.
After a few days of progressing through the dungeon, one of the twins asked a question.
"Hey, how come we don't use any phones or, erm, communication devices to get in touch with other teams? It would allow us to regroup with others and protect each other."
Talio glanced at her with a neutral expression, but in his head he was incredulous that she didn't already know this.
'Isn't this info everyone who does any form of missions should know?'
The Blonde replied:
"Well, this is somewhat basic knowledge, but in simple terms—it's because when Vis Mundana is highly dense in the air, it interferes with many forms of communication. Unless you spend a small fortune to acquire high-quality gear, you're not going to find anything reliable."
The twin who had asked the question looked hurt when he called it basic knowledge. The tone of his voice made Talio wonder—why he was speaking like that? It was a stark contrast to how he'd acted on that double date.
Seems like someone is looking a bit suspicious. Well maybe not who can blame him, those twins seem very annoying.
Eventually, they reached a small chamber. Talio noted, not for the first time, that more mushrooms seemed to grow in these wider pockets rather than along the long, dwindling paths.
Well, the mushrooms would soon become the least of his problems.
Five people emerged from the opposite end of the chamber.
They were smeared in deep crimson blood.
Their clothes, though once uniform, were now tattered, torn, and mismatched with scraps of leather, fur, and metal plating. One of them, a tall, lean man, with a rapier made out of some bonelike material. Another had a mace chained to his arm dragging behind him, the links caked with dried flesh. The tallest wielded a crude cleaver nearly as large as his torso. One man, hunched and twitchy, held a pair of stained daggers and grinned with too many teeth, and the last had no visible weapon—just fists wrapped in bandages soaked in gore.
The Bald covered his nose immediately.
"How foul."
Talio and the rest of the group raised their guard. Rightly so—because a few seconds later, the five strangers lunged at them without hesitation.
Talio, seeing the attack unfold, instantly circulated Vis Mundana through his body and leapt backward. The rest of the group scattered.
LMAO bro got jumped. Reminds me of Elden Ring invasions...
'Damn bastards. They've had practice hunting humans. That's the wrong goddamn hobby, for gods' sake!'
Talio's opponent was lanky, wielding a rapier with unsettling precision. His long limbs made his movements unpredictable—but Talio noted with some relief that he had no visible abilities. Just raw, honed skill.
That was always the trouble with sentient enemies: tricks, surprises, hidden techniques. It was Talio's job to force them to show their hand.
A thrust came for his left shoulder. Talio tilted right—barely, but perfectly—dodging the strike entirely and leaving himself in a prime position to retaliate.
He did just that. With his right hand, he struck ruthlessly, his blade carving a brutal gash from shoulder to abdomen.
But his opponent didn't care.
He shrugged off the gaping wound as though it were nothing and lunged again, rapier aimed for Talio's throat.
'Shit!'
Talio quickly pulled a dagger from his coat pocket, parrying the thrust by a hair's breadth. He jumped back, eyes scanning his enemy for a weakness.
'Does his ability let him ignore pain? Hmm… let's try a fight of attrition then, shall we?'
They exchanged a flurry of blows. Talio's strikes landed—small, precise cuts—but no matter how much he wounded his opponent, the man never slowed. Never hesitated. As if pain wasn't even a concept to him.
After kicking him away to buy a few seconds, Talio studied the damage. His enemy was bloodied, absolutely covered in shallow and deep wounds, yet moved like nothing had changed. Aside from a slight limp from a thigh gash, he fought with the same ferocity as when he first attacked.
Talio narrowed his eyes.
This time, he lunged forward and feigned an opening. Made it look like he'd slipped and left a gap for a killing strike.
His opponent took the bait, thrusting forward to stab him straight through the head.
Just as the tip of the rapier was about to pierce him, Talio tilted his head sharply to the right, dropped the dagger in his left hand, grabbed the rapier-wielder's wrist—and sliced clean through his neck.
The body collapsed. But Talio didn't relax. He stared at the corpse for several long seconds, sword still ready, waiting for some unnatural resurrection.
Nothing happened.
He exhaled quietly. But didn't lower his guard.
'Man, I didn't want to kill the guy so I could get some info out of him, but my hands were tied. Still… something's off. With the strength he showed, there's no way he had enough Vis Mundana to keep using a pain nullification ability without running out and collapsing.'
A sliver of unease crept down his spine.
He turned and headed toward the others.
The Blonde and the Bald man had finished their fights—but neither was helping the twins. They simply stood and watched the chaos unfold.
Talio cut his Vis Mundana flow to preserve energy and approached the bald man.
"So you don't plan to help them?"
The Bald man looked at him. His face was hidden behind that persistent X, but his voice was solemn.
"Maybe I should... but if they can't handle this much, it'd be better to—better to let them die here."
Trust me who can be asked to carry other people when their lives are on the line.
Talio looked at him, trying to imagine the expression behind the X.
He agreed. Completely.
'Honestly, I'm glad. They'll finally stop dragging us down.'
The twins were losing horribly.
Talio sighed.
'I'm feeling way too evil right now. But who can blame me? They've done nothing but suck up supplies.'
They watched for a few more seconds.
Just as it seemed one of the twins was about to be killed, the blonde moved.
He threw a dagger. It struck one enemy square in the forehead. He followed it up by rushing in and stabbing the second opponent through the heart.
Fair enough.
Talio let out a breath of relief. As infuriating as the twins were, letting them die would have left a bitter taste in his mouth.
One of them went unconscious. The Blonde slung her over his back, while the other stood trembling—completely shattered.
The Bald man spoke:
"Let's set up camp here."
Talio and the Blonde nodded. The twins, barely conscious, didn't speak—and not that it would've mattered.
They built a campfire and switched off their lanterns to preserve their life.
The Bald man knelt by the twins. He was the only one with medical training.
That left Talio and the Blonde by the fire.
Talio lay down, eyes half-lidded, pretending to sleep. But in truth, he was reevaluating the Blonde.
Based on the way he fought... he either specialized in killing humans—or he was holding back.
Neither was an option Talio liked.
Scary, I take back that take back about him being suspicious he's defo hiding something.