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Chapter 56: Onward into the dungeon

“No. Someone from a guild called the Iron Hounds tried to get me to join their guild,” Arwin said with a dry laugh. “They were a little pushy, but they gave up.”

“Iron Hounds? I don’t think I’ve heard of them,” Reya said, chewing her bottom lip. “Maybe they’re new to the area.”

“Probably,” Rodrick said. “I haven’t heard of them either. Why’d they want you to join? They need a personal smith?”

“Yeah. It seemed like they were more concerned with stopping me from making gear for other guilds than they were with getting it for their own,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “Can you imagine that? What a stupid notion. It sounded like their opponents were the other guilds more than anything else.”

Lillia nodded in agreement, but everyone else stared at Arwin as if he’d suddenly sprouted a horn.

“That’s like… half the point of a guild,” Reya said with a snort of laughter. “Of course they don’t want you working for anyone else.”

“Wait, what?” Arwin asked. “Fighting other guilds? That’s not the point of a guild at all.”

“Yes it is,” Rodrick said. “What do you think they’re for? Guilds are a way to get stronger in a safer environment. And, if you want to get stronger, the Mesh won’t let you do that in any way other than seeking challenge.”

“Which is why you fight monsters.”

“Sure, but not everywhere has a ton of monsters to fight and a lot of dungeons are protected by guilds that don’t let other people get to them,” Rodrick said. “Because if other people can, then they can get stronger. You keep the resources for yourself. That’s how it works. Besides, if you’re just worried about monsters, you go with a small team rather than a guild. It’s not like you can fit an entire guild in a dungeon at once – it would be too packed.”

“You rotate out.” Arwin frowned in confusion. “That’s the point. Everyone is good at their own things, so a guild lets you make sure you’re properly outfitted for every kind of fight. They’re not meant to… fight off other guilds. We’re meant to work together.”

“If you think that’s how the guilds work, I don’t know what to say other than sorry,” Anna said with an apologetic smile. “Nothing is keeping our guild from being different, of course.”

“Until another guild shows up while we’ve got our backs turned,” Rodrick said. “Then we become just like the rest of them.”

“What I meant was that we don’t have to attack anyone,” Anna said, shooting a sharp glare in Rodrick’s direction.

“You’re saying that the guilds have turned to fighting each other and are using that as challenge instead of defeating monsters?” Arwin asked in disbelief. “Why? Guilds are meant to protect people!”

“Only in stories,” Rodrick said. “The truth of the matter is exactly what you just said. Why protect when hunting down another guild will give you way more power? Safety is weakness. They want conflict.”

Arwin and Lillia exchanged a look. Based on the expression on her face, Lillia definitely had the exact same view of guilds that he had. Arwin had never thought about it, but if some monsters were just as intelligent as humans, then it wasn’t unrealistic for them to also have guilds.

Just how sheltered were we? I thought I knew almost everything there was to know this shit, but with every passing day, I realize that the Adventurer’s Guild completely kept me in the dark. I was just a puppet on their strings.

“Well, that’s… disheartening to hear,” Arwin said, pursing his lips. “But Anna is right. We won’t be like them. We’ll protect ourselves with all the force we need, but we aren’t going to be preying on others.”

“That’s reassuring to hear, even if I already expected it,” Anna said. She rose from her spot by the counter and brushed her hands off on her pants. “Is it time to get moving, then? All this talk of guilds puts a bad taste in my mouth.”

“I think it is,” Arwin said. “Zeke, it’s still a little too dangerous for you to come to the dungeon with us right now, but you’re welcome to hang out in the tavern, the smithy, or wherever you’d like to.”

“Really?” Zeke asked. “I don’t have to leave?”

“Why would you?” Arwin asked with a chuckle. “Just don’t get into trouble and, if you do end up going into the smithy, make sure to lock the door behind you. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Zeke said with a nod. “Will do.”

“I don’t suppose I need to give you the key?”

Zeke grinned in response and Arwin shook his head, grinning. “Figured. Let’s go, everyone. Daylight is burning, and we’ve got a dungeon to work through. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on some more materials to work with.”

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***

Their second run at the dungeon kicked off much smoother than their first. With Arwin at the lead, the group advanced past another Landsquid without any difficulty – though, this time, Lillia didn’t try collecting any of its tentacles.

None of them got so much as hit, much less injured – though it did come a little close for Arwin, who had failed to take his mask off and almost didn’t see a blow coming. The mask came off soon after that, and that was the end of their issues with the Landsquid. Unfortunately, Anna didn’t have a chance to land any blows on the monster. While they were able to take it down without too much difficulty, it was too dangerous to let her near it.

That opportunity arose in the second room, which had changed considerably since their previous run.

It had turned into a long rectangular room that vaguely resembled a banquet hall without any of the tables. Vines still hung from the walls and crawled across the floor, and water dripped from the ceiling and flowed in small rivers to pools that forms at cracks in the ground.

Several short, bald creatures with wrinkly green skin and rusted weapons paced around the room and chewed at the vines, completely unaware of the group of adventurers.

“Why’d the room change? Did we get lost?” Reya whispered.

“Dungeons can change their layouts. They’re magic,” Anna muttered. “I wasn’t expecting goblins, but I suppose I should have. They fit right into the swamplike environment this dungeon seems to favor.

“Haven’t fought these before,” Rodrick said. “I’ve heard they can be nasty in groups. Any suggestions, Arwin?”

“Nasty in groups is accurate. But, alone, they should be quite simple,” Arwin said as he studied the nearest monster with a careful eye.

[Swamp Goblin – Apprentice 8]

The other goblins were all roughly around the same tier, with a few going above or below by one or two spots. None of them were going to be a significant threat in any stretch of the imagination – not to a trained fighter, at least.

From Arwin’s experience with goblins, he knew the monsters were far from the cleverest. They generally threw themselves at their enemy with reckless abandon, hoping to win through sheer numbers.

They were also incredibly deaf, generally due to their –

One of the goblins let out an ear-splitting shriek and bashed its head against the wall, snarling in fury. A few of the others spotted it and did the same, filling the room with a cacophony of screeches and thuds for a few seconds before they went back to wandering around aimlessly.

Deaf and half – blind. Typical.

“We can handle them with no trouble,” Arwin said. “This is a perfect opportunity for you, Anna.”

“For me?” Anna asked doubtfully. “They might be stupid, but I don’t think I can handle a fight with one of those things.”

“You don’t have to handle a full fight. Just the last blow,” Arwin said. “Rodrick, with me. Reya, stay farther back and focus on slowing the goblins – and Rodrick, aim to cripple rather than to kill. The goblins are all going to horde, so let me take their attention initially. After that, just take them out one by one. Anna can just hang back for now.”

Rodrick’s eyes flashed with understanding and he nodded. “I’m with you. Let’s do it.”

“Me too,” Reya added.

Arwin strode forward and activated [Arsenal], summoning Verdant Blaze to his hands. He hadn’t had a chance to use its [Soul Flame] related abilities yet, but he wasn’t about to splatter a goblin with them and steal the chance to gain credit for the kill from Anna, Rodrick, or Reya.

I’ll use the stronger abilities when we run into an enemy that I actually have to try against. Goblins aren’t that enemy.

The first goblin spotted Arwin when he was already upon it. The monster’s ears shot back as it bared its teeth, throwing its head back in preparation to let out a battle cry. Arwin’s hammer fell on the creature’s shoulder, pulverizing through flesh and bone as if nothing were there.

Screeching in pain, the goblin crumpled. The other monsters in the room spun, finally spotting the adventurers. Their eyes locked onto Arwin and they sprinted toward him, drawing their weapons and screaming challenges.

The first jumped – only to be enveloped by a shimmer of blue energy midair. The hilt of Rodrick’s sword slammed into its head, knocking the beast out cold and send it sprawling across the ground.

None of the other goblins met better fates. Arwin and Rodrick carved through their ranks with the help of Reya’s restraining abilities, putting the goblins down like they were cutting grass. Between the three of them, only two goblins ended up dead on Rodrick’s sword. The rest laid, unable to fight, in piles around the ground.

“You’re up,” Arwin said, nodding to Anna. “Get to it. None of us are going to get hurt fighting these things, so you can’t get energy from healing us. That means you’ve got to do the dirty work.”

“This… somehow feels wrong,” Anna muttered. Rodrick walked up to her and flipped his sword around, offering it hilt first. She took the blade, holding it awkwardly in her hands.

“You won’t get much credit for this. The Mesh isn’t stupid,” Arwin explained. “But you’ll still get some. There’s a degree of risk, and any challenge can give energy. Just be careful and take care of business. Who knows when you’ll get another free opportunity like this.”

Anna nodded. She went up to the first goblin and plunged the sword down, missing its heart and driving through its chest. The monster hissed and bucked, trying to slash at her legs with its claws. She barely managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid getting hamstringed.

“Don’t miss,” Arwin suggested. Lillia snorted, but Arwin could tell from the way that she was shifting from foot to foot that she was impatient to get to the point where she could do something. She hadn’t had a chance to fight anything since they’d entered the dungeon, and nothing they’d met so far had been edible either.

Anna plunged the sword back down, putting the goblin out of its misery, and then glared at Arwin. He grinned in response. Shaking her head, Anna made her way around the room, killing the monsters.

It only took about five minutes for her to finish the creatures off, but by the time she returned Rodrick’s sword to him, her forehead was covered in a sheen of stressed sweat. Her gaze was unfocused, a telltale sign of reading a message from the Mesh.

“That was terrifying,” Anna said.

“Did it work?” Arwin asked.

Anna swallowed, then nodded. “Yes. It worked. I can’t believe it, but I got an achievement that will upgrade one of my new skills when I reach the next level in my Tier.”

“Just for putting down a bunch of goblins?” Reya asked, blinking in disbelief.

“Even though I didn’t get much energy, I think the Mesh still sees me killing nearly ten goblins in the span of a few minutes as remarkable for a healer,” Anna said, chewing her lower lip. “I imagine that won’t work again to this effect, but… how’d you know it would do that?”

“I didn’t,” Arwin replied, letting his hammer disappear and shrugging. “But energy is energy, and I told you that you’d be working to catch up with the rest of us. Now, shall we continue? I’ve yet to find anything I can craft with, and I think we can go deeper.”