Argentum: Well it's been a bit but as we said this was just a side thing.

Grel'Slyfer: True but we'll try and write this story a bit more as the head honchos finish the secret project.

Argentum: It's taking quite a bit of time. But when it's finished it will be glorious!

Shadow: Glorious… that's a word for it.

Grel'Slyfer: What are you doing here?

Shadow: Besides Slayer giving Argentum permission to use me? Well here to go over a couple reviews we got.

Argentum: Yeah that's important so we'll just get right into it.

Shadow: Mhmm… So first on the list is a review from Ruberforumfree. Now the reason why our MC can't use his powers for more than 3 seconds has been stated. But we'll clarify. Basically even though he has all he needs to use his cheat. He doesn't know how to use it. It's that simple. Though soon enough that won't be a problem. And technically we didn't nerf him. That would imply we changed the way his power worked. No he's simply getting used to it.

Argentum: And trust me… once I do master it things will get real.

Shadow: Now Anon critic… yeah basically what we were going for only it's a bit more… sense those without the correct mental capabilities, would die from information overload in this case.

Argentum: Even within our fictional universe few can do what I can now.

Shadow: Finally… arcaneXII simply thank you for the complement.

Argentum: Now with all that out of the way we can move on. Shadow? Want to start us off?

Shadow: Sure… we here at the Dark Guard productions own nothing but OC's and reality building concepts. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. Now without further ado…

Everyone: Here's the story!

Hello= Regular talk

Hello= Thoughts

[Hello]= Radio

(Hello)= Telepathy/Mind reading

Chapter three: How I found a statue or how to deal with murderous objects

It's now winter in this world. And though most monsters have gone into hibernation, same with most animals. We adventurers were still out and about doing random jobs. I myself was sitting rather pretty in money with about 234000 Eris. So I could simply survive the winter. But that wasn't my style, better to continually work and save up money is what I say. The trick was that now I had to hunt down stronger monsters. Though I thankfully had better weapons it was still rough. Had to actually team up with Darkness a bit more than what I was comfortable with. Sure she's improved in her offensive abilities… but her… well I'll just call it her quirk was still uncomfortable. Sighing I took out my card. I had gained a number of levels and had increased my stats greatly.

But more importantly I could now use my eye power for up to eight seconds. Plenty of time to look around at things. Smirking I put some remaining points into intelligence. Boosting the amount of magic I had available. I then looked at my skills and my smirk grew. Using my eyes I observed how some spells were used. Taking in the magical equations and then practicing with them. I was able to learn how to use said spells. Although I only had a few so far from doing so, such as fireball, heal, and icicle. Last one was actually my favorite so far, though I was looking for lightning bolt. Always a fun spell in my opinion. Finishing up with my card I stood up and stretched out my back with a satisfying pop.

I was about to walk over to the quest boards when Luna walked up to me. "Excuse me… Mr. Smith, can I have a moment of your time?" A bit curious as well as not wanting to be rude, I stopped and nodded to her. This caused Luna to smile as she continued. "Thank you for giving me your time. Now then I noticed how unlike most of the adventurers here. You're still going out daily to do differing requests. And so thinking of your level and work ethic I thought to see if you'd be interested in an expedition."

She then handed me a piece of paper. Looking at it I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It was a request for thirty, level thirty five and above adventurers, to explore a recently discovered dungeon. Apparently we'd all get paid a sum of twenty thousand Eris in advanced. Then we'd all get an equal share of the loot that is found inside the dungeon.

It was a high risk gamble promising lots of money or just a moderate amount. Overall I'd say it wasn't a bad idea. Reading it through a bit more I looked at the location and rolled my eyes. It was up in the mountains in some scary cave. A bit cliché if you asked me… but then I also thought that this was a fantasy world so what did I know?

Looking back up to Luna I smiled at her. "You know what? I'll take the job, thanks for offering me this Luna." She smiled brightly at me.

"It's no problem. After all you're the right level and you've been working really hard." She then gave me a serious look, causing me to gulp a bit. "Just whatever you do… don't die in there. After all we here at the guild make a lot of money from you."

I laughed sheepishly at that. "Alright I promise not to die." Smiling she nodded and left to go continue her work. Shaking my head I looked back at the request, I knew that I would need to buy some equipment. Thankfully the request didn't start for a few days. Leaving me plenty of time to get what I needed. With that thought I left to go shopping. First stop was the general goods store. Bought a number of things mostly consisting of food, candles, ropes, and finally a scarf. Because despite how good my coat was for all weather types, I wanted a bit more protection for the mountain cold. Next was the black smithy, where I stocked up on arrows and got a few more daggers. Also just in case I needed it I bought a pickaxe.

Simply put… I was trying to be as prepared as possible. Next stop was the potions shop; there I bought potions for healing, poison, warmth, and magic. After tallying everything up… was out fifty grand, in other words I was really hoping that this trip would be worth it. So with my supplies and equipment bought, I went back to the guild, had a meal, and then went to sleep for the day. I needed as much sleep as possible for the trip I'd be taking. Unfortunately as is my current lot in life, I woke up from a nightmare.

Waking up in a cold sweat I took a few moments to calm myself. But as I did so I felt another feeling rising. Anger… and it wasn't a small amount of anger either. No… I was feeling a great amount of it. Gritting my teeth and tightening my fists to where my knuckles turned white. I slammed my hand against the wall in frustration.

"ARGH! It's been more than eight months! Why can't I just move on?" It was frustrating to me that I couldn't get the images and sounds out of my head. I hated waking up in the middle of the night, still believing I was there watching as everyone burned and bled. Taking a number of minutes to calm myself I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I need to… I need to find a therapist or something." Unfortunately… there was no such thing in this world. "Huh… maybe that's why everyone is insane?" It was definitely a possibility, and one I was truly considering to be a huge cause of insanity in this world.

With those thoughts I sat up and started getting dressed. For I knew by experience that I wouldn't be going back to sleep. Thankfully I managed to get few hours, but I just hoped it'd be enough for the day. After getting dressed I quickly packed up the rest of supplies and walked downstairs, grabbed some food and left.

"Today is going to be a looong day."

Break the Line! Break the Line!

It had taken a couple days of walking and camping, but I had eventually made it to the dungeon. There were a number of adventurers there, though I only recognized a few of them. Though one in particular saw me first, a certain female thief.

"Hey Michael! Been a while since I've last saw you." Turning to the voice I saw Chris waving at me with a smile. Oh in case you were wondering Chris has short silver hair and purple eyes which I will admit I found pretty, she also had a scar on her right check. She also typically wore what one might call typical thief clothing. I couldn't help but blink as I approached her though, a singular question on my mind.

"How are you not cold?" She was still wearing her normal outfit which did barely anything to protect against the cold. In fact the only winteresque thing she had on was the light grayish blue scarf she always wore.

However she still pouted at me for pointing this out. "To answer your question… magic, secondly… is that the first thing you say to me after a couple months of being apart?" I scratched my cheek a bit before answering.

"Sorry… still getting used to magic, so it was weird seeing you dressed like that out here." I then smiled. "But yes it is good to see you again." She smiled at me as I smirked and continued. "Despite the fact that you tried to swindle me." She turned to the side and coughed into her fist in embarrassment.

"I said I was sorry and in the end you allowed me to keep the money." I nodded but before I could say something I heard a gong being hit. Turning towards the loud sound, I saw a small wooden platform with a rich looking man standing on it. Next to him was a servant of dressed in winter clothing holding the gong I heard. It was then that I realized that this was probably the man in charge of our little expedition.

Coughing into his fist and brushing some snow from his large mustache. The white haired man spoke up. "Thank you all for coming here today. Seeing how all thirty of you are here now I'll start us all off." He then got out a paper and started reading from it. "Now then note that we have hired six thieves, they are here to help deal with traps and locked objects. Also thanks to a preliminary scouting party we know that there are quite a few of each. The plan is to split off into groups of five; each group must have a thief who will be the party leader." As he said that Chris hugged my arm with a smirk, I couldn't help but role my eyes but smile at the same time.

I was also impressed that the man continued despite the grouping up that was happening. "Currently we know of six paths into the dungeon hence the six thieves. This area out here will be a base camp, if you're injured or tired please return to this point. We shall provide for you and tend to your injuries. Finally after you have grouped up we shall have you draw lots. On each lot is a number, this correlates to the path that you will travel through. Each path is labeled quite clearly so pay attention, we don't want any fights breaking out. With that if you have any questions refer to the packet each thief was given. If you need any supplies please tell us, though depending on what you need, there might be a fee. That is all and we wish you all good luck."

As the man bowed and then headed towards what I assumed to be his personal tent. I thought about all the information he provided. It was actually a lot more than what people might think. For one this was a high level dungeon with many traps. Secondly they came prepared, in fact I felt underprepared compared to them. A shocking revelation since I original thought I over prepared. Overall I thought this was going to be a hard yet good job.

Feeling a tug on my arm I looked at Chris who grinned as she spoke. "Well come on! Let's go get the best before they're all taken." She then winked at me. "Though I think I already nabbed the best… well besides myself of course." I couldn't help but shake my head as I let her lead. After a bit we got three others who we thought were pretty decent. One was a magic swordswoman wearing full plate mail. We got a grey haired old man with a wizard's staff and robes. Finally out last member was a giant of a man with a deep tan and dark brown hair. He was wearing half plate and leather, holding a large circular shield and a mace. Their names were Cassandra, Oswald, and Tiff respectively.

Then after drawing lots to find out where we need to go, we got path number four. That's when we entered the dungeon… it was actually rather impressive. Though it was inside of a large cave, the cave seemed to just stop as carved stone seemed to just blend out of the hard rock. It was almost mosaic like as six large tunnels seemed to just go down into their own little abyss. Next to me I heard Chris gulp, indicating that even someone as experienced as she was never saw something like this.

Sensing her nervousness I patted her shoulder before speaking. "Don't worry… I'm here to back you up." She smiled up at me before taking a deep breath and turning to the others.

"Alright we're almost to the point of no return. Those who have second thoughts better just leave now." No one in our party even budged making me and Chris smile. "Good! That's what I like to see. Now since we've worked together in the past Michael here will be my second." I simply nodded to them and them to me as she continued. "Now I suggest unless I tell you so to keep behind me and in front of Michael since he'll be bringing up the rear. His skills are perfect for such a role. Cassandra you're right in front of Michael, Oswald will be in front of you, and Tiff is in front of him." She then stopped to take a breath and looked at me. This prompted to continue where she left off. No doubt to let them know how capable I was.

"In battle me and Oswald will stay in the back. Our skills are better for such a role, Chris will then take up the middle field. Finally Cassandra and Tiff you two will be our front lines. I trust you both are fine with such a role?" Cassandra nodded showing her stoicism while Tiff gave a bloodthirsty grin. I took that for a yes.

Seeing how the plan was laid out Chris gave smiled before speaking up once more. "Alright that's the plan. Now then form up and let's get a move on." Doing as she said we started our march. Casting a simple light spell, an orb of light appeared out of my hand and hovered above us. Almost immediately we came up on our first trap. Chris stopping us while holding up a fist. Using my own detect trap skill, which I actually got from Chris I saw what the problem was.

However since she was the leader I let her do the speaking. "First trap guys and gal." She then pointed to a circular tile in front of us. It was colored red; in fact there were multiple red tiles of different shapes expanding across the floor. It definitely matched the mosaic theme this place was going for. Taking a rock from her pocket Chris threw a rock at the tile. Unfortunately nothing happened causing her to frown. As she tossed another next to it only for nothing to happen. "Hmm… guess a higher weight is needed to trigger them." I nodded in agreement, and started thinking as Chris did the same. Thing was that even if we both had the disarm trap skill; we needed to be where the trap originated from. Thing was… it was on the other side of the trap.

That's when I decided to think outside the box and took out my longbow and a normal arrow. Seeing this Chris smirked and nodded to me as I stepped forward. Keeping up with the formation she took my place in the back as I aimed at the red tiles. I then let loose the arrow… now my bow has about one hundred and fifty pounds worth of drawback. So when it hit the tile it not only pushed it down but kept it there. As soon as it was all the way pressed a multitude of holes opened up in the walls. It was the classic dart trap as hundreds shot out hitting the other side. The sounds of darts firing and falling on the tile filled the room.

Grinning I took initiative and shot us a path through the tiles. A good thing to seeing how each tile seemed attached to a different kind of trap. Eventually a path was cleared and I was out fifteen normal arrows. Leaving me thirty left, something I grimaced about but decided to just deal with it. Nodding to Chris we again switched places as the rest of our party looked at us. They seemed quite impressed… well least Oswald and Tiff, it was kind of hard to tell with Cassandra thanks to her helmet.

Shaking my head I decided to draw my sword as we moved on. Wanting to make sure I could cover the rear. After all my bow was only necessary when opponents were in front of us. As we kept walking, it wasn't too soon after the first set of traps that we came to a locked door. It was large and seemed to be made of the same stone as the cave itself.

Seeing it I couldn't help but speak up. "Okay… anyone have a strength stat capable of opening a door fit for a giant?" Everyone looked at each other… yep nobody… as I sighed and looked at the door I took a step towards it. Trying to figure out how it could be opened. Chris was doing the same along with Oswald. The other two kept watch for anything that might try to come up behind us. Luckily Oswald found something first.

"Over here youngsters!" Me and Chris quickly approached him; in front of him were different carvings on square stone buttons. Along with the buttons was a stone box underneath it, along the top of the box was a riddle which he read. "A Bear devours the fish, while the vulture feasts on its corpse, the lion chases the vulture, but the bees stings the lion, the badger ignores the bees, but the jaguar cares for the badger, yet the fish swims freely from the jaguar. Each animal has its own power, but what predator devours them all?" I blinked at this while everyone thought on what was said in the riddle.

Looking at the carvings I was tempted to press the dragon carving, but then looked a bit more carefully. Eventually I found what I believed to be right. A carving of a sun with a moon underneath it. In my mind there was only one thing this could represent.

Quickly I spoke up. "I believe I found the answer." I then pointed at the sun and moon. "A sun and a moon… I believe it represents time. And time devours all, but just in case I suggest everyone back up a bit." Though Chris didn't seem to like me taking this risk she backed up along with the others. Seeing them as a respectable distance away I pressed the button. It was a little hard to push and grinded against the stone wall. But I eventually heard a click and took a step back. I soon heard more grinding as I looked at the box. A slit had opened up in the wall for the lid to be pulled back into. Smirking I looked inside to see a stone tablet.

Picking it up I read the words on it. "You have found the second clue. Now solve this… as the vulture flies it is no match for the eagle. Yet the dragon catches them both. So if the eagle and vulture cannot down a dragon… then what is a dragon's true equal?" I blinked at this and then looked at the rest; they had regrouped around me seeing how it was safe. "Anyone have any guesses?" After a moment Oswald pounded his left fist into the palm of his right.

"AH! I understand but you better all step back just in case." Deciding to trust him Oswald walked over the wall. Seeming to smirk he pressed the fairy button. Which downright confused me, but as we heard a click the giant stone door seemed to shake as at the bottom a smaller manageable sized door opened up. He laughed as he saw our bewildered expressions. "Hahaha! Now while it is true that dragons hold great power and can fly vast distances. So too can the fairies, so much so that in the old stories there was quite a rivalry between them.

I couldn't help but praise him for his knowledge. "You were definitely the best wizard we could have chosen." He seem to laugh again as he rubbed the back of his head. After we calmed down Chris looked into the door only to see another stone box with another riddle.

"Just what kind of dungeon is this?" Looking over her shoulder I narrowed my eyes while shrugging. Seeing my reaction Chris sighed before the next riddle. "You are almost there, but now a beast stands in your way. A creature of power and legend yet so well almost all knows its weakness." There was no debate on this one and Oswald pressed the dragon button. Once more the stone boxes lid slid into the wall. This time revealing another stone plate and an old wooden staff. "Hmm… guess this is the last one." As Chris read the riddle she tossed the staff to Oswald. "One last time a riddle shall be given. One last time your brains shall be tested. For an empty stone door can become full. All it takes is a little wood and a magic touch."

This was a little more confusing than the last one. However after a bit of thought we got it. We had Oswald pour some magic into the staff and had him touch the knotted top to the door. Turned out to be the right thing to do as the door glowed and ethereal blue. As we stepped back into battle formation ready for a fight, the entire door including the opened part disappeared. We all gasped in shock of what we saw on the other side.

For while it was still a maze of some sort, the door revealed an enormous underground cavern with, marble pillars held up the roof while the floor shown with polished granite. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. For just how long did it take to build, what kind of enchantments were put in place to keep it so pristine. To keep the structural integrity of such a structure! Deciding to get some insight I activated my eyes and for the few precious seconds I had them on… my mind was filled with such knowledge! Enchantments and building physics! Numbers and equations! It all flowed into my mind. I wanted more… I wanted more knowledge so much that I kept my eyes on for two seconds longer than my current limit.

Even after those wonderful ten seconds were up I still stared. Whoever built this place was a genius beyond genius. And now I had an understanding of how one could do this. I was still reeling from exciting when I felt someone shake my shoulder. This knocked me out of my… well knowledge high and I turned to Chris who was looking at me in worry.

"Are you okay? You were kind of just staring off into space there. And while I know it is a beautiful sight… I don't think it's that big of a deal." I was about to reprimand her but thought better than it. After all only I or a master builder could understand the true value of this place.

So instead I patted her head causing Chris to pout adorably before I spoke. "I'm fine just… just admiring this place. It's quite magnificent." Chris didn't seem too convinced but nodded anyways. In the end we took a small meal break before forming up and moving on. During this time I simply observed everything now and again with my eyes. Each time my knowledge increased, and the magic behind this place became clearer. In fact it was starting to make me want to start learning enchanting myself. To use even half of these enchantments on my own equipment… well it would certainly be a boost at the very least.

As we walked we eventually came to a huge amphitheater of some sort. In the far back was an enormous statue of some sort of creature. It had ten clawed arms and a boars head. In each hand was a scimitar. For clothing it wore an old style kimono, and on its feet were spike metal boots. It was strange to me but when I used my eyes on it there was no magic in it so I ignored it. In the middle of the amphitheater there was a pedestal. On top of that floating gently was a pure white crystal of sorts. Using my eyes on that revealed that it was fueled with a lot of magic.

In fact it contained some sort of spell inside. However since this was the first time I saw such a spell, I was busy figuring out the equations as we all cautiously approached it. Chris was quick to check for traps and found none. Confusing all of us, since no one would just leave something like this unguarded.

Tiff was the first to speak up after using some skill on it. "Hmm… using my appraiser skill I've learned that this is a sealing crystal. One is able to keep a spell inside of it. What said spell is… I couldn't tell ya. Hey old man wizard can you figure it out?" If he was offended by the nickname given him… Oswald didn't show it. Instead he examined the crystal before shaking his head.

"This magic is too advanced for my class. As a wizard I can learn the basic spells from all spell casting classes. This would require a full on enchanter." Tiff and even Cassandra sighed in disappointment at this while Chris looked at me.

Seeing how I was staring and then my eyes which had changed to purple she questioned me. "I'm guessing you're using some kind of skill? Anything else that you can tell us?" After a bit my eyes widened and I stepped back from it getting out my bow. This shocked everyone as I explained what I discovered.

"Though I'm still new to this… I believe this crystal is a teleportation crystal. It'll take us to a different point in this dungeon. However if removed from the pedestal a magic trap will activate. Though I can't really tell yet… I think it'll summon something or call upon something. And the crystal won't work until we defeat whatever it is." Everyone quickly took a step back from the pedestal as I frowned. Because while I can discern and understand magic, I was still new to it. And my new ten second limit still wasn't enough time for something this big. In other words I still needed more practice as basic as that is. We all frowned wondering what to do.

Cassandra eventually spoke up. "It's strange…" We all turned to her as she elaborated. "This cavern is enormous… yet we haven't seen anyone else. It's probably safe to say that all the groups are facing this dilemma seeing how no one else is here." That gave us pause and put a few things into perspective. And it wasn't exactly a good perspective, and while I quietly fumed Chris voiced our problem.

"It would appear that we were first tested on intelligence… now we have to deal with a strength test. Seems as if everyone has their own little tests that they are doing." She then looked at me. "Can you tell how strong the creature of being would be?" After a bit of humming I nodded.

"Yes… and though it would be a challenge I do believe our party could take it. As long as we play it smart."

Nodding Chris turned to the others. "Well… is everyone willing to do this?" After some stiffing of stances and a nod from everyone Chris turned to me. I did the same and she took a breath before walking to the pedestal. "Alright… everyone on the count of three." We all prepared our weapons and spells. I even copied Oswald's mage armor as he used it, and I quickly used it on myself. Seeing us all ready Chris reached for the crystal. "One… two… three!" She grabbed it jumping back to us as she slipped the crystal into her magic pouch. After a few moments the ground began to shake.

It started out as a slow rumble… but then it grew stronger as our eyes widened. The statue… which was inert and void of magic now had magic flowing into it. The joints moved and pieces of it fell to the ground causing plumes of dust. It then took a step forward bringing its weapons up to bear.

Tiff was the first to speak. "Oh…. That ain't good." We all gave him a dry look before turning to the now animated statue. Just in time to as it raised half its swords into the air only to bring them down on top of us. Tiff grabbed Oswald and jumped out of the way as Cassandra jumped on her own. Me and Chris followed shortly as the swords met out last location. Rock and dust exploded on impact. A shard of rubble even cutting a shallow wound across Chris' stomach.

"Argh…" Seeing her hurt and how I was next to her I used my basic heal spell on her. The cut instantly sealing up. "Thanks Michael… now… any ideas on how to take this thing down?" Looking at the statue I used my eyes to look for anything. Thankfully because I could literally see the very equations of creation, I was able to get something.

"The joints… while those have the most magic to help it move… they are also the weakest points. Seems as if they had to sacrifice some protection in those spots for maneuverability." Chris grinned at this bit of information; after all it was something she could work with. However before she could give any orders a sword was swung at all of us separately. Thankfully we once again dodged out of the way, although more swords quickly came at us.

There was no time to relay a strategy… putting us in a bind as the statue swung blade after stone blade at each of us. Though in Oswald's and Tiff's case… at the both of them since Tiff was carrying the elderly wizard. Gritting my teeth I got out my bow and pulled out one of my enchanted arrows. I then used one of my ranger skills.

"Quickshot!" Using this skill I was able to draw and fire my bow faster than I normally would. Though I lost some accuracy along with it, though in this case… I didn't need as much thanks to the large size of my target. As the arrow connected just below the upper left arm joint I smirked. "Boom…" The arrowhead exploded causing a huge billow of smoke. My smirk quickly turned to fear as a blade came down on me. Thankfully Chris was nearby and pushed me out of the way. As we landed I was about to thank her when another sword came down on us. Grabbing Chris I rolled to me feet and jumped, barely avoiding the blade and the debris.

Seeing this Chris spoke up. "Well… guess that evened out quickly." Nodding my head I let her go as the statue focused on the other three. The smoke clearing showed a huge piece of the statues upper left arm joints missing. However since they were still attached to the statue the arms kept swinging. Also because it was a statue it didn't feel pain… so no flinching back.

Gritting my teeth I took another arrow. "I only have five of these including this one left. Definitely not enough to subdue it." Chris nodded in agreement as we jumped from another sword. Trying to think I fired another arrow where the last one hit. This time the arm did come off giving us a little more breathing room… I reiterate… a little more… it still had nine other arms after all.

Thankfully our beautiful and wonderful party leader came through. "Michael I need you to use your ice arrows on its joints! Oswald I then need you to use fire ball on the ice his arrows make! Cassandra, Tiff, and I will distract it!" Now while I didn't like how the other three would be bait. It did make sense what she was planning. Accepting her plan Tiff threw Oswald to me as I retreated further back. Catching him I set the old wizard down as I fired arrows at the statues joints. Freezing them as Oswald melted them, thankfully I had a lot more ice arrows then exploding ones. So while the other three ran around its feet we worked to eventually shatter the joints.

After all… frozen water expands with heat. The steam also certainly helped, and eventually an arm fell off followed by another and another. This went on until I was out of ice arrows and Oswald was out of mana. Thankfully by this point the statue only had three arms left. Just in time to as the others were just about exhausted. Smirking I took out my exploding arrows, we had damaged the statues other joints enough that I only needed one arrow each. That's when a whole new problem came to be.

For before I could loose even one arrow it stopped moving and steam came from out its ears and nose. It then began to shrink, not wanting to wait I let loose and arrow at one of its joints. It exploded once more on contact however to my shock it didn't damage it. No… instead the ninety meter tall statue shrank to just two. Using my eyes I was able to tell that I unfortunately still weighed the same.

That meant only one thing… "It got denser…" Everyone turned to me. "It didn't shrink… it condensed." Everyone did not like the sound of that. That's when the steam stopped and it took a step forward. Narrowing my eyes I quickly shot it with another explosive arrow. Wanting to weaken it as much as possible, the statue tanked the shot and ran out of the smoke towards me. Raising all three swords at me. Thankfully Tiff was just as fast and jumped in front of me, taking the blow with his shield.

The giant of a man was just a little bit shorter than the statue, but the blow was strong enough to push him off to the side as I jumped back. Firing another arrow as Tiff was sent flying. Another explosion and all I showed for it was the statue charging at me once more. Some chips flying off it. Gritting my teeth I rolled to the side avoiding a sideways slash as I put my bow away. As it came at me again I took out my sword. Raising my blade I blocked the three scimitars coming down to slice me into four thin strips. I felt my whole body just shake as its blade sank into my own.

Thankfully we had a full on knight and Cassandra proved her worth as she ran up behind it. Taking a big swing her sword cut a little bit into the statues waist. Taking one scimitar off my sword the statue swung it at out knight. She blocked it as Tiff charged in. Another sword deflected his mace. As one we jumped back as Chris swooped in and cut at the same spot Cassandra did. Deepening it a little as she dashed away. Oswald also joined in by firing off a spell I wanted for a while… lightning bolt. Quickly I used my eyes on it and copied it without shame. It actually turned out to be pretty similar to icicle and fireball so I was an instant copy.

Couldn't help but smirk at that. Yep! Practice certainly makes perfect. The more I see the more I can compare, and the quicker I can learn. Grinning I fired off a lightning bolt of my own. Only I aimed at its middle further weakening its stone body. We then engaged in a sluggish melee. With Oswald firing off a spell here and there and Chris dashing in and out. I myself also fire off a spell but mostly kept to my sword.

But things must come to an end, and as the fight dragged on my sword was sliced in two. This caused me to retreat with a frown and reequip my bow, at the same time Tiff's shield broke into splinters causing him to twohand his mace. We were all tired but victory was close… its torso was hanging onto its legs by a thread. Grinning I prepared my last second to last explosive arrow. Seeing what I was doing Tiff and Cassandra retreated quickly as I fired. The arrow connected and the upper half of the statue flew off its lower. Grinding on the ground as the two connected.

The legs stood still for a second before falling over. As it did a strangely shaped ruby fell out of it. Taking deep breaths we all waited to see if anything else happened. After a minute we all collapsed onto the ground, though Chris pocketed the ruby before falling. Too tired for anything else, though we all still laughed seeing how we survived.

After a few minutes Cassandra spoke up. "That… that was both extremely tiresome yet amazing! Our party truly is great and wonderful!" We all gave a cheer at that, as she then spoke to me. "Sorry about your sword though… how much did it cost?"

Sitting up I thought for a moment before sighing. "Collectively after trading up for it… one hundred and twenty thousand…" Everyone winced at that. Though not the most expensive… it was still pretty spendy. "Man I hope this dungeon is worth all of this." After a bit of silence Cassandra spoke up.

"Though I try to keep this to myself… I am part of a lesser noble house." We all turned to her in surprise at that. We heard a giggle as she continued. "Now while I won't say which one… as a gift for each of you I'll reimburse you for anything broken or used. Just this once of course." She ended that with a finger to her helmet, and a giggle as we all thanked her profusely. After a bit we were able to move again and quickly set up camp. Knowing that we didn't have the strength to continue, it was also at this point that thanks to my preparedness. Cassandra said she'd get me a two hundred K sword as thanks.

This was mostly because I was the only one to bring true camping supplies. So soon I had set up a fire a tent for the two ladies and the old wizard. I also decided to give them my sleeping bags. Deciding to tough it out on the ground with Tiff. Though she only lifted her helmet a bit I got a kiss on the cheek from Cassandra and Chris. Turned out being a prepared gentleman had its perks. Though everyone laughed at my reddened face. Ignoring them I made a soup and then after we were done we went to sleep. Thankfully my coat was a good enough pillow and my winter clothes were just soft enough for the stone floor. Sure it wasn't the most comfortable but it did its job. So soon enough we all fell asleep exhausted from our confrontation.

Unfortunately I forgot something… something I really shouldn't have… I forgot about my nightmares in my exhausted state.

Break the Line! Break the Line!

It started out as a normal nice dream actually. I was traveling down the tunnel with my new party when things began going wrong. At every turn I saw them all die in a bloody mess. Their screams of agony singing out… then after each moment it went back to normal with us just walking. I knew it was a dream… I knew it wasn't real… but I couldn't take control. My body moved on its own… and then the statue showed itself. With every slice it cut my party members down. Each time blood spraying on me. Eventually Chris' head rolled next to my feet… she said only five words…

"Why didn't you do more?" I woke up with a start breathing heavily and sweating. Looking at my watch I could see that I had only gotten five hours of sleep. I still felt exhausted and knew I needed more sleep. So taking a few deep breaths I laid back down. I wiped my forehead with my sleeve.

"I can't keep this up… Even after I managed to deal the final blow on that… statue golem thing… I'm still having these nightmares…" I was truly frustrated… and worse yet? I had no idea on how to fix it! As I grit my teeth and covered my eyes with my sleeves I heard the sound of metal boots. Moving my arm I saw our silver and blue colored knight. "Oh… Cassandra… did I wake you?" She didn't say anything but instead sat next to me.

"No… I had woken up needing some water but then heard you speaking." I sighed at that as she turned her still bucket helmeted face towards me. "Do you want to talk about it? Because based on what I heard you had a nightmare about failing us… which is strange because you and Oswald were instrumental in our victory."

Sighing I decided to try talking about it. After all there was no one else I could even try to talk to. "Well… I had dreamed that all of you kept dying. Dying in a bloody mess as we kept walking forward. And then we failed to destroy the statue and well… talking bloody heads is never a fun thing to see." At my words I could practically hear her grimace.

"That… that would truly be unsightly. Though it seems as if this problem goes much deeper than tonight's battle."

I chuckled at her insightfulness as I sat up. "You would be right." Taking a breath I decided to just tell her. "You see… before I became an adventurer I was… I was a student at a school. In a far away country… the day before I left for here the entire city and the school was attacked by an evil force. No one survived and I watched and listened as all those around me died… burned… screamed… and well all manner of horrible things. Till this day I can't get those images and sounds out of my head." She had a hand up to her mouth at this point, but even as I cried a few tears of frustration… I continued. "At the time I knew there was nothing I could do… and so I hid with some of the other kids in our archery shed… Even that was destroyed… I saw the others burn and scream… and that is what truly haunts me… seeing and hearing all my friends scream in pain."

Completing my story I closed my eyes waiting to see what Cassandra would do. And while I expected at least a hug and some nice words… she did something else. While she still hugged me Cassandra took off her helmet. Revealing a beautiful and young face with long white hair and silver eyes. But more shocking was how she had pointed ears. Then taking off her gauntlets she then hugged me.

"I lied earlier…" My eyes raised at that. "I didn't wake up because I need water… I woke up because I had my own nightmare. Only this time I saw all of you die." I couldn't help but hug her back at that even as her own tears fell. "You I'm actually from a now destroyed elven country that was north of Belzerg. However the demon king destroyed it… I… I try to keep this secret but I was actually its princess." Though surprising I was starting to see where she was going as we hugged each other tighter. "I too saw all my friends and even my family die. It's the sounds that haunt you the most…" I nodded in agreement as we held each one another.

Both of us had suffered in the same way… both of us understood one another's pain in a way almost no one else could. In a way it was comforting… comforting that we both finally had someone who understood. I could feel that Cassandra felt the same way.

"Cassandra… would you like to permanently join my party after this?"

She looked up at me a bit surprised before smiling. "I would love to… if you would have me that is?" I just smiled and nodded my head causing the former princess to hug me tighter. I was fine with that… if only we knew what would happen in a couple hours… For we both awoke to giggling and laughing. Blinking the sleep from my eyes I saw Chris smirking at me in quite the devious way.

"So… who knew that it would take a beautiful elf maiden to finally melt out ranger's heart. Hope you didn't stay up too late last night." Looking at the grinning faces of Oswald and Tiff. The latter of which gave me a thumbs up I was quite confused. That was until I felt movement to my side. Looking over I saw the sleeping yet quite adorable face of Cassandra. In which case I finally connected the dots… we had fallen asleep hugging one another…

I was quick to try and eliminate any confusion. "Though this might sound cliché… it isn't what it looks like." Chris raised a challenging eyebrow at me. So I explained a bit without revealing too much. "We both had nightmares caused by our latest fight… and while talking about them we fell asleep like this." Their teasing looks softened at that and Chris sighed in understanding.

"I guess I can understand that…" She then gave me a sly look. "Still… comforting a beautiful elf… who knew you were so smooth. No wonder the girls over at the guild like you so much. Such a gentleman." I couldn't help but give her a bland look at that. That's when Cassandra woke up and saw everyone.

"Huh? Why am I…" She then looked to her right towards me. I gave her a little wave as her mouth became an o. "Oh… I get it now." She then turned to the other three. "As cliché as it sounds… this isn't what it looks like." After hearing her say that Chris and the other two burst out laughing. Becoming confused our beautiful elf turned to me. "Why are they laughing?"

I sighed before explaining. "Well… I said almost exactly the same thing."

"Ah… this is awkward." I nodded in agreement as we sat up as one and while she put her armor back on. I dusted off my clothes and put my coat on. Standing up as she was done I held my hand to her. "Thank you." She then took my hand and I helped her up."

Looking at the others I sighed before speaking up. "Alright I'm going to cook breakfast. Won't be much, but bread and some sliced meat should be good enough." Moving off to revive the campfire I then started cooking. Eventually the others joined me now having calmed down. It was when we were eating did out party leader speak up.

"Alright seeing how no one has shown up… it is now confirmed that we have all been led to different places. Whether that will change with the use of the crystal… I have no idea but after breakfast we shall use it. I expect all of you to be ready for a fight." We all nodded in affirmation determination in our gazes. We then finished dinner and packed up. Now ready Chris tossed the crystal to me. "I have a feeling you're the only one who can figure out how to use it." Nodding I observed the crystal some more before speaking up.

"Alright it's a multi use item… we can go to two locations here and the continuation of the dungeon. Now best way to do this is to hold onto one another so we all teleport." Doing what I suggest Oswald put a hand on my left shoulder while Tiff did the same with my right. Chris then hugged my left arm as she usually does. But I was a bit surprised when Cassandra took my right arm. Not that I was complaining but it was still a bit surprising. Deciding to just roll with it I used the crystal and suddenly the world shifted. Using my eyes I managed to gleam some insight into teleportation magic. Not enough to copy it but it was a step in the right direction.

Soon enough we were in a regular if mosaic tiled sized room. As everyone let go of me I looked around to see another stone door. Only this one had an interesting indent in it. Realizing what it was I turned to Chris.

"Still have that ruby?" Chris nodded with a smirk, then taking said ruby from her pouch she approached the door. Inserting the ruby, after a few moments the door and gem disappeared. "Heh… guess we did need to destroy the statue after all. Was thinking we could supercharge the spell to overwrite it… but turns out that ruby was the key to the door."

Oswald patted my back nodding his head. "It turns out that our struggle was worth it." Nodding in agreement we all walked through keeping up our formation. Eventually we reached a large domed room with more of the same marble pillars as before. Only this one was filled with treasure and chests of all shapes and sizes.

Chris was obviously overjoyed. "YES! Whew! Now this is what I call a treasure hoard!" As everyone celebrated I narrowed my eyes.

There is no way this place is unguarded. So taking picking up a rock I tossed it into the room. Everyone quickly shut up and looked at the rock and after a moment laughed a bit. But then the back of the room fell… as in the rock wall sank into the ground revealing a massive stone chimera. At the same time the treasure vanished. However we could see that the real treasure was behind the statue.

Tiff was the first to voice his displeasure. "Why? Why is it bigger than the statue!" I shrugged before sighing.

"I expected something… but this is ridiculous… then again I guess a living creature wouldn't be able to survive down here." That they conceded to be truth. That's when a light appeared for just a second before a bit of the wall next to us disappeared. That's when five battered adventurers stepped out of a stone room. "Oh… guess this is the final room then." At my voice the group of five turned to us.

Their male thief and leader quickly spoke up. "You five don't seem nearly as battered as us..." He then saw the stone chimera. "Oh come on! First that ten armed statue now this?!" I quickly realized that each team probably fought the same thing as we did.

Shaking my head I turned to Chris. "Well… what should we do? Wait for the other teams or try it with just us?" Chris bit her bottom lip before sighing.

"It would be best to-" She was cut off as the other thief took out a dagger and with his party charged forward. It was then that she swore heavily, something quite out of character for her. But seeing the idiocy in front of us I didn't blame her. Especially when the chimera came to life and attacked them.

Patting her back I took out my bow and picked out my last explosive arrow. "Shall we then?" Chris seeing how her fellow thief was launched into the air, could only nod in disappointment. Smirking I fired my arrow at the stone beast. Now while it didn't do too much damage, I did manage to stop it from jumping on the downed thief. Which most likely would have killed him outright.

At that point I switched to some fire arrows. Not nearly as explosive but at least it was something. As we then got into formation I fired off another shot. This one nailing the creature in the face. As Cassandra and Tiff took the front Chris did a repeat of the last fight. Darting in and hitting cracks with her dagger before dashing away. Oswald now fully powered up struck out and started pelting the stone monster with lighting. Heating up the stone and causing large cracks. Cracks which were either enlarged by Chris' dagger, or enlarged by my fire arrows. Said cracks were then taken advantaged by Tiff and Cassandra.

At the same time the other party began to follow us. Seeing how our plan was working. That's when two more parties showed up and saw our fight. They weren't as exhausted as the other party with us. But were still a little banged up, thankfully they quickly saw what was happening and joined in. However as time moved on the chimera proved a lot more resistant than the statue from before.

As another swordsman charged it and swung his sword… the blade snapped in half and the chimera bit off the surprised warriors head. Both me and Cassandra had a flashback from both our experiences. But being strong while I struggled to knock another arrow. Cassandra didn't let that stop her from hacking off one of the chimeras feet. Seeing her stay strong I snapped out of it and fired. Destroying the head of its snake tail.

Unfortunately the fight still dragged on and more lost their lives. Eventually with a combined lightning bolt from all of the mages still left. That would be including me, we managed to blow off the chimera's head. Causing it to collapse and crumble. My arms were sore and I had used every enchanted arrow in my arsenal… well beside the poison ones. Wouldn't be too useful on stone after all.

Though everyone seemed pretty exhausted, but that didn't stop everyone from celebrating. As for me and Cassandra… well she walked up to me and we hugged. Understanding what the other was feeling. Thankfully our own party members were celebrating and didn't notice us. Would've been awkward… Still after a few moments we stopped though Cassandra held my right hand. It was then that everyone started collecting the loot, with the thieves making sure no one took anything. After all it was supposed to be divided up evenly.

Though as we were helping to categorize the treasure I spotted something. Walking up to it I picked up this particular treasure and unsheathed it. It was a beautiful black katana. The blade glistened like polished obsidian, and the handle was wrapped in perfect ray skin and crisscrossing cloth rope. There was nothing else on it… but I could tell it was special in some way. Using my eyes I quickly found out why. It was as strong as ordinary steel but… it would grow in strength with the wielders. I also saw that it absorbed sunlight making it strong against demonic and fiendish creatures. I knew right then that I wanted it.

So taking it to Chris I asked her a question. "Think I could reserve this for myself?" She smirked at me and was about to answer when a feeling overcame everyone. It was a feeling of dread… as if all of our lives were about to end. Suddenly we all heard a voice from the other end of the room… right where we originally teleported in. Turning around I saw a figure in a black cloak. His hands were pure what and shaped into wicked claws. Currently he was holding onto one of the other party leaders… only she wasn't moving and blood dripped to the floor.

When it… he spoke we all felt a shiver go down our spines. "So… I see I've found more playthings… shall we begin?"

Break the Line! Break the Line!

Argentum: And the end! HAH! Cliffhanger!

Grel'Slyfer: Wow… that's evil…

Shadow: But perfect!

Cassandra: Certainly builds up tension…

Argentum: Yep!

Chris: Still like how cute you two are!

Argentum: We are literally two traumatized teens dealing with the deaths of everyone around us…

Cassandra: Mhm.

Chris: Uh…

Shadow: I'm more curious about this new guy… seems familiar… Meh who cares.

Grel'Slyfer: Wow little brother… Anyways guess we should end this. Cassandra mind heading us off?

Cassandra: Not at all now ahem… This has been a Dark Guard production now signing off.

Everyone: Goodbye!