In a small room on the second story of a home sat an old man in a wicker chair. Every wall of the room was made of glass, windows that peered out to the city giving the old man a view unlike any other, except perhaps from the top of Babel. On his knees was a young man, no older than seventeen, with his back facing the old man. The young man's bare back was riddled with scars, telling the tale of the numerous mistakes he'd made over the last nine months as a rookie adventurer.

The old man reached to the table beside him and grabbed a small knife no longer than but a couple of celch. He pricked his finger with a small, almost unnoticeable wince of pain, and allowed a single drop of blood to pour onto the young man's back. The room lit up a pale blue as words in a language known nigh exclusively by the gods began to form on the back of the young man. The old man grabbed a sheet of paper to write on.

"Would you like to hear a story of days gone while I copy your new Status down?" Asked the old man with a faint and wispy voice.

"Of course I would, Lord Tuan," said the young man.

Tuan gave off a small smile as he wondered what story he should regale the young man with this time. It was a tradition of the Tuan Familia for Tuan to tell a story during the Status update, but it was often a point of difficulty for Tuan to think of a story fitting the mood.

"Is there any type of story you would like to hear this time?" Tuan asked.

The young man looked over to the glass wall on his left in thought while taking in the view of the city streets below. His mind wandered between tales of heroes of old, but in truth he had long bored of those fantasies. He was far more interested in the stories of regular folks, of the typical adventurer. It was then that his eyes locked on a small building down the street, a bar owned by a middle aged chienthrope.

"Tell me a story about the bar down the street, Ambrosia," said the young man.

"Ambrosia, eh? There's only one story I can think of that might interest you about that bar, and it's not a particularly happy one."

"That's fine. Tell me about it anyways."

"…Very well. Several years ago lived a young adventurer, not much older than you I figure, who frequented that bar. He was from a Familia not unlike our own, small with few people in it, but the members of the Familia were quite ambitious. The adventurer was only a Level 1 and didn't have much money to his name, but he fell in love with one of the waitresses who worked at Ambrosia. The young adventurer began to court the girl, but was making little progress despite his best efforts. He would bring her flowers or presents using what little money he had, but the most he seemed to receive in return was a shy 'Thank you' from her.

"Well the waitress, as he would soon find out, was actually the daughter of the owner of Ambrosia. He wasn't all that happy when he found out that this young adventurer was courting his daughter; even worse that his daughter was smitten with him! Well, he wasn't having his daughter marrying an adventurer; said he didn't want his daughter to marry someone 'destined to die'. The young adventurer was furious. 'How dare he get in the way of our love!' But the more he thought about it, the more he understood that the man was just trying to give his daughter the best life he could.

"The young adventurer asked the owner of the Ambrosia one day what he could do to prove to him that he wouldn't be an adventurer that was 'destined to die.' The man thought to himself a moment and said that if the young adventurer submitted a dowry of 20 million valis and reached Level 2 before the year was done, he would allow him to marry his daughter."

Tuan set down the piece of paper he had been writing on atop of the table next to him and leaned back in his chair. "There we are, your updated Status."
The young man turned around and picked up the paper from the table.

Status:

Lv. 1
STRENGTH: E 410 ENDURANCE: F338 DEXTERITY: E 405 AGILITY: F 318 MAGIC: I 0

[MAGIC]

NONE

[SKILL]
NONE

The young man's eyes scrolled over his new Status. As expected, not much had changed since last time, though achieving two E-rank stats was certainly worthy of celebration. And yet, it still wasn't enough for his plans. It seemed he still had a long way to go even after nine months of hard work.

The young man let out a sigh and handed the Status sheet back to Tuan. He didn't want to look at it any longer. It was just a reminder of his inadequacy.

"Is something the matter, Berach?" Tuan said as his concerned eyes bored into Berach's frown.

"Obtaining two E rank stats in a little over nine months is no small feat, you know. At this rate I imagine you'll reach Level 2 by the end of next year."

Berach shook his head. He had little interest in reaching Level 2. He knew how dangerous the dungeon was. He'd lost his own parents to it just the year before. He wasn't going to take the kind of risk you needed to reach Level 2. He wasn't going to waste his life like this. No, he'd sworn to leave this accursed city once and for all.
Orario, the city of greed, opulence, decadence. The vices seemed to swallow all who entered. This fact wasn't particularly strange; the city was centered around the most grandiose display of luxury in the world, Babel Tower, after all. Anyone who came to the city from the rest of the world went there with the sole mission to fulfill their greed by reaping the dungeon's bounty. And anyone who came to the city was either swallowed up by the dungeon or the city itself; rarely were you allowed to leave once you had entered.

Berach knew this all too well. His parents often spoke of the riches that they'd obtain one day, if only they could reach Level 2. But they never got the chance. They'd take out loans to buy nicer equipment saying they'd pay it back once they reached Level 2. Typically this wouldn't work, less than half of adventurers reached Level 2 after all, but his father was particularly silver tongued. Their death left Berach in a pile of debt. The only hope he had to pay it off was to become an adventurer himself.
The job was risky, most new adventurers died within two months of joining, but there was no doubt that it had the highest potential for returns. Unfortunately, the investment was your own life, and you were liable to lose it just like any other business venture. But nine months had passed since Berach had joined Tuan mac Cairill's Familia. He had beaten the odds. He'd all but paid off his family's debt after painstaking effort. All he needed was one more good haul and he truly had a chance to build towards his freedom from this wretched city.

Tuan looked on at Berach's face as he was contemplating and frowned. He knew of the young man's past, of course; it was why he'd accepted him into his Familia in the first place. He also knew of the young man's ambitions. He'd seen many adventurers succumb to wretched fates chasing their ambitions, and he hoped desperately that Berach wouldn't be the same.

He'd thought perhaps some of the stories he'd been telling Berach would have tempered his ambitions, but it was of little use. Berach was dedicated to seeing it through. All Tuan could do now was support him as best he could. Tuan slapped Berach on the back.

"Time to move along now, Fraech is waiting for his Status update too."

"What about the rest of the story?"

"There's always next status update, hm?" Tuan smiled.

Berach put his shirt back on and walked out of the room. Waiting outside it was a man who looked to be in his mid 30s in casual attire leaned up against the wall. Upon seeing Berach, the man's face lit up with joy.

"Took you long enough!" Fraech said as he shook Berach's hand. "How'd the Status update go?"

"My Dexterity ranked up to E." Berach said with a coy grin.

"Oh ho! Two E-rank skills in just nine months! You've come a long way from when you were just a whelp. Reminds me of when I was younger. Speaking of, Tuan tell you a story during your update again?"

"Yeah, one about the Ambrosia down the street. Didn't get to finish it this time though."

"The Ambrosia, huh?" Fraech rubbed his chin for a moment before shaking his head. "Can't think of a story that's particularly interesting or thrilling about that place. Owner's too scared of conflict."

"Really? Lord Tuan was telling me a story about an adventurer trying to court the owner's daughter. Was shaping up to be something riveting from what I could tell."
Fraech's eyes darkened as he turned his head toward the window in the hall.

"Tuan didn't tell you how that story ended, did he?"

Berach tilted his head in confusion.

"No, we didn't get to finish it. Lord Tuan said we'd finish it in my next Status update."

Fraech returned his gaze back to the boy and said, "Is that so? Well, it's not a particularly happy story, anyways." Fraech walked into Tuan's room without saying another word to Berach, leaving him befuddled.

Berach carefully put on his gambeson and leather armor under the dim candlelight. The daily dive into the dungeon with his typical party hadn't been profitable enough. The party had gotten surrounded by a group of Killer Ants on the seventh floor and were forced to use most of their potions in their escape. Berach had even destroyed his armor and gambeson during the battle and had to buy new ones after the party returned to the surface.

Being pushed back in his efforts to leave Orario left a bad taste in his mouth. He knew it was dangerous to go in alone, but he wasn't planning on going any deeper than the third floor, which pretty much only had goblins and kobolds. He was used to killing those. He'd been doing it for nine months at this point; fighting them was second nature.

He carefully strapped his sword to his left hip, fastened his shield around his left arm, grabbed his spear, and started to head out. He just needed a bit more valis, just a bit more and he was free of his debts. Then he could start saving to buy passage on a carriage to go far, far away. As he opened the front door of the Familia's house, he heard a concerned woman's voice from behind.

"Berach? Where are you going at this time of night?"

He knew who it was instantly. The swishing of her chienthrope tail gave her away. It was Fraech's wife, Elan. She herself wasn't a part of Tuan Familia, but she had moved into the Familia home after marrying Fraech. She had always looked out for Berach ever since he'd joined Tuan Familia, and to some extent she was something like a mother to Berach.

Berach froze. She was the last person he'd wanted to find him sneaking out at night to go fight in the dungeon. Pangs of guilt welled up in his gut. He hated having to lie to her, but he didn't want to worry her.

"I'm just heading out for some fresh air. I'll be back soon," Berach lied through his teeth. He couldn't turn around to face her. If he did, he knew there was no way he'd find it in himself to go to the dungeon now. A short silence filled the room. Elan clearly wasn't buying it.

"Stay safe, Berach," She said quietly. The sound of her footsteps as she walked back to her bed echoed through the otherwise lifeless halls. Berach knew that she knew where he was going. She always knew what he was up to. It was almost scary how astute she was when it came to him. But for some reason, she wasn't trying to stop him. Maybe she just thought that he wouldn't listen to her. Berach wasn't sure she was right.

Regardless, Berach was now free to head to the dungeon. He navigated the winding roads of Daedalus Street, ignoring the drunks and the urchins sleeping in the streets as he carefully stepped over them. The urchins he felt some pity for, but he knew there was little he could do to help them. They, by no fault of their own, had simply been caught in this city's grip, unable to even begin to try working their way out. It was simply the way the world was, and the only way to escape ending up like them or ending up forgotten in a monster's stomach was to get out.

Berach mustered his resolve. He had to get out, and the only way to do that was by reaping the harvest awaiting him in the dungeon. The path to the dungeon entrance at the base of Babel Tower was all but seared into his mind from the daily commute, but if he ever forgot where to go he could always take a look at the light the tower itself gave off. The gods' party never stopped in the tower. No, they were too wrapped up in enjoying the life and death struggle everyone went through day after day — their "game".

That tower was the biggest reminder of them all that he needed to leave. It stood for everything he hated about this city. It stood as the reminder that everyone was just here for the gods' amusement. If you weren't contributing to their amusement, if you didn't want to partake in their "game", then they could care less about what happened to you.

Every aspect of this city was designed to keep people involved in the thirst for money and power. Babel Tower, standing taller than the sky itself sat right in the middle of the city as a constant display of what could be obtained if only you desired it enough. Craved it enough. Deadalus Street was the reminder of just how far you could fall if you tried to shun the thirst. The walls and guards aren't meant to protect the people of Orario — the adventurers were more than enough for that — they kept you in so you couldn't abandon the thirst even if you wanted to.

For those who did deign to play the game, to give in to their thirst for money and power, status was given. Quite literally. Of course, they were quick to die so they had trouble forming relationships, but that problem was easily solved by the brothels in the Pleasure Quarter, manned by whores and slaves who wanted nothing to do with the city but were forced to participate regardless.

Of course, it wasn't as if the people in the city were all bad, Berach knew this quite well. Not every god was keen on this "game" of theirs, and there were plenty of people who lived relatively normal lives without succumbing to the addiction to the money and the power. But those were the exception that proved the rule. This was why Berach had to get out. He couldn't stand a city that was built to trap you.

By the time he made it to the the entrance of the dungeon at Babel Tower, it was the middle of the night. He sat down on a bench nearby for a few moments, situated his things, and checked all of his equipment as best he could. He couldn't see in the dark all that well, but he was only going to hunt on floors 1 and 2. The dungeon would provide him with light. He stood up and braced himself as he entered the dungeon.

The walk down the staircase at the start of the dungeon was the last moment Berach had of true safety. In spite of this, the silence in the dungeon was oddly comforting. No reminders of the suffering in the city; no reminders of the monsters he would soon have to face. Just him and his own thoughts. He stopped his feet just before the final step where he would truly enter the dungeon. This was his last chance to turn around. His last chance to safely go home.

Berach hesitated for a moment. He tightened his grip on his sword and his spear. This was no time to be worried about his safety. He was so close to being free from his debts. So close to taking his first steps towards freedom from this accursed city. So close to being able to live his life how he wanted to live it. He stepped down from the final step, his feet firmly planted on the ground of the dungeon.

The dim glow of the dungeon walls filled the room. Every step Berach took echoed throughout the Beginning Road on the first floor. All of the monsters here had been taken care of by the people who had left the dungeon in the evening, so there was little to do for now but to walk and to think. Despite this, Berach still took all the normal precautions an adventurer should as he walked. He routinely slashed the walls around him with his sword to prevent a dungeon break. The dungeon was an unforgiving mistress. Even on the first floor.

Soon enough, the deafening silence of the midnight dungeon revealed its benefit; monsters could be heard nearby. From the sounds of their shrill cries and the number of footsteps, it was only a couple of goblins. He was used to fighting them, but he knew all too well what happened to those who became overconfident in their abilities. He readied his spear and held up his shield as he slowly marched into the next room.

The goblins weren't the most perceptive creatures, so he was able to get them within spear range by the time he was noticed. He quickly thrust his spear into the first goblin, piercing its skull and killing it instantly. The second goblin rushed to attack him. The weak goblin swung its fist to avenge its comrade, but it was deftly blocked by Berach's trusty shield. Berach bashed the goblin back with his shield, pulled his spear back out of the first goblin's head, and thrust it into the stomach of the second. The poor goblin struggled on the spear's shaft for a brief moment, but the life quickly drained from its eyes.

Berach began to harvest the magic stones and any Goblin Fangs from the dispatched goblins. His hands moved in a skilled manner, quickly removing the items from the corpses. The items weren't worth much on their own, but it wouldn't be too hard to harvest a profitable amount of them within the span of an hour or two, even if he was alone.

He continued on this way for some time, strategically and carefully dispatching foe after foe, goblin after goblin, kobold after kobold. Each encounter lasted no more than a handful of seconds. More time was spent on harvesting their magic stones and drop items than was spent on killing them. Berach wasn't sure how many times he had dived into the dungeon like this, how many times he had killed monsters on the early floors alone. Time always seemed to move slower when he was in the dungeon. Just how much of his life had he spent risking everything for paltry amounts of valis? He wasn't quite sure, but he knew it was far too much.

As he began to ponder such things, he glanced around the corner that lead to the next room. He couldn't believe what his eyes saw. A lone Jack Bird. A rooster with fluffy yellow-green feathers. The rarest monster on floor one; its golden egg worth, at a minimum, 1 million valis. His breathing sped up, his heart beat uncontrollably loud as his excitement got the better of him. He couldn't let it get away. This was his ticket out of this city. This was his ticket to freedom.

He regained control of his breathing, once more readied his spear, and quieted his steps as much as he could. Slowly, patiently, he approached the Jack Bird from behind. Jack Bird's were known for running away if it sensed an enemy, and they were faster than the average Level 1 adventurer. The best chance he had to catch it and its drop item was before it noticed him.

He inched ever closer to the unsuspecting monster. Every painstaking step he took put him ever nearer his freedom. Four steps away. His breathing began to tremble. The steady, even pace he had taken was beginning to fall from his grip, but the Jack Bird hadn't yet noticed him.

Three steps away. He cut off his breathing entirely. If he couldn't maintain his breathing pattern, then he had to cut it off entirely. Allowing the Jack Bird to notice him was the worst thing that could happen.

Two steps away. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he had started to move towards the Jack Bird, how much time had passed since he had began to hold his breath, but his lungs were burning, his chest screaming at him to breath. But he couldn't yet. He was too close to his salvation.

One step away. He had held his breath for too long. The Jack Bird was still out of his spear range, but he could feel his body about to give out without the oxygen it needed. He had to strike simultaneously with his final step. Berach pulled his spear back, ready to strike. As he twisted his back foot to strike with his final step, the Jack Bird looked at him.

Berach thrust his spear, but the Jack Bird was too fast. It swiftly avoided his strike and began running down the opposite side of the corridor. Without hesitation, Berach began chasing it. His laboured breathing struggled to keep up with how far he had pushed himself. He quickly fought to obtain a steady breathing pattern, not allowing the Jack Bird out of his sight. He knew he could catch it so long as he maintained it in his vision.

Room after room, his breathing grew steadier and the Jack Bird grew closer to the range of his spear. He ignored what monsters in between him and the Jack Bird he could, they were only goblins and kobolds after all. Those he could not ignore we defeated nigh instantaneously. The horde of monsters behind him grew, but it mattered not to Berach; with each added monster he was two steps closer to the Jack Bird.

An eternity passed, or perhaps it was mere minutes, or even mere seconds. Berach wasn't sure. He chased and chased, growing nearer and nearer the prize that would free him from this city. At some point, he had grown so close that it felt as though he could almost grab the Jack Bird before it sped up even more. But the Jack Bird's luck ran out first.

In its panic, it had run itself into a dead end. There was no where it could run now. Berach thrust his spear into the Jack Bird's head, killing it instantly. He immediately set to work on harvesting the Golden Egg and magic stone of the Jack Bird. In a matter of seconds, he had obtained what he had so deeply desired.

His joy was short lived. He remembered the horde of goblins and kobolds that had begun chasing him as he readied his shield and turned around. More than thirty of them had gathered. While on their own they were no problem, in numbers this large they were extremely dangerous. Berach knew that there was a serious chance that he could die here if he wasn't careful.

He put his back against the wall of the dead end behind him, dropped his spear, and readied his sword. He looked out at what felt like a sea of monsters as he began to panic. He worked to steady his breathing as they inched closer. Panicking now would only lead to death. He tried to think of the positives in the situation. To some extent, he realized was lucky that the Jack Bird had managed to find a dead end. The goblins and kobolds could only come at him from one direction now, and not only were they much weaker than him individually, they lacked the ability to fight as a team and were liable to begin fighting among themselves.

The horde of monsters advanced on Berach as he began to cut them down one after another. Attack after attack by the monsters was blocked or parried by Berach's shield or sword. Surprisingly, the goblins and the kobolds weren't fighting amongst themselves. Regardless, so long as Berach kept his guard up and his back to the wall, he believed that he could get through this somehow.

Time trudged on slowly. Berach only paid attention to any given moment. He knew thinking about anything else would lead to his death. The corpses of five, then ten monsters gathered at his feet. His shield blocked everything that was thrown at it, but it was an old shield. Berach had bought it six months ago to celebrate surpassing two months as an adventurer. He'd been so wrapped up in paying off his debts, he had neglected getting it repaired these last two months. After what must have been the fiftieth attack launched by the horde of monsters without any moment for the shield to rest, the top of the shield finally broke off. His head was exposed.

Berach truly started to panic now. His shield was his primary defense against the horde of monsters. It was what was keeping them at bay. And now it had been broken. Time was of the essence now. Berach knew he wouldn't last much longer. At that same moment, Berach heard the walls around him begin to crack.

He felt the wall push against his back, forcing him forward into the horde of monsters. Stones fell from the ceiling as newborn kobolds fell from the sky, crashing down atop the monsters surrounding him. Kobolds emerged from behind him, striking him and piercing his leather armor. The gambeson had stopped the attack from behind from dealing him any damage, but it wouldn't save him from another attack.

From the newly emerged holes in the wall, monsters poured out. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty of them. Berach knew instantly what was happening. A dungeon break. Blow after blow launched into his leather armor. Most of them were deflected or blocked, but some of them got through. Wounds began appearing on his arms and legs and abdomen. Pain coursed through his body, but Berach knew that he had to break through the horde of monsters and run away if he wanted any chance at survival.
Berach quickly began pushing his way through the horde of monsters. The sound of metal cutting flesh echoed through the air. He pushed goblins and kobolds away with what remained of his shield, cut down the monsters in his way to carve out a path to safety. But before he could get far, the claws of a kobold cut into the place on his back where his gambeson had previously been torn. The claws dug into his back, and though Berach knew not what they had cut into, he felt that he would not live long if he was unable to get a potion on the wound soon.

His fighting slowed, and he began to sustain more and more injuries as he lost his ability to quickly block the attacks that swarmed him. This was it. This was where he was going to die. All for that damned Golden Jack Bird egg. Then, from just beyond the horde of monsters that was surrounding him, he heard a familiar voice.
"Berach!"

A shadow appeared over the horde of monsters as a man leaped above them and landed by Berach's side. The force of his landing was so strong that it cracked the ground and sent a shockwave that pushed back the monsters that were surrounding Berach. The man was someone Berach knew all too well. It was Fraech, the sole Level 2 of Tuan Familia. Berach knew instantly that Elan had told Fraech that he was headed to the dungeon.

Fraech swung his sword with his right hand as he held Berach in his left. With every swing, multiple monsters were cut down; with every death another two monsters stepped in to replace the fallen. Fraech began to chant the sole magic in his possession as he fought.

"As I have been saved by others, so others shall be saved by me. Their pain is mine to bear. Their wounds are sustained by me. What I have taken from others, I now shall give back. — Scapegoat"

In an instant, the wounds on Berach's body were healed. Fraech spit up blood as wounds suddenly opened across his body. He grabbed Berach by the neck with his off hand, and threw him as hard as he could.

"Run, Berach! Get out of here!"

Berach soared through the air. Beneath him, for a brief moment, he saw the horde of monsters flash by. Two seconds passed, three seconds passed. Finally, he crashed into the ground, skipping like a rock thrown at a lake. Yet somehow, Berach felt no pain. From a distance, he heard Fraech scream in pain. And then eventually, he could no longer hear Fraech's grunts as he swung his sword.

Berach knew. Even a Level 2 couldn't handle that many monsters, even if they were only from the first floor of the dungeon. Tears began to form in Berach's eyes. Fraech was dead because of him. All because he had gotten impatient. All because he just had to go into the dungeon tonight. All because he had to chase after the Jack Bird. Tears streamed poured endlessly as he followed Fraech's final wish.

Berach ran as fast as he could. The path back was empty, the silence once again leaving him alone with his thoughts. But Berach didn't want to think. He didn't know what to think. All he knew that Fraech was dead and that it was his fault. And the weight of that knowledge crushed him.

Berach mindlessly wandered his way back to Tuan Familia's home. He didn't think to clean the blood off of him. He didn't think to check if any of the items he had obtained were still on him. All he could think about was how he was going to tell Elan and Fraech's children what had happened in the dungeon that night. Guilt pierced through Berach's very soul. He had condemned Fraech through his own foolishness, his own greed, his own ambitions. Fraech shouldn't have died there. The dungeon had called for Berach to lie in his grave with that dungeon break, but Fraech had pulled him out of the grave and laid in it for him.

Before he even realized how long he had been walking, Berach had arrived at the front door of Tuan Familia's home. He tepidly opened the door. Elan stood there waiting at the entrance, worry and anxiety written across her face. Berach turned his gaze to the ground. He couldn't bear to look at her. Tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Where's Fraech?" Elan asked, her voice cracked, betraying the tears she was holding back.

"I'm so sorry." Berach said as tears spilled down his eyes. He had been crying all the way as he returned home, but before Elan his emotions surged forth stronger than ever before. He felt Elan's arms wrap around him as tears began flowing from her eyes as well. The two remained like that for some time, sharing in the grief and the sorrow and the loneliness that was all that remained of Fraech now.

Eventually, Berach and Elan parted from each others' embrace. They agreed that they would discuss what happened in the dungeon that night in the morning.
Berach stripped off his armor in his room and washed himself before at last laying down on his bed. His thoughts were running wild, but his body was exhausted and he was emotionally drained from the long night. It was but moments before he had fallen asleep.

In the morning, he awoke to find that his body was hardly sore at all. Whatever magic Fraech had used to bear Berach's wounds, it must have taken all of the wear and tear Berach's muscles had gone through as well. He walked over to his armor to sort through and see if any of it was salvageable when he noticed a sparkling, golden light peeking out from within his gambeson. It was the Jack Bird's Golden Egg. It must have gotten lodged in there when Fraech had thrown him across the horde of monsters.

Berach pulled it out of his gambeson. His leather armor was in tatters, his gambeson had been shredded, his shield was broken beyond repair, and he'd lost his sword when Fraech had saved him. All of the magic stones and other drop items were gone. All that remained was the Jack Bird's Golden Egg.
He went down the stairs of the second story to meet with Elan. Berach told her what had happened in the dungeon; how he had chased after the Jack Bird, how he had been surrounded by monsters after killing the Jack Bird, and how Fraech had used his magic and sacrificed his life to save him. Tears began to form in her eyes, but strangely her expression showed a slight sense melancholic satisfaction.

"He was finally able to do what he had always wished he could," Elan said somberly.

"What do you mean?" Berach asked.

"You'll have to ask Tuan about that."

Berach was confused, but if she said to ask Tuan about what she had said then there was nothing he could do. It wasn't his place to argue with Elan after last night. The fact that she hadn't blamed him for anything was already more than enough for him. He pulled out the Jack Bird's Golden Egg and set it on the table.
"This is what you were chasing that monster for?" Elan said as she looked at the drop item. Berach nodded his head.

"I want you to have it. It can't make up the loss of Fraech, but I don't deserve to have this," Berach replied as he pushed it in front of her. Elan looked at it as it sat in front of her. She smiled at Berach and pushed it back in front of him.

"You keep it. I told Fraech to follow you into the dungeon because I was worried about you. Fraech and I both knew that you were trying your hardest to earn money so you could leave Orario. Fraech would've wanted you to use this to finally leave this place."

Berach looked down at the egg. It was true, this one egg would get him more than enough money to pay off what remained of his debts, leave Orario, and have some valis left over to start a new life in some village or town on the outside. But he couldn't. It was exactly because of that that Fraech had to sacrifice himself to save him.
"How about you sell the item, pay off your debts, pay for permission and passage out of Orario, and you give the remaining valis to me?" Elan could clearly tell what Berach was thinking. Berach thought for a moment and agreed with her proposition. At least this way he would be giving Elan something as penance for his error.
Berach took the Jack Bird's Golden Egg and stuffed it into one of his pockets. He'd have to find some place to sell it later today. But first, he had to have a talk with Tuan before doing anything else. He walked back up the stairs and stood before Tuan's door. Before he could even knock on the door, he heard an old and weary voice call out to him.

"Come in, Berach. There is much we must talk about."

Berach opened the door and found Tuan quietly sitting in his chair as he looked out through the window to the rest of Orario. He quietly walked into the room and sat in a chair next to Tuan that must have been prepared for him. Berach couldn't see Tuan's face from where he sat, but he could see small droplets of water at Tuan's feet. For a time, the two of them sat in silence before finally Berach spoke.

"Fraech is dead."

"I know," Tuan said stoically, "I saw it happen from here."

Berach looked out at the vast cityscape before them. The sky was clear, people were bustling through the main roads, adventurers were waiting at the Pantheon and the entrance to the dungeon. He wasn't sure how Tuan could have seen what had happened, but Tuan always seemed to know exactly what all of his Familia members were doing.

"He died saving me," Berach said as tears began to run down his face.

Tuan didn't reply. Instead, he sat silently as he looked out into the city. Minutes passed as the two sat there, Tuan in silence and Berach crying in guilt and grief and remorse. Finally, Berach stopped crying. It was then that Tuan at last opened his mouth.

"The young adventurer was adamant on marrying the daughter of the owner of Ambrosia. Every moment he wasn't bed ridden or resting from an injury, he spent in the dungeon to earn as much money as he could. His party members were often with him, but sometimes at night, he would go into the dungeon alone to make the day more profitable."

"The story you were telling me yesterday? But why—" Berach tried to ask before Tuan cut him off.

"By the 9th month, the adventurer had miraculously earned over 15 million valis and his Strength stat had even passed C-Rank. He knew that if he kept going as he had, he could make up the final 5 million valis before the end of the year. And so, he entered the dungeon alone on the 3rd day of the 9th month at night, as he had been doing for the past 9 months. His party was aware that he had been doing this, but on this night they felt that there was something off. They followed him into the dungeon.

"The young adventurer continued on as he usually had, fighting monster after monster in the upper floors. Taking the easy pickings of the goblins and the kobolds and the dungeon lizards. But before he knew it, he had accidentally entered the sixth floor. He hadn't been paying attention to how many sets of stairs he had gone down as he descended the dungeon floors, you see. When he discovered a Frog Shooter alone in a room, he knew he had gone too far. But it was too late. The dungeon had spotted him when he was most vulnerable and unprepared. A dungeon break occurred right then and there.

"War Shadows spawned from the walls and the ceiling and the ground around him. Countless amounts of them. He was sure that this was the place he was destined to die. But to his surprise, his party members charged in and began to fight with the War Shadows. He was shocked, of course. He had no idea they had followed him into the dungeon on that day, but he joined in the fight without hesitation.

"The fight with the War Shadows that spawned from the dungeon break lasted a full hour. After the first 10 minutes, one of the party members had died. After 30 minutes, half of the party had died. The monsters had been dying in droves, but the dungeon seemed determined to kill them that day. By the final 10 minutes, the young adventurer was the last of the party standing. Enraged by the death of his party members and fueled by his guilty conscience, the young adventurer took revenge on the War Shadows. He broke out into a rage like a berserker, and despite his wounds he was actually able to defeat what was left of the War Shadows.

"The young adventurer collapsed on the ground. As luck would have it, a friendly party of higher level adventurers happened to be returning from an expedition that very night. They stumbled upon the scene of the massacre and thought that there were no survivors, but the young adventurer grabbed onto the leader of the party's foot as he passed by. They used a valuable potion on the young adventurer and took him to a hospital on the surface.

"The young adventurer spent 3 weeks recovering in that hospital, and the fees for treatment cost him 5 million valis. He was devistated. Not only had he failed his party, his comrades, his friends; he had lost any chance at marrying the girl that he had gone into the dungeon for that night in the first place. When he was discharged, he returned to the Familia home in shame. He had gotten his party killed for his own greed, and he wasn't even able to do what he had wanted to do.

"But his god insisted on a status update, so the young adventurer complied. He cried throughout the entire status update, the grief and guilt overwhelming him. When the status update had completed, his god told him that he had leveled up to Level 2 and learned a unique magic. The young adventurer didn't care. What point did reaching Level 2 have when his entire party was dead because of him? Then his god passed him a coin purse that felt like it weighed 20 pounds and a note. The god said 'This was supposed to be your wedding gift, but they wanted you to have this in case something happened to them.'

"The young adventurer opened the note. It simply read, 'We hope the two of you have a long and happy marriage, but we're sure 10 million valis will make that a bit easier.' It was signed by all of the other party members. It was then that the young adventurer realized that they had all pooled together such a large sum of money in secret to surprise him with on his wedding day. Tears wouldn't stop streaming down his face as he read the note and looked at the coin purse.

"That same day he went and presented the money and Level 2 status to the owner of the Ambrosia. The owner had no choice but to accept the marriage of his daughter. And so, the young adventurer and the daughter of the ambrosia were wed. And that is the end of the tale of the Ambrosia."

Berach sat in silence for a while. He wasn't really sure what to say. Time passed as the two of them stared out of the window, spacing out and pondering things. Berach looked over at the dungeon entrance at Babel Tower. He saw adventurers crying as they walked out, several people limping from injuries they had sustained. The dungeon had taken yet more victims today as well.

"I'm leaving Orario," Berach said at last.

"Take Elan and the children with you. This place has taken much from them as well. I'm sure she will join you."

"What will you do, Lord Tuan? I was the last member of your Familia now that Fraech is gone. Will you join us?"

Tuan thought to himself for a while. He gazed out into the city, and then he gazed out beyond the walls of Orario.

"No, I think I'll stay here in Orario. I believe that one day there will be someone who can break this endlessly repeating cycle of greed. And I want to watch it happen myself."

Berach stood up and left the room. He, too, wondered if one day someone would ever be able to break the cycle of this wretched city.