We were left alone, allowing us to recover from our wounds. The potion Generon gave to Pim sped up the process a bit, but both of them needed some more time to recover. The next group of dungeon delvers arrived at the final room soon after, but we still weren’t in the best condition, so the spare golem handled them. It managed to injure a couple of them, and they chose to leave the way they came instead of descending to the next floor. They probably would have yielded some experience points for us, but I wouldn’t have been able to take them all on alone, not with my current power. I am not strong enough alone; evolution may not make me strong enough to face the dungeon master, so I’ll make Pim and Vulcan strong enough to do so. Their weapon mastery type skills experienced a significant jump in leveling progress after the fight with Leron, far surpassing the progress made through training in a comparable time. Weapon mastery skills must progress faster when they’re actually being used in combat against opponents with equal or greater skill. If we want serious progress on that front, we’ll have to start fighting the stronger parties of dungeon delvers.

  ?

  Eventually, Vulcan had fully recovered, and Pim had finally woken up, asleep for a few hours after getting knocked out. We had a bit of time until the next group would arrive, so we had time to train our skills further, which was what I was about to tell Pim right after he woke up, looking confused.

  ?

  “Heya, Willow, what happened? The last thing I remember was taking a stab at the big lizard, then the ground came at me real fast.”

  ?

  “We lost, but another dungeon master intervened and stopped Leron from killing us. Apparently, it was just supposed to be a test of our skills before Leron lost his temper.”

  ?

  “Hell of a way to test us, but you said another dungeon manager stopped him. Was it a hobgoblin that did it?”

  ?

  “Yeah, it was Generon, the Hobgoblin Brute. Do you know anything about him?”

  ?

  “Oh, yeah, he was the one who gave me my name. I met him one day in the dungeon while I was between packs, and he told me he was watching how I survived all of those intruders. He was impressed enough to give me my name, then I met you a bit later. We can trust him, so don’t worry about him too much.”

  ?

  “Okay, I hope we can trust him if we need anything. But I wanted to ask, you've reached level ten from our last fight with dungeon delvers. Do you have enough skill points to buy a skill?”

  ?

  “Skill points?”

  ?

  “Yeah, they should be below your MP in your status screen.”

  ?

  “Hmmm. Nope, don’t see anything there. I shouldn’t, since monsters can’t get any. We have to earn our skills, and that’s just the way it is.”

  ?

  “Are you sure? How do you know about skill points, then?”

  ?

  “I heard some intruders talking about it once when I was perched on the ceiling. They were talking about how they almost had enough points to ‘buy a new magic skill’. I couldn’t find anything from my status about skill points, and when I asked Generon if I could ‘buy’ a skill to survive easier, he just told me only humans can do that.”

  ?

  “Wait, you can understand humans without connecting through mana?”

  ?

  “Hehe, I told you I was a smart imp. I can’t talk to them, but I know what they're saying. They think they’re smart, but intruders like to yell out their plans, so it makes it easier to escape from them.”

  ?

  Huh, maybe Pim is one of the intelligent monsters that De’gon keeps an eye out for to make a dungeon manager. With his potential, he could become as strong as he is smart. So Generon was the one to name Pim, which explained why he went so far as to use a restorative potion on Pim. I don’t think his concern extends to Vulcan or me, but I don’t want to worry Pim. If I’m going to take on De’gon, his managers will probably get in the way of that. I don’t think Pim would betray me, but it’s probably best not to reveal my intentions with their relationship. If I can, I’ll try to find a way to isolate De’gon so that the issue never has to come up. If I can’t… I’ll think of something to keep Pim on my side. For now, all we can do is train and level up, then I can reassess our situation once one of us levels up.

  ?

  …

  ?

  A couple of days have passed now since we fought Leron. Neither of the dungeon managers has bothered us since then, but I doubt they haven’t been monitoring our actions. Our time has been spent switching between training our skills and the occasional fight with lower-level dungeon delvers. None of them were strong enough for the lower floors, so they didn’t provide too many experience points, but they were relatively easy fights. None of them lasted very long in each of their fights, even when they faced them head-on instead of ambushing them. I wanted Vulcan and Pim to get experience in fighting without the advantage of surprise, so I set it up that way in the last fight. Pim and Vulcan’s skills had progressed to the point of being higher levels than the dungeon delvers’, so they were superior in technique and sheer strength. Adding in occasional blinding support, those two were able to overpower a party of four. But it’s still not enough; we need to fight people who are as strong as we are to make meaningful progress. Currently, I’m at level seventeen, Pim is level fourteen, and Vulcan is level thirteen. I’m close to hitting level twenty, and my skills are continuing to progress. Soon, I’ll be able to find out if I can evolve, what I’ll evolve into, and if I’ll be strong enough with Pim and Vulcan to take on De’gon. Luckily, two stronger parties have finally arrived in the dungeon, one a couple of rooms down, and the other at the beginning. The time to evolve will be soon.

  ?

  Garrus POV:

  ?

  Garrus, the retired adventurer, mentor of the first victims of a certain wisp, had finally heard the news from the guild. A veteran party of dungeon delvers had found the remains of Eric, Lerissa, and Renee on the second floor of the dungeon in one of the connecting tunnels. Monsterbane incense had been left burning near their bodies to ward away slimes, but that would burn out in the next few days. The news was delivered by a messenger of the guild to his home, and as soon as he heard the news, something inside of him broke. He had lost friends in the past, too many to count, but those three kids were his first and only students. It was only at their constant asking for training that he eventually yielded to their wishes. So, he trained them, but stayed firm in his decision not to return to another dungeon, his missing hand a constant reminder of his failures. He believed they were strong enough to handle the first floor of the “Hill-Valley Depths”, and he was right, but youthful pride ended their adventure in doom.

  ?

  The only thought running through his head was that if he went with them to watch over their training, they would still be alive. Hatred of himself, hatred towards the dungeons that had taken so many lives, filled his heart. And with that hatred, determination, the determination to conquer his past and retrieve the bodies of his students himself. Going to his bed and pulling a chest from under it, he opened it. His old equipment from his adventuring days and a bag of gold rested in his chest, well-maintained despite his belief that he would never set foot in a dungeon again. Equipping his gear and carrying the bag of gold, he headed towards the Dungeon Delver’s Guild, prepared to hire the best party he could find in the guild that day. He was resolved to see this through all the way, itching to take out all of the anger and hatred he felt towards himself on the monsters of the dungeon. This path would inevitably lead him to the steps of the dungeon, and going down with his hired party, his path would soon cross with the one who took away those precious to him.