Valentia had been passing some chicken to Eli when a bright blue light and explosive popping noise from the guest room stole their attention. Expecting to find a thief in the process of stealing from an S class the pair were shocked to find the man himself throwing a jewel encrusted ring into a waste bin.

“Everest sir! What was that light? And, how are you here?!” asked the panicked Eli.

Turning as if he’d just noticed them come in Everest casually replied “Just activated my Contingency Ring. No problem.”

“I’m sorry... what’s a Contingency Ring?” Valentia asked, eager to gain insight into an S class’s personal equipment.

Gesturing to the tossed ring Everest responded “It allows the wearer to die once per charge and appear where the Sibling Ring is in a new body. Real handy at dispelling curses, covering long distances, and surprise attacks. My Sibling Ring was in that pouch you brought here for me.”

A chill ran through the knights. Both understood the implication of the ring’s activation but only Valentia could bring herself to ask.

“Does that mean... you died in the Unnamed Dungeon sir?”

Bent down on the floorboards untying his boots Everest responded without looking up “Yeah I did.”

Confused at the pair’s horrified faces he quickly added “No, not like that! I killed myself as a present!”

This would be a rough night...

---

By morning Everest had explained his experiences to Valentia and Eli as best he could under the Truth Circle. He eventually claimed to have killed himself to skip the travel time back to Brooksdam but neither knight really believed him. Without further evidence though they could only take the man at his word.

The biggest discovery of the night though came to even Everest’s surprise. He wouldn’t give any description of the 2nd floor since “he wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise” but it left quite the impression regardless.

“Everest sir, you said that ring generates an identical body for you correct?”

“That it does captain. Quite the nifty little trinket, costs an arm and a leg though. Not that that’s much of a problem once you have one! Ha-ha!”

Lifting a finger to point at his face Eli asked “So... was that scar on your chin from before or... did it mess up?”

“Huh?” he said before walking over to the nearest window to check where the captain was pointing.

For a brief moment the man was silent, but seconds later he burst out laughing “Incredible! That girl really did manage to hit me! Left a mark to!”

Exchanging looks with Valentia Eli inquired further “Did a girl really manage to puncture your legendary skin sir?”

Still inspecting the new mark through the glass with a smile he replied “Oh yes! Quite the fight I had! I won in the end of course, but it cost me around 10% of my mana. No spoilers but the 2nd floor boss is one hell of a fighter! That was a battle I’ll happily wear a scar from! Her little sis isn’t something to sneeze at either! Must have forgotten to heal up before offing myself. Contingency Rings work like potions you see. Anything left prior to use will scar over instead of regenerate completely. Not a bad look though, don’t you think?”

The captain began to pale as he realized the unspoken implication. Everest was called The Mountain due to his legendarily hard skin and incredible constitution. Even a direct swing from the captain himself would likely bruise rather than cut. So whatever lay at the end of the second floor... Was capable of scarring an S class.

---

Everest had greatly enjoyed his time in Brooksdam and the Unnamed Dungeon. It had been a welcome detour from his current objective. That being to cull the growing Kraken population around the Folla archipelago. Not a terribly difficult job but one that would take a while since he’d be searching an entire stretch of ocean by himself.

It was while swinging his pouch around his ring finger while whistling to an imaginary tune that Everest passed a large rock. He did in fact notice the incredibly powerful figure sitting on it with [Invisibility], but he decided he’d play along with their attempt at intimidation. Sure enough, soon as he had passed the rock he heard a vaguely female voice call out.

“S class adventurer Everest “The Mountain” I presume?”

Not bothering to stop Everest kept walking and replied “Yup.”

Seemingly caught off guard by his nonchalant nature the girl tried to regain control over the conversation.

“I have a question for you if you don’t mind.” She said flying up to his side with her hair flowing behind.

The revealed girl was very young in appearance. Perhaps only 14 or 15 with bright red hair and dressed in a slightly too large magic robe. But Everest knew better. Someone giving off such a powerful aura must have been over 100 years of age or more. And since his artifacts weren’t reacting, the girl wasn’t using any illusionary magic. Meaning she likely wasn’t human. In all likelihood her appearance was meant to appear frail to lure enemies into a false sense of security.

“Shoot.” He replied cautiously.

Hovering directly in front of his face with her piercing bright blue eyes she asked with a vaguely threatening undertone “Did you or did you not recently delve into the Unnamed Dungeon in Brooksdam?”

“Sure did.”

“Then is it currently under your enslavement?”

“Nope.”

Confusion darted across the girls face before a smirk emerged.

“I see... You must have made friends with it. And since none of my men in Brooksdam have heard anything that implies that you are under an oath of some sort. Otherwise you would have no doubt mentioned something to the adventurer’s guild in warning. Rumor has it you have a soft spot for rookies.”

Stopping as to not run into the girl Everest put out a bit of his own [Intimidation] and slowly answered “Who’s to say?”

Allowing him to begin walking past as she flew to his side the girl replied “Who indeed...”

Following her statement the pair continued walking for another minute or so before the girl asked another question while floating on her back.

“What would it cost for you to break your oath? I’m assuming you’re under the effect of a Greater Truth Circle? Or maybe a Commitment Ring? Although those aren’t as popular nowadays compared to the Zone of Recompense I suppose. Regardless, whatever you are under I guarantee I have the remedy to break it.” She said holding out a black piece of chalk that could nullify Truth Circles and a small red hammer capable of cracking Commitment Rings.

Everest continued on in silence.

Clicking her tongue she said “Tsk. You’re one of those honor bound men aren’t you? Those idiots always cave in eventually though. Especially under torture... Hehehe...”

“Uh huh.” Everest said disinterestedly, not falling for the taunt.

“Fine then. I’d rather not result to violence but if you’re being so difficult I guess I don’t mind.”

“You think that’s a good idea guild master? Even against you I feel pretty confident. No matter how many mages you have hiding in these plains you’ll take heavy losses regardless of whether you emerge victorious.”

“For what’s at stake if I lost power over that dungeon I’m willing to lose some pawns my dear Everest.”

“I see. You wish to become its owner then?”

Flying backwards while floating on her stomach she nonchalantly replied “No not at all. If I did that it would greatly reduce its efficiency. I’m sure you know the statistic that dungeons lose 65% efficiency when enslaved but my private scholars believe it could be as bad as 80%. Not to mention the extremely limited control dungeon masters truly have over their cores. Did you know that most can’t even introduce new creatures straying too far from the original creature template? No... Keeping the core at full capacity is much more preferable. Otherwise I’d have stolen the thing weeks ago.”

“Think you could do that?”

“Would you stop me?” she said sitting up.

“As of right now? Yeah, I would get involved.”

“Only right now?” she said putting her small hands to her face in a cup.

“I’ve taken quite the liking to that place. One day I’ll be going back to challenge whatever shows up on its lower floors. And since I want to see those, I can’t let it become enslaved now can I?”

“I see. You want it to build you a personal playground.”

Smiling to himself Everest replied, “Not how I’d put it exactly but... close enough.”

A wave of silence passed between the two powerhouses until the girl replied, “So when would you allow me to act unimpeded?”

“Once it has at least 5 floors. By that point it should be in a position to put up some resistance.”

Tilting her head in feign cuteness the redhead asked “Only 5? That seems like a pretty low number for a dungeon. Although I guess for a sentient dungeon that may be enough given the complex floor designs I’ve been hearing about. Or I could always...”

She instantly teleported into the sky above and effortlessly conjured a quarter mile wide sun of blue fire with one hand “I could take my chances and kill you now.” She yelled down over the pulsing mana “I’m sure a good necromancer could get the information out of you. I could even go and threaten the dungeon into submission today.”

Sighing with a crack his neck Everest stepped out of his Size Reduction Boots, growing to his full 30 foot size. In his true giant form he felt he could at least match the mage guild leader in strength.

“You could try.” He said, standing eye to eye with the guild master.

As the titans eyed each other down the world itself braced for the natural disaster that would be their exchange. It was not unheard of for the landscape of entire regions to change when S class fighters met in battle. The Folla Archipelago hadn’t always been a cluster of islands...

After several tense moments however the mage absorbed the fireball into her palm and calmly said “Fine. I’m also interested in what else this dungeon can come up with, so I’ll agree to you terms. Until the 5th floor is reached I won’t go so far as to personally enter Brooksdam. But- “she held up a finger “-when that time comes you can’t interfere.”

“Of course.” Everest said he returned to his more comfortable 9 foot height, feeling his skin compact into its usual toughness.

Without another word the two beings separated. The guild master disappearing in an instant back to her island of mages and Everest down the road towards his next adventure.