The whole group didn’t rush in, three of the knights didn’t enter, manning the situation with locals instead. They were really meant to keep collateral to a minimum considering who was fighting inside. This was great for Mash, especially with his wide-range attacks. Although he would still need to hold himself back until the kids themselves were rescued. Proceeding carefully they started to enter the orphanage, with no hesitation that the visit wasn’t going to be peaceful. Mash was not the only one to notice the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. As soon as he passed the fence, the very air seemed to shift in Mash’s eyes. It felt different, the house itself feeling even stranger. He couldn’t quite place his finger on what was wrong but several of the knights were resting their hands on their weapon’s hilt. The biggest issue was that the strange feeling was familiar and was diverting much of Mash’s attention to figure it out. It was like an itch he needed to scratch but couldn’t reach. He ignored the feeling for now since they were approaching the main entrance. It was a set of double doors on a lightly raised wooden platform. A small set of steps lead up to it, and Mash was surprised to see that part of the building hang over the doors. His feet creaked against the wood beneath, and he felt that the building was very old. That thought only worried him more as he considered the state of the children. Still, he proceeded up the steps, each sound only firming his resolve. Even beneath the overhang, However, Mash continued to feel the stares that followed them and shivered slightly at the feeling. But then, he felt something within his mana territory and shot his head upwards trying to understand how they were watching him. What he saw was a face that was partially carved into the wood of the ceiling. Although, its proportions were completely inhuman, as overly large eyes looked down on him, from a face without a nose. It smiled when it met his eyes, the mouth growing so large and wide, that its smile actually cut into its eyes. The wood creaked as it happened, the dark wood contorting to let him see it in all of its horror. Mash shivered from the look the face gave him, the smile stuck in his memory like a tick. Mash almost attacked, but stopped himself, instead of alerting his brother of the face. When he moved to show his brother, the face melted into the wood leaving behind a small trail of contortion. It was not a pleasant look, and Mash felt like he kept seeing the strange face from the corner of his vision. He knew that didn’t make sense because he would sense it with his skill if that was the case. His brother clearly trusted Mash though and had told the knights to keep an eye out. After which, his brother pushed the doors open, and was clearly surprised to find them unlocked. Mash regretted stepping in, as his feeling of danger was screaming at him when he heard a greeting from inside. “Welcome to the orphanage. Are you here looking to adopt or-“ They spoke in unison and sounded quite pleasant, but he cut them off anyway. At first glance, Mash looked over the two carefully. They were by far the most nondescript humans he had ever seen. Simple robes for clothing, and each possessing identical long hair. The brownish hair hung behind them, running down the length of their back. Mash didn’t give the women a second thought as Priscilla, figured out what was going on. “This is a dungeon; they are not of your world.” Immediately, Mash saw the prepared outline change, shift into an attack meant to rip the arms and legs of the people in front of him. Not hesitating in the slightest, he launched forward following through with Priscilla’s guidelines. He cut off their greeting, aiming his attacks to kill the one further away, and incapacitate the one nearer to him. It somewhat worked, as his surprise attack did manage to decapitate the one further to the right. The closest one though reacted as the first blade plunged into its leg before swinging to try and cut them both off. It did try to counterattack, its arm morphed oddly as it held it towards him. Nothing happened though as Arthur, intercepted the arm, cutting it off and freezing the thing from the neck down. For his brother to react quickly meant that he started to move just after Mash did. Again, he was grateful for the trust his family put in him. Mash felt the rush of a level up from the first creature, which let him know that it had died. The system was surprisingly helpful in informing someone of that, and he was excited by the level up. It either meant he was close after the ants, or these things were a lot stronger when they weren’t surprise attacked. Mash knew they weren’t human now, as the decapitated head had left no trail of blood. In fact, as he stared at the neck, he realized that it seemed entirely inhuman. The shape and position of the bone were all wrong, not to mention that he saw no throat or veins. He wondered what the things were, only growing more curious as the other being crushed its own brain. Its head had bulged unnaturally, parts of its hair and an eye falling out as the bones in its skull contorted to crush the brain. A goop of flesh poured out of its mouth and ears, but still lacked any semblance of blood. Everyone was disgusted, and one of the knights, and all of his friends threw up from the sight. Mash managed to keep himself from throwing up, knowing that he has done more disgusting things, remembering some of the things he had eaten. His brother was eyeing him, obviously waiting for an explanation. “Priscilla could tell they were not human, and that they were monsters. Like from a dungeon. Also, she said that this building is part of a dungeon.” Mash replied unhesitatingly, knowing that he had acted solely on Priscilla’s judgment. Ever since their connection grew it was impossible for them to lie to one another, and their intentions always came across with the messages. So, he knew he could trust Priscilla, and attacked following her message. Even if she was wrong, all that would mean was that he killed two horrible people. That was something he could live with. “Good, don’t hesitate when she tells you then. It seems she is the most suited for identifying those things.” Mash nodded at his brother's words, adopting the role of a soldier like his father had taught him. With that Mash found himself standing in the front with his brother, ready to lash out at any targets. He had several bladed tails preformed, and all he would need to do was launch them at any target he felt within his mana territory. They did run into another two groups of adult monsters, each group contained two to four nondescript people. They showed no mercy in attacking when Mash did, and they were able to handle these things easily enough. The bigger issue for Mash was that he was able to catch the strange face a few more times, its smile having grown so big it split its eyes in half. Each of the eyes moved to follow his movements, but he ignored them as they proceeded. It wasn’t hard to know where to go as they could feel the unnatural aura emanating from below. So, they walked down a hallway clearing each room as they headed to where the staircase would be. As Arthur opened the next door, Mash did hesitate with his attack. It was a childlike creature this time, and he hesitated as he thought about how dungeons were really just portals to other worlds. It was one thing to kill adults who were experimenting on children, but to ruthlessly kill children felt wrong. The mistake had cost him, and even though he managed to parry the blow slightly, it still cut into his side. The child’s arm had grown rapidly launching forward with bladed fingertips. His brother reacted quickly killing the child-like monster, but Mash had already been hit. At first, he thought it would be fine, but the pain quickly intensified as it feel like his whole body was twisting around the injury. The pain he felt as his organs and ribs bent, caused him to fall to the ground. He screamed for Red or Luke and managed to look towards Arthur before shutting his eyes from the pain. Even curled into a ball his brother knew what to do and pushed Mash up to his feet as he cut off the section of his side. Smashed organs and broken bones fell along with the flesh, and Mash clenched his teeth as blood filled his mouth. Mash only had a moment to worry about his life, before his friends came to his aid. Luke and Red moved quickly, starting to heal the wound immediately, their soothing magic dealt with the pain first, and compounded the effects of his earrings. Finally, feeling the pain subside, Mash checked his condition with Priscilla and found that she had taken part of the pain herself. She had shared in his suffering and partially lessened what he experienced. Knowing what he experienced was only half the pain, he realized just how dangerous these things were. That also explained how he had gained two levels since entering the dungeon and was certain his friends were experiencing similar rewards. Arthur sent one of the knights to call for higher rank reinforcements. He had tried to get Mash and his group to leave as well, but Mash refused. Not because he was eager to fight to the death, or for the levels, but because he wanted to see this through to the end. His brother only agreed because he was worried about the time. Whoever ran this place knew that they were there, and he was worried that they might start killing the children to hide whatever was happening here. Mash worried for Luna who was with the children but remembered that Alex was one of the highest-level people he had ever met, and she had called for more support from the church. Luna would be fine, he needed to focus on the present situation. They moved more quickly now killing monsters without any hesitation. Mash was designated as the one to deal with the child-like monsters since he was the only one who could confidently know that they weren’t human. Arthur dealt with the adults, and Jill helped him with her Magic. With this formation, none of them hesitated and plowed through groups of the things as they made their way to the staircase. The first group went down quickly, as Mash cut through most of them with a wide-range attack. He was venting his anger a bit and didn’t mind being a little ruthless. These disgusting things were experimenting on children. The thought kept his rage-fueled, as he killed monster after monster. It took several minutes to get there, but once they made it, they realized something was odd about the descending staircase. Mash unconsciously started looking around for the face and found it looking back at him. The smile had opened now and he could see the lines for its teeth engraved into the wood. They were jagged and misshaped, and there were far more than he would see on a normal human. It made him shiver as it seemed to enjoy letting Mash find it. Pushing the thing out of his mind, he focused on the staircase. It was long, but the light cut off unusually as he stared further into the darkness. Mash recognized the sight and grew even more confused.