Mud stopped immediately at the noble-looking man's order.

The man looked down at the golem and smiled. "You're that fellow Executioner Mud, from the tournament. That priest called you a construct. Interesting. Very interesting."

While their stances appeared casual, Mud noted that the members of the other group stood in locations that would allow them to intercept any attempts to attack the young noble.

"I happen to know a thing or two about constructs. My father dabbled in enchanting, you know. Clap your hands."

As instructed, Mud slapped together its two muddy paws.

Placing a hand on his head and let out a short laugh. "It's true! Oh heavens, it looks like my luck is good tonight. My own golem, and free of charge!"

A blur quickly passed the noble's neck, and a moment later a line of scarlet appeared along his throat.

"Agh?" A gurgling scream left his mouth as he clutched his hands to his neck, trying to slow the flow of blood. Beside Mud, Jabrax licked a drop of blood off of her middle finger.

The casually dressed man stumbled back, and his two shield bearing bodyguards placed themselves between him and the group. Jabrax breathed a puff of purplish-red gas towards them, but the left guard dispersed it with a wave of his shield.

Shocked by the sudden shift to battle, Novus fumbled to lift her weapons into a fighting stance. Cob, by contrast, immediately leaped to the attack, circling around the guards and swinging in a wide arc towards the noble. His attack was deflected by the daggers of the enemy team's female scout, and the two were soon locked in rapid melee combat, steel and sparks flying. As tiny wounds began to form across Cob's chest, his hyena laugh soon echoed through the room.

Weaving easily between the attacks of the two shieldbearers, Jabrax kept them at bay with rapid unarmed strikes. Behind them, the noble, still clutching his bleeding throat with one hand, used the other to extract from a pouch and quickly drink a shimmering rainbow-colored potion. As he finished the bottle, the bleeding slowed to a stop.

By now, Novus finally got a firm grip on Ego and moved to assist Jabrax. "Why are we fighting these guys? What's happening?"

"Save your questions for after we're done. Shut up and fight", hissed Jabrax in reply. With a look of concern on her face, Novus did as instructed. With the assistance of Ego, she was even able to strike a blow on the shieldbearers shoulder.

Finally releasing his throat, the noble forced a croaking voice out of his mouth. "Golem, I order you to-" His instructions were cut short as Mud finally struck.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Mud had been amassing energy for a force bolt. Considering the strength of the equipment on its opponents, Mud estimated that it would not be a fatal attack. Mud had amplified the power as high as it thought was possible without it being instantly fatal. If the attack left them dying, it would still be fine as long as somebody else finished them off.

The force bolt struck the right swordsman's shield directly with the force of a cannonball, rocketing him backward and directly into the noble. Their tangled bodies soon after crashed into the cave wall behind them, leaving the pair in a sprawling heap.

Momentarily distracted by the blast, the remaining shieldbearer was struck down by a weight-increased overhead strike from Ego.

The scout, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, attempted to disengage and flee, but found the passage out blocked by an unseen force. Jabrax grinned in satisfaction, and attacked her simultaneously with Cob. Soon after, she was overwhelmed.

With that rapid melee, the enemy group lay unconscious on the cave floor.

"So, you want to explain what that was about now?" Novus looked wearily at the blade in her hand, now stained with red blood instead of the green of monsters.

"We're not done yet." Walking over the unconscious body of the noble, Jabrax reached down. With a swipe of her hands, his neck was split open, and a river of red flowed out.

"What are you doing!?" Novus released her sword and dropped to kneel next to the body of the bleeding noble. Desperately, she tried to block the bleeding with her hands. It was useless.

"He's dying! You killed him! Why, why?" Tears flowed freely from her eyes as crimson gushed between her fingers.

"Why? Hehe, isn't it obvious?" Cob leaned casually against the cave wall, wiping off his blade with a clothe. "That rich kid knew something the boss wanted to keep secret. Something that would be dangerous if it got out."

Novus looked up furiously towards Cob. "You can't just murder somebody to keep a secret!"

"I think you mean 'we' little girl. You fought right beside us." Cob smiled mockingly down towards the tearful swordswoman.

"I... I didn't think you would kill him..."

Cob shrugged exaggeratedly. "Hoh, so you just attack people with a sword without meaning to kill them? If you go crying to the guard about this, you'll be put to the block just the same as us, you know."

Novus' face blanked, all light seeming to vanish from her eyes as she looked down at the slowly paling corpse below her.

Slowly, Jabrax went around the area and killed the remaining three guards. This time, Novus did not protest. She simply sat there, face blank. Eventually, she did move, to vomit to the side.

"Again with that. You need to build some backbone or you'll never survive in this business, you know?" Cob patted the girl on the back, and helped her to her feet.

Already, the dungeon began to dissolve the four bodies. Mud moved to loot them, but was stopped by Cob. "Whoa, don't take anything. That's a rookie mistake. It can be traced back to you easily. Just let the dungeon eat it. Everyone will think they got killed by a monster."

Jabrax nodded in agreement. "He's right. That rich kid had some nice stuff on him, it's a shame, but... it's not worth the risk."

Mud backed away, following their advice. Instead, he headed towards another tunnel.

"We will continue hunting."

Jabrax looked with a twisted expression towards Novus. "I'm not sure if this one is up to it. She looks pretty spooked."

"Yes, that is a problem." Mud turned towards Novus. Although she was now standing, a listless look still marred her face.

Unfortunately, Mud did not have skills in psychology or leadership. At this time, only one easy solution occurred to the golem. Weaving its mind mana, the golem once again cast the spell that made her more susceptible to influence. Then, it spoke to her.

"Novus, killing those humans was required. It was for our own safety. You don't need to be upset about it."

"I don't need to be upset about it..." Novus slowly repeated back, a slight slur in her voice.

"If they left here alive, we would all be in danger. They were going to attack us. This was just a preemptive strike."

"Right, we did nothing wrong..." Novus mumbled back.

"I always have your best interest in mind. You can always trust me."

"I can always trust you..." Some light seemed to come back into her eyes.

Satisfied with its work, Mud released the spell it had cast on Novus. "Are you ready to fight more monsters now?"

"Yes, I can still fight, sir. I'm sorry I hesitated back there, I won't let you down again, sir." Novus looked wearily towards Mud, seeming to be expecting something.

Mud remembered its order, some time ago, to not disappoint her. Was she going to be disappointed if Mud didn't say the right thing now? After thinking about it for a short time, Mud finally had an idea. "You did fine for a first time. Just do better in the future."

"Yes, sir!" She seemed pleased with that, and so they proceeded.

With the situation resolved, the group continued to hunt monsters for a while longer. Eventually, the long-awaited event happened. Mud reached level 10 in Mud Golem.

As the level took effect, Mud immediately felt a new sensation. Its soul seemed to boil with strength, unable to contain the power now packed tightly within it. With just a bit of effort, Mud knew a great change could be made. However, the change would likely not be instant. Like the evolving Giant Caterpillar, the evolution would mark a time of increased vulnerability. A safe place was needed for the ascension.

Although it could have its party watch over its body while it transformed, there were too many unknowns. Instead, it would be wiser to perform the change at a truly secure location. Turning towards its party, Mud sent a message. "We will return to the surface and make for the Cithlar Estate."