The word 'fuck' echoed off of the cave walls for a brief moment as Thomas stared at the person standing in front of him. Long straight black hair, brilliantly blue eyes, a small button nose, luscious red lips, and curves in all the right places. Her body was covered in clothing meant for travel and adventure, all in black. A soft cotton looking shirt, black leather armor fashioned after a corset but still functional, black pants that looked like leather, and boots that went up to her knees. At least they were flats and not ridiculous heels. On her left hip hung a longsword while a shortsword hung on her right hip. From her shoulders, a black cloak was draped almost like a regal cape. Only one word came to his mind as he looked at her, "Selena."

Selena was started at first when Thomas shimmered into view but smiled when she finally saw him, "I've been looking for you."

Thomas just stared at her for a short time trying to figure out how the hell she tracked him down when he didn't even know where he was. It didn't take him long to think of a possible reason though. He could act like a complete idiot sometimes and forget obvious things but that didn't mean he really was an idiot. He looked down at the only item that Selena had ever given him. The item he wore every day and feared to take off under any circumstances. If she had some way to magically track him there was no doubt in his mind that the ring he was wearing to hide his Unholy magic was it. At the moment though he didn't care at all. Her timing had been perfect for his escape. It couldn't have been better even if they coordinated it beforehand.

He shook his head and dismissed those thoughts. How she found him was irrelevant, she was here now and she could help him, "Selena, I need your help! Somewhere in these caves is my companion, Snowlily. She's a small white wolf. I have to find her before I can leave this place!"

Selena smiled softly, "Don't worry. Snowlily is perfectly fine. She's with my other companion helping to kill some of these scumbag pirates. Come on, let's catch up to them. They should be done routing the pirates by now."

Selena didn't give Thomas time to process what she just said and turned around to head back down the way she came. Thomas immediately followed after her while calling out, "You found Snowlily already? Is she alright? Where was she?"

Selena kept walking as she spoke over her shoulder, "It was more like Snowlily found us and yes, she is perfectly healthy and really looking forward to meeting you again."

"Wait, she found you? Did she escape before me?"

Selena laughed, "I think she might be smarter than you. She never got captured by these bastards. We were wondering why you never tried to escape. You thought the pirates had her, is that it?"

Hearing her words, Thomas was instantly enraged. Not just at the pirates, but at himself too. His rage and mana boiled causing a bright red aura to erupt from his body. His anger manifested as sheer magical force strong enough to shake the cave around him. His eyes glowed blue through the red haze as he stood there trembling with the desire to find every last pirate and rip them to shreds with his bare hands. Most of all though, he wanted to find Yorik and make him suffer.

Selena was shocked at the mana pressure coming off of Thomas. He was significantly stronger than the last time she saw him. The growth rate of immortals was really unbelievable to her. Not that long ago she was certain she could easily kill him if she wanted to but feeling how powerful his mana was now she no longer felt that certainty. It wasn't that she actually wanted to kill him. What was the point in killing someone that would just revive shortly after? It was more about her personal safety. Unlike him, she only had a single life and if he should suddenly decide he wanted to take it from her, would she be able to stop him anymore? It just meant she needed to be more careful when dealing with him. Before she didn't want to force him into anything, now she definitely couldn't.

Thomas ignored Selena and started to march out of the cave and make his way toward the dungeon. He could still hear fighting coming from that direction. Some pirates were definitely going to pay. With every step he took the walls of the cave shook from his aura pressing against them. Selena followed behind him without saying a word, just observing him and his attitude. It was pretty obvious that he did not like being tricked. She would have to remember that in the future.

As they moved down the path his aura did not decrease but continued to increase in intensity. The louder the sounds of combat became the more intense his aura became. As they drew near he switched the Spell Cannon to his left hand and drew his sword with his right. After a final corner, he saw the scene of the battle. The first thing he spotted was a furious ball of white fur launching spikes of ice thicker than a man's head at the pirates. Next to her was someone else he recognized and wasn't thrilled to see. All he had to see was the bouncy red hair, wolf ears, and tail to recognize Lexiana.

Seeing the annoying wolf-woman caused his aura to flare until his body was releasing as much mana into it as it could. The very air around him seemed to shake with the power he was generating. When everyone saw him and the raging red aura around his entire body, the fighting stopped for a brief moment for everyone but Snowlily. She could smell Thomas's anger and where it was directed so she didn't stop in her attacks even when everyone else froze. Ice spears managed to rip into two pirates before everyone came back to their senses and returned to fighting.

Lexiana was moving swiftly through the pirates using long-bladed knives to slice them to ribbons while Snowlily used her Ice magic as cover fire. The two made a good team as they fought the hapless pirates. It seemed that all the high rankers had already retreated and left behind the less powerful fighters. Before Thomas could step into the fight, Selena lifted her hand and pointed it at the pirates while shouting, "Duck!"

Lexiana and Snowlily swiftly got out of the way as red flames roared to life around Selena's hand. Just after the two got to safety, Lexiana unleashed her spell and sent a ball of flames roaring into the pirates. As the pirates tried to scramble away the flames detonated into an earth-shaking roar that caused the cave to tremble. It was pretty obvious that the previous explosions he'd heard were all from her. He decided to follow her lead. His weapons vanished into his inventory. He lifted both of his hands with the palms facing up while mana gathered and burst into a scorching blue color.

Snowlily, Selena, and Lexiana all looked at Thomas in surprise when the waves of heat rolled off of his hands. Selena made the wise decision to get behind him while Snowlily and Lexiana fled as far from the pirates as they could get. The moment he felt they were safe enough he released the flames at the pirates. Waves of blue flames flew through the air and drove into the area the pirates were trying to retreat to. Unlike the explosive spell Selena cast, his was a long continuous stream of flames that roasted half a dozen pirates at the same time. Their screams were music to his ears.

When the flames died down only badly burned bodies remaining of the pirates. Thomas lowered his hands and let out a deep breath. The aura around him vanished as Snowlily came trotting over to him. Instantly he dropped down onto his knees and pulled her into a tight hug while he smiled happily, "I missed you. I thought these bastards had you locked in a cage somewhere."

Snowlily nuzzled against him while he ran his hands through her soft fur and checked for any injuries. She seemed to be in perfect health and happy enough in his embrace. They stayed together for a few minutes before he finally released her with a warm smile, "I'm so glad you're alright. Now, time to mess with the pirates a little more."

He turned to look at Selena and Lexiana. He was still surprised to see both of them. He'd thought for sure he'd ditched Lexiana a long time ago and he had no idea why Selena would track him down. He wasn't going to complain though. They'd come at the right time and it had let him get free and reunite with Snowlily. Questions could wait for after they'd left the pirates caves. He climbed back to his feet and addressed the two women, "I heard the pirates shouting about heading to the dungeon. We'll go in that direction and drive them all inside of it. Once they are you two can guard the exit while I set out a few surprises for them to find after we leave."

The two women nodded and chose to save the talking for later as well. Together the group of four followed the tunnels until they arrived at the dungeon entrance. No more pirates seemed to be around, the survivors likely having hidden in the dungeon until the teams out raiding ships had returned. Thomas wasted no time and pointed at the entrance of the dungeon, "You two, guard this place. Snowlily, stick with me. I don't want to let you out of my sight for a good long time."

The group split as Thomas dictated. Thomas made his way through the tunnels in the direction of the room he assumed to be Yorik's. He hadn't been able to kill the man in person but that didn't mean he couldn't fuck with him from afar. From within his inventory, he retrieved two of the claymore mines. He'd built them to cover his escape but they were going to be used for payback instead. The first mine was placed beneath the bed with the explosive face pointed toward the ceiling. The wire was attached to the edge of the quilt covering the bed nearest to the foot of the bed. The idea was to set the claymore off underneath Yorik when he snuggled under his quilt and pulled it up a bit.

Thomas took a moment to look over the weapons and armor hanging from Yorik's wall. They looked like trophies from combat. Some very clearly had battle damage while others looked like they'd never been used at all. Anything that looked decent, he stole. He didn't take time to do a full analysis of the items he was taking. If they looked good, useful, or maybe made of decent materials then he stole them. He only considered it a partial payment for his services, but it was better than nothing.

The second claymore mine was set up in a more traditional spot, the entrance to the bedroom. The first person to cross the threshold would be blown to bits. He just hoped it would be Yorik. Snowlily watched him with curiosity prompting Thomas to explain what the items were and what they would do when triggered. Her tail wagged at the explanation so he assumed she understood. She really was rather intelligent and was only limited by her available methods of communication. He really looked forward to the time when he could converse with her.

After setting the traps in Yorik's room, he made his way back to where he'd found stashes of their supplies. He set up one claymore in the food room only the mine was pointed at the piles of food instead of trying to kill whoever entered. When the mine was tripped by the first person to enter the room it would blow the majority, if not all, of the food into scraps. The next mine was set in the supply room with all the bedding, pillows and cloth that the pirates had. He did the same thing as he'd done with the food and pointed the mine for maximum destruction to the supplies instead of the person triggering the trap.

With those four mines set, Thomas led Snowlily into the workshop he'd spent so much time working inside of. He stole more materials from here, especially any of the ores he'd dug out of the wall himself. Though he'd managed to get most of that inside of his inventory before even heading into the dungeon. He also stole half of the Firestone ore that was supposed to be used for the grenades. Half was a fair amount and left him the other half to fuck around with. He carefully removed the remaining Firestone Ore from the box and set the claymore down inside of it facing up. The Firestone that was left was returned to the box and placed on top of the claymore. The tripwire was quickly fused to the lid with just a little bit of slack. The first person to pull the lid off and check the contents was going to have a very bad day. Probably Clad.

He collected his blower from the forge and kept it away. He had one more claymore to place and he had a nice idea of where to put it. He dug into the coals sitting in the forge, refilled and ready for use by Clad most likely. There he buried the last claymore mine facing down. When it detonated it should seriously damage or destroy the forge making it impossible to use. He didn't even need to use the tripwire, he just buried it under the coals. When they were lit the heat should be more than enough to detonate the Firestone Gem powder inside of the mine. The first person to light the forge was going to have a bad day, probably Clad again.

With all of his mines set, more to annoy than to kill, Thomas and Snowlily returned to the entrance of the dungeon to meet up with Selena and Lexiana. He made a gesture for them to lead the way, "We should get out of here. I left a few hidden surprises for the pirates to make sure they suffer even after we've left the place. I assume you all arrived on a boat or something similar so we can make a quick escape?"

Selena just gave him a coy smile and started to lead the group through the tunnels back towards the lagoon that Thomas had only seen when he first arrived. He looked down at Snowlily happily trotting by his side and smiled happily. He could finally leave this fucking place. He had many ideas for the next things he was going to make and a few friends he could now contact to harass the pirates. Things were finally starting to look up once again.