They walked back to the first offshoot that they had come across.

“This one makes as much sense as any.” Alec told her. “The path is narrower here. I won’t be able to maneuver as well. Try to pull any enemies we come across as close to the wall as you can while making sure you have an escape route. No need to get cocky just because things have been easy thus far.” Sam nodded at him.

“If we fight in these halls, I’ll have to pull them almost all the way to the wall. I’ll focus on overhand attacks just in case you are forced to get a bit closer than usual.” At this Alec nodded and they started on the new path. They didn’t encounter any enemies until the walls opened to a larger room. It held a deep blue pool whose bottom was not visible. Long silver fish with shimmering scales darted about beneath the surface of the water. The ground sloped gradually into the pool, and resting at the edge were three of the Crusterra. Each was stabbing at the speeding fish, attempting to impale them on their pointed legs. One succeeded, bringing its leg withing reach of its pincer. It grabbed the fish and shoved it whole into its maw.

“Do these things do anything other than eat and fight?” Alec asked.

“Doesn’t look like it.” Sam replied. “Three should be doable with your new sword. I can get their attention while you pick them off.”

“I don’t know. They may not pose a threat to us one on one, but three on two is a bit of a risk. You think you can handle two while I kill one?” Alec asked.

“Seeing as I just offered to take all three, yes, I do.” Sam launched herself forward, weapon slamming onto the nearest crab’s back. As one, all three shrieked and ran to devour the intruder. Sam stepped back and to the side, leading the creatures away from Alec and putting her back to the wall. It didn’t leave her an escape route, but she was confident that they could handle the three monsters without issue. The first crab reached her, and she began beating it back with wide swings. Standing head-to-head with these beasts was fine when it was just one of them, with more, even just two, keeping them focused on her while Alec thinned the herd was a better strategy. The second reached her, and she began to alternate between the two. She was aiming more for their pincers than their body now, minimizing the damage they could do to her.

The third beast was following its clutch-mates when it took a step and fell to the side. Alec had run toward its rear flank between two of its scuttling legs. He swung at the first, neatly bisecting it at the joint, but ended up cleaving the other one at more of an angle halfway between its bottom joint and the tip of the leg. The thing had raised its leg to take a step as he swung, causing his sword to badly miss its target. It fell towards him, the stone ground against its carapace making a shrieking sound similar to the creatures angered screams. He took the opportunity provided as the creature started to turn towards him. He stepped along the beast’s side, removing each leg as it came within reach. As he removed the last one, the creature simply lay there, its pincers and remaining legs flailing in the air. Alec took a second to observe it before leaving it and moving to take some of the stress off Sam.

Sam’s mace put another crack into the second crab’s claw. She had several scratches along her arms from attacks she couldn’t block. Fighting two of the beasts strained her attention more than she had expected. Four pincers clawing and clamping at her was too much at her current strength. She could bat away one, kick another, and dodge a third, but that left her in a position where she couldn’t avoid the fourth claw. Twice now she had been forced to rip her arm free before a claw could clamp around it. She saw Alec veer away from the beast he was fighting and position himself behind the crab on her right. As he began his attack, Sam hopped forward. She put all her irritation at not being able to avoid being hurt into her strike, sandwiching the crab between her weapon and the ground. She kept beating her frustration out on the beast’s shell until it started to dissipate into mist. She looked at Alec, saw him dancing around, taking a leg with each swing of his sword.

A moment later, Sam and Alec were sitting next to the pool of water. Alec had dispatched both remaining monsters with a quick thrust to the head.

“I need a shield. Any more than two of those beasts and I would be overwhelmed. Armor with sleeves would be nice as well. I’ll admit, I am a bit envious watching you take the creatures apart with such ease.” Sam admitted to Alec. When they had come into the dungeon, she had been the stronger one. She highly doubted he would have been able to take on one of the monsters alone, while she could easily dismantle it in the same situation. Now, after using his trait to turn a trashy sword into one that they wouldn’t be able to afford even after delving this dungeon for months, he sliced through them with no issue. She started to think more on what his trait could do. It hadn’t truly hit her until now how powerful he could become. She shivered when she thought of being on the wrong side of him in the future.

“We can do that. I was thinking of getting a used one from a vendor I know. We can get you some old metal armor as well, we just need the coin. If you don’t mind, I can repair the armor you are wearing and sell it. We can use the money the money from that for your armor and a better weapon.” Sam perked up at hearing this.

“Oh…I…I have to admit, I was becoming envious of you. I didn’t realize that you had been planning all of this for me. Your trait truly is amazing. That sword would go for at least several gold at market. I was worried you would just use your experience to outfit yourself and then leave me behind.” Sam’s eyes dipped to the floor at the admission.

“What! Why in the hells would I do that? We are a team Sam. As long as you wish to remain in this party, you and I are equals. I will not abandon my only friend for mere trinkets.” His voice rose without him realizing it, and Sam was taken aback at the sincerity and passion in his voice. She knew he didn’t realize it, but outside of her family, he was her one and only friend. Father hadn’t allowed anyone else to come to the farm, and she never left it. Outside of the weekly temple service, she had only had Alec’s visits to sate her social needs. Without him, she would have gone crazy with loneliness long ago.

“I’m your only friend?” She asked, taking him aback that he had said that.

“I mean, yeah. I always looked forward to seeing you when I went to do work for your father. Not many people liked to associate with a local gutter-rat.” He admitted.

“Oh, I didn’t… I never thought of you like that. You were always working, doing anything you could to earn your keep. Your drive was something else. Once you got a job, you went at it with a single-minded determination that was amazing to see. It didn’t matter if it was helping with the harvest or mucking out a stable. When you were told what was needed, you would get this look in your eye that said nothing would stop you from finishing the job. I don’t know of a single person, not even father, that works as hard as you do.”

Alec blushed as heard her description of him. After he had made the decision to do whatever it took to not only survive, but thrive, years ago, he hadn’t stopped to think about how it would look to others. Why would he? All that mattered was getting the money for food and his awakening. His awakening was even more important than the food as well. He had eaten much less than he should have.

“Thank you for that.” He relied. “No-one has said such positive things about me since my parents. Enough of this though, lets collect our loot and continue. We have already been in here for at least two hours. We should go for one more and then return to town. We can sell what we have gotten and work on gearing up.” He turned away and gathered the loot. They received a couple more claws, which seemed to be the most common drop so far, and a few pieces of chitin.

////Crusterra Chitin

Rarity: Common

Condition: Pristine

Durability: 10/10

Weight: .4 lbs

Lightweight chitin from the shell of an adolescent Crusterra. It is commonly used in low-grade armor and shields as it cracks easy and has low piercing resistance. It is a crafting material.//

“This doesn’t look very useful. Let’s keep it for now though.” Alec said as he put it away in his pack. After picking the last piece of leather up, they exited the dead end to try another path. They chose the next one on the same side of the hallway and found the same deep blue pool of water. It was being fished by only two crabs, which were quickly dispatched by Alec and Sam. Sam simply stood her ground and smashed her opponent, while Alec methodically removed enough legs to render his immobile before thrusting his sword into its head until it died.

“Level 3!” Sam yelled in excitement. “I am going to distribute my attributes in the same way.” Alec agreed, and she put one point in strength and two in Constitution.

“Crap.” Alec said, having a sudden realization. “This isn’t going to work.”

“What do you mean? A few more levels and better gear, and we should be able to take this floor without trying. Possibly the next. Should I put my points in something else?” Sam asked, confusion marring her brow.

“Huh? Oh, that’s not what I mean. I’m spending my experience points. You aren’t. Our levels are going to be moving further and further apart. Someone will notice. We are in a party, and we share experience equally. It won’t make sense if one of us is leveling faster than the other.” He thought for a second. “We need to get me to level 3 and then leave for the day.”

Sam saw the look on his face and decided not to argue. “Alright. How much experience do you need?” She asked him.

“154. Three more of the crabs. After that, let’s get out of here and sell our loot. I’m not sure what anything is worth, but worse-case scenario I will sell my sword to get us what we need.”

They made their way to the next room. It mirrored the others with its pool of darting fish. It must be part of some underground lake. Even dungeons followed certain rules. While the monsters here may be made of mana, the fish were probably actual fish. The landscape in a dungeon was also thought to be real as well. Only two Crusterra met them in this room, and it took a fourth room to get him his level. He put one point in intelligence, then conferred with Sam before putting another into strength and agility.

It didn’t take them long to get back to the portal. They had been moving carefully on the way in. Meaning slowly. They were hit by a wall of sound as they exited the dungeon.

“You get used to it.” A man in well-travelled gear said to him as he walked away from the portal. “First timers? You weren’t in there long.”

“We were in there plenty long. Had to be several hours at least.” Sam replied to the man. He didn’t seem to be talking down to them, just curious.

“Did about the same on my first run. Left early because we didn’t want to make the next party in line angry by taking too long. Found out after we left that we’d only been gone twenty minutes or so. The other team hadn’t even gotten here yet. One of the things they don’t tell you your first time is that each dungeon has a set time dilation. Time moves faster inside than out. This one is around five minutes to one. I reckon you’ve been inside for around thirty minutes or so.” The man bade them farewell as he and his party entered the dungeon.

“Well, that changes things.” Alec said. Sam agreed. They were slightly off put at the thought of things moving faster in one place than it did in another, but ultimately, there was nothing they could do about it, so they put it to the back of their minds.

They walked into the guild building, looking for the appraiser. What they found was a small room with a counter set into the wall. Behind it was a bespectacled man with a bored look on his face. He waved them over as they entered.

“Team Three?” He asked.

“That’s us.” Alec said. He pulled his pack off and began stacking their loot onto the counter as Sam did the same. All together they had killed eleven of the Crusterra. They had gotten nine claws and five chitin.

“Short dive, eh?” The man asked while quickly glancing through their pile. “I’ll give you twenty copper per claw. Thirty per hide. That’s 3.3 silver minus the guild’s fifteen percent. Total comes to two silver 82 copper. Agreed?”

Alec and Sam looked at each other. They hadn’t really expected more, but they were still disappointed. Alec agreed and took the money.

“At least we didn’t lose any money.” Sam said to him, trying to lighten the mood.

“I know, it’s more than that. I should have thought this through a bit more. Let’s talk back at the shop.”

------

After arriving home and letting his master know he was fine, Alec went to his room with Sam. He brought a stool for her to avoid a repeat of the last time.

“We need a plan.” He said immediately, having given it plenty of thought on the way back. “The level discrepancy got me thinking. If we gear you properly and send you into the dungeon alone, you could gain levels and loot. If you take it slow and are careful, we could make a decent amount of money. The first floor of the dungeon would be simple for you with better gear, and if the rest of it follows that theme you should be fine with a few levels. We can sell my sword and buy you some old gear. Then we go to a blacksmith and buy an ingot of the best metal we can. I will enhance your gear with that metal.” Sam laid out his plan. “After you dive enough to make us more money, I will make a weapon and armor for myself, even if I need to do it during a dive.”

“Are you really that afraid of people knowing your power?” She asked him.

“If I put myself into the shoes of a powerful maniac, I can easily imagine imprisoning and torturing people to force them to use their powers to my benefit. It is not something I would personally do, but I have heard stories of people who have been “conscripted” because of their trait. I will not be one of those people.” He said this with a steel in his voice that drove it home for Sam. “I also think we should find a shop keeper who would work as a front for our sales. I don’t know of any I trust right now, but a few days spent visiting the shops in town should give me a clearer view.”

“I don’t like the idea of going into the dungeon without you.” Sam told him. “I feel as if I will be benefitting off of you without returning the favor.”

“Not really. I will be making money off your labor. If you think about it, it’s no different than an employee contract. Though, we are more than that. Partners.” He said, instantly warming up to the idea. “We are partners. For now, I will do what I can to set up a business for us to sell the wares I enhance. You will be our strength. I will need someone to protect me if anyone unseemly gets wind of our plans.”

Sam’s cheeks flushed. “I love it.” And she did. The looks she got at temple were not pleasant ones. The people looked at her and saw only a farmer’s oafish daughter. She knew she wasn’t the most pleasant looking girl. She also knew that if she didn’t become strong enough, her only future would be as a farmer’s wife. That wasn’t a life she wanted. Alec offered her more. And she would take it.