Cless saw the miasma gush forth from the previously blocked vent. She saw it as thin wisps of black smoke floating in threads rather than clouds, splitting and spreading. She saw how Kate and Shad greedily breathed in these threads. Shad had his collar to protect him from Infernal Corruption, and Kate lived as a floor boss for quite some time so Cless wasn't too worried she'd get corrupted.

She noticed too that her guild members and herself also breathed some of these tendrils unwittingly. Probably miasma has no effect on people. The tendrils moved through the air as if blown by a strong wind, pumping the miasma from the vent further up the tunnels of the third floor of the Dungeon. Soon the whole floor would be teeming with miasma, attracting the strongest monsters to this room where one of them would become the boss.

The chomper was high leveled but focused everything in damage resistance and that miasma-fueled regeneration. Since it was immobile, it couldn't use its high level to boost its avoidance. She could see which parts of the monster were valuable. The acid glands at the bottom of the flower, the thorns that doubled as teeth, and the roots.

Silverfang's ears perked up and he pointed at the tunnel leading to the top of the ramp. "I hear chatter and laughter. We wasted too much time. The next party is coming."

Cless wanted to stay and see what kind of people travel through a Dungeon doing that kind of noise but she knew that meeting other delvers would be bad. She also noticed that she was leaving a clear path to be followed with her Light spells. She would have to reduce their duration so the delvers coming behind them didn't have such an easy time following her steps.

"We are blazing through the fourth floor. We might be fortunate to follow the miasma trail to the boss room, but we need to move fast and catch up with the lost time."

They went down the snaking tunnel leading to the fourth floor of the Dungeon. This tunnel had a wider area with remains of a campfire. The miasma density was very low and this was a defensible position. Probably a rest area. Cless' guild didn't need to rest and they pressed further down into the fourth floor. The same structure from the previous three floors. Straight walls, level ceilings, and floors imparting a boxy feeling to the tunnels.

The miasma flows in this floor were stronger and Cless led her guild in a blitz across the tunnels. The fourth-floor main monster were bipedal rocky critters with the overall shape of apes, from chimpanzees to gorillas. They had a varying amount of arms, from one to five and used these arms with deadly accuracy to deliver slow but lethal slams. Some plants also crawled on this floor, but the average level here was too much for the weaker monster species of the upper floors.

Earth magic and Venaris' sling ruled this floor. The size and number of arms were a direct function of the critter's level and stats. The stronger and sturdier ones were bigger, the nimbler among them had more arms. Tracking the miasma stream, even leaving golems behind to hold back the monsters on some occasions, they went with great haste toward the boss room. They found the same circular, high-arched ceiling with a ramp going down around the side.

There was a big rock on top of the vent. Squinting, Cless could see the outline of a gorilla. She buffed everyone and switched Kate's shared Skill to [Dragon Skin]. The slemuroth was sent ahead, clashing with the boss and soaking its damage. With four arms pummeling the huge monster, the Protection spell went down on the first assault and Cless dedicated herself to healing Kate. She reapplied Protection when necessary and soon Kate's trait allowed her to mostly ignore the stone gorilla's blows as a heavy massage. Cless switched back to [Perfect Might] and they assaulted the gorilla together.

The boss didn't change its target, too aggravated by Kate's nonchalant and unerasable grin as she soaked bone-crunching punches to the face like they were a child's caresses. Once the boss crumbled to a pile of rocks, Cless wondered. If Kate isn't nuked at the start of a fight, she is almost invincible. You could probably still take her out with non-damaging effects but from attacks? Forget it.

For defeating level 54 Granite Gorilla, you earned 880 kill and 3,000 proficiency Experience.

Shad was almost level fifty-one. His evolution would be soon within grasp. They went down to the fifth floor. More stone apes, a few plants and two additions. The first was packs of two or three-headed canines, something between a hyena and a wolf with overgrown teeth. Each pack had three to five monsters and they were very well-coordinated. The second addition was the Gloomling, an amorphous monster that could mimic the shape of their opponents.

After they defeated the first group of these mutts, Vic sighed. "I've never thought they could open their mouths that wide. I'd be sore if I tried."

Cless was happy the monsters on this floor were finally over her level threshold. They came to a four-way intersection on the tunnels shortly after a bend. Sounds of fighting and metal clashing rang from one corridor.

"Beware!" Silverfang warned. "Two groups are coming from each of these two sides."

Cless could smell the multi-headed wolves' carrion stench too. They were probably drawn to the fight noises, but they would need to cross the intersection, and Cless' party already left their scent on the air around the tunnels. She decided on a plan.

"Vic put your worst poison cloud around me at the center. Everyone stay back."

They backed off as Cless placed her buffs on herself and her dark broadsword.

"Bulwark. Protection. Mage Armor. Stone Armor. Flametongue."

Vic used his recently-acquired level 75 venomancer ultimate. A deadly Darkness-aligned poison. He used his Skill to convert the bolt into an area spell. The poison cloud would linger until the duration ran out.

"Heartmelt Fang!"

She wouldn't give the mutts time to think of getting away or attacking anyone else. As the venom wasn't a direct attack, Bulwark and Protection did little to stop the damage. Cless only suffered four percent of both damage and duration due to the synergy of her Skills, however. Her high health allowed her to withstand the damage for a while before she had to heal herself even though she was continuously re-envenomed by the lingering cloud.

"Song of the Accord."

The monsters showed up around the bend and rushed her from two sides. Cless dodged and attacked around the strongest three-headed wolves. They had no choice but to attack her for as long as she sang. The poison cloud claimed the lives of the weaker ones and after a while, she heard another set of growls and barks coming from the tunnel where a fight previously took place. The third pack of monsters that were fighting some delvers probably were inside her area of effect. The wounded additions to the fight were easily dispatched by the poison and flaming sword combo.

The poison ruined the carcasses, melting the flesh into slag and darkening the bones. The cloud dissipated as fast as it appeared and Cless healed herself, coughing and spitting the poison that gathered on her mouth and lungs.

For defeating 13 Grimfang Wolves, you earned 13,027 kill and 29,000 proficiency Experience points. You reached Master Instructor 20. Shad reached level 51. Evolution options are available. Check the tame monster's status for more information.

Cless pumped her fist, looked at her guild, and smiled. "Is everyone fine? We are moving out."

She sensed the miasma and pointed at the tunnel further away from the fight. She really didn't want to meet the delvers that were fighting these beasts. Jumping over the puddle of molten flesh and fur, they went away.

"Hey, wait!"

Too late though. The delvers were probably chasing the multiheaded canines. Cless turned around and found a group of badly battered and bleeding delvers. She remembered them. One of the groups that didn't mock her guild, they entered the Dungeon three hours before the Blind Eye. She turned around and studied the delvers.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Their apparent leader, a woman in plate armor with a typical sword-and-board setup sheathed her sword and bowed. Behind her five other disheveled delvers, sporting too many injuries. They should be in their last ropes if even the mage had such nasty bite marks.

"Are you a priestess? I'd like to thank you for your assistance. We would've won the fight but at least one of my friends would've died."

"Yes, I am a priestess," Cless told and they remained where they were. "Cless, guild master of the Blind Eye. Does anyone has broken bones or any serious injuries?"

"I'm Clara, captain of this party. We are with the Blooming Valkyries. You have my thanks. But I think we can get to the surface without your help."

"Is that Agatha's guild?" Cless asked, remembering the armored guild master that placed bids on the charters to milk coin out of Xander.

"Yes. You were the one selling charters, the one that beat that slime called Xander. You have the respect of every female delver, miss."

Cless nodded. "I too think you will be fine if you say so. Anyway, the group that came after us is just a few minutes behind. The way up should be clear." It seemed they became uneasy the moment she mentioned a second group behind them. She mumbled out loud, "What was the etiquette of delving groups again?"

Clara showed surprise but eased out fast as she noticed what was going on. " Of course you wouldn't know! You are new here. Delver groups avoid each other because you never know when the other party will try to murder you to steal your gear."

Cless held a breath. "That's terrible," she voiced her true opinion. "And wounded like that with four floors to climb, you'd be easy prey. Let me heal you."

"We are too injured," An androgynous mage behind Clara said. "You'd burn too much power on us. It is a debt we can't take."

"How about we make a deal? I'll fix you to the best of my ability, and you all promise to never harm us physically, mentally, socially or otherwise. You'll also tell everyone how we helped you and put out a good word for our guild."

Clara extended a hand. "I'll take that offer any day of the week! What about you?"

They agreed, and after binding them with her Skill, Cless went through each of the six delvers, fixing their injuries, mending their leather armor and clothes, and even throwing a Purify-Detoxify combo and buffing them with Protection for good measure. The mage girl was wide-eyed.

"How much Magic Power do you have, guild master? By my tallies, you just spent over a hundred on us."

Cless squinted at the robed girl and answered, annoyed. "Enough to fix another two Delver parties in worse condition than you, thanks for asking."

"Fuck off, Julie," Clara berated her mage. "Maybe you should stop wasting Stat points offsetting your negative Charisma and invest in Magic."

Too much information. Cless was pretty sure there can't be negative Stats. She had little interest in becoming involved in the dynamics of other groups even though she was curious about their relationship. She had to delve.

"Say hello to Agatha for me, Clara. Get to the surface safely."

With a smile, the armored girl waved at her. "Yes, we will. Thank you, Cless of the Blind Eye."

Cless was sure that her [Chick Magnet] Skill improved her encounter with Clara and even reduced Julie's reactions from hostile and envious to just suspicious. She felt good she was able to help decent delvers. Gathering her guild members, Cless resumed her way deeper into the Dungeon, following the flow of Miasma to its source.