“Killing these slimes is tiring but at the same time, so satisfying.” I chuckled as I pocketed another mana stone.

“I will soon need a storage item of some sort but even the cheapest one costs five hundred points,” I complained happily. No one would be angry at the idea of being inconvenienced by having too many mana stones. My pockets were starting to feel heavy.

‘I walked at least one mile inside the canyon. If I am not wrong, I should now be right in the middle of the slimes’ territory. But that also means that there is a chance for ogres to appear.’

All of a sudden, I stopped in the middle of the canyon and listened attentively. ‘Did I wrongly hear something?’

I was certain that I just heard a faint growl in the distance. I closed my eyes and focused. Without the sound of my footsteps on the dry brown rocks, I was able to pick up the sound of a battle taking place nearby.

‘It must be the group before me. Since something growled, they should be facing an ogre.’

‘The question is, should I approach them to lend a hand?’

I smiled to myself and headed toward the battle. However, I was not planning on helping these people. It was highly frowned upon on the upper floors to suddenly intervene in a battle. Unless being explicitly asked to join the battle, hunters would generally refrain from helping each other.

I just wanted to observe the courageous group who decided to hunt on their first day here. The sound of the battle intensified. I leaned against a large rock and peeked at the battlefield.

‘Are they crazy? Fighting three ogres at the same time?’ I internally exclaimed. I saw three men and three women engaged in a fight with three ogres.

The men acted as meat shields, distracting the ogres while the women constantly attacked with both their weapons and spells. Unfortunately, they had eyes bigger than their stomach. While slimes could be instantly killed with any spells, ogres required a lot more effort. Even I was not confident in dealing with an ogre, but these guys had the guts to face three together.

The ogres smashed their heavy clubs against the shields of the men. By now, the shields had already been bent out of shape; it was only a matter of time before they would give in. The strength of an ogre was at least four times that of a human.

In the distance, I noticed one man use [Harden], the basic spell of the Metal element that allowed him to temporarily reinforce his body. Thanks to the spell, he was able to endure a few more hits than his comrades but his fate was already sealed. They have bitten more than they could chew; if they wanted to survive, they had no choice but to run as fast as possible.

One woman used [Rock Toss], the basic spell of the Earth element while another used [Water Ball], the corresponding spell of the Water element. Although the attacks landed, the ogres quickly recovered and got back to swinging their clubs.

“This is bad. They do not seem to be hurt at all by our spells!”

“Eric! Stop being so stubborn. It is too dangerous to continue; we should quickly retreat before it is too late.”

“No way! We went this far but found nothing aside from monsters. I refuse to believe there is no reward waiting for us on the other side of the canyon. This tower is like a game; it should reward us for not just defending the village but also going on the offensive.”

“I understand your concern, but don’t we already have an edge above the others? We can just come back after we become stronger. I already ran out of mana and won’t be able to hold for much longer!”

“Yes. We should retreat while we can. Even if we do defeat these ogres, the return journey is not going to be easy.”

From my hiding spot, I overheard their entire conversation. I criticised them in my heart. ‘Do they think they are at home or something? The longer they stay here, the more monsters they are going to attract. Go somewhere else if you want to waste time on pointless discussions.’

I focused my attention on the guy named Eric; he seemed to be the leader of this small team. I commended him for leading his team here so early, but he was clearly unaware of his limits. Fortunately, he seemed to listen to his teammates, and together, the six of them disengaged the battle with the ogres. The ogres roared in anger but did not pursue Eric and his group.

As for me, I grabbed onto my spear and casually stepped out of my hiding spot. I was not trying to confront Eric and his group; instead, I just wanted to make it seem like I have just arrived and was not spying on them. I displayed a surprised expression, quickly followed by worry and nervousness.

Eric and his group would naturally not miss another person standing in the middle of the canyon. They went on their guards and after noticing that I was alone, Eric approached me. He was a middle-aged man past his prime. He was not obese but had a bulging stomach. He was still wearing the starting clothes we were given, making him look like an office worker who neglected himself for a few days.

“Where is your team?” He asked coldly.

In response, I smiled faintly; I liked straight forward people. “Still in the village, probably sleeping. I came here alone to scout the canyon.”

“That is quite bold of you. I am Eric. Since we have met here, what do you say you temporarily join my team?”

I was surprised by his sudden invitation. “Are you willing to team up with a stranger you have just met?” I said as I sized up the rest of his team. Eric’s team was composed of middle-aged people; the members all looked like they were in their forties.

“Isn’t that what we’ve already done in the earlier room? I am inviting you because you seem a little different from the others. Earlier when we were brought here, you were the first one to react after the tower’s announcement. I just thought it would be interesting if we worked together.” Eric explained.

“Oh? We will get the chance to work together a lot soon. But for now, I will have to decline.”

“That is fine. You can come and look for us at any time if you want to join us. After all, we are neighbours.”

“Neighbours?”

“Yes.” Eric grinned. “After you claimed the first house for yourself, I brought my team to the closest house and claimed it as our own.”

I scratched my head, not knowing how to respond to this. I received a lot of unwanted attention because of Jake.

“Anyway. We will let you go on with your scouting. Be careful out there.” Eric said in a friendly manner before leading his team in the direction of the village.

I watched their departing back without making a move. I found Eric to be a rather intriguing person. His first move upon meeting me has been to try to recruit me into his team. If I was not wrong, Eric was an ambitious person. He wanted to build a team around him and later expand it into a guild. I recalled that quite a few people had similar thoughts in the past. Furthermore, just like me, he was looking for additional benefits outside of what the tutorial entailed. However, how could it be so easy to steal the treasures of the tower?

It was pointless for me to continued ahead. With the ogres blocking the way, I had no chance of going through. The best course of action right now was to wait; to wait for more slimes to appear.

“Are you standing there dumbly because you are curious about the skills of these people? For the modest price of fifty points, I would gladly reveal everything I know about them.”

“Who?” I was taken by surprise by the sudden high-pitched voice. Behind me, I found the familiar but annoying silhouette of my fairy. “You already know the answer to this question.”

Levi sighed and lowered himself to my height. “Right. People do not change overnight. I thought a lot about your earlier offer and came to a conclusion… I can accept this offer, but we will have to share the loot 70/30 with me taking the larger portion.”

“Oh? I did not think you would agree to such an arrangement. However, 70/30 is too much. Without me, you won’t get anything. I will give you a fair offer; we can share whatever treasure we find 50/50.”

“No way! Without me, you won’t ever find any of the treasures of this canyon. I went around to scout and already found one. Let me tell you that finding the correct path to it is not so easy.”

My eyes lit up as I heard that Levi had already scouted the area. I had to admit that the fairy was an excellent salesman and knew how to bring up the important points. However, I quickly hid my enthusiasm. We were negotiating; it would be unwise to reveal my emotions. I hardened my gaze and answered casually. “Nevermind then. I will just do like I did in the forest. Wander around until I find it. We have a lot more time anyway.”

Levi started panicking. While the fairy did not fully believe my words, my earlier actions in the forest have proved how stubborn I could be. He could not afford to take the risk of coming back empty-handed. He would become the laughingstock of the entire fairy race.

He mumbled hesitantly. “Then, how about a 60/40 split between us?”

I shook my head confidently. “No. 50/50 is my last offer. Furthermore, I will request a vow of secrecy from you. I know about the dealings of the fairies behind our backs. I don’t want anyone to know about the treasures and you must not sell any information about them to anyone.”

“Gulp.” Levi swallowed hard, not knowing how to answer.

In the end, he simply raised his hand and nodded. I shook his hand and so, for the first time, an equal agreement was made between a human and a fairy.