A little over an hour after I started exploring the Noble’s section of the tombs, I heard loud footsteps coming from behind me. I knew time had come. I did not get very far in this section but nevertheless managed to collect an additional two thousand Nazlock Coins and twenty giant rat corpses. The Noble’s section was richer than the previous four but also guarded by many more giant rats. Fortunately, the mud bath from the last day benefitted me greatly. It improved my vitality and physical strength making it easier for me to deal with the rodents.

I was more careful this time and did allow Levi to scout the new rooms without me. In addition to the coins and the giant rat corpses, I collected four urns containing a strong fermented liquid, a few multi-coloured gems typically used as crafting materials and two wine barrels full to the brim. They took up a lot of space but now that I had two storage pouches, I could pocket these treasures for myself.

The footsteps became louder. I stopped in my tracks and faced the direction of the footsteps. A few moments later, I saw a light appear at the end of the corridor; the person leading the hunters was holding a torch. He looked rather familiar.

He came to a stop upon noticing me and raised an eyebrow. “Alex?”

“Roberto?” I greeted back the Mexican man who I once teamed up with. I saw him once in a while hanging out with his team but never interacted with him.

“So that woman was not lying. You really come to hunt here.”

“Looks like it. Where are the others? I believe that your team is not the only one who came, right?” I replied casually.

“We went separate ways in the first chamber. Since there were three different paths, we separated ourselves to better explore this place.”

“I see. Then, you can go ahead. But be careful, when facing the monsters. I will add that I’ll charge a fee for using my Heal spell.” I said calmly as I stepped to the side, allowing them to walk past me. I stood next to the doorway leading to a side room; the last one I had yet to explore before having to face another dreadful puzzle.

“Well thank you for your offer but although we do not have any healers in our group, we bought some healing potions at the merchant tower.” Roberto replied.

I shrugged my shoulders and disappeared into the side room. Did I need to warn them about the giant rats? It was better to have them learn the hard way. Healing potions would be useless when facing the giant rats; they would only delay the inevitable. Only antidotes or my Cure spell could save them.

I did not formally stop them from entering the side room, but the hunters tactfully avoided it. They stood at the entrance and watched me engage the swarm of giant rats to battle. After confirming that I was not coming after them, the hunters moved on, continuing down the corridor toward the locked door.

‘Hopefully they will unlock the door for me.’

I faced the giant rats who were ferociously attacking from all sides. The giant rats felt intimidated and many hoped to avoid fighting me. I was no longer a normal creature; I had advanced to the first circle and the giant rats instinctively felt suppressed. Furthermore, after bathing in the Revitalising Mud, my body became physically stronger such that the giant rats’ bites did not hurt as much as before.

I stabbed my spear into the closest giant rat while activating the Static Enchantment. The poor rat squeaked and died on the spot. My spear was already covered in blood and had lost its sharpness. I faced the remaining three giant rats and charged at them.

Haste!

My sudden boost in speed took the giant rats by surprise. They were unable to react as my spear stabbed one of the giant rats’ head and the torch I was holding smashed into another. Only one giant rat remained. It growled aggressively and leaped toward my face.

‘So predictable’

I shifted my body slightly and raised my arm. The giant rat bit down on my armguard as I felt my mana being sucked in. The giant rat squeaked in pain and soon ended up in the same state as its peers. Ten or so corpses were lying around me, waiting to be collected. I cast Cure, Cleanse and Heal on myself to keep my body in an optimal state before turning my attention to the dark corners of the room.

It was time for the best part of exploring the tombs: collecting the valuables left behind by the Nazlock. The nobles were a lot richer than the other Nazlocks. Together with Levi, we picked up another 1000 Nazlock Coins, preciously stored into decaying chests, 20 multi-coloured gems and surprisingly, a stack of gold ingots.

Everything went straight into my storage belt. We also discovered a wine barrel in the corner of the room but due to the lack of space in my storage pouches, Levi and I came to an agreement. The fairy exchanged every other item in exchange for the wine barrel that he drunk in a single shot. According to Levi, the fermented wine had a similar effect to a low-quality mana crystal. Drinking the wine would help him increase the size of his mana pools.

Once the room was cleaned up, I headed out and met another group of hunters, led by Yadav. They were walking down the corridor, going in the direction Roberto’s group took. I knew that sooner or later, all the groups would converge toward the Royal Section of the tombs; all the other sections were empty dead-ends that were already looted.

I nodded at Yadav and Anjali, the only two people I knew from this team.

“Are you also going this way, Alex?” Yadav asked cautiously.

“Yes.” I nodded quietly. I was curious about the progress made by Roberto’s team. My storage belts were already full because of the large volume of the items but I could stick pick up a few smaller treasures. And more importantly, I could get almost everyone to pay me for a Cure. It was extremely unlikely that the hunters have prepared antidotes in advance.

“In that case, after you.” Yadav remained cautious as he knew that his teammates were not at ease in my presence.

I glanced at the fearful eyes of the hunters before heading deeper into the tombs. The large stone door at the end of the corridor has already been opened by Roberto’s team. I was pleasantly surprised that his team only took a few minutes.

‘Maybe I am the one who is just bad at solving puzzles.’

As I walked through the doorway, I heard the sounds of a battle taking place. As I expected, the hunters ahead encountered the giant rats guarding this place. It was their first time facing this type of monsters, but the hunters quickly adapted.

Nevertheless, since many lacked experience and proper protective equipment, several bite marks were clearly visible on the limbs of the hunters, especially the ones standing at the front holding shields.

“Don’t mind me.” I made no comments on the hunters’ injuries. The virus on the giant rats’ teeth took a few hours to flare up. The atmosphere changed as soon as the hunters noticed me. I briefly examined each room before making my way back to the entrance.

The hunters divided themselves into smaller groups, each taking one of the three side rooms of this corridor. Exploring the tombs as a group was indeed more efficient. It would be rude and offensive to join them and pick up some treasures.

Since my storage belt was almost full, I decided to make a trip back to the village and sell the junk I collected. I would come back later after they would have cleared a few more corridors. The difficulty increased exponentially; I was confident that the hunters would be unable to completely clear the tombs in one day.

I left the tombs through the tunnel and headed back to the village.

“Are you not going to fight with the other humans for the treasures? These rooms contained a lot more coins than the other four sections we explored.” Levi asked curiously. He found it odd that I did not fight over every single piece of treasure.

“It’s fine. Just wait for a few hours. They are all excited right now and probably won’t feel it immediately, but the virus of the giant rats will slowly weaken the hunters such that they would soon be feverish and be unable to travel back to the village. Or at the very least, the journey will be extremely dangerous with all the monsters around.”

“Oh? Right… the healers down there have not learned Cure yet. But won’t they all hate you even more if you do so?”

“Who cares? They are already scared and jealous of me. I’ll leave this place soon anyway. After selling the useless stack of gold and the giant rat corpses, I’ll soon be able to afford the First Floor Ticket. There is no point in exploring the tombs anymore if it means sharing it with a hundred other people. Just look at all the monsters roaming around. Everyone’s attention is focused on the tombs but now, it is easier and faster to hunt in the canyon.”

The return journey did not take too long and soon, the merchant tower came into view. I glanced at the newly built hospital that had been the centre of attention this morning. It was now completely empty. The hunters have learned of the services provided by the hospital and the consequences of having too many elements. However, they would still need to gather a substantial amount of points before using the hospital. Removing one elemental seed would cost them 100 points; there was a price to pay for being greedy.

As I approached the merchant tower, my eyes fell on the stone pillar next to the tall building. My name was engraved at the top:

[1. Alex. 387 Points]

The ranking would be updated only once per day after each monster rush. Right now, I had 732 Points after selling all the corpses I gathered from the twenty-four hours I spent in the tombs and selling Rudolf’s equipment. The First Floor Ticket was within reach. If I sold everything I had on me, I could easily purchase it.

The thought of completing my main objective earlier lightened my mood. However, as my eyes went down the list of hunters on the stone pillar, I noticed something unusual that brought up a feeling of unease.

There were originally 104 hunters who came to this village. Rudolf died and brought that number down to 103. Yet, the daily ranking was now only displaying the names of 101 hunters.

‘Two people died? I do not know who but this morning, the list definitely had 103 names. Did they encounter something dangerous in the tombs?’