I'd dragged the woman along for about an hour, avoiding most other sources of light, along with skeletons. Moving around while avoiding everything was a major pain in the ass, because adventurers would attack me, and skeletons would attack her. That was when I finally discovered a small room off to the left, which was where we set up for the moment.

"Why are you helping me?" She stared at me, as I inspected the sword I'd taken. It had dulled significantly, and wasn't much good for cutting at this point, although it still had a sharp point.

"That group... Wanted you dead... Ignored my... Commands... Would have... Gotten worse... No matter what... I did..." I figured most other groups would lead to the same result, unless I learned some sort of leadership skill, or showed obvious, overwhelming strength. I had neither right now, so I needed to lay low, and dragging the woman around would slightly increase my chances. If nothing else, I could use her as a meat shield. I didn't have to keep my promise, although not doing so would leave a sour taste in my mouth.

Still, there was no way in hell that I'd ever make friends with them. Doing that would put me at risk of being deemed a traitor to my own kind. Who knows what a dungeon could do to a monster deemed an invader.

There was also the fact that I might need her in order to access the treasure she'd spoken of. I wasn't trying to be greedy by any means, but if there was something I could use, then I'd grab it without hesitation.

Regardless, I was walking a tightrope of my own design. Where it would end however, was a question I didn't really want the answer to.

The woman looked back down, wrapping her arms around her knees, much like the she-skeleton had done. No food, only one torch, and poor weapons. I'd have to either find some treasure in the next few hours, or worry about being discovered by everything that'd happily murder us both.

We waited another hour, neither of us speaking much. I decided I had wanted to go out, at least to see if I could get lucky enough to find a treasure chest just lying around. To that end, I left the spear with the woman. It wouldn't do very well in the hallways as I had to swing it, whereas the sword could smash skeletons or stab adventurers. She wouldn't prove to be dead weight for now, at least. Plus, it might make her feel indebted to me. That's how I rationalized it to myself, of course. Either way, I could defend myself against some unforeseen dangers, not that I expected all skeletons to attack me the second they saw me.

Adventurers would be another story. If I encountered any others and got cornered, I'd be lucky to even escape, much less hurt any of them. Regardless of my level, bones were still bones.

Before I left, I turned back to the woman. "Searching... For treasure... If you hear... Bones on stone... Cover the torch... Stay close to... The wall..." My speech would be slow going for now, so I didn't bother with complex sentences, as it would take too long to say. I'd have to either level up the skill itself, through means I couldn't even begin to guess at, other than just speaking, or I'd have to get a stronger language skill.

I looked out from the small room, into the dreary halls of the dungeon. I could see no skeletons, or bobbing torchlights in the distance. Just the faint light emanating from behind me, although the torch probably wouldn't last much longer. I turned left, and began walking, my footsteps clacking against the stone.

Not even half a minute later I heard footsteps behind me, and that same dim torchlight was close enough that if I had any flesh, or nerves, I'd be able to feel it enveloping me. I turned around, and the woman was walking about ten paces behind me. She stopped walking, looking at me. "I don't want to be alone." She stated simply.

I. AM. A. MONSTER. Why the hell are you looking to me for companionship!? You must have a screw loose or something after that club hit you in the head! Get better healing potions in the future!

I didn't say anything, knowing it would be useless, and probably make her cry. I didn't need that right now, so I just turned around, and went back to walking, although I kept the sword in my hand, just in case. There wasn't much use in using [Stealth] either, as we were just another beacon in the darkness.

Since I'd given her the spear, I couldn't just kill her either, as that probably wouldn't go very well for me.

The tightrope is getting thinner...

Turning left again at the next corner, I could see just barely see that it was a dead end. A little bit before that though, was a dilapidated looking wooden box, with a broken padlock on the front of it. After describing it to the woman, I learned that apparently all the chests on this floor looked like that.

Should I call this plot armor? Luck? I don't even know anymore, but I'll take it!

Despite my thoughts, I didn't just go rushing down the hall. That was a surefire way to earn a one way ticket to eternal slumber. Instead, I had the woman throw her torch, only to watch, as nothing happened.

Cool, tripwires then, or pressure plates that need more weight than a fucking stick.

I proceeded to carefully check the floor for anything that could set off something dangerous, all the way to the chest. I had found nothing at all, and I was angry at having wasted my own time. At that point, I stopped caring. I grabbed the lid of the chest, and wrenched it open.

It was a decently sized chest, too, so I figured it might have something decent.

The hell is this?

At the top of the meager pile, there was some ragged chainmail armor, along with a shortsword with a broken tip, rusted and slightly dull. A damaged buckler shield, some tattered leather boots, several copper and silver coins, and two unlit torches at the bottom.

It's not treasure... It's our gear. Their treasure is our gear... Now that makes more sense. We get killed because we aren't looking for our gear.

Taking it all out, I slowly put it on, feeling much better equipped than I did before. The torches, I gave to the woman, as she wasn't carrying anything else important. I left the rusted short sword alone, as the one I had was better, even if it was dull.

Moving on, I brought the woman back to the small room, and sat her down once again. We needed to have another chat.

"How likely... Is it that... I'll be discovered... By other... Adventurers?" I sat on the opposite side of the room, checking my new equipment. The chainmail armor had several holes, which exposed my ribcage, and part of my left leg, while the boots were barely holding together, and the shield itself had a crack running through the top of it. By far, my best piece of gear, was the sword I'd taken a few hours ago.

"You mean, that they'll realize that this floor has a unique monster? Probably won't take more than a week?" She seemed to be thinking, before she realized what she said. "Th-that doesn't mean they'll send people to kill you right away. You've probably got two weeks before anyone really starts trying to hunt you down. After that, it's up to luck as to how long you survive." Her voice had gotten a bit lower, and a bit quieter. She was probably trying to keep from attracting attention, although the torch would do that well enough already.

Well... Fuck. Two weeks isn't nearly enough time.

"I don't suppose... They'd be open... To negotiations?" It was my own attempt at a joke, but it fell completely flat since my voice wasn't able to express various tones.

"No, most groups would see someone like yourself as a veritable pile of experience, and a sizable bounty." Her words cut deep, despite their simplicity.

Well, there goes any hope of getting to see the outside world.

I didn't mind it too much though, because I figured I'd become a rather tempting target, considering I had already gathered a group of skeletons together before. I could just as easily do it again, so long as I didn't run into any trouble too quickly.

The next several hours passed by relatively quickly, with me asking various questions, and the woman answering. She didn't seem to mind me asking so much, which was a bit surprising. I certainly would have been annoyed by my insatiable need for knowledge. She did seem to be hungry though, despite the fact that there was no food.

Through her I learned that the dungeon I was in was actually one of eight massive dungeons in the world, and that an entire city had been built around this one, although not without safeguards. The entrance was strictly guarded, inside a building reinforced with steel, stone, and magic. Naturally, there was an adventurer's guild in the city, although here it was apparently called the 'Dungeoneer's Guild.' I didn't bother learning more about it, as I could already guess at several of its functions. Do a job within your capabilities, get paid. Go into the dungeon for no reason, and it's enter at your own risk.

I also learned that so far, the many dungeoneer's, as they liked to call themselves, had already explored down to the fifty eighth floor. Being on the second floor, I wondered if I'd ever get to go deep enough that I wouldn't have to see any of these dungeoneers again.

It turned out that some people in the Dungeoneer's Guild even specialized in analyzing the behavior of the dungeon itself, helping to determine if new monsters have appeared, if a unique or even named monsters show up, and even if the dungeon is going to break, or if there's going to be a dungeon frenzy, which I was told was when something extremely valuable is taken, or when significant damage is done to the dungeon itself, all the monsters on every floor will have their capabilities increased threefold, targeting any and all who are deemed invaders by the dungeon itself.

The information I learned would be incredibly useful, especially the part about the dungeon analysts. If I could make things seem normal, I could potentially give myself more time to get stronger. I might even try to go down through the dungeon, to get away from everyone.

With the woman navigating, I helped her get back to an area nearer to the first floor, avoiding skeletons and the now scant few dungeoneering groups, to the stairs leading to the first floor. By that point, my anxiety about being discovered was getting worse and worse. She was beginning to head up the stairs.

Well, I fucked up earlier. Why not just fuck up even harder?

I walked a step or two behind her. She didn't seem to mind at this point.

Guess she forgot. I'm a monster.

I gripped the sword tight, and simply stabbed her through the back, blood gushing out of her stomach. She never saw it coming. To save myself the possible emotional damage, I shoved her off the blade, her body slumping against the stairs as she let out a weak cry, before stabbing her through the neck, and walking away, my sword now coated in her blood. Her blood pooled beneath her, running down the stairs, coating them crimson.

I'm definitely not the hero of this story. Not even close.