There were possibly fifty through sixty enemies left. It was really hard to tell as they reformed into a wall, or rather a half wall as half their numbers were destroyed by that lightning. Which begged the question of whether or not I could even take them on. A good number of them were way too high up for me to reach and I could throw my sword as the fire would go out. My goal was to thin their numbers as much as possible if not take them all out.

If it was impossible to kill them all, then I assumed that the item I needed was in this room. Either it was going to be dropped by one of these enemies or it was the ring on that pedestal right in the middle of the ambush. With the big holes in the dome, I could actually just run for it and swipe the item. However, that had a high chance of me ending up like the other guy, frozen to death or about to die.

I walked up to the outside part of the half dome and inspected it. There wasn’t a single visible sign that this was a group of enemies nor did they react to my presence. They were truly a trap, only making a move when someone took the bait and entered the dome. How long would they keep up the act in my presence before they reacted?

Kicking the bottom part of the wall didn’t provoke any reaction at all, and holding my fire sword close to it didn’t work either. A few seconds later, a piece of the wall fell apart and revealed itself to be one of the enemies before fading away, melted by my sword. Yet, the wall stayed silent. Which meant I might have the opportunity to kill all of them without retaliation. At the same time, my sword couldn’t reach all of them so that was still impossible.

The slope of the dome wasn’t too steep and had some parts jutting out so it seemed like I could climb up it. If I wanted to kill them all, I could get up top and kill them from the top to the bottom while slowly going down. Or they could all activate halfway climbing up and I’d die from a volley of attacks right in my face that would be literally inescapable. Instead, I decided I would just kill as many of the enemies as I could while keeping my feet on solid ground.

If I was standing on solid ground and not more of them. They seemed able to blend in with the surroundings or make them up so there’s no reason they couldn’t do the same at my feet. As a reaction to this thought, I held the sword to the ground for a bit with no result other than warming up my feet a bit, still a welcome result. Thankfully, my paranoia was unfounded at least for this room and it was only this wall that I had to kill.

I went up and down with my sword, killing as many of the ice monsters as I could reach which was as far as the tip of my sword when I extended it fully. Then I stepped over to my left a few steps and did it again. About three-quarters of the way through this process, a crack formed in the wall and everything fell apart. The sound of ice shattering rang out throughout the room as the entire dome collapsed on itself. Rather than turning back into monsters, the pieces of the wall shattered into hundreds of pieces and got absorbed back into the dungeon. All that remained was a few parts of the wall at the bottom that were unaffected that I quickly cleaned up.

And like that the room was cleared and I even saw a new portal appear on the other side of the room. No more enemies to fight and I could freely take the ring and attempt to save my fellow dungeon explorer. I held my sword up to his frozen body and watched as it started to melt away. As the young man and his armor also melted away with the ice. Every bit and piece of him freed fell to pieces or dripped down into a mass of gore. He was completely dead in the ice and somehow rotted away alongside his equipment breaking while in the ice.

The sight was nauseating watching a complete frozen human defrost into a soup. A soup that the dungeon happily sucked up as I freed it. I wasn’t even sure why I kept going and defrosted the entire thing. Nobody deserved a death like that. Alone in a dungeon frozen to death helplessly. And I had no way of figuring out his identity or where he came from, so his friends and loved ones would wait for hours or even days hoping he’d come out safe and sound. There was no closure in a situation like that, just despair.

He was a far stronger adventurer than me, able to destroy an entire half of those enemies in almost an instant while in a disadvantageous position. Yet he died while I’m still alive. The dungeon was a place of skill, luck, and equipment. I had the equipment and the luck, but not much skill. Then again, not even luck since this was all set up for me to go here by the goddess. Unless that could also be considered luck.

Either way, I was alive and needed to get the item that could bring back my arm. Hopefully, it was that ring on the pedestal. There were also three ores lying around on the ground dropped by the enemies. I snatched them up and then moved up to the pedestal to get a better look at the ring. It had a symbol upon it that glowed with a divine light much like my shield but smaller and was made of what I assumed was silver as it was more polished than iron, looking a lot like my silver coins.

The symbol, oddly enough, was a different one from the one on my shield but I was almost positive that this was the item I had sought after. Even if it wasn’t, I would go no further as I would definitely die in this dungeon if I even think of taking on the next floor. Heck, I wouldn’t have made it through these last two floors without the convergence bringing this other adventurer to clear out most of the enemies before I got to this point. And now he was dead so I couldn’t leech off his efforts anymore.

I wanted to put on the ring immediately to regrow my arm but for some reason, I couldn’t. Every time I put it even close to my finger, I suddenly became unable to move the ring or my finger. Maybe Jeoffry would know why and help me out. If I was lucky, I just had to pray with the ring and chat with the divine before it’d let me use it. If I was unlucky, this wasn’t the item and by leaving the dungeon I would have wasted the entire trip.

Choosing to believe the ring was the item I needed, I started to leave the dungeon. Back on the eighteenth floor, I came to a realization that I had a choice between two options. I could go back the way I came or go back the way that other adventurer went. It was by no means a reasonable option as it could be on the other side of the world full of people speaking a different language and strange food. At the same time, I could let the people there know of that adventurer’s death.

It was a nice thought, but I wasn’t that selfless and such a risk wasn’t worth it for a dead man even if he had helped me indirectly. Besides, I still had a full keg of ale waiting for me tonight and I’d rather know where I was if my efforts to heal my arm failed.

Within a few minutes, I had passed through all of the rooms and made it back to the entrance of the dungeon. There, I relaxed, sheathed my sword and stepped outside to find the late afternoon sun glaring down on me and a strong heat. Which felt quite nice with all that cold I had dealt with. Then it went back to being uncomfortably hot in almost an instant.

There was no one around the dungeon and I didn’t intend on sticking around long enough for any to come around. That would just needlessly piss me off. Being pissed off could wait until I regrew my arm. I walked into town, intending to go to the temple but stopped as there were too many people crowding inside the town.

Everyone who would normally be in the fields were now in town crowding around a procession of carriages. They were the merchants who came to town along their trade routes and allowed the people here to buy things they needed but couldn’t buy unless they went to the city, expensive luxury items they couldn’t resist using up all their excess income on, and various items of little to no use. Not only did these merchants sell their items for cash, but they were up for buying and trading as well.

If I remembered correctly, Jeff said that they were coming in a week yet it’s only been a few days. Which meant they were here early and might even stay a few days longer to account for people in villages and towns off the trade route to funnel in here and make some deals. For the next few days to a week, this town would be a festival of buying and selling.

Jeoffry was likely in this crowd himself, looking for religious text or stuff to outfit the temple with. So, I pushed my way through the crowd, looking around for his distinct white garb and stiff demeanor. On my way through the crowd, I stopped by one of the trade carts which happened to be selling mostly jewelry and decorative silverware, all of it being fake of course but still nice. The merchant recognized me from past months and eagerly greeted me.

“Well if it ain’t the old drunkard that looks around for rare wines and liquors and helps with heavy lifting in exchange for a few sips. I see life has been both harsh and well to you. An arm sacrificed but much wealth gained. Perhaps I can interest you in a hook to replace your lost arm?” asked the merchant. He was sharp but lacked empathy, immediately looking towards selling me something rather than asking what happened.

At the same time, if not for my arm coming back soon, I would seriously consider his offer. A hook or prosthetic arm would be very useful to replace my lost arm. In a way, he was being considerate in a money-grubbing way. He didn’t care what happened but he was willing to help for a price. I raised my hand and waved it to indicate that was unnecessary and I was about to push back into the crowd as I didn’t need a hook or fake jewelry.

“That shield? That symbol? Would you be willing to part with it for a bit of money? Perhaps I could help you get more than just a sip of exotic wine on the side?” asked the merchant. That piqued my curiosity a bit, the merchant wanting to buy it.

Surely he knew how hard it was to sell divine items, especially ones that he didn’t know the effect of. Yet, he knew the symbol as well. Which meant that it might actually be worth some money to him. Which meant that either he knew someone looking to buy items of this divine alignment, he had experience selling it before for a pretty coin, or he had one himself and intended to resell it as a set for more money.

“No, but I’m willing to buy any items with this symbol if you have one. Do you?” I asked back.

We stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds until he finally looked away. Then he went deeper into his carriage and dug a box out, which opened up to reveal a necklace adorned with the symbol of Sanae Patil. An item indispensable for my goal of building a knight order and still valuable as it was a divine item, but often sold under its true value due to lack of demand.

“This necklace is quite valuable you know. It has a double stack effect of regeneration and can heal many a wound within seconds. If not for me following another god, I’d keep this for myself. And even now, I see no reason to part with it for money. Perhaps your sword might convince me to trade it away if I can get a closer look,” said the merchant. This sly bastard already noticed the value of my sword.

However, I had no intention of getting rid of my sword now. It was too useful in the dungeon. Anyway, I realized what I had to do. I pulled the ring out of my shirt with the symbol of another god or goddess. This ring wasn’t for me to use but to trade it for this item which would bring back my arm. As soon as the merchant saw the ring he tried swiping it out of my hand, but I closed my fingers around it before he could.

“I see that you want this ring quite a bit. Even more than the sword at my waist. It’s certainly more valuable than the necklace. We shouldn’t be so quick to try and seal the deal,” I said to the merchant with a smile on my face.

While it would be nice to get the necklace and give up the ring just like that. However, it’d be better if I could milk the merchant for a bit more than the necklace even if by a single coin. For all I know, this ring could be linked to a more major god or goddess with a knight order. I wasn’t going to let this merchant just bleed me dry just because I got all I wanted from the deal.

“This is true I admit. The ring is of personal value to myself, but of equal monetary value. You want my necklace and I want your ring. It is a fair trade to exchange the two,” said the merchant. Obviously, he wanted to avoid haggling as the current deal was heavily in his favor.

“We both know that’s bullshit. Offer up more or it’s no deal. It’s not like you can sell that necklace easily and I don’t actually need it that much. While this ring I intend to sell no matter what and it seems like it could be resold for quite the tidy sum of cash,” I said, pretending that the necklace meant less to me than it actually did.

Then the merchant did something I would have never imagined. He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a bracelet with the very divine symbol on it as the ring. This couldn’t just be a coincidence. My confidence that this was the way I’d get my arm back grew. Our desire for each other’s item was probably equal and he was telling the truth about it being personally valuable.

“How about I treat you to some nice wines later and we can call this trade even? Good fortune has come to us both today,” said the merchant.

I relented and passed the ring onto him as I received the necklace and put it on. Now my regeneration would be enhanced by even more. Enough to eventually heal my arm. Even now, I felt the end of my stub feeling itchy. The only downside was that it didn’t come back immediately and I’d have to wait a while for it to come back. I shook hands with the merchant then left, looking around for Jeoffry again.

Wait, I didn’t need to see Jeoffry anymore as all my questions were answered. Which meant I was free to do as I wished until my arm came back. Part of me wanted to track down Jeff and see if he’d sell the copper ore back to me since the merchant came early. And I had some ores to sell in my shirt even if he didn’t give me the copper back. Then I’d have some free coin to buy stuff from the merchant’s without working for them.

With that money, I could buy some nice alcohol, full bottles not a few sips, and enjoy myself later. But if I did that, I’d have to find a place to put my belongings where Jeff and his friends wouldn’t steal or drink from them. Tom’s bar as nice as it was just wasn’t the best place to sleep or keep my things. Maybe I should use the money to instead buy a place of my own and subside off the ale and whatever that jewelry merchant will share with me.

It didn’t take long to find Jeff as he was right over by the carriages that bought and sold stuff related to crafting, weapons, and metal. The same place I planned to sell the ores at. Which made things very convenient as I walked up to Jeff. He was currently picking up various weapons and inspecting them. Despite mostly fixing farm equipment for a living, his passion was in weapons. If he didn’t buy any of the weapons, he’d try to make them himself at home.

“Jeff about that deal we had before. Is it still on since the merchants came earlier than you said?” I asked Jeff while standing next to him. He acted like he hadn’t heard me and continued inspecting the blade for a few seconds before setting it down carefully.

Then he pointed at my waist while saying, “Belt and sheath good enough.”

“Last I checked, you said this was due to a favor your divine owed mine. We shouldn’t bring business or owing stuff over divine favors,” I said in response. I wasn’t going to let him worm out of that deal this easily.

“Fine,” he gave in while passing the copper ore over to me and in exchange, I passed back to him the silver coins which I had kept all this time unused.

My efforts to not spend it was about to be repaid. Those three silver coins would become nine thanks to these merchants and the city’s lack of supply. Another short-term goal completed.

“Oh some copper ore, would you happen to be selling it?” asked the weapons merchant who he had been standing in front of this entire time.

“Yes, how much can you give me for it?” I asked.

“Four silver coins. You’re lucky that the prices went up recently,” he said.

“Four? I was expecting more around the range of eight silver coins,” I said back honestly. This wasn’t triple the profit.

“Maybe a few weeks ago, but prices are starting to stabilize and we’re bringing a big shipment of copper to the city ourselves so the price will normalize to maybe two silver coins by next week. Only reason I’m paying you four is because big deals take a while to go through so I can sell a few pieces of copper separate from the shipment while prices are still high. Take it or leave it, you won’t find a better price anywhere here,” said the weapons merchant while looking over towards a few other merchants nearby selling similar things that nodded their heads.

Groups of merchants like these will often lock prices down and not compete with each other to secure better prices for things individually to benefit themselves as a group. I would get four coins or nothing at all, no more haggling. Jeff probably already knew this would happen and that’s why he gave in so easily. At the same time, it’s better than three silver coins so I should still thank Jeff later.

I took the money and passed over the copper. As for the other ores, I thought it’d be best to wait until a busier time so they can’t lower the prices on me and stop any haggling again.