/At the same time on the surface/

"Awww…"

'After a good night of sleep, Hestia woke up disoriented'

'She didn't recognize the place she had woken in, but it didn't take too long for her to realize she was still in the Church'

"Everything is repaired… I didn't even recognize this place."

After living in this place for two weeks, it's quite refreshing seeing it like this.

"Although… Where is Silver…"

'She looked around and didn't see him at all, in fact, why was she on the couch?'

"Is that a note?"

'Hestia attention was drawn to a piece of paper below a small pouch'

'She opened the pouch to see a lot of shinning gold coins, but she quickly put it on the side'

"I can't let this corrupt me!"

'So she put her attention in the note'

'It read:'

{Hey, Good morning Hestia.

I didn't wake you up because you seemed rather tired and...

So, I will be leaving earlier to the Guild to register. I will also see if I can order a construction Familia to start working in the Church.

If everything goes well I plan to go to the Dungeon, don't worry, I will not put myself in danger.

I left some money in the pouch in case you need it, I would be thankful if you bought some groceries, eating at restaurants every day is rather expensive.

…

As you can see, the items from yesterday are still on the ground, can you organize them for me? Thanks.

See ya in a few hours, don't wait for me since I will probably not be back for lunch.}

"..."

This guy…

"I just told him to not get in danger and the first thing he does is go to the Dungeon!"

"Sigh, what do I do with him?… I will go buy some groceries after cleaning this up, it's the minimum I can do."

And also…

I need a job, can't let Silver take care of everything alone.

"Hephaestus should be able to help me with that…"

'Hestia is a very simple person, once she resolved herself to something she will do it.

She started by picking some bags with different kinds of material and herbs, slowly separating the things...'

"What's this?"

'her attention was drawn towards a book with no Title. Opening it revealed multiple Photos of Silver and his family.

Although there were no photos of Silver as a child.'

"So that's what they look like… They seem really happy…"

'For a moment, Hestia felt really lonely. Mortals can get happiness so easily, but even they, the "Gods", can't even have the luxury of having a family like that.'

/Swish/

'While she was distracted, a few photos seemingly fell from inside the book.

After organizing them, she picked two that attracted her attention, one of which she knew. It was the photo she took together with Mellios yesterday in the restaurant.

The other was a family photo of him and his entire family'

(Insert images! Do not forget!)

"... He does look a little like them… What a strange family."

'She started to go over the book, there were a lot of photos in there, but most of them were with Silver already quite old.'

"I can't lose focus!... This one is quite good…"

…

/At the same time in the Dungeon/

/Krunch!/

'A man with a large Warhammer destroyed the head of a pitiful Goblin.'

"This is all boss!" Said a man on the side, looking at the large backpack on his back, he was probably a Supporter

"Uhum. How many did we get so far?

"Let me pick my notes…

"23 Goblins… 50 Killer ants… 19 Forg shooters… And 100 Unknown stones, most likely dropped by monsters fighting against each other. This is not counting the dropped loot"

"Hum…"

The number is quite low. The wave should be concentrated in another area of the floor.

How can a monster wave only have this many monsters? This is only enough for a warm-up.

"Let's go to the North, if there aren't any monsters there we will descend to the Fourth floor"

"But Boss, didn't the scouts say that the wave was happening on the Third floor?"

"They did, but the number of monsters is quite low right now"

"Perhaps it's because it only started, it has been less than an hour since it started." Said his partner

"That's not how monster waves work. In any case, we will be going deeper if we don't find the monsters"

"Yes Boss!"

'The two adventurers continued on their way, they felt as if they were on the right track since the number of fallen Magic stones on the ground suddenly skyrocketed!'

"This is it! Pick up all of the stones, I will keep watch."

'The Supporter started running around with immense speed and dexterity as he picked dozens of stones every few seconds.'

"..."

Good, at the rate he is picking those stones, we should be able to collect almost 1000 stones.

Even if we consider they are all Goblin stones, this will amount to around 300K Valis. This alone is close to a week of work for our entire team… Plus all of those drops… Hehe.

Yet, I am here alone with Nyu… Heh. Dividing half for each would be close to a month of my pay.

(Notes)

And we aren't even doing that much…

And this is only the start!

'After a few minutes of hard work, the two collected all of the stones and went towards another area.

This time, they were not alone'

"Boss, looks like there is another team in front of us, 3-4 people… I don't see anyone else. They all look to be Level 1"

"Let's watch for a little while longer, if they are all Level 1… You know what to do.

'The minutes passed, and 1 minute turned into 10. They kept watching as the adventures collected the stones on the ground'

"...

Where are the monsters? We only managed to see a few, but they weren't enough for us to gauge the true strength of those guys…

Tsk! They are getting so many stones!

"Alright, I think we saw enough."

"I will get into position!"

'This is one of the dark faces of the Dungeon, most adventurers aren't really "clean" they most likely killed a person or two before in their lives, be it for profit or for something else like pure self-defense.

As long as no one sees them, they won't get any bounties.'

/Swush!/

'A knife came flying from the dark corridor and penetrated the chest of the supporter.'

"What?... MARISSA! NO! IT'S AN ENEMY…

/SPLAT!/

'A large hammer suddenly came from behind him and crushed his head'

'Within a second, two of the four adventures died at the hands of the two'

"No… NO! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?!" Screamed one of the adventurers while he cried over the death of his friends.

"Nothing personal, you should have stopped collecting those stones when you had the chance!"

/CLING!/

"ARG!"

'The adventurer tried his best but he barely blocked the large hammer, being thrown several meters backward into the Dungeon wall.

He now laid there unconscious'

"No… No, No NO! YOU ARE LEVEL 2! WHY ARE YOU TWO PICKING ON US?!" The last adventurer, a rather young girl, screamed in anger, grief, frustration, and many more emotions.

"Money is money. Sorry little girl. Finish her off, before someone comes.

"NO!"

/CLANG!/

'She threw her sword forward and ran in the opposite direction, but her assailant didn't persue'

"Nyu! What are you doing!"

"Just wait boss..."

/Split!/

'From behind the corner, a killer ant appeared with the little girl's broken neck between its pincers'

"Leaving the monster to finish your job? How slothful."

"It's effective isn't it?"

"Whatever, pick their backpack and valuables, and let's go!"

"Roger!"

…

'The two continued to make their way around the floor's corridors, picking as many loot and drops as they could.

Their luck was out of this world as they always managed to find a place with lots of Magic stones and drops to gather.

They also avoided any strong group of adventurers while preying on the weaker ones.

But something was strange, they only found the stones but not many creatures, they fought way too little for what should've been a wave, where did they go?'

"Boss, the bag is already full, no, it's overflowing! I am having difficulties carrying it right now... We should leave..."

"Are you dumb? It's full yes, but we can always pick more valuable drops and replace the less valuable items in the backpack"

"If we gather enough, we should be able to fully gear ourselves! Our power will increase tremendously! How can we stop right now?"

"Although you are right, even if we switch the things inside, the increase in profit would be rather small..."

"Don't be a pussy if something happens I can even help you in carrying another bag."

"Sigh... You are the Boss."

…

"We walked for almost half of this floor. If we don't find the wave, we will leave okay? Satisfied?."

As Nyu said, we are carrying a lot to continue, going deeper would only spell our doom.

"Yes, I am Boss!"

/Clang!/

/Roar.../

'It was faint, but they heard echoes of monsters and what seemed to be the clash of metal from far away.'

'They looked at each other and nodded, they knew what to do'

…

'They finally arrived at the source, but mid-way through the sounds had suddenly stopped.'

"Has the fight ended?" Said the Boss.

"I think so, my skill is only detecting one living being nearby" Replied the Supporter.

'They sneakily peaked their head through the corner and saw… A literal sea of Magic stones!'

'They were scattered all over the place. Some were broken and some were bloodied.

Strangely, there were multiple White-Blue and a few Red spears all around this section of the cavern.

And in the middle of all of this, a young man drinking two potions at the same time rested.

He was sitting right in front of a large corridor, and that place seemed to be filled with even more stones...'

'He had a red spear in his hand, but it was hard to say if that was its natural color or if it was due to the blood. After all, he was also covered in blood.

Strangely, his white scarf was completely clean. A magical item?'

By the Gods… Did that guy kill all of these?!

He is definitely a Second Class adventurer.

(Second Class Adventurers are Level 3-4 adventurers, First Class are 5+ and Third Class are Level-2)

"Boss… Let's leave, we shouldn't mess with such a guy"

"..."

He looks tired and hurt… Look at all those drops…

If I could get my hands on them…

"He looks quite tired Nyu."

"Boss! Even if we kill him, then what? We can barely carry what we already have. That guy doesn't look weak."

"Shut up! I am thinking!"

"..."

The more we wait the more he recovers.

Look at him, he can barely even hold his spear, he even drank two potions at once, something that is not recommended because of the side effects…

I can see some wounds on his body... Is he not wearing any armor?... Perhaps it got destroyed! Even better.

That spear is getting on my nerves though, there are several similar-looking spears... It's not a magic spear...

His Skill? Or his Magic?

Nevertheless, by the amount scattered on the ground, he should be really tired!

This is a golden opportunity!

But Nyu is right, we need to be careful when dealing with this guy.

To maximize our chances of winning, we should go with plan C...

"We are doing it, Plan C"

"Shit… Fine! But you will pay for dinner today."

"Ha! When we are done, I can pay for dinner for an entire week."

'The two sneakily made their way around the man and got into their positions.

The man with the Warhammer lifted his hand and closed, giving the signal to strike!

One from the left and one from behind, the two made use of their strongest and fastest attacks, they didn't want to give the man any leeway to act!'

/Swush!/

'Whoever, their attacks passed right through the man...'

/Pierce!/

'The Boss suddenly heard a piercing sound, he thought it was due to one of them hitting the man, but when he looked to the side he saw his companion with a spear passing through his head.'

"Thank you. You saved me the trouble of going after you two."

"What?..."

Have we met this man before?! What happened?!

'While the Boss was confused, the man suddenly rushed at him'

Shit! I can think about this later!

/Clang!/

'He blocked the spear with his large hammer. And he almost died, the technique behind this move was almost perfect, and if it was just a bit faster and stronger...'

"Hum?"

Isn't he quite slow and weak? I barely felt the impact.

I see! He must be really tired! No one can last after fighting so many monsters!

(Appart from a few, like Ottar)

No wonder he was drinking the potions like that, he is desperate!

"Hehe… You might be strong, but you are tired now. Let's see how long you can last!"

"..."

'The boy didn't say anything, they only kept switching attacks continually.

But the Boss was slowly pushing the man back!'

/Clong!/

'The Hammer was parried to the side, but the men's spear lost a big chunk of ice'

"Urg!"

His technique! How could someone so young be so proficient?

He can still fight against me even when he is tired! If he had his stamina full...

I only need to resist for a bit longer, I am slowly gaining ground while his spear is almost breaking apart. What is that in the first place? His Skill?

In any case, I can't let him flee either, otherwise, I will surely get a bounty on my head.

"Just accept defeat!" Screamed the Boss

"..."

This guy likes to talk…

/Clong!/

/Swipe! Katchin!/

/Clang… CRACK!/

'After many blows, the boy's ice spear finally cracked and shattered'

"THIS IS IT!

"LIHGAR FYR!

'The man stepped on the ground creating a large shockwave that made the boy fall into the ground.

His feet dug deep into the rocky ground as he sped up raising his hammer high.'

Everything is mine!

/Wam!/

/Crack!/

"What?!

'The moment his hammer was about to hit the boy, he suddenly disappeared'

"Where is he… URG!

/Pierce/

'From behind him, an ice spear penetrated his chest.

He couldn't believe it. Just when...'

'His thoughts were brought to a halt by darkness'

"Phew… That was hard. The skin on my hand ripped apart due to his strength.

'Mellios looked at his hands and noticed the many cuts between his fingers. Even after using his techniques to mitigate the impact, it still wasn't enough.'

Fighting without equipment sure is hard.

He was certainly a strength-focused adventurer. If I hadn't learned combat techniques from my family, I wouldn't be able to resist even a few hits.

"How many potions do I have left… just a few more… What an adventure. I even had to use a few Plasmids at the end. Looks like I am still a bit short of defeating Level 2 adventurers on my own.

It's expected, their bodies are way stronger them mine, I don't even know why I actually tried in the first place.

"That guy was trash, he barely had a technique behind his swings... They were the legendary thugs 'courting death' right?"

In any case... Soon enough, once my stats develop a bit more, I will be able to take on these weaker or less proficient Level 2's with my techniques alone.

'He looked to the side and saw a large bag, most likely filled to the brim with loot'

"They even brought some loot for me, how kind…

'The bloodied Silver picked two more potions and pushed their contents down his throat'

/Brrr.../

"Urrg… My stomach has finally started to protest… It's certainly not healthy to drink so many potions at once in a short period of time.

"I should call it a day before more monsters or people arrive.

'Mellios looked around and used a few powers but he didn't notice anyone around, so his hand turned into a shadow as he sucked all of the Magic stones and drops inside.

This includes those two guys loot.'

'All of this took only a minute, and after he was done, the only thing left in this cave was the drying blood of his foes'

'All of the beauty of the shining stones had disappeared, showing the brutality that had happened in that place'

'However, he took out a smaller bag and filled it with magic stones and drop loot. This is going to be the items he is going to sell.'

"Hum… I can't get outside like this… I will clean myself a little and reequip my armor…

Although… Is that really necessary?

I won't sell all of the Magic stones at once, and even if I use my armor, the Guild would already know my identity since I need to hand them my adventurer card.

"On the contrary, wearing my armor would only cause more trouble.

'Mellios hand turned green as a small wind swept through his clothes, removing most of the dirt and blood.'

"Good enough… I will use this for now.

I picked the sword of the Supporter from the ground and strapped it to my belt.

"Ready to go. I wonder if my stats rose…

'He felt the weight of the magic stones and loot in his bag'

How much will all of this amount to?

'Silver left the cavern, he was mentally and physically tired, but the potions would have to suffice until he reached the surface.'

…

/A few minutes after Silver left the cave.../

'From a corner behind a rock, the air started to bend as a woman with blue hair removed a helmet from her head.'

"... Was this what Hermes-Sama wanted me to see?

That man was quite violent, he didn't even bat an eye when he killed those two adventurers...

'Asfi wasn't a Hero, she knew very well the dark side of Orario and the adventurers. After all, she was in constant contact with the black market thanks to her God's "schemes".'

'That's why when the boy killed those two, she didn't feel any pity for them, but she still found it too much that the boy did not show any emotions when he dealt the finishing blow.'

"At least I didn't have much to do...

"I will stay a little while longer otherwise he will bother me if something truly happens.

…

"Phew. The surface.

'After walking through the Dungeon and fighting a few more monsters, Silver safely arrived at the surface.'

'Thanks to the adventures venturing into the Dungeon, the wave was completely suppressed, although the number of casualties was not low.

Nevertheless, this is something for tomorrow after the Guild finishes their report.'

'Silver didn't stop at the shop near the entrance, after all, he wasn't carrying any bags.

So he first went to a nearby wagon...'

"Excuse me, friend, are you available?"

"Just tell me where you want to go!"

"To the Guild, please. How much for that?"

"I don't usually carry single customers but… 600 Vallis and I will have you there in less than 20 minutes, even less if the road is clear."

'Silver picked a few coins and handed them to the man, where did the money come from?

Of course, he always had one bag with a few coins strapped on his belt'

'After getting inside the wagon, Silver made himself comfortable as he rested his tired body'

"Looks like you got quite the haul! Rest easy that I will bring you flying to the Guild!"

Happy customers tend to give hefty tips... Even more, those who just left the Dungeon.

"You bet! Aww… I am quite tired."

Today was quite exciting...

.

.

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