"[Entangle]!"

Green light shot out of Bazel's hand and wrapped itself around the giant. The giant struggled against it but couldn't move more than a few inches.

Samara ran between the giant's legs and used her mace to smash the tendons behind its heels. Empowered with [Boost Damage], her mace easily damaged its tendons and made the monster topple over. Samara ran up to the head and put the giant out of its misery with a few well placed attacks to the skull.

CRUNCH!

《 Congratulations! You defeated a Giant (level 5).

220 Experience Points have been awarded!

…

Congratulations! You leveled up! You are now a Swindler, level 4! 》

"That's ten so far." Samara said as she cleaned her mace off by rubbing it on the grass, "How many credits does that come to?"

"It would be fifteen-hundred extra," Bazel said, "but we lost three sheep, so it's only one thousand, one hundred and fifty."

"Well," Samara put her mace back into her inventory and looked over at the flock, "at least we haven't lost anymore."

After their first encounter with the giant's, Bazel wasn't so sure they would be able to handle more. But, once they had a chance to rest and get their aether back, taking on the second wave of giants had been simple.

The second wave only had two giant's in it, each coming from a separate direction, but Bazel used [Entangle] and [Mesmerize] to stop them in their tracks while Samara dealt the finishing blows.

The third wave also had two giants, and the pair dealt with them just as easily. They had just finished dealing with the fourth wave, consisting of three more giants, and it provided little difficulty.

Bazel watched as Samara put the corpses in her inventory and took them over to the growing pile of dead giants in the riverbed. They hadn't been sure what to do with the corpses, so they just left them for the moment.

He found that he wasn't as sympathetic towards the monster's as he initially had been after fighting them more. It was clear they lacked any intelligence or self preservation with the way they continued to come – even after what happened to their previous kin. If they had any awareness of the situation at all, it didn't show.

If the giants were intelligent, they would have all attacked at once and overwhelmed Bazel and Samara. Luckily for them, the giants waited for hours before sending another wave which allowed them to react and prepare.

Bazel pulled up his status

《 Bazel

Swindler, level 4

Rank E

Health: 60/60

Aether: 125/160

Credits: 300

Stats:

Strength - 5

Stamina - 7

Agility - 7

Sense - 15

Intelligence - 18

Spirit - 17 》

Not much changed except for his increase in level. He had hoped his strength or stamina might increase with all the exercise he was getting.

I suppose it just takes time.

Bazel heaved a sigh and sat on the grass. At least with the level increase, he was making some progress. He wondered how much experience it would take to reach level five, and wished the interface would show that information.

The screen changed.

《 Bazel

Swindler, level 4

Rank E

Experience: 130/3427

Health: 60/60

Aether: 127/160

Credits: 300

Stats:

Strength - 5

Stamina - 7

Agility - 7

Sense - 15

Intelligence - 18

Spirit - 17 》

Bazel saw the line that showed how much experience he needed and glared at the interface.

"Why couldn't you just show me that in the first place!?"

The interface did not respond.

"Why are you yelling at your interface?" Samara asked as she rejoined him on the hill.

"I wasn't sure at first," Bazel gestured to the floating black tablet, "but now I'm certain this thing is playing with me! It's hiding information that would be useful to have!"

"Oh!" Samara leaned closer and inspected his interface, "You got it to show how much experience you need!"

Samara summoned her own interface and pulled up her status. She sat next to Bazel and put it where they could both see.

《 Samara

Guardian, Level 4

Rank E

Experience: 570/3427

Health: 150/150

Aether: 75/90

Credits: 2063

Stats:

Strength - 15

Stamina - 17

Agility - 12

Sense - 10

Intelligence - 9

Spirit - 7 》

"I wonder what other things are hidden from us." Samara pinched her chin.

"Who knows?" Bazel dismissed his own interface and fell backwards onto the grass, "It's like a game, except we don't know all the rules."

"I think the directors did that on purpose." Samara dismissed her own interface.

"The directors?"

"The people who run the dungeon," Samara gestured vaguely, "That's what Chris calls them, anyway."

"The man-horse?" Bazel asked as he looked up at the sky, "What's his story?"

"He's called a kentauros, that's the name of his species." Samara said, "He told me he's worked for the directors his whole life."

"Kentauros…" Bazel repeated the word, "What language is that? It's like nothing I've ever heard."

"Me neither. It's like they're from some far away land. Maybe across the sea?"

"Maybe."

They sat in silence for a while. Bazel kept his thoughts on the topic of the dungeon. Where did it come from? What was its purpose? If it was built by the gods, why didn't they make it obvious?

Bazel had heard of places that appeared seemingly overnight – other locations said to have been built by the gods. These places were usually shrines that the faithful would make pilgrimages to in hopes of receiving a blessing. They always had a statue or divine script written on them that made it obvious who built it, however.

The dungeon had none of those things.

Bazel didn't see a single statue of the all-mother or any of the other divines since entering the dungeon. Anything with text was written in common script instead of the language of the divines. Other than the miraculous nature of the place, there was nothing pointing to it being constructed by any of seven divines.

So what if it wasn't?

Whoever built the dungeon, they would have to have godlike powers, that much was sure. But if it wasn't the gods that ruled over their world…

"The sun is going down." Samara pointed at the horizon, "I wonder if the giants will attack at night."

"Who can say?" Bazel sat up and watched the setting sun, "Do you have anything to make light with?"

"We can make a fire." Samara stood up, "I'll go get some wood."

Samara collected the wood and made a small campfire. She used a tool she bought in the safe zone called a "lighter" to get it going. Bazel couldn't even be surprised about the fact that they had a tool that magically created fire with the flick of a switch. It was actually one of the lesser wonders he'd encountered in the dungeon.

Once the sun went down, the sheep all grouped together and went to sleep. Samara took a blue and white box out of her inventory called a "cooler". Inside, she already had sandwiches in clear bags and drinks in metal cans. Bazel liked the sandwiches – made with thinly sliced beef and vegetables. The drinks had labels on them that said "Grey Sisters' Magic Brew". It tasted like the coffee he drank that morning, except cold.

After a couple hours of waiting, it didn't look like any giants would show. Samara suggested they take turns sleeping just in case, and she took the first watch. Bazel snuggled up to a sleeping sheep and used its wooly coat for warmth and comfort. The animal didn't seem to mind.

When Samara woke Bazel up for his watch, she reported that no giants had been spotted. He cracked open another Magic Brew and tended the fire while Samara slept in a huddle of sheep.

Morning came quickly and Samara woke up to join Bazel. They sat on the hill waiting for more giants as the sheep got back to their grazing.

Instead of giants, a shepherd appeared.

Lysander returned about an hour after sunrise and walked up the hill towards them. His face was hard and unfriendly just as it had been the day before. He walked up, planted the but of his spear in the grass and looked over the flock.

"Good." Was all he said.

Bazel heard the familiar "ding-dong" and summoned his interface to see the message.

《 Congratulations! You completed a job!

Rewards:

500 Credits,

575 Credits (Bonus),

1000 ExperiencePoints, 》

"Then I guess we're done here…" Samara said.

Lysander nodded once and pulled two tokens out of his pocket. He gave one token to each of them and dismissed them with a wave.

"What are these?" Bazel held up the blue metal token.

"Teleport Tokens." Samara answered, "They're sold in shops of each safe zone, and you can use them to teleport to the zone indicated by the number on the token."

Bazel noticed that one side of the token had "SZ-1" on it, while the other had the Aethertech logo.

"Just activate it the same way you would a skill crystal." Samara gathered her belongings and prepared to go, "Are you ready?"

"Sure." Bazel nodded.

They used the tokens and teleported to the plaza near the pizza shop. There were already some people out and about in the plaza and on the main street. Samara led the way and headed back to the job office.

"We'll let Chris know we're done," she said, "It's always good to report back, even though he already has the details."

Bazel followed her and took the time to look around at the various shops and restaurants. Luxurious items and food were available in those places that not even the king could enjoy – unless he decided to come to the dungeon himself.

Yet, the king was favored by the gods. The seven divines – including the all-mother – allowed him to rule over others because of his pious nature and adherence to their precepts. Why would they make a place like the dungeon where beggars could enjoy such things?

Bazel didn't even worship the gods.

They approached the large building with the glass exterior and went through the magically opening doors. A couple denizens were hanging out in the lobby and chatting with each other. Chris stood behind the desk like before.

"Ah, I see you're back!" Chris smiled at them as they approached, "How did it go?"

"It was a little rough at first," Samara answered, "Bazel's weapon scared the sheep and we lost a few. But afterwards we were able to deal with the giants."

"Well, Lysander was pleased." Chris said, "he even requested the two of you next time he needs help."

Samara folded her arms, "Somehow, I have a hard time imagining him saying it in so many words."

"Eh," Chris shrugged, "That's just how Laconians are."

There's another one of those strange words, Bazel thought.

"If it's okay," Samara continued, "we'd like to take a day off before our next job."

Before Chris could answer, Samara put her hand up, "Something without sheep this time."

"Sure," Chris chuckled, "I'll see what I can do."

"Alright then," Samara gave a polite wave, "We'll talk later."

"Have a good day–"

"Actually…" Bazel stepped forward and interrupted the conversation, "Mind if I ask you some questions, Chris?"

"That's fine." Chris nodded and crossed his arms, "I'll answer whatever I can."

Bazel was quiet for a moment. He wanted to consider his words carefully so that Chris would give the best and most honest response. He didn't think Chris would straight-out lie, but he might obscure information like the interface did.

"Samara told me the name of your species, kentauros, did I get that right?" He asked and Chris nodded while narrowing his eyes. Bazel continued, "And Lysander is a man, at least he looks like one, and he's called a Laconian?"

"Yes," Chris said, "Although for Lysander, that's the place he's from. Laconia."

"I see." Bazel pursed his lips in thought, "What language is that?"

"It's called Greek."

"Bazel?" Samara raised an eyebrow, "Where is this going?"

"One second." Bazel said.

Bazel had heard and read about many places, but he had never heard of a place called Laconia. He also never heard of a language called Greek. Not that he was a scholar or polyglot, but he didn't think anyone had heard of them.

He looked back up at Chris.

"Samara told me about the directors too. Are they Greek?"

"You could say that." Chris nodded.

That settles it then.

"Okay," Bazel stroked his chin, "Here's what I'm thinking. The dungeon was built and operates by the grace of these directors, and they are Greek."

"Yes." Chris said.

"The gods, the seven divines that is, they don't have allegiance to any country or kingdom. They also have their own language, the divine language, and it's not Greek."

"And?" Chris tilted his head.

Bazel continued, "I've seen such miraculous things in the couple days I've been in the dungeon, things that I could only ascribe to the powers of the gods. But they have nothing to do with it, do they?"

Chris said nothing.

"These directors, the ones who actually made the dungeon and everything in it?" Bazel locked eyes with Chris, "They have the powers of gods. But, they aren't our gods. They aren't the seven divines."

"So what are you trying to say?" Chris asked.

"The directors," Bazel said, "if they aren't our gods, but they are gods in their own right…"

"Do they mean to make war against the seven divines?"

Bazel's train of logic came from the fact that the divines would never allow such a fantastic place to exist in their world unless they had something to do with it.

But it was there nonetheless.

Bazel could only conclude that the godlike beings who made the dungeon and caused it to appear did so against the wishes of the all-mother and her divines. But why would they do that? Why would they set up such a place to begin with? Furthermore, why would they grant power and wealth to people who came to the dungeon? It was like they were trying to entice people into working for them.

It was a colonization effort.

They were trying to get as many locals as possible on their side. Once they had a good power base and the cooperation of the natives, they would basically be in charge.

But the divines wouldn't allow such a thing, right?

Eventually, the directors would have to either negotiate or fight with the divines to wrest control.

Bazel looked at Chris and tried to gauge his reaction to the question. The man-horse's face was impassive. Silence reigned among them for several moments before the kentauros finally spoke.

"Your conclusion is correct, Bazel." Chris said in a low voice, "The directors do indeed plan to make war against the gods of this world."

Chris gave a wry smile.

"And what are you going to do about it?"