“Guys, this place seems weird to me,” Ryan said. His inner sniveling alter ago had already shitted himself a thousand times at the less scary more sinister look on Riley when she rolled her eyes onto him.

“Speak,” she ordered him to explain what he said as she walked up to him, the heavy tread of her boots gave his skin goosebumps.

Sir Nick sat on his knees beside Zoe, both gazing at Liss lying in front of them. Their grave concern for her could be seen on their depressed and glooming faces.

“I haven’t seen one-horned hybrids in such large numbers in one place before. Have you?” Ryan said.

“What’s your point?” she asked, slightly angered but more annoyed.

“These creatures never hunt in packs. It’s not like them to gang up on their prey. They enjoy taking their time to chase their prey and catch onto them before they give up. Moreover, they don’t lurk around in first floors where the magic dust levels in the air are arguably considerable.” he said, voicing his qualms before everyone.

“You think someone unleashed them onto us? That someone’s controlling them?” Sir Nick enquired. He stood up and advanced towards Ryan promptly to join their conversation, leaving Liss with Zoe.

The first and foremost thing Ryan did the second he recovered from the rash landing was creating an energy barricade on the staircase connecting the first floor to the second. It was meant to proof his team from the many unknowns that were loitering around on the floor above them. It was still in place, not a single scratch on it the whole time those hybrids made their entrance known to them.

“Most possibly. But the real question is from where did they enter this floor. There must be some kind of secret passage that opens into other floors of the dungeon. If we can find it, there is a slight chance we could save Liss and get out of here in one piece.” Ryan came up with an idea and put it forward for consideration by others.

“Done, you two? Now shut up and carefully listen to each and every word I am about to utter.” Riley got annoyed with their discussion or more precisely leaving her out of it. She got used to ordering people around, one of the privileges she gained by wielding an elite-class crank, and she very much loved being the boss in the room.

“I am the leader of this group, am I not? Do you know why? Because I’m the strongest among us. So, you two fine gentlemen better stop playing adventurers in a lost jungle before anyone else gets hurt. We are taking the visible main route to the second floor, the third floor next, and the fourth after that. Got it?” she raised her voice with both the men, one old and one young,

She didn’t care that she was talking to her teammates. She never did. All she ever cared about was herself, and forcing her decisions onto others and dominating them every chance she got was the only thing she ever loved.

“No disrespect to you, madam. But even if you go all-out with your power, clearing twenty floors in one hour would be like a toddler reaching out to grab the moon.” Ryan stood firmly before her as he expressed his opinion of her both flawed and stupid plan.

While they were arguing putting their cards one by one onto the table, Sir Nick disintegrated his bone slicer into an infinite number of tiny molecules that looked like a group of fireflies sparkling to the eyes as they floated in the air.

A spell cast for any technique demand equal chi for elite, rich, middle, and poor cranker.

And offers equal result, oppression, and effect against them. Nick just completed the first part of a detection technique that had created a raging tempest with howling gales, rumbling thunder caps, and lightning flashes extending over a few feet around his spell caster named bone slicer.

“You stupid moron, a detection spell at your level would drain your remaining energy in a matter of seconds. Stand down, Nick. It’s an order.” Riley shouted at him in the loud noise of the thunder brought by the storm his technique created as she strained to slowly move toward him against the strong winds. It was a powerful spell even for someone at her level.

He didn’t halt, not for a second as he sent those glittering fragments of his crank flying in the direction of a crystal wall to their right. It was nothing out of ordinary then why would he focus only at that part of the floor, was the question crawling in each one of their minds. Before they could bring their query to life, his radiating grains moved through the wall like it was not even there. And it wasn’t.

He vacuumed them all together back into his palm before reviving his bone slicer into its original configuration. But it couldn’t hold the form any longer as it vaporized into fumes which he then retrieved by inhaling into his system in a single breath. The fierce storm that immobilized everyone it trapped inside was over then.

“An illusion technique to conceal hidden passageways,” Ryan said, his face looked pleased, traces of joy and slight amazement could be found over it. He darted nearer to Sir Nick in time to brace him when he fainted in his standing posture and collapsed onto the ground.

“Please madam Riley, I beg of you. Liss’s life is in your hands. Save her and I will forever be in your debt.” Sprinting towards her, Zoe raised her hands and joined her palms to desperately ask for her assistance.

“This is no time to entertain our ego, madam. You loved her as a sister, did you not? You owe it to yourself to find out.” Ryan said, collaborating with Zoe in her earnest attempt toward imploring Riley to consider her plea.

Sir Nick, his body propped against Ryan’s, came to his senses and got back on his legs. He then bent forward and began apologizing to Ryan for the inconvenience he put him through. And he continued to do so even after Ryan told him that it was fine and that he didn’t mind it at all.

The situation got real awkward for Ryan as his inner self chickened at Sir Nick’s over-the-barrel politeness, but he wielded his profound acting skills against it as well. And he very much managed to shield his cry-baby alter-ego from exposure to the cruel outside world once again.

Riley flinched as she drew back a bit away from Sir Nick when he got down on his knees and fell at her feet.

“Bind my soul in your master-slave pact. For as long as I live, I shall abide by it. My soul will be yours to master. And I shall be but a mere servant at your service twenty-four-seven for three-six-five days of this lifetime of mine. I just want my daughter to live.”

Ryan and Zoe, there being absolutely nothing they could possibly do about what’s happening in front of their eyes, kept gazing at Sir Nick’s helpless situation in desperation and despair. Tears were beginning to blur their vision.

... to be continued.