After that brief respite, the group had their way back to their original position. They walked further down the hall and confirmed Montag's thoughts. The hall opened into a large central room with no exit. It was clear that this was the end of the dungeon, there was nowhere else to go. All the group members lit up torches and surveyed the room. Montag set off to explore the right side of the room when he noticed a glint of something metallic in the far corner of the room. Montag waved the torch over towards the location and unveiled a small wooden chest from the darkness. He examined the chest, carefully feeling out the edges of the chest for any traps, and then yelled for everyone to come over. Derik heard the call and came over, approaching the chest and jiggling the lock. It was clear that the chest was sealed tightly.

Iris made her way over to the chest, "I don't suppose any of you lads have lockpicking expertise?" She was met with the shaking of heads. "I guess we can just take it with us and get it picked by a professional."

"Why don't we just smash the thing. I mean it probably wouldn't mind," Derik commented.

Lina nodded her head, "We force open the chest. It's not going to be worth carrying around." She signaled Montag to break the chest.

Montag heaved his halberd behind his shoulder and brought it down hard on the top of the chest, splitting the boards into a myriad of pieces. Derik tore through the wooden splinters to find a scroll located at the base of the chest. He picked it up and held it out for the others to observe.

"What do you think it does?" Iris asked.

Derik inspected the scroll closely, "I know it hasn't killed us yet."

Lina took the scroll from Derik and opened it. It was empty, void of any sort of language or symbols. A single red seal was displayed prominently in the bottom right corner.

Iris looked over Lina's shoulder, "Bollocks, all that work just for a piece of paper?"

"I'm still grateful we weren't eaten by a mimic," Derik remarked.

Lina rolled the scroll back up and placed it into her bag. "I'll hold on to it, who knows if it might help us get back to the real world. Let's just get back to the surface for now."

The group returned to the surface. Derik shielded his eyes from the glare of the midday sun. "Man how long were we in there?"

"It was morning when we went in," Montag replied.

"We should get going," Lina ordered.

The group gathered some remaining camping supplies and returned to the road that led to the heart of Palatine...

Derik took a look at the map, somewhat struggling to flip it open with one hand. They were getting closer to Palatine and at a good pace too. It had only been a few days since they left the dungeon but they would be there soon. At Least, that's what he hoped.

They continued to trek along the road when they heard some sounds of conflict up ahead. The group ran to see a person being accosted by a small group of bandits. Lina used her ability to race ahead of the group and aid the man. She stopped a ways away from the bandits and crept through the underbrush. She peeked out at the man, noting he was of average stature. He had a shield and ax strapped to his side, not unlike the weapons of his adversaries. Lina could tell he was relatively well off as he was coated in scale armor, had stylized bracers, and possessed a rounded helmet to help shield his face along with a chainmail tagelmust. The furry hide of some unknown animal was draped across his back.

The lanky man held his hands out, "Now now, I'm sure we can settle this amicably."

"I will drink from your skull!" the bandit replied.

"You should take the brain that's in there," the man muttered. "I see you are in desperate need of one."

"Today the gods will decide your fate!" one of the bandits yelled running towards the man with their ax raised. The man positioned his shield to defend himself from the attack but was surprised to see the would-be assailant with an arrow lodged in their neck. The bandits surrounding the man were being slowly picked off, their light clothes providing negligible protection against the arrows that whistled around them. Some of them raised their shields, scanning the surrounding vegetation to find the source of the arrows. The bandit at the rear was going to aid his allies when he noticed something in his peripheral vision. He turned back to see 3 figures running directly at them, one leading far ahead of the others. He shouted a warning to his fellows and turned to face the new threat.

Montag approached the area and confronted the bandits that took up the rear. Three bandits approached and brandished the weapons. Montag circled keeping them in front of him. They stared at each other until one of the bandits charged at Montag. His halberd at the ready, Montag pushed the shield of one of the bandits aside and closed in, using his forward momentum to stab him in the chest. Pulling out his weapon and turning to face the other bandit, he struck out once again. The bandit held out his round shield to meet the blow, but Montag swept his weapon downwards and hooked the bandit's leg bringing him to the ground. The last bandit used the conflict as an opportunity to close in with Montag. He used his shield to protect himself from Montag's sidewards swipe and managed to get within arms reach. Montag dropped his halberd stepping forward towards the bandit. He heard the clang of his ax against the edge of his breastplate as he grabbed onto the bandit. They tussled for a bit until the bandit was struck in the gut by an arrow. Lina revealed herself from the underbrush and gave Montag a thumbs up.

Montag approached the traveler, "You are safe now good sir."

"I am in your debt," the traveler moved towards the group. "As such, allow me to give you a reward for your efforts."

Montag walked up to greet the man but was surprised when the man walked past him to approach Derik.

Derik had just arrived and was still breathing heavily from the run as the man approached him.

"It seems you fought most fiercely in my defense. Those bandits were no joke," the man held out his hand. "Here is your reward."

Derik held out his right hand and the man firmly grasped it.

The man released his hand and stepped back.

Derik looked into the palm of his hand, "Where's the reward?"

"My undying gratitude and respect of course."

Derik squinted at the man, "It's reassuring to see that this new human race still has a good proportion of idiots."

"Come on, saving someone is a reward in and of itself," Lina said. "We'll be going now."

"Wait! It was merely in jest. Allow me to show my gratitude by offering you my services instead. Believe it or not, I am a bounty hunter of quite some renown around these parts. Perhaps you have heard of the exploits of the great Gonzalez?"

"Sorry, but I don't see how a "renowned" bounty hunter that can't even fend off a few bandits would actually be a benefit to our company," Derik argued.

Gonzalez looked offended, "I am very multifaceted. I can cook, I have good planning skills, I am skilled in mechanics, and I can navigate through dangerous terrain. Plus, I'm generally just a nice person to be around."

"Welcome aboard," Lina shook his hand. "We are heading to Sava now."

"The capital of Palatine? What a coincidence I was headed there as well. Great minds think alike I suppose."

Derik whispered to Lina, "Are we keeping another person around because you pity them?"

"I, for one, think that having someone who can actually cook something will be great for party morale. Wasn't it you that was complaining about hardtack before?" Lina said.

"No, I didn't. It's your money anyways."

Derik passed by the bodies of the bandits and made his way over to what looked like the leader. He knelt beside him and began ruffling through his pockets.

"What are you doing?" Lina crossed her arms.

"What?"

"You can't just like go around looting people's bodies."

"Why not, he won't be needing it."

"We are here to prevent any more deaths as a result of this war, not run around pillaging like savages."

"Whew, I made it," Iris approached the team from down the road. "What did I miss?"

Derik watched Lina explain the situation to Iris while he silently pocketed a small piece of silver jewelry.

Lina walked over and handed Gonzalez one of the pins that held the company symbol. With some brief words of congratulations from the team, the group continued on their way to the capital of Palatine.