‘What in all the lords….’ Ash thought shocked, as he slowly began to walk down through the dungeon's newly created staircase bridge, his innate trap sense ability suddenly activating as he did so.

‘This dungeon has traps now’ Ashwinced, activating his innate echolocation ability, eyes up, wearily looking about for the danger.

Searching.Step.Searching.Step.

Searching, step. Searching, step.

Ever searching. Ever stepping. Over and over again. For what seemed like forever. All Ash did was a step, stop and search. Quietly stepping forwards only to do the same yet again. Continually searching for the traps that his finely tuned, level 80, Trap sense insisted must be there.

Endlessly looping, the same sights overtaking his feet every time, over and over, even as he continued to walk through this maze-filled web of a staircase. His frustration continuing to build with every loop. Till finally. Finally, It stopped.

“Hhhh”, Ash sighed, happily sighing in relief as the Staircase Bridge unexpectedly smoothed out before him. Just about ready to give up his endless search, the endpoint suddenly in sight as the ground began to get steady beneath his feet, the bridge’s shape instantly changing before his very eyes from that of an endless sloping staircase to that of a True, if small, proper, ground stone bridge.

Thinking that perhaps, perhaps he hadn’t sensed a Trap. That may be, just this once, that his Trap sense might be wrong. He’d seen nothing after all.No Trap, No monsters, nothing at all nothing but the hard rock stone-like dirt that made up the bridge.

‘Hugh, Mayhap I just imagined it all.’ He thought, sighing, wishing it to be so. He was not the first adventurer to do such a thing after all. Though how such a thing had come to be he did not know. ‘Maybe I’m just getting old’

But alas it was not to be so.Ash. Just as he was about to cross. Ash finally spotted what he'd been so desperately searching for for so, so long.

‘There,’ Ash thought, stepping off the stone bridge and onto the ground proper, spotting the hidden pit trap that lay but three fateful steps ahead of him.

“Stop!” Ash screamed out, in his most commanding voice, putting his hand out in warning for Tam and Alan both, stopping in place.But it was already too late.

Far too late. As before he knew nothing else. Alan, the impatient young sweatling-eyed noob that he was, seeing the Trap-filled ground proper but a few steps away, was already giggly rushing forwards off the dirt, stone-filled bridge, just as Ash spotted the Trap.

“Ahhhh.....!” The young blue-eyed swelling Teen screamed as he fell, hitting the floor and falling as the ground gave way to his weight. Dropping straight through the now transparent thinly layer dirt floor, hitting the pit that had been so carefully hidden underneath the not-so-even ground.

Tam seeing this immediately went to rush forward, rushing forwards as quick as her legs could take her in an effort to help.

"No, stop! stop!" Ash yelled, seeing what she aimed to do, immediately jumping forwards and tackling her down, landing upon her muscular-filled back only slightly grunting as he did so. Tam's once immense Level 0 power now no match for his own mighty Adapt ranked strength.

"Stop! " he yelled in a whispered scream, lowering his volume ever slightly before her ear’s so as not to destroy them, even as she continued to struggle against his now immense power. “”

"Stop!, Stop! " Ash whispered, whispering in her ear even as he continued to pull her back.”Don’t you see, All you'll end up achieving is falling in yourself!” He screamed, in the hopes that she would finally see reason.

"But we have to help him!" Tam screamed, speaking with the same intense, Iritnial, rage-filled fire that she'd had since the first day Ash had met her in that bar.

"Yes, yes, and we will," He said, pushing her off to the side, releasing her from his grip.

", We will, I promise you, we will, But we need to give him the opportunity to do this himself, Just as our trainers did for us," Ash said, standing up, immediately helping Tam do the same,, turning his head in the boy’s direction as he did it, watching as the noob as he struggled to get himself up, only for the bugs ever surrounding him to push him right back down.

"Or do you disagree?" Ash asked, turning his scaly head back to Tam, looking right at her, staring, right at her, soul to soul, straight at her eyes.

“Yes, yes,” Tam said teeth clenched, her face filling with rage, an intense stair appearing upon her face that seemed to stare straight into his soul.“Lord’s right I Do!” Tam screamed, her face filled to the brim with rage, her hands halfway up to her massive gigantic axes hilt only to stop her actions when Alien, the poor young noob, now filled to the brim with bugs that he was, began to scream. “AGHH!….”

“Aghh….” The young boy like noob screamed, continuously screaming, screaming louder and louder by the minute, louder than anything Ash had ever heard before.

'On second thought, maybe I should', Ash through turning to look at the boy unable to bear the screams that even now continued to grow a second longer than was necessary. "Ok, I'll do it," Ash said, turning back to Tam's now pitiful filled eyes.

"Really," Tam said, seemingly surprised by his words, her rage full,pity filled eyes now gazing right through him, right into his very soul.

“Yess, yes, I’ll do it ok, I said I would, didn't I,” Ash said, head down, unable to handle the screams no more, instinctively lifting his knives that layout upon his hip, each laying out in their own rather large 2 individual cases along with the many other various small throwing knives that he owned.

‘Dam, she's laying it on thick,today’, Ash thought crouching, moving his whole body forwards, taking in the view as it were, in the hopes of getting a better angle. ‘Now how to do this, can’t shadow step, too shallow, so…..’

“What are you waiting for!” Tam screamed, interrupting him mid-thought. “Just grab him, fool!”

“Right, right,” Ash said, going down on his hands and knees to do just that. ‘Wait, why didn’t I think of that?’, He thought/said unintentionally, muttering those last words out loud.

“Urgh…” Tam growled. “Just do it!” she screamed.

‘Ok, ok'' And so, not wanting to anger Tam further than he already did, Ash went to work, pushing his hands forwards as far could, catching the boy at the fingertip level.“Quick!” Ash yelled, now pushing his blue-pink purple like hands as far as they could possibly go,

,“Grab my hand!”, He yelled, yelling with as much volume as his fish snake-like tongue could handle, gritting his teeth as the bugs began to come up towards him and onto his thinly layered red leather armure. The silk-like leather crumbling into a thousand pieces as it did so.

“MMMMMM…” The boy said unable to speak, covered to the brim as he was with bugs, yet seemingly still blessed with the ability to see or perhaps just dumb luck as the boy ‘Alan’. for that was his name. ‘Need to remember that, he’s a brave little sort, foolish, Impulsive and extremely arrogant,but,’,

,‘,but,brave all the same, with a little work he could be worth something one day,’ Ash thought determining to himself to look out for the little sweetling in the near future,

‘If only just not piss off Tam’ he thought, pushing his hands together into a thumb, beginning the process of pulling the poor boy up.

“Aghh….Thankyou….Thank you! cough. Cough” The poor boy yelled, coughing over and over again as he was pulled up, now freed from the Grime of the bug's dam pit of a lair, Ash having taken the liberty of using his hands as to free them both from the delivery of the bugs that were even now attempting to reassert their dominance upon them both.

‘Ugh...,’ Ash grunted, fighting with all of his strength yet still struggling to pull the poor lad up. ‘Aghhh…, Lords of all strength, what is he….’ Ash thought now wishing that he’d put a few more level’s into his strength.

“Ash” Tam said, giving him the stink eye, pulling him out from his musings for seemingly no divine damn good reason.

“What?What?” Ash asked, wondering why she was so mad. I'm doing what she wanted, right?'

“What?” Ash asked, turning his head only to see her, left hand forwards, pointing directly at his right hand that was even now continuing to fight off bugs left and right.

‘Oh….OH…..’ “OH!”He quickly thought, realising his mistake, quickly turning his right hand back to the task at hand as fast as he possibly could.

“Ughhh….Can’t you help” Ash yelled, putting his hand back into place, continuing the task of pulling the poor young noob up?

“No! No!” Tam yelled stamping, lifting her large metal boot, showing the barist inch’s of an impact upon the rock-filled mud, revealing not even the slightest of hints of the creator that it would have had been had Tam still possessed her old strength.

“I’m just a poor, poor woman old woman” Tam yelled, yelling as Tam tended to do wherever she got the chance, something he only knew due to the many, many years Ash had spent in partnership with her and the rest of his old friends/companions/party members that made up their little party of four.

“A damsel in distress if you will With no strength to me and you, YOU DAM WELL KNOW IT!” she yelled, yelling at the top of her might green-red devilishly gigantic pigmented throat,

“Your no damsel in damsel and we both know it!” Ash said, knowing where this was leading and not liking it one bit”. ‘Dammit, dammit’ he thought, furrlly using all that he had to keep ongoing. “Besides weren’t you the one that wanted this?”

“Hugh,” Tam shrugged her shoulders.“Doesn't change the facts, either way, I’m useless to you. Useless to you all” Tam said at a slightly lowered volume than before, whispering the last parts out in lowest volume that she possibly had, Ash only just about catching the words as she spoke them.

"You're not useless, whatever, in all shadowlands, made you think that?" Ash asked, continuously gruffing his teeth, continuing to hold tight as he could onto the boy, pulling him with the gruff of his teeth.

“I’m just an ordinary level one noob now or did you forget!” Tam yelled, back to doing what she was best at, shouting to all high devils and back, revealing her true motives to Ash as she did so.

"Hahhhh....., that,hhhhhh.......", Ash gruffed, struggling with all his might to keep poor little Alan, who was now four centimetres further than he was before, steady and upright in the air. ",hhhhhhh..........that," He gruffed, breathing outwards.", that. that. That doesn’t mean you're useless," He gruffled, finally getting his words out in full. "You still have your base stats, you're a half barbarian, aren't you?”.

“Yes, but…”

“But nothing, now come on, women help me get him up ”Ash said, holding his hands together as tightly as he possibly could. “Or so or lords help me, I’ll throw him in myself” Ash halftedly yelled, having no intent on actually doing such a thing.

“You wouldn’t!” Tam screamed, screaming at the top of her lungs, a growl echoing outwards from her large, extremely green-red lungs, almost daring him to do it.

“I would!” “I would!”Ash screamed, threateningly letting his arms slip ever so slightly, being careful as to keep his arms tightly wrapped around the boy's hand’s, filled with no intent as to actually harm the boy.

‘I’m ruthless but not that ruthless,' Ash thought, looking at Tam, filled with the knowledge that he would never do such a thing as to actually let the boy fall.

'But she doesn't know that, does she?', He thought eyes tight, looking tam overfilled with the hopes that she would wake up and see some lords dam common sense. As otherwise. without it. Without Tam's help. Ash was unsure if he would be able to save the little twerp. ‘Even with it, I’m unsure but at least she won’t be able to accuse me of not trying,’.

‘, I’m just not built for it, not like she is,’ He unconsciously thought, desperately holding on tight as he could to the boy’s hand’s, his head overlooking the strong abled fit green-red-pink skinned Barbarian woman that was Tam, even as he continued to hold on with all he had, filled with the knowledge that the only chance that the boy had of coming out from this alive was with her helping him.

‘I mean, I suppose I could always use all my strength in one go, but there probably would be nothing but bones left to save by the time I was finished with him,’ Ash desperately thought,

Ash desperately thinking through his options If Tam for whatever reason still said no, saving that option for last. ‘Though, perhaps, I could, maybe….’

“Alright!” Tam said, her face brimming, a smearing shadow upon her. Walking right up to him, eyes locked. Reaching him in seconds flat and said. “I’ll do it,” she said, locking arms with his, reaching for poor Alan, pulling with all her strength. “, On one condition!”

“Sure,” Ash said his teeth now gritted as hard as they could possibly go, him now pulling with the sgrenth that he could safely muster on the poor young teen named Alan.

“Sure,”, he said. ‘A bit late but sure,ok’ “What is it?” He asked, knowing that from the sudden grin that suddenly appeared upon her face that this had been what she’d been after all along.

“You come to my wedding!” She shouted, screaming the words at the highest volume possible, leaving Ash no room for error. ‘Wedding, wait, What…’ Ash thought, shocked by her words.

“Wedding! What wedding?” He asked, shocked, accidentally letting his words out from his mind.

“My wedding!” Tam excitedly screamed, them both now screaming over the noise that was alans pain-filled screams, him having been at it for the past several minutes or so, ever since he’d first fallen into that Divine's forsaken pit.

“My wedding!” She said at a slightly lower volume than before, doing as to avoid the hearing of poor young or Ash presumed. ‘Not that he can hear anything, poor sod,’ Ash thought, continuing as he was to pull the poor boy up, filled with slight pity as he looked the poor boy over, bugs all over the place, all covering the bits and pieces that Ash had missed with the precious few seconds that he had, had.

Well, everywhere except his arms and legs, of course, which even now were being individually pulled up by him and Tam together. Tam having, without even a hint of a vote from him, having taken the individual liberty of putting her whole body to the ground using both her hands and feet to pull the boy up.

“My wedding off course!” Tam wisperierdily screamed into Ash’s ear, subtlety not being a strong free of hers. “Did you not hear” She whispered. “I’m getting married, didn’t sweat Abashit tell you”

‘They're getting married’ “Wait when was this?” Ash asked, accidentally thinking his words out loud. But thankfully Tam wasn’t listening.

“I still have to propose but that’s just a formality, won’t it be wonderful, us, united in divine matrimony, hugh!” She excitedly whispered as high pitch as what possibly could be done in a whispered voice, going over the top as it were,

,Going on and one about this supposed fantasy wedding of hers and Abb’s both, pulling the boy's feet the last few centimeters up and over the edge as she did so,

‘Abb's will never go, never, Ash thought, doing the same thing with the boy’s Arms as Tam did with his feet, pulling the young boy,noob, Alan the last few feet over, back onto the bridge proper.

“Hhh, you ok Boy?” Ash said taking a deep breath out, sighing, carefully rubbing off all the bugs that remained upon the young sweetlings, throwing them up in the air, chomping on, discreetly placing a few into his inventory bag as he did so, thinking that purhap’s they might be a good snack for later.

Gulp. Gulp.‘Hmmm, not bad,’, He thought, carefully licking one of the bugs ‘, Not bad at all.. ‘I’m sure I could make some decent poison from this’, Ash thought, his innate poison pallet ability activating at will as he swallowed.

“HHHHH, I’m…”

“Yeah lad, you ok?” Tam said repeating his question with quite a bit oof barbarian slang involved.

“HHHHH, I’m, I’m….” The boy, ‘Alan,’ said. Shivering. chittering away like it was winter months and they were in the shattered blizzard territory.

““HHHHH, Fine” The young sweetling, Alan said, so obviously not fine but so impressively faking it anyway’s.

‘Lords he’s got the shivers alright’, Ash thought, knowing this for what it was, impressed never the same the young sweating's shear show of courage and willpower.

“Sweatling, I’m going to ask you once, Do you want to come with us or do you want to go back?” Ash asked like what so many a C ranker had a thousand times before.

“HH-i-WAN-hhh-to-come-with,” the sweatling said, speaking with but sheer willpower alone, seemingly intent on getting himself killed. “Ok,”

“Ok,” Ash said. ‘I've done what I could, but he’s just too foolish to listen’ He thought having that look many times a piece to count. This was the look of a man determined to go on.

“You have a rest and we’ll continue in a few,” Ash said, giving the young lad a look, telling him with his most fierce expression that he would tolerate no but’s.

“hhhhO..HHH….K…hhhhh………” The boy shivered out, moving backwards, sitting back into a corner, going as to follow Ash’s wishes to a tee, seemingly too tired to argue.

A few minutes later. Ash. Tam. And young Alan. Were all back at it. The young noob having, after a slight wee bit more of persuasion from Ash, having taken Ash's wishes to heart and sat down on the nearby rock-filled bridge, with Ash now readily walking forwards, leading the party into the now deep unknowns that was the dungeon.

“Wo sweatling!” Ash said, quickly stopping the sweatling boy before he fell into yet another pit trap that lay but just three feet ahead. “Now what did I tell you?” he said grabbing the boy by the throat wanting to make his point clear.

“Stick close to you…” Alan, the sweatling said, looking downwards, clear fear upon his face.

“That’s right!” Ash said locking eyes with the boy. “So sweatling, I'll make this clear”

“My name is not sweatling, it’s….” The boy said so obviously getting the point Ash was attempting to get across.

“Alan, I know…” Ash said his eye stealed at the sweatling boy who so obviously thought himself a walker man. “But your still a sweatling, boy, and till you start acting like a man I’ll keep treating you like one” ‘Hahh….,’ Ash sighed. ‘Why is it always the pretty ones…’.

And when will that be?” The boy asked, asking such a stupid question proving himself yet again the sweatling Ash so sincerely thought him to be.

“When I say you are,” Ash said, pushing the obviously impure sweatling back to the dirt ridden floor. “Now come on, we don’t have all day…”

And so turning his back to the wide-eyed young man, Ash jumped, jumping over the uneven ground, this time filled with all sorts of spiders, tiny snakes and some kind of ugly brown spider-like creature called a Tick. Ash making quite the splash as he hit the other side.

Wash went Ash, the sounds of dirt wind hurricanes following shortly behind him as he landed onto the dirt floor, carefully kneeling as to avoid the worst of the impact. Slowly stepping up once the worst of the impact was gone and turning to his two yellow-faced companions.

“your turn!” Ash announced, turning to look at his two companions, Tam nodding, in running position, ready to make her accent, with Alan, the boy, looking about, full of nerves, nervously looking about for some sort of an escape.

‘Ugh’ “Tam, If you would….” Ash said nodding at her right, silently asking a question, Tam silently nodding back, tapping the boy on the shoulder as she did so.

“Hey, little Lad, need a lift,” Tam said in her brutally slow long withered high pitched barbarian tongue of speech.

“Ughh…..No” The boy said, scratching his head together in a nervously fast manner but it was too late. Way too late as Tam had already her hands over the sides off his silverly white metallic filled more. “Well, you're getting one anyway,” She said, grabbing the boy by the grubs of his body, and throwing him to the other side.

‘And there he goes’, Ash thought watching as the young teen went over the top, flying, reaching the ground 2 to 3 seconds flat with a sharp bang head first.

“Aghh….,” The boy screamed, “, My head!” , ‘Wow, for a supposed adventurer, he does wiyng a lot’. Ash sarcastically thought, Ash only paying the slightest hints of attention towards the boy who even now continued to scalp his head around in the sand.‘He’ll have to fix that if he wants to live to see C rank’ Ash thought and turning his head began to watch as Tam began her run.

Running fast, though not fast enough for Ash’s esteemed master Rank deserty senses to pick up on, Tam jumped, jumping over the side of the pit trap and onto the ground, the unsteady ground from where she’d jumped crumbling before Ash’s very eyes, revealing a pit filled to the brim with spiders, Ticks, and other tiny little creatures.

“Wow, another few seconds and you would have been stuck down there” Ash said, approaching Tam, giving his hand in welcome, offering her a way up only for her to wave him off like, shaking her head, as she always did in such situations, her pride seemingly unable to take being helped by anyone.

“You okay to walk?” Ash asked.

“Yep I’ll be fine,” Tam said, stubbornly pushing her hands together in a push-up position, getting off the ground in 2 seconds flat.

“Ok, come on,” Ash said going as to move forwards. “Lets go.”

“Yes boss!” Tam snarked, following after him.

Moving forwards, Ash begin an accent through the dungeon. Going through another 3 pit traps, turning left and right, picking random directions on the map. Finally coming across a monster after who knows how long.

Thump it went. A middle-sized spider sounded suddenly jumping out from the ceiling. “Rour…!” The gigantic wolf sized spider sounded, showing off its 3 gigantic testicle forelegs readying itself to charge.

“Finally!” Tam yelled excited as he was as the spider jumped onto the boy. “Some action!” She yelled, taking her broadsword like Axe out of handle Ash doing the same with his blades, looking up into the small Gigaspiders eyes awaiting its charge, a slight grin on his face as she did so.

And charge it did. Charging right at them Tam taking the brunt of the hit. Ash moving to the left only just narrowly avoiding the beast charge, Twirling his blades out to right, hitting the beast in the side as he did so.

“You ok!” he shouted to Tam, keeping his back to her, not even risking the danger of turning from the Giaspider knowing that to do otherwise would be to risk death by the beast who would most gladly take any opportunity to strike at him.

“Yegh!” Tam yelled. “I’m Ok” She yelled, rapidly getting up, the sounds of metal boots cranking on the ground as she did so.

“Ok good” Ash yelled back, twisting and turning as to avoid one of the beast’s tentacle-like hands, twirling his knife downwards chopping them off as did so. “Aghh…” The beast roared in clear pain pressing up its gigantic body pushing downwards twice as hard, arming all of its massive gigantic weight that it heald right at Ash.

‘Got you now sucker’ Ash thought, rolling backwards and away from the Giatic spider, so as not to die under its combined weight, the beast thumping to the ground, crawling to get back up.

Ash, knowing an opportunity when he saw one, turned his head, looking to Tam for a split of a second, Tam upon noticing him nodding in return, seemingly getting what he wanted to do, agreeing to her part.

And so knowing what he needed to do Ash, blades up, jumped, pressing his blades out forwards aiming in a right forwards twisted angle towards the beast.

Landin on the beast poison sac, Ash slashed his blades forwards, Tam charging, hands tight to her weapon, her having needed but a single second to know what he needed of her, wheezing, breathing heavily as she flashed her gigantic Axe forwards right into the beast’s head, chopping its head in two.

“Aghh the beast” The beast screamed one final time, its head flopping to the ground, white grey energy flowing out from it and into them all as it died.

Congratulations you have defeated (Variant)Giaspider. You gained 000.1 exp

‘Ugh, dam thing’ Ash thought slightly annoyed by the slight amount of EXP that he’d gained for his efforts even though known even before laying eyes on the dam spider monster that would be the result of his efforts.

“Wuwww, level 10, level 10!” Went the boy, screaming his head off as golden lights emerged from him, the signs of levelling up all around him.

‘Hmm, at least he’ll be useful now’ Ash thought not slighting the boy in the slightest for his luck as that had been the point after all. Getting Tam and the boy enough levels that they could be more useful in the defence of the camp. ‘If it comes to, if not, well hope the for best, prep for the worst,’.

“Right pap” Ash ominous muttered, thinking of one of Pap’s more useful sayings, habitually looking about, half expecting to find her hiding out, awaiting the chance to strike her next prank upon him, only to find nothing but cold darkness.

‘Man I miss that girl’, Ash wishfully thought, filled with such regret as he, turning to the left, quickly started to sharpen his knives, quietly prepping to go further into the dungeon once Tam and the sweatling had both finished levelling and assigning their gains.