Iron's PoV:

"OOOOHHH! [Blast Fist]!!" - Lily

*KA-BOOOM!*

Lily's fist struck the Frenzy Gorilla in his solar plexus and created an explosion that destroyed the gorilla's body. However...

"GYAAAH!? Again!?" - Lily

Like with the other Frenzy monsters we have encountered, this one turned to grey gunk after it was killed. Lily tried to burn and poison some other specimens, but they still imploded after their HP ran out. 

Through [Magic Ability]'s Clean spell, I removed most of the muck that had been plastered on Lily before starting to burn away the remains of the gorilla while being careful of not making a jungle fire. 

"Ugh... no wonder the boss didn't want to do this herself." - Lily

"She is busy with the local Dungeon." - Iron

"AARGH! Not that! Okay, that too, but that's not the point this time! I'm talking about the gunk!" - Lily

Oh, that could also be true. If Garami knew that these creatures explode once they die, that is.

The monkeys, who had been threatened to follow the Frenzy Gorilla from before, simply watched us from a distance as we cleared the area of the grey sludge. They must be uncertain whether to thank us or flee from us. The other creatures we had "freed" from their frenzied "leaders" acted the same way.

After we finished disinfecting the area we started to wander through the paths in the jungle, using the map we had obtained from the leader of the locals that showed the approximate area of where the Frenzy-monsters dwelled. 

"Damn... we found another one..." - Lily

This time, it is a Frenzy Aligator. Or it is a Frenzy Crocodile. The difference between them is beyond me.

In any case, the battle started similar to the one with the gorilla. The grey... reptile charged at us. I covered for Lily with my shield, withstanding the attack until the beast had to step back to prepare for its next attack when Lily lept at it. Small explosions of hot air propelled her forward with such speed one wouldn't believe was possible for a living creature. Another explosive skill of the Gunpowder attribute. They have become Lily's signature move lately.

After a round of punches, kicks, and explosions, the reptile finally took its last breath. 

"......*Sigh*." - Iron

"Something wrong? I can clean the mess if you're at your limit... actually, can we go back after this? I am seriously at my limits." - Lily

"No... it's nothing..." - Iron

"True, you've nothing to feel bad about, bud. That was a magnificent battle. Enough to make me want to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate." 

A voice rang out from all around us like an echo. I and Lily put our guards up and covered our backs, ready to strike whoever the owner of the voice was.

"Hey, hey, hey there! You're breaking my heart if my tenor-class voice is so not appreciated. Wait a sec, and don't attack."

The bushes beside us started to rustle as the person in question... is not coming out from there. From the opposite side... [Iron Chain].

"Huh, whoaaa!?! What the f*ck's this!?"

The intruder had tried to take us by surprise, but had the tables turned on it instead... a bird? Looks too fat to be able to fly... and too short-legged to be able to run that fast.

"Eh!? He was behind us!?" - Lily

"Damn you, metal-head! If you think you're some hotshot because you've captured the famous Kingpin!? ...Well, you did... congrats... put me down already!!" - Kingpin(?)

...I sort of wanted to do so. In pure displeasure over catching something this "displeasing".

"What are you waitiiiiiii-!?!?" - Kingpin(?)

Shake, shake, shake the bird~.

---

Garami's PoV:

["So, we are taking this bird to the port to rest."] - Lily

"Roger... and I think it's a bird called a 'penguin'." - Garami

["Really? Okay... should I tame it?"] - Lily

"...Don't. Not until we know his story. Meaning, grill him for everything he knows." - Garami

["Okidoki, boss~. See you at the barbeque."] - Lily

I turned off the Terminal, which had been improved by Flint to work at close distances even while away from Damavand. I decided to cut the test a little shorter than expected... she's not gonna grill the bird, is she?

Now onto the matter in front of me; the exhausted fairy gasping for air.

"Not giving up?" - Garami

"D-d-d-damn... wh-why... ma-mar-martial... arts?" - Ciara

She's not joking. My tests have been forcing this magic-using fairy to close-quarters combat. And I've been crushing her each time. Then, I used healing spells to force her back on her feet.

I even turned off [Martial Arts]'s proficiency-boost and I still beat her black and blue. It's nice to know that I am growing and not just my skills~. Rather, wouldn't I win even if I could hand over all my Ability skills to her? [Demon Lord] included? Should I be scared here? … It must be due to Mira's martial arts lessons she always forced me to join... then came Lily who wanted to do the same...

"If you're bad in close-quarters, just try to get into a range that fits you." - Garmi

"......What!? You said that the test was-!" - Ciara

"I only said that I was gonna face you in close combat without using any magic. I never said anything that you couldn't play dirty." - Garami

"Wha-!?" - Ciara

Yeah... as I thought. This girl isn't "spoiled".

Mira has experience from the slums. Alf, Lily, and Noire all had survived the rough missions as grunts in the organization. Revi had to live centuries as a dragon that couldn't get new skills or evolve. Iron had to survive the same city from hell while protecting a small populace of mostly non-combatants. And Flint strived and endured various methods to gain the ability and materials to forge something worthy of the legends.

In other words, in one way or another, all of the current members of Nightmare Voyagers have gone through enough hardships to learn that "fighting fair and square when only the other side gains from it" is just stupid. Idiotic. Worthy of a Nobel's stupidity prize.

On the other hand, the fairy in front of me, she's "blessed". While she may have lost her family and home when she arrived in this world, Migrants are normally taken care of by the Adventurers' Union, so she shouldn't have had it that bad. And from the looks of it, she has some rare and useful abilities thanks to that. Heck, even getting [Language Adaption] and [Identification] from the "Migrant" title is enough to put her in the "winners"-party.

"Listen up; if you think that you're gonna survive in this Guild, forget about playing by any other rules than yourself's. Those are the only rules that are made with you in your thoughts. The opponent wanna fight you head-on? Then sneak around them and stab them in the back. They wanna fight at long range? Then blast them with a bazooka stabbed into their stomach. Fair and square? What's that, something delicious?" - Garami

"........." - Ciara

"What I'm trying to say is, don't get dragged into the pace of someone that wants you harm. Friends, family, or even strangers, if they're thinking about you, then you can give your hand to them. Anyone else? Give them the finger. Is that clear?" - Garami

"......Crystal." - Ciara

Good. It was kinda wobbly, but she passed the first trial... I hope.

"Now that's done, time for a real test." - Garami

"More fighting!?" - Ciara

"That's what I wanted, but the only monsters on this island are being hunted down as we speak. Therefore..." I said, looking at the cave we had been fighting outside of all this time.

"Try some Dungeon-diving instead." - Garami

"What happened to the talk about following your own rules?!" - Ciara

Hey, this is a crapsack world. Don't expect things to go your way all the time.

After throwing, er, ...kindly helping the fairy into the Dungeon, the test started.

"Damn it all... I don't have any skills to detect traps!" - Ciara

"Then be imaginative with the ones you have." - Garami

Even if you glare at me like that, it's not gonna change the situation. 

Then the fairy looked like she came up with an idea and turned towards the tunnel. She then proceeded to take out several bottles from her bag and place them in front of herself.

"Go, [Ink Demons]!" - Ciara

Black liquid, ink from the sound of it, flew outta the containers on the ground and took humanoid shapes. If I had to describe them, they look like black slimes taken human form? There are circular holes where the mouth and eyes should be, but other than that, it's just a big lump of gel-like ink. Did the mass increase somehow? The bottles are damn small, but each "ink demon" has the same height as me. 

"Alright, my cuties, go forward and fall into those traps!" - Ciara

...Ah, the sacrificial pawn method.

The ink demons walked forward and unsurprisingly got caught in various traps. However, since there's a time lag after the trap's used and when it can be used again, the fairy took the chance to mark them by making more ink and using it to paint the traps' triggers. The ink demons themselves are walking blobs of ink, so they simply come back together after being splashed. 

"Wonder what the previous challengers would say if they knew that this Dungeon can be cleared with the help of some ink." - Garami

"[Ink Demon] is one of the first skills I had after all~. I know all its weaknesses and strengths." - Ciara

"Oh? What were the others?" - Garami

"[Water Cutter], [Ocean Territory], [Magic Power Detection], and [Magic Power Operation]~. Ah, is this something I shouldn't say?" - Ciara

"...I already saw your status page, so this time it's okay to reveal it, but don't mention it openly." - Garami

"R-roger..." - Ciara

She's showing progress at least.

Still, with those skills, it's almost destined that she would turn into a magician that uses Water, Ink, and Ocean attribute skills. Still have not seen much of the magic yet though. Even the new ink she makes is through that [Ink Synthesis] skill. Can't call it "magic".

Then, one of the ink demons stepped on an exceptionally noisy switch. It rang *click* across the corridor. These sorta noisy traps are always the biggest ones...

Crap, I knew it! A rolling boulder! The damn classic of classical traps!

"...[Magic Library]." - Ciara

Several magic formulas with the appearance of bookshelves appeared behind the fairy. Some of the... "books" in it flew out and opened themselves up and created a more normal-looking magic formula... And it's not some newbie-spells either. Each book released a stream of water that had more than enough force to crush the rolling boulder to pieces. H-harsh...

The fairy... Ciara kept on taking out new books to counteract the traps whose reach could affect us. She even countered a gas trap by using a wall of water to block out the gas from reaching us...

Okay, I think I get it. That Painter-related Advance-tier class of hers lets her support those ink demons, or even produce more ink should the bottles she had on her be emptied. And she stores various spells that can blast away any opposition thanks to her Magic Librarian class, which costs a minimum amount of MP to activate, meaning she can still produce more ink demons even if the ones she already has are blasted away by friendly fire... water... you get it.

...Honestly, ability-wise, she's a good fit with our Guild. We do have Mira and Lily for attack-power, but the only long-range ability user we have is Noire, so if we could recruit a magic user like her, it would solve many future problems. 

"Okay, that's enough." - Garami

"Huh? I'm just getting the hang of it. The whole Dungeon-diving thing." - Ciara

"That's good, but it's getting late. The ship's probably getting close to the dock." - Garami

"AH! My clothes!" - Ciara

Unlike me who has [Spatial Storage], this girl, and the other two as well, had left their luggage back on the ship. No wonder she wanna head back.

We exited the Dungeon without any problems. Due to it being located on top of a hill, we could look down at the port and see the ship... being anchored outside it?

"Hey, is that the ship? Why's it glowing sickly purple like that?" - Ciara

"...Congrats. If you can help with this time's problems, you're 99% cleared to join the Guild," I said while watching the ship through the Alchemist Goggles' binocular function... and the possible culprit, who's sailing around the island as we speak.

"Huh? This time? You mean stuff like this happens all the time?" - Ciara

"Welcome to my everyday life," I answered with a tired tone. Ciara looked like she had swallowed a bitter bug there. I feel ya, sister.

---

Lily's Status Page:

Skill List:

Title List:

Equipment List: