"YA-HOOOOOO!!" - Lily

"MAKE IT STOOOOOP!!" - Karnel

Sorry, but the rail cart express to the depths of the dark underworld does not have an emergency break~.

If anyone joined in right now, they would understand most of the situation from my joke above. We're rushing through the Tunnel of Fear using a minecart that Lily had produced from the beak of her pelican friend, Store.

The reason for using this is because Karnel and Lily's three birds' night vision abilities aren't on the level to see through the darkness that envelope the Tunnels.

Lily and Zaria are doing okay. They both have [Night Vision] at the highest level. I was confused why a bat (Therianthrope or not) would want that skill when she got [Echolocation], but Zaria simply replied that some creatures may notice the soundwaves created by the skill, so she went for an alternative method as a backup. Can't say she's wrong.

As for me? I'm seeing stuff better than in the daylight. Considering my eyes aren't a-okay with the sun, since I'm an albino after all. That's nothing to be too impressed over, but you gotta take what you get.

We had left the original route to the exit of the tunnel and went further down the depths looking for whatever monstrosity may have made its hive down there.

According to the supplementary info from Karnel, the tunnels used to be another mine until Lightless Ores started to appear.

Ores in this mountain will gradually be restored in time due to the aether veins in a similar fashion to the mining points in Damavand, but something must have glitched, which made these ores appear like weeds. In the end, the locals had to abandon this mining shaft and it gradually turned into a tunnel to test one's courage...or for getting traumas like Karnel here did.

I put on the brakes on the cart when I saw the end of the rails of the alternative path we had taken and we all jumped out. Karnel and the birds needed some assistance due to the darkness.

"You can wait in the cart." - Garami

"Th-that would kill the meaning for coming at all!" - Karnel

"Then stay here with the birds. You all can't see that well in here. Zaria and I will explore some more and we'll come running back in case we meet something big and bad. So be ready to support us at a second's notice. Lily, stay here as a guard." - Garami

I gave orders to everyone so we could play on everyone's strengths. That seemed to calm Karnel down, but I could see that he still felt bitter about the situation. He's gotten into this spelunking adventure, despite his previous outburst~.

I walked deeper into the dark mine along with Zaria, ready for anything that may appear...but it's just the average Gloom Critters, centipede-like insects that can't even be classified as monsters and they are so weak against sunlight that you could mistake them for the undead. This place is the perfect breeding ground for them though.

Luckily, they're not so fertile even in a perfect environment and they are cowardly by nature. They clear the path the moment we get too close to them. But the sight of the many creepy crawlies makes my skin wanna crawl as well. Maybe it's a good thing that Karnel can't see so much of this place.

There are some good points though. The walls, floor, and roof of the mineshaft all have a turquoise color due to the stone type here. Black crystals that look like obsidian can be found everywhere, so I guess that they must be the Lightless Ores. Let's take some with me home...

"I can't take this anymore!!" whispered Zaria, prolly so that the others left behind wouldn't hear her.

"The bugs?" I replied in a hushed voice too.

"Yes! Just watching them crawl is tearing at my sanity!" she replied, yet having the composure to keep her voice in check even then.

"Then let's talk while walking. It'll distract you from the creepies." - Garami

"Okay...why did you enter this festival?" - Zaira

"Circumstances led us to it, so I thought it would be a good excuse to extend our horizons." - Garami

"That is reasonable, but you sure picked a spartan start for your debut on this continent." - Zaria

"Sure...you know about spartan? No, forget that. Rather, let me ask: why did you have such a high debt that forced you to borrow money from those thugs?" - Garami

"...we got an assignment from the imperial family. Some of the less honorable yakuza sniffed out the deal and wanted to steal the package. I tried to shake them off my tail, but flying through the garden filled with antique ceramics belonging to the imperial family wasn't my brightest idea..." - Zaria

"Why did you even think that would be possible?" - Garami

"I got cocky, okay!? Flying's my thing, okay!!? And most of the costs got taken from the bounty for the yakuza and their personal belongings, okay!!?" - Zaria

"Yes, yes. Then, you guys entered the tournament too...?" - Garami

"It started with the hope of getting some cash from the festival, but then we were forced to..., you know, hunt you guys down..." - Zaria

"No biggie. Everyone would suffer from getting acquainted with a guy that stupid," I replied while thinking about the grunt boss from the bar.

"Yes...not to change the subject, but how did you meet Mira?" - Zaria

That's 100% changing the subject, Missy.

"I think it's better to say that she found me. We met when she was protecting a little miss in Velantas, a city on Invidia. The miss' pet got loose and led them to me. My group then asked the miss' daddy for some work, and Mira decided to join us during that period." - Garami

"Hmm, strange...I'm getting a sense of deja-vu…" - Zaria

That's expected. Mira told me that Zaria did the same to her as she did to me. Forcefully enter her life.

"Changing the subject again, what are your plans for the Prize Points? Got your eyes on something special?" - Garami

We've got the catalogs that told what we could trade the Points for. One could also use them as replacements for Skill Points, but the ratio is 5,000 Prize Points for 1 Skill Point. Honestly, it's not worth it, except if you got nothing else you want.

It's not like many of the items in the catalog are of stellar quality. For example, there are no evolution-related Key Items. At most, you could get some new weapons, armor, or materials.

The best would be to get the materials. They have better quality and rarity than the equipment, so getting lots of materials to make a better piece of equipment would be the smartest option according to Flint, our very own master smith.

But two sections caught my attention. Both are limited to certain groups. 

"Hmm, not sure what I want, but the boys said I could use their share of the Points as my own." - Zaria

Members of the same group can share their points after all. And the three Kamaitachi brothers aren't strong enough to work solo, so they plan to retire from the festival after this event.

"Is it fine if we buy some of those Guild Items?" - Zaria

Ah, stuff like the Medallion of Velantas. Items that improve our stats and/or skills. The Medallion gives a 2% to every stat except HP, MP, SP, INT, and LUC. The highest increase possible from these items is 5% and we can't use duplicates, but if we added several different items...

"By all means. I'll have the crafter crew make you guys something special if you find us something cool." - Garami

"Yes! Are you planning on something then?" - Zaria

"A new monster line for Damavand would be nice." - Garami

"Excuse me, what!?" - Zaria

"Hmm? Didn't I tell you about Damavand?" - Garami

"No, I know that part. Mira told me about it. But why's Dungeon stuff on the list!?" - Zaria

Oh? She's quick to catch on.

As Zaria splendidly deducted here, the Prize Point catalog includes stuff that can be used in the Dungeon. It must be a secret menu for Dungeon-owners. Prolly in the same fashion as how Guild stuff is only viewable for Guild members. The Dungeon things cost a shit-load of Points though. 

"DP to increase the Dungeon's stats by 1 cost 500,000 Points. Monster lines require anything from 800,000 to 1 million. And the sub-attributes? Anything from 1 million and up," I told Zaria as I concluded my grumble disguised as an explanation.

"Yikes...how many Points do you have now?" - Zaria

"I can answer that!" - GM

Oh, forgot you were here.

GM started to produce windows similar to the System Messages. One of them was in the top 5 of the first event listed.

1. [Grangron and his loyal servants]: 623,510 Points
2. [Nightmare Voyagers]: 612,000 Points
3. [Jet Stormhawks]: 244,740 Points
4. [Fallen Knights]: 243,350 Points
5. [Untouchable]: 241,550

...Seeing this again, I'm forced to admit that we're one heck of a group. And those [Untouchable] guys were supposed to be a group of Wakoku monks who were believed to be the strongest competitors. So much for that.

FYI, Zaria's group was in 47th place with 112,000 points. Mostly due to being so well-known and that they made an impression when they worked at our restaurant. 

GM then continued to show the points divided across our group...

1. Lily: 145,000
2. Revi: 133,000
3. Garami: 102,000
4. Alf: 67,000
5. Ciara: 44,000
6. Mira: 40,000
7. Noire: 33,000
8. Karnel: 21,000
9. Iron: 14,000
10. Flint: 13,000

Ugh...I got 3rd place...

No, this is acceptable. I only made an appearance on the last day after all. And I doubt that wandering like a lunatic afraid of their own shadow's gonna give me any points either. Rather, I should thank that...whatever that guy was called. He completely slipped my...mind...oh, what the f*ck's that!!?

"...a giant...Gloom Critter?" asked Zaria, not bothering to hide the disgust in her voice.

I mean, this thing's a giant, and FAT, centipede with a jet-black body, big enough to reach the ceiling of the tunnel. Worst of all must be its face, which is the least centipede-looking of it all. Instead, I would say the face looks like an octopus, a lamprey, an ant, and a monkey had a child together. And don't even ask why that last part's in the mix.

From the looks of it, this..., this "Crawling Fear", or so the Identification-results tell me, is blind. It's got no eyeballs or anything, plus it moves slowly as a...snail as if it didn't have enough attributes already. It doesn't have any feelers-like appendages like what bugs normally have. Instead, it's got a set of monkey ears… Why a monkey of all things!?

"...KARNEL! Prepare the Slate Cannon!" - Garami

I shouted as I turned and ran back to the entrance. Zaria looked shocked and confused but she snapped out of it in less than a second and followed me. With confusion still painted on her face. As for the big guy, it started to stumble after us as fast as its big body could take it. 

Seeing that the guy was falling behind, I slowed down and created some noises by whipping some old mining equipment with my threads so it wouldn't lose track of us. And sure enough, it started to increase the pace of its many legs...god, that noise is disgusting.

Luckily, that's all about to end. I can see the homestay group...crap! Get down!

Just as I dragged Zaria down with me, a large slate, more solid than what its appearance would make you think, flew past our heads. It's fired so that it would go over us even if we didn't jump to the floor, but that thing's scary! It's like a car being launched by a huge ballista!

*Squish!*

And to prove it, we got a smashed centipede behind us! Ugh, it looks worse than before. Good work, Karnel.

"A-are you two alright?! What was that just now?!" - Karnel

Not that he can see what he did!! Guess he must have used that Sonar skill of his to find the centipede's location, then fired off the slate made from [Slate Plate] by combining it with [Rock Cannon].

Earth skills are damn scary. So simple, yet look at that destructive power!

"W-well..." - Zaria

"Good work, Karnel! That was a close one. Who would have thought that all this darkness ironically blocks you from using Darkness?" - Garami

"H-huh? Really?" - Karnel

"Yes, man, cheer up! You just saved us, and from no other than the very creature that traumatized you so many years ago. Be proud of yourself!" - Garami

"I-I don't follow-" - Karnel

"What is it that's so difficult to follow?! Push out your chest some more, you damn hero!" replied Zaria who had caught on to the reason for my white lies. 

And the chimera...is too disgusted by the centipede's remains to say anything. Think she finally lost her appetite...same as me.

"Come on, let's get outta here. You gotta celebrate your victory over your archnemesis, you goddamn champion!" - Garami

Got ABSOLUTELY no clue if this guy was the one who scared you all those years before.

"Yes...yes you're right. I-I did it, didn't I?" - Karnel

Great, he's starting to lighten up...crap.

One of those small centipedes fell from the roof and onto the Gargoyle's face. Now we have to drag this huge (and ugly) centipede corpse and this unconscious bundle of rocks?

Everyone present and conscious did a facepalm. Even the birds! 

Later, meaning two days later when the event was over, Karnel finally woke up. I'll give that guy a heart of metal that can rival Iron's one of these days...

Speaking of Iron, wonder how he and the others are doing? Prolly not as well as us. I mean, thanks to Flint, we increased the Points obtained here to 400,000! Zaria's group got an extra 30,000 in the end too. 

Now we have enough for a new monster line Damavand! Though, if I do something as stupid as commandeering everyone's Points, I fear that the crafters' gonna make something I'm gonna have nightmares of forever and ever...

---

Skill List:

Title List: