The 9th floor of Alos's Great Dungeon was the first to ever directly specify a mission; outright speaking it into their minds.

[Sharak castle has been occupied by a force of orcs and goblins. Defeat the leader of these merciless beasts, find your escape within, or place your bets on obtaining the treasure in which they hold in order to reach the next floor.]

'Knowing the mission is at least a step up,' Rose thought. They wouldn't have to bumble about trying to figure out what the floor was testing. It was straightforward. 'Yet, that doesn't necessarily make things any easier. The fact that it suggests finding the escape door rather than only the option of defeating the leader means that it thinks there's a good likelihood we'll lose.'

The sky overhead was a moody gray. Stuffed full of darkness with the shine of the moon's light vaguely illuminating the world. There was a mist in the air and the wind carried the faint scent of blood. Rose glanced forward from atop a tree, hand wading away leaves, to spy the thick, looming walls of a dilapidating estate in the distance. It was essentially a small village with a castle, encased in a protective shell. It was the sort of fortification that seemed built to withstand a siege.

'Not impossible to scale. Would be better if we could find an actual entrance,' She thought. Her eyes jumped over the construct as she analyzed it. 'Small, green creatures on top of the walls. Must be goblins. Defensive stations or patrols? Then the same can be expected inside. By that logic, we're dealing with coordinated, intelligent beasts. Group tactics would likely be to their favor as is the terrain being familiar to them—avoiding large confrontations would be best until we know how strong and how many there are.'

Rose's mind ran as she watched the distant construct. Within a second, she had already analyzed issues, problems, and thought of various situations and counters. Some to their advantage, some not.

'For now, our best bet is a stealthy entry and execution. We don't need to confront them all if we simply find the exit out of here. However, more information is needed even before that,' She surmised as she dropped down from the tree, landing with a thud upon grass.

"What did you see?" Lilias asked.

"Not very much," She replied.

Rose turned to Elsa, who was already reaching into her satchel.

"Could you send out one of your One Eyes for reconnaissance? At this time of day, with the darkness and mist, it should be quite hard to notice," Rose asked, "Focus on finding an entry point near us as well as studying the outward defenses of the place—especially those upon the wall."

"That all?" Elsa asked, holding the One Eye in her hand, tapping it as she activated the drone.

Rose pointed towards the direction of the estate.

"Send it flying in at about 10 meters high, and be careful to only shift altitudes while aways from the wall, covered by mist. There seems to be defensive patrols, so maintain conservative maneuvers."

"Gotcha."

The metallic ball with a center 'eye' of a mana orb took flight as Elsa tossed it into the air. It floated upwards with only the low hum of mana, then sped into the distance, breaking out of the little forest path they had found themselves. The trio walked unhurriedly after it as Elsa controlled and kept an eye on its feed, practically glaring at the display of her pad.

"Huh, the guards up top are interspaced goblin archers, and there's an entrance a bit right of here, but it's got a gate though," She murmured, ". . .and, just our shitty luck, it looks like it can only be opened up from the inside."

"Trying that route would be an easy alert, then." Rose furrowed her brows as she stared up at the cobblestone wall as the trio stopped walking. Slowly, the One Eye drifted back down and Elsa pocketed it. Lilias shrugged.

"I suppose the only way is up and over then?" The dragonian asked.

Rose nodded. "Mhmm."

Fire crawled over her hands, then morphed into claws before solidifying into a construct of flames, mana shuddering and keeping it all together, tangible.

"As of now, and until I say otherwise," Rose said, "Stealth takes priority over speed or mission."

"Noted."

"Aye aye, leader."

"Mhmm, I'll go first, both of you come up once I clear the coast." Rose nodded.

Her words left hanging, she kicked off of the ground and ran. A step away from the wall, she jumped and dug her claws into it. Without missing a beat, Rose glanced up through the hazy mist and began climbing.

'It's a good thing I've made my Gear more versatile than just a sword and flames,' She thought as she withdrew her claws, hunched herself upwards with her upper body strength, and stabbed into the wall again.

Although she would have liked to, she didn't yet have enough control over wind to simply fly onto the walls. And, even still, that would likely be easy to see and hear. In the same vein, merely using a blast of fire to propel herself up would mark her right away. Essentially, it was her first stealth mission, cloaked in the hazy mist of a gray night.

In under a minute, Rose scaled the 8 meter tall wall, clinging close to it until she was right below the very top. There, she listened and her heightened senses picked up the sound of walking right above her, pacing back and forth, and the low growl of a creature. Rose's mind spun as she tracked that pacing, echoing the likely location of the creature above her with each of its steps. 'Two creatures?' She thought. In the next instant, she had her plan and pushed herself off of the wall.

A platform of flames appeared briefly below her feet and she jumped, flipping within the air as her brain erupted with mana and the world slowed. Behind her feet, another platform of flames flashed. In front, her eyes jumped as she recognized a beast in the midst of taking a step. A green skinned, stout, two-legged humanoid with sharp ears, teeth, and armor of leather. In its grip was a bow, on its back a quiver of arrows, and on its hips a sheathed shortsword. To its left was another goblin of the same appearance, a small distance away. All of this analysis happened within the span of a second and she had her plan.

A dagger of fire molded onto her left hand, <Igris> spawned onto her right hand, and Rose kicked off of the platform of fire--launching into the beast, tackling it. Before the creature could even open its lips, it was down on the ground, her hand clasped around its mouth as she stabbed her weapon through its neck. It gurgled, convulsing underneath her. Eyes cold, Rose kept her grip and withdrew her blade, holding her position until it became lifeless.

The world regained normal speed and another goblin dropped down beside her, dead with a dagger of fire embedded within its throat, burning away at its neck.

Rose stood up quietly as her eyes surveyed the area. Far right of her, there were yet another two beasts hidden in the midst, and to her left, another two. If she wasn't mistaken, then, there was likely a team of 6 goblins upon each wall.

'Far enough,' She thought, 'If even my mana amplified eyes can barely perceive them, then they definitely shouldn't be able to see me from their positions within this mist.'

Rose crouched against the wall and brought her pad up. "You two can come up now."

A few seconds later and a white wolf flashed through the hazy mist, appearing like magic next to her with Lilias upon its back. Rose watched as the dragonian hopped off and Elsa morphed back to human form.

"So?" The tomboy grinned, pounding her two, gloved fists together while Lilias merely unsheathed her weapons.

Rose nodded, smiling. "Split up, kill everything on top of the walls. Stealth still takes priority."

The two nodded and the trio were off.

LotsChrono

New cover edit (by Creaking_Shadow). Finally, nobody can be confused about what 'RATH' stands for any longer. I can Rest In Peace.

P.S Cover may take awhile to show up/change.

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