This outpost town in Floor 2 was largely unremarkable. The gift shop was staffed only by a golem, while the restaurants were not yet open at this hour. It was considerably darker than any part of Floor 1, and not at all lively.

Mino activated her mana battery-lamp. A cool blue glow came up around the party.

“Remember everyone,” she said. “If anybody gets separated, come to the central outpost and we’ll regroup from there.”

“Got it,” Amelia said. The others simply nodded.

But she was unsure how long she would even stick with this group. Right here, right in the outpost itself, were multiple Fourland drug dealers hawking their goods to anyone who passed by. Some of it was mere party pills, the kind of stuff used mostly by the young and wealthy. But then she saw that distinctive powdery white substance in a clear bag—synth, bright as day.

It was so blatant, so out in the open, with these agents not even attempting to hide from the authorities. And for good reason: Not only were most police uninterested in pursuing it, or outright paid off, there simply were none here in the outpost that Amelia could see.

The only people punished for synth in Fleettwixt were the users. The vulnerable addicts were punished with prison, debt, and forced labor, all while the government itself was the one making synth in the first place. A perfect cycle to capture free workers for their factories.

And a cycle that Amelia would soon shatter.

She decided not to act against these dealers. She did not have her mask on, and she could not easily slip away from the group. Brutalizing or killing any of them would draw too much attention, and it would end up compromising her mission to find the secret Fourland facility on Floor 4.

But she sure made a plan for afterwards. For now, this hive of scum and villainy would have peace. But when she returned, she would burn the whole place down, and she would take that Floor 1 propaganda sign down, too. Once she gained enough power, no force would be able to stop her.

For now, she was still with the hostel party, and they were continuing their tour of Floor 2.

“Anything you need here, or are we good to go?” Mino asked. “Restroom, anyone?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Alright then. Let’s get on with our exciting adventure into the dungeon!” She pumped her fist cutely to motion for them to advance. “There’s movers down here, too, but we don’t need them. The lake is about twenty minutes away by foot.”

Aeo slumped over. “Ugh, I hate walking.”

And yet walk they did.

Amelia took one last look at the outpost as they left it. All those dealers harassing passers by, including a very nervous Phelia who darted away from every person who approached. Not only that, but there were many golems around, too. Most of them walked in circuitous routes, and a few simply stood still at street corners not already occupied by dealers. If they were policing the area, they clearly were not doing anything about the synth, so they must have had some other purpose.

Strange, and somehow something worth noting for Amelia.

The party entered a small cave, at first lit up only by Mino’s lamp. Then Hummer lit her own. A faint glow joined them from the other side of the cave. Presumably, that was the Manadhmeth Lake itself.

Some of the rocks around glittered as the light passed them. Almost like quorium, but not translucent enough. It was pretty, Amelia thought.

“Geez, that outpost has really gone to shit,” Aeo said. “I don’t remember it being so dead last time we came down here.”

“You were busy flirting with the gift shop owner is why,” Mino said. “That place has been going downhill for years. Same reason as Beechhurst. The dungeons aren’t as exciting for adventurers anymore, so there’s just less traffic around here. Nobody’s buying or selling treasures on Floor 2, because there really isn’t any. If people do need anything, they can just walk up to Floor 1, and not much hassle there.”

“Except the stairs,” Aeo said.

“Yeah, whatever. I kind of feel bad for the place. Beechhurst has so many cool places to visit, even a beach, that can help it, and it’s definitely going to be revitalized soon.” Mino said this with such proud confidence that Amelia wondered if, deep down, she did not believe her own words. “Floor 2, on the other hand, doesn’t have much to help it aside from the lake. The lake is pretty, but North Sunwell also declared it a natural reserve. So, no hunting or fishing or mining or houses besides the ones already built. That kind of thing really hurts the growth here.”

“Wait, they did that?” Amelia asked. “That’s... surprising.”

“Their accountants did the math,” Mino said, “and looks like nature tourism makes more money than all that other stuff, even if it’s not to the people in the outposts. Floor 2 used to have all that stuff, but it went away after some plant species started to go extinct. If they didn’t, everything else might have collapsed, too. So, no more treasure, and no more exploitation.”

“You know, the treasure’s not ALL gone,” Phelia said. “I remember a couple years ago, I was exploring a tiny cave and discovered a fallen soldier’s skeleton. It had a helmet and a shield, and it turned out it was over a hundred years old! That sounds like treasure to me.”

Mino sighed. “How much did you get from selling it?”

“...Not much.”

“Exactly. It was only there because all the other treasure hunters didn’t bother taking it. We aren’t going to find anything cool down here. Sorry, but that’s not why we are on this adventure.”

“I know, but it’s lame,” Phelia whined.

“You’ll take it back once you see the lake. You always do.”

“I know that too, but it’s still lame.”

“There’s a lot to explore besides treasure,” Mino said. “That tiny cave you found, wasn’t it really cool besides the skeleton?”

“Oh, fine, I get it!” Phelia threw up her hands in anguish, then giggled. “You’re the best, Mino. I’m sorry for whining.”

“It’s alright,” Mino said, patting her on the head. “You’ve always been my favorite boarder.”

Aeo puts her hands on her hips. “Hey! We’re best friends.”

“But you don’t clean the dishes when it’s your turn,” Mino said pointedly.

“Oh yeah.”

“Actually, Phelia, you’re my second-favorite boarder. Just behind Otto.”

Phelia nodded. “Otto is way better than me. Such a good boy.”

“The best boy,” Mino corrected.

“Why didn’t he come down with us this time? I love exploring with him.”

“Ah, I don’t know. He’s still not really used to Amelia around, and Amelia’s sort of weird to him, I think. You know, because of the whole golem soul gem thing. I didn’t want to him to freak out and run off or something. He does that enough already.”

“Sorry,” Amelia said. She was not particularly a fan of that olm and his slimy skin and intense interest in rubbing itself all over Amelia’s legs when he wanted to be petted. He not being here just made it easier for her to go about her own mission.

And, speaking of that, the faster they reached Floor 3, the faster she could sneak off without them realizing what had happened. She wanted to rush this lake business as quickly as possible.

“Hey, Hummer,” Aeo said suddenly. “You’ve been real quiet this whole time. Are you—”

“AWWWOOOOOOOOO!”

Everyone in the party froze instantly.

“What the hell was that?” Amelia asked.

“Howl apes,” Mino said in a whisper. “And keep your voice down.”

Howl apes? Now that was a name that struck Amelia as familiar. Had Ed told her about them? She could not remember. But it was not positive feelings that her girlfriend communicated, that much she knew.

Hummer, for all her quiet inaction up to this point, immediately dropped her battery-lamp and let it hit the floor with a clang. She drew her sword and lowered her stance as she stepped in front of Phelia and Mino. Aeo picked out a dagger from the assortment of weapons on her person, and Phelia took that axe she bought at the weapons shop. Mino assumed a defensive posture, but with one hand still holding her lamp, she simply held out her free hand and let droplets of water swirl around her fingertips, building up until they collected into a sphere she could launch.

A few seconds later, the high-pitched yells continued, now extremely close to them.

“Shouldn’t we turn off the lamps?” Amelia asked, unsure what she should have been doing at the moment.

“They can see in the dark,” Mino said. “We can’t.”

“Fair point.”

Amelia could see in the dark, too, with her Scan Module. But it did not seem like she needed to waste the mana to activate it while the others were here.

Then the moment hit—the howl apes emerged from a side path, three of them. They were huge, seven feet tall, with arms that stretched down nearly to the floor. Lanky, with light gray fur, but vicious bestial faces. They ran towards the party on all fours, but when they reached close enough they stood up on only their feet.

The howl apes stopped screeching, and stopped advancing. It seemed like they were examining the party, gaming out how risky an attack might be. And the party was clearly doing the same.

“Stay still,” Mino whispered to Amelia. “No sudden moves, and they might not attack. We’re not food, and they know it.”

They certainly did not look like they knew it. They looked hungry. So lean they would jump at any chance for a meal, even if it cost them their lives. They had the same desperation in their stances that Amelia felt in her own heart. She did not believe Mino’s claim that they would not attack, not in the slightest.

“If they do?”

“We’ll fight back. They’ll run when they’re scared. They always do.”

“And if they don’t?”

“...I wish we had some fire. They hate that.”

Fire? Amelia had an easy alternative.

One that would end this stand-off before it really slowed her mission down.

“[Mana Burst] at the ready, please,” she whispered to her system.

Amelia raised up her right arm and strolled over to the howl apes.

They screamed and jumped, as if to attack, but they did not get a single second of opportunity before the bright purple magic rippled out of her and singed, then burned them.

She pushed herself harder, and their screams turned from anger to anguish. They tried to run away, but barely went anywhere. All three toppled to the ground, bodies smoking.

Amelia had incinerated them.

The other four relaxed their stances and put their weapons back in.

“They weren’t going to hurt us...” Mino said, quietly.

She hated to do it to these innocent beasts. Hurt her to do it. But she would not risk them hurting her friends.

But Phelia had exactly the opposite reaction. “That was incredible!”

“Eh, it was okay,” Aeo said. “My rifle can do the same thing.”

“Yeah, sure it can,” Phelia said, gravitating over to Amelia like she had chosen a new favorite toy.

It was the first time she had shown off her powers in front of anybody in Fleettwixt, or at least anybody who lived to tell the tale. And she was unsure how much she enjoyed the response.

But at least they were safe.

---