Shit, how did it come to this?

This was supposed to be our first designated request straight from the Guild itself. The request was to locate possible Dungeons that could be responsible for the disaster that's happened in these lands over these 18 years.

How did it come to this?

---

We, "The Traveling Explorers", have managed to discover and complete several Dungeons in the past. Due to this, we were requested by the Guild to find a certain unverified Dungeon that was believed to exist in this devastating wildland.

Alas, the wildland was covering a great amount of land. Exploring this place on our own would be impossible. That's why the Guild had enlisted several parties to search the land to find the source of the disaster that's wounded the land all these years.

There are just a few problems:

First off, nobody knows where this Dungeon is located. Lester tried to search for this place by analyzing the aether lines in the ground but found nothing. A Dungeon that's not dependent on the aether lines, what gives? 

The second reason is that we were low on provisions, and couldn't restock without going back to the city. 

We cannot collect fruits and plants from the land since it's all gone now, and the monsters and animals that still live here are either too dangerous to fight or too horrible to eat.

After finally finding the entrance completely by chance, we found out the worst part about this dungeon:

After leaving the Dungeon, all impressions of it would disappear. We would still have the memories about going into it and what kind of dungeon it is, but we would forget everything about where the Dungeon is located, it's traps and monsters, and even what difficulty degree it has. Even the name of the place disappeared after a while.

We tried to write the information we could gather, but after a while, even the writing disappeared. If we had left the dungeon without someone remaining at the entrance to guide us back, then we would have forgotten all about it after walking a little bit outside.

Since there were no other real choices, we decided to clear the dungeon, despite having not many provisions left.

Lester, the party's walking dictionary, had theorized that the Dungeon Master had spent all it's Dungeon Points in concealment abilities instead of adding traps and monsters to protect it, therefore making it easy for us to clear it, despite our weakened state.

I, Goran, and Miliana rejected this idea. A Dungeon is supposed to lure living beings into themselves to kill the victims and absorb their aether for nourishment. To reject intruders would be the same as choosing to starve. 

"Then, what if this Dungeon has another way off replenishing its aether?", was Lester's idea.

True, some Dungeons are self-sufficient with aether. Many of the famous Dungeons that the countries keep alive have a high increase of aether, even without preying on living beings that wander into it. 

If this Dungeon is one of those, then it wouldn't be strange if it chose to isolate itself from the world. 

"And one more thing. If this Dungeon is the one that the Guild talked about, then it has one more than one way of obtaining aether than the usual ways." - Lester

Grk, that's true. That was the thought all three of us had when that fact was raised. If this Dungeon is the linchpin of the disaster, then it would have gained a ridiculous amount of aether already. 

After compla- cough, discussing it in a calm and civilized manner, we agreed with Lester's idea of clearing the Dungeon.

---

"Hey, what's up with this spider?! It's spitting out water, not threads!" - Goran

"AHH! Terd was knocked out!" - Miliana

"What's up with that water pressure?!" - Lester

---

"Hey, is this the right way?" - Lester

"Shouldn't you trust my path-finding skills by know?" - Goran

"That's right. Goran has never disappointed us before" - Terd

"If he does, then that will make us some real idiots." - Brak

"But have we not passed this rock pillar seven times already?" - Miliana

"..." - The three idiots

---

"Jungle Raptors incoming!" - Goran

"Jungle Raptors? You have to be jo-! They really are incoming!" - Brak

"How can they run so fast on this slippery floor?!" - Lester

"AHH! Terd was run over!" - Miliana

---

"*Hah**Hah* What's up with this freaking place!?!" - Brak

"Ahh, leader went crazy." - Miliana

"Can't say I blame him." - Goran

"Mm, mm." - Lester & Terd

Who in the world could blame me at this point?! This place isn't just protected with an information erasure ability, it's packed with strange monsters. Not to mention the heretic bad statuses 'Forget' and 'Daze' that the Dungeon dishes out as a part of its Terrain Effect.

The worst part of it all, this dungeon is the kind that has areas instead of floors. These dungeons have huge areas with long passages between them. To say it simply, they are a royal pain. The passages make for a natural labyrinth, and the areas are wide and open, practically asking for a monster stampede.

"Okay, this place is too much for us. Even if we were at full strength we would still be struggling with the mobs here. To top it off, this place must have several Sub-Bosses including the Dungeon Boss, if not even the Dungeon Master himself. Who's with me for leaving this place and deliver the small amount of information to the Guild?" - Brak

"Agreed!" - The remaining four

"Good, then it's decided. Rest up, then we will head back up again." - Brak

We had managed to secure a safe zone when we reached the first open area after entering the Dungeon. This place is filled with water, creating rivers that run under natural bridges made of rocks and stalagmites.

This much water, and we cannot take it back with us...

I just know that the other four are thinking the same thought. But this place is just too high-leveled for us. I guess we were too overconfident to think about the worst-case possibilities. Just as the Guild master always said: "Never get arrogant in the field".

If it was not for Terd's mighty defense and Miliana's recovery spells, we would not have reached even this area. 

"I'll watch out for enemies." - Goran

Good call. That would still not be enough if something decided to take a break in this corner.

*DON* *BANG*

"Gyaahhhh!" - Goran

What?! Goran was sent flying?! 

"Terd! Catch him!" - Brak

"Hmf!" - Terd

Good. Terd managed to grab Goran before he crashed into the floor. Miliana would be able to heal him just fine.

"Be careful. That thing is even stronger than the previous ones." - Lester

I turned around after confirming that Goran was getting treated and saw it.

It looked like a turtle but was as big as a carriage. Its shell has marine colors and looked solid enough to withstand even the slash of a master swordsman. The only part that is not turtle-ish, is its head. It was that of a snake, with a matching long neck.

Damn it! It must have been on the top of the bridge, then it jumped down to ambush us. I hate it when the monsters have a working brain.

"Terd! Come with me to the front. Lester! Get into a position to use magic when needed. Goran! When you're healed, start running around that thing and use the Appraisal Lens to get its status. Then disturb it however you see fit. Miliana! Do your thing whenever someone gets hurt." - Brak

"Roger!" - Terd, Lester & Miliana

"Damn, what a black-company leader we have." - Goran

Call me whatever you want. This thing is bad news. It must have the [Withdraw] skill unique to turtle-monsters, but it attacked Goran with a headbutt before? Doesn't it have any poison? The spiders from before were the same. Is it a shared characteristic of the monsters of this dungeon?

"I got its status! It's called a Glavras Bunkkurtle, and it has a shitload of defensive power! It's weak in speed stats and magic, but its power is a little lower than the average for this level of monsters!" - Goran

Just as expected then-, huh? 'A little lower than the average'? Then how did it send Goran flying?

"Should I also appraise its skills?" - Goran

"What?! The Appraisal Lens has a limited amount of uses left. Should we not try to break through it by force?" - Lester

Lester does have a point, but still.

"Try to get its skills as well. We'll just save up for a new Lens when we get-" -Brak

*Crack!*

"Gwaaahh!" - Terd

'get back home', is what I was going to say, but the Glavras Bunkkurtle had acted first. In a speed that should not be possible with its bulky body, the Bunkkurtle had snapped at Terd, crunching parts of his armor along with his side.

"Terd!" - Miliana

Maybe because she let cried out for Terd, the Bunkkurtle threw him right at Miliana.

"Tred! Miliana! Damn that turtle! Lester! Do some first-aid healing on them!" - Brak

"R-roger!" - Lester

"Goran. Get some potions out." - Brak

Lester may know some healing magic, but his true occupation is that of a researcher. Any healing magic of his will not be enough against those wounds.

"Wait a sec, I'll... no, no, no, no, no! I lost them!" - Goran

"Lost it? Lost... no wait, I don't wanna know." - Brak

"There! Behind the turtle, where Goran was sent flying! His Potion Belt!" - Lester

I seriously didn't want to know that! The impact must have knocked the belt off. What shall we do now...

---

That damn turtle bastard still hasn't made a big move yet. It waits till Tred and Miliana succumb to their wounds, then it will finish off the rest of us. In the meanwhile, it keeps me and Goran from recovering the Potion Belt by targeting the three behind us. It's a stalemate, and time is our enemy in this case.

Is there no way out of this predicament?

...nimo!

"Huh?" - Brak

"What's up?" - Goran

"I thought I he-" - Brak

*Splatt!*

'heard something', I was going to say, but for the second time this day, I was interrupted when I was talking. And the culprit is of the same kind as the previous one: a monster falling from the bridge above us.

Like last time, the monster felled down on an unsuspecting victim. The victim this time was:

The Glavras Bunkkurtle.

"GWWWAAAAHHHH!!" - Bunkkurtle

"What?!" - The three Adventurers

The new monster attacked the Bunkkurtle instead of us?! Dungeon monsters are not each other ally, except when intruders come to the Dungeon. There is no way that there would be infighting between Dungeon monsters with Adventurers right in front of them. In fact, what kind of monster is the newcomer? A white Slime? And it's making a literal killing of the Bunkkurtle.

It's grabbing the Bunkkurtle's neck and tries to eat it from what I can see. And it's extremely effective! The Bunkkurtle is hurt so much that it cannot withdraw into its shell, and it's also getting choked at the same time. To top it off, the horror of having a slime crawl around its neck is freaking it out big time, so much that it cannot make a rational decision.

"Goran! Appraise that white Slime right now! And give me the information through the Status Pager as well! Lester, you keep on with the healing!" - Brak

"Got it!" - Goran and Lester

While I got the okay from those two, I took out the Status Pager. A masterwork in magi-tech, allowing one to share the result from the [Appraisal] skill, even if you use an item for it, like the Appraisal Lens.

The Appraisal Lens itself could imitate the [Appraisal] skill to certain levels, but the producers could never get the Lens to reach the skills level 9. Also, it had a limited amount of uses. Our's Lens is a first-rate item, with over 100 uses and a level of 8. 

"The information is coming now, but what the heck's up with this thing?!" - Goran

The new monster must be some rare and dangerous creature if Goran is this agitated.

Huh? A Grey Demon? And a Lesser variant?

"Is the Lens broken or something?" - Brak

A Lesser Grey Demon only had 4 skills from birth, but this ting had more than twice of that.

That it had classes available wasn't that surprising. Unlike other lower-ranking monsters, all demons could gain classes like humanoids and high-ranking monsters.

But then there was it's INT and LUC stats. The regular amount of INT and LUC is around 100 points each, and this ting easily jumped past that, especially in LUC. Then there is the color. Grey Demons is supposed to be, you know, grey. This one is white like snow.

"I-I don't know? Shall I check its skills?" - Goran

"Do it!" - Brak

Okay, what's this monster of a demon's skills?

WAIT A SEC, A IMMUNITY SKILL?! AND IT HAS A HIGH LEVEL OF [APPRAISAL] AS WELL?!

"Leader, what's up with this demon?!" - Goran

"I don't have a single clue, but it's at least not your everyday Grey Demon." - Brak

Whatever it is, it has some sort of advantage against the Bunkkurtle. There is no guarantee afterward though. In that case...

"Lester. Try to [Tame] that Grey Demon." - Brak

"Huh? Grey Demon? Do you mean that white slime? Is it not helping us? And if I stop healing Tred and Milana-" - Lester

"Just one second is enough. Get control over that demon and make it move the turtle away so that Goran can grab the Potion Belt." - Brak

In the end, Grey Demons are just suicide squad members for those with the Tamer class. Lester may just have it as a Sub Class, but that's more than enough to take over that demon, as strange as it can be.

"Don't blame me if anything goes wrong. Tame!" - Lester

Okay, now the demon must be... completely ignoring what we are doing and keeps on strangling the Bunkkurtle.

"What? Tame! Tame!" - Lester

Despite what he self said just a second ago, Lester tried to tame the Grey Demon several more times. But all attempts were rewarded with no reaction.

"Wha-what is going on?!" - Lester

"Contra orders Lester! Stop trying to tame it, and keep on with the healing spells instead!" - Brak

"O-okay." - Lester

Damn, Lester's confidence is breaking. Having failed in taming one of the easiest monsters in the world must have been a hard blow. If that's the case...

"Goran! Try to get to the Potion Belt the moment those two are moving away from it. I'll cover you." - Brak

"Y-you sure that's gonna work?" - Goran

"We have to make it work! Whoever wins that fight there is going to be our next opponents. Even if we win, it could be too late for Tred and Milana!" - Brak

If the Grey Demon won, then we could easily defeat it since it was no longer the element of surprise. If the Bunkkurtle won, then it would be somewhat wounded and maybe we could chase it away. However the battle ends, it will take too long before it's...

"GWWAAHHhhhh..." - Bunkkurtle

*Crash*

"HUH?!" - the three Adventurers

No way! The Bunkkurtle was killed first. And in no time!

"L-leader. Did that slime have some insta-kill skills?" - Lester

"Of course not! But it's a demon, not a slime, so there can be something there." - Brak

It did have a title that we didn't appraise yet, but I cannot think about anything that demon could do to kill off the Bunkkurtle so fast.

"Wh-what are we  gonna do?" - Goran

That's what I want to know. That demon has some hidden skills that could take out a defensive monster like that in a moment. Who cannot be unsure when facing such an enigma?

Geh! The demon reacted. It looks like it was shocked about something. There is nothing there though. Was it also surprised that it killed the Bunkkurtle?

Now it is... going for the Potion Belt!

"HEY! That's not yours!" - Goran

'Don't shout to it!' is what I want to say to that idiot Hobgoblin, but a part of me is agreeing to him. While ignoring Goran's outburst, the demon is picking up the belt.

Damn it, let's just get desperate! While thinking that and exchanging glances with Goran, ready to pounce on the demon, the demon

Threw the Potion Belt towards us.

"! Oh crap!" - the three Adventurers

Goran dropped the dagger in his hand and run over, and managed to catch the belt just before it hit the ground.

"*Phew*" - Goran & Lester

"Don't just stand there! Use those potions already!" - Brak

"Y-yes, sir!" - Goran

Goran ran over to Tred and Miliana with the potions, ready to drench the wounds with them. After taking a last look at them, I turned around to see the demon... what is it doing?

The demon is wrapping something up with what appears to be a white rope. Where did it get that?

Wait! That's threads! The demon did have a [Spider Thread] skill after all! But that's not explaining why it is doing that?

*Whirr**Whirr*

Huh? Now it is looping a thread over its head like a lasso like how those with the Ranger class do when they are trying to capture wild animals and monsters. But the thread doesn't have a loop in the end.

*Throw*

"HUH?!" - the three Adventurers

No way! The demon managed to throw the thread up to the bridge. That must be more than 5 meters straight up! Where does it hide the power to throw that far? Not to mention the Potion Belt! Shouldn't this guy's STR be at measly 2 points?!

*Boing**Boing*

While doing something like testing if the thread is securely attached, it turned over to us and...

It waved it's hand(?) toward us like it was saying goodbye.

"G-goodbye?" - Brak

The strangeness of the situation made me greet it farewell back. Then, the demon made on last hard pull to the thread, and...

*BOOOIIIIIIINNGG*

"WHAT NOW?!" - the three Adventurers

And bounced up like it had springs underneath itself. In just one jump, it had reached the top of the bridge where it had fallen from. Now that I take a good look, there is one more thread there, probably from when the demon had attacked the Bunkkurtle, which it had disconnected from itself to have more freedom in grabbing the turtle's neck.

"Just what in Terra Sol was that thing?" - Lester

Again, that's what I want to know.