“A Supply Point room,” Flavia exclaimed.

“Really?” Narias entered a one-bed apartment size of a cave.

“So, we finally found one,” Ileena said, letting out a sigh of relief. She was probably looking forward to having some rest by now.

“But this one is so much smaller than the other ones we’ve been to on the first floor of the Magic Dungeon,” Emilia pointed out.

“I suppose different floors have different size Supply Point rooms,” Narias reasoned.

“Hey, I found something,” Flavia exclaimed excitedly.

“What is it?” Ileena was curious to know. The other students came closer to see as well.

“It’s a bag, but… huh? Food and water?” Flavia took out a bottle of water and a neatly wrapped package.

“That means we’re not the first ones to visit this Supply Point room,” Narias pointed out.

“Yes, but who could’ve been here before us? We have defeated the Fanged Whitemane Wolf, so nobody would be able to enter the same dungeon we are in right now,” Flavia was puzzled about.

“You forget, Flavia. The Supply Rooms are not affected by the dungeon’s Reset Cycle. They are magically protected on their own. That’s one of the reasons no monsters can enter them,” Ileena reminded her.

“I knew that,” Flavia was quick to become defensive.

“What should we do with the supplies that we found?” Emilia wondered.

“I think we should leave them here. We still have enough of our own. Worst case scenario, we will come back here and use it if we need to,” Narias told her.

“Use it? But aren’t supplies supposed to be left for someone else?” Flavia made a valid point there.

“And who are we to the people who left these supplies?” Ileena asked her, adjusting her glasses.

“Huh? Yes, I get that. I just thought…” Flavia frowned, wrinkling her nose in a cute manner.

“We are exploring the Magic Dungeon ourselves, Flavia. We leave some supplies for other people, but if we need to, we will use the supplies left by others too. We still have enough food and water with us, so we should leave the ones we found here for now. We might find another Supply Point that is empty, and if we can afford it, we could leave some behind there.” Narias explained and his words made sense.

“Agree,” Growly nodded before sitting down and taking a snack out of his own backpack.

“Does your group plan to have a longer rest here, Mister Narias?” Karineus Zeanlor finally enquired in a clam yet serious voice.

“I don’t think so, unless you need to have some rest, Professor Zeanlor?” Narias wondered if the teacher was tired.

“Not at all, thank you for your concern, Mister Narias. I was simply curious about your plan of actions going forward,” Professor Zeanlor told him.

“That’s right, partner. What is our plan going forward?” Flavia was curious to know and so was everyone else.

“I think we need to check how much supplies we still have with us, but I think we are still ok to stay in the dungeon for a while longer. If we take the same route back out of the dungeon, it will take less than half a day to reach the exit. There won’t be many monsters out there on our way back, so it will save us some time and energy. I believe we could try and find another Supply Point here on the second floor and leave some supplies in it if we find it empty. It will help us next time we come back,” Narias held his chin with one hand, thinking if he needs to add something else.

“What about the boss monster on the second floor?” Nobody was surprised to hear Flavia ask about it.

“I don’t think we’re deep enough into the dungeon to reach the boss monster any time soon. All we were fighting were level three monsters so far. Which reminds me, I wanted to let you know we’re doing really well defeating them. You three girls are working really well together and taking down the Rhabitooths without much trouble now,” Narias remembered he should acknowledge his girlfriends’ efforts.

“Thanks, partner,” which instantly painted a happy grin on Flavia’s face.

“That’s very kind of you to say that, Narias,” Ileena’s face was painted with a flush instead.

“Thank you, Narias. But you and Growly are amazing too. You stop the Shadeleaf Boars in their tracks with ease and Growly kills them with one attack,” Emilia, as pleased to hear Narias’s compliment as she was, couldn’t leave out to say something nice about the boys as well and it was all true.

“Thank you, Emilia,” Narias smiled.

“Thanks,” Growly showed a satisfied grin as well.

“Ok, let’s eat and go hunt for more treasure,” Flavia cheered.

The party, including Professor Zeanlor, had something to eat, a short rest and then set out to do some more Magic Dungeon exploration again. They progressed through the cave rooms steadily and carefully, making sure they cleared the cave of all the monsters before going around to check if any Magic Crystals were dropped. The crystals they were getting were slightly bigger compared to the ones the monsters on the first floor would drop, which meant they’d get more money for them. Two more chunks of Soft Steel Ore were discovered by Growly and another piece of Crystalized Mold was found too, blue in quality again. Lady luck smiled on them and after about three hours of exploration, the group stumbled upon another Supply Point room. It was bound to happen, actually, because Narias kept choosing the right-side tunnels to leave each cave room.

“Hey, another Supply Point room and it has water in it. Sweet,” Flavia was very happy about it.

“Oh, nice. We can refill our water bottles here,” Narias was the first one to go do so.

“Do you mind if we take a longer rest here, Narias?” Emilia asked him.

“Yeah, I think it is a good idea. We’ll be heading back, so having a proper rest is a must,” Narias agreed.

“Going back? But we must be close to the boss monster’s lair now,” Flavia pouted her lips.

“I don’t think so,” Ileena disagreed with her.

“I think Ileena is right. We started to encounter level four monsters now, but I don’t think we are that close to the boss monster’s cave just yet,” Narias agreed with Ileena.

“Well, clos-ser than before,” Flavia still insisted on it. “Besides, we have no problem taking down level four monsters anyway.”

“That’s because we know how to defeat the monsters in the most efficient way by now,” Ileena threw one hand to the side.

“Our teamwork definitely improved,” Emilia clapped her hands, agreeing with Ileena on this one.

“Yes. We are much better familiarized with how the Rhabitooths move and it is much easier to predict which way they intend to jump, so we can react accordingly.” Narias pointed out.

“Narias stops Shadeleaf Boars. Easy to smash,” Growly added before reaching for a drink.

“Yes, the Wind Shield tactic works very well against them,” Narias said, adding a smile.

“You are doing very well indeed,” Professor Zeanlor added. “I am certain you would be able to stand a chance against the boss monster on this floor.”

“Oh, thank you, Professor Zeanlor,” Narias didn’t expect the teacher to say that.

“See? Even Professor Zeanlor thinks we will be able to beat it. Let’s just go for it,” Flavia’s eyes burned with excitement.

“Yes, but we don’t know which way to go to find the boss monster. It might take much longer than we think. I still think it is better to turn back now, even if we have supplies to last us a few extra hours.” Narias was still being careful.

“But wouldn’t it be a waste if we still have supplies to spare?” Flavia wrinkled her cute, little nose.

“No, it wouldn’t,” Ileena intervened. “We can leave more supplies here now, so we can use them the next time we come back, if we need to that is. This Supply Point room has water too, which will make it even easier for us. We can use it as the main Supply Point room to explore the other parts of the second floor until we find the boss monster’s room. Of course, there is no guarantee that we will, because it’s hard to say how deep into the second floor of the Magic Dungeon we are at this point,” Ileena was very thorough with her explanation and it made sense.

“I agree with Ileena here. Until we have a better idea where we are and how far the boss monster’s room is, it’s better not to take unnecessary risks,” Narias added.

“Besides, we have the Fanged Whitemane Wolf’s Tail. We should ask Madam Froxen to make something out of it before coming back here,” Emilia remembered that they have acquired a very nice drop from the Fanged Whitemane Wolf which could be turned into a piece of magic armor.

“Hey, that’s right. I wonder what could she make out of it?” Flavia’s tune changed the instant she was reminded about the loot that they’ve already got.

“We can visit her shop once we get back,” Naria suggested before pulling his blanket out of his bag. “We should rest for now, though. It’ll be… huh?”

Before he could make the suggestion, Ileena and Emilia were already preparing the bed for them.

Right. It’s always warmer to sleep next to someone. Narias tried to add a neutral reason to it, not that it was cold inside the Supply Point room.

“I wish you all a good rest,” Professor Zeanlor made himself comfortable closer to the room’s exit.

“Night,” Growly laid down some distance away from the room’s entrance as well, but on the other side.

“It’s my turn to lie closer to Narias this time,” Ileena reminded the other two girls. They agreed in advance they will be taking turns. Of course, Narias pretended he didn’t hear it.

“Have a… good rest,” Narias was about to say ‘good night’, but he had no idea what time it was. Having a watch would be really helpful.

Everyone was tired enough to fall asleep fast. They’ve been inside the dungeon for a long while now, after all.

 

{after everyone woke up}

 

“Are we really going back?” Flavia was still hopeful.

The group had something to eat just a moment ago and everyone was packing their bags to move out.

“Yes,” Ileena answered in a stern voice.

“But can’t we just go check out a few more cave rooms before we go. We might find additional treasure. We have enough supplies, don’t we?” Flavia still insisted on it.

“Flavia,” Emilia chuckled at how persistent she was.

“In all honesty, we could probably do that,” Narias announced unexpected.

“Really? Sweet,” Flavia became as happy as a bee finding a flower.

“Are you sure about it, Narias?” Ileena wasn’t exactly against it, but she didn’t expect him to agree to it.

“I can sympathise with Flavia, actually. I’d love to explore more of the dungeon, but I also understand the risks involved. Choosing a different path than the one we came from to go back is not a good idea simply because we don’t know where it will lead us, but I agree with Flavia about finding more treasure. It will probably cost a good amount of money to make something out of that tail that we got, so getting a few extra Magic Crystals will help. Who knows, maybe we’ll be lucky to find some Crystalized Mold or the Soft Steel Ore too,” Narias explained his decision.

“Finding treasure is neat,” Growly was all for exploring more of the dungeon.

“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go look for treasure.” Flavia sounded like a real treasure hunter.

“Yes, but we still need to be careful. The monsters won’t become less dangerous,” Narias reminded everyone.

And so, the party turned right after they left the Supply Point room. As excited as Flavia was, she didn’t lose her cool and was focused, and fierce fighting the monsters. The cave they ended up in wasn’t that big and it had only two Fadeleaf Boars and two Rhabitooths in it, which the party dispatched with quite an ease despite the Fadeleaf Boars being level four monsters. No Crystalized Mold or Soft Steel Ore was found, unfortunately.

The next cave room was much bigger, a size of an average car park, and had a lot of plants growing in it. It was evident from the beginning that the cave had more than two Shadeleaf Boars in it, but no Rhabitooths could be seen anywhere. Since there were four Shadeleaf Boars out in the open, the party decided to take out those first. The students knew that the creatures would try to run and hide after being alerted which will make it easier for them, but the real issue was how many other monsters were still hiding inside the cave.

“Wind Bullet,” Narias shot a spell at the closest Shadeleaf Boar. “Ok, here it comes, huh? No way, watch out everyone!”

For whatever reason, not a single Shadeleaf Boar ran into hiding this time, but turned towards the intruders and instantly charged at them. As if it wasn’t bad enough, two more Shadeleaf Boars left their hiding places and rushed to join the attack.

“Frozen Ice Mirror,” Emilia decided to go all out and cover the ground with the ice around the group.

It helped, the Shadeleaf Boars slipped and stumbled, tripping under their feet. A few of them ran on the ice at an incredible speed, and when they slipped and fell, they smashed themselves into the other Shadeleaf Boars that ran from the different side. That just helped the students to get rid of the monsters easier.

“I’ll handle them. Fire Wall!” With the ice covering the ground, it was difficult for Growly and Flavia engage the monsters as well, but it made it so much easier for Narias to aim his Fire Wall spell. The flames ripped the ground, melting the ice in the process and burning the Shadeleaf Boars caught in it. Narias got rid of three monsters with one spell.

“Nice going, partner. My turn,” now that part of the ice was melted, Flavia could spring into action herself.

“I take the left one,” Growly was right behind her.

Two more Shadeleaf Boars were flattened fast. One by Flavia and another one by Growly. The fast-sprinting monsters were vulnerable when they weren’t moving much.

“Three more Shadeleaf Boars are rushing towards us from the far end of the cave. I’ll slow them down. Icicle Shot!” Emilia suddenly announced before releasing a spell.

“I’ll take care of the one that slid away. You go help Emilia, Narias. Lightning Strike,” Ileena switched her position to make way for Narias to pass her easier.

“I’m coming too,” Flavia sprinted after Narias.

“I stay here. Check those plants,” Growly came to stand closer to Ileena before leaning down to pick up a stone from the ground. “Huff… nothing there.”

Growly threw a stone at the corner of the cave that was overgrown with plants. No monsters jumped out of it, but Growly stayed where he was.

In the meantime, Emilia, Narias and Flavia engaged and took out the three more Shadeleaf Boars that showed up. Emilia used her Ice Magic to slow the monsters down or make them slip while Narias and Flavia finished them off. The team’s combination changed, but the monsters were dispatched successfully.

“Woohoo! That was a blast. Any more left?” Flavia was feeling pumped even after the body of the last Shadeleaf Boar vanished into the thin air.

“I don’t see any more,” Emilia informed.

“None on our side either,” Ileena informed.

“I guess… that’s all of them,” Narias said after giving his surroundings another look.

“Alright, let’s check for the loot,” Flavia jumped up before rushing to check if any Magic Crystals were dropped.

The students were lucky to find three Magic Crystals this time. Not only that, Growly found some Crystalized Ore. It was green quality, but still better than nothing.

“This room was different from the other rooms we’ve been to,” Ileena commented after the treasure hunt was done.

“I agree. There were so many Shadeleaf Boars in here and all of them were level four,” Emilia added.

“Hey, maybe they were hiding something. You know, like a treasure chest,” Flavia’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“But we’ve already checked the cave. All that we could find was Crystalized Mold,” Emilia said.

“Maybe they were protecting the next room over there,” Narias pointed out.

“The other cave room?” Emilia tilted her head to the side, feeling curious.

“Yes. That single tunnel leading out of this room is not that long. I could see a room on the other end of it and it looked different compared to all the other rooms on the second floor,” Narias told everyone.

“Really? Let’s check it out then,” Flavia jumped to her feet.

“Flavia, wait,” Narias tried to stop her. “Sigh…”

“You shouldn’t run off like that, Flavia,” Ileena scolded her.

“Hey, I waited for everyone, didn’t I?” Flavia threw a quick frown at Ileena.

“Bright room,” Growly commented as soon as the group entered it.

The room was much brighter than all the other rooms they have visited before. There were many more light crystals on the walls and on the ceiling. The room itself was rather small, similar in size of the Supply Point room on the second floor, but it didn’t look like it was an actual Supply Point room.

“Treasure,” Growly’s words made Flavia’s ears spring up.

“Huh? Hey, I can see it too. There’s a treasure chest here,” even Flavia was able to notice it, probably because the treasure chest wasn’t exactly hidden. There were plants growing in the middle of the room and the treasure chest was hidden just below the l wide leaves.

“This treasure chest looks different from the ones we’ve found before,” Emilia noticed the difference.

“Yes, it looks much better quality,” Ileena agreed with her.

“That means the treasure inside of it will be better too. Come on, let’s open it,” Flavia couldn’t sit still.

“Ok,” Growly leaned to get it open.

“Wooow…” the students, especially girls, gasped when Growly took the item out of the chest to show what it was.