Chapter 40: Spires
"So, the plan..." Terrence looked at Winter with heavy expectations, treating her as the squad’s natural leader.
Well, technically, Winter served as the overall commander of this squad anyway.
’Since she’s the heiress of the Lin Clan, the leading role naturally revolves around her, right? Or do people do things differently here, like testing their younglings before giving them actual responsibility? Less likely, I guess. Carrying lives inside a dungeon rift is a heavy, real responsibility.’
Terrence thought to himself, trying to make logical sense of their current situation.
Winter simply shrugged, leaving Terrence agape in utter shock.
"What? You don’t have a plan?" Terrence blurted out.
"If you’re going to ask me for a plan, all I can tell you is that we clear this dungeon," Winter said. Her tone sounded dryly sarcastic, but she was being completely direct and real. "Like, kill every single dungeon beast in our path."
Gilbert snorted, turning his head away for a second to keep his laugh to himself before interjecting. Terrence simply deadpanned at him.
’What kind of primitive, unprepared group is this? Coming from a massive, complex city, I didn’t expect them to be this clueless.’
"I have a map of the dungeon, so don’t worry," Gilbert offered smoothly.
Hearing that piece of news, Terrence at least let out a small sigh of relief. He held out an open palm toward Gilbert, his head tilted slightly in expectation.
"What does that gesture mean?" Gilbert questioned, before letting out a soft chuckle as realization hit him. "Oh, I didn’t mean a physical paper map. I mean a mental map inside my head."
Terrence slapped his forehead in exasperation. He couldn’t help thinking how incredibly frustrating it was to travel with this many people.
To him, moving in a group of five was already way too crowded.
He let out another quiet sigh and shook his head to clear his mind. This wasn’t a fatal problem by any means.
’Why am I even overthinking this?’ Terrence thought, his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides.
"So, what do you suggest we do instead?" Winter asked, turning her sharp eyes toward him this time.
Gilbert suppressed his broad smile, though his eyes still shimmered with light amusement. He collected his thoughts before raising a finger and pointing in the direction where Terrence and Gilbert had spawned late last night.
"That way..." Gilbert explained, his tone growing a bit more grounded. "The dungeon boss is located over there, but let me tell you this straight. There are plenty of beasts back there that are way stronger than what we fought earlier. Those swarms were just basic mobs."
Terrence gave a firm nod as he mentally processed the information. Indeed, those plant creatures were merely trash mobs—the initial wave of beasts that would rush out if a rift suffered a full breach. However, that didn’t mean facing stronger variants deeper inside wouldn’t pose a massive problem.
’We can’t just go outside and recruit more tamers right now,’ Terrence calculated inwardly. ’Forcing tamers with low rank limit in here just to swell our numbers would be useless. As cannon fodder, they wouldn’t accomplish anything against A-Rank beasts.’
Then, a sudden realization hit him.
"We have to group up with the other squad first," Terrence stated plainly.
Winter nodded in immediate agreement, and the rest of the team followed suit.
"That’s right, Terrence," Winter said, adjusting the strap of her gear. "We have to meet with them since we can’t recruit other tamers from the outside world right now. Trying to push forward short-handed or just enduring the pressure alone won’t help us at all if we run into a major horde deeper inside."
Everyone nodded, solidifying their approach. After fifteen minutes of quick preparation and checking their equipment, they were finally ready to traverse deeper into the dangerous biome.
Passing back through familiar forest pathways, Terrence looked ahead and noticed dark beast markings carved into the thick tree trunks. Some were deep claw scratches, while others were massive, splintered craters smashed directly into the wood. The native monsters were clearly versatile in how they attacked.
"Prepare for battle," Winter announced quietly, her hand sliding down to draw her sword.
Suddenly, a lone Pitcher Flower Beast burst from the brush ahead. In an instant, before anyone even had proper time to adjust their stances, Winter lunged forward and severed its weak point.
She sheathed her blade without making a single sound and used her heavy boot to push the tall grass aside, continuing forward.
Terrence did the same, keeping his pace steady. A heavy silence settled over the group as they moved. No one spoke a word. They were all far too focused on scanning their immediate surroundings, fully aware that a single careless mistake or distraction could result in someone dying.
Their path was no longer a wide clearing. The forest grew dense, creating far more dangerous blind spots than before. To be completely honest, many of the mutated trees here looked unnaturally twisted, easily mistaken for hidden plant beasts at a glance.
Finally, they broke through the dense foliage. The crude trail they left behind was strewn with the remains of various Pitcher Flower Beasts they had dispatched along the way. It appeared the monster density in this zone was remarkably high.
During that rough, ugly trek, Terrence managed to personally secure three A-Rank beast cores. It was a decent harvest, but still nowhere near enough to reach his target and awaken his dormant S-Rank Vampire Butler.
Stepping into the next zone, colossal rock formations loomed before them, piercing high toward the gloomy sky like giant stone spears. Spires of various sizes were jammed tightly together. Terrence glanced to his left and right; the wall of jagged stone stretched out endlessly in both directions, blocking his view.
The massive rock formations resembled an absolute maze. The tightly packed spires left only narrow, claustrophobic gaps between them—seemingly the only way to pass through to the boss area.
If there was one accurate way to describe the landscape, it was a total death trap. The tight spaces completely ruined their maneuverability, making it nearly impossible to fight effectively if they were ambushed.
"Do we really have to pass through that?" Terrence asked, staring at the gloomy crevices.
Gilbert nodded, his casual smile fading slightly. "It’s the only path. The rock wall stretches for kilometers, so we can’t really circle around it."
Terrence didn’t reply immediately, his mind racing as he tried to devise a safer way to navigate the terrain.
Winter, however, didn’t waste a single second worrying about it. She strode directly past them and stepped straight into the narrow jaws of the rock maze.