Their walk turned into a rather short journey as they had encountered an interesting detour. Despite heading in a single direction since they entered. There were two armored goblin corpses in their path; one of them had an arrow through its skull and the other just didn’t have one on its shoulders as if it was blown off by something strong.

  “Aren’t these the same ones you two killed?” The trio stopped and gawked at them for a moment, though Juuka was the one who brought it up. Kanade seamlessly bent down, placed her foot against the body, then ripped the arrow out.

  “Yes.” She said while stashing the arrow back. Han, without needing to closely look, saw that it matched the ones that Juuka had been giving her since their agreement.

  “Hmm, wacky stuff… Maybe I’ll show you something weirder.” Berdrogh added as they walked away, whereas Juuka went back. Han guessed that she forgot to loot the corpse and didn’t bother. But Kanade decided to stop and wait for her, and well, so did he.

  “YES! Finally… I’m so happy.” She whispered beyond her first yell of joy. She turned to Kanade and extended her thin, pale arm. Blue particles fade in and took the shape of a bow. It gained weight, color, and detail at once, then landed in her palm. Immediately Han recognized the design, as it was very similar to Lionel’s staff, seemingly made out of charred, black, spirally wood. Aside from that semblance, it was nearly double the size of Kanade’s and Juuka’s prior one.

  “A Blackwood Longbowwww. It’s a rare dropppp...” Her voice faded out and kept going into a higher-pitched tone every word until even Han’s ears couldn’t pick it up.

  “May I hold it?” Kanade asked gently without gesturing beforehand in case of a rejection. As Juuka was talking about as it was a unique bow; it was hard for Han to understand the hubbub. The bow was still a beginner bow, a bow he kept in mind that she could have bought back in Higelsdale from Henris and even from other vendors if there were any. Regardless, it wasn’t the hardest thing to put up with.

  “Mm.” She nodded and passed it to her. Han guessed that Kanade was around 160 centimeters, that meant that the bow had to be a tad shorter than 2 meters. The bottom string nook almost reached the ground in her full pre-drawn stance. He couldn’t help but think of her as a child holding up a stance in a toy bow.

  “A bit… big.” She, and quite surprisingly he thought, remarked.

  “I can’t be bothered anymore.” Lionel sighed and continued without them. Han didn’t understand that prick’s thinking. They followed after them a few moments after, but the core issue was still there.

  There was no way to check whether they were close to the 30th floor or to check if they had even left the 20th. So, Lionel’s temper was nonsensical. Still, they marched on until there was nowhere else to go. The bridge in front of them was gone as if it had crumbled away ages ago.

  “Am I imagining or is that a dead end?” Juuka pointed out and kept walking with the group that didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact. They went right up to the edge, and seeing as Lionel was the lead, he peeked over the ledge. Then, akin to a routine, Berdrogh and Lionel went to opposite sides of the bridge, checking over both the railings.

  “Here.” Berdrogh grabbed their attention. “Remember what I said?” He smiled at Kanade and waved them over. Everyone came closer, though Han needed to prop himself up to see over the railing.

  Down the side was an exact copy of the bridge they were on and every single one that was around them. The drop was a couple of meters, nothing too dangerous even for a regular Joe.

  “Keep an eye on it. If I’m…” He used his shield to bash in some of the stone railing, then grabbed a large chunk of beige stone. “Right. You’ll see something even weirder.” He dropped it, the rubble crumbled into pieces on the bridge. They all waited for a moment.

  “Ah… not this time. There will be false bridges sometimes. Let’s go…” He promptly glossed over the fact and threw himself over the railing headfirst, all of their eyes followed his path down as he landed on the bridge with a thick thud that, somehow, shook the bridge they were on.

  “I’ll catch you, if you want!” He shouted from below. Juuka didn’t wait and jumped over the railing instead. Lionel climbed over the railing first, stepping onto the other side, before letting go, leaving the two of them. Since nothing had happened to them, Han leapt on the thick railing; after a quick estimation, he jumped. The few-meter drop wasn’t anything too intense, after he went, so did Kanade.

  Their journey had yet to end. Over the next few days, the same formulaic events kept happening; armored goblin encounters, skeleton hordes, nothing they couldn’t handle, nor anything too notable or intense. Sleeping, on the other hand, was the only battle they were losing nearly every night.

  The seldom rain and the constant humidity made it so that they had to cover themselves. Lionel and Juuka were lucky since the campfires lasted long enough for them to log off. While Kanade and Berdrogh had to sleep under a blanket and a sleeping bag, respectively. The wetness didn’t effect him that much, but the feeling of wet fur wasn’t exactly pleasing. It was as if he were covered from head to toe in wet cotton.

  Though, sometimes they were lucky enough to find a bridge close enough above them since it could act as a roof. Alas, they couldn’t rely on doing that every long rest.

  Han rolled over and peeked outside from under Kanade’s blanket. The pseudo rain trickled quietly around them, Berdrogh snored under his own, and Juuka simply slept without a worry in this world. And Lionel.

  “This ain’t workin’.” An unfamiliar whisper grabbed Han’s attention. He snuck out from the blanket while avoiding waking her up. Decently far away into the distance was Lionel, on his knees. As Han crept closer, the dilemma became a tad clearer.

  In front of him lay three staves. Although all of them were unfamiliar to him by name, the basic designs were telling. On the right was of simplistic design that could barely be distinguished from a large branch. However, by that, it was safe to assume it was a jack of all trades type, one that lower-level wizards use.

  The middle one, Lionel had used previously and in all of their encounters. The blackwood one, clearly had a fire elemental buff applied since he was manic about fire for some reason. Nonetheless, the proficiency stat wasn’t something Han could ignore. He didn’t even need to look at the leftward one.

  Han walked in front of him; Lionel’s gaze didn’t even stray away from the staves, however, that changed when a paw landed on the charred staff.

  “Huh? Shit…” Surprised for a moment, then grabbed the staff, shifting his mask completely to the side and revealing his face. The white hood had already revealed his blond hair before, but his soft jawline and a sharp long nose were familiar to Han. A certain adventurer he had met before.

  This… bastard…

  After he fired a few blasts with his hands, unbeknownst to Han’s deadly glare, he went to log out in his sleeping bag. Han clearly remembered the guy’s attitude with Kanade and that other guy who was a slave. He’s nothing but trouble, yet Han kept to himself. Pissing him off wouldn’t do anything good, especially when they were in the depths of a dungeon. He had to rely on him to pull his weight.

  Shit…

  Han didn’t sleep a wink after that, and the journey continued without a visible hitch. There wasn’t much he could do, except keep an eye on him and hope that he wouldn’t do anything too radical. Any monsters they find along the way are either taken care of swiftly by the ranged attacks of Lionel, Juuka, or Kanade. Those that blocked their path were a treat for Berdrogh.

  That reveal hadn’t changed much for now. He sat beside Kanade, who stared at the flickering campfire. The prick had left the game an hour before already; the trio didn’t even have anything to talk about. To be fair, the path was easy, yet it was akin to a job. Aside from that, he wasn’t sure why Juuka was still here with them. Until she spoke up.

  “Ai! I haven’t found a better bow…” Juuka whispered with her head on her knees.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Pfuu!” Berdrogh laughed, nearly choking at her comment.

  “Yes… laugh at my misery… Ah…”

  “Didn’t you get that longbow recently?” Kanade pointed it out. To be fair, who could forget her enthusiastic reaction, only to then never use it after.

  “It’s shit! How was I supposed to know that it’s not upgraded?” She increased her volume, at least a tad more than her normal tone. She said that, but it was safe to assume that anyone with a bit of playtime could have guessed that items won’t match their upgraded ones. While Han thought of that, Kanade and Berdrogh clearly exchanged glances at her unknown rhetoric. While one of them was out of it completely, the other, older one continued.

  “D-Don’t get me wrong; I just don’t think you’re in need of a new bow. You two are already the best archers I’ve seen in quite some time.” He added, with a large chunk of bread in his cheek.

  “Thank you.” Kanade slipped in before he swallowed.

  “What’s the word…? Comfort…? Ah, comfort brings proficiency. That’s something along the lines of what my old man used to say. Every shield, every piece of steel on my body, everything’s custom-made while with sub-par materials… Yet! I make it up by knowing the limits—the reach, how hard I can get hit, dish out, and any blind spots that I should prioritize…” His eyes darted back from the campfire. Upon noticing Kanade’s interested eyes and Juuka’s peeking behind her forearm in her slouched posture, he paused.

  “You get what I mean... I’m too old…” He sighed and whispered under his breath at a volume that only Kanade and Han could catch.

  “Maybe you’re right…” Juuka said and finally sat up straight out. Han’s eyes were locked on her downcast expression, though his mind was elsewhere.

  Han reminisced about a mechanic he, in particular, ignored in practice. Using the same weapon without catering to the enemy’s weaknesses sounded stupid. Yet, now it opened up possibilities for him, though he’s still far from having a decent weapon he could use. The dagger was not even his.

  “What floor are we on? If thirty’s our goal, aren’t we close?” Kanade switched the topic whilst taking out a blanket from her bag.

  “Should be.” Berdrogh was the first to respond, though he didn’t push anything further, and that gave time for Juuka to think about it.

  “We’ve been here…” She shifted her head down a tad; her eyes darted around mid-air. “If we count the half-day at the start. Six days.” Despite everyone’s unfazed reaction that seemingly proved Kanade’s point.

  “I’m new and all, but this is abnormal, no? Every floor seems to take longer.” Kanade added.

  “Like I said, we should be close. You’re not wrong, just mistaken.” He answered, his tone evidently signified that he wanted none of this topic.

  “What? What does that even mean?” Juuka burst.

  “I’m interested. Explain?” She asked, with both their gazes on him, not forgetting to include Han’s unbothered eyes.

  “Do you chosen ones don’t talk about it?” His voice turned gruff, and yet all of them somehow knew that he was talking about Juuka and Lionel. While she instead mouthed to Kanade, “Who are the chosen ones?” then promptly received a shrug from her.

  “It’s fine…” He sighed deeply and massaged his nose bridge. “I don’t think I’m in the wrong. Times change. Listen, adventuring in general for us—the regular folk— is an uncomfortable topic.” He said with a tinge of envy but caught himself and ran his hand through his graying hair.

  “Sorry. Our lives aren’t comparable to yours. The difference between us and y’all; is that once I die, I stay dead. Every hour I stay here, slaving away, I’m losing time… losing time I could spend with my daughter.” He spoke, his eyes never left the campfire, and in turn, he avoided directing his comments at Juuka directly. As the atmosphere turned sideways, the silence ensued.

  Touché.

  It quickly made Han wonder how long his lifespan was. That thought wasn’t long-lived as he brushed it off. Instead, he clearly remembered Berdrogh mentioning that he’s nearly forty. Although logically looking, magic and fantastical things in general would have a play in the lifespan department, but that could still mean that Berdrogh was of retirement age, yet was still doing dungeon expeditions.

  “Strike true, and return whole…” Kanade said absentmindedly.

  “You…!” Berdrogh’s eyes darted to Kanade in surprise, but then he laughed. Using his whole body to fill the endless bridge dungeon with his jolly laughter. The girls just glanced at each other unknowingly, though at least Han was enjoying it.

  “Strike true, and return whole while hope yet remains. That’s a saying from the forlorn olden age. Time when pure warriors, steadfast soldiers, and sages were made. Ah…!” He paused blankly. “I’m doing it again!”

  “I’m getting so much lore…” Juuka said while huddling into her sleeping bag. Yet this time Berdrogh and Kanade shared the moment of confusion.

  “Let’s hope we don’t find the mid-floor boss tomorrow. This is the worst place to fight one.” Subconsciously everyone’s eyes were drawn to the dozen bridges above them.

  “Don’t jinx it… bye!” Juuka said, her voice was muffled by the blanket slightly until Han presumed she completely logged out.

  “Jinkset…? I’m telling you, the chosen ones are… unique.” He added after a while, promptly stuffing his face with an apple. Noticing her gaze, “Whant wan?” With her nod, he grabbed and chucked one at her. Kanade outstretched her arm in the air, almost needing to stand up to catch it.

  He chuckled, and Kanade didn’t hide her smile either. Staying passive wasn’t something he disliked, but now he was basically fifth-wheeling. But then she stood up and placed the red apple on the ground in the middle of their makeshift camp.

  “Rin-Rin, can you do the hide thingy? Try to cover the apple with your body.” Seeing what she was getting at, Han obliged simply because the test results would help him. He moved his lying location onto the apple’s. He already knew that trying to cloak himself from Kanade would be way too hard, so he focused his paranoia on Berdrogh. He was the biggest threat overall. He’s over-leveled and a veteran at that, made it easy.

  “What can’t this pooch do? Also, I wanted to ask, was that howl an attack… or wolf behavior?” He asked, though Kanade kept circling around Han, waiting for him to describe it. He sighed, then got her point. “Yes. I can’t see him or the apple.”

  “Completely? Rin-Rin, can you stand up?” Han did so but then decided to bite into the apple. Berdrogh’s eyes jumbled as they went right past Han.

  “What did he just do? The apple’s gone again.” He pointed akin to a child. Though, the apple being gone implied that nobody could see his seldom dagger action coming. Finishing the bite, promptly the apple lightly landed on the bridge; Berdrogh’s eyes clearly followed its trajectory.

  “Hm…” As Kanade went into thinking, Berdrogh out of nowhere threw a blanket over Han, a blanket that Han saw coming from a mile away but had no plans to dodge. “Hey!” Kanade grabbed off of him.

  Fucking hell! What are the results, people!? I need data—

  A something light appeared on his back as Kanade jumped on him, although he didn’t even falter from her featherweight; it was a tad unexpected because, as weird as it might sound, a girl was riding him. He steeled on, waiting for Berdrogh to describe what he sees in detail.

  For… the data!

  “So… the blanket didn’t disappear… though now. Pfuu!” He couldn’t hold it in and laughed, seeing Kanade’s confusion, he paused his rotund laughter. “You’re… just floating mid-air.” He burst out once more when he saw her face tint red.

  “Ahem.” She promptly leapt off of Han and faced away from the jolly tank.

  Ahem…

  After a well-needed laugh, they huddled into their own makeshift beds. They weren’t lucky to find a bridge roof, so Berdrogh tossed his sleeping bag over his body whilst Kanade used her rag once more. Han kept on the lookout for that prick Lionel, even if it meant sleeping only a couple of hours.

  I’m used to waiting… Yes, I’m just waiting…

  He told himself that, however, Lionel hadn’t done anything that unusual since then. He said he wanted to reach for the 30th floor, assuming that Berdrogh’s rate wasn’t cheap, which made Han wonder. What drop does he want?

  Eh, couldn’t care less.

  Brushing the topic off himself, he turned back to Kanade. And as he did, his heart somehow managed to skip a beat. She slept still like a statue; from a glance he couldn’t even tell if she was even breathing. She was—

  Cute…

  He finally closed his eyes and decided to wait until they would wake up. Surrounded by a friend, a meatball, an insecure nerd, and a prick.

  Heh… a friend. Never thought I’d say that word again.

  Their journey continued in the morning, though that was impossible to tell without asking either of them, so he assumed that the dysfunctional troupe had their internal clocks in check. They geared up, a snack here and there, nothing unusual until they encountered a roadblock, though it was barely one.

  A pile of bones far, far away from them, blocking their path up ahead. Han and Kanade stopped first; the others soon followed.

  Those bones shifted around as if whatever it was could pull in air. It breathed and seemingly slept, completely unaware of their presence. However, the bones had a distinct shape. The skinless wings attached to its front arms which floated around, held by an invisible force. A large upper body lay there, connected to a large, long, eyeless skull.

  “Is that… a wyvern?” Juuka spoke first with her eyes jutted out.

  Han(Nymph stage) 1mm - 0.4 inches

  Pochirin(Juvenile) 95cm - 3'1

  Berdrogh 202 cm - 6'6

  Lilliane 193 cm - 6'3

  Kanade 164 cm - 5'4

  Juuka 177 cm - 5'8

  Lionel 184 cm - 6ft