VOLUME 13: CHAPTER 2

[Republic of Everfrost]

Zenith, the platinum-ranked explorer group, started preparing to conquer the ancient magus's tomb.

Currently, they were gathered inside a room in the Nasty Bucket.

"This is our guide?"

Emyrson leaned down and looked closely at the petite, boy brought to him by one of his party members.

Below average height. Buck teeth. Thick glasses. Twig-like arms hidden underneath his oversized cloak.

The boy reminded Emyrson of the hamster he took care of when he was a child.

"Hey," said Emyrson in a deep, intimidating voice, "How old are you?"

Without flinching, the boy energetically replied, "Thirteen, Boss!"

Emyrson glared at the party member who brought the guide here. The guide was even younger than he'd thought.

"Karlo! You damn bastard! He's still a kid!"

Karlo, the ranger of the party, raised his hands up. He moved several steps back to avoid the spit flying out of Emyrson's mouth.

"But Boss! You told me to find you a guide! In the entire city, this kid is the only one knowledgeable about arachnias!"

"Haah?!" Emyrson scowled. "You piece of shit. We're explorers, not murderers! This kid looks as though he'll die from a flick of a finger! And he's young enough to be my son! This scumbag! What are you doing, bringing someone so young to guide our party!"

A torrent of curses came out, but his party members didn't take offense at this, as they were already used to them by now.

"You don't have a son, though, Boss," muttered Ludwig, the healer of the party.

Raiga, the shieldbearer, whispered to Ludwig, "Hey, the Boss is already fifty, right?"

Ludwig whispered back, "I know what you're thinking. The Boss wants to have a kid, of course. But no woman wants to take him. He's been rejected dozens of times before."

With a look of pity, Raiga looked at Emyrson, then whispered to Ludwig, "Well… he's scary, that's for sure. I understand why—"

"—I can hear you!" snarled Emyrson.

Karlo chuckled, "Boss, before refusing him, why don't you check his skills first? I assure you, he's the real deal. You said it before – all of us will die if make a mistake in that dungeon. Even for our party, it should be impossible to defeat all of those arachnias in the second floor."

Emyrson frowned.

He did say those words before.

By estimate, there should be at least two dozen arachnias living in the second floor of that dungeon. He did not know what those giant spiders ate in that dungeon to sustain themselves, but that tomb must have existed for a very long time for their numbers to have proliferated that much.

An army of elite soldiers or a platoon of knights was needed to subjugate a single arachnia. Of course, things would be drastically different when there were dozens of those giant spiders.

Even if they sought the help of the government, it should be impossible to kill all of those monsters. And even if by luck they managed to annihilate them, it would be surely a pyrrhic victory.

This was why they couldn't carelessly enter the second floor of that dungeon without adequate preparations.

Emyrson stared at the kid for a long time. He sighed, "Name?"

"Lagmyx."

"What?"

"My name is Lagmyx."

Emyrson looked at his party members. Seeing Karlo shrug, he asked, "Your parents named you Lagmyx?"

The kid looked embarrassed as he replied, "I'm an orphan. I don't have any parents."

"Then the name…"

"It was the name given to me by the Head Librarian."

"He adopted you…"

"Yes..."

Emyrson remembered the Head Librarian of the Republic's Grand Library. He always thought that the old man was the devil's spawn, but he never thought he would be evil enough to name his adopted son after an animal.

And why did the Five Courts approve the name in the adoption paper?

Those corrupt officials must have skimmed through the documents, not bothering to read everything as long as they'd received the payment.

As he'd thought, this Republic was rotten to the core.

There was corruption everywhere, and those in power cared nothing but the accumulation of their own wealth.

"Tch." At the back of his mind, Emyrson decided to give that old man an earful once he came back from this dungeon dive. "While you're in this party, you'll be called Aster instead."

Although Aster was the name of a plant, it was still a lot better than being named after a carnivorous pig used by torturers to dispose of the bodies of their victims.

The eyes of the kid widened in glee. "Then—!"

"No, no," said Emyrson. "Don't be excited, kid. You haven't been accepted yet. We need to know first whether or not you're qualified to be our guide in that ruins."

Aster enthusiastically bobbed his head several times. "Of course! I know a lot about insects! Monster plants! Of course, arachnias included! Ask me anything, Boss!"

The leader of Zenith decided to test the knowledge of the kid.

Emyrson said, "Myric."

"Right away, Boss."

Myric, the mage of the party, cast a silence spell in the room, preventing other people from eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You must have heard it from Karlo already," said Emyrson. "Dozens of arachnias have made the second floor of the dungeon their nest."

Aster replied, "Yes."

"So, tell us. How can we safely go past those giant spiders?"

Aster adjusted his glasses. "I've thought of three ways."

Karlo whistled. The other members of Zenith looked at the kid interestedly.

Emyrson said, "Not one, but three. Tell me."

"Before I tell you, please promise me this, Boss," said Aster. "If you think my strategy will work, take me in as a member of your party. And I want you to divide the loot in that ruins equally between us."

"Equal division of loot, of course. But kid, if you accompany us inside, you'll probably die."

"I'm aware of the risks, Boss. And it's a dream of mine to enter one of those dungeons."

Through his thick glasses, Emyrson saw the determination within the eyes of the boy.

"Alright. Fine. You have my word. Tell us."

Aster raised his index finger. "Then, the first one. We set fire to the entire second floor to kill all of the arachnias inside."

The plan was so simple that even Emyrson had thought of it before. But the problem with this plan was it also risked their party dying from the fire and smoke. Moreover, the arachnias were fairly resistant to fire despite being spiders. If they agitated dozens of arachnias at once by setting their nest on fire, all of those spiders would probably chase and kill them before they could even exit the dungeon.

This plan would probably work if there were only one or two arachnias, but the story would be different if there were dozens of them.

Although Emyrson thought Aster's first plan was bad, he didn't utter a word and continued to listen.

"Arachnias have high fire resistance, but they're still spiders in the end," said Aster. "After setting the second floor on fire, we'll collapse the main tunnel and trap them."

"The second plan?" said Emyrson.

"The second plan is to use starlight grass, a potent hallucinogenic plant, against those giant spiders."

It was a plant that was known for being addicting. Due to the side effects, it had been banned in the market.

"If it's Zenith, you should be able to get your hands on a couple of them."

Emyrson rubbed his red beard. "Starlight, huh? I can probably get my hands on some of them if I make use of my contacts, but are you sure it will work? Everyone in my party is immune to its effects. I doubt it will have any effect on those giant spiders."

"It's the same herb used by Lui Marcus when he defeated the arachnia that appeared in Tranta, near the Marcus Duchy, around twelve years ago. They may be large, but in the end, they're still spiders, Boss."

Aster opened his arms wide, "Just spread them around! Light 'em up, and swoosh! The spiders will wobble like intoxicated drunkards!"

Although the kid was surrounded by several burly men who reeked of blood, he looked like he was enjoying explaining things to them.

"And the last plan!" Aster grinned widely. "We pretend to be spiders. Their hatchlings, to be exact."

Emeryson looked around him. He realized he was not the only one who didn't understand what the kid was saying.

Quizzically, he said, "What?"

"We pretend to be spiders," repeated Aster.

"And how the fuck do we do that?"

Aster took out an opaque vial from his pouch. He twisted the lid open, revealing the contents inside.

The moment the lid was opened, the members of Zenith crinkled their nose and covered it with their hands.

"Shit! What the hell is that!"

"Fuck! My nose!"

"I've never smelled something so nasty my entire life!"

It was so putrid that the healer of the party started vomiting on the ground. The smell of a rotting corpse, the smell of feces, the smell of medicinal herbs, and the smell of burnt flesh. Even if they combined all of those together, it still wouldn't beat the smell of the concoction held by Aster.

"Cover it! Cover it!"

"Ack! Gaahh! F-Fuck!"

Aster chuckled, "Hehe. Sorry about that, Boss."

The kid closed the vial, looked at everyone in the room, and innocently smiled.

For a moment, Emyrson had the urge to punch him in the face, but he held back and reminded himself he was just a kid.

Still covering his nose, Emyrson asked, "What is that thing?"

"I can't tell you that, Boss," said Aster. "It's a trade secret. But I assure you, with this, the arachnias wouldn't attack us."

Ludwig spat, "Yeah, even those giant spiders would faint if they smelled the liquid from that damn vial."

Raiga added, "They'll probably run away. Shit, damn it. I still can't get the stench out of my mouth."

The kid seemed amused by the banter.

"Do you know how the arachnias differentiate allies from enemies?" said Aster. He paused, as though waiting for someone to answer him. But after receiving no reply, he continued, "By smell. This concoction mimics the smell of their kin. We'll smear this on our bodies then enter the second floor of that dungeon."

The members of Zenith looked at each other. The healer, in particular, looked horrified.

"B-Boss, why don't we stick to the second plan?" said Ludwig.

Even Karlo looked terrified right now. "Y-Yeah, Boss. Starlight grass sounds good. I can even get some of them for you!"

Emyrson said, "Shut it. Out of all the plans proposed by the kid, this seems to be the safest."

Emyrson leaned closer to Aster. "We'll bring you along as promised, kid. But if this plan of yours doesn't work, don't even think of leaving that dungeon alive. We'll leave you behind to serve as bait for those damn arachnias. You got that?"

Aster nodded confidently. "Of course!"

Hearing that their boss had decided to go with the third plan, the members of Zenith groaned.

***

The day of their dungeon dive came.

After making all necessary preparations, Zenith moved north of Quraso City until they reached a marshland.

This place used to be desolated before, but ever since a ruins and a dungeon was discovered underground, it became teeming with people.

In a short period of time, a military camp had been set up in this place, and there were even over a hundred soldiers overseeing the entrance.

Just like before, the government – particularly the Senate – claimed all rights on the newly discovered ruins.

They still allowed a select few groups to enter it, but they still needed to procure the necessary permits.

"Boss, it's Black Arm."

Black Arm was also a platinum-ranked explorer group whose fame and prowess rivaled Zenith.

The members of Zenith already expected the soldiers from the Republic to be here, guarding the area, but they didn't expect to see Black Arm on the day of their dungeon dive.

Judging by how prepared all of the members of Black Arm was, it seemed they were also going to enter the dungeon today.

"Gyahahah! Look who we have here!"

Alanus, the leader of Black Arm, laughed the moment he saw Zenith.

Alanus was a two-meter large man with long, black hair reminiscent of a lion's mane. A large scar, which he got from his fight with Emyrson, ran across his face.

Emyrson was called the Red Bear, while Alanus was called the Black Lion.

The two groups were known rivals, and Emyrson and Alanus had fought to a draw several times before.

"If it isn't anus," said Emyrson. "Hey, butthole. Get out of the way if you don't want my sword to pierce your ass."

Hearing this, Alanus' face twitched. Although he'd already heard Emyrson mock his name several times before, he still gets infuriated by it every time.

"You fucking bear, you never learn, huh?" growled Alanus.

Emyrson smirked and laughed, "Look, the butthole is talking."

"—You!"

Alanus was ready to draw his sword when the captain of the soldiers stepped between the two of them.

"Stop!"

The captain looked at Emyrson, then at Alanus.

"If you draw that sword, we'll take immediate action, as per the will of the Senate."

Alanus glared at the captain, "I don't care about the Senate. Let's see if you can even report it, if we kill all of the soldiers here in this ruins."

Despite the threat, the captain wasn't intimidated. He'd been a soldier for several decades, and he was used to these explorers. He knew that if he cowered here, these ruffians wouldn't miss the opportunity to muscle their way in into the ruins.

"An Inspector is inside this camp," said the captain.

Hearing this, the members of Black Arm and Zenith looked at the large tent nearby.

"If you don't mind fighting the Inspector, then kill us, sure."

Alanus spat on the ground. "Tch."

Inspectors were elite soldiers under the direct command of the Senate. Most of them were former high-ranking knights, and some were former infamous mercenaries.

If he was alone, Zenith and Black Arm could probably kill the Inspector, but it would surely cause a casualty in their group.

"Damn dogs of the Senate," muttered Alanus. He turned to Emyrson, "I'm letting this pass not because I'm afraid of you. I just don't like to be chased by those damn Inspectors in the future."

Emyrson fingered his ear, showing he was uninterested with the excuse uttered by Alanus.

Alanus said, "Let's go."

The members of Black Arm left.

Aster said excitedly, "Wow! So, that's Black Arm!"

Emyrson frowned, displeased by the enthusiasm showed by the kid.

"They murderers, stop glorifying those bastards."

"But aren't you murderers, too, Boss? I'm sure you've killed people in the past, too."

"Look at this kid. No fear, huh? Well, I'm not saying we're any different," said Emyrson. "But… those people. They do not have even a shred of conscience. At the very least, my men spare the children."

Karlo said, "But I got to admit, Black Arm is really good at removing all traces of the crimes they've committed. The government couldn't even apprehend them, as they don't have any evidence."

"Enough with this talk about those people. Move. We're going to the dungeon."

After registering their party to the guard captain, and after listening to the lengthy explanation regarding the rules of this place, Zenith entered the ruins