"You might as well tell them." He replies, his face turning dark. Sierra hesitates and he sighs, "Alright, I'll do it. Rita, Hei, Nigel is only Lvl. 25. He's not a high enough level to take on this many mutants alone. If I'm not mistaken...no one in Snowfall is."

"T-That...is it true?" Rita's lips quiver, the usually spunky little girl loses all of her fire in that moment. Still covered in foul goblin blood, she turns to her older sister for reassurance. Unfortunately, Sierra doesn't have anything to offer but the grimmest of smiles.

"I'm afraid Tepis is right. However, all hope is not lost. Bern's party should notify the guilds, and they'll call over a high level from the city. It may take a while before they can begin excavation, but if we hold out and stay away from the horde, I think we can make it!"

"Maybe..." Tepis mutters, but I catch the despair in his eyes as he looks away. "How much water and food do you guys have?"

"Couple water bottles each, some jerky, biscuits...should be good for a few days, at least." Sierra takes inventory. I myself, filled my water bottles in town, and borrowed some food from the girls. Tepis turns out his pockets and reveals he has much the same, though his food consists mostly of dried fish. "With the System helping, we won't die quickly."

"No...we won't." The solo Hunter frowns. "But neither will they be able to get us quickly. It could be weeks before a high level arrives. We need to plan for the worst case. There's a chance they may not be able to get us out in time."

"What other choice do we have then to wait?"

"I don't know, but I've been in some bad situations before. We can't just sit around and hope that things will work out."

While they're arguing, I take some time to examine the System Map. My eyes flicker rapidly as the invisible overlay shows me roughly where we are on the 2nd Floor and what we've discovered. It seems we've wandered deep into goblin territory at this point. Our crazy escape actually caused us to criss-cross between side tunnels and main tunnels until we ended up traversing a large portion of the dungeon. Thinking over similar dungeons I once cleared in my past life, I scribble on the notepad.

"We cannot stay here. The goblins are stupid, but they'll eventually find us if we stay still. Our best bet is to travel deeper into the nest. If we can reach the lower levels, there will be escape tunnels outside."

Only Rita notices me holding up the message.

"I think Hei's trying to say something."

"Look, I just think if we sit tight...I mean come on, you saw how many of those things there were-"

"Sorry, what was that, Rita? Oh, Hei, what's up?" Tepis finally catches on and lets out a little more-light from the Solar Gem. "Oh...oh! That's right, the goblin from earlier went down an escape tunnel! Most of them will be pretty small, but if we can find one big enough, we could get out!"

"I don't know. It's pretty risky." Sierra shakes her head dubiously. "Why did Bern have the dungeon entrance collapsed if there are escape tunnels then? He must have been trying to seal in the goblins, but that's not really going to stop them."

"Not necessarily. The mutant variants are a lot bigger. And most goblins use the main entrance. Since it's blocked off, the goblins will be distracted for a while clearing it out. That'll give the guilds more time to get a high-level over. Still...that was a quick decision call. He must have only had seconds after encountering the horde. To think Bern was that ready to lay down his life after seeing the danger. His sacrifice deserves respect." Tepis bows his head. "Now the question is, do we stay...or go? My vote is with Hei, as a solo Hunter sitting still has never worked well for me."

"Guys, you really think this is a good idea? Rita's only a girl! This is the first time we've ever hunted goblins. Won't there just be more of them down there?" Sierra's eyes wander between us, hoping to find some support.

"Sis, I'm going to be fifteen this year! And I'm the same level as you. I can take care of myself." The little girl has a bit more spine in her than her older sister. Or perhaps the big one is just feeling responsible for her safety. Regardless, it's over when Rita puts her hand up, "I'm with the boys on this one! I'd rather die fighting than wait for the goblins to come! Besides, it stinks in here! I won't be able to sleep!"

"Rita..." Sierra is outvoted. Doubtfully, she picks up her gear. "Fine then, I guess we go. Please though...we're not solo Hunters like you, Tepis. We're not fighters. Mr. Hei's a low level. Remember that."

"I will."

"You won't leave us behind, will you?" Rita asks fearfully. I don't know what compels me, since she's talking to Tepis, but I reach over, and pat her head.

When have I heard this before?

She looks up with a scared face and I put on the closest thing to a smile I've had since coming back. The muscles in my face don't work anymore so I hope it doesn't look too scary. Trying to open my mouth, I can't quite say anything reassuring, so I start to raise my notepad, but the little girl pushes my wrist down.

"Thanks, Mr. Hei! We know what you mean. As Sierra always says, we'll have to trust each other!"

"When did I say that?"

"Uh..."

#

The darkness is no place for little girls or people who have been locked in Void Prisms for a year. Ever-present scampering feet pad through the tunnels, causing our breaths to catch. My cold indifference has trouble asserting itself, sometimes, I'm overwhelmed by fear. Other times, I forget that dying here could be the worst mistake in my many lives, and my mood borders on reckless carelessness. It's hard to say whether the goblins are still looking for us. Their limited intelligence usually causes them to give up on the chase after a short while, but I don't know about these mutant variants which usually only appear in higher-level dungeons.

"Shh..." Tepis puts a finger to his lips as a patrol walks by us. It's the first we've seen in a long time. Like I said, the density of this place makes no sense. Usually, Feral Goblins tend to spread out all over a dungeon, you'll run into one or two everywhere. However, this place is completely different. You can walk for half an hour and not run into a single goblin. But when you do...they're not alone.

Lvl. ?? Goblin Swordsman

Lvl. ?? Goblin Archer

Lvl. 15 Feral Goblin

...

The patrol features two mutants and four Feral Goblins. While we should be able to engage such a group with Tepis's System Weapon on our side, their sheer numbers are a problem. There's no way we could kill them before they sounded the alarm. Quietly, all we can do is sink back into the shadows and wait for the patrol to pass.

*Snuffle Snuffle*

One of them raises its head as it pads past our hiding spot. I can just see its wrinkly, bald head quivering as it tries to suss out the smell. I hope the legends about goblins aren't true. They can't really sniff out human children...can they? That has to be horse crap-

*Snuffle*

It moves on without discovering us and several sighs of relief come out next to me. Regardless of the legends, it seems we're too covered in goblin scent, or just too stealthy to notice.

"That was too close." Sierra gasps in relief. "We're really going to go deeper into that?"

"Honestly, I'm just surprised we haven't run into more by now. Let's keep moving." Tepis wipes the sweat from his brow. The younger boy is impressively cool under pressure.

If he had a little more time and was willing to leave this place, would he become strong enough to join the frontlines?

I'm still not sure exactly what his level is, but based on he handled the goblins earlier, he's probably past Lvl. 20. Which means that in terms of a one-on-one fight, I'd expect him to be able to hold his own against System Monsters less than five levels higher than him. Even if two mutant variants ganged up on him, I'd still say he'd be okay with his scimitar's active ability. The problem comes when we consider the rest of the party.

Rita and Sierra don't have the experience to kill the mutants on their own. They might be able to tank, but they won't finish them off. As for myself...that Goblin Shieldmaiden was a bad matchup, but even if I faced any of the other mutant variants, with a ten-level gap...I'd at most be able to handle one. Which means if my math is correct, as a party we could theoretically take on five mutant variants and some Feral Goblins at the same time. Any more and either we run or be prepared to suffer loses.

*Tssss*

"Do you hear something?" Sierra hisses. Her hands brush the top of her head. "You feel that?"

*Tsssssssssss*

"Yea...it's..."

*CRACK!*

Rita doesn't finish responding before the ceiling shatters. Chunks of rock fall down on us for the second time today, accompanied by a deafening cacophony which drowns out all other sounds.

*KACHA!*

Then the floor caves in. And we're sent tumbling down.

Oh come on!

"AHHHHH!"

"EEEEEIIIIEEEE?"

My stomach drops out sickeningly from underneath me and I don't know what to do with my hands.

Should I protect my head or cushion the fall?

Before I can decide, the world hits my butt and white light explodes in my head as I smack right down onto the next floor of the dungeon. Stars dance behind my eyelids, but I force myself to squint into the white clouds of chalky dust. Everyone's coughing,

"Sierra? Rita? Hei?" Tepis's voice calls out. "Anyone hurt?"

"N-No...I'm okay. Rita? Where are you?" Sierra replies. She pauses waiting for a response. But for the longest time, no one answers, "Rita?"

"S-Sis! HEEEEELP!"

A noise I'll never forget comes in that moment. One which freezes even my frozen heart. The little cackle of a goblin disappears along with the echoes of Rita's scream.

It has her.

"RITA!"