SockySake

  Damian's eyes peered open, and he saw the five-story-high vaulted ceiling of the teleportation hub. The dim ambient lighting that emitted from no particur light source was the perfect amount to lull him back to sleep.

  Five more minutes... no, ten.

  But even that resolve was disturbed, not by light, but by the sounds of meat sizzling and the smell of potent spices.

  Sitting up, Damian could see that Fergus was preparing the most important meal of the day for a cranky Alex. They usually give her the first watch shift so her rest wouldn't be disturbed, but Damian changed things this time.

  While stretching, Damian spun around to see what had changed overnight. He could see that the makeshift army had expanded somewhat.

  Many people were now at high peak tents, getting patched up. It served no purpose in sheltering from the dungeon ceiling, but it was a universal symbol for everyone who needed aid.

  Several people were guarding the dead who hadn't had their rites performed, and low walls surrounded the spots where adventurers and guards had turned into ash during the battle against the ape. They'd likely be turning within the next hour or so.

  Looking toward where the ape had been, it had been cleared out and likely stored away in Ms. Sanderson's spatial skill.

  Damian guessed she would offer the numerous adventurers who held a share of the 20% stake the same deal she had given them. With her commanding presence, he doubted that many would have refused her and held on tightly to their cim.

  Fortunately, no one had disturbed their rest, or else they would have all woken up to the silent arm.

  "Any ideas?" Damian asked after a yawn.

  "What can we really do? I know that we did something kind of amazing yesterday, but we're just tier 4s."

  "Why are you being such a sour puss today, Frey?" Alex mocked. "We should keep up the momentum. Save some orphaned babies from undead monsters. Rescue some noble so that he's indebted to us. Uncover the mystery of the attack and hand in the culprit!"

  "You know that's not going to happen. And if we do anything significant that would piss off a noble, that's just painting a target on our backs." Frey was staring daggers at Damian and his coffin. Maybe she wanted to shut him inside of it at the moment.

  "I said rescue a noble, not piss them off!"

  "Those aren't mutually exclusive," Frey stated, prickly.

  "Stop fighting, you two." Donna interrupted.

  "Um, but what did you pn to do with that corpse, Damian?" Donna continued, pointing out a source of Frey's ire. "You never really expined yesterday. We were all too tired to really get into it when you first brought it. Then it got sidetracked with Finn's Spell Slingers and the dismantling show."

  "... ..."

  It was an impulse action at the time... But I just wanted to see it through to the end. It feels like about as much as we can do given our position.

  After waiting a few moments, Damian finally spoke up.

  "... I wanted to get the body to a Valkyrie for evidence. I don't trust that it won't turn to ash if nobles get their hands on it. If pced in the wrong hands, they could even use it as a reason to escate the war with the Empire. I don't want all of this suffering to end with even more."

  'sigh'

  "We still have no idea what's really happening. Hauling that around is probably going to get us killed. You don't mess with the government's affairs." Frey chided.

  "Um, I actually like the idea... It's about the most we can realistically do to help out." Donna said, backing Damian.

  "Bahaha, isn't our little dy a hero! I second her. There are supposed to be five Valkyrie around. Three in the Spire somewhere, and the others had probably made it back from wherever they were out in the world."

  Surprisingly, a resigned sigh came from Fergus. – "That'd be three against two, but if we're actually going to do this, it'd be best to py it smart. Let's gather some more information and maybe pick up any finished commissioned gear. While I've been on watch, those crafters were still working away."

  Squinting his eyes, Damian could see Robby and Dobby working in one corner of the room. Did they have a skill to reduce their need for sleep? Or maybe they were just that passionate about crafting.

  "But first, let's eat." Fergus finished.

  After the first bite, all of their troubles fell to the back of their minds. Who could care about a city-destroying disaster when you can eat food that brought peace to the world?

  After reveling in their meal, the group made their way over to the crafters. Robby had his back to a small out-of-pce smithy and was hammering away at a pitch-bck sword.

  It was a saber; some proud people didn't consider sabers swords but rather lesser tools. They only had a bde on one side, and didn't sport a tip on the bde that you could stab with.

  Although this limited the lethal moves you could make with the weapon, in exchange, it usually packed a greater punch when sshing. This type of weapon wasn't as commonly used in the Earthen Union, more so in the Fire Empire and Water Kingdom.

  Robby ignored their approach while hammering away at the bone saber. The forge behind him roared with fmes. Several envious smiths were watching as he worked. When squinting his eyes, Damian could see that with each hammer blow, rune carvings were etched onto the bde. It looked as if it was nearing completion.

  Dobby wasn't far, working on his own commissions. Unlike what Damian expected, the man wasn't carving the bone at all. He was using a tool to shape the bck bone like cy. The rounded metal ball on a stick worked its way around the bone, leaving indented trails and forming runes in its wake.

  The staff itself was much rger than Damian had expected. He didn't think that they had given him enough material to create something the size of a walking cane. At best, he assumed they'd have something half the size.

  Upon closer inspection, Damian saw that the top was a hexahedron with its center hollowed out.

  The interior was den with numerous runes. At that moment, he realized that these craftsmen had truly given them an enormous discount for their work. They looked like weapons a high noble would own.

  Last but not least, Damian took a look over where Jimmy Lee set up shop. He had started crafting the other night right over some of the ashen remains, completely ignorant about the wraiths that would surely rise again. But the guards must have relocated him.

  The nky man was on the floor with a wooden mallet, hammering in some studs on a piece of armor. It was mostly bck, with lighter underyer patches that added contrast throughout.

  Along the neckline of the piece, bck fur spread out like an animal's mane. More tufts of fur were poking out where different sections met.

  When you looked more closely, it wasn't a single piece of armor, but three yers overpping one another. The base yer was the lightest and progressively darkened as you moved to the outer ones.

  On each yer, you could see different rune carvings interwoven. The madman workaholic had designed the runes to snap and connect throughout the many yers of the armor, creating a rune network much rger and more complex than usual.

  "We probably don't have enough money to pay him for his work..." Damian thought out loud.

  He had never seen an armor piece so intricately designed before. Even the noble adventurer Hans only had a single yer of runes on his armor.

  "Yeah... I thought that he was going to make a chest pte for each of us, but look over there." Alex pointed at the extra materials they left to pay Jimmy Lee. On top of the pile were four complete sets of bck leather armor. Each was slightly different from the st.

  For the remote castors, they were like chest ptes that flowed down into robes. Stacks of leather formed a sturdy core to protect the wearer's life, and they extended into long, flowing robes that slightly masked the wearer's movements.

  The entire thing was overflowing with runes. Their group had no idea what they did, but since they were so wonderous looking, they held high expectations.

  It took another moment to sort out what they were seeing. The leather work was expertly done to look like it came from one beast, but what none of them realized at first was that the materials weren't only from the ape wraith. Jimmy Lee had utilized the materials that were supposed to be part of the payment.

  "Looks like we're in debt," Fergus stated pinly.

  ""Yep."" The whole group agreed.

  The group waited patiently as the crafters finished their work. Many of them hoped the crafters had broken tiers. Then they could feel a little less indebted for gaining so much while paying so little.

  As they sat mesmerised by the crafters, they also took note of what was happening around them. The wraiths they were expecting were quickly dispatched. Ms. Sanderson had several people with crowd-control skills on hand to prevent needless casualties.

  More people were also pouring into the teleportation hub. Adventurers were escorting many people indoors. Neither the adventurers nor the civilians Damian recognized from their makeshift army.

  Ms. Sanderson was seen outside the Spire on her communicator, while Higgins was inside organizing the popuce. It seemed that Ms. Sanderson had deemed it safe enough for Higgins to get used to organizing rge groups. Making a mistake here most likely wouldn't lead to needless deaths.

  The entire space was slowly becoming overcrowded. It wouldn't be long before people would have to move into the dungeon tunnels to have some space. If people could climb high enough, the Earthen Spire could house all of the city's popution.

  As they watched, Ms. Sanderson approached a mixed group of adventurers and guards, all in heavy armor and shields. They practically looked like a fortress with how much metal they wore. She gave them a nod, and they disappeared in a fsh, getting teleported somewhere in the dungeon.

  "I suppose that they are finally going to be checking the 10th floors for any sign of the Valkyrie," Damian commented.

  "Hopefully, they find a sign of them. It's eerie that we haven't seen one come out yet. Although maybe they have. We've been inside all this time." Donna pointed out.

  "Yeah, hopefully. Ah! They're back already." Damian watched as the heavily armored group returned with some adventurers. The adventurers were faces that Damian vaguely recognized. They were the ones who teleported away to escape getting fried by lightning.

  They must have camped the entire night in the tower, not knowing what was happening outside.

  The heavily armored group proceeded back to a teleporter. And once again, they came back in short order. This time, without any adventurers trailing behind. It didn't look like they had experienced any battle so far.

  The group continued to do this until the fourth time...

  The armored group still returned in short order, but what Damian and his party saw made their eyes bulge. One of the shielders had a massive earthen spike in their shield. The mana that created the weapon was deconstructing and falling away.

  The woman seemed only mildly injured. But the sight still made their blood run cold. The undead fiend, Hans, was still in the tower...

  What the hell are the Valkyrie doing?

  "!!!"

  Donna was shivering, almost catatonic. Frey and Alex both wrapped her in a hug, but her body was still shaking pitifully.

  At the sight, Damian squeezed his fist so tight that his knuckles turned white. He desperately wanted to teleport to the 40th floor and drive his sword down the undead's throat.

  Hans was known to be at tier 5, currently at his level cap. There was only a single tier difference between them. But that single tier was like the difference between a teenager and an older child fighting.

  Not to mention that Hans was an undead with far greater power than a typical living tier 5. One had a clear advantage in every aspect.

  Although Damian took down the tier 6 ape wraith, it took a combined effort from many people, including a tier 6 who restricted the beast. That comparison was more simir to an army of children and a young teenager attacking a single adult.

  Despite Damian driving his sword into both of the beast's eyes, he couldn't nd a killing blow on his own. Neither could Alex, even when Fergus empowered her.

  But the biggest issue with being able to confront the undead was the fact that Damian and his party couldn't teleport to the 40th floor. They would have to start on the 30th and work their way up.

  A reassuring hand gripped Damian's shoulder. It was Fergus. "You know we can't do it ourselves. Even if we did, it wouldn't be worth risking everyone's lives."

  "We had figured that the Valkyrie already took care of him... Let someone else do it." He pointed over to the group of shielders. Ms. Sanderson was already organizing the group to add in castors and fighters. They were going to continue their journey of clearing the 10th levels of the dungeon.

  Dammit! He's right. We'll have to let them handle this... I'm definitely going to check for the bastard's body, though.