The next three packs of gnolls went much the same way. Muti scouted them out, brought back their numbers, and then ambushed the ranger if they existed. If not, she tore into one of the brawlers. They didn't go down as easily as the rangers, something to do with their bones, Astrid was told, but a sleeping gnoll remained an easy target for the Barbarian Rogue.

After four packs had been slain, ten sets of gnoll canines, the most valuable part of the monsters, and ten left ears were sitting in Astrid's trophy pouch.

"The next pack is to the north northeast." Muti reported. The easy hunts seemed to drain some of the excitement from her, though she remained as focused as ever.

"Lead the way." Astrid commanded, following after Muti. "How are you doing on mana, Skandr?"

"I'm fine." He shrugged. "We're not doing anything too taxing, and I don't have any particularly high-cost Skills."

"Good. Let us know when you're below half, and we'll plan accordingly."

"Sure." He waved her off, his focus on the faint trail they could see behind Muti. Both walked without much concern, sure that this hunt would go the same as those from before. A sudden snarl, two more snarls, and a Barbarian war cry quickly stole that impression away from them. Astrid stood up and rushed forward, her hammer and shield ready. Once she stood tall, she could see more or less what was happening, though not why it had occurred in the first place.

Muti was surrounded by three gnolls, the ranger trying to get some space from her as she pressed in on it and attempted to dodge the brawlers as they stalked forward and went to rip into her. Before Astrid or Skandr could do anything, one brawler's fists found her shoulder with bone-crunching force. Muti tried to push through it, but the two brawlers pressed the attack. The ranger had a long cut across its torso that bled profusely, but it wasn't down.

"Skandr!" Astrid commanded, pointing with her hammer at the ranger. He'd understand. She shouted her own battle cry as she charged at the brawlers. Neither turned towards her, their focus on taking Muti down as fast as possible. Their bone-encrusted knuckles smashed into the Rogue, and though she fought to keep the worst of the attacks from landing, a half dozen glancing attacks shredded her leather armor and cut into her flesh. The Barbarian stumbled back, trying to get enough space to keep herself from being entirely overwhelmed, but then one of the gnolls lunged forward with its jaws wide open.

The fangs sought her face, but she stuffed her arm in between them instead, keeping herself from being mauled entirely as her metal bracer protected her from the worst of the wounds. Even so, the monster bore her to the ground as its companion tried to circle around to deal a killing blow.

That was when Astrid appeared, her hammer smashing into the unoccupied brawler's head. It survived that first attack, but stunned and trying to get its bearings, Astrid dispatched of it quickly before turning with her whole weight and smashing the edge of her shield into the remaining brawler's neck. Bone snapped as another death notification appeared in Astrid's eyes.

Gnoll Brawler slain. 17 Experience gained, split among party

Gnoll Brawler slain. 17 Experience gained, split among party

She turned to deal with the ranger, but instead, for the first time, she saw Skandr's killing blow. With his Alacrity boosted by his Skill, he enchanted a dagger with lighting in his hands and dashed towards the shuddering, stunned ranger. With lightning trailing behind him, he leapt forward and buried the flickering weapon in the gnoll's eye. The final death notification appeared before the monster's body hit the ground.

Gnoll Ranger slain. 19 Experience gained, split among party

Astrid pulled the corpse off of Muti, whose eyes flashed with genuine rage. Astrid through the anger was with her, at first, but then, as Muti rose to her feet, she kicked the gnoll corpses several times each as she cursed them up, down, left, and right in the Barbarians' tongue. Finally, she looked at the various wounds across her body and spat to the side.

"How injured are you?" Astrid asked. "If you need to be done for the day's hunt, we'll get back."

"These are merely new scars." Muti shrugged. "We are permitted 7 more, and we will hunt them."

"If you say so." Astrid met the Barbarian's eyes. "We're bound, and I'm your leader. Be honest with me. Can you go through three more hunts?"

Muti nodded severely. "Yes, leader."

"Okay." Astrid allowed. "Now tell me, what happened?"

"I had the situation well in hand." Muti stiffened. "I was about to kill the ranger before turning my attention to returning in your direction. The noise provided plenty of an opportunity for you to prepare yourselves prior to my arrival."

"That's fine, I really don't care." Astrid waved off the excuses as she asked again, "Were you heard? Did you decide to begin a fight on your own? What happened?"

"The ranger was awake." Muti stood stiffly upright. "It scented me. I attempted to dispatch it before it could rouse the others. It avoided my first blow."

"Thank you. Now, because you're wounded, we will need to—"

"I am not wounded!" Muti interrupted, her tone almost desperate. "I merely bear new scars."

"That's not the point!" Astrid retorted, losing what little of her patience remained. "You're bleeding! They're predators that scent things. Do you not think that smelling of fresh blood is a bad choice?" Astrid threw her hands up in frustration.

"I am not wounded!" Muti repeated stubbornly, her shoulders rolled back and her eyebrows low.

"Fine! You're not wounded! But you are actively bleeding and there's nothing we can do about that, so we're going to change our approach accordingly." Astrid stepped forward, her face in the Rogue's. After staring her down for almost a full minute, Muti nodded almost imperceptibly. Accepting that as a surrender of sorts, Astrid spoke again. "Muti, you'll guide us in the right direction, and we'll try to ambush the monsters. If we're successful, we'll do much of the same thing as before, with you, Muti, focusing on dispatching the ranger, while Skandr supports me in holding back the brawlers and killing them.

"If the gnolls are alerted before we get there, then Muti, your focus is no longer the ranger. Instead, it'll be working with me to kill one of the brawlers as quickly as possible while Skandr supports as well as he can. Then, with one brawler dead, you'll ensure the ranger gets taken down. Got it?"

"Yes, leader." Muti's response was clipped, though seemingly not angry. That was as good of a result as Astrid had hoped for, so she just—

"I'm at half mana." Skandr said. "Nothing worrying so long as I don't do that same attack that I used to kill the ranger, but you told me to say something."

Astrid nodded and turned to Skandr. "That should be fine. Seven more, and, if possible, I'd prefer to just hunt pairs for now to keep things simple. Muti, are you able to distinguish if there are two or three present from afar?"

"No, leader." She shook her head.

"Fine." Astrid nodded. "Lead the way, we'll take the fight back to the monsters."

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As they stalked through the tall grasses, staying low and as quiet as possible, Muti signalled that the gnolls weren't too far forward. Before Astrid could get close enough to know exactly what she was going to be attacking, a snarl rang out from ahead, which was swiftly echoed by two other voices.

"There's three! As we planned, Muti with me!" Then, Astrid rushed forward with her hammer held aloft. Fortunately, her shield arm was high as well, as she only barely managed to heft it high enough to catch the arrow from smashing into her face. A ball of lightning crackled past her, and then the brawlers were in her face. On her left, she managed to keep her shield well between herself and the combo of attacks that crunched into the wood of her shield. On the right, though, it pressed forward and disregarded the swing of her hammer. The swing glanced off its shoulder, the thick, shaggy hide serving to keep the attack from sinking deep and breaking bones.

Its fists flashed out and Astrid used all of her training to keep them from striking true on her face, instead taking the blows on her more heavily armored shoulder. It ached, and she struggled to raise her hammer right away, but then Muti was there, her swords cutting repeatedly into the gnoll's back and shoulders. It turned its attention back to her instead of Astrid, and the Warrior shoved her shield hard into the uninjured gnoll. It stumbled back, giving her the space necessary to then wind back and smash the edge of the shield into the injured gnoll's spine. It folded, and Muti stabbed down, killing it. Astrid disregarded the kill notification as she refocused on the one that'd been battering her shield for the rest of the time.

Now that it was just her and it, Astrid kept herself on her toes, dodging to the side instead of just taking every blow and allowing the particularly powerful gnoll to keep up with its own rhythm in the fight. After its finishing uppercut whiffed and it lost its stance, she took the opportunity to crush its knee with her hammer. Now that it was crippled, Astrid could take the briefest moment to witness the ranger's demise.

Another ball of lightning struck it and it shivered just long enough for Muti to shred into it. She whirled, blades dancing as she cut away its defenses before raising both over her right shoulder and hacking down. The ranger fell in three pieces, and Astrid grinned as she whirled and buried her hammer's head up to its haft in the remaining brawler's skull. It fell, and she took note that all three here had been merely level 6.

"Your way is a lot better when we can manage it." Astrid chuckled as she turned to look for any other monsters that could be ambushing them. Nothing appeared, and she breathed easier.

"Yes." Muti replied as she bent down and began cutting the ear from the ranger's head. "You were right that it was no longer possible, though."

Astrid figured that was as close to an apology as she was getting right now, and given how much better her experience was going with this party than it had ever before, she wasn't about to say anything that might jeopardize that. Instead, she joined her allies in harvesting everything of value from the monsters so they could move on.

***

The other two packs they came across were blessedly only pairs, taking the party to exactly 20 gnolls killed on the delve. Astrid looked at her Status, appreciating the experience growth.

Status

Name: Astrid

Class: Warrior (Bronze)

Total Level: 6 (107/10,000)

Attributes

Current

Per level growth

Power

38 (+1)

+5

Alacrity

25 [+5]

+3

Fortitude

39 (+1)

+5

Magical Potency

11

+1

Self-Mastery

12

+1

Acumen

12

+1

Though her attributes hadn't changed at all, Astrid enjoyed looking at how far she'd come. The bracketed demonstration of Steady Load's impact as well as the parentheses explaining her equipment's boons just… made her happy. She was living the life that she'd always planned, and finally, she had people willing to delve alongside her.

Astrid pulled the last of the gnoll fangs from the monster's mouth and tossed them into her pouch. The clicked against the rest, and though it was large enough to carry dozens of warg ears, the waxed pouch was nearly completely full after just 20 gnolls hunted. Looking at her two party members, Skandr was ready to go back, while, though covered with her own blood, Muti obviously wanted to continue.

"Let's get going." Astrid commanded, hefting herself to her feet. "It's been long enough that if we hurry, we should be able to get lunch at the inn."

"Very well, leader. If you command." Muti turned towards the nearest exit.

"Thank you, Astrid." Skandr sighed. He'd been more and more important with each fight as Muti's ambush and stealth was largely mitigated by her being covered in her own blood.

"Glad we were able to do this much." Astrid replied. "By the way, what happens if we kill more monsters than we were permitted to? I don't want to, I'm just curious."

"If it's one or two? A couple copper a monster killed." Skandr shrugged as he scratched at his chin. "I can't remember the specifics, but it's scaling, I do know that much. The more you kill, the worse the penalty."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Just know that the leader fronts those fines." He grinned up at her.

"I'll take it from community funds." Astrid laughed back, keeping her eyes peeled for any gnolls.

"There are no community funds, though."

"You already told me that you don't need money like Muti and I will. I figure half of your money will be communal!" Astrid grinned, but Skandr's stricken face didn't care. Instead, he shook a little, like he was standing buck naked in a blizzard.

"Please no." He whispered. "Oh, Duchess above, please no."

"Relax." Astrid backpedaled. "It was a joke, and I wasn't at all being serious. The only people who get an extra cut are healers, as always. Otherwise, fees will be paid individually, and… I don't know where I went wrong, honestly." She didn't know what to say, and though the tension bled from Skandr's body as she proved her sincerity, it was obvious that there was something very real and particularly concerning for him regarding money. Klara's warning about leading this party settled into her, and Astrid just decided to stop talking for now. Instead, she hurried along behind Muti, whose steps skirted around a couple areas that seemed to possibly contain more monsters.

They made good time, and it wasn't long before they entered the stairway leading out of the rusty fields and up to the regular world above. Astrid allowed herself to breathe more easily as the sun was visible and the green vegetation filled her gaze once more. Even so, she kept her awareness stretched out, and the dozen solo hopefuls from earlier in the day that still stood nearby took notice of the bloody Muti and sprang on what they thought might be a new chance.

"I'm a Scout! I can—"

"As a Fighter—"

"Of course a Ranger like me—"

"We're fine!" Astrid raised her hands and her voice. "We were just doing a quick mission and we're done for the day. Now get out of the way!"

With grumbles, the disappointed delvers stepped back and the three of them made their way away from the isolated doorway and path into the Dungeon. Idle questions that Astrid had but hadn't asked filled her mind until she couldn't hold them back.

"How wide is the first floor of the Dungeon?"

"It is about 14 kilometers across." Muti answered, her eyes still peeled and looking at the world around them. "More of an egg shape than a circle or square, though."

"Stretched between the two doorways, then?" Astrid asked.

"No, squished." Skandr said. "It's as if it had the two entrances then it tried to grow, but the entrances are stuck on the walls, so it had to grow in an… oblong, is it called? shape."

"And how long have you two been here in Kznietch?"

"I arrived in this city 27 days ago." Muti said. "I have only delved four times since, and I am looking forward to progressing more quickly alongside you."

"And I've been here… three months?" Skandr's eyes unfocused as he thought about it. "Yeah, it was late spring, so that sounds right."

Astrid grunted in understanding as she thought about Skandr's position. He'd been here since she was barely level 2, and, as far as she knew, he hadn't gained a single level. She really was a maniac, given how frequently she'd been down in the Dungeon and how quickly she'd gained levels. Even so… how were these people so slow to grow? Sure, there were schedules here about who was allowed to delve how often, but it didn't look like anyone was really capitalizing on the opportunities they'd been given!

With a party of three fighting monsters of the second benchmark, she was getting experience just about as quickly as she was delving all alone against the wargs. Once they gained another level or two and could get deeper into the Dungeon, then they'd be able to kill packs of four or even five gnolls at levels 8 and 9. That was…105 experience per pack, split into 35 experience each, for a three minute fight! Delve for only five hours a day, get even five fights an hour, that was… she wasn't sure, to be honest, but at least 500 experience a day. That wasn't hard work!

"Why doesn't anyone delve more?" Astrid asked. "It just doesn't make sense. If you want to get levels, why aren't there people here who are delving for the entire day every other day? There's just…"

Muti laughed loud and long while Skandr sighed and, instead of answering, complained, "You're going to drag me out here every opportunity you get, aren't you?"

"What?" Astrid asked as Muti continued to laugh, though she threw an arm around the Warrior as they continued to walk towards the town

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