A day later.

While Dhruv was celebrating his success with the spellcasting, Marty had found his team of mercenaries.

There were seven of them, with all of them reaching the minimum of tier 3 in their ascension. Three of them already reached the top of tier 3 and needed just a few more levels to ascend.

They were hoping this dungeon would be that fuel.

Activating his mana senses, Marty looked at the man who was standing in an upright posture.

The man was Vael Ashcroft, the captain of the mercenary group, the Valor. His eyes glint with a hint of green, and his head is adorned with dark copper hair. Aside from the faint and ugly burnt scar bisecting his left eyebrow, everything was beautiful about this man.

"Hello Vael..." Saying Marty extended his hand.

Shaking his hand, the man just nodded his head.

"The paperwork is all written in the contract, so you don’t have to worry about it...’ Sighing, Marty glanced at his team member once again and asked.

"To be honest with you, I’ve already sent a group in the dungeon, and despite them being more than capable, I’ve heard anything back from them," Marty muttered as they both nodded their head in agreement.

The silent agreement because they both knew that after this much time. Not even their caracas of theirs would be left. Everything that remains in the dungeon becomes the nutrients fueling its growth.

"It is inexperience that ultimately led to their doom... but we won’t repeat the mistake..." Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Vael stated.

"If the information about the dungeon being of common rank is true, then there is no need to worry about it. We have cleared quite a few floors of the uncommon rank dungeon ourselves. This common rank will be a piece of cake." Vael assured Marty.

"I like the confidence, and that’s why we’ve hired you..." Pausing, Marty thinks for a moment and tries to find someone among the group.

"By the way, who is your pathfinder..."

The decision to add Pathfinder to the mix was made because of Lucas’s misunderstanding that the hunters had died struggling at the entrance of the dungeon.

To not repeat that mistake, they added the Pathfinder because of their ability to well... path find. It wasn’t this simple, though; a pathfinder chose a path based on intuition.

They could sense how dangerous or safe a path was, as if feeling the very probability of survival woven into their mind.

Vael lifted his hand and pointed toward the youngest member of their group.

"She is the one..."

Finding her face a bit familiar, Marty remembers her from somewhere. She was in the newspaper a while ago.

’Isn’t she the one who burnt her house because of some experimentation with making a potion? Hmm! Did she change the class after that incident?’ Frowning, Marty looked at Vael and asked.

"Are you sure... she looks young to me." Instead of directly pointing out his thought, he made a roundabout.

Nodding his head, the captain added, "Absolutely, although she looked young... There is no one more talented in pathfinding than here... at least among the people i’ve met. And so you know I’ve a lot of people."

’Ohh! So her talent wasn’t in the alchemy.’ Trusting the word Marty, get to know the rest of the group.

The mercenary group, which was called Valour because of its past, had its captain. Vael was a fallen noble who wanted to make a name for himself again.

Beside him was Renn, a warm-eyed and unreadable scout. She was a former syndicate runner who survived the night her entire network was wiped out because she knew exactly who to bribe and when to vanish. She

Bruga was the most chill and possibly the best past. He was a dwarf who liked to spar with hunters and then heal them afterwards. Aside from hand-to-hand combat, he knows a bit of healing magic as well.

Then was Sera the pathfinder. She was the youngest and loudest member of the company, and the one who got them into the most trouble. She couldn’t control herself when she saw something interesting and always wanted to pick it apart and learn from the inside out.

’He is the defector...’ Marty eyed Daven as he knew the man.

He used to be a priest until he suddenly issued a resignation one day. When asked, Daven said his vision didn’t align with the workings of the Church, so he left it. Still, he worships the light, so Matry didn’t consider him that bad.

Inka and Torvan were a couple and the founding members of the company along with Vael. One handled the shield while the other held the sword.

"There is no need to waste any more time... let’s move to the destination." Saying Marty moved and brought them to the location.

Slowly, all of them went inside the sky wagon as it took flight in the sky. Lucas gave instructions to the driver as it passed through the clouds like a fish in the sea.

Looking at the fading city border, Marty sighed and thought about all this.

’If only I hadn’t gone to that mission, I wouldn’t have to go through all this...’ Marty thought of his mistake.

’But the reward was too good to pass out...’ Squinting his eyes, he thought of the reward he had gotten.

Suddenly, a frown appeared over his face as he found himself struggling to remember anything.

✄

Ohh!! It was that... how can I forget it?

Nodding his head, he looks at the hunters talking among themselves. He could be among them and had entered the dungeon if it weren’t for the restriction.

Despite their power and their ability to clear the dungeon, inquisitors were only allowed to enter after its first opening.

The rule was simple: regardless of the level difference, they were permitted to enter the dungeon once. However, if they failed to clear it for any reason, they were banned from entering again until the dungeon’s level matched their own.

Of course, there were methods to cheat this as well... but very few people know, and Marty wasn’t one of them.

’Why the gods have agreed to all these...’

Despite his confidence in the team he had chosen this time, beads of sweat still gathered on his brow. With every passing moment, his heart climbed higher in his chest, pressed down by the fact that failure would mean the end of him.

Everything he had built until now would crumble to dust, leaving him with no way out.

Let’s hope everything goes smoothly...

Clasping his hands together, he looked toward the setting sun and prayed for ’His’ blessing.