While Vael was still realizing the weight of these two combined curses, his company member was busy cursing the Inquisitor.

"Common rank dungeon, my ass. We have been fooled..." Slamming his foot on the ground, Bruga, the dwarf, made a fist, "I thought they were honest men. That’s why the pay was so great... but they cheated us. Cheated me."

"Let me get out of the dungeon, I will make sure to have them pay twicefold..." realizing it was too little for a punishment, he added, "No, five times."

Saying, Bruga looked at his captain and shook his head in disappointment. He couldn’t understand why the others were fearful when they were about to get the chance to have an honest fight.

Burga was fed up with the rules and chains that bound surface duels.

"No...they weren’t laying..." Davan, the former priest, muttered as he glanced at Vael. He found the captain didn’t seem capable of giving any response at the moment.

"Why do you think so..." Confused, that he would side with the culprit, the dwarf asked.

"Because they had pledged the oath... If you lie under oath, you will receive divine intervention and will be burnt to ash on the spot."

"Even if we do it in the night? When the sun isn’t there?" Bruga asked an honest question.

Nodding, Davan replied, "The sun is always there. So, yes, even nighttime counted, and so the eclips."

"If your god is all this powerful, then how was he able to lie through his teeth. Is there fault in the pledge..." The dwarf asked.

Scratching the back of his neck, Davan thought to himself before speaking, "There is only one way for this to happen. I think Marty himself doesn’t know that the level of the dungeon is unique."

Increasing the pace of his scratching, the priest looked at the others and added, "Still, that didn’t make the situation any better. All in all, we are royally fucked here."

As he finished his words, a stare came his way.

"What?... We aren’t in a church... why are you behaving like my past colleague..."

If others saw them like this, they would have the misconception that everything was fine with them. But that was far from the case. Deep down, everyone was shaking, fearing that their life might end in the very dungeon.

Being a hunter, especially a mercenary, for long enough had made them learn of many stories involving unique dungeons. And every time it didn’t finish with a good ending.

They would hear that a famous, renowned squad got wiped completely out within the dungeon.

While some unfortunate cities that came in the path of the dungeon breakout were completely wiped off the map. It was never a good ending when the unique dungeon was involved.

’Are we to die here as well...’ Vael thought, his mind and heart racing alike.

Panicking, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced at his hand. Instead of sweat, it was covered in blood.

Instinctively, he took a step back only to realize he had conjured things up. There wasn’t any blood on his hand; it was all a fragment of his imagination.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed his racing heart and looked at his teammates.

Vael would be lying to himself if he said that the thought of hiding didn’t cross his mind. He even had the mask, which would further aid him in this.

But it was just simply impossible this time.

Unlike last time, he was one of the pillars of the group. If he weren’t in there to fight, the rest of them wouldn’t have the combined power to finish a guardian on their own.

Even if Vael didn’t care, the curse of offering makes sure that any unnecessary time spent in the dungeon is punished without mercy.

’I don’t have an option...’ Thought spiraled in his head, as Vael was thinking of getting out of the dungeon when he heard something.

"Valor stands where others fall,"

"Steel in our hands, honor above all."

Vael has said and heard the slogan a hundred times, but this time it hit different somehow.

’Valor... what a load of crap... when have I ever been honest?’ A thought crossed his mind as Vale remembered the reason for the slogan.

He wanted to become the savior of the weak. He would protect them from the monster and, above that, from the unlawful nobles.

But somewhere along the way, he had forgotten his roots. He chased money and fame to raise his noble house again.

It was the obsession that made him divert from his path... and deep down he knew it.

Looking at the signet that lay in his pinky finger, Vael sighed and looked at the group.

"Let’s goo... the dungeon is still new, and the monster would only be of tier I... tier II at max. With our coordinated attack, we can clear it... at least the guardian..."

Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Vael looked at the Sera and asked, "Because of the curse, we have to be extremely quick on our feet. There should be no room for errors. Do you understand?"

For someone who had a history of errors, it was a difficult thing to ask, but the young mage nodded her head.

"I will not make any mistake, Vale. Be assured." Despite not being so sure herself, she puffed her chest and activated her skill.

The moment she did it, her eyes widened in surprise.

Pointing toward a corner, she exclaimed, "Something is there."

Without even questioning her, Vael moved in a blur and moved his sword in a wide arc.

Slash!!

Blood splattered on his face as he saw a monster returning to reality. Something was hiding in the shadows, right behind their noses.

Arghhh!!

Crying in pain, the monster lunged toward him, its jaw aiming for the hand holding the sword.

Sidestepping, out of the way, Vael thrusted his sword right at its neck and severed the head.

Soon, an ancient voice whispered in his head.

[You have killed a tier II monster: Goblin Lurker.]

[You have gained essence.]

Reading the name, Vael glanced back at the monster and then back to the notification. The name seemed familiar as he tried to remember it.

"It was hiding?" Bruga asked.

"Yes... It seemed capable of hiding in the shadows. But why did it not attack us until now... or was it never intended to attack us..." Looking at the corpse, Renn asked.

"It seemed the monster was of scout type..." Vael muttered, staring at the corpse.

"I haven’t seen this monster yet. Which is it?" The dwarf asked.

Sighing, Vael turned his gaze back to the others and said, "They are goblins. I’ve read about them in our family history books. I thought they had gone extinct... but it seems I was wrong."

"Extinct... is that why I didn’t know about them?" Dwarf blurted out.

"How did they go extinct..." Daven asked, knowing nothing about the monster as well.

"I didn’t know the exact detail, but our ancestor fought in the war to eradicate the goblins from the face of the New World. I think the contribution of that war had made us noble in the first place."

"Ohh!! Let’s do that again, shall we..." Excited, Bruga muttered as the group moved deeper in the dungeon.