He had the map of Wind Valley stored in his inventory and everything was completely ready to begin the march toward the nation of Kalistia.

However, just as he was about to take his first step into the light of the portal, the echo of rushed, noisy footsteps resounded.

"Hey! Stop right there, Ryan!"

The shout full of indignation belonged to Helen, who came running at full speed with her armor only half-adjusted and her black hair completely disheveled from waking up so suddenly.

Right behind her walked Mirian, who held her divine bow firmly and showed a look of evident annoyance on her face.

Both warriors stopped a few meters from the group, breathing heavily and locking their gazes onto Ryan.

"May I know what you two are doing?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow with resignation.

"Where do you think you’re going without telling us anything?" Helen demanded, crossing her arms angrily.

"You intended to leave while we were asleep!"

"I didn’t see the need to wake you up for something like this."

Mirian took a step forward, huffing in frustration as she adjusted her bowstring.

"That doesn’t justify trying to leave us behind in the village, Ryan. We are supposed to be a team, you should have at least had the decency to say goodbye to us."

’They really are troublesome when they want to be,’ Ryan thought, scratching the back of his neck in annoyance while Karol stifled a small, mocking laugh beside him.

’If we stay here arguing about this, we’ll lose a lot of time.’

"Fine, next time, I’ll let you know before I go," Ryan conceded, looking directly at both of them.

Helen flashed a small, smug smile, regaining her usual air of superiority, and stared intently toward the glowing ripples of the portal.

"We’re not going to just let you march away from the village just like that. We will accompany you through the dungeon down to the rift on the first floor. Don’t forget it was Alicia who suggested that we should be your personal guards."

Mirian nodded enthusiastically, immediately positioning herself right next to Beatrice.

"All right, come with us if you insist that much. But move fast."

Ryan stepped forward and crossed the glowing threshold, instantly appearing within the cold and vast structure of the one-hundredth floor of the sky dungeon.

On the other side, the nine assassin spies, consisting of the six elves and the three beastmen, were already lined up in a perfect waiting formation.

Upon seeing Ryan appear alongside Beatrice, Karol, Helen, and Mirian, the soldiers immediately straightened up, displaying impeccable discipline.

"We begin the descent of the dungeon. Maintain a steady pace and do not wander off," Ryan ordered, pointing toward the large stone stairs that led to the lower floors.

The large group began to move quickly through the dark corridors. It didn’t take long before the first local monsters started to emerge from the shadows of the walls, drawn by the vibrations of the intruders.

However, the creatures didn’t have the slightest chance to get near Ryan. Helen and Mirian, eager to prove their worth and vent their frustration over the early wake-up call, immediately took charge of the vanguard offensive alongside Karol.

Mirian drew her divine bowstring with impressive speed, unleashing volleys of pure energy arrows that pierced the vital points of the monsters from a long distance long before they could even react.

By her side, Karol extended her hands forward with a competitive smile, manifesting her electric magic in the form of chain lightning that leaped from one enemy to another.

The corridors from the ninetieth floor down to the sixtieth were completely cleared in the blink of an eye, allowing the contingent to advance without needing to stop their walk even a single time.

’It’s a shame these dungeons only grant experience to the first three people. Otherwise, Karol would already be S-rank.’

When the group crossed the threshold of the fiftieth floor, Ryan raised a hand backward, signaling the girls to halt their ranged attacks.

A new wave of intermediate-level monsters could be seen at the far end of the corridor, roaring loudly. Ryan turned toward the soldiers marching in perfect silence behind him.

"Karol, Mirian, stop attacking for now. Ethan, Void, Jake, take a step forward with your respective men. From this floor on, your squads will be in charge of clearing all the enemies that appear along the way."

The three captains nodded firmly, drawing their dual daggers of dull metal without making the slightest physical sound.

Ryan’s true intention at this point was to evaluate the actual level of his new spies.

He needed to see with his own eyes how they coordinated their assassin class skills in a real combat scenario before releasing them independently into the quadrants of Wind Valley.

The six elves and the three beastmen deployed in a flash, moving with a staggering agility that left Helen quite surprised by the synchronization.

Ryan observed every execution with executive attention, analyzing the reaction times, mana consumption, and tactical cooperation between the different races of the squad.

The assassins did not rely on flashy magic or loud explosions; their style was purely results-driven, based on precision, footwork, and silent lethality.

In no time at all, the squads swept through all the monsters on the intermediate floors, demonstrating an impeccable military discipline that fully justified the selection Alicia had made back in the village.

’I wouldn’t say they’re the strongest A-ranks I’ve ever seen, but they move very well. I don’t think they’ll have any problems.’

Finally, the contingent crossed the last archway of carved stone and arrived at floor one of the sky dungeon, the lowest area that connected directly with the great rift leading to the outside world.

The air in this sector felt different, much fresher and carried by the subtle current of the open sky. The nine spies immediately placed themselves in a waiting formation a few paces from the exit.

Ryan stopped at the entrance of the rift and turned toward Helen and Mirian, who had faithfully escorted them throughout the entire descent of the structure.

"Well, you can only accompany us up to here."

Helen huffed haughtily, averting her gaze with a slight blush on her cheeks, though she stepped closer to somewhat clumsily adjust Ryan’s travel coat.

"You better return in one piece, Ryan. Don’t go doing anything unnecessarily reckless in that nation of Kalistia."

Mirian smiled softly at her companion’s words, stepping up beside her and looking at Karol and Beatrice with an expression of total seriousness.

"Take good care of him out there. Wind Valley is completely unknown territory to us, and even though your appearances are different now, don’t let your guard down."

"Don’t worry. That’s what I’ve intended at all times," Beatrice assured serenely, adjusting the bracelet Runa had forged on her left wrist. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Karol took her place at the front by the edges of the great outer rift, beginning to channel her mana to activate her flight magic.

"It’s time to go, Ryan," Karol said, looking out toward the vast blue sky that stretched out beneath the dungeon.

Ryan nodded decisively, giving one last parting glance to Helen and Mirian before giving the order to march to his men.

The aerial journey toward the nation of Kalistia was about to definitively begin for the infiltration group.