“This is the advanced dungeon on the second floor…”
The moment we entered, the entire space transformed, and naturally, so did the atmosphere.
The smell of the air, the ambiance against my skin—everything was completely different from before.
The dungeon’s world unfolded as a vast garden shrouded in thick, misty fog.
Eden, inexperienced as he was, seemed overwhelmed by the atmosphere.
His body trembled as he anxiously looked around, unable to calm himself.
“I may not have a lot of experience either, but come on, this is just the second floor. No need to be so scared.”
On the other hand, Barnald appeared unbothered, as if he had seen it all before.
His words weren’t wrong.
For the inexperienced, even a dungeon of this level could be nerve-wracking.
But as one ascends to higher floors and encounters larger and more complex dungeons, this size eventually feels like child’s play.
“As planned, we’ll split up here.”
In the center of the garden stood an intricately carved fountain.
At its peak gleamed a single golden gemstone, dazzlingly radiant.
That was the object we ultimately had to protect.
“As I’ve already explained, our enemies are lying in wait along the path. We need to eliminate them as quickly as possible, activate the defense stone, and regroup at the center to defend against the enemies coming from the south.”
Barnald divided the group into three.
Just as the tower’s ancient trials were widely documented, so too were strategies for clearing this dungeon.
Following the strategy to the letter would at least ensure no one died a pointless death.
“Let’s move.”
Barnald, grinning slyly, glanced back at us after watching the other teams head toward their designated zones.
For now, his demeanor perfectly fit that of a textbook raid leader.
Whether he was hiding his true intentions, and whether those intentions would harm us, would take more time to uncover.
“There they are! Move as planned!”
Instead of the enemies, the dungeon’s monsters attacked us first.
Giant creatures covered in thorns—spiny spiders—and ancient tree wraiths that ripped out their firmly rooted bases to move like legs.
While Barnald stood at the front, holding back the charging monsters with his sword, the rest of us supported him from the rear with magic and arrows.
‘The team is definitely strong enough.’
If things got truly dangerous, I’d step in, but I hadn’t even needed to exert much effort.
Despite this, our team fought admirably, and the monsters—attacking in numbers—were struck down by magic, pierced by arrows, and slashed by swords.
The reasons for our success weren’t hard to discern.
The first was Barnald’s considerable skill in handling the front line alone.
The second was Norha, whose precise archery struck the monsters’ weak points with each shot, exceeding all expectations.
‘A masquerade ball, or what?’
I couldn’t help but let out a wry chuckle at the absurdity of it all.
Among the four people in this room, three possess skills and experience far beyond the second floor, carefully concealing the truth.
The only one truly at this level, pale-faced and nervously overwhelmed, was Eden.
Eden, so tense, seemed oblivious to how strange the situation actually was.
“You’re better than I expected, miss. I thought you’d just be a novice who recently arrived at Edelion and would struggle to keep up. But you’ve got more guts than I thought.”
“It’s probably because everyone else is fighting so well.”
After we annihilated the first wave of enemies, Barnald spun his sword and gave me a faint smirk.
I responded with a polite smile.
Only one group of enemies stood between us and the defense stone, but my gut told me the real turning point would come after we dealt with them.
“Having good teammates is a blessing. A lot of people quit because of others—they get hurt, betrayed. Is it really worth it to climb the tower under such risks?”
“If we don’t climb, what should we do after being dragged here?”
“That’s nonsense. You just live as best you can. After all, did any of us ask to be born in the first place?”
Barnald shrugged, twisting his lips as if genuinely perplexed by my feigned naivety.
For a fleeting moment, his eyes gleamed with greed—a ferocious desire not unlike that of merchants who gamble for greater profit.
“You’ve probably just arrived and don’t know much yet. But you’ll soon realize there are plenty of ways to survive without climbing the tower.”
With that, he shrugged and began spinning his sword again, leading the way.
His words resembled Eden’s earlier sentiments but carried a fundamentally different implication.
“Not wrong, is it?”
“I suppose not.”
Eden tilted his head in agreement.
Ironically, his ignorance of reality was the most significant difference between him and the jaded Barnald.
“The defense stone!”
“Calm down! There are still enemies left!”
The defense stones, located at the three edges of the garden, were small stone towers with embedded mana stones at their peaks.
Surrounding them, a swarm of monsters launched their final wave at us, desperate to protect the core of the barrier.
“What disgusting creatures.”
Despite his words, Barnald grinned, slashing through the enemies with ease.
At first, he had pretended to hide his skills, but now he wielded his sword freely, cutting down enemies with reckless abandon.
With our team attacking comfortably from behind, the over twenty monsters were annihilated in no time.
“Was the second floor always this easy…?”
Even Eden, who had been focused on his magic, began to realize something was off.
A party made up of adventurers genuinely suited for the second floor wouldn’t have been able to clear this difficulty so effortlessly.
“Once the defense stone is activated, the barrier will protect the garden. The remaining enemies will only be able to enter from the south, making the defense much easier.”
Barnald wiped the monster fluids off his blade and gestured toward the defense stone.
However, he didn’t activate it immediately as planned.
“It’s not unusual for people from higher floors to descend and attempt trials on lower levels. It’s not impossible either.”
Norha, still holding her bow with an arrow nocked, spoke in a cold tone.
“But someone who seems to have cleared at least the 30th floor coming down to the second floor is certainly strange.”
“Isn’t it suspicious that you could recognize that, elf? How far have you climbed?”
Finally, Norha, who had silently kept her guard up and maintained an invisible wall around herself, confronted Barnald about his identity.
Barnald snorted at her accusation, seemingly amused by her suspicion.
Meanwhile, Eden, caught in the middle, looked confused, unable to comprehend why the atmosphere had suddenly shifted into one of distrust and hostility.
“Novice black mages, don’t trust him. He’s someone with sinister motives who has set a trap for people like you.”
“This is an act of dividing the party! Even if I am from the upper floors, what exactly have I done to warrant this?”
Naturally, the tension spilled over to us as well.
Caught between Norha, who warned us while pointing out Barnald’s suspicious behavior, and Barnald, who pleaded his innocence, Eden was clearly overwhelmed.
His lips moved as if to speak, but no words came out.
To me, Eden had already reached his limit.
Even just fulfilling his assigned role was challenging enough, and this sudden turn of events was far too much for him to handle.
“I don’t quite understand.”
I finally stepped in, breaking the silence.
Though my words expressed confusion, in truth, I found this situation deeply intriguing.
“Is it really an issue if our leader concealed his true abilities?”
“Of course, it is. Someone of his caliber could easily clear a second-floor trial regardless of the difficulty level. But the rewards here would be meaningless to him. If his goal was simply to sell low-grade loot for money, he wouldn’t need to drag actual novices like you into this.”
Norha spoke with conviction.
It was only logical to assume that someone engaging in seemingly pointless actions must have a hidden agenda.
If the dungeon’s loot and rewards were irrelevant, then the dungeon itself was merely a means to an entirely different end.
“Luring the weak into an inescapable dungeon to kill or kidnap them is a common ploy. Those five individuals likely planned this from the start, recruiting five victims for their scheme.”
“That’s quite the accusation.”
Barnald let out a bitter laugh, seemingly stunned by her words.
“Don’t fall for it. That elf woman has also been hiding her abilities. You two might not have noticed, but she’s climbed at least as high as the 20th floor.”
As if unable to hold back, Barnald fired back, accusing Norha in return.
She flinched but didn’t deny his claim, as it was indeed true that she had concealed her skills.
“And what are you doing here? Most people wandering the lower floors alone are fugitives—criminals on the run, wanted by certain factions. Isn’t that your situation too? You even keep your face hidden.”
“Tch…”
Norha gritted her teeth, seemingly stung by Barnald’s retort.
Unlike the nervous and restless Eden, who resembled a confused puppy, I found myself increasingly entertained by the unfolding drama.
At least this was far more exciting than clearing the dungeon smoothly and uneventfully.