“Gah!” James emerged from the water. Sanders and the rest of the team pulled him out, and then James lit himself on fire, dissipating the frostbite effect it had on him.

  “Are you okay, boss? Maybe we should use the frost armor? It has some resistance to ice magic,” Sanders said.

  “I need some time for the frostbite effect to wear off. Do you think you can last at least two minutes down there? We can hasten things up if we take turns,” James said as flames rose from his fur, countering the effect of the frostbite. It took a while longer before the frostbite effect halted, and James stopped shivering. However, even after five minutes had passed and the effect had worn off, James could still feel a slight chill on his body.

  “Holy shit! I’m shivering even though only my hands were in it,” Sanders exclaimed as he dipped his finger into the water. The frostbite effect was magical. It affected the entire body, not just a body part.

  “My armor had no effect. I feel the same coldness as Sanders,” Anderson said.

  “Try to light your armor,” James asked Sanders.

  “Ah. The effect has worn off. I’m no longer shivering.”

  “Check again. Is it truly off, or is it just halted?”

  “It is halted. The stack is still there.”

  “Well, I guess I am the best bet. Give me two minutes, and I will dive again,” James said. But Kaina interrupted.

  “How about we take turns? I have tested it, and this water has no effect on me. If I equip the water-breathing earrings, I could even pick up all the chests.”

  “Really?” James turned toward the girl incredulously at the unexpected skill. Her skill seemed plain, but environmental effects, such as the seventh floor of the first novice dungeon, had become more common lately.

  “Yes.”

  “Hm… bring either Sanders’ or Anderson’s armor and your spear. Sanders… could you detect if there are any traps inside the chest?”

  “Hold on a minute. As long as I can see it, I should be able to sense it.” Sanders took a deep breath and dunked his head into the freezing water.

  It turned out he could. James further explained to Kaina that she should bring her spear in case one of the horned seals came. He also lent her the rope and his empty leather bag to carry whatever she found there.

  Kaina then dived into the water. James had promised he wouldn’t care or rely on other people anymore, but he couldn’t help but worry about Kaina. She was a teenager; moreover, she didn’t have the required level to pass this kind of stage.

  James and Sanders occasionally dipped their heads into the water, looking at Kaina as she moved from one chest to another. Twenty minutes later, Kaina succeeded in her mission. Her skill had made this trip a lot safer and much easier. She emerged from the water with a bag full of coins, scrolls, and a bow.

  “I got them all.”

  “Alright. We must hurry. These treasures will disappear if not claimed. How shall we divide them?” Sanders asked James.

  “All the coins should go to the greenhorns, I think. They would be helpless without weapon skills. As for the scrolls, since we don’t know what scrolls they are, we can divide them evenly among the four of us. For the bow, this can either go to Kaina or the new soldier,” Anderson suggested. He then looked toward James.

  “Alright. Do it.” James didn’t have anything in particular he wanted to upgrade. He could upgrade his bow skill or even enchant his sword, but he was in no hurry.

  All in all, there were a thousand coins, four scrolls, and a bow. The coins were not given equally to all the greenhorns. The shield greenhorn was given 400 coins so he could upgrade his shield skill to level five. The next 400 coins were given to the bow soldier, and the remainder was given to the mage soldier. It was not enough to upgrade his wind magic, but there was always a next time.

  [Congratulations. Your bow mastery is now level 8.]

  “Let's go and leave this place,” James muttered after opening his scroll. It was a bow scroll. Without further ado, the group teleported to the waiting room after they touched the golden portal, leaving the frozen wasteland behind.

  They were teleported before a ruined castle or fort. Stone bricks were strewn across the paved road. Spires, walls, and even the castle itself were in a state of disrepair, as if they had been hit multiple times by a cannon. James wondered what era this was from as he saw cannonballs on the ground. However, the wall itself seemed medieval, as there were no concrete structures—only bricks laid on top of each other.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  James knew immediately this was a fantasy setting because some walls had huge gashes made by weapon skills. He was suddenly reminded of when he was on the first floor of the dungeon trials and how he had made similar gashes on castle walls.

  “Were they participating in a war?” Sanders commented. A golden arrow showed them the way, leading deeper inside the castle.

  “Maybe this was just the stage, and the castle was already ruined from the beginning?” Anderson appraised the ruined castle and walls.

  Some sort of destroyed machinery was strewn across the floor inside the castle. A golden portal stood there in a calm and serene building. Something had been here, but it was already defeated. James was curious as to what battle Kouki fought here. But this battle was already over, and Kouki had progressed to the next floor, leaving nothing behind—not even the corpses of defeated monsters.

  “Should we go?” Anderson asked James. “Or should we scour the area for another chest?”

  “We should go. I doubt there’s anything left here.” James walked, but he stopped a few feet before the portal. “Are you guys tired? We could camp here before going. The next floor is unlikely to be conquered. We will fight a hard battle there.”

  It was not a prediction but a certainty. These cleared floors were too easy. There were still some mob enemies around, but none of them were difficult. James wondered how there were so many dead reinforcements here. Then, he remembered that the guild hadn't given them dungeon weapons.

  “We should go as soon as possible. Kouki’s team might need additional weapons,” Sanders said.

  “You are right. Let's go.” James nodded.

  They teleported again. After passing through the waiting room, they appeared inside a hall. Kouki and the rest of his team were fighting against a surge of incoming skeleton soldiers.

  “Monsters on our six!”

  “Wait! Wait! He is not a monster!” Anderson shouted back. Kouki looked back. Dark circles, denoting his lack of sleep, were apparent on his face. He looked toward James and muttered,

  “James, Kaina, is that you?”

  “Yes. I am James. Are you struggling with skeletons?” James couldn’t help but chuckle. Kouki didn’t listen to him and instead ran over, hugging James and then Kaina next.

  “Thank you… for coming…” Kouki couldn’t help but cry as he hugged Kaina.

  “Kouki…”

  “Alright… briefing… is anyone free?” James distanced himself from the lovebirds and moved toward the struggling frontline.

  James took a deep breath and unleashed flames upon the entire horde with his fire breath. He prepared his ice lance, ready to freeze them in case his attacks were ineffective. However, it proved to be more than enough. The skeletons were scorched and soon lay motionless on the floor as his fire mana overwhelmed their enchantments.

  The unthinkable happened. Green motes of light emerged from the skeletons, disintegrating them into nothingness.

  “Whoa…”

  “Good work, boss. Thank you!” Sanders patted the hulking monster’s back.

  “It is on our side, right?”

  “Alright, everyone! This is our squad leader. His name is James! His skill allows him to plunder monster parts. No one badmouths our new brother here. Understand? All members inside the guild are brothers! We don’t talk shit about our brothers behind their backs!” Sanders said.

  “Kouki!”

  “Ah… sorry. I’m just tired. I haven’t slept for three days ever since I arrived on this floor,” Kouki sighed as he plopped onto the ground.

  “So, where is the boss?”

  “Umm… there are three bosses on this floor. We have just cleared the second one. The portal gate should be here. The last boss should be here as well; however, it needs three of these orb keys to open,” one of Kouki’s henchmen explained.

  Suddenly, a map opened up before James. A red circle marked castles one through four near the corner of the map. The castle where the portal was located was also marked, along with James' current position. James looked at the henchman, wondering if this was his unique skill. If James had this skill, he wouldn’t have needed to wander aimlessly on forest floors.

  “Ah… my skill is Cartography. I can share and create maps with my unique skill.”

  “I see. Shall we let Kouki rest for a day, then continue? Or should I go there alone?” James asked. The reason he asked wasn’t because he was afraid of going alone—he had the perfect skills to fight against crowds now. He could either use his fire magic or water magic. The reason he asked was for the group’s safety.

  “Um… we should let Kouki rest while we wait. He is the only one strong enough to fight the boss, after all,” one of his subordinates said.

  James sighed and decided to sit in the corner while Kouki slept on Kaina’s lap. Jealousy suddenly rose inside his petty self because he had never had such an experience in his life. With how James behaved now, he doubted he ever would in the future.

  “Enemies! Skeletons! Watch out for the archers!”

  James yawned as he marched toward the horde of skeletons that poured into the small castle. The castle was even smaller than the one on the seventh floor of the novice dungeon. It only housed a single building, and its walls often merged with the outer castle wall. Moreover, the structure was already full of holes. Hundreds of skeletons flooded in. James scorched them all with his fire breath. However, he caught a golden tint at the corner of his vision. His instincts took over, and he jumped to the side.

  Golden meteors rained down where he had just been. A sharp pain flared in his hand as one of the golden meteors struck him.

  “These skeletons have weapon skills?” James cursed. He suddenly understood why Kouki was struggling—some of the skeletons possessed weapon skills. Thankfully, their stats were low, so the attack didn’t manage to penetrate all the way.

  “James! Are you okay?” Sanders rushed forward.

  “I’m fine. Just a bit careless. Be careful—these skeletons have weapon skills. Don’t run in the open,” James warned as he pulled an arrow from his left shoulder. Blood spurted from his arm for a moment before settling down, forming a scab. James' high stats helped him recover quickly.

  Glancing outside, James activated his ice magic and speared the remaining skeletons. Unlike his fire breath, ice spears could curve. As before, the skeletons disappeared in a flurry of green motes of light.

  “Why didn’t I get coins or materials when I killed these skeletons?” James didn’t expect much, but getting absolutely nothing was definitely odd.

  [Survivors will not receive EXP or coins when fighting a summoned monster.]

  “What does ‘summoned monster’ mean?”

  [Information classified.]

  James rolled his eyes at the system’s response. Six hours later, Kouki finally woke up. The group was now complete, and they were ready to fight the next boss—and with it, a level-up.