Cassis stood in front of the dungeon gate with his team. This time, their mission was clear: level the weaker members up to ten, kill as many monsters as possible, and scout the fastest route to the boss.

The party consisted of five level-twenties, himself included, and three people below level five. The other members were Camden, who was already above level ten, though his progress depended heavily on how many children he could level with his bracelet, and Josh, the level five healer from the gymnasium during the first wave. It would be hard, but they needed to pull through. Still, they couldn't stay longer than a week inside this dungeon, not if they wanted to clear as many as possible within the allotted time.

Cassis glanced at the stronger fighters, the ones who would shoulder most of the responsibility: his mother, Elena, Benny, and Joseph. A balanced party with three warriors, a ranger, and a mage. He could patch wounds with Arianna's small healing potions if things became dire.

Then his eyes went to the others. Camden could handle himself, so he was more help than burden. Josh would be able to heal small wounds, though he wouldn't be on Arianna's level even when she was a lot weaker.

He'd shown up at their house while they were inside the dungeon, and Liam had sorted things out with him. Josh wanted his family, parents and younger siblings, to move into the neighbourhood. Samuel and Liam had agreed, and the boy had immediately volunteered to enter this dungeon when he heard about the levelling project. Brave kid, or better said young man, as he was already 19 years old. Cassis was glad to have another healer.

Then his eyes wandered to Janice, Irene, and Mrs. Walters, their neighbour who wanted to train become a healer as well when she reached level five. Mrs Walters was a nice elderly woman who had never married. She lived together with her three cats and two dogs. During his childhood she'd always had some cookies for the children in the neighbourhood and he'd also taken her dogs for walks or played with her cats.

A squeeze on his arm pulled him out of his thoughts. His mother's way of reminding him: Lead them. Everyone was watching. Cassis rasped softly, "We're entering the dungeon now. I'll go first, then the other level twenties, warriors up front. We'll secure the area around the gate. Those under level five will follow with Josh and Camden taking the rear."

He scanned the faces of the lower levels. Irene looked like she was about to bolt, shaking like a leaf. Cassis sighed inwardly. She should've gone with Arianna, who would have known what to say to reassure her, but that would've put more burden on Arianna's team. And he was worried enough about them as it was.

Arianna was strong, stronger than most gave her credit for. F-rank monsters wouldn't be a threat to her, unless they swarmed. But she had that fierce protective streak. She'd try to shield the weakest, even at her own expense. That's why he was relieved Helen was with her. His aunt was practical. She understood: Arianna wasn't just another teammate. Arianna was his heart. If she didn't make it, Cassis wouldn't either.

He cleared his throat and pressed on. "Once we're inside, we'll level those under five in this order: Irene, Janice, Mrs. Walters. Josh and Camden are already part of the party, so they'll get shared experience. The rest of you will need to land the killing blow yourselves. We'll weaken the monsters first, then let you finish them off. You'll only get a fraction of the experience that way, but it'll still be enough to get you to five quickly."

The monsters were strong and high-levelled. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't dare go into a dungeon with these people. If the situation had been different, he'd have brought them to Belaney Park and levelled them there. Those monsters were a lot easier to handle. But things were as they were. They didn't have time, or a choice.

Their tense faces stared back at him. Each of them wore a protective set Arianna had bought. His chest tightened as he remembered their argument.

"What were you thinking?!" he'd demanded, stunned when she told him she'd spent 1600 CP on armour for others. Arianna—stingy, calculating Arianna who had skimped on his healing potions in the other timeline—had shrugged and said, "Those are our friends, our people. I couldn't live with myself if someone died because I was too stingy to buy cheap armour."

He'd been speechless. So speechless she'd smiled, kissed him, and won the argument.

He remembered gripping her tightly and then thinking of something terrible. He's found himself begging, actually begging, her not to use her baiting skill this time. Normally, she bristled at orders, but when he pleaded, Arianna melted against him and whispered, Okay. That single word had been victory enough.

"Hmm," someone rasped nearby. Cassis snapped back to the present to see Camden grinning at him, while his mother looked delighted and some others tried to suppress their snickers.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked slyly.

Heat crept up Cassis' neck. He must have had a soppy expression for them all to react that way. He coughed, schooled his face, and continued, "Safety is our first priority. Our goal is to get everyone to level ten. We have one week in there. That's a single day outside."

Some of the group were still chuckling quietly, guessing exactly where his thoughts had been. Even Mrs. Walters smiled softly at him.

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Cassis straightened, pushing the embarrassment away. "Off we go."

And with that, he stepped forward into the dungeon. Not to flee their teasing, but to lead them. Brave face or not, this was his responsibility.

After the typical feeling of vertigo from going through a gate, Cassis looked around. What he saw were mountains. He himself was halfway up one. Strong winds spiralled around him, whipping his hair and clothes. The others appeared around him one by one. The level twenties adjusted easily to the difference in mana density. Camden stumbled just a little, Josh fell to his knees, and the lowest-levelled members went pale. Mrs Walters pressed a handkerchief to her mouth, clearly nauseated, though too dignified to actually vomit.

Cassis and the other level twenties secured the perimeter, but no monsters were nearby. So far so good. He took more time to survey their surroundings as the others steadied themselves. Luck was finally on his side. A system message blinking before his eyes confirmed that:

[Welcome to Rikler Mountains. These are your objectives:

Kill the Troll King of the Mountain

Gather three of the Golden Eagle's feathers

Hatch the Golden Egg]

Finally, a dungeon he remembered. He had gone through this one alone after reaching E-rank. He knew exactly where to go and what the weakest monsters were: beetles the size of his head, called simply Mountain Beetles.

"Joseph, can you hunt for Mountain Beetles? They look just like normal ones, just the size of my head."

Joseph nodded, not even asking how Cassis knew what to look for. His mother did: "Sapphire told you?"

"Yeah, she knows about this dungeon. We're lucky today." He had lied like this so many times, it didn't even take conscious thought anymore.

His mother smiled. "That's good. We can use a bit of luck."

Everyone was finally steady enough to start walking. Joseph used his skill and pointed downhill. That made sense. The weaker monsters were always lower on the mountain, while the Troll King would be waiting at the peak, with the eagle feathers and the golden egg somewhere in the middle.

They formed up: Cassis in front, his mother and Benny at their sides. Elena stayed in the middle with the lower-levelled members, while Joseph and Camden guarded the rear. Like this, they marched for twenty minutes downward until they reached a cave.

That was where the Mountain Beetles lived. They hated light and only survived in the dark. The downside of fighting them was the visibility. But Cassis and his team could rely on awareness to snatch the monsters, drag them to the entrance, and let the weaker people land the killing blows. The beetles weren't poisonous, weren't venomous, and were relatively weak at around level ten. Turn them over and stab their soft bellies, that was all it took.

"I'll go in first and take a look. The rest of you protect the weaker ones. Josh, on standby for healing. Irene, grip your knife and stay near the cave entrance. Camden will protect you."

Everyone followed his orders, even Irene, though she trembled visibly. Camden placed a steadying hand on her arm, and she smiled faintly, her shaking easing. That was why she had to go first. She wouldn't handle seeing someone else kill before her well, knowing she'd have to do it later. Better to rip the bandage off now.

Janice, though pale, had enough grit to go second. Mrs. Walters, Cassis thought with respect, was made of sterner stuff than all of them. She had survived alone during a time when women couldn't even own credit cards or bank accounts in their own name. He doubted a giant beetle would frighten her. And even if it did, she would overcome it. She would be the last to level.

Without much ado, Cassis stepped into the cave. The moment he did, the scurrying of armoured insect feet echoed all around him. His awareness had already been busy outside, but inside it flared with activity, so many small signatures darting over stone. Mountain Beetles. Cowards, most of them. But if too many were killed at once, they would swarm. He had to be careful, steady. They could always find other caves later.

He moved quickly, sword flashing, and stabbed one of the beetles scuttling too close on his left. It screeched, legs thrashing, but the others held their ground. Good. Cassis carried it outside, impaled on his blade, and held it on chest height in front of Irene.

To her credit, she didn't scream. But her trembling worsened, knife shaking in her grip. Cassis tilted the beetle to expose its soft belly even more cleary. "Right here."

Irene screwed her eyes shut, took a breath, and stabbed blindly. She missed, by a lot, and nearly lost her balance. If it weren't so dangerous, Cassis might have laughed. He caught Camden's eye, both of them suppressing the same reaction. Instead, Cassis stayed patient.

"I'm sorry," Irene whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.

"It's alright," Cassis told her softly. His face carried no trace of amusement. She was nervous. Clearly not a fighter. "We're not going anywhere. Take your time."

She nodded, gripping the knife tighter. Her eyes slid shut again, until Cassis gently stopped her. "You'll need to look."

Camden placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. "I know you hate this. But you need to level to survive. Just a few beetles, and then you can choose cleric. That way you won't have to fight anymore. You'll just heal us."

Cassis nodded in agreement. Cleric or mage, both would suit her far better than melee combat.

This time Irene kept her eyes open. She stabbed, but too weakly. The beetle shrieked, writhing but alive. Irene shrieked, too, dropping the knife as if it had burned her.

Cassis exhaled. Good thing Camden had provided the weapons instead of Arianna. It would have been a waste to give her something bought with points. Arianna had agreed, especially when Camden brought hunting knives, short swords, and other things from his family's private collection. They were probably his grandfather's. Cassis had met the man briefly once. Stern. Dangerous. The kind of person who carried power in presence alone, not in levels. Though he would probably also level soon enough. But for now, levels were all that mattered for survival.

Elena stepped forward, retrieving the fallen knife. She pressed it gently back into Irene's hand. "Here you go."

Irene flushed with embarrassment, trembling harder, but didn't resist.

Elena smiled warmly. "It's going to be okay. At first, it's disgusting. But you get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to it," Irene whispered. "I don't even kill normal beetles."

Elena nodded, understanding in her eyes. Cassis didn't understand. Judging by Camden's expression, he didn't either. But Elena continued softly, "We need to survive. Stab again."

Irene inhaled sharply, then stabbed with sudden speed and force that even startled Cassis. He hadn't expected her to actually do it. The beetle twitched once, then stilled. Dead. Cassis smiled, she could do it after all.

Irene's eyes went wide.

"Good job," Cassis said firmly.

Then, without pause, he turned and strode back into the cave.

"Where is he going?!" Irene's voice trembled the moment he disappeared from view.

Cassis sighed in the dark, senses alert again. This was going to take a very long time.

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