“Aghhh~” the long sigh came from a weary male adventurer, his frustration eg off the dark stone walls of the dungeon. His two panions behind him shared his exasperation. “Man, we’ve been at this for almost a week now! Are you sure that piece of junk even works?”

  “O-Of course it does!” came a small voi defense. “It’s my grandfather’s iion so, of course, it works!”

  “Sounds to me like your fidence is a bit mispced.”

  The young boy leading the group pouted in respoo the remark, but he tinued hugging the rough-hewn walls of the chamber. In his hand, he held a metal staff with a ring at the tip, a magic circle aglow around its circumference.

  “It’s just a prototype, so its sensitivity isn’t all that great. But it works just like a divining rod,” he expined. “If I keep it close to the walls, we may be able to pick up the signature of a hidden Crystal Field.”

  The two girls at the rear of the group, a clerid mage, rolled their eyes simultaneously, their patience worn thin by the boy’s unwavering optimism.

  The other male, judging by his gear, obviously pying the role of the group’s tank, ced his fingers behind his neck wearily. “I swear, it’s in moments like these that I regret being an adventurer. I should have stuck to being a normal pyer like everybody else. To hell with being a Good Samaritan.”

  Just as the girls were about to nod in agreement, the boy suddenly excimed, “Ah—” the staff began to glow, illuminating the eerie dungeon. “I-I think it found something!”

  “You’re kidding!” the tank’s eyes popped open in disbelief. “That stupid thing actually works?!”

  “I think we’re about to find out,” said the mage as she raised her own staff tellingly. “Everyo back!”

  Her eyes glowed beh the rge rim of her witch hat, and a crimson aura engulfed her body as she began her spell. Her voice echoed with power, resonating through the chamber: “By the a power of fme, I summoo do my bidding. Pierce through the veil of darkness and burn thine eo ders with your unyielding wrath. Let nothing stand in your way. Fireball!”

  The air quivered as a sphere of bzing inferno formed at the tip of her staff, its fiery heart growing brighter by the sed. With a mighty thrust, she unleashed the fmes upoubborn wall.

  The explosion that followed sent rocks and debris hurtling in all dires, and when the smoke cleared, a magnifit Crystal Field stood before them. Shards of blue crystal sprouted from the ground and walls like a radiant garden, their glow illuminating the small fissure that held their prize.

  For a moment, everyone was dumbfouheank—

  “No freakin’ way!” he excimed, eyes sparkling like nterns. “Gale, you actually did it.”

  Gale g to his grandfather’s iion and sighed with a smile of relief. The mage jumped up and down with excitement; the days of sleeping on the hard ground aing rodents and is were finally ing to an end.

  But the cleric’s attention was elsewhere. Something was amiss, and it wasn’t long before she noticed a purple haze filling the chamber. “Is this…?”

  The earth’s rising tremor quickly answered her question. And it wasn’t long before a horde of monsters started p into the room, their eyes crazed, fangs and cws poised to rip and rend.

  “W-What’s happening?”

  “Are those…?”

  “There’s a bunonsters ing this way!”

  The tank, Gale, and the mage all said in a frenzied panic.

  “This purple mist,” the cleric began, her expression crumpling. “It’s used to attract monsters! But why would—”

  Everyone’s attention suddenly veered back to the Crystal Field, their eyes widening in horror.

  “Run!” the tank bellowed the and as he uhed his sword, his helmet maing on his head from his iory. “I’ll hold them off.”

  “Health Regen. Rock Skin. Mana Shell. Dragon Lungs.”

  The man’s body strobed with different chts as the cleric applied a series of buffs. The mage held her staff at the ready, an intation for a spell at the forefront of her mind as all three bolted toward the other entrao the chamber.

  But it was futile; monsters began flooding in from that dire as well. The mage pivoted her head around, hoping for all three to biheir might in helping their tank to break through the deluge of monsters in the rear.

  “Uwwaahhhk!”

  But it was too te—the sound of ripping flesh and breaking boed from the back as the man was swept up by the monsters. And, like two cyes colliding, the remaining three adventurers were torn asunder by the verging forces. Four ns of light asded, portraying the deaths of the unfortunate pyers.

  Phosphorest rocks were embedded in the walls of the dungeon. Their dim lighting illumihe bloodied maws and fangs of the animated monsters. They looked around eagerly, eyes still gzed as they sought a purpose.

  “Nheiigh,” a reptilian monster whipped its long neck around when an open vial taining a yellow liquid hit the ground right o it.

  The moment the liquid was exposed to the air, it turned into a haze that quickly enveloped the chamber. The monsters were immediately repulsed by the odor, and they frantically dispersed, vanishing through both exits.

  The cave fell silent, and the haze slowly dissipated, revealing the shadowed figure of a small-statured girl emerging from the gloom.

  ***

  Zephyr was just about to lick the st of the barbecue sauce from a rge bone when Daisuke fiscated it. The e watched with a whimper as the delicious treat disappeared into his panion’s iory.

  “Sorry, boy, but we o get going,” expined Daisuke repentantly. “I’ll buy you more barbecue ter, so you’ll have two boo chew on for the 6 hours.”

  “Woof~”

  Zephyr’s drooping ears and tail perked back up iement, and he darted around in a circle with a burst of enthusiasm.

  “Safe travels!” the shopkeeper called out with a wave as his patrons began to depart from the outdoor dining area. “Thank you for your business, and until ime!”

  Leaving the stall behind, Daisuke strolled down Main Street toward the bustling shopping district, where rger stores aaurants awaited. But he already had a full stomach; what he required was a new suit of clothes, and Harrington Threads was not on his agenda.

  Turning away from the store with its ornate signpost, Daisuke pressed forward, sing his surroundings until he reached his destination.

  Unlike Harrington’s, this store had a simple wooden signpost bearing the word “Equipment,” etched into the wood, apanied by a suspended breastpte.

  RING-RING~

  As Daisuke ehe store, the geinkling of a bell above the door weled his arrival. The air was imbued with the subtle st of leather aal. From the back, the owner’s voice echoed in a melodious, femione, “I’ll be with you in just a moment!”

  While he waited to be atteo, Daisuke seized the opportunity to survey the store. The walls were adorned with an array of armor pieces, each crafted in distinct styles and from diverse materials. Illuminated by lighting fixtures powered by Mana Crystals, the armors were artfully showcased, lending the store an enting atmosphere.

  Rows of wooden mannequins and clothing racks were strategically pced throughout the expansive space, eae dispying a differe of equipment tailored for various csses. Daisuke observed armor crafted from leather, finely woven fabric, rugged monster hide, and an assortment of other materials.

  The diversity was staggering; there were options of the highest quality for those who sought the best prote, as well as more affordable choices for those just starting their adventures.

  It ce where a nobleman seeking a suit of gleaming pte armor could stand side by side with a humble hunter searg for a sturdy leather jerkin—each from a different social css.

  CLICK-CLICK-CLICK!

  A tall figure rouhe er. She wore tight-fitted pants ly tucked into armored high heel shoes, and a particurly reveali showcased a toned chest covered in downy hair.