Chapter 297

The bartender was right; the two are impossible to miss. They’re practicing sword work in the yard of the flour mill during their break when Cain comes around the corner. One small female Red Goblin and one Dwarf-sized leatherback Turtle Kin. Both are wearing plain gray tunics with brown leather pants and boots to train in, and the red skinned Goblin has her black hair pulled back in a single braid to keep it from getting in the way. 

They’re both level 44, so they must have kept working hard after they stopped getting experience training on dummies. Low-level green Goblin attacks were common before Cain arrived, so they’ve likely also had at least some actual combat experience. 

The Turtle is a warrior, a good match for the durable Beastkin. But the Goblin is a Paladin, which makes Cain wonder just how many people are brave enough to leave their future in the hands of the Random class generator. Maybe the strange things it comes up with aren’t common knowledge, and are simply dismissed as rumors? 

The interface says their names are Gilly and Snoo, interesting choices to say the least, but they’re nonarrival species, so unless they are transfers who went full random and somehow both got hidden rare species rolls and spawned here in Long Fang Valley, those should be the names they were given by their parents. 

“Good morning. I see you two are as hard-working as we were told.” Cain greets them, drawing their attention away from practice. 

” Greetings, Duke Cain.” They answer with a polite bow, then wait to see what he wants. 

“We’ve got room for two more to go to the dungeon. It’ll be a load of levels for you if you want to go. I can even speak to your boss.” Cain offers and the two hardworking fighters give each other a high five.

“My dad runs the mill; he should be alright with it. Just let me talk to him.” Snoo says, running inside.

His father clearly doesn’t believe him because he’s quickly escorted out by a 2.5-meter-tall version of himself, who suddenly stops when he sees Cain and the others. 

“I told you. Maria, the bartender, recommended us. She must have put in the good word as thanks for carrying all her deliveries downstairs.” Snoo says, feeling vindicated. 

“Alright, I believe you. You’re not ditching work to practice your sword techniques with your girlfriend.” The older Turtle Kin laughs. 

“Duke Cain, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Please do take care of my boy.” He says politely, then abruptly turns and goes back inside. 

“Don’t mind him; he’s like that when he’s working.” Snoo laughs, equipping his armor for the battles ahead. 

Not that he’ll be doing anything but getting notifications, since he is 160 levels below the dungeon, but he doesn’t know that yet.

Bringing low-level Transfers through high-level dungeons is one of the small joys of Cain’s life. They benefit immensely, but he also gets the entertainment of watching them go through it. 

“So, he thinks we’ve been practicing ‘sword techniques’ all day, does he?” Gilly giggles and wiggles her eyebrows as they fall in to head towards the dungeon. 

“Yeah, you know how much we, no wait, not like that. I’m sorry about her, Duke Cain. She says whatever comes into her mind.” Snoo says, beginning to panic. 

Cain looks back at Gilly with a wicked smile. “The only way to improve is practice, right?”

Snoo sighs, seeing that he’s outnumbered here and Cyrene chuckles at the noise. “You get used to them. Adventurers are a bit different than other people.”

“Will we even get to adventure, though? In such a high-level dungeon, we three will mostly hang back so we don’t get killed.” Gilly points out. 

Cyrene shrugs. “That’s what I do anyhow. This is the first time I can even tell where we’re going.”

Misha was going to make a retort, but suddenly the Oracle stopped dead, and her eyes closed while she started muttering. She was having a vision of some sort, so the group stopped and waited for her to finish while her maid held her upright.

“Well, that one made very little sense. Horse riders from a number of species are attacking a mountain city with a blue stone wall, but I don’t know where the city is or who the horse riders are. I haven’t seen either one in a vision before. It was a premonition of a great change that’s about to happen. Though, I don’t know exactly when or who.” Cyrene explains. 

Cain sends the information to Maria, who promises to look into it and find out if the city in question is one along the eastern borders of Skyview. Some of those cities are built into the mountains, and it would be great if they could get a warning of an imminent attack. 

The entrance to the dungeon is in a field next to a farmhouse surrounded by a wall of stacked rocks, so nothing accidentally wanders inside. The Fox Kin family who works that land is happy to tell them anything they want to know about the dungeon itself.

The younger adults are in the mid-level 200s and have gone along with a number of groups in the past. The father is a Bulwark Class tank-type warrior, while both his wife and his mother, the family’s matriarch, are Arch Clerics.

Upon reflection, Cain recognizes the older silver-haired Fox Kin; he’s confident that she too was at the battle with the Gnolls, healing the wounded farmers after the attack. The younger woman he doesn’t recognize, but with very young children, she was likely home keeping the family safe during the battle. 

The dungeon seems straightforward. Two warrior-type bosses and one fire mage type Ettin. The dungeon is arranged as a series of camps through the valley, which at the time the dungeon was formed was mostly grassland with a river running through it and a few surviving trees scattered through the area. 

“Alright, when we enter, I’ll call my summons forward, and Misha can call hers on defense. They’ll keep everyone safe while we clear the dungeon one encampment at a time.” Cain explains their tactic for the day, and the others prepare themselves, not entirely sure what to expect. 

Workout having seen them in action, it’s nearly impossible to envision or anticipate how Cain and Misha work together inside a dungeon. The first thing Cain does once they’re inside the dungeon is to call all his Supporters to him except Nila, who is busy with Mythryll.

The others were either napping or reading, nothing that it would bother him to interrupt. They all call their Bonded Forces while Cain calls out a force of Lamia Scourge Casters, Wrath Bringers, and Lords of Decay. 

The giant Plague Demons are a change for him, but against Ogres, more large bodies will help keep groups under control better than the agility of the Oath Breakers. 

The others follow him inside, and Cyrene steps forward hesitantly, looking at the Lamia. “What exactly are those? A snake-type Beastkin with a half-snake body?”

“They’re Lamia. They’re technically a type of Demon, not Beastkin, but they’re very friendly. Reach out your hand, and they’ll likely come over for head pats.” Misha says with a bit of laughter at the end. 

The Oracle takes her literally, holding out a hand and moving toward the serpentine Demons. As expected, the affectionate creatures meet her to get their heads rubbed, loosely wrapping around Cyrene, in their usual show of pleasure. 

Misha calls out a group of Succubus and Wrath Bringers, as well as her personal Demonic Summon, the Mysterious Acolyte. The feathery creature seems to care very little about any potential danger, and is instead looking enviously at the Lamia. 

“Fine, come here, and I’ll give you some love.” Misha laughs, hugging the Demon and stroking its wings.

“You guys are a bit odd, aren’t you?” Gilly laughs while Snoo is staring at the Succubus forces. 

“It’s Cyrene’s first time seeing them. Normally we’re at least a little bit more professional.” Cain says proudly. 

“A little bit anyhow.” Misha smiles, nodding her agreement. 

Without any further warnings, Cain sends the summons forward to attack the first camp of Ogres, while one of each supporter stays back to watch the show start. Both Gilly and Snoo immediately grab their heads in agony as the first wave of notifications and their accompanying announcement noises roll in. 

Cyrene seems to be holding up better, though she’s slumped into the Maid’s arms for support. Cain isn’t sure how much experience the lower-level party members will get from a run, and he wants them to be comfortably over first advancement for their own safety, so he joins the battle to speed things up.

Pulling one of the Oath Breakers into Merger, Cain charges the leader of the Ogre Camp, a heavily armored Elite with a club that looks to be a stripped-down tree, roots and all. 

As his spear sinks deep into the creature’s fleshy pink neck, the strike activates the weapon’s damage bonus and drops dozens of wounded Ogres with the area effect that is gained from being merged with an Oath Breaker.

Cain hears Misha begin to laugh and turns back to see what exactly is so funny. 

“She tried to transmute the headache to pleasure, but I think it’s torturing her with a pleasure feedback loop because of the continuing notices.” Misha gasps and Cain sees a trembling Cyrene being entirely carried by her maid. 

Well, that didn’t go exactly as expected. But there’s still a lot more dungeon to go.