Chapter 57: Dawn

The second floor was completely different from the first floor. It was not some simple-looking floor at all. It was filled with passages and rooms, and the teleporter was set at the center of the floor.

Many routes led to the center of the floor, but many of them also led to traps, dangers, and dead ends. Everything on the floor was out to kill you. And that was beside the fact that the floor helped evoke demon dogs, undead warriors, and golems.

It was a complete platter of enemies that could send someone into a frenzy if they were not careful.

Tez and his group stood in a large space before the hallways and passages. There were many people there as well, everyone assessing the situation around them before they headed in to brave the uncertainties of the second floor.

“So do we just forge ahead?” Amber asked, ready to head in and fight.

“The second floor of the Sky Palace is extremely massive. Heading in recklessly could be an issue.” A voice came from their side.

They all turned and saw a man standing there. He was in fully silver armor with golden trims, blonde hair, and deep blue eyes, the type of person that you would consider a hero at first glance.

Tez scanned him with his eyes, the sword on his waist, the way he carried himself, the way he smiled as he spoke, and he immediately did not like that at all.

‘This dude already gives me bad vibes. Tch.’

He could not say that, though, because as a lawyer, he knew better than to judge anyone based on gut feelings. There had been times when gut feelings actually brought the right result, but they were too few to be counted as a worthy method at all.

The man saw all of them looking at him, and he immediately opted to introduce himself.

“Sorry, my name is Dawn, Dawn Blumeneck. I am the son of a baron,” he spoke in a way that was filled with respect and confidence all at once. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

‘Yeah, I get why I dislike him now. He is a righteous spoiled brat. He hasn’t done anything yet, but I can see it right off him like an open book.

He is a spoiled kid who will probably believe the world to be black and white and will push for his way to be done in the name of some skewed justice.’

“It’s nice to meet you, Dawn,” Tez said and stepped forward. He stretched his hand and shook Dawn’s hand. “I am the leader of this party,” Tez said with a calm look.

Dawn frowned when he heard that, as if shaking Tez’s hand had revealed something that made him unsure of what Tez had said. He glanced at Amber, Lia, Mira, and then Leah, and immediately, it started to seem like he was seeing a pattern here, as Tez was the only human in the group among his party members.

“Dawn, where the hell did you run off to?” A young female voice cut through the tension. Dawn turned around and saw a lady running toward him. She had a small frame and a beautiful blood-red and black mage robe. A wand hung from her waist.

“Dane, sorry I went off,” Dawn said with a smile. “Since we had to wait for Cane to get his stuff ready, I decided to have a walk and see other people around. That’s how I met this group here. They are a party, and they seem pretty nice.”

Dane looked at Tez and his party, then she looked back at Dawn. “Sera is pissed. If she finds you, she will…”

“Too late…” An emotionless female voice came from behind Dane. She turned around to see a tall woman standing there, decked in slender armor and carrying a sword on her back. She had hair as dark as night and eyes that seemed like the Abyss.

She stared right at Dawn.

Dawn scratched his head and let out a chuckle. “Sorry, Sera, I was wandering around and seeing things,” Dawn very quickly explained.

“Sigh, Dawn, please, you are the leader of the party, and we cannot move without you. Stop playing around and lead.”

Dawn let out an embarrassed chuckle and then nodded. “I’m sorry about that…” He looked at Tez.

“Let’s hope to meet again soon,” he said and walked off after waving.

“Yeah, I hope not,” Tez muttered and was about to walk away when the system suddenly turned on and sent a notification.

[Taming match found.]

He immediately turned around. Who was the monster girl that he matched with? Was it Dane or Sera? He had no idea now. It could not be any of them at all, either.

‘Tch, I might have to leave this one behind if I don’t know who exactly the person is.’

[…]

Dawn walked back toward the rest of his party, waving at the people he passed.

Sera and Dane were already waiting, and so was the last member of the group. Cane stood a little apart from them, a massive man in full plate armor with a tall shield on his back. He was easily the biggest person in the hall, but his face was soft and round, and he gave Dawn a shy smile.

“Sorry I’m late,” Cane said. “The smith took longer than I thought.”

“It’s fine,” Dawn replied.

He did not sit. He turned and looked back across the hall in the direction of Tez, who was still standing with his group. Dawn watched them for a long moment, and the smile slid off his face.

“Dawn?” Dane asked. “What is it?”

“That party I just met. Something about them doesn’t feel right.”

Sera followed his gaze. She studied Tez, then the others, and her eyes narrowed.

“That boy has no power I can feel,” Dane said. “Nothing strong at all. It’s not what you would expect from the leader of a party like that.”

“That’s what I noticed too.” Dawn lowered his voice. “And look at who is with him. Every one of them is a woman, all of them are beastfolk, and one is an elf. He is the only human in the group.”

“What are you saying?” Dane asked.

“I have a feeling they might have been bought. That they are his property, and he is their master.”

Sera’s hand curled into a fist. Her knuckles went white. It was only a guess, and Dawn had no proof, but the words struck something deep inside her, and she could not hide it.

“Dane,” Dawn said quietly. “Can you use your appraisal magic on them? I want to see their levels.”

Dane nodded. She stood, turned toward Tez’s group, and raised her wand, whispering her spell. A magic circle bloomed around her feet, and thin lines of red light spun outward.

She looked at Amber first.

“Level twenty-nine,” she said, surprised.

Her eyes moved on. “The next one, level twenty-six. The one after that, level twenty-two.” She glanced at the smallest of them. “And the youngest, level five.”

Then she looked at Tez.

The circle flickered. Dane’s eyes widened, and she dropped her wand arm and ended the spell at once.

“Dawn,” she said. “He’s not even in the same level bracket as the rest of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“He is far lower than all of them. There is no way they would follow him by choice.”

Dawn’s jaw tightened. “Then he must have used forceful means to keep them.”

Sera stepped forward. “Then let me deal with him.”

“No.” Dawn put a hand on her shoulder. “Not like this. If we attack him in the middle of the hall, we have no proof, and we’ll look like the villains.”

“So what do we do?”

“We join our parties together,” Dawn said. “We hunt with them, gather more information, and when we are certain, we take him down for what he has done.”

Dane and Cane exchanged a look. Sera stayed quiet for a moment, then gave a sharp nod.

“Fine.”

“Agreed,” Dane said.

Dawn crossed the hall again.

Tez saw him coming and stopped mid-sentence. He had not expected to see that face again so soon.

“Dawn?”

“Sorry to bother you again,” Dawn said with an easy smile. “I thought about it. The second floor is tough, really tough, and it is full of traps. It would make a lot of sense if our two parties worked together. It would make things much easier for everyone.”

He held out his hand.

“We would share all profits equally, fifty-fifty, with no issue at all. We just wanted to know if you were up for it. A