Chapter 33: A Fair Trade

After a short delay, the drop items began appearing in bulk. A bunch of items floated above the monster’s corpse, literally filling the entire space a meter above it.

"Hmm...?"

And there, Raive noticed something wrong.

’The skill book... is missing?’

He glanced around once more, cross-referencing it against his memory. And soon enough, he noticed that everything else was the same except the book... and a new drop item.

"Isn’t this... the Tree Knight’s Sword?"

Shymine, who was the first to approach both to check the items and put out the fire, muttered in shock. After all, even though the enemy hadn’t had enough time to swing it, just one look was enough to tell them how powerful it was.

And that very sword was now part of the loot.

’So the skill book didn’t drop—the sword did instead?’ Raive pondered. ’Does that mean the drops are random, not fixed?’

He was slightly tempted to test the theory, but that would mean intentionally dying multiple times just to verify it. And although he’d already died over ten times, it wasn’t like he enjoyed dying either. The pain might fade, but the sensation never disappeared.

Still, they had to move.

"Alright, everyone. Let’s distribute the loot for now!" He raised his voice. "First, the stat-up candies. We have fifty, so we’ll give twelve each to Shymine, Hazel, and Therese. Hershey and Khamish get seven each."

"What...?"

"Again with your—!"

"Brother... You should really get your share fairly too!"

As soon as he said it, the others started complaining. But he couldn’t help it. Even if he took his share of the candies, it wasn’t like he could use them again.

It’d just be a waste.

Technically he could still consume them, but letting the others use them was the better investment.

"Don’t worry." Raive smiled. "As long as I get that sword, I have no complaints."

Everyone glanced at the Tree Knight’s sword, then at the candies, then at the rest of the items. They hesitated at first, but quickly realized it was actually a fair trade.

The sword was worth more than the candies, at the very least.

With that settled, Raive divided up the rest of the items fairly.

There were level 3 skill upgrade scrolls, and Hazel, Shymine, Therese, and Khamish each used theirs right away. For the remaining four, Raive suggested trading them for something more useful instead.

Next came the accessories.

This time there were plenty, enough for everyone to get a share.

Shymine got a ring and a necklace, both boosting her speed and attack.

Therese got a bracelet and earrings that increased her mana.

Khamish got boots granting short bursts of invisibility.

Hershey got a tiara that shielded her from a fatal hit once a day.

Finally, Hazel received a ring that raised her control stat—perfect for her skill, one the others still weren’t privy to.

And Raive got himself a choker.

Gender-neutral, dark in design. Thankfully, its ability made up for the looks. It let him teleport anywhere within three meters, up to five times a day.

The only catch was that once equipped, it couldn’t be removed—as if it were cursed.

It also forced the wearer to suffer nightmares, their intensity scaling with how many of the day’s five uses had been spent. The more used, the worse the nightmare.

It sounded like more of a punishment than a blessing, but the ability itself was worth the cost.

Raive wasn’t about to pass up a life-saving item like that.

After the distribution was done, they all turned to the burned tree.

It hadn’t fully turned to charcoal, since Shymine had doused the flames early, but that hardly mattered now.

"So that’s the exit."

The black portal the Tree Knight had emerged from had changed to white now that the fight was over. Clearly the exit meant for them—which meant they wouldn’t have far to walk to reach it.

Once outside, the first thing they noticed was the light.

"It’s dusk already."

Raive muttered, watching the streetlights nearby flicker on automatically. But what caught his attention more was the unfading countdown timer hanging in the sky.

[Second trial will start in 61:37:29.85]

Ten hours had passed since they’d finished the first trial.

To Raive, it felt far longer—like ten days. But that was only because of the countless deaths he’d suffered along the way.

"Nighttime, huh..." Hazel muttered, unconcerned. "So, what’s the plan? Keep delving? Or rest up?"

"That..."

Raive paused.

If it were up to him, he’d rather push on, clearing dungeons without pause.

But glancing behind him, the fatigue on everyone’s faces wasn’t hard to miss.

Even if their bodies could recover, their minds were still wearing thin. Raive understood the risk of pushing too far, so all he could do was sigh.

"Let’s rest for tonight. Starting tomorrow, though, we clear dungeons nonstop." He declared. "If everyone’s fine with that, let’s head back to Hershey’s place for now."

Just as he finished, though...

"Uhm... Sorry, Raive, but can I leave for a bit?"

"Huh?"

Shymine raised her hand, and Raive couldn’t help but grow curious. "Why? Where are you going?" He asked.

She hesitated a moment, then composed her expression and nodded.

"I... want to check on my family."

"..."

Unlike him, the others still had families of their own to worry about.

They hadn’t said anything until now, but it was clear they’d been carrying that worry the whole time.

Understanding that, Raive could only nod. "Alright," he said. "But be extremely careful. Check in with us every few hours so we know you’re safe."

"Yes, I will!"

A faint smile crossed her lips before she spun around and took off running.

"I’ll be back by dawn!" She called back.

Once she’d vanished from sight, Raive turned to the others—Khamish and Hazel, specifically.

"What about you two? Do you want to take some time off too?" He asked.

Khamish just smiled and shook his head. "I’ll stay with you, boss!" He said. "Wherever they are, I’m sure they’re doing fine!"

Raive raised a brow, muttering something low under his breath.

"I see..."

He turned to Hazel next, waiting on her answer.

"I..." She started. "I’ll take some time too, for a while."

And just like that, the team’s two strongest fighters left, if only temporarily.

Raive was worried, sure, but if it came down to it, he could always load back to the start of the red dungeon. It’d be fine...

Right.

There was no reason to worry.