Reliable Silver Thorns
[Golden Sunwood Tavern]
As one of the only two taverns in Dumbwind Town, the closest town to the Amethyst Dungeon, the Golden Sunwood Tavern was different from its counterpart, which sold cheap liquor and was filled with all sorts of riffraff all day long. The glasses in the Golden Sunwood Tavern were always filled with fragrant, mellow, and good wine.
Correspondingly, the higher prices meant that the customers who came here were adventurers with some strength.
However, today, the adventurers who should have been scattered were strangely clustered on the right side, making the four people sitting alone on the left look as if they had booked half the place.
After all, that was the Diamond-level adventurer team – Silver Thorns – whose members were all above LV50.
It wasn't that the Silver Thorns team was overbearing; it was just that anyone with eyes could see that their atmosphere was off, and no one wanted to poke the bear at this moment.
Everyone was drinking silently on the other side with a mix of timidity and curiosity, hoping to overhear a bit of gossip to serve as conversation fodder for the next few days.
The most striking member of the Silver Thorns team was Gael, the half-dragon. His height of 2.3 meters made him taller than an ordinary person even when sitting, and coupled with his enhanced heavy armor, he looked like a city wall.
In fact, he was indeed the city wall protecting his teammates. In countless battles, he stood at the front, blocking the surging enemies and creating a safe output space for his teammates.
The only slight drawback was that Gael didn't inherit the ability to breathe fire from his dragon mother. Otherwise, if he suddenly unleashed a breath while blocking enemies, even a Savage Beastman general would die on the spot.
However, the words coming out of this half-dragon's mouth at this moment showed no hint of bravery:
"It's over, it's over. I'm afraid we can't stay in the United Kingdom anymore.
Boss, I say, since this mission is impossible to complete anyway, why don't we just slip away to the archipelago while they're not prepared?
If we run out of this dungeon, we won't have a chance to run!"
Clang—
A sharp blade shot out, bounced off Gael's chest plate, and landed on the table. Night Owl, the Shadow Walker, casually played with the other two blades on his fingertips.
This elf, who had slit the throats of countless monsters with throwing knives, was now staring at his front-liner with eyes that looked like Goblin feces.
"Did you forget that the last time you sat on a boat for just two days on the river, you almost threw up your stomach?
And you want to run to the archipelago? You'll probably die on the boat halfway there.
Besides, the mission hasn't even started yet. If we complete it, we can get a city!"
Night Owl's eyes sparkled when he mentioned the city. Heaven knows why a genuine elf would be so interested in acquiring a human city.
"But you have to be able to complete it!
They said we must bring the person back completely unharmed, but it's already been half a month!
Don't tell me you don't know what happens to adventurers who are trapped in the Amethyst Dungeon but don't die.
It's nothing more than the parasitic trees on the fifth floor or the tentacle nest on the ninth floor. Even if we rescue the person, their brain will be rotten. Do you think the Duke will consider that 'completely unharmed'?
The best-case scenario is that she was captured by wandering Savage Beastmen and turned into reserve meat. By now, her limbs are probably mostly dismembered.
And we still have to pray that she hasn't had a mental breakdown due to despair.
This mission is almost impossible to complete!
When the Duke personally comes to demand an explanation, Night Owl, you'll just slip away with a shadow step, but the three of us will be hammered to death!"
It wasn't strange that Gael was so afraid of Duke Amala. Ten years ago, when the few people present were still Gold and Silver ranks, Amala was already a LV70 powerhouse standing at the peak of humanity.
Don't look at the four of them being in their fifties, only about ten levels lower than Duke Amala. In reality, even if they were tied together, they would only be enough for a max-level expert like the Duke to warm up.
The gap between levels becomes more apparent the higher you go, not to mention that a max-level existence like the Duke, who has been max level for a long time, must have many high-level skills. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to withstand the pressure from the Empire at the border for so many years.
"Stop, stop, Gael, don't say any more."
Seeing that Gael was still advocating for defeatism, the captain, Nova, had to interrupt him:
"It's still possible to save her, isn't it? If her brain is damaged, there's nothing we can do, but if she loses a few arms or legs, just give her a bottle of limb regeneration potion.
The risk is indeed high, but the reward is also considerable.
How can we give up before even seeing the person?
Let's just gamble. If we really only save someone who's become an idiot, I'll go report to the Duke by myself, and you guys can take the opportunity to escape."
In reality, Nova also knew that what his warrior said was true. If it were 10 years ago, he would have also chosen to run away, hiding in the Western Islands or the territory of the Elves and Dwarves. No matter how strong Duke Amala was, he wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
But now it was different. The United Kingdom and the Hermit Empire were constantly in conflict and were about to officially go to war. At this time, neither the Elves nor the Dwarves would easily allow foreign high-level combatants to enter their territory.
The only place they could go was the Western Islands. After all, as a human, he couldn't possibly actively run to the Hermit Empire to become a blood servant for those vampires.
But the islands weren't a good place either. The range of the mist further west was constantly expanding and swallowing islands, and the slave owners on the islands were all in a panic.
At this time, if there were Diamond-level adventurers who had nowhere to go, they would definitely be threatened and forced to resist the mist.
That job had a much higher death rate than exploring dungeons.
Weighing the options, it was better to take a gamble, gambling that they could save the Duke's daughter intact, or gambling that even if they only rescued an idiot, the Duke wouldn't directly kill them.
However, the team wasn't a dictatorship, and the final decision still had to be made by the team members together.
"Old rule, let's vote. I vote to enter the dungeon."
"I want to be the City Lord!" Night Owl also voted in favor.
"I still think we should run now." The half-dragon clearly didn't want to gamble.
"Ivan?"
The three of them looked at the fourth person in the team who hadn't spoken from beginning to end and was fiddling with something under the table—Ivan.Nietz.
The halfling's small figure was almost swallowed by the edge of the wooden table. When he didn't speak, he indeed had no presence, but as the main C mage in the team, his opinion was naturally just as important.
"Finally got it out!"
A damaged and deformed discarded Magic Crystal was thrown in front of the few people. Ivan eagerly took out a brand new B-grade Magic Crystal and inserted it into the empty slot in his abdomen with a "crack".
The surrounding magic surged in, flowing through the Magic Crystal into Ivan's limbs and bones. The violent magic current washed over every nerve synapse, throwing him into a hazy trance.
"Ah~"
The entire tavern heard the halfling mage's comfortable groan, and the eyes of the others couldn't help but become strange.
Night Owl tightly gripped the blade in his hand, preventing it from flying into the neck of this embarrassing teammate.
"This magic addict idiot..."
Looking at the Archmage across from him, eyes rolled back and even starting to drool, Nova felt only the difficulty of leading the team and the exhaustion in his heart.
"The mission can't be delayed. Even if it's 2 against 1, Gael, you carry Ivan. With Night Owl and me, the first few floors should be enough."
Gael sighed and didn't object further, just extended his hand to Nova.
"?"
"Magic Resistance Potion! Did you forget the last time he gave me a zero-range magic explosion on my back, almost sending both of us away?"
"..."