Chapter 11: Take care of this loser
Apart from the typical drops obtained by defeating monsters, there was also something called treasures.
These were unique, high-value items that served a much greater purpose within the structure of a dungeon itself.
These treasures were the literal anchors of the environment, acting as the focal points that held the dungeon together in the first place.
Because of their immense importance to the magical integrity of the space, they were not scattered randomly across the floors; instead, they were almost always located deep within the final chamber, specifically inside the boss room.
Taking down the dungeon boss and also taking the treasure meant that a party had officially completed the dungeon.
Once that anchor was removed, the delicate balance of mana sustaining the pocket dimension would completely destabilize, ensuring that the dungeon would inevitably crumble and collapse into nothingness after a few hours.
Because of this mechanic, these items were highly sought after by every active guild and independent raiding party in existence.
The treasures themselves were strictly categorized, ranked in the exact same way as standard monster drops and equipment pieces.
The hierarchy was universally recognized across the world, scaling upward through the tiers of Common, Uncommon, Rare, High, Epic, and finally, Legendary.
Each rank represented a massive leap in both monetary value and power, making even a slight upgrade in tier worth a fortune to growing players.
The specific dungeon that Ran’s party had cleared just before their demise was only a D-rank dungeon, a relatively low-level zone meant for intermediate groups.
Because of the lower difficulty rating, they had indeed gotten an uncommon grade treasure from the final chamber before everything went wrong.
It was a decent haul for a party of their caliber, but nothing too crazy.
However, Orat’s men were operating under a massive delusion regarding the current status of that item.
This uncommon grade treasure had surely been obliterated along with the players when Leon used his tornado fury.
’Why the hell would they think Ran would leave the treasure with me, when he has an inventory?’ he thought, the sheer stupidity of the assumption was almost baffling to him.
Furthermore, the dynamics of his previous job made the warrior’s theory even more ridiculous, as he had only been a means of humiliation to their party.
Leon took a slow, deep breath, adjusting his posture to look as weak and trembling as they expected him to be.
He looked up at Orat, then cast a fearful glance back at the massive warrior looming over his shoulder, making sure his voice shook just enough to sound convincing.
"He didn’t keep any treasure with me, you see," Leon said, his voice laced with defensive desperation as he raised his hands open to show he was unarmed.
"It was all in his inventory. You know how Ran was—he never trusted me with a single piece of valuable loot, let alone the main reward."
Orat hissed, the sound sharp and venomous. He stepped closer, his eyes boring into Leon’s face with intense frustration.
"Then why were you smiling?" Orat demanded, his teeth grit together tightly. "If you didn’t get anything, why the hell were you looking so pleased with yourself just a moment ago? I’m sure it’s because you have them with you now, don’t you?"
He waved his hand dismissively, as if brushing away Leon’s excuses.
"I don’t care about what caused that dungeon explosion," Orat continued, his voice rising in irritation. "That has nothing to do with me. But you survived when everyone else died, and you definitely came out with some kind of reward. There is no other reason for a worthless piece of trash like you to be smiling like that!"
Leon shook his head quickly, trying to maintain his frightened expression.
"No, that’s wrong," Leon said, his voice pleading as he looked at the aggressive leader. "I’m just happy to be alive. Anyone would smile after surviving a disaster like that."
The big man who spoke earlier didn’t buy the excuse at all. He reached out with a massive, heavy hand and gripped Leon’s shoulder tightly, his fingers digging deep into the fabric of Leon’s clothes.
"If you have no good treasures or even drops," the big man rumbled, his voice cold and devoid of any mercy, "then you’re basically useless to us."
Orat looked at the big man and gave a slow, indifferent nod. He turned his back to Leon, completely done with the conversation.
"Take care of this loser, Bort," Orat ordered casually, as if he were asking someone to clear away a piece of garbage from the path.
Bort nodded instantly, a cruel and eager smile spreading across his broad face. He released his grip on Leon’s shoulder and took half a step back to give himself proper room to strike.
Slowly, his entire right hand and forearm started turning a deep, muddy brown color. The transformation spread rapidly over his skin until his flesh and bone became as hard as a solid rock.
He drew his heavy arm back, the stony muscles tensing with immense power. Then, he swung his rock fist directly at Leon’s face, aiming to kill him with that one single attack. The air whistled sharply from the sheer speed and weight of the blow.
But his fist suddenly came to a halt. It stopped dead in the air, just inches before actually hitting Leon’s face, freezing completely as if it had struck an invisible, unbreakable wall.
Bort froze too. The man’s eyes widened in pure shock as he realized he couldn’t move his arm forward at all, no matter how hard he pushed.
A thin red line slowly appeared around his forearm, perfectly slicing through the rocky, hardened skin.
A second later, his heavy stone hand detached completely from his arm, sliding off the clean cut and falling heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
The man stared at his missing limb for a fraction of a second before the reality of the injury hit him. He screamed out in agonizing pain, a raw, guttural shriek that echoed violently through the entire forest.
Blood gushed out uncontrollably from the stump of his wound, spraying across the grass and splattering against the nearby trees in thick, dark crimson bursts.
The rest of the party members were completely shocked by the sudden turn of events. Their confident, mocking expressions vanished in an instant, replaced by pale faces and terrified eyes.
