Chapter 8: 8 Reliable Silver Thorn

【Golden Thorn Tavern】

As one of only two taverns in the Silent Wind Town, the settlement closest to the Amethyst Dungeon, unlike its counterpart that sells inferior liquor and is perpetually crowded with all sorts of riffraff, the Golden Thorn Tavern always serves excellent wine in its cups, rich in aroma and mellow in taste.

Correspondingly, the relatively high prices mean that the patrons who come here are adventurers of some strength.

However, today, the adventurers who should have been scattered across the seats were strangely clustered on the right side, making the four sitting alone on the left look as if they had booked half the venue.

After all, that was the Diamond-class adventurer party Silver Thorn, with every member above level 50.

It wasn't that the Silver Thorn party was particularly domineering; it was just that anyone with eyes could see their atmosphere was off, and no one was willing to provoke them at such a time.

Everyone was silently drinking on the other side with a mix of cowardice and curiosity, hoping to hear a scrap of gossip to serve as conversation fodder for the next few days.

The most conspicuous member of the Silver Thorn party was undoubtedly the half-dragon Gar, whose height of 2.3 meters made him taller than most ordinary people even while sitting, and with his reinforced heavy armor, he looked like a city wall.

In fact, he truly was the wall protecting his teammates; in countless battles, it was he who stood at the front, blocking the surging enemies to create a safe output space for his allies.

The only flaw was that Gar had not inherited the breath ability from his dragon-kin mother; otherwise, when blocking enemies, a sudden blast would have even forced a Barbarian Beast General to meet his end on the spot.

However, the words coming from this half-dragon's mouth at this moment showed not a trace of bravery:

"It's over, it's over. We probably can't stay in the United Kingdom anymore.

Boss, I say since this mission is impossible to complete anyway, we might as well slip away to the Islands while they aren't on guard.

Once we come out of this dungeon run, there won't be a chance to run!"

Clang—

A sharp blade shot into Gar's chest plate, bounced off, and landed on the table, while the Shadow Walker Night Owl casually played with two more blades at his fingertips.

This elf, who had slit the throats of countless demons with throwing knives, was now staring at his own front-liner with the look one gives goblin feces.

"Did you forget that last time you only sat on a boat on the river for two days and almost vomited your stomach out?

Run to the Islands? You'd probably die on the boat halfway there.

Besides, the mission hasn't even started yet; completing it means getting a city!"

As Night Owl spoke of the city, light flickered in his eyes; who knows why a true elf would be so interested in acquiring a human city.

"But you have to be able to complete it!

They say we must bring the person back intact, but it's already been half a month!

Don't tell me you don't know the situation of adventurers trapped in the Amethyst Dungeon who haven't died.

It's nothing but the parasitic trees on the fifth floor or the tentacle nests on the ninth; even if you rescue them, their brains will be rotten. Do you think the Duke will recognize that as 'intact'?

The best-case scenario is that they were captured by wandering Barbarian Beastmen and used as reserve meat; by now, their limbs are probably almost all dismembered.

Even then, we still have to pray she hasn't suffered a mental breakdown from despair.

This mission is almost impossible to complete!

When the Duke comes personally to demand accountability, Night Owl, you can just shadow-step away, but the three of us will be hammered to death!"

No wonder Gar was so afraid of Duke Amara; ten years ago, when everyone present was still Gold or Silver rank, Amara was already a level 70 powerhouse standing at the peak of humanity.

Don't look at the fact that all four of them are in their fifties, just ten levels or so below Duke Amara; in reality, even if you tied them all together, they would only be enough to warm up a max-level big shot like the Duke.

The gap between levels becomes more obvious the higher you go; let alone for an entity like the Duke who has been max level for a long time, whose skills must be both numerous and high-level, otherwise he wouldn't have the ability to hold back the Empire's pressure at the border for so many years.

"Stop, stop, stop, Gar, don't say any more."

Seeing that Gar was about to continue preaching defeatism, the team leader Nova had to speak up to interrupt him:

"It's still possible to save her. If her brain is damaged, there's nothing to be done, but if a few limbs are broken, just pour in a Limb Regeneration Potion.

The risk is indeed high, but the reward is considerable.

How can we give up before even seeing the person?

Let's just take a gamble. If we really only rescue a fool, I'll go face the Duke alone to report, and you three can take the opportunity to escape."

In fact, Nova also knew his warrior was speaking the truth; if it were ten years ago, he would have chosen to flee, drilling into the Western Islands or the lands of the Elves and Dwarves; no matter how strong Duke Amara was, he couldn't do anything to him.

But that won't work now. The United Kingdom and the Hidden Empire are in constant dispute, and it looks like war is about to break out officially; at such a time, neither Elves nor Dwarves would casually agree to let external high-level combatants enter their territories.

The only place to go is the Western Islands; after all, a human can't just voluntarily run to the Hidden Empire to become a blood servant for those vampires.

But the Islands aren't a good place either; the fog range further west is constantly expanding, swallowing islands, and the slave masters on those islands are desperate.

At such a time, if a desperate Diamond-class adventurer shows up, they will absolutely use this as leverage to force them to defend against the fog.

That job has a much higher death rate than exploring dungeons.

Weighing the options, it's better to take a gamble: gamble that we can save the Duke's daughter intact, or gamble that even if we only rescue a fool, the Duke won't directly hammer us to death.

However, the team isn't a dictatorship; the final decision must be made jointly by the members.

"Old rule, let's vote. I vote to enter the dungeon."

"I want to be the city lord!" Night Owl also voted in support.

"I still think we should run right now." The half-dragon clearly didn't want to gamble.

"Ivan?"

The three of them turned to look at the fourth member of the team, who had been silent from start to finish and was fiddling with something under the table—Ivan Nets.

The halfling's small figure was almost swallowed by the edge of the wooden table; when not speaking, he indeed had no presence, but as the team's main DPS mage, his opinion was naturally equally important.

"Finally got it out!"

A damaged and deformed discarded magic crystal was flung in front of the group, and Ivan impatiently took out a brand new B-rank magic crystal, inserting it into the empty slot in his abdomen with a "click."

Magic surged from all around, flowing into Ivan's limbs and bones through the crystal; the violent torrent of magic flushed through every nerve synapse, casting him into a bewildered trance.

"Ahh-oh."

The entire tavern heard the halfling mage's comfortable moan, and the gazes of the others inevitably became strange.

Night Owl tightly gripped the blade in his hand, preventing it from flying into this embarrassing teammate's neck.

"This magic addiction Bai Chi..."

Looking at the Grand Mage across from him with eyes rolled back, even drooling, Nova only felt that leading the team was hard and his heart was tired.

"The mission cannot be delayed; even if it's two against one, Gar, carry Ivan on your back. For the first few floors, Night Owl and I will be enough."

Gar sighed, did not continue to oppose, and simply extended his hand to Nova.

"?"

"Magic Resistance Potion! Did you forget the last time he cast a Magic Blast at point-blank range from my back, nearly sending both of us to our deaths?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)