Chapter 135: Desert Monsters

“Are we in a sauna? We must be in a sauna…” Luna grumbled while airing her armor out to the best of her abilities. Gamer girls were not meant to endure the scorching desert heat.

“At least you’re wearing light armor… I’m gonna die,” Nyx decreed in a matter of factly tone. She and Kaiden were the only ones in medium armor.

“Come on, girls, it’s not that bad…” Aria said cheerily, attempting to help the mood. Instead of achieving her goal, she only succeeded in eliciting two heads snapping in her direction. Nyx and Luna scoffed in sync when they saw the comfy mage robes that adorned her body.

“Hypocrite Princess…” they cursed under their breaths in perfect unison.

“Would you like some water?” Elara asked as she reached into one of the four bags strapped to her. The largest bag, which was nearly as tall as she was, hung on her back. The second was slung across her stomach, while the final two rested on her sides.

The two girls gratefully accepted the bottles of water and gulped them down eagerly. After finishing, they poured what little water was left over their heads to cool off.

Thankfully, they didn’t need to be sparing with water because not only did the guild have magically cooled containers full of water at the camp, but the oasis acted as a freshwater source as well. Lack of water would only be troublesome once they left the oasis behind as they could only bring what they could carry on them, forced to leave the large coolers behind.

“You’re really strong, Elara. What’s your Strength stat?”

Kaiden’s question met with her usual adorable “Umm…” sound before she gathered her bearings to reply properly. “24.”

“Hoh? I’m surprised. No wonder you carry those big bags so easily.”

Before she could address his words, it was Nyx who spoke up. “Are you from that company? What was their name again? Titanforge?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“What’s that?” Aria, who wasn’t overly educated in the world of the awakened as she was busy with her non-awakened duties before meeting Kaiden, asked.

The knowledgeable, pink-haired beauty was happy to offer her information. “Titanforge is a company that trains F-tier awakened, or those who don’t wish to be combatants but still want to participate in dungeon clearings. Their trainees receive help from stronger combatants to reach level 5, and they invest all gained points into the Strength stat. Furthermore, they receive proper education in dungeon matters that a person in a support role like theirs should be aware of, such as which ores to mine. Lastly, they also receive physical training to increase their natural Strength and Endurance stats, allowing them to carry incredible weights for long distances and mine with eye-popping speed and efficiency.”

“And once a trainee finishes their training?”

“Before being accepted into Titanforge as a trainee, you must sign a contract with them. Once the training has concluded, guilds can purchase their contracts for 10 Chronos, which will bind the dungeon aide to work for the customer guild for the next decade. Furthermore, 30% of their salary in that time duration goes to Titanforge.”

“What the hell?!” Luna shouted with outrage. Kaiden and Aria were also shocked. If Elara wasn’t present, they would’ve called this practice straight-up slavery.

“Yeah, I know…” Nyx said with a sad sigh. “The government doesn’t know what to do. People want to work as dungeon aides because the pay is better than what most of them could earn in the world of non-awakened, but most guilds don’t want to hire nor train dungeon aides, thinking it to be a waste of time. Furthermore, guilds don’t want to employ level 1 awakened to act as aides due to the dungeons’ capacity limit. If Elara and the other three aides weren’t as capable as they are, we would’ve needed like twelve people to do their work, meaning only eight combatants could enter alongside the group of aides.

To smaller guilds, paying 10 Chronos and then a salary of something in the range of $3,000 a month is much more worthwhile than training their own aides from scratch. The biggest guilds do have the resources to train their aides, but they’re often E or even higher-tier awakened who can double in as combatants should the need arise. Anyways, long story short: the government right now is turning a blind eye to this practice. They don’t endorse it, but no penalties have been given to companies like Titanforge nor the guilds who employ the aides.”

Throughout Nyx’s explanation, Elara’s expression turned more dejected by the second. Kaiden and co felt troubled about it all. It was a moral gray area. Elara looked to be around 16 years old. If she was ready to dive into dungeons with only a pickaxe at her side, then life must’ve been truly trying for her.

A salary of $3,000, or more accurately the ~$2,100 that would remain after Titanforge’s cut, could be their best opportunity to provide for themselves and their loved ones, especially considering most guilds offered free accommodation and meals for their members in their buildings.

It was easy to call Titanforge the big bad, and they were most certainly horrible, exploitative sons of bitches, but they also presented opportunities to people in need.

“HHRRAAAGGHHH…!” A dry, guttural roar sounded all of a sudden, bringing them out of their stupor.

“Desert mummies, watch out!” Elara shouted, shifting into professional mode instantly. Unlike Kaiden and his Valkyries, who enjoyed the assistance of the system, this teenage girl wasn’t shown details such as the monsters’ type or levels, but thanks to her training and preparation for this dungeon dive in particular, she was knowledgeable.

“They have multiple annoying abilities: [Burial Instinct] lets them sink into the sand to evade attacks and ambush targets. They have a debuff called [Thirst of the Dead], making our bodies dry up rapidly when they’re in our close proximity. [Dried Flesh Resilience] lets them shrug off slashing and piercing damage. Blunt or magic attacks are the best to kill them. Lastly-”

“Hhrrraaahhhkkk-sssshhhhhkkk!”

Before the brown-haired girl could finish her detailing, the mummies let off a loud, wailing sound.

The sand around them stirred before splitting open. From the depths beneath, a swarm of about 50 large scarabs poured forth. These monsters were much bigger than their insect counterparts that could be found on Earth, growing as large as small-sized dog breeds.

Some clung to the mummies’ ragged bandages, crawling over their decayed bodies like loyal parasites ready to defend their hosts, while others moved toward Kaiden’s group.

Elara let out a nervous sigh as she finished, “And lastly… [Scavenger’s Call] lets them summon necrocarabs, their loyal pawns.” Having said her piece, the dungeon aide knew it wasn’t her time to shine. She would only get in the way if she stayed. Using her high Strength stat, she leaped back, getting out of the combatants’ way.

Although they were also informed of this monster’s specialties after accepting Tessa’s request, they didn’t have much time to prepare and memorize such details. The trusty knowledge of their aide came in handy.

“This is certainly a big step up from the F-rank dungeon… Our first encounter already put us in a bit of a bind,” Kaiden chuckled dryly. But then, he turned serious. Gripping his war axe with both hands, he decreed, “Let’s do this, ladies. Mode: Wrath.”

Just as the Paragon of Sin entered his aggressive combat stance, his Sinsworn Valkyries called forth their signature abilities as well.

“[Stormblade],” Luna intoned, materializing a crackling blade of storm energies in her hands.

“[Telekinesis],” Nyx said, grabbing her dagger from its sheath and aiming it at the necrocarabs.

“[Lunar Arc]!” Aria shouted, hitting one of the charging insect monsters right in the face, greatly damaging it. However, it was not a one-hit kill; its sturdy exoskeleton protected it from death. Thanks to the arc of the projectile, it hit multiple others on their side.

The Moon Valkyrie followed her initial spell up with [Crescent Volley]. The many small projectiles assaulted the injured scarabs, many gave up the fight after resisting a few shots.

Nyx wasted no time in seizing the opportunity her friend had created. She raised her hands, pulling the fallen scarabs’ corpses toward her before activating [Kinetic Shard]. Their shattered remains broke apart into dozens of sharp fragments. With a push of her arms, she sent them hurtling forward, turning the dead into weapons against the living. The air filled with sounds of crunches as the shards pierced through the incoming necrocarabs, their own hardened shells were used against them.

Even still, a dozen or so scarabs managed to reach them. At least, they would’ve, but… “We can’t have the pair of Miss Fragiles take a hit, they’ll crumble from a little scratch… Right, Kai?” Luna purred with a smirk, shooting Aria and Nyx a side-eyed glance before creating a gust of wind with [Aero Repulsion] that blasted through the battlefield, sending the charging scarabs tumbling back to their masters.

“Be a good girl, Luna… You can have your catfight once we get back to the camp.”

Kaiden’s words earned him a strong scoff from his Storm Valkyrie, who didn’t appreciate his word usage, but they both quickly turned serious, fully aware that what they were doing required their utmost focus, or they could lose everything due to a mere moment’s carelessness.