While everyone remained mostly silent, thinking of what to do next, Sin inspected the ogre's corpse a bit more.
He made sure there was nothing he could salvage off of it before turning and facing the way forward.
"Let's keep going. Even if this is a corrupted dungeon with a higher grade, we should still be able to complete it." Sin said with a brave tone, 'I will also get more exp opportunities. I already leveled up once... I wonder how much more I can level before leaving this place.'
He couldn't help but smile from the excitement. The urge to gain power was growing on him more and more like an addiction as he leveled.
'Speaking of leveling, let me allocate the stats for this level. System, open up my stats.'
---
[Status]
[Name: Sin Alaric Dalroth]
[Species: Human (F) + Undefined (?)]
[Bloodline: Dalroth Lineage]
[Class: --]
[Titles: --]
[Level: 2]
---
[Health: 100%]
[Durability: 6]
[Strength: 11]
[Stamina: 8]
[Speed: 6]
[Wisdom: 10]
[Will: 10]
[Spirit Energy: 1]
---
[Unallocated Status Points: 2]
---
'Hmm... we will go with this for now. I want to optimize strength.'
[Strength: 11-->13]
Sin felt stronger as soon as he allocated the stat points. As he was feeling his newfound inch of power, Kael walked up beside him.
"Sin... I don't think that moving forward would be the best option right now." Kael said this in a normal tone.
Sin turned, a bit confused. He noticed Ince and the other members of Ace being quite confused as well.
"We should at least recalibrate the dungeon and see what supplies we will need in the future. Don't worry... we may still come back if the dungeon isn't too dangerous. As a group leader, I believe this is the correct matter of course."
Kael was serious, and Sin could tell just from the way he spoke.
Ince and the others seemed a bit hesitant to agree, but didn't say anything.
Just when Sin was beginning to accept the fact that they would have to leave, Agneil barked loudly:
"Leader? Don't make decisions for me, you bum." Agneil stepped forward, his hands on his hips, "We will continue... and you all will do what I paid you to do. Protect me. When I complete this dungeon, I'll be known as the noble who completed a high-ranking dungeon in their first ever go. Don't dare try to take that away from me."
Scarlett and the other two looked at Kael for his reply. Sin also glanced over, not saying anything.
Kael was silent, his expression stoic but mysterious.
Sin hadn't ever really seen Kael like this, and the other members of Ace rarely saw Kael being insulted as well.
"Okay... if that's what you want, then that's what we will do." Kael said, facing the ground.
The tension in the air lowered as everyone exhaled. But it seemed Kael wasn't finished.
"However," Kael looked up and stared directly into Agneil's eyes. This wasn't a polite stare. It was a ruthlessly unemotional one.
"If it comes to it, I will always choose my team over saving you. I would like to honor a paid request, and it would be the right thing to do, but I wouldn't be able to control myself in a life or death scenario, unfortunately."
He said what he said, and then remained silent. Kael was prepared for any answers from Agneil, good or bad. He didn't give a damn, because what he said was the truth.
"Are you trying to threaten the young lord?" One of Agneil's guards exclaimed, but was quickly cut off.
"No," Agneil put his hand out, "It's fine. Something as simple as that is something I can agree to. After all... there's no chance I will ever come close to dying in this dungeon."
Again, the tension that had risen sharply from Kael's statement immediately dispersed.
Sin felt a bit relieved but also slightly on edge now at the same time since he didn't expect that reply from Agneil.
It was oddly fair, almost as if there was some sort of ulterior motive.
With the decision made, the group began to move further into the dungeon.
The giant cavern was riddled with bones of different animals. Clearly, this was some sort of dumping ground.
There were piles of four-legged creature bones everywhere, and even a few human skulls in the mix.
After another half an hour of walking, Sin and the others came across what was seemingly a dead end.
Thankfully, Sin was the one to find another route.
It was a small hole in the corner that was blocked off by a large but flat stone.
It was clearly purposefully hidden, but the reason as to why was unknown.
Everyone looked at each other with slightly worried expressions before moving toward the hole.
"It just looks like an unending black hole... pretty scary." Ince said, peeking down the hole.
"The back side is smooth. The ogres must use this often then..." Kael exclaimed, heaving a sigh.
After this, everyone jumped down the hole one by one. First went Agneil and his guards, wanting to lead the group.
Then, Ince and the rest of Ace except for Kael hopped inside and disappeared in an instant with a wavering scream.
Finally, Kael faced Sin and placed his hand on the young man's shoulder.
Kael looked around as if he was a criminal who was about to do something illegal, "Look, Sin." He said, locking his vision into Sin's eyes.
"I know you're excited, but you've survived this long and I don't want your journey to end today. Truthfully speaking, I was against bringing you from the start, but Ince and the others were adamant. And now, we are in an even worse situation. But we are still following through with it because of an arrogant child's flimsy confidence. Protecting Ace, which also now includes you, falls under my responsibility. I don't know why, but I feel something amiss about this entire situation. Many decades of dungeon experience is telling me that... something isn't right here."
Sin mused at this moment: 'Probably the fact I'm trying to hide from Agneil despite being right in front of him. That must be why he's feeling so uneasy.'
"Anyways... in the future, be more careful. I don't want you running forward. Your life is my responsibility. Make sure to be alert." Kael then smiled through his seriousness.
Sin could tell that Kael was actually being completely genuine.
"Don't worry... I promise you that I will not die in this dungeon." Sin replied with a fierce confidence in his eyes. He had full belief in this statement.
Kael inspected Sin's eyes, "Are your courageous eyes from actual faith, or arrogance?"
Sin was not joking around anymore: "Trust me."
After a short second, both of them nodded at each other with mutual understanding and respect.
Then, they both turned and jumped into the hole one by one.