Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Although Simon didn't know where this place was, from the legends marked on this map he could at least tell that it was leading towards some kind of graveyard marked by enormous bones.

"Could this be some kind of treasure map?" Simon thought internally, the fact that he got this from an adventurer, further backed this idea.

If it really was some kind of treasure map, then there must be another piece to this map somewhere else. He tried checking the other space rings once again; however, it looked like the other piece was not there. Without the other piece, it was hard to tell where the place marked on the map was.

'Maybe this is why even their guild couldn't get their hands on it?' there was no telling where in the world the place marked on the map could be without the other missing piece. Thus Simon kept the map in his space ring without wasting his time any further and exited the place.

Days passed by and just like that, and a week had already gone by.

Inside the adventurer's association branch of the tower town. The building was not very big with only two stories. Though one couldn't say that it was small since it was still under construction.

The first floor was the lobby where the bar and the quest board was located. At this moment, people were chatting and drinking with their fellow teammates, drowning in the success of their recent adventures.

"Gahh… that was a nice drink, another one"

"Haha, drink up... the drinks are all on me today!!" Harris said gulping down the alcohol from his mug.

Although they were being boisterous and noisy, nobody cared since it was just like a daily occurrence inside the building. Wherever the adventurers went, the place was bound to be noisy after all, these people weren't bound by any laws or rules like the knights.

The table where Harris and his team sat, was particularly noisy today as they merrily sang and drank. Seated not far away from their table was, Bolan and his group but unlike the other group, the atmosphere at their table wasn't that bright.

"Is it safe to assume that…" Bolan asked.

"Yeah that guy is already dead" his teammate seated by his side, completed the sentence for him. He then shrugged his shoulder and said "well, we did our best and searched for him all around the floor but we couldn't find a single of him. Given that he does not have any adventure experience, it is only natural to assume that he had already died".

The person they were talking about was the provisional adventurer that they had recruited to go along with them to the eighth floor around a week ago. The mission was fairly easy and was just about mining the WhiteSilver ores growing on the walls.

Although the monsters on that floor might be a problem, if one stayed in group and avoided getting lost in the mist, they would be fairly safe.

They all thought that if it was them, bringing a newbie to make up for their headcount won't be a problem. But due to some unknown cause, their team ended up fainting while mining the ores. It was not just their team but all of the people there at that time became unconscious.

After a while when they came to themselves, they asked around as to what had happened, what was the cause of this mysterious sleep. They even filed this issue with the adventurer's association who told them that they would investigate this cause.

However, since there were no casualties, the mystery behind it was yet to be solved. No, saying that there was no casualty would be wrong since the provisional adventurer who was there with them at that time went missing after they all woke up.

Naturally, Bolan and his team wasn't among those people who just discarded people like that, they tried to ask other teams that were on the eighth floor at that time and even searched for him around.

Nevertheless, their search bore no result, no one had seen the provisional adventurer on the other floors nor come out of the dungeon.

There was no need to even mention, given the clues it was obvious that he had died and was eaten by the monsters.

"Sigh… that guy did not even have a map nor a navigational skill to walk out of the mist. To have lost a guy as soon as we recruited him, what a bad omen" Bolan said not being able to enjoy his ale.

"Team leader, it's not your fault or ours" another one of his teammates tried to console him.

"You are guys right, it's not our fault but it does reflect on our team doesn't it?" Bolan stated.

The other guy went silent unable to say anything in return. It was as Bolan said, losing a newbie right after recruiting him said a lot about a team. The Adventurer's association especially, who kept a record of every adventurer, team and guild, could give a good or bad review of their team which might even ultimately lead them to disband it.

Unlike guilds which are registered by the adventurer's association and are considered a fixed entity, teams are a group of people forming a party. The aforementioned party can be temporary or permanent depending on its members.

Nevertheless, unlike a guild, a party can be dissolved at any time, it can be due to a collision of interest from the members or simply because the party had run its course. In any case, it is not unusual for a team to disband suddenly.

There are many parties being formed and dissolved on a daily basis, the adventurer's association does not have the leisure or the time to keep registering and tracking all of them thus the adventurer's association only registers those party that has been in existence for more than three months and inputs it in the adventurer's card and based on it, the association can give the party their verdict.

If they find a party using trickery and unethical means, they would immediately order the party to disband or in the case of a temporary party bar their entry from the dungeon. It is because of this reason that Bolan was worried.

Their party was a registered one and he was afraid that the adventurer's assocaition might ask their party to disband in the future.

Although it is not uncommon for a newbie to die inside the dungeon, the fact that it happened when he had just joined their team changed this conception. Now the blame for the provisional adventurer's death was naturally, accounted to their team.

How could this not upset Bolan and the others?

HAHAHAHA… from the other side of the hall came the loud laugh of Harris and his team being merry. This seemed to further irritate Bolan.

"What the hell is wrong with that guy today, why is he being so loud?".

"You cannot blame him leader. I have heard that they have just successfully cleared the ninth floor and are now amongst those few teams and guilds who have explored floor up till two digits" his team member explained the reason behind Harris there laughing and drinking so much.

"Tch" Bolan spat and shifted his eyes away. Though he hated the guy, he still recognised his abilities.

As he was frustrated over his team lagging behind, the entrance of the association was pushed open and a group of people in expensive adventurer's gears entered inside.

The moment they entered, their presence drowned the noise of the crowd and suppressed all the other presence within. Their powerful aura along with their armours and gears, told others how strong they were and not to be messed with.

The instant they entered, they garnered the attention of every adventurer present inside. Hushed chatter and mutter could be heard from the people as they discussed about the identity of the group, Bolan and his team were no exception.

Given that these people seemed to be of the same profession as them and given their powerful auras, it was only natural that they were intrigued.

"Who are these people?" Bolan asked looking at them walking straight towards the receptionist desk.

The adventurer's association branch in the tower town was set up not long ago and was only a small unit, thus it did not have a branch manager and was considered a sub division of the branch located at the city of Mountmend.

"How can leader not know them? They are one of the big guilds from the southern region of the kingdom, the Tyrant Mountain. I heard that a few of their participants managed to secure a place in the top hundred in the battle of the Finest tournament" his teammate reported.

Tyrant Mountain, Bolan suddenly recalled hearing the name of this guild. From what he could tell, the guild wasn't as powerful as the top five guilds but every year they were slowly but surely inching closer. The groups of adventurers in front of him were proof of that.

As all eyes were stretched taut on them, they arrived in front of the receptionist's desk, had a talk with them and passed over the contents of their spatial ring. The receptionist took it inside for analysing by the other specialist staff of the association before coming outside and nodding her head at them.

After that, the receptionist in front of the puzzled eyes of every adventurer removed one of the Red Notices from the quest board.

"What?!!" the moment the Red Notice was taken off, it was as if a storm had hit the adventurer's association with all the adventurers going crazy.

There was no need to doubt the authenticity of the actions of the adventurers association; after all, they wouldn't move without confirming the facts a few times. Plus the guild that had provided this information was one that cannot be looked down upon.