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Chapter 171: Challenged

Arwin and his group joined the long, snaking line leading up to cave. By squinting, he was just barely able to make out the form of a woman wearing black clothes — the Secret Eye representative from the day before.

I hope she doesn’t remember me. It’s not like I did anything wrong, but I’d rather avoid an awkward situation if I can.

“How big is this dungeon?” Reya asked as the line slowly snaked forward. “There are so many people trying to get in. It’s got to be a shitshow in there.”

“Not everyone is getting in,” Lillia said. She’d wrapped herself in a cloak and pulled her darkness back as much as she could. She was still shrouded in a patch of shade and was standing close enough to Arwin with hopes of using him to hide from any prying stares. “Look at the front of the line.”

Lillia was right. Even as they watched, the Secret Eye representative shook her head and a team of adventurers broke away from the line, joining the stream of people heading back into the camp.

“Huh. That’s interesting,” Rodrick said. “They’re turning people away? I thought they were trying to get as many bodies in the dungeon as possible.”

“It is a bit odd,” Olive agreed. “I bet they got so many people showing up that the ones that knew what they were doing couldn’t even move anymore. It only makes sense to limit the amount of people that enter.”

The line continued on. Due to the number of people that the Secret Eye representative was turning away, it actually moved rather quickly. It didn’t take long before they drew close to the front.

“Oh, shit,” Reya breathed, shifting to move behind Arwin abruptly and pulling her hood lower over her face. “Look over there. Right past the Secret Eye lady.”

Arwin glanced in the direction Reya indicated. A large man sat in the shade near the entrance of the cave. He was clad in shimmering silver armor and had a thick bushy beard of red hair that covered the lower half of his face.

The man had his helm tucked under an arm and a large sword was planted in the ground beside him. On the right breast of his armor was a red badge embossed with a golden sword. Arwin’s eyes narrowed.

It was a member of the Ardent guild.

“Don’t do anything off,” Arwin said quietly. “Just act normally and keep moving. He’s not really paying attention to the line and you’ve got a hood. He isn’t going to recognize you.”

I, on the other hand, may be a different story.

The line continued forward. More and more teams came up to the Secret Eye representative, only for the vast majority of them to be turned away. It wasn’t long before the Menagerie had made it nearly to the front, and the group in front of them weren’t having any more luck than most of the others.

“Oh, come on!” a man protested. “Please, Ma’am. We’re more than capable of protecting ourselves. We’ve dealt with Journeyman dungeons before. We’ll be fine. And why would your organization care if we get ourselves killed? There’s risk in everything. That’s our business.”

“You misunderstand,” the dark-robed woman said. “I do not care if you live or die. The dungeon is only so large. It has been getting an increased amount attention and there is not sufficient room for every single team that approaches me to enter.”

The other members of the man’s party muttered in disapproval, but none of them were bold enough to challenge the Secret Eye representative any further. They reluctantly broke away from the line and headed back the way they had come.

Arwin and his group approached her — and the woman’s expression shifted to one of recognition. She knew who he was. Arwin repressed a curse, but it was too late to do anything about it now. All he could do was press forward.

“The smith wishes to enter a dungeon?” The woman asked, arching an eyebrow. She cast a look over the rest of his guild, then shook her head. “It is not safe for non-combatants. I recommend you stay with the dungeons more appropriate for your abilities. Or, better yet, remain out of dungeons entirely.”

“With all due respect, you have no idea what my capabilities are. I may be a smith, but that does not mean I don’t have hobbies,” Arwin said, keeping his words measured. “I’m capable of defending myself, as are the rest of my group. You could at least give us a proper evaluation before you turn us away.”

The look in the woman’s eyes shifted to one of mild curiosity. She inclined her head. “A fair request. Very well. What is your Tier?”

“Apprentice 6, and the majority of my team is roughly at a similar level. We have cleared Journeyman dungeons before.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Reya is a bit below that, but no need to get into details.

“Impressive for a smith,” the woman allowed, but she didn’t look convinced. “However, I’m afraid this dungeon is a little too much of a threat for me to allow you to enter it with those qualifications alone. You would not survive.”

Something feels off. Why are they concerned about people dying in there so much? The Secret Eye shouldn’t give a shit about any of this. They should just want to figure out what’s in the dungeon. Something is going on.

Arwin nodded to Olive. “Could you show her your weapon? We are more than we appear.”

Olive nodded. Arwin and Rodrick moved to block out the view of the rest of the crowd as she pulled the blade free of its sheath for just far enough that the Secret Eye representative could see it.

A few murmurs of disapproval rose up from the people behind them at the amount of time they were taking, but Arwin ignored them. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one that picked up on their annoyance.

The Ardent guildmember sitting at the base of the dungeon looked up. His eyes focused on Arwin and he rose to his feet, striding toward them. His eyes flicked down to the maker’s mark on Arwin’s armor. Like the woman, Arwin could tell the man recognized him.

At least I can’t say that the armor isn’t doing its job. People know who I am. It’s just the wrong damn people.

“Selen, what’s the holdup here?” he asked. “My guild allowed you to oversee the entry of members into the dungeon, not stall the line out. This group isn’t worth your time. It’s the smith and the team of idiots that we’ve got blacklisted.”

Selen’s gaze sharpened and she glanced back at the man as a flash of anger crossed her features. “Your guild may have purchased the land that this dungeon is on, but I will thank you not to attempt to order the Secret Eye around. You have no power over me, Busal.”

Aha. So that’s what’s going on. They bought the land the dungeon was on, knowing they’d be able to charge people a good amount of money to enter it. That’s a clever business move. They must have moved quickly — but why would they be filtering people out if that was the case? It should be in their best interests to have as many people as possible pay to enter the dungeon.

The man — who Arwin presumed to be Busal — raised his hands. “I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, Ma’am. I’m just pointing out that you’re wasting your time. The smith and his group wouldn’t even make it through a single room. They’ll die to the first group of monsters they run into.”

Lines of annoyance creased Selen’s face. She clearly wasn’t a huge fan of the heavily armored man, but she turned back to Arwin and gave him a small shrug. “I’m afraid he is correct. I cannot allow you in unless you’ve got something else to sway my decision.”

It sounded like Selen was actually hoping that Arwin would have a way to make her change her mind. Arwin almost laughed at Busal’s expression. The man looked like he’d eaten a lemon. He really didn’t want them entering the dungeon. And, if anything, that only made Arwin want to enter it more.

They’ve got something against us and I don’t think it’s just something that Madiv did. There’s no way the vampire could have pissed anyone off that badly. Unfortunately, I’ve got no damn clue what it is they’re pissed about.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. These idiots have money, but they’re not stronger than Jessen. If they were, the Iron Hounds wouldn’t have gotten such a strong hold in the city. All I care about is getting into this dungeon and taking whatever shit Jessen left behind.

Therein laid the problem. Arwin didn’t relish the idea of getting into a pissing contest in front of the crowd or revealing any of his stronger magical items. They could always return at a later date — but the longer they waited, the more chance that someone just broke into the locked area and made Jessen’s key worthless.

“Just leave, would you?” Busal asked, shaking his head and letting out an exaggerated sigh. “You have no idea what you’re trying to enter. I’m showing you mercy. My own team is composed of members far greater than you, and they’re currently working to get into the fifth room.”

“Says a lot about your own abilities if you aren’t there with them,” Arwin said dryly. “Seems like the rest of them are clever enough, though. They left their worst member behind.”

Busal’s jaw clenched. “I am more than capable of handling every part of this dungeon myself. Watch your words, Smith — unless you’re trying to start a fight? You’re the leader of your guild, aren’t you? It would be quite pathetic if you lost to a mere officer.”

A smile crossed Arwin’s lips, but his helm blocked anyone from seeing it. Busal had just given him the perfect excuse to enter the dungeon and the man didn’t even know it yet. There was no chance that Busal was stronger than Jessen.

“If you’re challenging me, then I accept. I’m unsure as to why the Secret Eye is turning anyone away if the only standard to enter the dungeon is just being stronger than you,” Arwin said. He rolled his shoulders and took a step forward. “As the challenged, I set the rules. The fight goes until one of us kneels.”

Busal let out a snort of amusement. “Not first blood? Coward, but I should have expected it. Come on, then. This ought to be fun. You can have the first move so rumors don’t start going around that I’m bullying noncombatants.”

That’s going to make things even easier than I’d planned.

“I’ll gladly accept.” Arwin extended his hand.

Busal stared at the hand. “What are you doing?”

“It’s a handshake,” Arwin replied. “I trust you know what that is.”

Anger flashed over the other man’s features and he spat on Arwin’s armor. “Don’t act as if you’re a proper warrior, Smith. I’m not shaking hands with a coward and a scammer. If you try to make a mockery out of me, I’ll crush you.”

“I believe you offered me the first move,” Arwin said evenly. He glanced over to Selen. “And if you’re rejecting it, then you’re either a lying coward or should forfeit the match for breaking your word. You choose.”

Selen inclined her head in agreement. The heavily armored warrior’s eye twitched and his muscles bulged as he stormed forward, letting out a slew of curses. He reached out, grabbing the offered hand — and Arwin poured energy into [Scourge] as his hand clenched around Busal’s.

Several loud cracks rang out as the other man’s bones shattered in Arwin’s powerful grip. The warrior’s eyes went wide and he drew in a strangled gasp, just barely managing to stop the choked cry of pain before it could escape his mouth. Busal desperately tried to free his hand, but it was impossible. Arwin didn’t say a word. He just put his free hand on the other man’s shoulder and used [Scourge] to slam the warrior to his knees in a single motion.

The bulging veins in Busal’s neck told Arwin that it was taking every scrap of the warrior’s power to avoid screaming in pain as his bones ground against each other. For someone as proud as he was, crying out would have been the ultimate humiliation.

“Please correct me if I’m wrong,” Arwin said, looking over at Selen and tilting his head to the side, “but it appears that one of us is kneeling.”