Sighing a bit to himself as he understood all too well that he was just deceiving himself, Verdell turned to observe his surroundings to make sure that no powerful monsters were nearby about to sneak up on them while they weren’t paying attention. Not feeling entirely confident in the one with a hunter class being able to sense a powerful monster sneaking up on them, as the other party only seemed to have recently reached the B Rank.
Powerful as a hunter type class was when it came to detecting nearby monsters, Verdell felt far more confident in his own strength and experienced when the other party was only someone who had recently reached the B Rank. After all, at the end of the day, he was an A Rank Adventurer close to the S Rank who primarily explored on his own. Meaning he didn’t lack experience when it came to detecting monsters and had even developed a monster detection skill over the years, something unique for adventurers not of the hunter class but normal for higher ranked adventurers who had been journeying on their own for extended periods of time.
Hm? Looks like that fellow did indeed miss something...
And unsurprisingly, as Verdell scanned the surrounding marsh, he soon enough spotted a small crocodilian monster hidden beneath the water slowly making its way towards the small hill that the camp was located on.
Going over the information he had learnt about the fifth floor in the past, he quickly identified it as an A Rank Monster, that was skilled in concealment and ambush. Even providing a certain challenge to some weaker S Rank Adventurers if they were caught off guard. Earning it a special notation and cation reminder on the pages about the fifth floor of the dungeon.
Of course, the strength of this monster was under the circumstances that it could sneak up on someone, as without the element of surprise on its side, it stood little chance against a B Rank Adventurer, let alone someone close to reaching the S Rank-
Fwhoosh-! BOOOM!
For this reason, after spotting the crocodilian monster, Verdell didn’t hesitate, as he directly unleashed a fireball towards the sneak monster. Hitting it before it had time to react as the fireball exploded directly in its face.
"Ah!? An attack?!"
"What is happening!?"
"Explosion! Hide!"
Causing the other adventurers to panic at the sudden explosion before turning towards the one responsible with weapons in hand ready for battle. Only to discover that the battle had already ended, as the dead monster floated to the surface. Not surviving the fireball launched by Verdell. Showcasing not only how powerful his magic was, but also the fact that his fire magic was indeed far stronger than ordinary mages at the A Rank, something that had allowed him to assist Scaly in fending off the nightmare hawks in the past, as without his fire magic surpassing the A Rank, there would have been no way for him to fend off against the nightmare hawks.
"Don’t worry, I just took care of a monster sneaking up on us. Make sure to keep an eye out for others that might try to sneak up on us through the water in the future." Rolling his eyes a bit at the group of adventurers with weapons at the ready, Verdell informed the group about the situation before a sudden realization hit him... And that was the fact that this group of adventurers, even the seniors between the B and A Rank, didn’t seem to have any special preparations against the monster that had just snuck up on them.
This simple fact made him realize that it was likely that this group of adventurers hadn’t read the introduction to the swirling sands dungeon handed out for free by the adventurers’ guild to anyone entering the dungeon, or at least they hadn’t read the part about the fifth floor of the dungeon.
Doing this wasn’t surprising, as most adventurers tended to skip the later floors and only focused on learning about the ones that they would be exploring, but for so many adventurers to not have bothered to read about the fifth floor was a bit surprising and made him realize he might have to take charge of the situation if he wanted to not just ensure his own safety, but also this group of adventurers who clearly didn’t fully understand the danger of the situation that they currently found themselves in.
At first, he had thought it might be because they were starting to relax after setting up and had established a safe perimeter around themselves, but now he realized that it was most likely because this group of adventurers had no idea how dangerous the situation that they found themselves in truly was.
I... Maybe I should have just allowed those people to catch me...
Silently thinking this to himself as he looked towards the large cave opening that he had emerged from not too long ago, Verdell could not help feeling some regret over his choice to escape from the group of S Rank Adventurers who had been chasing after him.
After all, if he had allowed them to catch him, while annoying and undoubtedly something that would have ended up with him being stuck within the dungeon for a few weeks, it wouldn’t have posed any threat to his life. Not like now, where he now found himself having to survive on the fifth floor. A place that even S Rank Adventurers had perished in the past.
Not to mention, he would likely also have to keep an eye on the group of weaker adventurers, as his consciousness simply didn’t allow him to leave this group of children to fend for themselves in this kind of deadly place.
In a way, it was clear that the other senior adventurers were thinking along the same line, as they would have properly left the younger and far weaker adventurers to fend for themselves if they were more pragmatic and focused on survival over everything.
But in the end, most adventurers weren’t like that and would generally always look out for the younger adventurers who had just barely started their journey as adventures. After all, what adventures focused on killing wasn’t other people, but monsters.
Not to say there weren’t any kind of bloody feuds between adventurers, and all adventurers were looking out for each other, it was just that most adventures avoided causing trouble for younger adventurers just starting out.
If it came down to it and the situation truly ended up becoming a life and death one, most adventurers would still choose to save themselves over some weaker younger adventurers and Verdell himself also felt he would do something similar if the situation truly came to be, but before that, he at least planned to put some effort into trying to keep these younger adventurers save.
Speaking of keeping these younger ones save, there was also one other reason for doing it... And that was the fact that the adventurers’ guild would reward one greatly if one saved a group of younger adventurers from a deadly situation. The reward increasing depending on the danger that they found themselves in and how much risk they themselves ended up facing as a result.
The reason behind this kind of system wasn’t known, but most adventurers theorized that it was a way for the adventurers’ guild to access potential members that could be recruited into the core of the guild, a position that most adventurers strived towards, as becoming a core member of the guild wasn’t simple and reaching the S Rank alone was far from enough.
As for why this kind of position was so valued? That was because a core member of the guild would gain access to certain tasks and dungeons not accessible to other adventurers. Task that gave out far more rewards compared to others of a similar difficulty and dungeon with highly sought-after monsters that could be sold for a lot of money.
Verdell himself also strived towards becoming a core member of the guild but had never seen an opportunity to become one. Only now, with the task of saving a group of younger adventurers from a deadly place like the fifth floor of the swirling sands dungeon, did he see a clear path towards becoming a core member of the adventurers’ guild.
The other senior adventurers thought along the same line, as outside of them wanting to help these younger adventurers survive, they also wanted to use the opportunity to elevate their position within the adventurers’ guild.
The only ones unaware of how they were being viewed as precious cargo that had to be protected were the younger adventurers, as they had no idea about this kind of task within the adventurers’ guild. Only feeling thankful that they had a group of senior adventurers around them to help ensure their safety even after ending up on a dungeon floor far beyond their current level.