Filled with relief knowing that they wouldn’t have to engage in a life and death battle with the swamp monkeys again, the group of adventurers took the precious time to relax and recover their strength.
Still, they didn’t dare get up and leave the small dry spot that they were on top of, as they had no idea what else might await them the second they resumed their journey through the swamp.
Even if this did run the risk of them encountering the swamp monkeys again, it was the only way that everyone had a dry spot to recover their strength without having to worry about getting soaked the second they sat down on the ground or have to worry about leeches hidden within the swamp water alongside other deadly insects wanting nothing more than to suck them dry and consume their blood.
During this time, the group of younger adventurers who had barely taken down a few of the swamp monkeys working together, were the most active, as almost all of them had reached level 19 and found themselves facing their first ever class quest.
Along with it being the class quest being the first they encountered it wasn’t anything complicated to complete and some of them could even complete it without needing to leave the resting spot, thus resulting in their current active state compared to everyone else, as they wanted nothing more than to complete their class quest and advance their strength further so they could be a bit more useful.
At the same time, increasing their strength by completing the class quest would also give them the chance to take full advantage of their current situation to rapidly increase their own level and strength. Maybe, by the time they got out of the dungeon safely, they would end up being the strongest for their age group. Perhaps even reaching the D Rank, a rank generally not archived by anyone under the age of 25 outside of certain talented individuals.
If they could truly reach this kind of rank with most of them being between 15 and 16 years old, they would truly be considered the most promising young adventurers within the entirety of Temple Guard City and the surrounding small kingdoms. Even standing a very real chance of reaching the C Rank before the age of twenty, an achievement they could not just brag to others about but also get them noticed by the main headquarters of the Adventurers Guild.
After all, though the main headquarters of the Adventurers Guild generally didn’t interfere much with the adventurers of the guild, things were different for adventurers who were talented enough, as they would be granted a chance to be personally recruited and trained by the main headquarters. The general requirement known to most being for someone to reach the C Rank before the age of 20. Not just difficult because of the strength requirement, but also because reaching the C Rank didn’t just involve reaching a certain level of strength, but a certain number of tasks had to be completed as well to get promoted.
In fact, outside of the S Rank that was considered somewhat special, one would have to progress through the ranks one by one. Completing a certain number of tasks before being promoted.
Meaning... There had been situations where someone with strength comparable to an A Rank Adventurer had ended up as nothing more than a F Rank Adventurer...
Still, there were always some ways to speed up the process, but the fact remained that advancing in rank within the guild took time.
The group of youths naturally understood this and knew that there was little hope of them reaching the C Rank before they turned twenty, but they did at least see a very real chance with how fast they had advanced following the battle with the swamp monkeys... And even if their lives were far from safe as they were still stuck on the fifth floor of the dungeon, they used this chance to strive for a better future to distract themselves from the deadly situation they had found themselves in.
Of course, the older adventurers understood the thoughts of these youths from a glance but knew that it would be best not to stop them, as doing so would only make travel more difficult in the future in case the despair of their current situation ended up setting in.
Not to mention, whatever little assistance came their way was more than welcomed, as one thing they didn’t lack was supplies. Having only recently stepped into the swirling sands dungeon by the time they were washed all the way to the fifth floor of the dungeon alongside these supplies that had originally been prepared for an extended trip to the second and third floor of the dungeon.
In a way, this could be considered the one bit of luck they had encountered, as without those supplies, there would have been no way for them to survive their current situation for long.
After all, though water could be conjured up through magic, food wasn’t exactly easy to come by. Especially when one found themselves in a swamp filled with poisonous creatures and plants that might kill you the second you consumed them...
"Everyone, we should get going or we won’t ever be able to find a way to the fourth floor." As several hours flew by with everyone taking turns to get a few hours of sleep in while others kept an eye out for any monster attack, Verdell ended up reminding everyone that remaining in one place wouldn’t help get them out of their current situation.
"""...""""
These words almost immediately drew the ire of everyone around, but not one person dared to refute what he said, as everyone also understood that he was correct.
Even if they wanted to remain in place now that the small dry land had proven to be safe and the swamp monkeys hadn’t returned for revenge, it wouldn’t get them anywhere closer to finding a way out of the fifth floor. Instead, it would just slowly dwindle their resources without them making any progress.
"I see that everyone agrees, so- let’s get going!" Rolling his eyes somewhat at the resentful stares from everyone around without anyone stepping forward to say anything, Verdell decided to play the bad guy and get everyone moving.
Rustle~
Something that did get everyone to pack up and prepare themselves as they once again resumed their journey through the swamp.
Only difference this time around being that Verdell and a few others who were skilled at climbing ascended the relatively tall swamp trees that almost completely blocked out the sun above to see if they could spot a heavenly staircase leading up to the fourth floor of the dungeon.
Unfortunately, their first few attempts to find such a heavenly staircase were unsuccessful, but as they continued wandering through the swamp while fending off a few weaker monsters that blocked their path along the way, one of the adventurers who climbed finally spotted what looked like a heavenly staircase in the distance. Calling everyone else over to check it out and ensure he hadn’t started hallucinating.
"This... Indeed, a staircase..."
"Yep, looks just like one."
"A staircase piercing the very heavens above! How majestic!"
Soon enough, earning the nods of those who had gone up to ensure it was indeed a staircase leading up to the fourth floor of the dungeon.
And... The second this news reached the group trudging through the swamp water below, it instantly invigorated everyone, as they now had a clear goal to reach to get out of the fifth floor and to a still dangerous but far safer dungeon floor.
If anything, the fact that they had managed to survive for as long as they had could be considered their ancestors guarding them with past merit enhancing their luck.
After all, the fifth floor of the dungeon was far too deadly for them to have successfully traveled as long as they had with their meager strength without some kind of otherworldly protection stopping the countless S Rank Monsters that should be roaming the fifth floor of the dungeon from attacking them.
In a sense, some of the adventurers truly did start believing that they had received some kind of divine protection and began devoutly repeating a simple prayer from the Holy Light Church.
However, their divine luck was bound to run out at some point and while they found themselves getting closer to the spiral staircase leading up and out of the fifth floor of the dungeon, they also found themselves finally running into the S Rank Monsters that inhabited the fifth floor of the dungeon and made the place so terrifying in the eyes of S Rank Adventurers.
The only positive about this encounter being that the monsters didn’t seem to place them in their eyes, as they were busy fighting with each other to the death.
Still, they had ended up blocking their way forward...