The two dungeon managers, Leron the Lizardman and Generon the Hobgoblin Brute, continued their standoff. The blade of Generon’s axe was the only thing holding back the tip of Leron’s sword from piercing straight through me, then Pim. He is badly injured, but he’s still managed to survive getting slammed against the floor. They stare at each other, a low growl emanating from Leron’s throat, but ultimately, he’s the one to break eye contact and yield. The glow from the fiery aura enveloping his body, as well as from his blood and eyes, finally begins to subside. He lowers his greatsword and starts to rewrap it around his back, all while wearing a derisive sneer.

  ?

  “Tsch. Yeah, yeah, I know what the master said. I wasn’t gonna kill them, I would’ve stopped in time. If they died while I was holding back, then they were never worth our time anyway.”

  ?

  “Is that why you activated ‘Blood Rage’, to hold back against a weakling?”

  ?

  “I was just helping them learn the difference between us. If I didn’t, they would’ve had the wrong idea about their place in the dungeon.”

  ?

  “That isn’t for you to decide, only the master. You always mess up at the last moment. Be glad I was here to stop you before you failed, and the master finally chose to dispose of you. The master is waiting for you, and I have nothing else to say on your ineptitude.”

  ?

  “Listen here, jackass! We’re both dungeon managers; you aren’t above me! You think so highly of yourself, so let’s go right now. I’ll kick your a-!!”

  ?

  Before he could finish his sentence, Leron disappeared from the spot he was standing in. Looking through the room as quickly as I could, I couldn’t find a trace of him. He must have been teleported, like I was before, probably to the dungeon master’s throne room. That must have been how he appeared without me sensing him, same for Generon when he intervened. But that means De’gon was aware of what was happening, that Leron was fighting against us almost to the point of death. I had to know why; the answer could shape the future I aim for. So, before Generon could leave, I questioned him.

  ?

  “Wait, Generon, why did the dungeon master send Leron to try to kill us? I thought he wanted us to be a useful part of the dungeon, more than just fodder for the dungeon delvers.”

  ?

  Generon looked at me, eyes emotionless as if he was addressing something that didn’t concern him. “You’re mistaken about the master’s intent, wisp. Leron was only meant to test your ability against a much stronger opponent, so that the master can find a use for you. Your opinion holds no sway on the operation of this dungeon. Should you have died, then that would have been all you were worth. But you, that stone golem, and Pim survived, so continue to do what you have been doing, solely in service of the dungeon.”

  ?

  With an atmosphere that wouldn’t allow any more questions, he looked past me, straight at Pim. I don’t know why he only addressed Pim by name, but he looked contemplative. Then, he must have resolved himself as he took out a small vial filled with a liquid from his belt. He uncorked it, dumping its contents over Pim. I checked his status to see what he did, and it looked like Pim’s health was regenerating at a faster rate than usual. That vial must have been some sort of healing potion or something similar. As soon as Pim’s condition stabilised, Generon looked slightly up and nodded, and in the next instant, was teleported away. He might have gone back to the dungeon master, but that isn’t important right now. I check on Vulcan, lying against the wall of the dungeon. Cracks cover his entire body, but they were visibly beginning to heal, nubs growing from where his arms had been slashed off and shattered. He isn’t in the best condition, but he’ll live. There’s a group of dungeon delvers coming soon, but we’ll be in no shape to fight the next group. The only thing we can do is let the backup stone golem handle them. I ask it to pick up Pim and place him next to Vulcan, not sure if it’ll actually follow my directions, but it does.

  ?

  Out of the way and recovering, I’m now able to think over everything that just happened. One of the dungeon managers attacked us, apparently to test our abilities and potential, but Leron went overboard and almost killed us. De’gon allowed us to live by sending Generon to stop the rogue Leron, but he always knew death was a possibility from this test. My life only has meaning to him if I prove I’m useful; there’s no reason to keep me around. All it would take is a simple whim for him to let one of his managers finish the job. As long as the current hierarchy persists, my life can be snuffed out at any moment. I need to get stronger. Strong enough to fight back against the dungeon managers and De’gon. Today, they put Pim and Vulcan on the brink of death, but next time, they could kill one of them to teach me my place. The only way forward is to overthrow De’gon, but to do that, we’ll need experience points to level up and enough practice to level our skills. For that, we need dungeon delvers. I can’t let a single one escape, but for now I have to wait for Pim and Vulcan to recover. Then, I’ll set my sights on the biggest prey in the dungeon.

  ?

  De’gon POV:

  ?

  In the throne room that lies at the bottom of the dungeon, rested its dungeon master, De’gon. He was monitoring Willow’s fight against the most recent dungeon delvers, watching as their group took down the humans with ease. He had been keeping tabs on Willow since the last time they talked, so he was aware of their skill development, but De’gon looked down on the effort, viewing it as the futility of the weak. But still, their efforts were enough to allow them to handle the larger groups of newer dungeon delvers that would come periodically. For some reason, an influx of dungeon delvers was entering the dungeon, but it didn’t seem like a reason for concern, at least not yet. With him were his two dungeon managers, Generon and Leron. Leron had grown disgusted, being allowed to see Willow’s fight with permission from De’gon. He believed a group of weak monsters, if you could even consider a wisp a monster, were becoming arrogant in their minor victories. So, he asked the dungeon master to allow him to inform the three where they stand in the dungeon’s hierarchy, through sheer force. De’gon considered it, believing it to be a good opportunity to see how a manager would fare against their group, and allowed it as long as he didn’t intentionally try to kill them. With that, he was teleported into the stairway and engaged in combat. Once it was over, he was summoned back to the throne room, where an expectant De’gon waited for him.

  ?

  “Ss!!” Still reaching towards his sword, Leron was finally able to finish his sentence, a moment of confusion on his face until he realised what happened, kneeling instantly. “Oh, dungeon master. I’ve achieved my goal and followed your instructions. Of course, I ended up victorious against that fodder, and they’ll surely never forget their lesson.”

  ?

  “You almost failed to follow my instructions. Generon is the only reason why the wisp and imp are still alive. I have no reason to keep monsters that go against the will of their dungeon master. understood?”

  ?

  “I’m sorry, dungeon master. I got carried away in the fight. I won’t let it happen again, I swear.”

  ?

  Sighing, De’gon moved on, knowing that was the best he was going to get out of Leron. “Good, now report on the results of the combat, as if you were evaluating a strong party of intruders. They were strong enough to make you bleed, so give me your full opinion.”

  ?

  “They weren’t that strong; they just got a lucky hit in. If we went again, I would easi-”

  ?

  “The truth, Leron.” In his imposing tone that couldn’t be defied, Leron finally spoke his honest thoughts.

  ?

  “Nngh, yes, master. Honestly, they fight as humans do, but with the added abilities of being monsters. They’re the lowest level of monsters, but their skills are able to make up for their lowered natural abilities. That, with their fighting strategies, was enough to catch me off guard.”

  ?

  “And what about their individual strengths?”

  ?

  At some point, Generon had appeared off to the side, but he listened quietly, intent on hearing Leron’s evaluation of Willow’s group.

  ?

  “The imp was slightly faster than me, so I had to focus on warding him away with sweeping blows. His weapon mastery is lower than mine, but it’s higher than it should be. He’s also extremely agile in the air, letting him combine all of that for lethal strikes from your blindspot. But his defences are really weak, so a good hit would be enough to take him out of a fight or cripple him. He’d be the priority target in a fight.”

  ?

  “Your opinion on the stone golem?”

  ?

  “For some reason, it’s a lot tougher than a normal stone golem. I was easily able to gouge out chunks of stone with each hit, but that would normally be enough to cut clean through a normal stone golem. It’s even managed to get a basic weapon mastery skill, instead of just flailing around. If it had the club it was using at first, I would’ve been more on the defensive, but it’s still fast and strong with just its fists.”

  ?

  “And what about the wisp?”

  ?

  “I… don’t know what to think about that wisp. It’s already weird enough for a wisp to think and speak with us, but it acted like the leader. It has no way to attack, other than to blind, but it still found a way around my resistance to its main tactic. If it can think in ways that let base-level monsters like stone golems and imps fight against higher evolution monsters, it might be the biggest threat of all of them. If it recruited more monsters, it could lead to an abnormally strong group of monsters.”

  ?

  “What if they reached their next stage of evolution? Could you handle them?”

  ?

  “If I used my full strength, I could beat a new Quazit and Copper Golem, but their improved skills and fighting experience could make it a close fight. But that wisp, if it evolved into something capable of fighting, I think I would lose against all three. If it can only lead them, then I should be fine by myself, even if I suffer a serious injury. As strong as they have become, I doubt they would stop at evolution. They are a threat that should be dealt with.”

  ?

  “So you think they could pose a danger even to my life. Generon, do you share the same opinion?”

  ?

  “For the most part, yes. They might become strong enough to rival our power in time, but it’ll largely depend on the wisp’s evolution. Without knowing, it would be safest to deal with them now, but it could probably wait until the wisp evolves. If it’s not a physical threat and doesn’t act against you, master, then they can still be of use. But, I trust in your judgement, master, so I will follow whatever you decide.”

  ?

  De’gon ruminated over both of his manager’s opinions, finding that they both coincide with his initial thoughts of the wisp in their first meeting. After spending some time on the question, he finally came to a conclusion.

  ?

  “We will wait and see what the future holds for them. They could always die in one of their fights against the humans, which would set back the danger for a while. Should they show any signs of aggression, you have my permission to do as you wish with them. Ideally, the wisp will evolve into something strong enough to be my third dungeon manager, but only the goddess may know. You can both return to managing your floors.”

  ?

  That marked the end of their meeting, postponing Willow’s fate for a little while longer. De’gon knew the potential threat of naturally evolved monsters was real, but he was assured in his conviction that he could stop that threat before it happened. After all, his blessing, “Chaos’ Favour”, gave him authoritative control over all the monsters of the dungeon, as they all only had the “Blessing of Chaos”. His status as the dungeon master granted him this blessing, allowing him to effectively manage the dungeon, but that put him under a false assumption. For he believed that Willow was just another monster of the dungeon, albeit with intelligence. De’gon could not be blamed for being unaware that Willow isn’t blessed by Chaos; they are “Chaos-touched”.