Chương 37: 1-36 Offering reprise

The mood remained somber after Josef and his companions continued on their journey to the deeper floors of the dungeon, and he couldn't help but occasionally check on two round wooden tags that he had stored in his hoard. On Earth, those would often have been called dog tags, though such a term was likely unfitting for Aurum, even if their purpose stayed the same.

Many adventurers would bring an object bearing their own name along on their dungeon delves, so that officials could note their death and their next of kin could be informed. Fortunately, monsters usually had very little interest in anything that wasn't flesh and blood, so tokens like that had a tendency to be preserved, even if some creatures like slimes often ended up damaging them while…

Josef really didn't want to think about it, and wished he could move on as quickly as Zippa did, who soon turned back into his chatty self, after they had finished sorting through the mementos of the deceased. He learned that while not a common occurrence, on account of available information and the sheer number of active groups, most teams had some kind of encounter of this type before, or at least knew what to do in case they came across this situation.

Adventurers were nothing if not pragmatic, so picking things clean was the expected behaviour in this line of work, and handling the belongings of deceased parties was no different in that regard. No one expected you to bring back someone's coin purse or magic items, as those were considered finder's keepers, but returning these identifying tokens was a matter of honor and responsibility, and failing to do so was a quick way to get kicked out and publicly shamed. He swore to bring these two back.

It was the least he could do for them. Would Cana also have a token on her? Probably not, since she never officially signed up with the guild, so they wouldn't even know who she was, much less be able to inform her kin. No, if it came to that it would be up to him to tell them. To tell Coco… Josef shook his head to dispel those horrible thoughts and gathered his mana as he charged towards the next group of monsters.

There was nothing like physical exercise to keep a mind occupied, and there was plenty of that as they made their way through more floors, until he got a long overdue notification. Level 18 -> 19 1 Free attribute points. 1 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 2 Endurance, 1 Intelligence and 1 Wisdom gained Another level, and a juicy one at that. Unsurprisingly, all the monster fighting surely helped along his physical attributes, showing that his current approach not only rounded out his spells and abilities but also his stats.

He flicked his free point into Intelligence, because when in doubt, it was never the wrong choice. 1 Intelligence gained That level up came just in time, too, as they were currently on the ninth floor and had been for a while now. Soon they would reach the boss room where his last expedition had ended, and from there they would have to see what happened. Would there once again be two royal slimes, or was it back to the normal prince slime?

Maybe there was an entirely new encounter waiting for them, or a combination of those cases. None of them would have expected that the answer was none of the above, as they finally began descending the final stairs and approached the metal grating placed at the border of the boss room. They heard before they saw what was waiting for them. The room was bustling with a fair crowd of people, some of whom were resting quietly, others were talking, or arguing with each other.

Not spotting the telltale gleam of Sanctum's shiny armor, Josef slightly relaxed, but also quietly slipped Vasaj's token from his hoard into his pocket. If anyone here needed help, then he could provide it without immediately giving himself away. This group of survivors would probably not care if the guy taking care of their wounded was trying to stay anonymous, if they even noticed the magic on him.

"Hey there, mind telling us what the situation here is?" It was Zippa who, without hesitation, immediately stepped up to the closest person, some kind of fox person with bushy red fur, and began acting like the party's face. If his straightforward behaviour surprised them, they didn't show it. Or maybe this wasn't the first time that happened, since they were standing close to the entrance.

"Welcome. I'm glad the dungeon didn't swallow more unfortunate souls, even though it is starting to get a little crowded in here." They nervously chuckled, probably trying to lighten the mood.

"As you can see, everyone who got stuck in this shithole is gathering here, as the former boss room seems to be some kind of safe spot now. At least those who were able to make it all the way here…" Was that because he and Cana had killed those two special bosses in here?

"So the layers don't work in here?" Bezzo asked, getting a nod in turn.

"In that case, have you seen the expedition come through? The guild is trying to shut down this phenomenon. They got Sanctum elves with them, which should be hard to miss." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Once again the fox nodded.

"Yeah, they came through alright, been an hour since then, maybe two. Shiny pricks glared at us, then waltzed through without many words. Bastards didn't even leave any supplies with us. Some of us have been stuck here for days, and water's gotten sparse. At least the rest of them dropped us some stuff as they passed through. Should be good for a pawful of days if we ration our supplies enough. On that note, are you staying here, or going after the big group? I can show you where to put down your bedrolls."

"No, we should move immediately, we already lost enough-" Bezzo began, but Josef cut him off.

"We'll stay and catch our breaths for a bit, but not for long." He gestured toward several clearly wounded people, covered in bandages, when the lizard gave him a questioning look.

"Can you gather your wounded? I have a… skill that can help them recover more quickly." Zippa audibly gasped at that, understanding what he was going to do, despite his need for anonymity. Josef didn't care in the slightest, though, as this mess was of his making, so he would work to make up for it. Also, with Vasaj's token obfuscating his features, they would not learn his identity, only that he existed.

It wasn't optimal, because he should have hidden his ability and gathered power for as long as possible, but he couldn't just walk past these people. Doubly so since he held responsibility for their situation. Bezzo fixed him with a glare that quickly changed into something softer as he saw the human's resolve, but the fox didn't seem to catch onto his meaning. Which was understandable, considering how ridiculous the notion of a random healer appearing inside the dungeon was.

So he made his point by casting Regeneration on the confused beastkin, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"Y-you are a healer?" Their exclamation drew the attention of several nearby people, all looking surprised by the mild glow surrounding the fox.

"I am, and I plan to heal everyone here before moving on. Please help gather the injured so that I can treat everyone." Josef asked, making his way further into the center of the round room, and he wouldn't have to wait for long, as whispers quickly spread across the room.

"Oi, swing your asses over here if you need healing!" Zippa shouted, helping in his own loud way, causing Josef to consider using healing magic on his own eardrums. His friend had a rather ridiculously loud voice. When the first bandaged stragglers approached, people still looked cautious and unwilling to trust his ridiculous offer, but that quickly changed when his abilities proved to be the real deal.

A part of Josef wished that Nibbles were here with him, because this was the biggest rush of patients he had ever handled, but he knew he could manage it. Thanks to the large amount of ambient mana, his resources weren't much of an issue for this endeavor, even if he would have to take brief breaks now and then.

"Please make an orderly line so everyone can get treated. You just need a bit of patience. If someone here can't move or was critically injured, please point them out so I can heal them first. Limbs can take a while, so please stick around until I have the mana to spare." It felt like a market stall pitch, but thankfully the people were mostly cooperative, and the siblings handled anyone who wanted to step out of line.

Regeneration was his standard approach to most, as they only had light injuries, many of which were already scabbed over. That, or they only had superficial burns from slimes. Those who had suffered from the mosquitoes but made it here often no longer needed treatment, as their lost blood would have already recovered. Though there were several who had caught diseases from the Rachse or infection from their wounds, those were fortunately easily handled as a byproduct of his spell. Then there were the tougher cases.

Those who had part of their flesh bitten off by the diseased creatures, or suffered from deep burns after getting caught by slimes. Some of those may have been bad enough to count as 4th degree burns, but he didn't have the medical expertise to diagnose that. He didn't need to, not with a combination of Regeneration and Greater Heal at his disposal, allowing the quick recovery of skin and protection from further infection.

The worst injuries were those who had either lost fingers to the local creatures, or had suffered extensive bites to their faces and other extremities, leaving them bedridden or crippled. His combination of spells still worked for them, but the time and mana required were far greater. Thankfully, no one had lost an entire arm or leg, which would have taken too long to fix before they would need to move on, but it still took Josef the better part of two hours before he had dealt with everyone's injuries.

Josef had actually intended to let Zippa and Bezzo rest while he worked on treating injuries, but the two of them stuck around the entire time, helped with sorting out patients and kept the peace when someone thought themselves too important to wait. That issue was much more common with the elves in the crowd, though they were not alone in their conceitedness. Still, all things considered, his impromptu clinic was a resounding success, taking care of everyone who needed him.

He was also pretty sure that not all the injuries he had treated were from the current situation, but he never cared to ask, even if the scars looked older. By the end of it, everyone's mood was visibly improved, even though the situation itself hadn't changed. Some even started discussing the option of going after the exploration team, intending to catch up to them to join the effort in fixing their dungeon. Bezzo just shook his head at those people, making his stance on their chances rather clear.

"If they had what it took to make it through the next ten floors, then they wouldn't be sitting around here, moaning about their injuries." Josef was glad no one in the celebrating crowd seemed to have heard that.

"Mr. Healer, what's your name? Are you also with Sanctum? You are much nicer than them." Someone finally asked him. They were small, with some red fur showing under their tunic, face hidden under a cowl. Not too surprising a look, as many here did the same. It was a pretty clear indicator of who hadn't entered through official channels. Aside from some rather crude comments when people queued up, most had fortunately not made a big deal of that.

He had to think about that for a moment, as he wasn't ready to give away his real name, though if he was going to gain public traction, then he would at least make his stance clear.

"Please call me Adam." It was a fitting name for the only, and thus first, human on Aurum.

"As for Sanctum… I stand against those bastards."