"listen kid. When it comes to dealing with a dungeon, there is never a moment of being too careful, there is only you not being careful enough".
There is no one that knows, or can come out in public and boastfully admit to knowing how a dungeon fully operates or the exact process it goes through before finally becoming a dungeon.
The only thing they know of, is that dungeons are mostly formed in a land corrupted by mana, and what determines their level, is how high the land is corrupted by the mana; that is all.
Why is mana the thing that brings about the form of a dungeon? No one knows. Or how there are some monsters in a dungeon that no matter how many of them is killed, when one comes back the second day, the dungeon is still filled with the same monster types that were killed yesterday? No one knows.
Dungeons have been considered a force of nature, and like any other force of nature, they work in ways that one can only assume on, not be assured of.
"what you said might have some sense in it, but you should never be too sure of it, especially if dungeon is what we are talking about".
Dexter was being extremely cautious than normal, mostly because of what he has been through. The experience has carved him into someone who has become much more assertive than normal to unexpected circumstances.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"we should go back to the city and inform the guild about this occurrence".
Dexter was feeling very uncomfortable about the sudden change in the dungeon.
It is not frequent that an F rank dungeon upgrades to an E rank dungeon. It does happen, but not very often.
The same can be said for an E rank dungeon going to D rank dungeon, those are well beyond normal in dungeon activities.
What isn't normal, is an F rank dungeon, skipping through the E, D and going straight to being a C rank dungeon, that is not normal, and it rarely happens, with every cases on it leading to endings that results in multiple loss of lives.
Dexter has made the decision based on an assumption that if an F rank dungeon can go directly to a C rank dungeon, what is to stop it from moving to being a B rank dungeon?
This dungeon has fallen under the abnormal kind of dungeon, one that it's activities is no longer predictable. There is no telling what could happen next, and he has to be careful of that.
He is an A rank adventurer, and he has with him, a kid who is on the verge of being an E rank adventurer.
It is no longer within the bounds of what he can handle by himself, or with a kid by his side. He needs to call on the assistance of other veteran type adventurers with ranks under the B or C level.
"we go back and call for other adventurers, and then what happens next? They come in here, only to see that we..... That you, an A rank adventurer, ran away from clearing a C rank dungeon. What do you think they will say behind your back if that were to come true".
Dexter wanted to get out of the dungeon as fast as he can, to go back to the guild and report to them so immediate action could be taken against it, but Dana has other thoughts of her own.
"kid, I get what it is you want to say, but this is not the time to put my pride first. You throw such things far away, and focus only on what is important. This dungeon's level has gone beyond the predicted form, we have to do what is right to stop it from going any further than it already is, and that involves going back to the guild to inform them about it, so necessary measures can be taken to counter it".
Dexter's image amongst the adventurers has not exactly been a good one after the events that transpired in Edevin city.
The A ranks adventurer who have always been jealous of his party the Dire hammer, have been acting up against Dexter after what happened.
Majority of them call him weak, look down on him for losing two of his members, and being the only one to have made it out alive.
A waste, is what they referred to him as, and some even went as far as accusing him of sacrificing his two members just so he could keep his own life.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmA lot of such allegations have been directed his way, and it would be a lie to say he was not the least bit affected by it.
He does not want to admit it, nor does he expresses it openly, but Dexter's state of mind, was very affected after his loss in Edevin city.
It was not a drastic thing, but something that manifested with time, slowly eating away at his mind until he ended up in this state.
It became more obvious when he stopped going to high level dungeons and only aiming for dungeons from D rank to below, just so he could earn his keep while living a slow, steady life.
The best thing for him in his current state, is to retire as an adventurer and move to the country side to raise a family of his own, but thoughts like that never once crossed his mind.
He and the guild leader had made plans to recruit adventurers to rekindle the Dire hammer name and put them back into action, but Dexter has been pushing the dates of recruitment aside, with excuses here and there.
All this together, had fallen Dexter's reputation in the guild to the extreme, and is now on the verge of losing his importance, or being remembered as an A rank.
Dexter knew what Dana was trying to say, what she wants them to do, and the disgrace that will accompany him along when people find out he is too scared to clear a C rank dungeon.
He knew all that, but he was still willing to risk it, if it means he gets to keep his life.
"listen here kid. Your pride will be nothing if you don't have your life to show for it. I treasure my life more than proving some ridiculous things to people, so what we are going to do is!".
Dana was through hearing more of his opposition to her ideas, as she left him behind and ran further into the dungeon.