Chapter 313, Sour

Translator: Barnnn

Editor: Silavin

 

“…Was it always this sour?”

 

The man who had served as an informant for Ealdred Crow since the Clan’s inception frowned down at the glass of lemon water he drank every morning to wake himself up. The reason for the bitterness was all too clear — it was not the lemon, but the lingering aftertaste of the Clan’s decline. Clicking his tongue, he downed the contents in one swift gulp, then shattered the square vessel — crafted with a modified <<Barrier>> — and let its fragments dissolve into mist.

 

Ealdred Crow was in the throes of chaos. Ever since internal opinions had clashed over Meena, a former ally of Orbis and the one who had slain members of their Clan, the military-style command structure — established by Rook at the time of the Clan’s founding — had begun to falter. What once brought cohesion now only deepened the rift. Factions formed along teams, and orders failed to trickle down.

 

Until recently, Rook had kept Ealdred Crow united with clever goal-setting — short-term and long-term objectives that allowed every member to contribute and shine. By expanding beyond just Explorers to include businesses built around them, the Clan had grown large and wealthy, with top-tier facilities and generous benefits.

 

They had even ridden the wave of the three-role team composition with remarkable success. The Clan’s goals aligned perfectly with the system, and for a time, Ealdred Crow stood at the summit. No longer overshadowed by Clans blessed with holders of unique skills, they had finally seized the top spot — and morale had soared.

 

But then came the Stampede in the Royal Capital. Nine members lost. Then came the girl named Meena, and the Clan began to tear itself apart in argument. To make matters worse, Absolute Helix — a Clan barely a year old — cleared the ninetieth layer on their first attempt. One decisive blow after another.

 

Ealdred Crow, which had reigned from the seventieth to the ninetieth layer, was toppled by a single man’s leadership. A man without a unique skill. Since then, public sentiment and media coverage had turned sour, and the air within the Clan had grown oppressively heavy.

 

“Mister Dorren may be strict, but if you’ve got the skills, I guarantee you’ll be well-compensated. If you’re unsatisfied with your current conditions, or if you want to earn money even if it means staying busy — so you can sharpen your skills — I’m rooting for you. Please, consider applying!”

 

[Good God, what a clumsy advertisement. Kyoutani Tsutomu… what a deceptively carefree man…]

 

On Monitor #1, Tsutomu stood before the Black Gate, flanked by mountains of gold coins in various shapes and sizes, pounding on a suit of high-quality armor for emphasis as he advertised recruitment for the Dorren Workshop. This was the same Tsutomu who, through his leadership efforts, had knocked Ealdred Crow off its throne.

 

The image then shifted — away from the gleaming gold — panning right to a green hillside, where Leleia and Diniel stood, clad in gear far more extravagant than usual.

 

“We hope to see your application soon!”

 

“We look forward to it!”

 

“Seriously! I want some normal-looking gear for once, so make lots of stuff, please!”

 

[Hannah aside, losing Leleia was a mistake. If only we had managed to pull Amira to our side… if only we had silenced the anti–unique skill crowd back then, things might have turned out differently.]

 

The informant had not considered Hannah’s evasion-based Tank role seriously — an oversight he could live with. But with Leleia, he had known full well of her fixation on Amira. He had even prepared a plan to recruit the weakened Amira after her Clan had disbanded. Yet even that had sparked debate within Ealdred Crow.

 

The Clan had long suffered defeats at the hands of those with unique skills. That bitter history had fermented into an inflated inferiority complex. Many within the Clan treated Amira with open hostility because of her gift. Still, if they had managed to recruit her, Leleia would have followed without hesitation.

 

[Come to think of it, almost every member of Absolute Helix is someone we — or other Clans — wanted to poach… Heh, Tsutomu could become an exceptional informant if he ever retires as an Explorer.]

 

At first, the members of Absolute Helix had not stood out much. Now, though, they were all desirable recruits. Among them, Hannah the evasion-based Tank and Korinna the Channeler had undergone particularly stunning transformations.

 

Hannah — despite being a Boxer — had insisted on becoming a Tank, and never backed down. The administration staff used to joke that all her nutrition had gone to her chest and none to her brain. The informant himself had once pitied her, thinking she could have thrived as an Attacker like Haltto if she had just stayed in her lane.

 

But now she was the leading figure among evasion-based Tanks — and the apprentice of Melchor, inventor of the arcane art of the Magic Fist. With her brutal aerial mobility and raw power — rare even among the Birdkin — alongside a reckless courage bordering on suicidal, she had become a crowd favorite the moment she caught momentum.

 

Korinna, the Channeler who once belonged to the White Strike Wings, had been completely off the spotlight. At the time, White Mages were in high demand, but Channelers were considered too niche — unless they had powerful connections, no major Clan would bother inviting them. When Absolute Helix recruited her out of nowhere, most dismissed her as a filler.

 

Yet when the team took down the Mount Golem using a composition where the Channeler served as the Healer, the tide shifted slightly. By the time they cleared the Winter General, her ability was acknowledged by Dungeon Maniacs and slowly began to garner attention. Her insight into death was uncanny, too — some even speculated that this quirk of hers bordered on those granted by a unique skill. The role Tsutomu had carved out for her as a Channeler had now elevated her beyond even top-tier White Mages.

 

She now stood as a direct competitor to the Mobile Healer on the ninetieth layer — and even Ealdred Crow’s very own Stephanie.

 

[Still, Absolute Helix’s Team 2 isn’t a major threat — at least, not yet. It’s not that their members are lacking. On the contrary, they ARE all capable in their own right. The problem is their cohesion. They simply don’t function well as a party…]

 

As someone who had spent years observing parties from within Ealdred Crow and through the Monitors, the informant had already noticed the disconnect. The friction between Garm and Amy remained unresolved, but the more pressing concern was the distance — emotional, strategic, perhaps even ideological — between Korinna and Xeno.

 

There was a discernible reluctance in the way Korinna supported him. During battles, her healing subtly avoided him. It was most evident when dispelling petrification or casting <<Ray of Solace>> — she favored Garm, without question. The discrepancy in care might have been negligible on a cast-by-cast basis, but over the span of an hour, the bias became unmistakable.

 

[True, Xeno doesn’t have a particularly strong presence among Absolute Helix. But he still IS a solid Tank for his level, no doubt about that. Among their group, he also seems to understand the Corrupted Shells better than anyone. Even Tsutomu — or many of the other top Healers, for that matter — could have made more effective use of Xeno than Korinna does now.]

 

Tsutomu was a poor comparison, of course; the man could synchronize with anyone. But Stephanie — yes, she would’ve drawn out the full extent of Xeno’s potential.

 

[Interestingly, Xeno doesn’t return Korinna’s avoidance. If anything, he places his full trust in her. And that is precisely the issue. Their mismatched expectations clash at a subtle but fatal level. Xeno could rely more on Potions, make things easier for himself. But he doesn’t.]

 

If he had shared the same hesitancy Korinna harbored, he likely would’ve supplemented her lack of support with healing items. Doing so would’ve helped him survive the middle phases of the battle with more ease — and lent stability to the entire party.

 

But Xeno barely used Potions. He trusted Korinna’s healing implicitly. Korinna, for her part, failed to recognize the forced smile he wore through the pain. She assumed he was still fine — and so she held back, delaying her healing. The result was Xeno’s inability to fight at full capacity.

 

Garm or Daryl — they could fight through injuries without missing a step. But Xeno, though experienced, was not quite at their level. He still flinched at pain. Back during the battle against the Winter General, it was Tsutomu’s meticulous support that had allowed Xeno to shine. Korinna was fully capable of providing that level of support, too — yet her subconscious bias against Xeno left their synergy fractured.

 

[Amira, by contrast, has become obsessed with success as of late — not unlike how Stephanie once was. It’s a dangerous kind of hunger, but a useful one. She’s stopped looking over her shoulder, less concerned with what others think. That self-assurance would take her far. But unless the distance between Korinna and Xeno is resolved, her growth would mean nothing.]

 

Ever since Team 1 cleared the ninetieth layer, Amira’s desire to win — no matter the cost — had become visible, almost palpable. As an Attacker, she showed strength comparable to Diniel. But no amount of individual brilliance would be enough to overcome the Corrupted Shell. Without something near-divine, like Tsutomu’s uncanny coordination, they wouldn’t make it.

 

[And then there’s Silver Beast’s growth… it’s taken a strange turn.]

 

Where once Absolute Helix had dominated Monitor #1, Silver Beast now claimed the spotlight, their battle against the Corrupted Shell unfolding onscreen. Of all the figures darting across the battlefield, one stood out above the rest — a Conykin dashing about like lightning.

 

The informant couldn’t help but wonder, [Does she have some unique skill that lets her run forever?]

 

Lorena, still smiling even after hours of combat, might as well have been riding an endless runner’s high. Among White Mages, she was certainly one of the more eccentric ones. She deliberately avoided ranged support skills, choosing instead to make physical contact to boost both the potency and duration of her spells. On top of that, she joined in the attack when she could. No one had yet managed to replicate her unorthodox style. Her bottomless stamina alone made that impossible.

 

“<<Heeeaal>>!!”

 

More recently, she had been practicing a strange new technique — casting <<Heal>> in the shape of a handprint, as if stretching out her palm to reach someone across the battlefield. Whether it surpassed conventional ranged healing was still unknown. But one thing was clear — she no longer retreated into a purely defensive stance.

 

Her team was just as unconventional. Misil, his Job the rare Adventurer, now counted among the most popular in the dungeoneering scene. Riri and Rara, twin Birdkin Tanks specializing in evasion, defied all expectations. Madeleine the Sorcerer, their Attacker, rarely used magic-type skills, favoring blunt instruments for physical strikes instead. Each of them constantly experimented, trialing strange new methods — even failing outright — in the hopes of uncovering something practical, like Lorena’s evolving handprint <<Heal>>.

 

[It would’ve been easier if they’d just accepted the Jobs given to them,] the informant thought.

 

After reaching the ninetieth layer, Silver Beast had fallen into a more cautious pattern. But now, they moved with the same light-footed synergy they had shown against the Fire Dragon — as if they were communicating telepathically.

 

Still, Silver Beast was not the only group catching the informant’s eye.

 

[Scarlet Devil Squad and Golden Tune… especially Eunice. Her progress lately has been something else. Did something happen?]

 

He had been keeping an eye on Eunice, partly to see if her failed romance with Leon would open a window for recruitment. But there had been no negative developments on that front. Still, after a certain point, her growth as a Healer became impossible to ignore.

 

She had once been rated below frontline Healers — especially after the mutated Shell Crab fight, where her effectiveness had fallen short despite her inventing the dumpling-style <<Raise>>. But recently, during a battle with the Winter General, she had pulled off two back-to-back revivals and turned the tide. Her performance had climbed dramatically.

 

[Maybe I’m biased,] the informant admitted to himself. [But it really feels like she’s broken through some shell. If she ever leaves Golden Tune, I’ll be ready to make an offer the moment she does.]

 

It could simply be a case of someone rising quickly after starting from a low baseline. Or maybe he was partial to Vulpeers. But Eunice had been radiating confidence lately — her expression brighter, her healing sharper. Small, cute, and strong — traits that made her naturally appealing to fans. He would not deny the temptation to play favorites.

 

Smiling gently to himself as he watched Eunice and her team working her way up near Monitor #20, the informant finally looked away, closing his eyes to rest them. A moment later, he reopened them and resumed his observations of the Monitors.

 

There was still much to be done if he was going to help Ealdred Crow regain its former glory. So, once again, he turned his focus to the work only he could do.