Rise Of The Hoarder
Chapter 287 The Party

Tia silently moved across the Hallway with moderate speed. Using too much would deplete her vitality, and she had to save a lot for the fight to come.

As a Thief, the girl also doubled as the scout of her Party. Since only she could make use of both <Camouflage> and <Sneak> Skills, it was certain that this sort of job could only be done by her.

It was dangerous, sure, especially considering the fact that this was ‘The Abandoned Tower’. Still, she could stride within it with at least some degree of confidence. It was because of the fact that the Return Stone was in her possession.

For her to have undertaken such a dangerous venture, it was only natural for Tia to have been given such a resource, despite hoe expensive it was. Even if she encountered any form of insurmountable danger, the Thief could always return to the Starting Point with her life intact.

This way, there was little to no risk attached to her mission.

Of course, Tia had no intention to wastefully use the Return Stone. After all, it had cost quite a deal of Karma Points from her and the rest of her teammates. Using one so haphazardly would result in a loss on their end and they would have to buy another.

Return Stones were so expensive they could only buy one and saved the rest of their Points for more resources. Wasting the only one they had was out of the question.

Once she reached a considerable distance, she saw a room at the end of the Hallway, a Spawn Area!_.

Tia recognized it well. This was where Demons would appear the moment anyone stepped foot inside. The room would also be forcefully blocked until all the spawned monster had been vanquished. The only way out was victory… or using a Return Stone.

Tia, of course, knew better than to approach the room by her lonesome. She had already achieved her goal by making it this far and confirming all she could. With that done, the next course of action would be to retreat.

>WHOOOSHH<

Her steps were precise and nearly soundless, perks of her expert skills as a Thief. She returned with a bit more haste, reassured that no monsters were in the way, no danger surrounded her… and also because the duration of her Skills would soon run out.

******

“… So, that’s how it is.” Tia mumbled, finishing her report concerning the survey of the area.

The Party members before her had been listening to her in silence, waiting for her to finish. Once she did, they all made sighs of relief in unison.

“Whew! Looks like it’s the same as before.” The red-armored warrior commented.

His name was Nate. Thanks to being the highest-leveled individual in the group as well as his nearly stifling charisma, he was unanimously voted for as their leader.

“Yeah. A relief indeed…” The blue-coated mage answered.

He was known to be very cautious, but that was due to his somewhat cowardly nature. Still, Terry was a fairly powerful Mage and his skills were extremely useful.

“Nothing is stopping us, then…” The red-robed mage muttered.

He was basically looking forward to the raid and wanted to get it over with. The Karma Points and whatever rewards they could get from it counted a lot. That was Darwin’s policy.

“…. U-um… this is… a bit exciting…”

The flustered, childlike voice belonged to a short and seemingly fragile member in the group. If one took a close look at all of them, she resembled a child amid the other grown folks, and her manner of speaking confirmed it.

The girl’s name was Sara, and she was a Tamer.

It was a rare job for a Gifted to have. Even though the Tamer option was made available for everyone to choose from among Primary Jobs, very few had selected it. And so, it was hard to replace anyone with their skill-set.

Sara was, however, one of the rare people who chose to be Tamers, and while her overall Stats and Skills sucked compared to the rest, her Tamer abilities were to be coveted.

With all the members of the Party in agreement, Tia also nodded and they took formation.

“Let’s go!”

*******

The Party walked down the dimly-lit hallway that was only illuminated by blue-flamed torches hung on the walls. There were rumors that many gems of light used to litter the walls to provide more visibility, but they were all taken and sold by some selfish Gifteds. As a result, everyone had to make do with the dim lights.

Taking their usual stratagem, the group approached the Spawn Area in silence.

Nate was at the vanguard since he had the Knight Job and boasted the highest direct combat ability.

After him were the two mages who stood left and right, a bit behind their leader to provide cover.

Behind them was the weakest member of the group, Sara. She was to be protected at the center of the team. Still, the petite girl was on standby, just in case her abilities were needed.

Finally, there was the final one, Tia.

She was at the rear, keeping watch over the blind spot of the team so none of the members were caught off-guard. It was a crucial role, especially since she was the only line of defense at the rear flank compared to the front area.

Still, everyone was assigned to the area that best suited their Skill Sets.  She was no exception.

It took some time of uncomfortable silence, but the team finally reached the Spawn Area and entered with no hesitation. Even though they should have had some reasons for hesitation before stepping in due to the nature of the Tower they were in, none of them even showed a tiny bit of it.

Tia had already done the scouting, so naturally, they believed in their teammate’s efforts and ventured within.

It wasn’t just blind trust, though. Of all the people who possessed the Thief Job, they knew none more capable than their member, Tia!

“Get ready for combat, everyone!” Nate declared as he held onto his blade and charged into the room which greeted them with a sharp glow of light.

This indicated that the Demons were already spawning… and combat was imminent!