Sid POV

  “Why is it Dash again?” Rohan’s tone dripped with exasperation. “I was hoping for the mushroom-sorting skill.” He kicked at a clump of dirt near the snare, still annoyed.

  They had checked the clearing twice and found no traps besides the first one. Surprisingly, the boar had survived the trap. It stood to reason that Rohan would have also survived, albeit trapped with blunt injuries. The intent of the trapper was clear: capture rather than kill.

  “You bastard.” Varun turned towards Rohan in mock outrage, pushing his head back. The skill crystal had already dissolved into motes of light in his palm. “I knew you always had it in for me.”

  “Both of you, enough.” Sid tried to keep his voice low and steady, but urgency crept in. He crouched beside the boar, fingers brushing the blood and rough rope. “Let’s finish this quickly. Standing here is not ideal.”

  Varun straightened slightly at the reprimand. Even Rohan shifted his stance, suddenly alert. Pallavi stood a few feet away, scanning the surroundings for any movement.

  Only humans or goblins could set up traps. No other species could do it within the first level of the dungeon, Sid thought. He was discounting the hobgoblin mentioned by George as a freak accident.

  He inspected the net again, tugging lightly at the material. The texture was identical to the rope they carried. Goblin work. Reliable, crude and effective.

  Humans could set traps; they could even get their hands on goblin-made materials to make them. They couldn’t, however, make this trap—one that required capturing a live boar. Doing that within their first week in the dungeon required an absurd level of talent, and few people fit that description around here.

  Sid knew where most of those monstrous individuals were at the moment. Except one. The Bloody Butcher. Sid felt a familiar chill at the thought. If this were the Butcher’s work, then the meeting was inevitable, and he welcomed that moment. The world did not need men like him.

  Sid considered where they would lie in wait, imagining how the trappers might approach, whether they would observe the trap from a distance or someone would come closer to check it out. He wanted the team to clear up the trap precisely for that reason—to make the trapper come closer to look for clues about what happened.

  “I wouldn’t say no to more skills. Besides, you can’t blame me for being lucky.” Varun drew his knife and moved around the tree, crouching low as he grabbed one rope holding the net aloft.

  Sid knew it was not luck, just probability. Ridgeback boars dropped three skills: Dash, Snout Compass and Tuskslam, with Dash dropping four out of five times. Tony had absorbed Tuskslam, an incompatible skill, which resulted in his teeth growing out like tusks.

  “Rohan, cut the ropes on the top,” Varun said as he sawed at the ropes with his dagger. “You sure this will come in handy, Sid? Carrying an extra load will tire us faster.” His tone carried a hint of doubt beneath the carefree exterior.

  “It’ll be useful if we want to capture a monster alive.” Sid crossed the distance to Rohan, who was cutting the ropes at the top. Those ropes were harder to reach, and Rohan was struggling.

  “There could be other uses as well, like the rope we used to tie you and Rohan together. Besides, Pallavi has the strength to carry it,” said Sid, climbing onto the boulder and cutting from the other side. He needed them to clear the area around the trap and to clear it fast.

  Pallavi’s head snapped back at the sound of her name.

  “What?” Her voice carried more than the question, making it sound as if she were only half listening while keeping her attention on the surroundings.

  “He said that you were the team’s mule and wanted you to carry this net.” Varun cut in before Sid could respond. The teasing lift in his voice was familiar, the same tone he used during harmless arguments at college.

  Sid was glad that the rapport between Varun and Pallavi had improved over the past day and that his meddling by pitting them against each other had not ruined their friendship.

  Pallavi raised an eyebrow at Sid. She did not speak, but her look was direct, waiting for him to explain himself.

  “I meant you can carry heavier items now because of your recent upgrades. We talked about it already, right?” Sid kept his voice even, though he felt the tightness along his jawline. He hoped she caught the sincerity behind his words.

  All stats gave passive benefits. Strength made you stronger, agility made you faster, endurance made you tougher, and so on. Pallavi, who had over six times the strength stat of an average man with no skills, could carry a heavier load with ease.

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  Pallavi held his gaze for a heartbeat before nodding. When she stepped forward to take the folded net, her arms barely shifted under the weight. Rohan and Varun had needed both hands to gather the thick net, yet she slung it over one shoulder as if it were a rolled blanket.

  The group drifted into the clearing without a word, each peeling off in a different direction. Rohan checked for low-grown bushes near trunks, which could hide his profile. Varun looked farther into the distance, hoping to find some spots with a good vantage point. Sid watched them fan out, their movements cautious, each step taken after careful consideration.

  Pallavi stopped first. Something dark caught the light near her foot. She brushed aside a curl of leaves, revealing a black shard that gleamed against the dirt.

  “Some monsters might have fought here,” Rohan said, picking up the object and turning it over in his hands. “Looks like the shell of that giant spider.”

  “It could be hurt and nearby.” Varun took the piece of carapace from Rohan, studied it, and passed it to Sid. “We might level up your skill, Rohan.”

  Sid inspected the piece of carapace. Unlike the usual smooth surface, it had a crude pattern carved into it, almost like a primitive rune. That could only mean one thing: it came from a goblin beastcaller’s pet.

  The trap made sense now. Its purpose was to capture more pets for the beastcaller.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It could be dead for all we know.” Sid tossed the carapace aside and exhaled. His teammates watched him, waiting. “Keep looking for places we can use to hide, preferably one that can fit all of us together.”

  They moved out in small steps, each taking a different direction. Sid noticed how Rohan kept checking over his shoulder, how Pallavi’s grip shifted slightly on her weapon whenever the wind rustled a branch. Varun’s movements were more relaxed, almost confident, walking farther out as though danger did not concern him.

  “Guys!” Varun’s voice rang out, excitement clear in the sound. He stood farthest from the snare trap and pointed uphill with both hands, as if afraid they might miss what he had found.

  A rock outcropping extended from the slope, jutting forward like a natural balcony. Not perfect, but workable. The outcropping reminded Sid of a smaller version of the Trolltunga rock, only located much lower and not perched at a mountain peak. It offered enough shelter without sacrificing visibility.

  He turned back to Varun and met his gaze. A brief smile passed between them, a quiet acknowledgment of a solid find.

  “You and Pallavi work on camouflaging it with the net,” Sid said as Rohan and Pallavi joined them, their eyes already fixed on the outcropping. “Rohan and I will search for other hiding spots closer to the bait.”

  “Isn’t that too far?” Rohan asked. His voice held the clipped tone he used whenever he dissected Sid’s plans back in the office, the one that always forced Sid to double-check his assumptions.

  “It is,” Sid said. “But we don’t know when the trappers will come back. It could be an hour; it could be tomorrow. We need a spot where we can stay together if things go wrong.” As he spoke, he felt something steadying inside him. For the first time since gaining his future memories, he was not reacting to chaos. He was directing his team toward a plan. The ambush, George’s appearance, even the drugging incident had all pushed him into corners. Now he was pushing back.

  Convincing Rohan earlier had taken work. Rohan leaned toward caution every time danger loomed, preferring the safety of the cave. But once Varun and Pallavi agreed to stay, Rohan relented.

  Rohan’s shoulders lowered slightly, but his eyes still held uncertainty. “So we are actually staying the night out here.” He whispered it more to himself than to anyone else.

  “It’ll be fine, Rohan. Stop worrying so much.” Varun clapped him lightly on the back, giving him a lopsided grin. “We might even get a healing skill. Imagine that.” His excitement was contagious, even if misplaced.

  “Let’s not waste time.” Sid slipped back into his no-nonsense taskmaster mode and turned to Pallavi. “Cover the net with dry leaves and mud. Make sure it blends in from a distance.” He waited for her to nod before facing Rohan again.

  “Come on. A wasted hour is a missed level.” Sid tapped Rohan’s shoulder and walked toward the snare, expecting Rohan to follow.

  Varun watched him for a moment, eyebrows raised as though amused by Sid’s words, then headed uphill with Pallavi.

  “Great job on making that hideout, Pallavi. I did not think you could cover it from all sides,” Rohan said. His voice relaxed, and his eyes brightened as he looked at her, a small lift appearing at the edge of his mouth.

  “The protrusion was smaller than it looked from here. It will be a tight fit for the four of us.” Pallavi’s lips curved in a restrained but unmistakably pleased smile.

  “Hey, it was my idea too, you know.” Varun’s tone held a blend of annoyance and amusement. “I noticed you only praise girls, Rohan.”

  Rohan’s smile froze mid-curve. His eyes flickered for a single instant before he forced the smile wider, though it lacked the earlier warmth. Sid caught the subtle tightening at the corner of Rohan’s jaw. He was embarrassed, but trying to cover it.

  Sid remembered Varun calling him out on his crush on Aditi the first night in the dungeon. Varun had an uncanny ability to sniff out one-sided crushes. Sid did not think Rohan harbored feelings for Pallavi, but he always shifted into that reserved, polite shell whenever he talked to attractive women.

  “Every second we stay out in the open is a risk. I need you all to focus here.” Sid’s voice came out sterner than he intended, an edge sharpening the words. He waited until all three pairs of eyes locked onto him.

  “Pallavi, Rohan. You’ll go hide near that tree with the bush at the base.” He pointed to a tree with a wide trunk and a thick patch of brush beside it.

  Pallavi nodded immediately, her expression steadying.

  Rohan inhaled sharply, then nodded as well, his earlier embarrassment replaced with concentration.

  “Varun, you hide behind that tree there. I’ll stay here.” Sid pointed to another tree positioned between the others, forming a natural structure of coverage.

  The three positions created a triangle around the snare, their lines of sight overlapping just enough to watch every angle.

  “We’ll stay hidden for two hours. If the trappers do not show up, we retreat.” Sid checked his wrist by habit, then looked up again.

  Movement caught his eye. A flicker of a shape drifting between trees.

  “Looks like they are here,” Sid said. A small smile tugged at his lips as the tension in him sharpened into focus.

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