While the situation inside the isolated place had calmed down due to Basil's crazy stunt, the situation outside of the isolated place hadn't yet.

Apparently, Basil was so meticulous, he had chosen the gate that spewed less Goblins out. Therefore, the Knights of Hauler were left to slay the larger amount of Goblin.

"Can't we just go nuts like those three?!" Sylvia was frustrated.

She had been fighting properly like a Knight, and applying everything she had learned at the Knight School—which she had enrolled herself in, because of her promise to Basil—she had just graduated from not long ago. However, the Goblin wave was endless.

Although she hadn't attained her Aura Ability yet, she wasn't so weak to the point she couldn't fight a couple of Goblins at once. She was a proud Peak Stage Orange Core Knight!

She didn't go frenzy, because Thompson forbade her to do so.

"No, you can't! Our Qi is not infinite. We have to use it wisely!" It was the same answer he had given her, each time she asked him.

Steven laughed. "Hahaha! Our young Sylvia is frustrated, it seems. Why don't you help her, Jake?" While saying this, he was constantly slaying every unfortunate Goblins coming his way.

"I will be glad helping her. But, she won't accept my help."

"Yes, that's right! I won't accept your help. Let me cope with this by myself!"

Steven glanced at Thompson, and the latter glanced back. Thompson coughed awkwardly, and Steven laughed in amusement.

"Puberty does that to girls," reasoned Thompson. "Of course, dude. Of course," Steven laughed it off. That was the most ridiculous, yet somehow logical reason he had heard. Sylvia was 19. She had long passed that phase.

"Should we do that?" Steven asked. "Hm? Sure. Let's lighten their job a little bit," Thompson agreed.

Both Knights utilized their Aura, and an ethereal green light covered their body. Thompson's sword glowed intensely in green, and his Aura Ability was activated.

"[Matter Augmentation]!" Right after he said that, Thompson's sword started expanding. "Steve!" At his call, Steven quickly activated his Aura Ability, and directed it at his sword. "[Gravity Center: Alleviation]!"

Thompson's expanding sword—which was getting heavier—immediately got lighter in each second. Because of this, Thompson could swing it freely without feeling burdened.

"Go wild, dude!" Steven shouted. Thompson swung his gigantic sword—which had already expanded ten times than the original size—horizontally. "HOOO!!!" Thompson shouted.

Steven didn't stop there; he aided Thompson once again. "[Inversion]!" Thompson felt a pull on his sword, and his swing got easier. In result, the power behind it was dramatically increased.

Boom!

While some of the Goblins were directly obliterated by his sword, the power behind his swing completely swiped the remaining horde. As expected of a combination attack of two Green Core Knights.

Thompson deactivated his Aura Ability, and Steven did too. Thompson's gigantic sword was getting smaller, before returning to its original size.

The room got quieter than before. Thompson had just swiped three fourth of the horde with that one attack. Although there were still some Goblins coming at them, it didn't take long until they were completely wiped out.

"Huuh..." Sylvia wiped her forehead. "It has finally ended!" She was glad the annoying, yet terrifying creatures were no longer coming at them. Then, she turned her head to Thompson. "No matter how many times I see it, I am still amazed!"

"Kuhahaha! We're awesome, aren't we?" Steven puffed his chest. "Nope. We're ordinary. There are still many people more amazing than us."

Jake laughed. "Ha-ha-ha! You both are amazing to us. Just take the compliment, Thompson!"

Thompson shook his head in amusement, and smiled faintly. Then, he turned his head to the big wall separating them and the other gate.

"I wonder whether they are be alright. Taking all of those Goblins with the people are rather difficult. Moreover, they are Mage to begin with."

Steven quickly responded him. "Nah, they'll be alright. We have seen enough of their crazy stunt." He was referring to the thing Basil had done. "Furthermore, that Whitney dude is no joke either," he continued.historical

Steven pointed to the earthen wall Whitney had made. "Look at that 20 meters tall wall. Whitney erected it in a matter of second. That kind of guy won't be overwhelmed with a mere horde of Goblin."

"Indeed." Thompson nodded in agreement.

p Right after they shut their mouth, the earthen wall separating them from the other gate trembled. It was slowly submerging to the ground, before completely vanished from their view.

When the scene behind the wall was finally revealed, the Knights of Hauler hummed to themselves. Compared to the rest of the hall, the square area—that had been isolated by the wall—made a clear contrast.

The area right in front of the gate of the previously isolated area—around two fifth of the entire area— was charred, and countless of completely burnt corpses of Goblin littered the ground. This area belonged to Basil.

In Whitney's area, earth spikes decorated the ground. Around a hundred of Goblins were skewered by the spikes. It took around a fifth of the previously isolated area.

Cray got the remaining are. A third of his area was occupied by a mountain of Goblin's heads, while the rest of it was decorated with the bodies of the Goblin he had slain.

"They are orderly, I guess?" Steven looked around.

Their area was littered with corpses, and decorated with a river of blood. There was also some blood splattered on the wall that had been caused by Thompson and Steven's combined attack.

Compared to the area of the Mage, their area was indeed unruly.

Thompson moved his feet toward the three students, and his party followed suit. Whitney turned his head to Thompson, and they both nodded their head as a greeting.

"There are two gates that we can pass. Let's discuss which one we should choose."

At Thompson's word, Whitney turned his head to Basil. "Actually, Basil has scanned both of the passageway." He turned his head back to Thompson. "Both of them are connected. So—"

"We should split our way, before reuniting once again?" Steven asked.

Whitney nodded his head. However, Thompson was frowning. He didn't like the idea of splitting themselves much.

"If they both are connected, why should we split our way?" Thompson looked to Basil. The latter answered simply, "There are different opportunities in both way."

Effie frowned, albeit no one could notice it. Looking at Basil incomprehensibly, she said, "You have said the exact same thing before. However, I didn't see us encounter any opportunity in the way." At that, everyone frowned too.

Now that they were reminded, they didn't encounter any opportunity from all of the obstacles they had passed.

"I didn't say anything about opportunity before. I said: 'The greater the danger, the better the reward.' The short time we have spent to arrive in this hall is the reward—don't you think so?"

At that, everyone nodded their head. They could accept what Basil had said.

Effie couldn't retort Basil. She could find no fault in Basil's word. If she were to insist on her opinion, everyone would think she had a grudge against Basil. Therefore, she opted to stay silent.

Basil continued, "This is an Exploration for a reason. We don't only profit from the things we find in this dungeon, but also the map we draw. Mapping is one of the important things we do in Exploration."

Thompson hummed to himself. Once again, Basil provided them with a logical reasoning. Thompson glanced at Norman—the most logical person in the party—and he even agreed with Basil's word.

In the end, Thompson nodded his head in agreement. "Very well. Let's split the team, then." He pointed his finger to Norman, and Sylvia. "You both are going with me, and Basil." He turned his head to Whitney. "Are you fine with that?"

Whitney nodded his head wordlessly. Steven came closer, then patted his back. "Let's work together, kid!" Whitney smiled, then nodded his head.

The team was split in two. The first team consisted of Basil, as the Pathfinder; Thompson; Norman, as the Mapper; and Sylvia. The second team consisted of Effie, as the Pathfinder and the Mapper; Steven, Whitney, Cray, and Jake.

Steven looked to Thompson. "Are you sure you'll be fine? Don't you want Jake with you?" In his opinion, Thompson's team proportion was a little bit imbalance.

"Are you underestimating me now?" Thompson laughed. Norman scoffed. "Hmph! We won't die easily."

Steven chuckled. "Well, I guess you will be fine." Facing his body to the left gate, he waved his hand. "We are going. See you on the other side!" Effie stepped inside the gateway, and the others followed suit.

"Hey! You could have worded it better!" Sylvia protested. Steven didn't say anything, as he merely laughed. His laugh echoed through the passageway.

Thompson smiled, before turning his head to Basil. "We should move." Basil nodded wordlessly. He turned his body to the gateway, and stepped inside.

Whoosh!

As if a storm wind, an aura full of malice assaulted his entire existence. He froze for a second, before moving his feet again.

He knew the "ghost" had noticed he noticed them. Therefore, he was tested from time to time. However, he wasn't afraid. He knew at this point the "ghost" wouldn't dare to do much.

Despite how carefree the Empire managing Dungeon seemed, they had set safety measures around every discovered Dungeons.

It was to prevent the "ghost" from haunting the world once again. This was the reason Exploration was allowed. They weren't afraid of angering the "ghost" inside, but hoping it to happen instead.

That way, they could properly exterminate the "ghost", for real this time. Still, it was not really important in the current situation.

With Basil in lead, the others delved the passageway deeper.