Chapter 36: 36: Feelings! The Toughest Demon of Them All

The chamber was now empty. 

After having been ransacked by the adventuring party, the room seemed barren as the walls were put on full display. Now seeming more expansive without anything taking up space, the age of the dungeon was on full display, cracks, wear, and use. 

In the middle of the room however was a larger group, made up of more than just the six original adventurers that conquered the dungeon. Sitting in a circle near the bags and bags of treasure were the Ass Clap Associates, all playing cards. Nearby, Callum, Frazer, along with a few other parties sat, relaxing while imagining what they’d do with their newfound treasure. 

The original six adventurers however, were up to several different things. Nao and Alix sat to the side, talking about their lives without much fuss, their actions much more refined when compared to their earlier awkwardness around their idols. Kaitlyn meanwhile, hung out with the A.C.A, playing cards as she told them about the dungeon. Dexter, Jayce, and Sasha were talking to a small group of guild employees, reporting their end of the findings after Kaitlyn, Alix, and Nao had finished. 

However, before the adventurers from the outside entered, before the treasure had all been collected, a different scene was playing out in the new lichless innermost chamber. 

Before the adventurers from outside entered, Alix had laid onto a pile of treasure, picking up some antique gold coins before letting them fall back onto their face. Gold coins seemed to replace their eyes as they went from treasure pile to treasure pile, exclaiming at the valuables present everywhere in the room. 

Jayce and Sasha on the other hand sat down on the ground, talking about random topics that came to mind while taking a breather.

Dexter, having scouted around to make sure the area was safe, asked Nao to gather everyone from outside to come down and help them gather up the treasure into bags. 

Watching Nao go and Dexter stretch for a brief moment before beginning to survey the room in preparation for dividing up the clean-up work, Kaitlyn, sitting in the corner fidgeting with a coin she found in one of the piles, felt a pang of isolation hit her all at once. 

In a moment where all she had for company were her thoughts, Kaitlyn felt an uncharacteristic longing: wanting to hang out with her friends. A small demon gnawing at her heart while loneliness rushed into her head like a flood, Kaitlyn missed her ever-talking and ever-entertaining new friends. 

Shaking her head to sweep those thoughts away, Kaitlyn reassured herself, ‘You have friends Kaitlyn, you spent a couple of years on the battlefield with them! Jayce, Sasha, Dexter, Chelsea... They’re all your friends...’

Yet, as the demon gnawing at her heart grew, sprouting wings flying up to her ears an whispering its sweet words, she couldn’t help but remember the warmth and fun she had with her new friends, friends who weren’t made on the battlefield, friends who were her own age, friends who gave her this... warm feeling.

Struggling to convince herself that these otherworlders were friends the same as her previous party, Kaitlyn managed to convince herself, the warm feelings she felt with them were reminiscent of her old companionship with the now-retired hero party. 

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The demon though, ever-present, pushed Kaitlyn, fighting through all of Kaitlyn’s efforts to vanquish it, reminding Kaitlyn of the unique, giddy awkward happiness she felt hanging out with Rachel. 

Her train of thought coming to a stop, almost derailing and falling off the side of a cliff, Kaitlyn’s inner conflict was forgotten in an instant as everyone from aboveground began filing in, bags in hand ready to collect the treasure. 

Hopping to her feet, Kaitlyn jogged over leaving her swords on the ground, grabbing an extra bag from Rachel while greeting her with a wide smile, “How was it up there? I don’t think we let too many monsters out? Hopefully no one got hurt...”

“Oh yeah, we were all fine!” Rachel laughed, walking along with Kaitlyn to begin collecting the treasure scattered around the room, “There were so little monsters we were all waiting near the cave entrance, racing to see who’d be able to get the monster’s attention first to kill it!” 

A ripple of relief spreading through her chest, her shoulders relaxing without even realizing, Kaitlyn nodded, bending over as well and sweeping a handful of treasure into the bag, “That’s good. We didn’t have much trouble down here either, the party assembled in all honesty was... a little overboard.”

“Do you think you could’ve done it alone?” Rachel asked, a curious light in her eyes as she shoved a handful of coins into her own bag. 

“Yeah... I think I could’ve done it alone,” Kaitlyn pondered, taking a larger more ornate piece of treasure and putting it aside for those who were in charge of the very delicate treasures, “It would’ve definitely been slower. Also, more monsters would’ve escaped, but I think I could do it. I think you all could’ve done it alone, like with only your party. It was quite the relaxed dungeon.” 

“Well...” Rachel chuckled, a slight lamenting sigh escaping her mouth as she continued to put unending amounts of treasure into her now almost-full bag, “I feel like your perspective is still quite warped, you know? You’ve been too good for too long... About a year ago, all of us otherworlders, all five of us, didn’t know how to fight at all.”

Pausing for a second, Rachel corrected, “Well all of us except Josephine.”

Hearing a fair amount about this mysterious 5th otherworlder, Kaitlyn asked, tying the top of the now full bag into a knot, “If you want, do you want to tell me about this 5th otherworlder? You all have mentioned them before... but not given any details really.”

“Ahh, I can tell you, it’s not a big deal, do you want to hear about it?” Rachel inquired, tying her own bag as well, “He’s certainly an interesting character...”