Dismantling the Nightmare was quite a tedious part.
There were many valuable parts that needed to be removed with extreme care.
The whole process took a few hours, mainly because it was the first time they had dismantled a Nightmare.
The good side was that no one showed up to bother them during this time.
A group of hunters even passed by them, although they looked at them in a strange and curious way... They didn't linger much and kept walking.
Honestly speaking, Luan considered the possibility that they might want to rob them, and prepared himself in case that happened, but fortunately it didn't.
## --
A fact.
Nightmares were not very smart.
Another fact.
They were like lone wolves, meaning easy targets to a certain extent.
Putting these two together, Luan and Catharina began hunting more efficiently, creating traps with wool threads.
It took some time to create traps, also exhausting... But it was very effective.
...
Finishing pulling out all the eyes from a Nightmare, Luan wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed: "Wow, it's very tiring to keep collecting these eyes... But, there's no way around it, I can't calm myself if I simply didn't do this, wasting so many valuable resources."
"Mm." On his shoulder, Catharina looked at him with an impassive expression, saying: "By my calculations, just the eyes of a Nightmare will yield at least one gold coin."
Even already imagining that, Luan let out a whistle of astonishment.
"That's a lot..."
There's no denying it, the body of a Nightmare was a gold mine. Although it was difficult to hunt, it was very worth it.
No wonder many groups of hunters spent days on this floor hunting Nightmares.
*Tap-tap-tap...*
*Clank-clank*
Speaking of the devil... Right now, a large group of hunters wearing heavy armor that made metallic creaking sounds as they walked was approaching their location.
Their leader was a man who seemed to be in his 40s. He had a well-groomed beard, was tall, about 2 meters in height, short black hair, wearing a heavy black armor that looked ridiculously expensive.
When he saw them, the leader made a stopping gesture with his hand, looking down at them with an air of superiority, even a bit hostile.
'Why is he looking at us like that?' Luan couldn't understand where that came from: 'He's not going to try to pick a fight with us, right?'
With a cold expression, the leader addressed his group as he made a forward gesture with his hand: "It's just two nobodies, let's keep going."
""""Yes!!!""""
The group's voice echoed in unison like a group of well-trained soldiers.
Under a look of disdain and contempt for no apparent reason, Luan and Catharina watched this pompous group pass by them.
After they left, Luan shook his head, still not believing the character of this group: "Alas~ Honestly, I think instead of coming to the dungeon, they should look for a doctor and get treated. They clearly aren't right in the head..."
"Pfft!" Catharina was caught off guard by his comment, letting out a small laugh, her shoulders trembling as she held back her laughter.
Seeing her laugh like that, Luan's eyes lit up.
With one eye closed, and the other moist, almost letting a tear slip, Catharina asked in a laughing tone: "Is there something on my face?"
"Not exactly. I just thought your laugh was very nice, and it surprised me a bit." He said sincerely: "You should laugh more."
"Oh..." She averted her gaze, blushing a little, in a low voice, she murmured at the end: "Thank you, I will... try."
"Mm." Luan encouraged her: "You can do it!"
...
Two days later...
Looking at the cart that was once empty, now full... There was no longer any reason for them to continue hunting.
"Let's go back." Luan yawned: "I'm hungry, tired and sleepy... And, more than anything, I want to take a good bath~"
Unlike Luan, Catharina was in a better situation than him.
Her physiological system works differently from his.
Strangely, even without taking a bath for two days, fighting almost without pause... Instead of smelling bad, in fact, she smelled good.
Even so, she didn't want to stay even one more day in that place!
"Yes, let's go back!" She agreed promptly.
Leaving behind the mortal remains of a Nightmare, they pulled the cart toward the exit.
Smiling at Catharina, Luan said in a cheerful tone: "Even though these past few days have been tiring, we profited quite a lot~"
Catharina showed a small smile: "I also learned to do this."
On her left forearm, white-silver scales appeared.
They didn't seem only resistant, but were also very beautiful.
They were more beautiful than silver and gold.
Seeing that, Luan couldn't help but be impressed again: "These scales are incredible. I still find it hard to believe that you could withstand a direct attack from a Nightmare relying only on the defense of these scales... Honestly, remembering it now, it gives me chills."
Recalling the previous day when Catharina got a little careless and didn't have time to dodge, being hit by the heavy punch of a Nightmare... That certainly worried him a lot.
Fortunately, at the last second, like in those story books where the protagonist releases a hidden power, Catharina did exactly that, creating scales with powerful defensive capability, managing to defend against the Nightmare's attack, coming out with only a few scratches for not being prepared, being forced to retreat, crashing hard against a wall.
Even though she ended up being sent against the wall... It could have been much worse. And, reality proved that although Catharina felt a bit of pain, she didn't break any bones, only ending up with a few scratches.
While they were talking, something happened that made them stop.
*Tap-tap-tap...*
*Clank-clank*
Sounds of footsteps echoed along with metallic sounds. Sounds so familiar...
"Heh... Hehehehe~~"
Laughter that seemed to have come straight out of a low-quality movie echoed.
Along with the laughter, there were whistles and jeers.
Who appeared from the dungeon entrance was the same group that a few days ago passed by them, and a few hours ago, passed again, seeming like they were going to leave the dungeon.
Thinking about it now, Luan recalls that the looks they received from this group were stranger than normal, but from the beginning this group didn't seem quite right. Although cautious with them, he overlooked it.
"*Fweeeet~* Just look at them, what an abundant harvest!"
"Hehehe... Not bad for only two of them."
"Well, well, well. In the end, won't this fall straight into our hands?"
"True!"
"Hahahaha!"
Even seeing Catharina take a fighting stance, creating sharp claws, this group seemed quite unconcerned – as if everything was under control.
It made sense for them to have such confidence, after all, Luan and Catharina were only two, while they were a dozen heavily armed hunters.
That's not all, the 'scout' of their group had already gathered all the information about their fighting, precisely because of that, they were so confident.
After all, know your enemies and yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
Luan's heart beat very fast, his hands were sweating.
He didn't fear death, but he feared for Catharina's life, who unlike him, was not a simple clone that upon dying would still be alive in his original world.