The tunnel ended in an abyssal hole. Not even Ryu’s enhanced vision could see through its darkness. He shrugged. The boss of this part of the dungeon would come when it did. He stood in a large, vacant tunnel, its rocky and slimy walls curving up high above his head.

He leaned against the wall of the damp tunnel, sliding to the ground with a hiss. His hand, held tightly over his midsection, was coated in blood. A careless mistake. It should not have happened, yet that was all it took. If it wasn’t for his sturdiness, he might have been split in two from the blow, a claw from one of the draconic creatures haunting this dungeon. A restorative pill had only restored it to slightly less of a bloody mess, and taking another would offer little improvement at this point. It was what it was. Even in less than ideal condition, he would still win. He had to.

A scraping noise reached him from the abyss to his right. He stood with a grunt. Yep. That would be the boss. He activated the enchantments on his hatchets, and they combined once more into a large, one-sided axe. He held it in one hand, leaving his other gauntleted hand to swing by his side.

The scraping noise grew louder. Then, it came to a sudden stop. Silence. A snout rose from the abyssal hole, followed by a sinuous neck covered in black scales. Finally, two large claws appeared from below, digging into the sides of the tunnel. It was Midir, the boss monster. Its long, sleek snout led back to two gleaming purple eyes. Acid dripped from its fangs, hitting the floor with soft hisses.

The drake bared its teeth. His mind needed no illusions to see it for the monster it was.

Ryu skipped back, jaws clamping shut in the space where he had just stood. He split the axe back into hatchets, sending them both spinning at the eyes of the giant beast. When the drake drew back, he used [Whisper Step] to close the distance, and the hatchets flew back into his hands once more. Feet apart, man and beast stared at each other.

The drake roared. Ryu returned the favor. The two sides clashed, Ryu darting around the tight confines of the dark tunnel.

---

He slumped to the ground. Beside him, the drake struggled to move. Its time was limited, however. The beast was dead. Its mind just had not noticed yet. Ryu looked down at his gear. His cloak, scale and leather armor, and even the tight clothing beneath were full of gaping, smoking holes. The skin underneath was raw and bloody. He sighed, pulling a canteen of water from his storage. He poured it all over his wounds with clenched teeth. The boss’s acidic breath had been no joke. Still, he did no more for his wounds. Not even the nasty cut that stretched down from his shoulder. His body would heal them better in time than any pills now that his cultivation was no longer suppressed.

Beside him, the drake took in its last, shaky breath. A purple Qi crystal dropped into his lap, accompanied by a solid iron arrow that glowed in his aura sight. A smile crept onto his face, and the devilish presence in his mind was seized with ecstasy. Fight, kill, and grow stronger. It was all that part of him needed, and yet not enough. Violence for violence’s sake, fighting just to fight more… These things had never appealed to him. He snapped his Skill [Shadow of One’s Self] back into place, suppressing his true strength once more. The presence quieted.

He was weak. So weak. Not in the way measured by Classes, but in his own mind. He slammed his head into the rock wall behind him. Once. Twice. When would it all stop?

The walk through the dungeon was a fight, and it wasn’t with the inhabitants of the dungeon. They, for the most part, left him alone. Whatever grudge the dungeon had with him seemed to be settled. His fight was with himself. Every step seemed to give him another reason to stop. He couldn’t control his power. He was dangerous. He would hurt someone he cared for. Again. On and on, they went. By the time he reached the chamber with the large door, his mind was exhausted.

The chamber was the same as before. Empty, save for a large, steel door. The door, carved with intricate designs, had three keyholes. He withdrew the sapphire key, ruby key, and amethyst key from his storage, holding them out. This was his last chance to turn back. To give up. He could die here without trouble. He shook his head. No. He placed the keys into their matching keyholes, and by some magic, they twisted on their own. A deep clunk shook the room. The door swung open, revealing an empty, white chamber. Ryu was pulled in.

Congratulations

You have successfully conquered The Scaled Giants’ Den. You will next be transported to the main area to face the World Bosses, Kitan and Timo. Time still remains for the rest of your party to conquer their own dungeons. Transport in 23 hours, 57 seconds.

Ryu sat on the floor of a small cubical room. The walls were plain white. Decorations were sparse. He was left with only a couch, a bed, and a small wash closet. On the wall in front of him, light played over the wall. It was like a record, replaying the events of his time in the dungeon. A day. He had a day until it was time to fight once more. A day until he had to release his Skill. A day until he had to face the monster in his head. A day to watch a sped up version of his time in the dungeon. He settled in, chewing on some plain rations from his ring. He watched. He saw Lucius kill the group once more. He saw the first tense night, the two of them the only ones left in their dungeon. The recording mocked him. Every mistake haunted him, displayed right in front of him. He shut his eyes. He couldn’t do this. Instead, he willed a screen to appear. His status popped into view.

Ryu Ishida

Class- Ronin, Level 73

Cultivation- Mid Monarch Stage

Aspect- Blood

Cultivation Technique- Blood Hunter’s Guide

Skills

[Shadow of One’s Self]

[Terrain Adaptation]

[Predator Senses]

[Multi-Shot]

[Whisper Step]

[Cripple]

[Weakness Sense]

Professions

| Unarmed Combat |

| Archery |

| Traps |

| Tracking |

| Stealth |

| Axes |

Ten years of his life reduced to a few words on an imaginary screen. And he wondered if it was worth it. What could ever be worth ten years of pain? At some point, he had quit caring about advancement. It had all just been a means to quiet his mind. He dismissed the screen. It was worse than watching the recording of the dungeon.

Watching the recording, his mind wandered. What of the others? What of Bonny and Horace? Was he selfish for not thinking of them sooner? Probably. In the end, most people were selfish. He did hope the siblings were okay. He needed them to be okay. He had very few friends, and they were among them. In the midst of his thoughts, the picture on the wall across from changed. Instead of following his journey, the display showed a different group- one with a man in a floating chair and a woman with frizzy red hair.

---

“When are we getting out of this fucking place?” Burner said, taking a pull from one of his namesake cigarettes. He wore a long leather coat and a wide-brimmed hat. Fire played between the fingers on his right hand.

“When we get the three keys dumbass,” Bonny said. Like always, his sister was in her thief gear, the leather hood taking him back to a time when her Class was all that kept them from starving. She scouted ahead of the rest of them, but she always stayed close enough to get the last word in. Like always.

Horace floated his chair up next to the man. His cultivation gave him the strength to walk, but this would always be more natural. At heart, he was still the boy in the wheelchair, watching the other kids play. He looked at his sister jogging ahead. She was all the legs he needed. If he needed to go somewhere, Bonny would make it happen.

“Don’t mind her. She thinks she’s funnier than she is,” Horace said to Burner with a grin. It had been a week or more since they’d entered the dungeon, and he was still covering for his crazy sister. Another thing that would never change.

“I heard that!” Bonny called back, faking a singsong tone. She was ruining any attempt at stealth, but that, too, was normal. Bonny wasn’t exactly one to take things too seriously, even in dangerous situations.

It was still strange to him that they had happened to end up in the same group. He remembered starting in that large chamber and reading the script on the door with three keyholes. Then he’d sensed other minds in the chamber, but only one was familiar. There was no sign of Ryu and the others. Ryu. He wondered what had happened to the man. He knew there was more to his friend than even his Psychic Skills let on, so he had no fear for the man’s life. He did have fear for the man’s mental health, however.

To Horace, every mind had a unique signature. Ryu’s mental signature bordered on madness. Actually, no. The madness was already there. It was just contained behind a thin wall. It made him worry for his friend and wonder just what could have broken such a man. He looked at Bonny once more. Her mental signature was strong, vibrant, and colored by a penchant for mischief. When she and Ryu had begun seeing each other, he had hoped that she would be the cure for his friend’s madness, and at times, it had seemed his hopes were proven right. Other times, it seemed the opposite. Ryu was like the wind. The man couldn’t be pinned down. He was going to wander no matter what, and Bonny wouldn’t leave Horace’s side to wander with him. It made him feel guilty. Did he really value his sister’s presence over his friend’s health?

“What are you thinking about, Psychic?” Aja called. She was the final member of their group, a tall and slender woman with caramel skin. At first, there was another member in their group. Joyce. She had perished in the fight with the first boss, though.

“Many things,” he said. Aja’s mental signature was proud, like a lioness on the hunt. It intrigued him, but he couldn’t spare thoughts for that right now.

She twirled her spear. “I see. If it wouldn’t bother you too much, could you spare a thought for the enemies ahead? I hear they are very lonely at this time.”

He chuckled. He understood what she was trying to say. He shouldn’t be worrying when a fight could happen at any moment. At some point, the woman had become the de-facto leader of their little group, and he couldn’t even complain. She oozed capability. Gods, did he hate the word ooze. His nose crinkled with disgust.

One more key. That’s what he should be thinking about. One more key, and… and they’d be pushed into another fight. A dangerous one. How many more would die? Would Bonny live? Would Ryu? He suppressed a groan. No matter what he thought about he was going to worry.

“Five ahead,” Bonny said, his [Telepathic Communication] Skill transmitting her words to his mind. He frowned. If she was resorting to the link from his Skill, it meant it was too dangerous for her to talk.

“Bonny says there are five up front,” Horace said.

They had no chance of sneaking up on the monsters. Burner smelled of cigarettes, Aja had heavy steps, and Horace probably didn’t smell too rosy himself after a week in the dungeon. Thankfully, Aja, for all her strengths, did not seem capable of making a plan that involved subtlety. In fact, her plans could be simplified down to one word: attack.

“Fine, tell her to stay hidden until we arrive. I’ll take the front. Burner, you want to open up with that Skill of yours?” Aja said, twirling her spear with a smile.

Burner flicked the ash off of his cigarette. “Sounds good.”

Horace nodded his head to himself. Once more, he realized that he was surrounded by crazy people. Then again, nobody who made it this far was sane. Not completely.