Clink! Clank! Clash!

The clashing of steel echoed throughout the many caverns and tunnels of the thirty-seventh floor. Bell swallowed some of the mucus that had formed in the back of his throat. Sweat dribbled down his forehead as raspy, labored breaths escaped his lips. He'd lost track of how many monsters he had killed. Particularly, Lizardman Elites and Loup Garou—two of the latter he found himself engaged in combat with.

He had to be quick and efficient with his kills, a task that was becoming more and more demanding with each passing monster. He had never faced these kinds of creatures before. Sure, he'd always been a faster learner when it came to the dungeon, but this was just absurd and onerous.

Their weapons, whether they were to be wielded in their hands or were a part of their natural anatomy; their attack patterns, if they fought in close quarters or from a distance; if they hunted in packs or roamed about by their lonesome—all of it he would have to learn in the heat of the moment. His brain barely had time to process any of it. A single slip-up and both he and Ryu would be overwhelmed.

All it takes is one little mistake and it'll all be for nothing. No pressure.

One of the two Loup Garous roared as it raised its crude white stoned knife toward Bell. Reflexes overrode his fatigue as he brought up his Hakugen knife. He side-stepped Garou's downward strike, and immediately slashed at its exposed side, swiftly killing it. The second Garou too roared and raised its blade high. This time though, Bell didn't have any time to dodge its attack. He instead blocked the blow with his own blade. He grit his teeth as he pushed against the beast, their eyes meeting as they were locked in their stances. Pure rage and carnal bloodlust. That was all that filled the monster's eyes.

Compared to the looks they gave you, this is far better. Wouldn't you agree?

Tucked back behind a small protruding side of the cavern wall, Ryu could only stare from afar as Bell fended for both their lives. She was in no condition to fight and attempting to actively assist Bell would only serve as a detriment.

He could handle himself. He'd been doing so thus far. That was what she told herself.

Her eyes twitched as her keen sense of hearing picked up the sounds of rushed footsteps drawing closer to their position. She peered past Bell's bout to see a pack Loup Garous emerging from the darkness and closing in fast.

"—!"

Bell also noticed their presence as he barely managed to break the deadlock he was stuck in. Dammit! He was a bit preoccupied at the moment. And even if he wasn't, he could feel himself beginning to reach his limit. Frankly, it was a miracle in and of itself that he was lasting this long.

"Cranel-san, fall back!"

Ever aware of the incoming pack closing in and sensing Bell's increasingly weary state, Ryu threw one of her daggers into the shoulder of the Garou Bell had clashed with, allowing him to safely disengage. He immediately pivoted his heels into the ground and turned tail. He had to make it back to Ryu.

The snarls and howls weren't too far behind him as he raced back to Ryu's side. They couldn't escape. They could never escape. His fleeing only seemed to prolong the inevitable.

Not the end you imagined, is it? To die in such a pathetic manner.

It didn't take long for him to return to her side. (Though to him, it seemed like an eternity).

"Tsk!" Ryu hissed as she grasped at the pouch strapped to her hip.

"We have no choice… I'm using this."

Bell's eyes widened as Ryu pulled out a brilliant red stone. That color, that faint shimmer it gave off, the way it seemingly hum a low reverberating grumble as it was held—

"Cranel-san, fire, please."

—an Inferno Stone!

Reflexively, Bell brought his right hand up as Ryu chucked the stone into the oncoming mob.

"Firebolt!"

The reaction was instantaneous. An brilliant orange light burst into existence, sending out a thunderous shockwave as the back draft of the blast swept through the tunnel, drowning out the cries of the monsters. It consumed all that it touched, leaving nothing but rubble and dust.

Shaking off the ringing in his ears, Bell peered around the corner he had tucked behind alongside Ryu to see they were safe for the time being. The explosion left nothing. Not even any drop items. Bell let out a half chuckle as he thought of his pallum supporter. She'd be mad that there wasn't anything to loot.

Bell turned back to look at Ryu, the expression on his face indiscernible.

"...Ryu-san, that item…"

"Yes, I confiscated it from that dwarf."

Ryu interrupted him before he could finish. She knew exactly what he was going to say. There was no point in trying to hide it. She didn't feel guilty about it anyway.

Once again, much to her surprise, Bell didn't make any comments. He looked at her with seemingly callous and indifferent eyes.

Why? Why wasn't he judging her? Why wasn't he scared of her? Or even what she feared most of all, contemptuous?

Instead, he simply averted his gaze back towards the now singed pathway.

"How many more stones do you have?"

"Five."

It was more than what he was expecting. Five outs in case they found themselves cornered. Even though the amount they had was a higher estimate than he had assumed, their chances of survival were still relatively the same.

"Cranel-san. Please give me some time and stand guard. I need to do some mapping."

"Okay."

Ryu quietly pulled out a pen they had salvaged earlier, along with the map. It wasn't a conventional pen. It was a magical item—a Blood Feather. Instead of ink, it drew using blood. Seeping the tip into one of her open wounds, she filled the cartridge. After a moment, she began jotting lines. After being in so many battles, they had strayed far from the path the previous owners had laid out for them. Nothing in the dungeon could ever be so simple as following a single trail.

Ryu's hand never pauses as she scribbles on the parchment. It's as if the route they had taken had already been plotted out in her mind.

"You can even make maps…?"

"Simple ones. I'm nowhere near as good as specialized thieves or cartographers."

Bell didn't mean for his words to slip out from his mouth. He didn't want to interrupt her, but couldn't help himself from asking.

He felt his fists tighten as he watched her. So incredible, so amazing. He could never do what she does, especially with such ease.

He cast his gaze downward as a feeling of guilt began swelling in his chest. He couldn't hide it any longer. Even when she's injured, he still has to rely on her.

Get the picture now? You're still weak.

"Cranel-san, you're still doing unnecessary things. Try to be more efficient," she comments without looking up from the paper and ceasing her work.

He doesn't respond verbally, but he feels his face growing hot with shame and regret. He feels his jaw tighten. The anguish he felt burned deep. He clutches his face, trying to down the irritation and despair.

So much. It felt all far too much. He could barely hold himself together. So many questions and doubts and fears plagued his mind about their current situation. And then, there was still the question of himself. What was happening to him? He wants to know but at the same time, he doesn't. Everything was just so overwhelming

The only way he's been able to keep himself in check was her. For her sake, he had stifled his raw emotions and staved off his delusions.

But he was just so, so tired.

But do you think you can even afford to close your eyes anymore? You know what's waiting for you when you do.

Ryu silently looked up. Sensing her gaze upon him, Bell turned.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he slumped against the wall and let his legs give way, allowing himself to drop freely to the ground.

He felt sorry he was so pathetic. That he was so weak. He was sorry that he was still such a child.

After a few moments, Ryu breaks the bitter silence.

"You're not acting like an adventurer."

Her voice maintained the same calm and collected tone she usually spoke with. Bell turned to her, completely stunned by what she had said.

"...Huh…?"

"You're doing a good job," she continues. "From your perspective, this is a completely unknown world. It's only natural for you to be confused and unable to perform well. Even if you're level four, that's still true beneath the surface."

"—!"

"If you were a normal adventurer, you would be screaming that I'm being absurd."

She speaks her mind plainly. There is no sense of judgment in the words she is saying.

"You're too hard on yourself. That's what I meant when I said you're not acting like an adventurer."

Bell's eyes widened.

"If you gain a bit more confidence… you'll be a much stronger adventurer."

A faint smile curls on her lips. Even in the dark, Bell can see it so clearly.

Yes, for her sake. For that smile would he keep hold of himself. The fatigue he had felt earlier had all but vanished as he picked himself back onto his feet.

Setting the pen down, Ryu reached out and grasped his pinkie.

"Watch your enemies well and gauge them. Deep-level monsters are highly intelligent. Most likely, they will execute tactics much more advanced than monsters you've encountered previously."

"...okay."

"Your right arm tends to float up when you get flustered. Relax your shoulder and aim for the magic stone."

"Okay."

"Rely on me in the rear guard more. Right now, I'm your party."

"Okay!"

She gives a few more tips before deciding that it was best to wrap up her lecture. She honestly didn't mean to rattle off like that. Perhaps she was being too judgemental of him in her observations. No, that just meant that she truly cared for the boy and his safety. He would live. She would make sure of it.

"...you're like my teacher, aren't you?"

Ryu perked up a bit upon hearing those words. She looked at Bell to see his usual bright, brilliant smile. She missed seeing it, even if she didn't want to admit it aloud.

"...that might have been a possibility," she notes as she returns the smile.

Folding the map up, Ryu unslings her backpack and places it in her lap. Opening it, she exchanges the map for something else. A vial with garish purple liquid sloshing about inside of it.

"Drink this."

"..."

She extends her hand, offering the vial to him. Well, 'offer' implied that he had a choice in whether he could accept it or not. But her words felt more like a commandment for him to obey.

It was one of the potions Bell had recovered from the fallen adventures. It was a shame that they weren't able to use it for themselves. But in the state it was in now, Bell could share in the sentiment of leaving it unconsumed.

"This is no time to demand perfection. Drink."

Perfection? He was just asking for liquid. Not sludge.

"It doesn't matter if it's spoiled."

"Ryu-san…"

"It will still work…"

"Ryu-san…"

"I think?"

"Ryu-san!"

Ryu glanced to the side. If he could survive eating Syr's cooking on a daily basis, surely he could survive drinking this potion.

Having no choice in the matter, Bell popped open the vial and drank its contents, grimacing as he somehow forced it down his throat.

"Blech!"

His voice sounded like he had become winded and he had aged fifty years.

At first, the potion tasted sweet. Then it turned into an ungodly bitterness.

As he doubled over, he could feel his internal organs shifting about. He didn't know if the potion was healing him or poisoning him. Or both, simultaneously.

Chugging the last drops of the potion, he's at least relieved that he doesn't feel any immediate symptoms like diarrhea or vomiting. Instead, he can feel his physical strength returning to him.

He breathes a sigh of relief as his wounds begin to close themselves shut.

"Let's go."

"Right."

Bell tossed the empty vial aside.

Rechecking and repacking the remains of their equipment back into the pack, the pair continued their trek through the thirty-seventh floor.

.

.

.

The White Palace was oddly peaceful. But that sense of peace was often overlooked and replaced by confusion due to the sheer amount of enormous passages, intersections, and staircases within the structure. It was like Daedalus street in that regard, needlessly convoluted and confusing. It was a genuine maze, through and through. The labyrinth was seemingly designed specifically to confuse and trap and kill any outsiders who would dare to enter the royal palace of the dungeon.

My, doesn't this remind you of anything?

"Ryu-san, are there any especially dangerous monsters on the thirty-seventh floor?"

"Right now, every monster on this floor is a threat to us… but if I had to name two, I'd say the Spartois and the Peludas."

They whispered to one another, maintaining that sense of stillness and peace of the Palace. In contrast to earlier, the floor had quieted itself. They couldn't sense any nearby monsters and no cries of battle could be heard. As they continued to proceed cautiously through the Palace, both held a silent prayer in their hearts that this stillness and peace would last. But both knew it was simply the calm before the storm.

"Rare monsters aside, Spartois are the most skilled of all warriors when it comes to close combat. They're especially dangerous because they're spawned with weapons made of bone. Some individuals even carry javelins."

Keeping a constant eye out for any monsters, Bell listened well to Ryu's words. In his mind, he compared her descriptions to the ones he had read about during his study sessions at the guild. The descriptions she gave matched what he had read. But hearing her say it was far more comforting than reading about it in a textbook. She could speak from first-hand experience. She had fought them and had survived.

"Peludas attack with poison. Most likely, the immediate cause of death for those adventurers we found in that room… was poisonous darts from a Peluda."

"—!"

They still had potions on them when they died… was the poison that potent?

"If we run into a Spartois or a Peluda, we should flee if at all possible."

Flee if at all possible. Right. But what exactly were the odds of that possibility?

Bell looked around at the surrounding walls. They were colored with a seemingly sickening milk-white shade. He couldn't quite put his finger on why it made him feel so ill at ease. It was just so unnatural. The way the walls were blank and empty. It only seemed like a void, a vacuum, sucking and sapping away all the color and life around it. Just staring at it made Bell strangely fatigued and numbed the longer he held his gaze.

They had to escape this place. As quickly as possible.

The encounters they faced were few and far between. Thankfully, none of them were with the aforementioned Spartois or Peludas. Bell had taken Ryu's earlier advice to heart, growing more and more skilled and efficiently dispatching the monsters of the thirty-seventh floor. Though, his increase in skill did not equate to overall progress. Ultimately, they were lost. They weren't on any of the trails or pathways the other adventures had noted on the map. For all they knew, they could have been going around in long, winding circles. At least, until they reached an opening with an enormous curved wall in front of them.

"...a ring wall—!"

Without question, this meant that they were on the third wall. Just two more walls and they were home free! Two walls, that's all!

Unable to contain his excitement, Bell turned to Ryu with a tooth-filled smile. His eyes glimmered and shone as his happiness pooled out from his heart.

So bright. Too bright. Bright enough to blind her. His smile, his joy, was just so infectious. But just as she was about to return with a smile of her own, a cruel revelation came to her mind.

Such a kind, warm smile. Protect it; at any cost necessary. It's all you're good for now, anyway.

Her lips stiffened as she could only return the gesture with a nod. Yes, she didn't deserve such a kindness as receiving and sharing in his overflowing jubilation. But she could preserve it. So that someone else far more worthy and deserving could feel it instead.

Do what needs to be done. At least the last thing you shall do in your life will be a good deed.

.

.

.

—!

A hand is planted on his backside before a gust of wind surges from it. Time slows to a crawl as his mind struggles to comprehend what was happening. He's being pushed. He's flying. He's falling. He hits the ground and tumbles, skidding on his shoulder, back, and stomach.

What had happened. One moment he was fighting alongside Ryu and now she's—

Ryu, Ryu, RYU!

Bell scrambled back to his feet as he stared at the passageway he had been forcefully propelled through. He was out of the Coliseum, but the elf girl was not at his side. She was the one who pushed him along the bridge to safety, disregarding her own life to do so.

Why? Why? WHY!?

Why did she do this?! How could she throw her life away so willingly?! Why did she not allow him to stay by her side?! Sure the two of them could fend off the monsters and cross the bridge together! Why? Why dammit why?!

Because, you're weak.

Stop it…

Look at you. Still the little boy that clings to his dreams of idealism. Only for reality to put you back in your place.

Stop…

You can hear it, can't you?

In the distance, he could hear the faint clashing of steel.

Clink! Clank. Clash…

They grew quieter and quieter with each passing strike. The sounds of her life fading, slowly being consumed by the callousness and cruelty of the dungeon.

Look at you, little boy. All by his lonesome with no one to cling to.

Stop it, please…!

Clink… clank… cla—

Then, he couldn't hear anything else.

She's leaving me, she's leaving me, she's leaving me, she's leaving me, she's leaving me, she's leaving me, she's leaving me—!

"Just like how you left me."

No... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

HE WOULD NEVER—!

He feels the wind rushing through his hair. His breathing is ragged and rushed. The muscles and tendons in his legs stretched and flexed under the weight of his body. Everything in his vision becomes a blur as adrenaline coursed through his veins. A fire erupts from his body, its flames swirl around him as he rushes through the Coliseum. His body becomes shrouded in smoke and ash, the scent thick and noxious. Cuts and stab wounds appear on his flesh but he doesn't feel them, or at least, he chooses to ignore them. His vision and mind tunnels solely one one thing.

Ryu.

He screams out her name but his words do not reach his ears. Only a low humming ring fills his eardrums. In his right hand, he is clutching an Inferno Stone, one of the last ones they had left. He reaches out with his left hand, grasping Ryu and pulling her towards him. He cradles her head in his chest before chucking the stone high into the air. Aiming his right hand, he mutters a word he had sworn to himself never to utter again. But in that moment, he didn't care.

Let us see in the flames will consume you, then.

He took one last breath before he spoke.

"Infernum."

It was little more than a whisper, but the flames heard well. A furious firestorm of sapphire flames bursts from his hand, evoked and enraged. It shot out at blinding speeds, making contact with the stone.

But instead of the intended explosive and volatile reaction, the flames merely devoured the stone in its entirety. It spreads and swirls into a cyclone of heat and fervor and chaos of its own volition. It intends to consume all that it touches.

Everything is engulfed in brilliant sapphire light. He felt the heat on his back searing and singeing and melting his flesh. He could barely feel Ryu's head being clutched against his chest. The roars of the flames block out any screams that might have come from him, the elf girl, or the monsters. But amidst the sadistic cackles of the conflagration, he swore he could barely make out the sound of soft sobbing.

Before he could further discern the sound, his consciousness failed him, and everything faded to darkness.

Kept it waiting, haven't you?