The breeze was cool, and the sun was rising over the horizon. There was a gentle rustle of leaves in the forest at a time when even birds were just waking up.
"Why are we here this early?" Fiona said as she yawned, looking at the dungeon entrance that looked like a hole in the pile of sand. It looked like someone had picked it from a desert and placed it in the middle of the forest, where it seemed out of place. But it isn't unknown that the dungeon slowly alters its surroundings.
"I didn't even sleep properly" Flan swung her sword once toward the direction of Ryu in irritation from lacking sleep,
Ryu, who was standing in front of such people, sighed as he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone,
"Of course, to conquer the dungeon? Did we have something else planned?"
Fiona and Flan were about to retort, and Silvia too stepped forward to say something, but before any of them could say anything, Jue, who was standing near Ryu, spoke,
"Big brother, can I get this one's boss?" Jue turned to Ryu, eyes sparkling with desire like a treasure hunter in front of a treasure.
"Well, as long as I lead, I will ensure you get the final hit!!" Ryu gave Jue a thumbs up while Aiena, who was still trying hard to keep herself from falling asleep, said,
"Jue, make sure to be careful,"
"I will do my best!! It is my first dungeon with the kukri," Jue replied happily, and Rafa, who saw Aiena warning Jue, turned to Ryu and copied what Aiena said,
"Ryu, make sure to be careful!!"
"I will be careful, Rafa, big sister," Ryu replied as he had more or less gotten used to Rafa imitating Aiena to be a proper big sister, Pearl party who was seeing such a warm interaction, had only one question in their mind,
'We are also here!!'
"Oii brat, we are also here!!" Fiona said as she felt more awake with the rage of being side-tracked,
"Ahh, sorry I didn't notice you because of smal…." Ryu was about to complete, but Fiona threw her kukri point black toward his face.
"Are you psycho!! Is there something wrong with your head!!" Ryu exclaimed as he fell backward to dodge the kukri.
"I knew you could dodge it," Fiona replied with another yawn,
Ryu turned his head to Jue and Aiena as he lay back on the ground.
'Will one of you say anything to her? She literally attacked me…' thought Ryu, but Jue, who was standing nearby, just scratched the back of his head awkwardly as another party was his teacher and Aiena, being a girl, understood why Fiona would do what she did and,
'Ryu could've dodged it… I shouldn't spoil him too much as a proper big sister' Aiena nodded to herself, Ryu who looked towards such family, felt his heart stabbed by an invisible arrow,
'Betrayers!!...' but before he could think forward, Rafa spoke,
"Ryu…" Ryu's heart got filled with hope,
'Yes, if it is Rafa big sister, she will take my side!!' but when Rafa continued, his hopes were smashed into the ground as his face became struck with a wide eye expression,
"Ryu, you should not be insensitive to ladies" it wasn't just Ryu whose eyes widened. Jue and Aiena were shocked as well,
'Rafa, big sister, she is getting sharper,' thought Ryu. As he looked toward Jue and Aiena, they both nodded with a sense of understanding.
Rafa was constantly getting smarter every day since they found her. But this might be the smartest thing she said. She, who was like a child only a while before, had turned much more into an intelligent girl who knows about the shame and aspirations of females and how one shouldn't be insensitive to them.
"Can't help it, I guess," Ryu spoke as he stood up, and he turned towards Fiona,
"I am sorry for making fun of you, Fiona" as soon as he said this, Jue and Aiena was shocked.
"Ryu apologized!?"
"Big brother apologized!?"
"Oii brat, what in the hell, suddenly!?" Fiona was even more shocked than both, but that didn't matter to Ryu. Although he wasn't doing something as grand as changing his values for life and stuff, his intent was simple.
'This is the first time Rafa's big sister has given me a lesson. It will please her if I heed it, even if just for now,' thought Ryu,
"Will it take a year to accept my apology?" Fiona heard such a cocky line and was about to throw the kukri at Ryu again. But as she looked into Ryu's eyes, she felt a weird sense of sincerity. Seeing a guy this smart looking at her like this, Fiona couldn't help it anymore as she pouted and spoke.
"I forgive you this time!! But be careful next time,"
Ryu, whose apology was accepted, just turned towards the dungeon as he couldn't care less. Rafa, who was delighted over Ryu listening to her, came near Ryu and patted him.
"We can't conquer it without our equipment. We didn't get to take it from the blacksmith uncle. "
Silvia was already scared of the dungeon due to the last time. There was no way in the world she was going inside the dungeon without her bow and arrow, no matter what Ryu said.
"Jue, give them their equipment," said Ryu, pointing at Jue's bag. Jue pulled out his knuckles, now enforced with Targan tooth, and wore it, feeling a sense of fit as the knuckle slid perfectly on his hand.
The enforcement really was a success. The knuckle was lighter than before, nearly as if it was a glove, but there was a rigidity in it at the same time due to Targan enamel.
After he was done, he gave the pearl party their equipment, too, and Ryu also received a dagger made of leftover Targan tooth.
Flan and Silvia received their equipment without thinking much, but Fiona couldn't bear it as she exclaimed,
"It is half an hour before the sun rises!! Just what time did you two wake up?"
"Brother and I woke up sooner because we had to do morning exercise," Jue replied. Fiona wanted to retort.
'Morning exercise is for the morning!!' but before she could do that, Ryu spoke with a voice of urgency,
"Let's get going already. This dungeon doesn't have long!!"
*
Inside the dungeon, there was a strange sense of randomness. Although the dungeon's beginning was obviously sand-floored, it instantly became a dirty floor with simpler walls, as if someone had given up on designing the middle way.
'This dungeon sure is different from what Faltar's map said,' thought Ryu as he maintained the formation they discussed before.
The dungeon was different from what Faltar's map had stated. According to it, the dungeon was a simple sand structure filled with emberpions and wisp monsters. But so far, what pearl party and fusion souls encountered was just a narrow dirt alley. It was different to the point that Ryu doubted the map's credibility even after using it to conquer nearly 13 dungeons.
"Kid, be careful. This is where that miasma begins, and Stabhearts will also appear" Fiona puts her hands on her kukris and readies herself mentally so she wouldn't be surprised.
"Aiena," Ryu said without turning back to maintain his focus. Aiena began singing the song of vitality that she learned back at Doran village.
"It is so soothing," Silvia whispered under her breath. Even Flan was humming it even though she looked out of character doing that.
It was the moment of truth will the song of vitality worked or not.
"Will it work?" Silvia said from behind as she was still worried over what had happened last time. But Ryu, who stood diagonally forward on her left, spoke in a confident voice,
"Believe in Aiena"
And that belief was only valid as he had witnessed her saving the life of people in Doran Village while learning the song of Vitality the same day.
Fiona suddenly threw her kukri forward, and an armor of steel emitted a glow of yellow from a design on it. The place of the helmet had one orb visible, which Fiona shot.
"Jue hit it!!" Ryu shouted from behind, and Jue, who stood forward, threw a kukri much like Fiona, and it shot through the design on the armor of stabhearts. But the second shot missed, the stabheart glowed brightly once, and the kukri was flung back towards Fiona and Jue.
"Got it!!" Jue said as he grabbed the kukri with his knuckle, but Fiona wasn't fast enough. The kukri reached near her face. But before it could stab her, a dagger suddenly came and changed the direction of the kukri,
"Pay attention!!" Ryu said as he threw another dagger toward stabheart.
"[Dagger shot]!!" as he spoke the name to power up the skill, the dagger went straight through the orb on the helmet, and Jue, who was ready for his turn, rushed forward,
"[Short blade spin]!!" he shouted as he threw the kukri towards stabheart, and stab heart moved his hand to stop the kukri, but Jue, who rushed towards him, stabbed his side from another Kukri.
"Silvia, shoot!!" Ryu spoke, and Silvia, beside him, shot her arrow imbued with a wind-based skill, shooting through the core of stabheart's chest. It all happened in under a minute, but the core would've already been revitalized if it had taken two minutes.
The Stabheart monster falls on the floor lifeless, becoming just an armor. Pearl party was happy because earlier, they had only been able to defeat a stabheart in 5 attempts and escaped once they did that. Still, they didn't have time to celebrate. As Ryu's [Instantaneous Detection] signaled something coming from behind,
"Another one!!" Fiona shouted as she saw another Stabheart come from the front while Ryu shouted,
"Fiona, Jue, Silvia, take care of that one!! Protect Aiena!!"
They were confused by the sudden order, but they decided to follow either way, and Ryu said to Flan,
"Turn back; there is another one."
"You sure are amazing, kid!!" Flan smiled as she was surprised how Ryu noticed it. All of them focused on Stabhearts with the whole of their attention, so they didn't notice someone else was observing them, too.
-To be continued