"Then let's go!" Alphonse called to the girl.
Celeste seemed afraid of what was to come.
As soon as Alphonse touched the door, the stones began to move. Despite being massive, the doors were automatically opening to create space.
"What kind of enemy will we find?" Alphonse asked.
"It depends; each time we enter, it's a different one," Celeste explained. "Usually, it's something like a Goblin Captain or something similar."
The boy nodded as they walked. They appeared to be in a large, slightly dark hall, but otherwise, there didn't seem to be any enemy inside.
Alphonse moved his hands, trying to find where the opponent was. However, he only felt Celeste's hand touching his back and pushing him.
"It's here!" the girl shouted.
Ting
Something grazed the boy's back.
As soon as he turned around, he saw only a shadow running near the wall.
"I—I think it's a Goblin Assassin," the girl shouted to Alphonse.
Again, the room fell silent.
Ting
Once more, Alphonse narrowly dodged; he could see two daggers thrown in his direction.
'With her here, I can't use [Shadow Cloak]; I need another solution,' Alphonse thought.
"Will he keep doing this?" he asked Celeste.
"Usually, yes," she explained.
"What can you do?" the boy asked.
"I—I know some wind spells," she replied.
"Great!" Alphonse responded. "I'll get him out of the darkness; when he appears, use whatever you have against him."
Before Celeste could argue or doubt the plan, the boy had already moved to the center of the room.
Alphonse extended his two hands in opposite directions.
'Concentrate all my mana,' he thought as he took a deep breath.
[Fire Spark]
He cast his fire magic in all directions, creating flames in every corner of the room. The light grew stronger as the fire intensified.
It didn't take long before the Goblin had nowhere left to hide. For the first time, the boy was seeing a monster; although he had seen them in fantasy books, this one was definitely much more disgusting than he expected.
It looked like a human being but was extremely thin and short, with wrinkled, greenish skin. Its nose was long and thin. The Goblin held a dagger in each hand, but around its waist, a loincloth with several other objects hanging from it.
"Now!" the boy shouted.
[Sky Slash] Celeste gathered her mana and conjured a set of wind blades. Each one pursued the Goblin and struck a different part of its body.
The creature was covered in cuts but didn't seem to be fatally wounded.
"Again," Alphonse shouted.
"I need more time to recover," Celeste explained.
'We don't have time,' he thought.
Seeing that no other attack was coming, the Goblin ran toward Alphonse, who was too busy keeping the flames burning.
As soon as the creature leaped with its daggers, the boy smiled.
"You think I can only do that?" he said, not waiting for a response from the Goblin.
The boy opened his mouth and blew flames into the Goblin's face. He could smell the burnt, rotten flesh coming from the creature.
The Goblin screamed in pain, kneeling on the ground and trying to extinguish the flames. However, Alphonse didn't give the creature any space to recover.
At that moment, he adjusted the position of the flames and targeted the boss, burning it alive until it turned into a flesh goo.
"I—impressive!" Celeste commented. She had never seen someone use simple magic in such a complex way. Casting magic from the mouth was an extremely difficult feat.
However, she was also slightly frightened; the boy had no hesitation in killing the Goblin or torturing it with flames.
As the flames died down, there was no longer any sign that the heap of flesh had once been a Goblin.
"Whew," the boy breathed deeply, trying to regain his strength. "And now?"
"We have two options: we can continue ascending. However, we'll encounter enemies on the second floor, and there's still the first floor's boss," Celeste explained. "Our other option is to sit and rest. We won't have food, but at least we can recover some mana."
Alphonse looked around the room and thought for a while. "Let's sit for a bit while we have light," the boy pointed to the burning Goblin's body.
Celeste nodded. Both walked to one of the walls and sat on the ground.
The stone was smooth as if it had been cut—very different from what they'd expect in a cave. Even so, the floor was cold and slightly damp.
"How much do you know about the dungeons?" Alphonse asked. 'Since I'm here, I might as well gather information,' he thought.
"Not much. Only what we learned at Aegis; the people who research these phenomena are those at Arcane," Celeste explained.
"But do you have any idea how they appeared or what these monsters are?" the boy asked.
"Not exactly. We only know that they emerged long ago and aren't natural to this world. Along with the [Professions], they simply appeared one day," Celeste explained. "We know that almost all over the world, they're sealed in these dungeons and that from time to time, we need to enter to limit the number of monsters. But not much more than that."
"But what happens if you don't enter?" Alphonse asked.
"It's complicated because the reports are ancient. But they call it a Dungeon Break. The creatures start being expelled from the portals, starting with the simplest ones from the first floor, but as time passes, more floors become connected to the portals," the girl commented.
"I see," the boy thanked her while absorbing the information.
The two remained silent for a while. Meanwhile, Alphonse was debating what he should do.
'He is quite powerful for someone who received zero potential. The princess needs to capture him before he goes to another faction,' he heard Celeste's thoughts.
[Mind Influence] Alphonse is powerful.
[Mind Influence] Alphonse is worthy.
[Mind Influence] You must obey and fear Alphonse.
The boy began to play with his suggestions.
'I need to start paving the way to bend her to my power,' he thought.
"Celeste, you seem quite different from the other people at Aegis," the boy tried to start a conversation. "Normally, I wouldn't expect someone so friendly at the academy or group."
She smiled at Alphonse's compliment.
"Thank you. Sometimes, I also question if this is my place," she replied.
"Then why did you join the academy?" the boy asked.
Celeste looked at the dungeon ceiling and thought before answering. "I have had a great friend since childhood. She has always been very kind and close to me."
"However, in recent years, she's changed. I don't know the reason, but I thought that if I came to the capital, I could find out what happened," the girl explained.
"So you came to be close to Princess Elise?" he asked.
"E-Elise?" Celeste stammered.
"Yes, isn't it pretty obvious that she's your best friend?" Alphonse commented.
"I—Is it that obvious?" the girl asked.
"Quite," he affirmed.
"Y-yes," Celeste replied.
"She didn't used to be like she is today? What was she like?" Alphonse asked.
Celeste didn't want to talk so much about her friend and lover, but she began to speak every time she thought about keeping her mouth shut. She felt there was something different about Alphonse.
The boy was valuable, but beyond that, she felt compelled to obey him—something even more powerful than her obedience to Elise.
[Mind Influence] Alphonse is powerful.
[Mind Influence] Alphonse is worthy.
[Mind Influence] You must obey and fear Alphonse.
'A little more.' Alphonse sensed the girl's resistance to his connection; he increased the amount of mana and suggestions. 'I need to be careful; I'll still need this mana to get out of here.'
"No, she was simple. A happy and lively girl who had simply been born into the imperial family," Celeste explained. "But when the second queen died, something in her changed."
"She became more interested in power and influence. Before, she wanted to live away from the court; now, she spends all her time talking and planning," the girl commented.
"But she seems quite happy, especially when you're by her side," Alphonse remarked.
"You think so?" Celeste asked, showing a smile.
"Yes," he replied. "But there's something I didn't understand in this timeline."
"What?" Celeste looked at him.
"At what point did you stop being friends and become lovers?" Alphonse began his advance.
"L-Lovers? We're not lovers," Celeste tried to defend herself.
"Aren't you?" he asked.
"O-of course not. She's a princess, and I'm a noble; both of us will eventually be promised in marriage to another family," Celeste explained, her face completely red from the boy's assertion.
"Strange," Alphonse commented.
"What?" the girl asked.
"I never imagined that the princess would only let a friend lick her pussy." He attacked once more.
"W-what?" The girl repeated once more.
"Do you really think no one saw what you two did at the party?"
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