The dungeon walls loomed around Lucian, damp with condensation and marked with the scars of past battles. The flickering light of his dying torch cast long shadows, stretching into the abyss ahead.
Sera Nightshade stood before him, arms crossed, her sharp violet eyes studying him like a puzzle missing too many pieces.
She sighed. "You really don't know how to fight, do you?"
Lucian gritted his teeth. "I—" He wanted to argue, to defend himself, but she wasn't wrong. He had trained in swordsmanship for years, but the lack of stats, the lack of power, had rendered all his techniques useless.
Sera flipped her dagger between her fingers. "You're slow, you telegraph your movements, and you swing like you're chopping firewood. If you weren't supposed to be the 'Hero,' I'd say you were a lost villager who wandered in here by accident."
Lucian clenched his fists. "I didn't ask to be abandoned here."
She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? And yet here you are. So, what now? You just gonna sit here and die?"
He exhaled slowly. "No. I need to get stronger."
Sera studied him for a moment before sheathing her dagger. "Then you'll need my help."
Lucian blinked. "You… want to help me?"
"Not for free," she said with a smirk. "I need a distraction for the monsters down here. And since you seem pretty good at getting hit, I figured you'd make a decent decoy."
Lucian frowned. "That's not exactly encouraging."
"Take it or leave it," she said with a shrug. "You won't last an hour in here alone."
She wasn't wrong.
Lucian sighed. "Fine. We work together."
Sera grinned. "Good choice, Hero."
Sera led him deeper into the Blackthorn Abyss, moving like a whisper through the shadows. Lucian struggled to keep up, his footsteps loud in comparison to her near-silent movement.
"We're close," she murmured, crouching behind a crumbling stone pillar. Lucian knelt beside her, peering past the cover.
A small pack of goblins lurked in the open cavern ahead, their yellowed eyes darting around as they tore into the carcass of a fallen adventurer.
Lucian swallowed hard. He had seen goblins before in training simulations, but those had been controlled, predictable. These… these were real. The scent of blood and filth lingered in the air.
Sera pointed to the smallest goblin. "That one. You take it."
Lucian hesitated. "How?"
Sera sighed, palming her forehead. "Stab it before it stabs you. Simple, right?"
Lucian gripped his iron sword tighter. His heart pounded. "And what about the others?"
"I'll handle them. Just don't die."
Before he could argue, Sera vanished into the darkness. A heartbeat later, the shimmer of steel cut through the air.
Shunk!
A goblin gurgled, collapsing as Sera's dagger found its throat. The others screeched in alarm, scrambling to grab their crude weapons.
Lucian's target turned in confusion.
This is it.
Lucian charged, raising his sword. He aimed for the goblin's chest, putting all his strength into the strike.
The goblin shrieked and—
Dodged.
Lucian's blade struck nothing but air. The goblin snarled, slashing its rusted dagger at him.
Lucian barely blocked in time. The impact sent vibrations up his arm. His grip almost slipped. The goblin pressed forward, eyes wild with bloodlust.
Sera, meanwhile, danced through the fray. Her twin daggers cut through the goblins with precise, lethal grace.
Lucian, on the other hand, was struggling against a single opponent.
I'm too slow. I can't keep up.
The goblin lunged again, blade flashing toward his neck—
Lucian acted on instinct.
He twisted, dropping his weight, and slammed his shoulder into the goblin's chest. The creature yelped, stumbling back.
Now!
Lucian thrust his sword forward.
Shunk!
The blade pierced through the goblin's chest. Its yellow eyes widened in shock before it slumped over, dead.
Lucian gasped, his breath ragged. He had done it. He had actually killed something.
Then—
Ding!
A message flashed across his vision.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[EXP Gained: 50]
[EXP Transferred]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lucian blinked. Then blinked again.
Wait…
He quickly opened his status screen.
[Lucian Vale – Level 1]
No change.
But beside him, Sera exhaled sharply. A faint glow surrounded her.
Lucian stared. "Sera… did you just level up?"
She frowned, flexing her fingers. "Huh. Yeah, I think I did."
Lucian's heart pounded as realization hit him.
His skill. EXP Transfer.
All the experience he gained… was going straight to her.
Sera glanced at him. "Something wrong?"
Lucian forced a smile. "No. Nothing's wrong."
But inside, doubt gnawed at him.
How was he supposed to get stronger… if he couldn't level up at all?