Luke POV
One by one, they appeared.
Xavier.
Scarlett.
Seth.
Ruth.
Catheryn.
Every one of them was in the group chat they had made.
Before Luke could ask what the hell was going on, the white-haired man's voice thundered across the burning land.
"You must all be confused."
It came from everywhere at once.
"Not that it matters."
'...How strong is this old man?'
"What should matter is this—you six have been placed inside a dungeon."
Luke's eyes narrowed.
A dungeon?
"Three monsters. All C-Rank bosses. Six students. Three teams."
"Each team will take on one boss."
'A two-on-one against a dungeon boss?'
'This bastard's insane.'
Luke glanced around and found the same disbelief on the others' faces. They all looked ready to protest.
The old man continued before anyone could speak.
"Team A: Xavier and Seth. Team B: Luke and Catheryn. Team C: Scarlett and Ruth."
"I'm sure you want to know why this is happening, but all I will say is this."
"There is no chance of death in this dungeon because I am here."
"The only thing you will lose from failure is a drop of Lunar Ichor."
Everything went still.
Luke froze.
So did the others.
Even Xavier's expression shifted slightly, as though he understood exactly how ridiculous that reward was.
'Lunar Ichor.'
That was not something ordinary people ever got their hands on.
It would not raise a mana core directly, but it was—
'A training potion on crack.'
Luke's eyes lit up at once and snapped toward Catheryn.
Her eyes were already wide from hearing the reward.
Then they widened even further when she saw his face.
Fear.
Pure fear.
Because Luke knew exactly how he looked right now.
And he did not care.
'I'm not missing this.'
Catheryn swallowed. "U-uhm, Luke... m-maybe we should calm down first and think? H-how do we even know we can trust someone like this? W-we should figure out what's going on before we—"
Her voice dropped to a near-whisper.
"P-please?"
Luke stepped toward her.
Slowly.
Catheryn flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.
His shadow fell over her.
She waited.
One second.
Two.
Then, cautiously, she cracked one eye open.
Luke was not looking at her.
He was staring toward one of the distant volcanoes, jaw set.
"Trust him? No," he said flatly. "But I trust his power."
His voice carried across all six of them.
"He dropped us into a dungeon without even looking our way. If he wanted to hurt us, we'd already be dead."
Silence.
Then Luke turned slightly, just enough for the others to catch the hard edge in his expression.
"So no—his intent isn't to harm us. He wants to force us to grow."
His gaze swept across them.
"Unless all of you are happy staying in their shadows."
No one needed to ask who he meant.
The mood shifted immediately.
Kyle.
Lyra.
Then Seth spoke, his voice calm enough to cut through the heat.
"And whoever he is, he knows us personally."
Ruth frowned. "What do you mean?"
Seth's eyes moved across the three paths ahead.
"These teams weren't made at random. He paired us with people whose abilities we barely know."
'War rarely waited for people to become friends first.'
That sent a chill through the group.
Xavier's brows furrowed. "So... he wants us to grow closer?"
He sounded unsure of his own words.
Seth nodded once.
"If I'm right, it's not only about making us stronger."
His gaze hardened.
"It's preparation."
Silence settled over them again.
Luke already had a rough idea what that meant.
Being the son of a general made it hard not to.
The ground trembled once more, and the heat rose another few degrees.
Luke stepped forward.
"Me and Catheryn take the right path. Team A takes the middle. Team C takes the left."
The certainty in his voice crushed any objections before they could form.
Then he smirked.
"I hope all of you make it back with that Ichor."
Without waiting for a reply, Luke turned and started walking.
"Let's go, Catheryn."
"H-hey, Luke, wait up!"
Scarlett snorted. "Yo, why's this guy trying to act cool?"
Luke's step hitched for half a second.
Then he cleared his throat and kept walking.
.
.
Catheryn POV
Catheryn was still not entirely sure what to think about Luke.
At first, she had labelled him with a single word.
'A bully.'
After the way he had treated that boy, and even Xavier, it had felt like a fair judgement.
But then he had apologised.
That had made things complicated.
Now, as she stared at his broad back while hurrying after him, all Catheryn could think was—
'...He's still very scary.'
She clutched her staff tighter.
Luke did not look back as he walked ahead of her, his broad frame cutting through the blistering path as though the dungeon itself had the good sense not to get in his way. Even with all the lava rivers, jagged stone, and sweltering air, his stride never seemed to falter.
Catheryn had no idea how.
The heat was already starting to get to her.
At first it had only felt unpleasant. Heavy. Stifling. But the deeper they went, the worse it became. The air itself seemed thicker here, almost sticky as it slid into her lungs, and every breath left her chest warmer than before. Sweat had begun to gather at the nape of her neck, and a few strands of her rose-blonde hair were already starting to cling to her skin.
Her face felt hot.
Far too hot.
She did not even need a mirror to know her cheeks had probably turned pink by now.
Trying not to fall farther behind, Catheryn quickened her pace into an awkward little fast walk, almost a jog, her staff held close as she carefully stepped over cracks in the blackened earth. Rivers of lava wound through the terrain like glowing scars, casting a molten orange shimmer across the path and the trees around them.
Even the trees looked wrong.
Their bark was dark and dry, but glowing veins of red-orange pulsed faintly beneath the surface, as though lava flowed through them instead of sap.
Catheryn swallowed and kept moving.
The heat pressed in from every side now—above, below, around. It wrapped around her uniform, sank into her sleeves, and clung to her legs with every step. Her breathing grew a little shallower. Her fingers tightened around the staff again.
She just needed a second.
Only a second.
Without thinking, Catheryn drifted slightly to the side and leaned her shoulder against the nearest tree for support—
Then jolted away with a tiny gasp.
The bark was hot.
Not warm.
Hot.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the faint red veins glowing beneath the trunk's black surface.
'Ow...'
She kept walking, trying not to fall behind.
Then her face bumped into something cool.
Catheryn froze.
Solid.
Broad.
A second later, horror struck.
'...His back.'
She stumbled away at once, clutching her staff tighter as his shadow loomed over her.
"Catheryn," Luke said, glancing down, "if you need me to slow down, just tell me."
"N-no, it's fine," Catheryn said quickly.
'I don't want to hold him back.'
Luke looked at her for a second longer, then turned and kept walking.
Catheryn let out a tiny breath of relief and hurried after him.
It did not last.
The deeper they went, the worse the heat became. Sweat clung to her skin, her breathing grew shallower, and even gripping her staff started to feel tiring. She tried to hide it. Tried to keep her steps even. Tried not to look as though she was struggling.
Then Luke suddenly stopped.
Catheryn nearly walked into him again.
To their right, a large slab of black volcanic stone jutted out from the ground, casting a thin strip of shade over a patch of cracked earth untouched by lava.
"We're resting here for a minute," Luke said.
Catheryn blinked. "O-oh."
He glanced at her once. "Before you pass out and make this annoying."
Catheryn lowered herself quickly, clutching her staff in both hands.
'...He could be nicer.'
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The air shimmered with heat. Somewhere in the distance, lava bubbled and hissed, and Catheryn kept both hands wrapped around her staff as though it might somehow help her feel less awkward.
Luke sat a short distance away, one arm resting over his knee.
Catheryn hesitated, then glanced at him.
"Luke?"
He looked over. "What?"
She fidgeted with her grip on the staff. "A-are you... not hot?"
Luke blinked.
Then his back straightened slightly.
A faint shift came over him at once, subtle but obvious enough.
Pride.
"Of course I'm not," he said. "Impervious."
He said it like that explained everything.
Catheryn stared at him for a moment.
Then she looked away. "...That sounds convenient."
"It is," Luke said immediately.
Silence returned for half a breath.
Then something in his expression changed.
His eyes narrowed slightly, as though a thought had just struck him from nowhere.
"Hm."
Catheryn looked back at him.
Luke stood.
"I want to try something."
Before she could ask what he meant, he stepped toward her and reached out a hand.
Catheryn stiffened.
Then, out of pure instinct, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Luke paused.
"What are you doing?"
Catheryn's face warmed. "N-nothing."
There was a brief silence.
Then Luke muttered, "You really do think I'm terrifying."
Catheryn did not answer.
She was far too busy being mortified.
A second later, she felt his hand settle lightly against her shoulder.
"Impervious."
Mana stirred.
Catheryn flinched faintly as a cool layer spread across her skin, thin and strange and nothing like the sweltering air around them. It moved over her like transparent water, smooth and weightless, before settling into place.
Her eyes slowly opened.
The heat—
It had dulled.
Not completely.
But enough.
Enough that the burning pressure on her skin eased. Enough that the air no longer felt like it was clawing down her throat with every breath.
Catheryn blinked.
Then blinked again.
Her cherry-pink eyes widened as she looked down at her hands.
The faint transparent sheen over her skin caught the lava-light for just a moment before becoming almost impossible to see.
Luke was staring at her too.
Not smug this time.
Surprised.
"Huh," he said.
Catheryn looked up. "Y-you've never done this before?"
Luke folded his arms. "No."
That pause lasted just long enough to be suspicious.
Then his chin lifted slightly.
"But I figured I could."
Catheryn stared at him.
'He definitely did not know that for sure.'
Still...
Catheryn flexed her fingers slowly, still adjusting to the strange cool layer wrapped around her skin.
The silence that followed no longer felt quite as awkward.
Then Luke spoke.
"You really were struggling."
Catheryn jolted slightly. "I-I was keeping up."
Luke looked at her.
Catheryn lowered her gaze at once.
"...Mostly," she admitted.
Luke exhaled through his nose. It almost sounded like a laugh.
"You should've said something sooner."
'I didn't want to look useless.'
Catheryn tightened her grip on her staff. "I didn't want to hold you back."
Luke was quiet for a moment.
Then he said, "You're my partner. If you fall over from heat, that holds me back more."
Catheryn blinked.
She slowly looked up at him.
Luke's expression had not changed much. He still looked as intimidating as ever, with that broad frame and sharp jaw and voice that always sounded a little too direct.
But somehow, what he said did not sound mocking.
Just simple.
Matter-of-fact.
Catheryn looked down again.
"...Oh."
'He said it so easily.'
A small silence settled between them.
Then Luke frowned slightly. "Why do you always look so nervous around me?"
Catheryn nearly choked.
"I-I do not."
Luke stared.
Catheryn shrank a little. "...That much."
He kept staring.
Her face warmed.
'This is horrible.'
"You're scary," she blurted out.
The words left her mouth too fast to stop.
Catheryn froze.
Luke froze too.
For one awful second, neither of them moved.
Then Luke pointed at himself.
"Me?"
Catheryn immediately panicked. "N-not in a bad way! I mean—no, that sounded bad—I just meant you're very large, and loud, and you glare a lot, and when you walk it feels like you're about to kick down a wall, so it's a little intimidating, but not in a—"
She stopped.
Very slowly, Catheryn lowered her head into her hands.
'Please let the lava take me.'
There was a pause.
Then Luke snorted.
Not loudly.
Just once.
Catheryn peeked up at him through her fingers.
To her shock, he looked amused.
"A little intimidating?" he repeated.
She made a tiny distressed sound. "Please forget I said that."
"No."
Catheryn looked ready to melt on the spot.
Luke leaned back slightly against the rock behind him.
"At first, I thought you were just soft."
Catheryn stilled.
Luke glanced at her.
"But after watching your fight, I know better."
Her cherry-pink eyes widened slightly.
"You got torn apart and still nearly took Ruth's eye out," he said. "That's not soft."
Catheryn stared at him for a moment, caught somewhere between embarrassment and confusion.
Then she lowered her gaze to her staff.
"Th-that's because of my transformation."
Luke frowned. "Transformation?"
She nodded once.
"When it happens, I can use more of my affinities... but my emotions get dulled too."
Luke said nothing.
Catheryn's fingers tightened around the wood.
"So it helps," she said quietly. "It makes it easier to fight when I'm scared."
Her voice dipped even lower.
"But it also makes me feel less like myself."
Luke was silent for a second.
Then he said, "That sounds annoying."
Catheryn blinked and looked up.
He shrugged.
"But it was also cool."
A small smile tugged at his mouth.
Catheryn stared at him.
"And in the end," Luke said, his voice calm, "all that matters is that you still fought."
For some reason, that made her chest feel strangely warm.
Warmer than the dungeon.
Catheryn looked down at her staff, then asked quietly, "Did you really mean what you said earlier?"
Luke raised a brow. "What part?"
"About... not wanting to stay in their shadows."
Luke's expression hardened a little.
"Kyle. Lyra. The top ranks. People like that."
His gaze drifted toward the burning path ahead.
"If we keep measuring ourselves from behind them, then behind them is where we'll stay."
Catheryn followed his gaze.
The lava beyond them pulsed like flowing gold.
"And you?" she asked softly. "Do you hate that?"
Luke was silent for a moment.
Then he gave a small shrug.
"I hate being weak enough to notice it."
Catheryn looked at him.
That was probably the most honest thing she had heard him say.
Then Luke stood.
"We've rested enough."
Catheryn nodded and quickly pushed herself up too.
Then he added, without looking at her, "And next time, say something before you start dying from the heat."
Catheryn puffed her cheeks faintly. "I was not dying."
Luke glanced at her.
She looked away.
"...I was only a little bit dying."
Luke snorted again and started walking.
This time, when Catheryn followed, his pace was slower.
Just enough for her to notice.
She said nothing and hurried after him, staff held close. The layer of borrowed Impervious still clung to her skin, easing the worst of the heat, but the dungeon remained unbearable. Lava glowed through cracks in the earth, and the air still felt thick enough to drink.
They walked in silence.
Then the path ended.
Catheryn stopped short.
A chasm stretched out before them, vast and full of churning lava. Heat surged up from below in heavy waves, and broken slabs of black rock jutted from the molten sea like the remains of a ruined path.
Catheryn's grip tightened around her staff.
'...That is definitely not jumpable.'
Luke stood at the edge, staring ahead.
"Hm."
Catheryn looked from the lava below to the scattered rock slabs ahead, then back to his broad back.
'Please don't say something insane.'
For the third time, he turned and looked at her.
"Any ideas?"
Catheryn blinked.
She had not expected him to ask.
Her eyes drifted back toward the chasm. Below, the sea of lava rolled and hissed, throwing waves of heat up into the air.
"I..." She tightened her grip on her staff. "I could maybe carry us over with wind."
Luke raised a brow. "Maybe?"
Catheryn's cheeks warmed. "O-only for a short distance. And not very well."
He waited.
She looked away. "It would use most of my mana."
Luke turned back to the chasm.
Then he shook his head.
"No. Save it."
Catheryn blinked. "But—"
"This is the first obstacle," he said, voice steady. "Not the last. I'm not having you burn through everything this early."
Catheryn fell quiet.
Before she could think of anything else, Luke stepped closer to the edge and crouched.
"I want to try something."
That did not sound reassuring when it came from him.
Luke placed a hand against the black rock.
"Impervious."
Blue mana spread from his palm and sank into the ground.
A single foothold pushed out over the lava.
Catheryn's eyes widened.
The small platform trembled almost immediately.
Luke clicked his tongue. "Yeah. Thought so."
Catheryn stared. "Y-you can do that?"
"I can do one," he said, rising to his feet. "More than that and Impervious stretches too thin."
Her gaze dropped to the lone foothold hanging above the molten sea.
Then back to him.
"That sounds dangerous."
Luke looked at her.
"It is."
Then he stepped onto it.
Catheryn's breath caught at once.
The foothold dipped slightly under his weight, faint cracks already spreading along its surface from the heat below.
Luke turned and held a hand out toward her.
For a moment, all Catheryn could hear was the roar of the lava beneath them.
"I make the step. You launch us before it sinks."
His brown eyes met hers.
"We do it together."
'Why did that sound so reassuring coming from someone this unreasonable?'
Catheryn stared at his hand.
The heat.
The chasm.
The cracking foothold.
And Luke—standing above a sea of lava like this was somehow reasonable.
'...He's insane.'
The foothold cracked louder.
Luke did not move.
"Catheryn," he said.
She swallowed.
Then, slowly, she reached for his hand.