The next day, Isis came to the dining hall for breakfast as usual. After returning Lefiya's cheerful good morning, he pulled out a chair and sat down.
Not long after he had taken his seat, a cool, composed gaze fell on him. The next moment, someone walked over, pulled out the chair beside him, and sat down.
"Eh?"
With half a piece of bread in his mouth, Isis had just finished greeting Lefiya and was about to start eating.
Then the chair next to him was pulled back.
He did not pay much attention at first. The dining hall was busy, with people constantly coming and going. Whoever sat beside him was perfectly normal.
Then a faint jasmine-like fragrance drifted into his nose.
Isis turned his head—and froze for a moment.
Alicia had sat down with her tray, her movements natural and unhurried.
That was what surprised him. Sitting here was Senior Alicia, a fellow elf.
The bread in Lefiya's hand dropped straight back onto her plate.
Her gaze bounced twice between Alicia and Isis, her expression clearly spelling out the words she did not dare say aloud:
Why is Senior Alicia sitting over here?!
"Good morning, Senior Alicia," Isis greeted first, swallowing the bread in his mouth without missing a beat.
"G-Good morning," Lefiya added, her voice half a pitch higher than usual.
Alicia nodded, picked up her knife and fork, and began eating with the kind of smooth, elegant precision that looked like a ritual practiced thousands of times. The angle at which she cut her bread, the way she held her cup, even the rhythm of her chewing—all of it was exact and graceful.
Isis and Lefiya exchanged a glance.
Then, without either of them saying a word, they both straightened their backs.
It was not intentional. It was instinctive—like standing beside a famous painting and unconsciously pulling your hands out of your pockets.
Even though I'm already in the Familia, for one brief moment this feels like I'm back at the dinner table at home...
Isis muttered inwardly.
Of course, he had no intention of actually saying that aloud. That would be asking for trouble.
"Good morning."
"There's no need to be surprised. I came to tell you something, Isis."
Alicia inclined her head slightly, then stated her purpose.
"What is it?"
Isis set down the bread in his hand and looked at her seriously.
"Lady Riveria instructed me. Today, I'll be the one taking you into the Dungeon so you can familiarize yourself with it."
"I've already finished preparing for the expedition. Among the high-level adventurers, I'm probably the only one with any free time."
As she spoke, Alicia elegantly brushed a lock of golden hair behind her ear.
"I see. Thank you, Senior Alicia."
Isis nodded in understanding.
He already knew from his aunt that the Familia would soon be setting out on an expedition—probably in just a few days.
He had not expected Alicia to be able to spare the time to take care of him at a moment like this.
"There's no need to thank me. We're all comrades of the same Familia."
Alicia lightly shook her head.
After breakfast, just as Isis stood up to leave, Lefiya suddenly pulled something out of her pocket and stuffed it into his hand.
A compressed ration bar.
The wrapper still carried the warmth of her hand.
"If you get hungry in the Dungeon, you can eat this. One time, I went adventuring without bringing any rations and got so hungry my legs went weak. I almost held everyone back."
By the time she got halfway through the story, her voice had grown smaller and smaller, probably because she felt it was too embarrassing to bring up in front of Senior Alicia.
Isis looked down at the ration in his hand, then back at Lefiya.
The expression on the blonde girl's face was a complicated little knot of I want to help, but I don't know what else I can do.
"Thanks, Lefiya." He tucked the ration into his pocket. "I'll buy you fried potato balls when I get back."
Lefiya's eyes lit up.
Really lit up.
They shone no less brightly than her golden hair.
"It's a promise!"
Alicia waited by the doorway the whole time without urging them along.
But when Isis looked back, he thought he caught the faintest curve at the corner of her lips.
...
After breakfast, Isis left the Loki Familia together with Alicia and headed straight for the entrance to the Dungeon.
At the far end of the long avenue, in the very center of the city, Babel Tower rose straight into the sky. That was where the Dungeon lay.
A trace of excitement welled up inside Isis. He had clearly been waiting for this day for a very long time.
After passing through the underground first floor known as the Path of Beginning, they entered the second floor—the true Dungeon proper.
Walls and ceilings dyed a pale blue filled the entire field of vision. The labyrinth, with no sky in sight, stretched endlessly in every direction.
Forks in the road, crossroads, and gently sloping descents formed an underground space of unstable pathways.
Alicia walked at Isis's side, her expression as cool and composed as ever, explaining the many precautions one had to observe in the Dungeon.
The kinds of monsters that appeared in the upper floors, their weaknesses, and the routes between levels—
Isis listened carefully, committing every word to memory.
He had to admit, Senior Alicia really was a wonderful person, patient enough to explain all of this so carefully to a newcomer.
At first, Isis had assumed she was simply aloof by nature and uninterested in dealing too much with others. But after spending time with her, he realized she was actually a very gentle senior.
It was just that, in order to maintain the "dignity" expected of a senior, she could not openly show that almost elder-sister-like warmth.
Once they reached the third floor of the Dungeon, the monsters did not make Isis wait long.
A cracking sound came from the wall ahead.
Both Isis and Alicia stopped in unison.
The crack widened. A dark red glow seeped through it, like blood vessels spreading across the stone. In the next moment, three goblins tore their way out of the wall—faster than Isis had imagined.
Their crimson eyes were especially striking in the dim blue labyrinth. Their claws sliced through the air with hissing sounds.
Three of them spread out in a fan formation—two flanking from the sides, one charging straight at him.
Alicia did not move.
She was watching Isis.
And Isis did not disappoint her.
There was no panic, not even a trace. He was perfectly calm.
The ice element within his body responded at the very instant he recognized the danger. It was not that he deliberately summoned it—
it awoke on its own.
Just as Riveria had said: the elements were a symbiotic power. You did not need to command them. You needed to communicate with them.
And at this moment, that communication required only a single thought.
Elemental Shift: Ice
No chant.
From thought to fully formed magic took less than a second.
Six ice spikes condensed out of thin air in midair, their tips aimed at the goblins on either side, then shot forward at a speed far greater than the goblins' running pace.
The spikes pierced straight through both monsters. Two dull impacts rang out almost simultaneously, and the dark red bodies burst into black smoke, blue-violet magic stone fragments scattering across the floor with a sharp clatter.
But there was still one left.
The goblin charging head-on had already come within two steps, its claws tearing toward Isis's face.
Alicia's fingers tightened slightly.
Then relaxed.
Because the way Isis moved was not like someone facing a monster for the first time.
He did not instinctively retreat.
Instead, he stepped diagonally forward by half a pace, closing the distance rather than widening it.
That choice meant he had already prepared his counterattack at the very same moment he dodged.
Cold air condensed in his palm. Ice crystals grew at a visible speed, and within a second, a long ice-blue sword took shape, its translucent blade like glass, its edge sharp enough to cast off a cold gleam.
The tip pierced into the goblin's chest and emerged from its back.
The goblin's motion froze in midair, its claw stopping less than three inches from Isis's cheek.
Its magic stone hit the floor.
Isis exhaled a breath of white mist.
The ice sword shattered in his hand, breaking into countless fine crystalline fragments that drifted slowly away through the Dungeon's dim blue light.
He lowered his head and looked at his hand.
It was not trembling.
Not even once.
Alicia tilted her head ever so slightly and looked at him for about two seconds with an expression Isis could not fully read yet.
"You performed well. But there is one thing you need to remember."
"Please tell me."
"Control the scope of your destruction."
Her gaze shifted from Isis to the wall beyond. Two ice spikes, after piercing through the goblins, had embedded themselves into the stone, leaving spiderweb-like cracks across the surface.
"The Dungeon is hostile to adventurers. Excessive destruction can trigger a monster surge. You may be able to handle it, but other adventurers on the same floor may not."
Following her gaze, Isis looked at the wall. The cracks were much larger than he had thought.
And he understood this was also a matter tied to the Loki Familia's reputation. It had to be treated carefully.
"I understand."
He nodded seriously.
Seeing that he had taken her words to heart, Alicia nodded as well.
"Let's keep moving."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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