Zzzzz—"
Sil stumbled forward as the world snapped back into place.
"I think I'm going to be sick."
"Me too," Miles muttered, pale but composed. "The teleporter really twists your insides. No wonder it's not popular."
Sil steadied himself and looked around.
Stone walls. Damp air. Faint blue light pulsing from crystal veins embedded in the cavern ceiling.
"We're in the dungeon."
His ID Watch buzzed.
F-Rank Trial Dungeon
Objective: Obtain 2 Basic-Tier Soul Crystals
Failure Condition: Incapacitation or Time Expiry
Sil exhaled. "Two basic crystals? That's easy enough."
He glanced at Miles.
Guess he won't be in much danger.They walked nearly an hour through narrow corridors before Sil finally spoke.
"Miles… earlier in the Guild Hall. Did you read my thoughts?"
A pause.
"It's my ability," Miles replied. "Earth."
"Earth?"
"I'm a Level 1 Earth User. I can manipulate soil and stone — barely. But I also have a skill called Seismic Sense. I read vibrations through the ground. Movement. Heartbeats. Muscle tension."
Sil blinked.
"So you didn't read my thoughts."
Miles smirked faintly. "No. You just think loudly."
Sil scoffed. "Earth is common. But having a refined secondary skill like that? That's rare."
"I know."
There was something heavy behind that answer.
"Let's keep moving," Sil said. "We'll find something weak before time runs out."The corridor opened into a wide cavern.
Crystals glowed overhead, casting soft blue light across jagged rock formations.
"It's beautiful," Sil said.
Miles smiled slightly. "Describe it."
Before Sil could answer—
Scrrrrkkkkk.
The sound scraped across stone.
Five massive centipedes crawled from the shadows, armored segments grinding against the cave floor.
One lunged.
Green acid shot toward them.
Miles slammed his palm to the ground.
Stone erupted upward, forming a crude shield.
The acid sizzled harmlessly.
But Miles' breathing immediately turned heavy.
Sil dashed forward, blade flashing. He drove his sword between thin armored plates — stabbing, slashing, forcing the creature back until it shrieked and collapsed.
Another circled behind.
Miles shifted the earth again — just enough to slow it for half a second.
Not control.
Just delay.
It wasn't power.
It was survival.
They managed to bring one down.
"We can do this!" Sil shouted.
No answer.
"Miles?"
The stone shield crumbled into dust.
Miles collapsed.
"Miles!"
Sil barely had time to react—
A sharp cold sliced through the cavern.
Four ice spears tore through the air.
Clean.
Precise.
Instant.
The remaining centipedes were pinned to the crystal walls — frozen solid.
Sil turned.
Two figures stepped from the shadows.
One male.
One female.
They moved like the dungeon belonged to them.
The man walked past Sil as if he didn't exist. He punched through the frozen exoskeleton of a centipede, shattered it open, and pulled out the glowing orange soul crystal from within.
Energy pulsed from it.
No acknowledgment.
No hesitation.
The woman leaned lazily against the cave wall, wind swirling around her fingers. Her eyes drifted to Miles on the ground.
Then—
She stepped on Miles.
And as she walked past, she muttered quietly—
"Worm."
Sil's blood boiled.
"Are you insane?! That's my partner!" You stepped on
He moved on instinct, hand flying toward his sword—
—but before the blade could clear its sheath—
Ice crawled up his legs.
Fast.
The masked man stopped beside him. A blue oni-styled mask covered the lower half of his face.
"Stay still," he said calmly. "Or you'll be dead in a moment."
Sil locked eyes with the woman.
"You shouldn't have done that," he said through clenched teeth.
Silence.
Then the wind shifted.
And they were gone.
Only the faint echo of air remained.Sil carried Miles through the corridor, footsteps heavy. ''Judging from his ability he most be C rank and she must be C rank as well's. Sil thought
"…They took everything," Miles said angrily . "Didn't even leave our kill, what arrogance "
"We're alive," Sil replied.
"That was our loot."
Sil said nothing.
"If I hadn't collapsed—"
"You saved us," Sil snapped. "That shield blocked acid meant to kill us."
"It wasn't enough."
Sil stopped walking.
The silence pressed in.
"I'm not trying to intrude," Sil said more gently. "But why did you collapse?"
A long pause.
"I have low soul energy capacity."
Sil waited.
"It drains fast. I can't store much."
That explained it.
"Then why become a hunter?"
Miles' hand tightened around Sil's shoulder.
"They think I'll amount to nothing. Blind. Low capacity. Weak."
His voice didn't shake.
But something inside it did.
Sil adjusted him on his back.
"Then we prove them wrong together."
Miles didn't respond.
But his grip tightened.