The next morning, sunrays bathed the room in pale light.

  Nox was woken by Lina’s quiet voice.

  “W- Wake up,” she squirmed, barely able to breathe while being clung to by Nox.

  His arms loosened instinctively, as if he had only just realized where he was.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  Lina seemed surprisingly flustered. Even in the dim room, Nox could see her red face.

  “I- It’s okay, but let’s forget about what happened yesterday, okay?” she asked.

  “Don’t think I can do that,” he replied, smirking slightly.

  She mustered him with a shocked gaze, as if she couldn’t believe his response herself.

  “I thought I’ve trained you well enough. I’m going to tie you up extra tight next time!” she cried, punching him softly.

  “Yeah, yeah, we should go have breakfast,” Nox said.

  When the two entered the cafeteria, Regea and Beatrice were already sitting at a table.

  “I didn’t see you this morning. Where did you sleep tonight, Regea?” Nox asked.

  “O- Oh, I slept in Beatrice’s room because I thought you two wanted to be alone,” he replied.

  He tried to hide his embarrassment by stuffing his mouth with bread, but it barely worked.

  “So… you guys slept together?” Lina asked casually.

  “W- What? We slept in different beds!” the two clarified in unison.

  They glanced at each other, then quickly turned away with bright red faces.

  “How cute,” Nox and Lina said, smirking at their embarrassment.

  After finishing breakfast, the four made their way to the mission hall. This time, the board had an even bigger selection to choose from.

  “How about this?” Lina asked, pointing at a C-rank mission.

  C-rank mission: Clearance of Arachne’s Dungeon

  Reward: +500 points per newly reached dungeon floor, +5000 points for killing the dungeon boss

  Description: Arachne’s Dungeon is on the verge of a break. It is an E-rank dungeon with 50 floors. The last ten are undiscovered and will be rewarded upon reaching them. Preferably, you should exterminate the level 5 boss monster.

  “This sounds pretty hard,” Nox said.

  “Oh, come on. You told me you’re strong, right? And we’ll get so many points!” Lina whispered.

  “But why do they reward people for clearing a dungeon? It’s not like they’re a threat,” Beatrice asked.

  “Most of them aren’t, but a dungeon break can happen. That means the barrier restricting the monsters from coming out, breaks. However, the adventurer guild keeps check of all dungeons and clears them before becoming a threat,” Lina answered.

  “Like a walking book,” Regea murmured.

  “Exactly.”

  Lina proudly glanced at Nox and ruffled through his silver hair.

  Beatrice clicked on the mission paper, and it dissipated into thin air.

  As the group marched into the teleportation hall and entered a small, green gate, they emerged in a large eerie forest.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  In front of them stood a massive pyramid covered in moss. The stone seemed unnaturally smooth, as if something had been crawling over it for centuries.

  Countless footprints surrounded the entrance. Magical candles lit the dungeon with a spooky glow.

  Only a few monsters roamed around, giving the four time to check their stats.

  Stigma: Stigma of Combination

  Strength: 16,3 (+5)

  Stamina: 12,4

  Agility: 15,3

  Mana: 20,1 (+8)

  Equipped items: Red Stone Sword (+5 strength), Mana Ring (+8 mana), Twin Ring of Healing Meditation, Special Elemental Necklace (-20% mana usage for special elements)

  Skills: Earth Spikes, Water Release, Water Ball, Wind Strike, Wind Launch, Freezing Wind, Ice Crystal, Ice Crystal Launch, Ice Crystal Growth, Icy Field, Ice Boost, Snowball, Magnetic Field

  “I should learn a fire or another water skill next,” Nox thought. His current arsenal was powerful, but too dependent on ice.

  “Well, I can’t show my other elements anyway.”

  “Are all of you still at stage one?” Lina asked.

  Every stigma had stages… almost every stigma. With each stage, one could unlock new skills and improve old ones.

  “Yeah, but I’m at 95%, so I should reach stage two soon,” Beatrice replied.

  “Wow, I’m only at 79%,” Lina said.

  “I have 81%. How about you, Nox?” Regea asked.

  “Shit, there aren’t any stages on my stigma,” Nox thought.

  He could improve and learn new skills constantly; he didn’t need a stage for that.

  “U- Uhm… I’m at 89%,” he lied.

  “Oh, really? I thought you were already at stage two,” Beatrice said.

  As they walked through the upper floors, Lina leaned down toward Nox.

  “You were lying, right?” she whispered.

  “U- Uhm, no?” he replied.

  “Come on, I know you well enough now,” Lina said, stomping on his foot.

  “I don’t have any stages, that’s why,” he admitted.

  “You can lie to them, but don’t lie to me,” she said, tugging his ear softly. Her tone was sharp, more threatening than angry.

  Thanks to the small number of monsters, the group descended the first 40 floors in a few hours.

  There weren’t any shortcuts. To enter the next floor, you had to reach the end of the other one first.

  “I guess the real deal begins now,” Nox said, staring into the dark tunnel ahead.

  Thousands of tiny eyes seemed to watch them as they moved forward.

  “Finally… come on out,” Beatrice shouted when small spiders emerged from the shadows. Their yellow pupils tracked their every movement.

  Nox glanced at Lina and noticed her body trembling slightly, so subtle only someone watching closely would see it.

  “Don’t worry. This much is nothing,” he whispered, taking her hand.

  Before the monsters could react, a flame tornado obliterated them.

  Nox quickly cast a water spell to extinguish the flames.

  “Be careful. We don’t have enough oxygen for spells that strong,” he warned.

  “Oh, I’m sor-”

  Before she could finish, larger spiders emerged from the dark.

  One dashed toward Beatrice and slammed her into the wall.

  “Don’t touch her!” Regea roared, charging forward. Dozens of monsters were pierced by thick vines.

  As Regea defended Beatrice, the other two were surrounded by even larger spiders.

  Nox felt Lina squeeze his hand tighter. With her power surging through him, the dungeon floor transformed into a massive ice field.

  He released her hand and dashed forward.

  The spiders’ heads were severed cleanly without resistance. For a heartbeat it was almost fun, cutting through the monsters’ head, blood splattering everywhere.

  He glanced at Regea, who was finishing off the last few monsters.

  Just as he smiled in relief, a sense of danger struck him.

  It wasn’t aimed at him.

  He instinctively turned to Lina. A giant spider crept toward her, silent and deliberate. Its hairy legs extended, mouth opening.

  When their eyes met, it felt as though they could read each other’s thoughts.

  Without hesitation, Lina dropped to the ground while a massive ice crystal flew over her. The magic seemed more refined and deadly as if he had poured more care into it than necessary.

  When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of the monster. The wall behind it was frozen solid, cracked from the impact.

  “Wow, you went all out for one spider,” Beatrice said, leaning on Regea’s shoulder. Her leg bled, but it didn’t look too bad.

  “Thank you,” Lina said, resting her hand on Nox’s silver hair as if rewarding him.

  “N- No problem,” he muttered.

  “She’s her old self again,” he thought. Even though he had experienced it countless times before, her sudden personality switch still surprised him.

  “We should set up camp and recover our mana. Especially you two,” Lina said, smirking at Regea and Beatrice.

  When they fell asleep, she walked over to Nox.

  “I felt like I could read your thoughts during that fight,” she said, sitting beside him.

  “That’s probably because of the rune. I instinctively knew you were in danger,” he replied.

  “But why didn’t you say anything about the mission?” Nox asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re scared of spiders, aren’t you?”

  He didn’t sound accusing, only observant.

  “H- Huh?”

  “It was pretty obvious.”

  “…I didn’t think it would still be that bad,” she admitted, “normally, spiders aren’t that creepy.”

  “The scary princess is afraid of this?”

  “Ah, shut up! You’re scared of practically everything else!” Lina muttered.

  “We can stop the missi—”

  Before he could finish, Lina grabbed his head and pulled it onto her lap. The motion left no room for refusal.

  “Don’t get too cocky just because of yesterday,” she ordered.

  “I have to stand guard,” Nox said, trying to rise.

  “I’ll wake you if something happens.” Her voice allowed no argument. Nox knew all to well that she wouldn’t take a no for an answer.

  Lina smiled down at him as his body finally relaxed and his breath became steady.