Chapter 28: Woof Woof
The afternoon sun lit the entrance of the Whispering Roots Dungeon.
And for the first time in hours...
Everything was quiet.
The students emerged from the dungeon little by little, accompanied by teachers, adventurers, and healers.
Many were exhausted.
Others injured.
Some simply happy to still be alive.
Kael fell into all three categories.
"I’m never going into a dungeon again."
Aurelion walked beside him.
"Liar."
"Yeah... I really need more money."
"I know."
"I know too."
Darius appeared behind them.
Kael just looked at him.
"Nobody asked you."
Darius snorted, annoyed by the gesture.
"Next time I’ll touch every rune I see."
"I’m going to hit you."
"A lot of people already want to. Get in line."
"Perfect. I’ll wait until you’re most vulnerable."
"Now that I think about it, what happened to your other summon?"
Darius glanced at the small Fat King with annoyance as he kept walking.
"It’s your cat’s fault. My summon doesn’t want to be near your fat cat."
"Meow."
"I don’t know what you’re saying, but you’re lying."
Seraphine walked near Kael without saying anything.
As always.
Silent.
Her arm bandaged.
The wound had already been treated by the academy’s healers.
It wasn’t serious.
But every time Kael saw the bandage, he felt a strange discomfort.
Because he kept thinking about the moment she had stood in front of him.
And he didn’t like it.
Not at all.
Luckily, the Fat King was behaving as usual.
Asleep on top of Kael’s head.
As if he hadn’t participated in a battle against a B-rank monster.
"He’s too heavy."
"Meow."
"I didn’t ask you."
"Meow."
"That wasn’t an answer either."
Aurelion smiled.
"Your relationship is fascinating."
"It’s abusive."
"Also."
Kael grabbed the Fat King in front of him and looked at him seriously.
"Well, time for you to be the hero again."
"Meow..."
"You know perfectly well it’s the only way. Besides..."
He looked at Seraphine, who was walking straight ahead, watching them both. When she noticed Kael looking, she looked away.
"It’s the only way I can thank her for what she did for me."
The cat looked at Seraphine and made a resigned expression.
"Meow..."
Kael smiled and handed the little Fat King to Seraphine.
She looked at him, then at the cat, and with her uninjured hand, she hugged him carefully.
---
When they finally reached the expedition’s reception area...
Everything exploded.
Literally.
Not a real explosion.
An explosion of noise.
"THEY MADE IT OUT!"
"IT’S THEM!"
"THE GROUP FROM THE ALTAR!"
"THEY DEFEATED THE GUARDIAN!"
"HOW ARE THEY STILL ALIVE?!"
Kael froze.
"I don’t like this."
"I do."
"Of course you do."
Aurelion waved at several people as if he were enjoying every second.
The teachers looked even more surprised than the students.
And that was worrying.
Because it meant the Guardian really wasn’t supposed to be there.
One of the adventurers in charge of supervising the expedition approached quickly.
"We need a full report."
"How full?"
"Everything."
"Then we need a chair."
"And several hours."
"And someone to explain why Darius still has permission to touch things."
"Hey!"
"I’m not going to apologize."
For the next hour, they had to repeat the story an absurd number of times.
The chamber.
The murals.
The runes.
The Guardian.
The battle.
Everything.
And every time they got to the part where Darius activated the altar...
The looks turned toward him.
"It was an accident."
"Sure."
"I swear."
"Sure."
"Why doesn’t anyone believe me?"
"Because we know you."
"That’s fair."
Finally, the rewards came.
And oh yes.
Kael started smiling.
Money.
Real money.
Not discounts.
Not fines.
Not compensation for destroying mountains.
Money.
Beautiful money.
"This I do like."
"I knew you’d react that way."
"I’ve been poor for years."
"Fair point."
When he saw the exact amount...
He almost cried.
"This is mine?"
"Yes."
"Legally?"
"Yes."
"No hidden fines?"
"Yes."
"No environmental damage?"
"Yes."
Kael looked at the sky.
"Thank you, universe."
The universe decided to ignore him.
Probably because it was already preparing something horrible.
---
That same night.
Kael returned home.
In a great mood for the first time in a long while.
Luna opened the door.
And the first thing she did was jump on him.
"YOU DID IT!!!"
"I can’t breathe!"
"YOU DEFEATED A B-RANK MONSTER!!"
"Luna!"
"YOU’RE FAMOUS!!"
"LUNA!"
The girl finally let him go.
And then she saw the money.
Her eyes sparkled.
"Brother."
"No."
"Brother."
"No."
"Brother, just a little for... expenses."
"NO."
"Just a little."
"NO."
Luna puffed out her cheeks.
"You’re selfish."
"I earned the money, and this is for your future. If we spend it now, we won’t have money later, and I won’t be able to pay your tuition."
"Details."
Kael burst out laughing.
He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.
The dungeon had been dangerous.
Very.
But it had turned out well.
He’d earned money.
He’d survived.
He’d made friends.
More or less.
And he’d even learned something about the Fat King.
Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction.
For the first time since arriving at the academy...
He felt like he truly belonged there.
That night they ate together.
They talked about the expedition.
About Aurelion.
About Darius.
About Seraphine.
Especially about Seraphine.
Because Luna never passed up an opportunity.
"She definitely likes you."
"No."
"Definitely yes."
"No."
"Definitely."
"Luna."
"Yes?"
"No."
"Understood."
Pause.
"But she does like you."
"Luna."
"I’m done."
Lie.
She wasn’t done.
She was never done.
After dinner, Kael went up to his room.
Exhausted.
Happy.
And ready to sleep.
The Fat King was already lying on the bed.
Taking up half the mattress.
Like a conquering king.
"That’s my bed."
"Meow."
"You pay exactly zero coins in rent."
"Meow."
"I’m going to assume that was a threat."
The cat closed his eyes.
And went back to sleep.
Kael sighed.
Then he remembered something.
The stick.
The strange relic.
It was still stored in his backpack.
"Almost forgot."
He took out the object.
It still looked like a completely normal stick.
Nothing special.
Nothing magical.
Nothing impressive.
Just...
A stick.
"I should probably sell you."
The stick vibrated.
Kael froze.
"..."
The stick vibrated again.
"No."
A light appeared.
Small at first.
Then brighter.
And brighter.
And brighter.
"No."
The room began to shake.
"No."
The Fat King opened one eye.
"Meow."
"Don’t look at me like that! I don’t know what’s happening either!"
The relic floated.
Spun.
And then a blue window appeared in front of him.
Exactly like the first time.
Kael felt his soul leave his body.
"No."
The window glowed.
---
[Second Compatible Entity Detected.]
---
"No."
---
[Preparing Summoning.]
---
"NO."
---
[WARNING.]
---
"NO!!"
---
[This entity has been expelled from seven dimensions.]
---
Silence.
Kael blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
"What does that mean?"
The window answered exactly what nobody wanted to hear.
---
[Compatibility: 99.8%]
---
"..."
"No."
The system ignored his opinion.
---
[Initiating Process.]
---
"NO!"
"NO!"
"NO!"
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
The Fat King watched the scene.
Then closed his eyes again.
Clearly used to this kind of nonsense.
The light exploded.
BOOOOOOOM.
A wave of energy filled the entire room.
The windows shook.
The furniture vibrated.
Luna screamed from downstairs.
"KAEL?!"
"EVERYTHING’S FINE!!"
"THAT DIDN’T SOUND LIKE EVERYTHING WAS FINE!!"
"IT’S NOT!!"
The light began to concentrate.
Spinning.
Compressing.
Taking shape.
Kael backed away.
Step by step.
Horrified.
Because he knew the pattern by now.
And it got worse every time.
The energy finally collapsed.
And something appeared.
Something small.
Something ridiculously simple.
Something that made Kael want to cry.
A stick.
A simple wooden stick, it just got a little bigger.
Floating in front of him.
"..."
Silence.
"..."
More silence.
"That’s it? It’s the same stick."
The window appeared again.
As if it had been waiting for exactly that reaction.
---
[Summoning Successful.]
---
[Entity Registered.]
---
[Name: Pending.]
---
[Threat Level: Unknown.]
---
[Recommendation: Run, run a lot... I really like running.]
---
Kael stared.
The stick stared back.
Well.
It didn’t have eyes.
But the intention was there.
And then...
The stick moved.
Very slowly.
Toward him.
Kael pointed at the door.
"No."
The stick kept advancing.
"No."
Closer.
"NO."
And just as it was about to touch him...
The Chapter of his life decided to end at the worst possible moment.
