I watched for a moment after the cat body dropped to the ground, silenced by my blade.
The air around us felt heavy, filled with the lingering tension of the fight. I took a breath and let my gaze shift to the others.
Ryan caught my eye first. As expected, he was struggling. Overconfidence had brought him down, literally. He tripped over his own footing, nearly landing flat on his back, but Talia stepped in. Quiet as ever, she struck at just the right moment, deflecting the panther’s claws and saving his life.
"She isn’t the best," I thought, watching her move, "but she’s good. Reserved yet lethal."
I knew a bit about Talia from past missions of the games. She didn’t have overwhelming strength or flashy abilities, but her faint presence made her an expert at landing precise, critical strikes. She was someone you underestimated until it was too late.
Then my gaze shifted to Freya. Of course, she had things handled. Her swordsmanship was sharp, her movements controlled, and her wind abilities devastating. She fought like she had nothing to prove, yet her expression said otherwise. After finishing off the last of the beasts, she turned to us, her head held high, as if expecting applause.
"As much I expected," I thought.
She thrived on praise but only from the right people, those with noble reputations. If you were a nobody and praised her, she’d think you were after her. And if you ignored her entirely, she’d see you as an eyesore. Either way, it was a trap.
I shook my head, pulling myself from my thoughts. That’s when I noticed it movement in the bushes near Freya. My instincts sharpened, senses zooming in on the spot. A shadow moved, just enough for me to catch it.
I already knew what it was. Without a second thought, I stepped forward, pulling my blade from its sheath. In one smooth motion, I threw it toward the shadow, the blade spinning through the air.
Freya noticed immediately, her shocked reaction breaking her usual composure.
"WHAT!" she yelled, stepping aside just in time as the blade cut through the bushes.
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SWOOSH!
A panther leaped out, narrowly avoiding the blade by swinging it’s paw. Its fiery eyes glared at me, its growl low and menacing. It landed, preparing to strike.
But I didn’t wait.
As everyone’s attention was fixed on the spinning blade, I used Shadow Step. My figure melted into the darkness cast by the trees, vanishing into the shades. Moving silently through the shadows, I emerged from the bushes behind the panther. No one noticed how I moved as their focus was still locked on the panther.
The panther, not wart of the blade’s direction, leaped ahead.
That was its mistake.Emerging, I caught the deflected blade and I aimed directly at its neck, my blade cutting through in a swift, precise strike.
The beast let out one last gurgled growl before collapsing, lifeless.
The fight was over, but I didn’t stop to bask in the moment. Freya stared at me, her expression caught between anger and surprise. I didn’t care. My focus was already moving to the next potential threat.
After the panther was dealt with, Freya turned to me, her fiery eyes narrowing. "Why did you do that?" she demanded, her tone sharp.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Are you so prideful that you can’t say thank you and instead blame me for saving you?"
Her face twisted into a scowl. "YOUUUU!" she shouted, her voice echoing in the clearing. "I mean, how dare you throw that blade at me? You would have informed me!"
"I threw it because I trust your skills, Miss Freya," I replied calmly, meeting her glare.
"You’re supposed to be the very best, right? I knew you could dodge something as simple as that. And about informing you...how could I, when you don’t even acknowledge my existence?"
Freya’s expression faltered, her lips parting as if to retort, but no words came out. Her brows furrowed as she struggled with herself.
’Did he just praise me?’
’No, that was an insult... or maybe a backhanded compliment?’
Her thoughts must have been spiraling because she glared at me, clearly frustrated. Her usual confidence was shaken, and for a moment, I saw her mask slip. Yet, she straightened herself, brushing off the moment.
"Let’s move forward. We don’t have time to waste," she snapped, her voice cold again.
We were given a target to hunt 25. It was just a simple match of experience not a test.t
The hunt continued, and eventually, we reached our target of 25 monsters. The surroundings grew eerily quiet as the last beast fell. Freya wiped her blade and glanced around.
"When are they coming to pick us up?" she asked, her tone impatient.
Talia and I exchanged glances, both of us freezing at the sheer absurdity of her question.
Freya noticed and frowned. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
I had to bite back my initial thought.Because you’re an idiot. Saying it out loud would probably get me killed. Instead, I sighed and said, "We’re in Dungeon 13. We need to leave through the gate ourselves."
Her face scrunched in confusion. "What gate?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "There’s an entire message in brackets on the quest interface. It even has a map and a marked location. You’d know this if you bothered to check it."
"Really!I didn’t know that as I was busy."Freya gave an excuse.
"Yeah, too busy to show off around,"I snorted, making Talia look between me and Freya.
Freya blinked, pulling up her interface. When she clicked on the brackets, her eyes widened. "No one told me that! I’ve been too busy babysitting you pathetic slackers who got assigned to me!"
I couldn’t stop the dry chuckle. "Don’t make excuses, Princess. Learn to manage yourself. You won’t always have servants and attendants hovering around to hold your hand."
Her glare could’ve cut through stone. "What did you just say?"
Before I could respond, Ryan interjected with his usual flair. "Miss Freya, ignore this idiot. You can rely on me for anything!"
Freya turned her icy gaze on him, her voice even colder. "Shut up."
Ryan flinched, his bravado instantly deflated. I smirked to myself but kept quiet. No sense in poking the beast any further.
As we approached the dungeon gate, my steps faltered slightly. Ryan was once again hovering too close to Freya, clinging to her like a bee to a flower.
As we appeared closer, I moved quickly and whispered into Talia’s ears and then ran ahead.
Without a second thought, I shoved Ryan who was trying to snuck on Freya away, making him stumble and let out a startled scream.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Ryan yelled, glaring at me. "You’ve been acting like some stuck-up—"
I didn’t respond as my focus was already ahead. Freya ignored his outburst entirely, her eyes fixed on the gate. She stepped forward, confident and unconcerned, completely dismissing the tension behind her.
Seeing this my pulse quickened. This was the moment I’d been waiting for. As Freya’s foot crossed the threshold of the gate, a faint shimmer caught my attention. My instincts screamed danger.
Moving like lightning, I surged forward, my hand snapping around Freya’s waist. "It’s dangerous!" I shouted, my voice sharp with urgency.
Freya barely had time to process what was happening. Her eyes widened in shock as I pulled her back just as a blinding glow illuminated the dungeon.
The ominous light pulsed, and I knew what was coming.
Gripping her tightly, I spun around, shielding her with my body and trying to get as far away from the source as possible. But before we could move far enough, the blast erupted.
An explosion roared through the dungeon, its force sending a wave of heat and pressure that knocked the air from my lungs. Dust and debris rained down as we tumbled backward. My arms remained locked around Freya, keeping her shielded from the brunt of the impact.