The first wave of scorpions crashed against them, and Jet finally activated her class—confirming Derick's suspicions.
She possessed one of the rarest classes in existence:
The Doppelgänger Class.
They weren't too frightening in the early stages…
But once they reached the Third Realm?
They became nightmares.
Jet summoned her class, and a perfect clone materialized beside her, wearing the same gear and mirroring her aura.
Without hesitation, Jet and her clone lunged into the oncoming scorpions, slicing through limbs and chitin as if they were cutting paper.
Derick quickly realized…
He wasn't even needed.
Jet and her clone were a two-woman army.
Within minutes, they had already reduced the horde to half its size—and Jet wasn't even breathing hard.
"Wow…" Derick muttered, completely forgetting himself. He didn't even realize he was drooling a little. Shaking himself back to reality, he summoned a Lethal-Backed Crab Beast Soul sword and swung at a scorpion that had gotten too close.
Clank!!
The blade bounced off the scorpion's armored body, leaving only a pale mark.
"What—da—!" Derick cursed.
The same scorpions Jet sliced like tofu were strong enough to shrug off his strike. Her strength made no sense.
Grumbling, he gripped the Infinity Pendant on his neck and summoned its dagger. Activating its first skill, he split it into two daggers of white and black colours. gripping the black dagger more firmly, he slashed and cleaved through the stinger that was whipping toward him.
A grin spread across his face.
The Infinity-Finality Daggers are still my best assets… If I get the chance, I need to learn a proper dagger technique for these.
With a burst of speed, he charged at the beast. The scorpion braced itself—then froze in surprise as Derick twisted mid-step, shifting his weight and darting to its left. Activating the second skill, the twin daggers fused back into a single blade.
One clean strike.
From head to tail, the scorpion split apart.
Ding!
[Aberrant Beast Slain — Squast Scorpion]
[No Beast Soul Acquired]
Derick turned—
—and his heart dropped.
Five scorpions had him surrounded in a perfect pincer.
"Sigh… Does it really have to be like this?"
He readied himself, preparing to summon the Phoenix Carapace—
But before he could—
Two Jets appeared at his sides, slicing through the five scorpions in the blink of an eye.
Derick blinked, stunned, then looked ahead.
Two more Jets were tearing through the horde.
"What—" he whispered. "She's insanely strong… What kind of skills does her class have? If only I could get a chance to touch her skin directly…" he thought, already scheming.
As the battle raged on, Derick watched her carefully. The more he observed, the more he noticed things he hadn't before.
Despite her cold demeanor…
She wasn't truly cold.
More like someone pretending to be cold to hide a softer side.
And those legs—
"Damn those long legs," he muttered.
Snapping out of it, he shook his head.
"Why am I acting so awkward around her?"
"Do I… like her type?"
"No. No way."
"Me? Feel love? After everything I've been through—twice?"
Never.
He shut the thought down hard.
But while he was lost in his own head, a scorpion aimed its stinger and fired a stream of glowing red liquid straight at him. Derick didn't see it until it was too late.
Sshhhh—
But before it could touch him, a broadsword flashed through the air—
CLANG!
The blade knocked the liquid aside, splattering it harmlessly against the wall.
Derick spun around.
"Why—?"
Jet landed beside him, her broadsword still humming from the impact. Behind her, the clone dissolved into shimmering particles, its task complete.
She shot Derick a sharp glare.
"You spaced out," she said coldly.
Derick opened his mouth, flustered.
"I—I wasn't spacing out, I was just—"
Jet stepped closer, eyes narrowing.
"You almost di—"
Before she could finish, Derick blurted out uncontrollably:
"I think I like you! Do you… have a boyfriend?"
Silence.
Derick froze, then slapped a hand over his mouth.
"What—da—why did I say that?!" he muttered under his breath.
Jet's eyes widened.
A faint blush crept across her cheeks as she looked away.
"W–why do you ask?" she said, her voice suddenly much colder .
The air between them grew thick with tension—strange, awkward, and charged.
Derick scratched his cheek, wishing he could dig a hole and bury himself.
"Ahem… well… thanks for the save," he said, desperately trying to steer the conversation away.
The moment he saw the girl's expression shift from brave warrior to mildly annoyed student late for class, he knew things were about to get messy.
"Uh… we should run," Derick said.
She didn't answer—she just grabbed his collar with one hand and took off.
"Hey—! I can run myself!" he protested as his feet dragged across the ground like a mop.
"Run faster then!" she snapped, sprinting with ridiculous speed.
Behind them, the remaining scorpion beasts scuttled after them, but the girl kept glancing back with irritation—as if they weren't deadly monsters but nosy neighbors interrupting her morning.
One scorpion lunged forward.
She kicked it in the face.
Without stopping.
Without looking.
Still pulling Derick like a stubborn goat.
"Do you… do you practice this?" Derick wheezed.
"Yes. It's called surviving idiots and insects."
Another scorpion pounced.
She ducked.
Derick didn't.
THUMP.
His forehead hit the low ceiling, and he swore a small star went supernova in front of his eyes.
"You okay?" she asked, still dragging him.
"Define okay."
She sighed. "Fine. I'll carry you."
Before he could argue, she hoisted him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes—and kept running.
"Put me down!"
Derick SAID.
While nonchalantly touching her bare neck successfully copying her Class.
Thanks to my teenage gene. I managed to execute my plan without much stress.
-----
I said put me down
"No."
"Why not?!"
"You're slower than the scorpions and louder than the battle."
Derick opened his mouth to protest again but shut it quickly when one of the scorpions screeched behind them loud enough to shake dust from the walls.
"...carry on," he muttered.
"Gladly," she replied.
And with that, the two of them—one graceful warrior and one unwilling luggage—made the most chaotic, comedic escape the tunnels had ever seen.
Jet carried him through the twisting underground tunnels, weaving through passage after passage until they finally emerged beside an underground river. Only then did she release him, and by that time, the scorpions had already lost their trail.
She summoned a beast soul—an Iron Hyde Tiger—and leaped onto its back. Derick mounted his Lethal-Backed Scorpion, and together they followed the river deeper into the maze of tunnels.
Their journey was anything but calm. Along the way, they encountered countless beasts—some the size of insects but strong enough to break bone, others massive and powerful, while a few were surprisingly weak. Some creatures they fought and defeated; others they had to flee from without a second thought.
There were even monsters they wouldn't dare consider fighting. Once, an underwater snake-dragon rose from the depths and nearly swallowed them whole. If not for Jet's quick use of her Class, they would have died right there.
Traveling together gave Derick time to talk with her, and slowly, the two became more familiar with each other. Derick's crab summon, however, was not suited as a mount, so Jet eventually summoned a second Iron Hyde Tiger—this one a lower rank—for him to ride. Their speed increased drastically.
After days of racing through twisting tunnels and following the underground river, the faint glow of distant structures began to shimmer on the water's surface.
Jet slowed her Iron Hyde Tiger.
"We're close," she said quietly.
Derick lifted his head. Up ahead, the darkness gradually softened into a cool, bluish glow. The cavern widened—massively—until the underground river spilled into an enormous subterranean basin.
There it was.
East Drowned City.
Built atop a massive stone platform rising from the water like an island, the city glimmered under countless blue lanterns embedded into the walls and rooftops. The glow gave everything a calm, ocean-like atmosphere, as if the whole place breathed softly with the river.
Four broad bridges connected the platform to the cavern edges. Each bridge was lined with stone pillars carved with mysterious symbols, cracked but still sturdy despitedespite their age. far beyond sight. Four wide bridges connected the city to distant regions: one to the mainland, and the others extending deeper into the ocean, leading to places unknown to Derick.