For several long moments, neither of them moved.
Kyūsei lay flat on the grass outside the Whispering Den, chest rising and falling in ragged bursts. His ribs ached. His side burned where the creature had cut him. Dust coated his face, hair, and clothes.
Beside him, Kazuto was somehow still smiling.
Not the carefree grin he wore when teasing people.
This one was thinner.
Sharper.
The smile of a man who had walked too close to death and decided to laugh at it first.
Around them, adventurers shouted near the dungeon entrance.
"What happened in there?!"
"The lower chambers collapsed!"
"Was that a rupture?"
"Someone get a healer!"
Several people rushed past carrying supplies. Others kept their distance from Kazuto, recognizing strength when they saw it.
Kyūsei pushed himself upright with a groan.
"I think my bones hate me."
Kazuto glanced sideways.
"That means they still exist."
"That's comforting."
"No charge."
A woman in green guild robes ran toward them carrying a satchel.
"You two! Sit still."
Kazuto sighed dramatically.
"Too late. I'm already emotionally standing."
She ignored him and crouched beside Kyūsei first.
"Cut on the side. Minor fractures maybe. Burns… somehow. What did you do, fight a festival?"
Kyūsei blinked.
"I don't know."
"Correct answer."
She placed both glowing hands over his wound.
Warm green light spread across his side.
Pain dulled instantly.
Kyūsei jerked in surprise.
"What is that?"
"Healing mana," Kazuto said. "Try not to flirt. They charge extra."
The healer smacked his shoulder without looking.
"Still alive, Kazuto? Shame."
He clutched his chest.
"Cruel world."
Kyūsei almost laughed, then winced because laughing hurt.
After healing him, she turned to Kazuto.
"You're bleeding."
"I call it decoration."
"You call everything except responsibility."
She healed the cut across his forearm anyway.
When she finished, she stood and looked between them.
"You two report to the guild before sunset. If there's corruption in that dungeon, the guild needs details."
Kazuto gave a lazy salute.
"Yes, terrifying medical authority."
She walked off muttering curses.
Kyūsei watched her go.
"Do all your friends insult you?"
Kazuto stood.
"The nice ones."
They moved away from the crowd and climbed a nearby ridge overlooking the valley.
The Whispering Den sat below like a wounded mouth, dust still drifting from the entrance.
Kazuto dropped onto a rock.
Kyūsei remained standing, staring at the dungeon.
"What happened in there?" he asked quietly.
Kazuto rubbed the back of his neck.
"Complicated answer or short answer?"
"Complicated."
"Annoying."
He sighed.
"Low-rank dungeons shouldn't contain sealed entities. That masked thing… it wasn't naturally spawned."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning someone put it there."
Kyūsei turned sharply.
"Someone can place monsters inside dungeons?"
"Not monsters. Constructs. Corrupted summons. Ancient remnants. Depends what kind of lunatic is involved."
Kyūsei thought of the black crystal pulsing like a heart.
"And it pointed at me."
Kazuto's expression darkened.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Wind moved through the silver grass.
Finally:
"Maybe it sensed your weird little secret."
Kyūsei looked at his hands.
The memory returned instantly.
That cold, swallowing power.
The monster turning to ash.
The chains of shadow bursting from the floor.
"I didn't mean to use it."
"I know."
"You believe me?"
Kazuto snorted.
"You panic too honestly to be evil."
"That might be the strangest compliment yet."
"It was sincere."
Kyūsei sat on the grass.
"What if something's wrong with me?"
Kazuto leaned back against the rock.
"Something is definitely wrong with you."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Kyūsei glared.
Kazuto's tone softened.
"Listen. Everyone has things inside them they don't understand. Rage. Fear. Talent. Hunger. Regret."
He looked toward the sky.
"Some people bury it. Some get consumed by it. Smart people learn to face it slowly."
Kyūsei was quiet.
Then:
"You talk like someone who knows."
Kazuto smiled without humor.
"I do."
They returned to Valthorin in the late afternoon.
The city seemed unchanged.
Crystal lamps glowed.
Vendors shouted.
Children ran laughing through alleys.
But Kyūsei felt different walking through it now.
Yesterday he had been amazed.
Today he noticed the armed guards on rooftops.
The beggars hidden near expensive markets.
The scars on returning adventurers.
Beauty and danger layered together.
Maybe that was what adulthood was.
Seeing both.
They entered the Adventurer Guild.
The usual chaos was present, only louder.
Apparently news of the dungeon collapse had spread.
The moment Kazuto stepped inside, voices rose.
"That idiot survived."
"Of course he did."
"Who's the kid?"
"Looks breakable."
Kazuto waved like a celebrity.
Kyūsei muttered, "You're unbearable."
"I'm beloved."
Lena, the silver-haired receptionist, slammed a ledger shut.
"Kazuto."
"Lena."
"Private room. Now."
"Oh? Buying me dinner first?"
Her stare could have frozen lava.
Kazuto sighed.
"She flirts aggressively."
Kyūsei followed them into a side chamber.
Lena closed the door.
"Report."
Kazuto's joking demeanor thinned.
He described the chamber, the black crystal, the sealed construct, the collapse.
Lena listened without interruption.
When he finished, she turned to Kyūsei.
"Anything to add?"
Kyūsei hesitated.
Should he mention the black power?
The construct targeting him?
Kazuto spoke first.
"He fought well."
Lena raised one brow.
"That was not my question."
"It's my answer."
A pause.
Then she sighed.
"I hate when you do that."
She opened a drawer and removed a small silver token.
"Temporary clearance. Whispering Den is under investigation. You two are banned from entering until further notice."
Kazuto took the token.
"Can we be unbanned tomorrow?"
"No."
"What about if I smile?"
"No."
"What if I—"
"Leave."
They left.
Kyūsei glanced at him once outside.
"You covered for me."
Kazuto shrugged.
"Maybe."
"Why?"
"Because if the guild hears a beginner used unknown shadow chains inside a corrupted chamber, they'll either cage you or recruit you badly."
Kyūsei swallowed.
"…Thanks."
Kazuto waved it off.
"Buy me lunch someday."
Evening settled over Valthorin.
They ate at a street stall selling skewered meat and fried vegetables.
Kyūsei burned his tongue twice.
Kazuto laughed four times.
Afterward, they walked through the lantern district where crystals hung like stars over narrow streets.
Music drifted from taverns.
Mages sold glowing charms.
Swordsmiths hammered late into the night.
Kyūsei slowed at a bookstore window.
Stacks of leather-bound volumes filled the display.
"You can read all this stuff here?"
Kazuto glanced at him.
"Want to learn properly?"
Kyūsei nodded.
"I never really…"
He stopped.
Never really got taught.
Kazuto understood anyway.
"Tomorrow morning," he said. "We start reading, writing, history, and not embarrassing me in public."
"I already embarrass you?"
"Continuously."
Kyūsei smiled despite himself.
It felt unfamiliar.
But easier each day.
Back at the inn, they climbed to their room.
Kyūsei was exhausted enough to collapse fully clothed.
But before sleep took him, he spoke into the dark.
"Kazuto."
"Hm?"
"Earlier… when that thing pointed at me."
"Yes?"
"You looked scared."
Silence.
Then Kazuto answered quietly.
"I was."
Kyūsei turned his head.
"For me?"
A longer silence this time.
Then:
"For what follows you."
Kyūsei sat up.
"What does that mean?"
But Kazuto was already lying on his side, back turned.
"Sleep," he said.
"That wasn't an answer."
"It was bedtime."
"Kazuto."
No reply.
Only slow breathing.
Pretending again.
Kyūsei frowned and lay back down.
Outside, Valthorin shimmered blue beneath the night sky.
Far below the city, beneath stone and roots and forgotten ruins, something ancient stirred.
And in his dreams, Kyūsei stood once more in the white marble realm.
The god watched him from a distance.
This time, the god was not smiling.