The next day, Gavin wakes up in the tent, the sun shines in his eyes through the netted window. He yawns as he gets up, rubbing his eyes as he looks over at his beautiful Courtney sleeping peacefully next to him, holding him tightly as he smiles. Gavin caresses her face gently as she sleeps, seeming to smile a bit as she holds Gavin's hand on her face.
Gavin's smile then stops, turning into a frown of realization, as he remembers,
"Wait a minute... this isn't real..."
He says to himself as he realizes.
Gavin rubs his eyes again, as his vision clears. Miyuki is holding on tightly to Gavin, smiling like a child as she holds Gavin's hand while he caresses her face.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Gavin screams in shock and panic, causing Miyuki to wake up as well. She then realizes what she's doing as well, as she also screams in panic, instinctively slapping Gavin in the face as she tries to get away from him,
"Get the hell away from me, you pervert!"
She exclaims as Gavin gets up, rubbing his face where he was slapped.
"Who're you calling pervert!? You're the one getting all close and snuggly!"
Gavin argues as Miyuki blushes in embarrassment, covering herself with the sheets.
"Just get out!"
She shouts, as Gavin gets up and leaves.
"Jesus... What a bitch."
He thinks to himself, sighing deeply in annoyance.
After a few minutes, Miyuki is seen getting out of the tent, finally calm after earlier as she sees Gavin on the makeshift dinner table, toying with a rock.
Gavin then sees her, as he gets up and goes over to her.
"So..."
He says to her, as Miyuki looks away, trying to avoid his gaze as he stands in front of her, towering over her.
"Nobody learns about earlier."
Miyuki says to Gavin, as Gavin shrugs,
"Don't even know what you're talking about..."
Gavin replies, taking a deep breath as they both stand there awkwardly.
"So... you ready to pack up and go?"
Gavin asks her, as she simply nods,
"Yeah... I'll go get my stuff."
She says as she goes back into the tent to get her things, while Gavin waits outside to prepare taking down the tent.
The two then finish packing up their things, as they finally resume their journey.
They make their way down the cliff, through a much safer way this time, as their journey is about to come to an end.
The duo then continues to make their way towards the Shi Mountains.
A few more days later of adventuring, crossing vast forests, wide rivers and open fields, the two finally arrive at the base of the Shi Mountains. They find an entrance to a cave, where every high-ranked adventurers seem to go to, as there are remains of old tents and a bunch of trash everywhere.
A menacing aura seems to come out of the cave, as wind seems to blow on the two of them, seemingly pulling them into the cave, as Gavin takes a gulp of nervousness as he stares into the abyss,
"So, this is it, huh?"
Gavin says with a determined face, facing towards Miyuki, as she stares into the deep darkness of the cave entrance,
"Yeah, you ready?"
Miyuki asks Gavin, as he nods, smiling confidently,
"Ready than ever."
Gavin simply replies, as Miyuki hides a smile, facing away slightly before fixing her composure.
The two then take a deep breath, as they begin taking their first steps into the darkness.
However, immediately as they do so, loud screeches can be heard getting closer and closer, as Gavin and Miyuki stand guard, cautious and confused,
"What the hell is that?"
Gavin asks as he looks around,
"I don't know."
Miyuki replies.
Suddenly, a swarm of monster bats come flying out, attacking Miyuki and Gavin as they fly out, as the duo struggle to fight back.
Miyuki then begins casting a spell,
"Inferno!"
She chants, as a powerful flame comes out of her staff, burning everything around her as bats begin getting incinerated.
Meanwhile, Gavin continues to struggle from the bat attack, grunting in pain as bats continue to scratch him as they fly out.
Eventually, the attack ends, as Gavin is left with a bunch of scratches,
"Owh... Y-you alright, Gavin?"
Miyuki asks, concerned for him,
"Y-yeah... I'm fine..."
Gavin replies, grunting in pain,
"Hold on, I'll heal you."
Miyuki says, as she begins chanting up a heal spell, however, Gavin stops her,
"No no, it's fine, I swear."
He insists as he gives her a casual smile, as if nothing is wrong, causing Miyuki to blush a bit, but she's still very concerned for him.
Suddenly, Gavin begins groaning in agony, falling to his knees, as Miyuki watches the spectacle of Gavin painfully regenerating each wound on his body, one by one.
"Woah, what the hell was that?"
Miyuki exclaims, confused as to what just happened to Gavin,
"Urgh... That was one of my powers, I have Infinite Regeneration, but it hurts like hell each time it happens."
Gavin explains as he gets up. He then stretches a bit, cracking his neck and knuckles to try and ease himself from the agony he just experienced.
"Huh, that's interesting, I've never heard of that before..."
Miyuki wonders to herself, when suddenly, their conversation is ended as the monster bats can be heard screeching from up above, seeming to just be circling above them.
"What the hell is going on now?"
Gavin asks in worry, as suddenly, the bats begin flying down, continuing to attack them.
Gavin and Miyuki manage to notice this quickly though, as they begin running inside the cave.
"Flamethrower!"
Miyuki chants, as she casts a fire spell onto the entrance, incinerating each one that tries to chase after them.
The monster bats get scared off for a bit as they see the flames, as Gavin and Miyuki take this chance to keep running.
Miyuki then begins chanting up another spell,
"Wall!"
She chants, as she conjures up an earth wall with her staff, blocking off the entrance, as their entire vision is clouded up in darkness.
"Well then... pants That was... pants Terrifying."
Gavin pants, as the two rest for a bit, exhausted by the sudden bat swarm,
"Yeah, and that was just a taste of what an S-Rank monster hotspot has to offer..."
Miyuki explains,
"I've been on many, many S-Rank missions, and I've faced a whole lot worse than that. However, I only kind of struggled there with that one since you were in the way."
Miyuki complains as she tries to put the blame on Gavin, as he then argues back,
"Oh shut up, you're the one who put yourself up with me, I was gonna do this on my own."
Gavin argues, as Miyuki gets embarrassed and defensive,
"Oh, you shut up! If I wasn't there you would've died."
She yells back annoyedly.
"Sure, tiny, whatever you say."
Gavin shakes his head, getting up to continue walking, as Courtney follows by, throwing whatever insults she can to him.
The two continue to banter, as their loud argument echoes throughout the cave, attracting every single monster nearby.
Gavin stops talking back to the loudmouth as he realizes,
"Shh, shut up!"
Gavin attempts to silence the angry mage as he tries to listen for the suspicious noise,
"Oh, don't shh me you little b-"
Miyuki replies angrily, but is then stopped by Gavin covering her mouth,
"Listen!"
Gavin whispers, as he continues to hear through the silence. Miyuki finally shuts up as well, as she realizes something's wrong.
"Do you hear that?"
Gavin asks Miyuki, as the ground suddenly starts to rumble, a little at first, but it starts to get greater, when suddenly...
THUMP THUMP THUMP
An enormous golem comes out of the shadows, roaring as it smashes the ground beneath them, causing the entire cave to shake and nearly collapse, while also causing Gavin and Miyuki to nearly fall, with Miyuki just straight up falling on her back.
"Ah, God!"
Gavin yells as he attempts to stabilize himself, as Miyuki gets up and starts to cast a spell,
"Freeze!"
She yells as a powerful blast of ice is shot at the golem, stopping it in place, as Miyuki grabs the disoriented Gavin's hand and makes a run for it.
"What are you doing! Where are we going?"
Gavin questions her as they keep running into the deep darkness of the cave,
"That was a golem, an SS-Rank monster! Not even I could take that thing alone."
Miyuki explains as they keep running, when suddenly, screeches can be heard from the other end of the tunnel,
"Not again..."
Miyuki clicks her tongue in annoyance as she immediately casts a spell into the darkness,
"Fireball!"
She chants as she launches a fireball straight into the darkness, revealing and destroying most of another swarm of monster bats.
The pair then quickly run the other way to try to find another path as the monster bats start chasing after them. However, the two are cornered as they realize that the golem has escaped and are now blocking the way, trying to reach for them in the narrow path where they reside, and the monster bats coming after them from the other side.
Gavin, thinking quickly, starts stomping on the ground as he realizes the ground below them is hollow. He then grabs Miyuki by the waist, causing her to yelp in shock, as Gavin proceeds to stomp the ground with full strength, causing it to collapse with the help of the mini earthquake caused by the golem earlier, as the two fall off into the darkness, not knowing where they'll end up next.