I should have already learned that when something seems too simple, it's because it's lying.
The dungeon entrance lay north of Vailor, in a region of low hills covered by ancient trees. It wasn't a place that drew attention at first glance. No visible aura, no strange mist, no demonic portal screaming danger. Just a fissure in the rock, wide enough for two people to enter side by side, as if someone had opened the ground with a blade that was far too precise.
Vespera was the first to break the silence.
"So that's it? All this fuss because of a hole in the rock?"
Elara crossed her arms. I knew that look. Low mana, even less patience.
"If it were just a hole, adventurers wouldn't be disappearing."
Liriel tilted her head, golden eyes watching the entrance as if she expected it to blink back.
"There's no direct demonic presence," she said. "Nor any large-scale active magic."
"Is that good or bad?" I asked.
She took a second longer than usual to answer.
"Bad."
Rai'kanna wasn't with us. Lyannis wasn't either. It was just the usual group. Maybe that was why the feeling was worse. There wasn't that instinctive sense of security their presence brought. Still, there was no turning back without at least taking a look.
I took a deep breath.
"We go in only as far as we can," I said. "No stupid heroics."
Vespera gave a crooked smile.
"You say that like you're not the first to charge when everything goes wrong."
She wasn't wrong.
We went down.
Daylight faded away too quickly. The dungeon swallowed sound, warmth, and even the echo of footsteps. The walls were smooth, worked stone, with no signs of natural erosion. This hadn't been created by time. It had been made. Planned.
Elara ran her hand along the stone.
"This… isn't old. At least not like the other dungeons."
"I agree," I replied. "It feels more… recent. Like a base."
Vespera tried to joke.
"A super discreet demonic base. Great."
The farther we went, the more I felt the flame inside me compress, as if it were being watched. It wasn't pain. It was pressure. Like someone staring from afar, waiting for the right moment.
Liriel broke the silence.
"Takumi… something's wrong."
"I know."
It didn't take long to find out what.
The first group of monsters appeared without warning. They didn't leap from the shadows or roar. They were just there, standing in the corridor ahead. Humanoids, dark ice armor, extinguished eyes. They didn't seem feral. They seemed like soldiers awaiting orders.
Vespera raised her bow.
"Do I shoot?"
"Not yet," I replied.
One of them moved. Just one step forward. Synchronized. All the others followed.
"Okay," Vespera said. "Now I shoot."
She loosed the arrow.
She missed.
The arrow passed between two of them and struck the wall, shattering into useless splinters.
Elara let out an irritated sigh.
"You just had to hit."
"I hit the mood!" Vespera shot back.
There was no more time to argue. The soldiers advanced together, like a silent tide. They didn't shout. They showed no anger. They simply fulfilled their function.
I moved first, the flame responding to danger. My strike pierced the chest of one of them, which shattered into black ice. But the others didn't retreat. They didn't hesitate.
Elara cast a short, controlled spell to avoid spending too much mana. The blast knocked two down, but she staggered immediately after.
"Low mana," she warned, breathless.
"Already?"
"I warned you weeks ago."
Liriel tried to conjure light to destabilize them. It worked… for two seconds. Then the light simply went out, as if it had been swallowed.
"What?" she murmured. "My magic…"
"Limited as always," Vespera said without malice, missing another arrow.
The fight became chaotic far too quickly.
They weren't strong individually. The problem was the coordination. Every advance we made was answered by three of them covering the blind spot. Every retreat was anticipated. Someone was commanding them.
I felt it.
Not there. Deeper.
"We're being tested," I said. "This isn't to kill us. It's to measure us."
Elara stared at me.
"Measure what?"
"How long it takes us to retreat."
As if the dungeon had understood my words, the ground trembled slightly. Stone gates began to descend behind us, blocking the exit.
"Great!" Vespera shouted. "Now we're trapped!"
"Not completely," I replied. "We still have the side corridor."
We ran.
More soldiers appeared, but they didn't pursue us with everything they had. Just enough to pressure us. To push us out. Like sheepdogs herding the flock.
When we finally emerged from the dungeon, the gate behind us closed on its own. Silent. Final.
We stood there, panting, covered in dust and melted ice.
No one celebrated.
Elara sat down on a rock, exhausted.
"That was… the worst reconnaissance attempt of my life."
Vespera dropped to the ground.
"I hate intelligent dungeons."
Liriel stayed silent longer than usual.
"It's not just a dungeon," she finally said. "It's a barracks. A command center."
I stared at the sealed entrance.
"So the rumors were true."
My flame pulsed, restless, as if responding to something we hadn't yet seen.
"That wasn't a defeat," I said. "It was a warning."
Vespera lifted her head.
"A warning of what?"
"That we're not ready yet."
And for the first time since I arrived in Vailor, I was absolutely certain that something much bigger was moving… and that we had just caught its attention.