Qirien retreated a few steps with her eyes shaking. Her eyes stared at the deep darkness of the cave, with the unknown hidden within the dark corners of the cave. She glanced at this man, who was unaffected by the words that he just said. As if he had known it for a long time. 

“This is madness Kevin, a dragon’s tomb should never be taken lightly,” said Queen Qirien. “The dangers lurking inside the tomb are not much different from the Devastator.”

Out of concern, she said, yet Kevin had no intention of going back to face that being of mass destruction. Even at the mouth of the cave, he could still hear the screams and panic crowd of the town.

“It’ll be fine,” he said. “I promise.”

Kevin gulped down a mouthful as he stared into the pitch-black cave.

Sometimes I question myself whether I’m that confident or I’m just a fool. Although I know about the tomb like the back of my hand, but there’s a possibility that reality might be different from the game.

Qirien stood there undecided. She was confident about her strength as nothing much could faze her, yet a dragon was another matter. Who knows, the dragon might not be dead inside the presumed tomb. She read about dragons before they were known to lure men and women alike with fables of treasure and power, resting within a tomb. Yet, the tomb turned out to be a liar, and what left of these brave treasure seekers turned into just ashes of bones.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. His tone unchanged, confident about his plan.

Qirien took a deep breath as she exhaled slowly, calming herself down. She looked at Kevin as she nodded.

“I put my trust on you,” said Qirien. She remembered the moments that baffled her about Kevin’s extraordinary achievement. This time, she put herself to a test. A test that would decide whether this man was fit to be the savior of her people.

Kevin and Qirien traveled into the depth of the cave as the light at their back slowly receded until what left was only the darkness and the smell of stale air. 

“Chakar,” Qirien called out to her fae.

A bright fae came out from under her cloak as her presence brightened the whole space, pushing back the darkness into a corner. 

Kevin glanced at Chakar for a while as he then turned away, hiding his sullen face from Qirien. He remembered Kassmeaa’s fate, and the guilt gripped him hard.

“Graaa,” a growl came from the darkness prompting the two to turned their heads at the same time. 

Qirien stepped forward in front of Kevin, prepared to face whatever that was growling.

A strong smell of musk lingered, as Kevin narrowed his eyes. He remembered something about the entrance to the tomb, it wasn’t merely a simple walk but a path riddled with monsters. To be more precise, two-headed bears.

“Graa!” 

A two-headed bear came into the presence of light. It launched itself from the cavern floor, swinging its massive paw at Qirien, assaulting with no hesitation. 

Oh! Two-headed bears, how can I forget about them. 

He remembered, yet he wasn’t worried. A monster like this two-headed bear paled in comparison to Rattleflower Serpent. 

“Ah!” a shrieking scream erupted from Qirien. The two-headed bear froze for a brief second before it burst into a pile of mush and blood. It wasn’t a normal scream of a helpless woman, but a powerful offensive sound-based skill that could shatter any monsters that were under her level.

Kevin, who stood at the back, covered his ears as the scream was loud and fierce. It was even worse when the scream echoed within this cave.

“are you hurt?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine. Let’s continue,” he said.

The duo continued into the cave as they fought against more and more of the two-headed bears. To be fair, Kevin didn’t do a thing as only the Queen was doing a great job in vanquishing these monsters. Yet a thought came into mind.

“For the next two-headed bear, I will let you take the last hit,” she said. She remembered that Kevin was still at level one, and gaining levels were crucial in order to survive in this world.

“No, it’s okay. I prefer to be level one for now,” said Kevin.

His answer drew a curious gaze from Qirien. She didn’t voice her curiosity as her mind was working it out on its own. This man who possessed valuable knowledge pertaining to the unknown was still stuck at level one. It was weird, yet she might have an answer to it. 

It must be one of his plans. Thought Qirien.

Their journey ended as they stood in front of an entrance door. It was a stone door, big to the point of tripling their heights. 

“What now?” she asked, with her gaze flickering over to the two dragon statues beside the stone door. She couldn’t hide her nervousness as she was about to enter a death ground.

“This,” he showed a gold coin in his hand.

“A gold coin? Where did you get it?” she asked.

Kevin refused to tell as his mischief slight of hands back at the Tailor’s shop provided the gleaming gold coin.

He walked over to one of the statues and searched for an opening. In the game, there was only a text window, but now he needed to find it. 

“Found it,” his luck was shining as he found what he sought. Within the mouth of the dragon statue, there was a slit hole, big enough for a gold coin to slip.

He didn’t waste any time as the gold coin left his hand and disappeared into the hole. 

“Nothing is happening,” said Qirien.

“There are two statues, my queen, two,” he emphasized the last word while pulling out another gold coin.

Qirien couldn’t help but frown. She didn’t realize anything while they were in the Tailor’s shop.

“You do know stealing is a crime?” although she wasn’t fond of humans but stealing from them was still unacceptable. 

“It’s a loan, I’ll pay them back later,” said Kevin. 

He found the other hole the same as the one before. His last gold coin went away as then both of them heard the sound of gears moving. The stone door started open with a rumbling noise as it grazed over the stone floor.

“Open sesame,” he said. He smiled as he saw his experience turning to be useful.

“Why a gold coin?” she asked out of curiosity.

“It’s a dragon tomb, of course, it wants a gold coin. This greedy lizard won’t ever be satisfied even after being dead,” said Kevin.

“Your world has dragons?” she asked. Qirien read about dragons, but the knowledge pertaining to them was insufficient and quite lacking. She was pretty amazed by Kevin’s description of dragons. Since based on old tales, dragons were known to be the trials for the brave and courageous, with whoever defeat one would gain massive wealth. But it never crossed their mind, why a dragon would have such wealth to begin with.

“Dragons? Uh… Yes… and no, I guess,” typical of an answer from Kevin. He wasn’t sure of it since technically they might exist in the past.

He walked through the stone door first, trying to flee away from answering more questions. Qirien trailed behind, and the moment she stepped inside, her curiosity about dragons went away, replaced by awe over the structure surrounding them.

“A dome,” she said. She took a sweep of the whole place. It was partially lit with a few holes on the high ceiling with sunlight passing through. The walls and floor were built with the finest designs made out of precious minerals. A stark difference from the cave before. Qirien was amazed by the beauty of a tomb, yet she felt a touch over her shoulder. 

She turned and saw Kevin.

“I need your invisible cloak,” said Kevin.

She took it out and passed it over to Kevin. She waited in silence for Kevin’s next move.

“So here’s the plan, I’m going deeper into the tomb, and you need to hold back the Devastator,” said Kevin.

“Wait, you are going alone? But that is far too dangerous, the tombs are filled with traps, and one slight mistake will send you to death,” said Queen Qirien.

“I won’t, just trust me,” said Kevin.

Qirien narrowed her eyes at Kevin as she then took out something from her ring.

“Take this,” it was a bandolier. Rather than holding bullets, its pockets were filled with colorful corked test tubes.

Kevin stared in amazement. He knew what this was.

“The yellowish-green is for curing any ailments mainly poisons, and the purple one is for health,” said Queen Qirien.

“Thank you,” he said while receiving the bandolier and belted it around his waist. 

“So, what do you mean by holding back the Devastator? You know I cannot reveal myself as a vocalist,” said Qirien.

“Precisely. I just need you to dodge and not attack, that’s it,” he said. “and remember the trick I told you about the Requiem of the Vreden Dags? The Devastator won’t be able to know if you sing it only to your ears. So use it, and wait for me.”

Kevin further instructed her to lured the Devastator to this high-ceiling dome after he made his way further into the tomb.

Kevin set off as he approached the tunnel path leading deeper into the tomb. But a voice made him stopped.

“Do not die on me, Kevin Wang,” she said.

“Promise.” 

Kevin left as his figure disappeared into the darkness.