“Ow, who’s playing the bongo drums in my brain?” I groaned as I woke up with a painful headache that felt like something or someone was trying to bash my skull from the inside. “That was rough, whatever that was.” 

A gasp escaped my lips as I slowly sat up, pain wracking my entire body. I considered trying to stand, but from how weak and sore I felt, there was no way that I’d be able to just yet. So I laid back down, pulled out a papple, and decided to check my notifications while having breakfast instead. 

Ding

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill, [Fairy Magic] Rank 1

Ding

Congratulations! You have increased your Power Level to 302

Ding

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill, [Mystic Lightning] Rank 1

Ding

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill, [Orphic Instincts] Rank 1

“Wow, that’s a fair few unlocks, now, let’s see what they all do,” I said as I dismissed the notifications, opened up my character sheet and looked up all the new skills. 

I clicked on the one that sounded the coolest first.

[Mystic Lightning] Rank 1

The caster unleashes a devastating attack in the form of Lightning, that does both Psychic and Kinetic damage on a successful hit, maximum range is 30 feet, the target takes less damage the further away the enemy is. 30 second cool-down. 

“Wow, that sounds pretty powerful,” I muttered to myself, before I felt a grin on my face. Holding my hand up, I activated my new ability, and I couldn’t help but cackle as purple lightning shot from my outstretched hand and hit the roof of the cavern. There was a series of crackling pops as my attack left scars of shredded wood that drifted down to the floor near where I was laying. I giggled as I checked out the hands that can now shoot lightning. Full on Sith style. “Okay, next skill.”

[Orphic Instincts] (passive) Rank 1 

Mentalists have the ability to read, on an instinctual level, their opponent’s actions before they have consciously made them. This skill may fail if the target's mental resistance is greater than the mentalist’s stats and Power Level. 

“Oooh, that’s totally awesome!” I cheered. I cackled again as I thought about trying it out on enemies. I was looking forward to my next fight even more now. 

Finally, last, but not least.

[Fairy Magic] Rank 1

Through the careful application of the magical words of the fairies, and imbuing them with mana, [Fairy Magic] is able to cast spells or temporary effects on the caster. Fairy words may also be used to enchant items. At rank 1, this ability uses a lot of mana. 

[Fairy Magic] seemed like it had some interesting applications, once I had mastered it. That wasn’t going to be easy though, considering the mana requirements. 

After the brief rest and breakfast, I was feeling a lot better. I was still a little stiff, but I’m sure I’d be fine for combat! 

I stood up with a grumbling, groaning noise, vowing to never again fall asleep without a bed underneath me. I made sure to pack anything I’d left out inside of my inventory, and searched the room for a way forward. I probably should’ve done that earlier, just in case something came to investigate. Ah, well, everything turned out fine after all! 

I finally found a small gap between some trees, that was at an angle that made it hard to see. 

“Sneaky! But not sneaky enough, I'm afraid, dungeon master!” I victoriously exclaimed out loud. 

As I flew through the hole, I noticed that the trees that formed the walls started to thin out, then eventually ended into a large open area. It looked like a giant grassy open plain, that was inside of a forest, that was inside of a dungeon made from trees, at night? This place was weird. As I saw more of the open area, I noticed that besides a few shrubs and bushes, it was empty, except for a large tree in the middle. It appeared to be very similar to the one that was the actual entrance to this place, the only difference was that the hole in its side was an actual entrance into its centre, and not a magical circle that teleported you elsewhere. 

Just as I had started to fly over and check out the obvious next destination, the ground around me shivered then exploded. Dirt and grass were flung everywhere, which knocked me around, and temporarily blinded me to the rather large fist that flew at my face. 

***

Callie’s PoV

Raya and I had pushed ourselves fairly hard all of yesterday to try and get to our destination, but had had to camp outside one final night before we reached the dungeon. I lay in my bedroll as I stared into the now dead fire. I had contemplated getting up and putting some wood on the cooling coals, but I was too warm under my blankets. It hadn’t been all that cool last night, and it seemed like today was going to be a warm one. Thankfully we should be inside the dungeon, and out of the heat, before midday. Just as I had considered trying to sleep some more, Raya’s soft and gentle snoring stopped as she shifted in her sleep and looked directly at me with her partially opened sleepy eyes. 

“Morning, cutie.” I greeted her with a warm grin. 

All I got back was a squeaky ‘Eep’, before she ducked back under her blankets, her blush lighting up her entire face before it was hidden from me. Ah, those blushes are so adorable. 

I chuckled at her reaction. It was hundred percent Raya right there, every morning, without fail. I sighed with resignation and sat up before I rolled out the bedroll. My back cracked audibly several times as I bent backwards with my hands on my hips. 

“Ah, that’s better. I wish these bedrolls were more comfortable,” I sighed in relief as I complained. “Maybe we could afford better bedrolls after this particular adventure is over?” 

Before Raya could answer, Buttercup chose that particular moment to whinny, it was an equal parts ‘good morning’ and' I need ‘breakfast’ greeting. 

“Good morning, Buttercup!” I greeted our horse cheerily. I had always been a morning person, in complete opposition to Raya’s zombie-like behaviour first thing in the morning. Buttercup’s coat glistened a little from a light coating of morning dew; a quick brush down after I got out some of the horse rations we had for her, and she was all set for the day. Luckily, the saddle was magically hidden inside the harness and could be equipped in moments. 

I turned around, only to see Raya had gotten out of bed, but was quietly giggling at me while still wrapped up in a blanket. It was quite adorable. 

“Whatcha giggling at, cutie?” I asked as I raised one of my eyebrows. 

Her giggles were accompanied by a blush this time, but she still answered, “Oh, it’s just that you were humming to yourself as you brushed Buttercup. That’s all.” 

I scrunched up my face in confusion. I hadn’t even realised I had been doing it. “Huh, sorry,” I apologised, “I know I’m tone deaf.” 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Raya rushed to say. “You had a kind smile on your face while you did it. It was nice to see it, that’s all.” 

“Hmm, well, alright then.” I shrugged as I smiled at my adorable companion. “Quick breakfast before we head out?” I then asked. 

“Yep!” Raya enthusiastically replied as she dumped her blanket in favour of searching for the bag with our rations in it. I knew food would perk her up. Now it was my turn to blush as I saw Raya in just her thin, short, and light green nightie, which revealed her curvy body and slim legs to me. I turned around and tried to stifle a gasp before I could give away my feelings for her. I couldn’t ever tell her, it’d ruin our friendship. It was the only thing that kept me going sometimes. 

“Here we go, Callie.” Raya said, and handed me a small bowl of mixed nuts and dried fruit. 

“Thanks, sweetie.” I said, and smiled at her while I took the bowl she had offered me. 

After breakfast, we wiped our bowls clean, stored everything in our bags, then mounted Buttercup once we requiped her saddle. 

Raya sat in front of me once again as we rode, as she always did. It made it hard to ignore how my body responded to her, but ignore it I did. I had no idea how she’d respond if she knew how I felt, but I couldn’t take the risk. So, instead of thinking about sweet Raya, I made sure to look around as we rode instead. It was a good distraction, and it’d help keep us safer from wild attacks. 

“Hmm.”

“What was that Raya?” I asked, as I turned away from the side I had been looking at and glanced at the little nekokin. 

“Oh, it’s just, there is another undead monster over there. See it?” She asked, as she pointed over to our left. Sure enough, there was an undead zombie - human by the looks of it - just aimlessly wandering around. 

“You’re right,” I said with a frown. “How many does that make now? Nearly a dozen, right?” I asked. 

“I think so?” She answered slowly with a little shrug, clearly not sure. 

“Ah, well, let me just take care of this one then. I’d hate to let it wander around and attack someone.” I pulled softly on the reins, and Buttercup stopped and stood still. Pulling my Magitech Rifle out from its back holster, I aimed at the zombie’s head. I channelled my mana into a [Powered Shot], and when the icon blinked to indicate it was ready, I took a deep and steadying breath, pulled the lever for a magic bullet, made sure my aim was spot on, then fired. With a loud crack, the gun discharged with a kickback that nearly made me fall off the back of Buttercup, who just stood there without even a flinch, such a good girl. The magic bullet created a small, magical flame that burst out of the tip of my rifle as it accelerated away, glowing a bright red as it travelled at blinding speed, before exploding the zombie’s head and turning it into light blue light particles. 

Lost Zombie has died Power Level 176

150xp (shared xp)

“Huh, that was a lower level than most of the undead we’ve been fighting along the way, and no loot either,” I muttered to myself with a quiet tsk sound. Raya heard me and decided to speak up. 

“Yeah, it’s so strange. No one said anything about there being undead in the area,” she said, and looked up at me with a cute frown on her face, her ears laying down on the top of her head briefly before she continued. “D-do, you think we should warn the closest town?”

I shook my head slowly as I set Buttercup to walking again and holstered my rifle. “Nuh, it should be fine. We will stop off on our way back to the city, just in case. Although I doubt that they don’t already know,” I said with a smile and a brief, and hopefully reassuring, hug for my little friend. For a brief moment I thought that Raya had leaned into my hug further and let out a quiet sigh that sounded almost like disappointment. I shook my head. I was just seeing further into things than there were, out of my own desires. “Besides,” I continued, after a few minutes of quiet, “we’re here.” As I pulled Buttercup to a stop again, next to a large tree with a magic circle on its trunk. 

Raya deftly jumped off Buttercup, then I slid down her flank with a grateful sigh. We had only been riding her for about forty five minutes, but it was enough to start feeling a little uncomfortable. I removed our bags from where they were strapped down to her saddle, before I led her around the side of the tree. 

“Come on, where are you?” I asked quietly while I looked around. “Ah huh! Here it is,” I walked up to a seemingly randomly placed hitching post on the side of the tree. I wrapped Buttercup’s lead to the post and a window popped up in my vision. 

Do you wish to store this mount at the ‘Tree Caverns Dungeon’ hitching post? 

Yes No

Before I could click Yes, I heard a “wait, wait!” As Raya ran up to me. 

“What’s the matter? Did we forget something?” I asked with a quizzical expression on my face as I glanced at my cute companion. 

“Yes! I almost forgot to say goodbye to Buttercup!” Raya exclaimed, almost a little distraught over the idea that we’d forget to say goodbye. 

“Oh, ok then,” I replied, a soft smile gracing my lips as I watched while Raya butted her head on the horse’s, and hugged her quickly with a short, muttered, ‘Goodbye Buttercup,’ before she stepped back and nodded my way. 

“Bye, Buttercup,” I waved to our trusty mount then clicked Yes, and our horse vanished with a flash of blue light. “Right, now that's been taken care of, ready to go?” I asked the little Nekokin, who was staring at the spot that Buttercup had disappeared from. 

“Do you think she gets scared?” She asked instead. 

“Who? Buttercup?” 

“Mmhmm.” Raya answered. 

I shook my head, “Nuh, she always seems fine whenever we pick her up again, right? If she was scared or something, I’m sure we’d see it in her behaviour afterwards.” 

“Oh, yeah, that’s true!” 

Just like that, Raya was back to being her happy, cheerful self, when it was just us, at least. “You’re always so thoughtful,” I said, and patted her head, between her ears. We both heard her loud purring and saw her blush as I gave her a head pat, but neither of us acknowledged it as we walked to the dungeon entrance. Unfortunately, I had to take my hand off of her head, as we needed to climb a little bit to get to the hole in the tree that housed the teleportation circle. 

A notification popped up on my HUD as we reached the little platform and fit ourselves inside, just in front of the entrance. 

Alert!

The entrance to the Tree Caverns Dungeon is nearby. Caution is advised. 

Dungeon Difficulty: 2

Dungeon Type: Natural

Instances available: 1

I turned to Raya, “Now, remember, if this particular instance is the corrupted one, we will need your [Earth Totem] to provide us with [Iron Will].” 

“Got it!” Raya said, trying to look particularly fierce and determined. It was adorable. 

“Alrighty then, let’s go.” I said, before holding out a hand for Raya to take. As she grabbed my hand I squeezed hers, before I held out my other hand and clicked on the teleportation circle. With a flash of light, our surroundings changed from the green and peacefulness of the forest in the daytime, to a dark and gloomy grotto, made from tightly packed trees. The ground squelched as we sunk in a little bit and the mist stirred from our arrival. 

“Raya! [Iron Will], now!” I shouted. Raya had already pulled out her [Earth Totem] and quickly muttered a short incantation. None too soon, I had felt the stirrings of the aura of fear that permeated this particular iteration of this dungeon, before it abruptly cut off from Raya boosting our mental fortitude. 

“Phew,” I exclaimed, “I’m so glad that you have that spell.” 

“Me, too!” Raya said with a sigh and exaggerated shudder as she looked around. I pulled out a sunlight stone, then my swords next.  I then ran the stone gently over the blades, leaving behind a soft glow of sunlight. I placed the sunlight stone back into my pack, then held my sword in front of me. Both Raya and I had [Night Vision], which allowed us to see fairly well in low light conditions, but some creatures had abilities to trick [Night Vision]. Luckily, none of those tricks worked on sunlight too. 

“Our research suggested that there may be a Death’s Grip at the start, so watch your step.” Raya just nodded to me seriously, instead of verbally answering. I’m sure that I annoyed her sometimes, with my countless warnings, but she never complained about it. I think that Raya understood that I was just trying to keep us both alive and safe. Well, as safe as you can. Being an adventurer was risky and dangerous after all. 

I had just taken my first step further into the dungeon, when a notification popped up. 

Notice: Dungeon Quest

Tree Caverns Dungeon has become corrupted by some kind of malevolent entity, discover its identity and destroy it to clear the corruption

Rewards: 

[Class Ring] (Uncommon) x1

3,900 xp

Accept Decline

I clicked accept and saw that my quest log had updated with the new quest. 

“That should give us a level,” I said, as I cautiously walked forward, my swords up and ready to fight. The light shed from the blades illuminated our dank surroundings in soft light, and revealed… nothing. No traps, no creatures, just, nothing. It was odd. The information that we had acquired about this dungeon before we set out, had mentioned that there was generally a Death’s Grip lurking at the entrance. I peeked around the corner as I reached it. Again, there should be a Life Shard visible from this spot. We hadn’t been sold a fake guide had we? I shook my head quickly after that thought. It was an official Association guideline, and at 1 gold coin, it was a pretty hefty cost, but absolutely worth it, if it kept Raya and I alive. 

I walked into the larger circular room with Raya not far behind me, her staff out in one hand as a walking stick, easily accessible as a weapon if need be. As I reached the centre, I spun around, trying to spot any of the enemies that were supposed to be here. I felt the hairs on my arms raise up. 

“We aren’t alone in this dungeon.” I concluded. 

Raya nodded, “It’s the only explanation that I can think of that makes sense. What do we do now?” 

I sighed in frustration. “This was supposed to be our dungeon run, the quest automatically booked it for us. These people can get fined for it. Plus, it’s just bad etiquette.” 

The cute cat girl nodded again, this time a little bit more seriously. “What’re we going to do?” She asked hesitantly. 

I frowned for a moment, before my face hardened with determination. “We’re going to catch up to these dungeon thieves, and tell them off!” I exclaimed vehemently. 

Just as I had said that, the noise of an explosion, followed by cackling, echoed through the chamber from a gap in the wall that we hadn’t noticed previously. 

“What the…?” I asked, confusion plain on both of our faces, as we turned to look at where we had heard the noises from. 

Slowly and cautiously I stepped closer and looked through the gap, and saw it led to an open grassy area. I heard another explosion and a higher pitched voice than I was expecting shout out, “Haha, stupid rocks! Boulder-Sensei would be disappointed in you if he could see you now!” 

Who the hell is Boulder-Sensei, and why would he be disappointed in some rocks? Even more confused now, I walked into the gap and out the other side, only to stop in bafflement at what I was seeing. 

A small, glowing, humanoid shaped creature of some kind, was zooming around, shooting balls of purple light and curved lines of violet light at several strange looking creatures. Earth golems by the looks of them, their appearance like several large rocks tied together with vines, dirt, and moss, that surrounded a crystal that glowed a poisonous green.

A bunch of already destroyed Golems in the form of shattered rocks, scattered vines and moss lay all over the battlefield, testament to this small girl's skill and strength. I sensed, more than saw, Raya step besides me, both of us seemingly mesmerised by the sight before us.

Very shortly, all but one Golem was left still standing, if just barely. The girl zigzagged to dodge a boulder, clearly a part of one of its cohorts that it had thrown at her, before she abruptly stopped in place and lifted her hands to point at the Golem. 

“UNLIMITED POWER!” She cackled, as purple lightning burst out of her, striking the Golem’s crystal heart, and shattering it. 

The silence that followed the fight was deafening. Just as I was about to speak up, the floating, glowing girl turned to us, and seemed to see us for the first time as her face registered shock. 

“Oh, hello! Didn’t see you there. Come here often?” She asked with a silly grin on her face.