When I eventually came to, it was to the feeling of tiny fists tapping my nose. Luckily, my thoughts cleared, and I stopped myself from smacking my face. As I slowly sat up, Áine hopped off me and floated in front of my face. Her mouth was set into a frown, and I struggled not to laugh at the sight.

From our connection, I could tell she was equal parts worried and annoyed. I didn't blame her. Even when she gave me one last half-hearted bop on the nose, I could only smile.

"I'm sorry, Áine. Thanks for saving my hide. Again."

She stared, unmoving. When I held out my hand, she continued staring silently. When I went to lower my hand, she dropped and landed on my palm. Finally, she looked me in the eyes and spoke. "Not. Alone."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I had to do this. When you joined the guardian's call and completed that pact with me, I made a promise to you. I'm going to ascend Áine. Together, all of us, we're going to grow. It's going to suck, and I will get hurt, but I need to do things like this." I held her up so her eyes aligned with mine. "I already told you that this is my forever promise. You give me your all, and I'll give you mine. Alright?"

The connection told me she was unhappy and dissatisfied with my answer, but she did not refute it. I waited patiently, ignoring the water gently rocking my body. Eventually, she nodded once, flew up to my shoulder, and hugged me.

As soon as I called for Zharia, the high-spirited bird instantly shattered the peaceful atmosphere. She darted back and forth across the hall before finally perching on my other shoulder. Although her little pecks flared with golden fire, I was unharmed. I knew that she would never intentionally harm me. Nevertheless, her message was crystal clear.

I apologized and gave her the same speech I gave Áine. She was annoyed, but she accepted and nestled into my neck. Briefly, I thought about summoning Erebus, but the spider was a bit different than the other two. His way of thinking was more task-orientated and foreign. And besides that, when I looked around the empty hallway, I found nothing but water.

There was no point in spending the mana to summon the little guy since the ghostfish corpses had long disappeared. Áine wasn't sure how long I was unconscious, but it was long enough for the dungeon to reclaim its property.

I sighed and closed my eyes. The loot didn't matter. I mean, it did, I always needed more stuff to sell, especially if I could acquire enchanted items and skillstones, but it wasn't the biggest loss. I had, at least another week or so before more adventurers would arrive. That was plenty of time time to monopolize the dungeon and get more stuff.

Another sigh escaped my lips, and I could feel the girls' concern as they cuddled against my neck. Somehow after achieving what I set out to do, I felt empty? Dissatisfied, somehow? I wasn't entirely sure, but I knew it wasn't enough.

I think a good part of me was hoping I could delve the entire first floor without needing Áine to patch me up. In a way, I failed a goal that wasn't really a goal in the first place. Rather, it was mostly wishful thinking on my part.

Of course, I knew I was being silly. I managed to delve a dungeon a tier above me without any help, using no skills and only my spear. Without years of martial training combined with an incomplete skill set, I had achieved something impressive. Remarkable even? That was up for debate. One could easily say that I was just lucky.

"Master, silly. Be proud." Áine conveyed.

"Yes, exactly. Master, you did good! Stop moping," Zharia added.

I laughed out loud and flicked drops of water at the phoenix, who blocked my attack by sending out a tiny burst of flames. As she chirped proudly at her success, I laughed again and slowly stood up. "I am not moping. Brooding, maybe, but not moping. It's called introspection, and it's good for you."

"Too much introspection. If enemies hurt you, then burn them to ash. Simple, Master," Zharia said sagely. I probed our connection, and I could feel the absolute conviction in her voice. She meant what she said one hundred percent, without a shred of doubt.

I shook my head, my eyes scanning the water's surface. I lifted my spear with my foot, twirling it around to shake off the water. As I held it up to examine the blade, I noticed a thin, web-like crack on the right end tip of the metal. It had laced the surface, almost like a spider's web.

While the crack was worrying, I still had the strange slime extract I bought back in Edolus. When I popped the clay pot into my hand, I paused and stared at it. Only after the creaking sounds reached my ears I finally noticed I was squeezing too hard and let go. The thing brought back happy memories that I didn't want to remember, and so I sent the thoughts back into the void as I popped the lid and poured a drop of the jell-like substance onto the blade.

Almost instantly, the material shifted and sank into the thin cracks. When the cracks were filled, the rest of the silvery jell spread what material was left along the blade's edge. Within seconds the substance hardened and turned completely clear.

Holding the blade closer to my eye, I rubbed my thumb over the metal and found that the weapon-maintenance jell was gone. All that was left was a crack-free and sharpened spearhead. I gave the pot in my hand a look of respect before I summoned Chomperz and watched him suck it in. He paused before the girls and nodded once before racing back into my chest. Again, the little dragonling had a strange way of interacting with me, and apparently, only me.

With my weapon taken care of and my injuries healed and recovered, I began walking back to the main hallway. When I arrived at the crossroads, I looked toward the direction of the portal and then down the unexplored section of the dungeon. Even with Arturous, we never ventured farther than the side room since the trek back would take hours.

"What do you think, girls? Should we continue and try to find the next floor? Or do we head back and call it a day?"

Áine remained silent, but I could tell she would agree with whatever choice as long as she was allowed to heal me. Zharia, though I felt her shift a little on my shoulder.

"Zharia?" I asked.

She looked at me and then the hallway before looking back to me. "Can we help now? Will I get to burn the stupid fish?"

I smirked and waved my spear playfully. "Yes. The moment I had to summon Áine was the moment my self-imposed handicap came to an end. Wanna give Operation Ghost Ashes another try?"

Her feathers blazed with golden fire in response, and she spread her wings. "Yes!"

That settled it. I gave one last look to the hallway back, turned, and marched down the dungeon corridor. This time I would make sure to loot my rewards.

I stood still, making sure to let my wounds heal cleanly. It took another two hours of slowly making my way through the long floor, but we finally did it. The stairway down was in sight, and I could already make out the safe area in the middle.

All that was left was a single ghostfish that Zharia was currently trying to reduce to a pile of scattered ash. Her flames lit up the hallway, banishing the shadows above and below. Each chunk of mana spent was another wall of fire that pushed past the defences of the ghostfish's ethereal skin.

It wasn't surprising that Zharia was struggling. After all, the difference in tiers and aspect type was enough of a disadvantage that she was forced to expend most of her mana pool. Still, I waited to the side a couple of meters back with Áine on my shoulder, healing me of my wounds.

The ghostfish was once part of a school of six that guarded the entrance to the next floor down. With a blitz and divide tactic, I rushed in and took out two of the ghostfish quickly before the others could start their attack.

With Zharia to serve as backup and crowd control, the following three monsters were easy, and their heads were sent flying into the water below. Now, before we settled into the safe area, I let Zharia go wild. She was determined to reduce the bones of the undead fish into ash and do it by herself without help.

Initially, I was worried about the flesh strands catching her, but she proved that futile for the monsters. Her golden flames burned two of the strands to nothing while she darted out of the way in midair to dodge the others. Her speed was slightly slower than the speed the strands could launch themselves, but she countered that by using her fire like a flamethrower.

If one were to approach the stairwell, one would see what looked like daylight. The sheer intensity and amount of Zharia's flames cut through the unnatural gloom. It only took her a minute to land on the now charred remains of the ghostfish. There was barely a spinal cord segment left, which Zharia used as an impromptu floating device to float above the water. Her head was held high, and her wings were spread in the glory of her victory.

I crouched down and patted her head while offering my hand. She hopped on, and I brought her to her usual spot along my left shoulder.

"Did you have fun?"

"I did! I'm tired now, but I did it! Stupid monster got what he deserved." Zharia chirped.

I nodded my head and picked up the charred piece of bone. Before I could lift it up to inspect it, it crumbled into thick chunks that dissolved in the water, staining it grey.

I could see Zharia puff out her feathers in pride and satisfaction. I didn't need the soul link to know her feelings. After all, the pure rage she radiated when looking at the monsters was impossible to mask. Her hate for the things that nearly killed me while she was in my soulspace could easily eclipse my own. It did make me wonder if I was a bad influence at times.

Anger issues aside, I said goodbye to the girls and summoned Erebus into my hand. Unfortunately, Zharia went a little overboard with her mana usage, and the long trek through the dungeon had left my mana pool a little low.

I had enough mana in my mana pool for Erebus to loot two times, but that was it. Luckily, I wasn't concerned with the safe area being so close.

As he looted the first fish, I watched closely how the dark mana rippled and shifted around his body. It was like it created a second skin that cut through the fabric of reality and skimmed along the shadowrealm. I have yet been able to sink in entirely along the shadows the way Isaac did, but I was getting better. And hopefully, by the start of the festival, the idea I had in mind would work, and I could start using Erebus in battle.

Erebus was always excited to serve in some capacity, so he was just as enthused about the idea as I was. And when he brought the second loot orb to me, I sent over what I learned through our connection.

He tapped his mandibles joyfully before skittering up my neck and settling on my head. Since I already spent the mana to summon him, I might as well enjoy his company while I meditate and rest in the safe area.

As we settled along the ground of the dungeon floor, I pulled out a firestone and some food. About ten seconds after sitting down with my legs crossed and my still-hot meal in my lap, Erebus tapped my head.

"Fine, fine. Loot orbs first, then food. Don't get your hopes up. It's probably more ghostgoop," I complained jokingly.

Erebus responded by skittering down my shoulder and to my arm before coming to a stop on my wrist. He raised a single leg and pointed dramatically at the pair of shadowy orbs.

Seeing that the spider was absolutely adorable, I quickly sent two threads of mana to the orbs and watched Erebus jitter excitedly.

Unfortunately, as I predicted, two vials of ectoplasm fell into my open hand, and I shook my head. Erebus didn't care. He was just happy to have looted something. Still, for his hard work, I tore off the meat from a rack of grilled ribs and held out the bone for the spider to take.

Erebus turned around with even more enthusiasm than before and rushed for the bone. No matter how many times I've seen it, I always found it weird.

The six-inch rib bone was fed to the jawless skull on his back and disappeared like his body was a magician's hat. He let out a low hiss before slowly crawling back up my arm and over my neck before collapsing atop my head.

Birds who eat fire, fairies who drink juice, Dragons who magic vacuum everything, and finally, a death spider who eats bones, what a strange life I live.

I wouldn't trade it for the world.