“So,” Elizabeth sighed as she flopped to the floor, exhausted from the climb, “Where exactly are we?”

  “A cave,” her father chuckled as they looked around the dark space, those able to use magic casting floating balls of flame to light up the immediate area.

  “No duh, dad,” Elizabeth chuckled back, “I meant what kind of things are we going to fight here?”

  “No idea,” he shrugged as he stretched his back, looking at his daughter with a smile on his face, “You’ve changed.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “You’re brighter than you were before,” the man explained, “You were always a little gloomy before…all this, but now you’re so much brighter. Even if that brightness is being expressed by sass.”

  “Sorry,” Elizabeth muttered, “I didn’t mean to be rude, I’m just tired.”

  “It’s fine, sweetheart,” he said as he sat beside her, watching as the soldiers started setting up camp, “I’m just glad you’re happier.”

  “What about you?” she asked, looking at her dad in worry, “After what mom said…”

  “I’m not going to divorce your mother, Beth,” he cut her off, “In fact, we’ve agreed to go to couple’s counseling once I get back from this little trip.”

  “Mom? Going to counseling?” Elizabeth laughed, “Wow, never thought I’d hear that.”

  “I’d say hell had frozen over, but it’d probably still be warmer than this place,” her father laughed as well.

  “Hey dad?” Chris called as he hurried over, and excited look on his face, “Think you could help me with something?”

  “Sure,” the older man nodded as he stood, groaning slightly, “What can this old man do to help?”

  “It’s about crafting, sort of,” Chris explained his Skill to his father, the man nodding in interest, “So, what do you think? Can you help me?”

  “Probably,” their father nodded, “If it’s about crafting something, I’m sure my Skills will be useful.”

  “Thanks, come on, let’s get started right away!”

  “I’ll be right there,” the man laughed as his son practically ran off, shaking his head at the young man’s excitement before he looked down at Elizabeth, “Take care of yourself, sweetheart. Love you.”

  “Love you too, dad,” Elizabeth nodded as she watched him follow after Chris.

  ------

  “So, it’s not enough to just evenly disperse the Magic Stone material through the mace head?” Chris asked as he and his father sat on the edge of the camp.

  “No, chances are that’ll just make the whole thing more brittle,” the engineer explained, “You’ll need to find a stable structure for the molecules to be aligned in to ensure that it stays strong while not shattering.”

  “I see,” Chris nodded enthusiastically, closing his eyes as he held the lump of scrap metal in his hand, pressing a small E Rank Magic Stone into it, kneading them together like clay as his fingers glowed, “A structure that works both with the metal and the Magic Stone…let’s try something like this…”

  “You’re trying to make something like steel, right?” his father asked, drawing out a diagram on the cave floor, “Try a crystalline structure like this, then. It should work if you get it right.”

  “Thanks,” Chris nodded as he looked at the rough drawing, closing his eyes again as he pictured the structure in his mind, using his magic to copy it into the blob of metal in his hands. Several minutes later, he opened his eyes, gleaming with excitement as sweat poured down his face, ignoring the pounding headache he now had as he handed the cube to his father, “What do you think of this?”

  “It’s good,” the man nodded as he inspected the cube, “What Rank?”

  “D Rank,” Chris said excitedly, “Even though I only used an E Rank Magic Stone, it didn’t bring the quality down like it has before.”

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  “Right,” his father grinned, “Well, I think you should be good for now, I can’t think of anything else that might help you with all this, so I’ll get going.”

  “It’s fine dad,” Chris said, a slightly sad look on his face as he spoke, “Stay. I know we haven’t had much to talk about since mom…but it’s different now.”

  “Your mother was a wonderful person, Chris,” his father said as he sat back down, patting the young man on the shoulder, “And I have to say, I see more of her in you every day. I’m proud.”

  “Really?” Chris blinked in surprise.

  “Yes,” the older man laughed, “She threw herself into everything she tried with such passion and enthusiasm, just like you are now. It was…inspiring to me.”

  “Can you…can you tell me more about her?” Chris asked, “I was still young when she died, so I don’t remember much.”

  “Of course,” his father said softly, “How about the story of the first time your mother and I met? Surprisingly enough, we hated each other at first!”

  “Really?” Chris laughed, “Then how’d you end up married?”

  “She proved me wrong a dozen times over, and I fell in love,” his father sighed, a faraway look in his eyes, “I still miss her so much.”

  “So, how’d you meet?” Chris asked, going back to shaping the metal with his bare hands, “I’m interested now.”

  “Something is watching us,” Elizabeth whispered in Chris’s ear, making him jump, dropping the piece of metal to the floor, “A lot of something.”

  “Enemies?” he whispered back, motioning for his dad to move further into the camp.

  “I don’t know,” Elizabeth shook her head, “But chances are, probably.”

  “Did you tell the captain?”

  “Yeah, he’s getting everyone ready,” the girl muttered, “Guess we’ll have to wait for that story later, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Chris nodded as he stood, peering into the darkness of the cave around them, “Guess we will.”

  The ball of flame shot towards them from the darkness, Chris quickly raising a wall of stone in its path. The spell exploded against the stone barrier, the soldiers behind them already on their feet and getting ready for a fight. Chris touched the back of the wall, sending out a spike of stone in the direction the spell had come from, hearing it hit something, followed by a pained cry and a thud.

  “What?” Elizabeth muttered as she closed her eyes, “They’re running away? Should we follow them?”

  “No,” Chris shook his head as he peeked around the edge of the wall, “Not until we know what we’re facing. They could be planning an ambush or something.”

  “What happened?” the captain asked as he hurried over to them, “Do you think it was the Boss?”

  “No,” Chris shook his head, “Chances are we’ve reached the point where the regular enemies can use stuff like magic and Skills as well. That’s going to make this a lot harder, but we should still be able to manage.”

  “Damn, I thought it was just a fluke with the wolf Boss, but now the rank and file are also able to use magic?” the captain growled, “I’ll spread the word, what should we do now?”

  “Beth,” Chris said, “Go over there and see if you can bring the body of whatever just attacked us back, I need to see what it is.”

  “Right away!” the girl replied, fading from sight as she snuck into the darkness, returning a minute later with a small corpse in her arms.

  It was only about a meter tall, its body covered in a mixture of silvery-white scales and fur, wrapped in rough leather armor, the stone spike sticking out of its chest. The most disturbing part was the face, which looked like a cross between a dog and a lizard.

  “Frost Kobold,” Chris said as the information entered his mind, “Known for laying traps and ambushes in the caves they inhabit. Which means we’re going to have to be careful as we progress.”

  “Anything else?” the captain asked, Chris nodding.

  “Kobolds are servile by nature,” he explained, “Which means that they’re probably serving something in this cave. Chances are, that’ll be the Boss.”

  “Almost everyone is level eight already,” Elizabeth said, a hint of fear in her voice, “Except Jess and dad, so we should be fine, right?”

  “Honestly?” Chris muttered as he looked back into the darkness, the body in front of him already frozen solid, “I have no idea.”

  ------

  “How’re you doing?”

  “Fine,” Chris muttered as he sat back, rubbing his temples in pain, “Just…tired.”

  “Well,” his sister huffed, “You have been working non-stop for the last two days to upgrade everyone’s weapons and armor, so that’s understandable. You need to take a break, Chris!”

  “I’m almost done,” he sighed, “Just your knives left to go. Ayla, can you help with this headache?”

  “Right away,” the medic nodded, kneeling in front of him and pressing her hands to his forehead and chest, the woman also looking exhausted.

  “Jeez,” Elizabeth huffed again, “I was trying to find you a girlfriend, not a Mana battery. This is basically exploitation, you know?”

  “Very funny,” Chris groaned as the headache lessened, nodding as Ayla sat back, rubbing her own temples, “I’ve just been having her take the edge off the pain, nothing more.”

  “Still,” Elizabeth muttered, her tone turning worried, “Are you going to be okay to fight? You haven’t even slept lately, have you?”

  “I went over a month without food or water and barely any sleep in the Trial of Turmoil,” he replied tiredly, “I can handle this much.”

  “That’s not an excuse, and you know it,” the girl growled, before storming away, turning back to shout, “And take a rest before you work on my weapons. Like, an hour’s nap or something, I can be patient!”

  “She’s probably right, sir,” Ayla said as she took a pain pill, “I wouldn’t mind some sleep myself.”

  “Shit, right, you’ve been awake as long as I have, haven’t you?” Chris sighed, his eyes drooping closed, “Fine, just a quick rest then.”

  Ayla blinked as the man almost fell forwards, catching him as he went limp in her arms. Blushing slightly, she laid him down on the floor, putting a piece of rolled up cloth under his head, before she backed away. She looked at his face, wondering about what his sister had said earlier, her blush burning hotter for a moment before she shook her head. She was a soldier and a medic, and her only job was to make sure that nobody died in this Dungeon.

  “After it, though…” she muttered as she leaned up against the cave wall, closing her eyes as she fell asleep, “Maybe…after…”