Chapter 16

  Yue’s heart hammered in her chest as she darted through a narrow alley in Cyntha’s slums, the shout—“There she is!”—ringing behind her. Her breath came in sharp gasps, lungs burning, and she pressed herself against the crumbling wall of a shabby house, its warped wood familiar after years of calling this squalor home. Since her parents’ death, survival had been a daily grind—scraping by until she’d turned eighteen, old enough to join the Adventurers’ Guild. She’d started solo, tackling small quests, until Nia and Jane, her childhood friends, hit the same age. Together, they’d made a decent team—until that cursed goblin quest a month ago, paired with another group from the guild board. “I had a bad feeling about it even then,” she thought, stifling a sob as she peeked around the corner. “Should’ve trusted my gut—everything went to hell after that.”

  Rescued by a stranger named Avan, she’d returned to Cyntha, reporting the goblins’ demise and her grim findings to the guild. But safety had evaporated a week ago when dark-hooded figures began hunting her. It started at an inn, drowning her grief in ale for Nia and Jane after breaking the news to their families. The men had been friendly at first, plying her with drinks, but their smiles felt off—too sharp, too eager. “Something wasn’t right—I knew it,” she recalled, her stomach twisting. She’d slipped away with a flimsy excuse—needing to pee—and bolted when they followed. Now, they hounded her every step, watchers posted near the guild and guard posts, cutting off any refuge.

  She dashed through the night, weaving past slum-dwellers stirring in the shadows, their murmurs a faint hum against her pounding pulse. “Nowhere left to hide—they’re closing in,” she thought, panic clawing at her. A misplaced stone snagged her foot, nearly toppling her, but she caught herself, veering into a tighter alley. “Damn it—dead end!” The stone wall loomed over two meters high, no escape but up. Shouts echoed closer, and she sprinted, leaping—fingers grazing the edge, slipping. “Come on, Yue—move!” she urged herself, heart thundering as she tried again, adrenaline surging. Her second jump barely caught the lip, fingers cramping as her body slammed into the wall, dangling. Footsteps neared, and with a desperate heave, she pulled herself up, rolling over and crashing to the other side.

  The impact stole her breath, air wheezing out as she braced on her knees. “Maybe… maybe Avan’s still at the dungeon,” she gasped, forcing herself up. “If he’s alive, he could help—he saved me once, maybe he’d do it again. It’s my only shot—I can’t drag this out alone, but I hope I’m not dooming us both.” She sighed, resolve hardening, and sprinted toward a night gate, nothing left to lose.

  “Collecting nocturnal herbs,” she lied smoothly to the guards, their bored nods waving her through. She strolled casually until out of sight, then broke into a run, the forest swallowing her. “Thirty minutes—keep moving,” she thought, weaving through trees, the cave’s dark maw looming after a breathless trek. She plunged into the tunnels, memory guiding her to the dungeon doors—wide open, a testament to Avan’s triumph. “He did it—please, gods, let him be safe,” she whispered, a silent prayer to any deity listening as she stepped inside, the blue-lit corridor stretching before her, murals of fighting monks lining the walls.

  *Chime*

  [You have entered the Dungeon: Tower of Akkalon]

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Adrian stormed through his underground lair, fury boiling as he swept vials and tools from a table, glass shattering against the damp stone. “How could you lose an eighteen-year-old girl?!” he roared, glaring at his scrambling lackeys. “You imbeciles! Bribe the guards, scour the town—find her now!” His voice thundered, sending them fleeing to obey. “I swear, if they can’t track down that clumsy, filthy little fox-kin, I’ll rip them apart myself,” he snarled, pacing like a caged beast, his tattered robe swirling.

  Time crawled until a subordinate burst in, breathless, eyes wide with dread. Adrian’s patience frayed, his glare icy as he waited. “Speak, you fool—what news?” he snapped.

  “Master,” the man stammered, “a bribed guard at the east gate saw a fox-girl leave town minutes ago. We’ve sent five of our best hunters to track her down!”

  Adrian’s lips curled into a sneer. “Idiots—losing her in the first place was bad enough. If they return empty-handed, I’ll make sure they never need hands again—or any limbs, for that matter,” he growled, his threat hanging heavy in the air, aimed at no one but the shadows. “She’s mine to break—every secret she holds about that meddling stranger, every scrap of her will. I’ll twist her into something exquisite.” His mind churned with dark delight, plotting as his hunters fanned out into the night.

  Yue’s footsteps echoed softly as she descended the earthen slope beyond the dungeon’s entrance hall, her eyes darting over Avan’s handiwork. Logs and sticks, bound with plant-fiber ropes, formed a sturdy table flanked by benches—crude but stable, like a scout’s bivouac minus the tarp. “He’s been busy,” she thought, marveling at the setup. Near the library crevice, a meter-wide campfire ringed with stones sat cold, ashes days old, beside a shelf of wooden cutlery and dishes, neatly stacked. Wood chips littered the floor, evidence of his labor. “All this in a few weeks—he’s resourceful, I’ll give him that.”

  Across the hall, a patch of grass cradled a circular hollow—Horny’s nest, she guessed, shaking her head with a faint smile. She pressed on, the slope dropping into a vast forest, its canopy shimmering under crystal-lit ceilings. “This view—it’s breathtaking,” she thought, pausing to soak it in, the humid air refreshing after her frantic run. A trampled path wound through the trees, flanked by skinned *Hound* corpses—dozens, maybe a hundred. “Did Avan kill all these himself? That’s… unsettling,” she murmured, nearly tripping as she stared, her pulse quickening. “He’s stronger than I realized—scary, even.”

  An hour later, she reached a deeper passage veering left, its crystals casting a faint glow. “Please let this lead to him,” she thought, descending cautiously, the air growing thick and moist. Hundreds of meters down, vines barred her path—a jungle biome unfurling beyond, towering trees brushing the ceiling. She parted the curtain, stepping through, spotting more corpses—*Kobolds*, her *Identify* skill confirmed, smaller than goblins, strewn along the trail. “He’s been relentless,” she whispered, awed and uneasy.

  The path led to a burned-out *Kobold* village, its wooden walls charred, huts collapsed, remains scattered. “This is pure carnage—he tore through them,” she thought, hurrying past, unease prickling her spine. A stone staircase loomed ahead, and she descended again, the air cooling as she hit the third floor—a tunnel riddled with triggered traps: pitfalls, boulders, spikes, arrow slits, saw blades jutting from walls. “Dangerous—and he survived all this? Disarmed them too?” she wondered, picking her way through. “I misjudged him—he had no class when we met, just raw grit. How did he manage this?”

  The fourth floor mirrored the third—more traps, more destruction—until the fifth opened into a breezy meadow, dotted with trees, a stone path winding to a well and a house. Yue froze, watching a white blur—Horny—chase a yellow orb, a tall, bearded man with a translucent white ponytail emerging, laughing as he shouted at the rabbit. “Holy gods… is that Avan?” she mumbled, stunned by his sheer presence, confusion swirling as she took a tentative step backward.