Chapter 73: Rank three Dungeon

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Rank three Dungeon

She answered without hesitation.

The others laughed.

Temi grinned.

"But being strong and being rich aren’t opposites."

Folami smiled faintly.

"Fair."

His gaze moved to Akin.

"What about you?"

Akin was quiet for a moment.

"I want to become a Master."

Temi immediately said,

"Only a Master?"

Akin looked at her.

"I haven’t finished."

She smiled.

"I want to become a Grandmaster."

The smile disappeared from Temi’s face.

"Oh."

Akin’s lips curved slightly.

"And if I can go beyond that, I will."

Folami nodded.

"Why?"

Akin looked toward the road beyond the garden.

"I want to become someone whose strength is respected."

He paused.

"Not because of my family. Not because someone powerful is protecting me. Because I earned it."

Tolu nodded slowly.

That sounded like Akin.

"Perhaps I’ll eventually teach others," Akin continued. "Maybe establish a school of swordsmanship. Or become part of something larger."

He looked at his hands.

"But first, I want to see how far I can go."

Folami turned toward Ore.

"And you?"

Ore smiled.

"I want a peaceful life."

Temi raised an eyebrow.

"That’s it?"

Ore laughed.

"No."

She thought for a moment.

"I want to become strong too. Strong enough that I don’t have to be afraid of anyone."

Her voice became softer.

"I want my own home. Somewhere beautiful. Somewhere I can wake up without wondering whether I’ll still have a place there tomorrow."

Tolu’s expression changed slightly.

Ore continued.

"And I’d like to have a family someday."

She looked toward the trees.

"A good one."

She smiled.

"One where everyone actually wants to be there."

Tolu looked away.

He understood that more than he wanted to admit.

Folami’s eyes finally settled on him.

"And you?"

Tolu was quiet.

He didn’t know how to answer without revealing too much.

He couldn’t exactly say that in ten years he wanted to be a powerful Dungeon Lord controlling an enormous underground territory filled with monsters, resources and treasures.

So he went deeper.

"I want freedom."

Everyone looked at him.

Tolu continued.

"I don’t want to depend on someone else for my life."

He looked down.

"Right now, we’re living in Master’s manor. We have food. We have rooms. We even get gold every month."

He smiled faintly.

"It’s better than anything we had before."

His expression became serious.

"But it’s still not ours."

Ore quietly looked at him.

Tolu continued.

"I want my own home. My own land. My own wealth."

He clenched his hand.

"And I want enough strength that nobody can simply decide what happens to me."

Folami watched him silently.

Tolu looked at the others.

"And if I become successful..."

He paused.

"I want the people around me to stay."

Nobody immediately spoke.

There was something about the way he said it that made the words heavier than they should have been.

Temi broke the silence.

"So basically, you want to become some rich lord with a giant house."

Tolu smiled.

"Something like that."

"A giant house?"

"A very giant house."

"How many rooms?"

"Enough that nobody has to share."

Temi laughed.

Ore smiled.

Even Akin chuckled.

Folami shook his head.

"All of you are thinking about different things."

He looked from one to the other.

"Money. Strength. Family. Freedom."

He paused.

"None of those are bad goals."

He stood.

"But ten years is long enough for your lives to change completely."

The four looked at him.

"You may not become what you imagine today."

Folami picked up the package he had placed beside him.

"You may discover that what you want changes."

He looked toward the road.

"That’s fine."

Then he glanced back at them.

"What matters is that you don’t spend those ten years simply reacting to whatever happens to you."

Tolu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Then what should we do?"

"Build."

Folami’s answer was immediate.

"Build your strength. Build your wealth. Build your skills. Build relationships worth keeping."

He began walking again.

"If you do that, ten years from now you’ll at least have something to show for the time."

The four followed.

After a few steps, Temi looked at Akin.

"So..."

Akin glanced at her.

"Ten years from now, you’re going to be a Grandmaster?"

"That’s the plan."

"And I’m going to be rich."

"Apparently."

Temi smiled.

"Sounds like a good combination."

Akin looked at her for a moment before giving a small smile.

"Maybe."

Tolu looked back at them.

Ore noticed and smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He turned forward again.

For the first time, the future didn’t feel like some distant thing that belonged to other people.

It felt like something they could actually build.

They just had to survive long enough to reach it.

....

The entrance to the dungeon stood at the end of a narrow valley.

Unlike the dungeon Tolu had first entered, there was nothing mysterious or inviting about this one.

The mouth of the cavern was enormous.

Jagged black stone surrounded the entrance like the teeth of some ancient beast, and a cold wind flowed from the darkness within. Strange markings had been carved into the rock around the entrance, some of them faded by age, others still faintly glowing with residual energy.

Tolu stopped several steps away.

His hand tightened around the handle of his war hammer.

Akin stood beside him, great sword resting against his shoulder.

Temi held her two short swords loosely at her sides, while Ore adjusted the strap of her bow and glanced toward the darkness.

Folami walked past all four of them.

He stopped at the entrance.

"This is a Rank Three dungeon."

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

Rank Three.

Advanced.

That meant the monsters inside could be considerably stronger than anything they had faced before.

Folami looked back at them.

"Stay close."

His gaze moved over each of them.

"And don’t die."

Temi rolled her eyes.

"That’s reassuring."

Folami reached into his clothes and pulled out an apple.

He bit into it.

"You’re Adepts. You should be able to handle it."

He took another bite.

Then he looked toward the dungeon.

"If you want those futures you mentioned earlier..."

He gestured casually toward the four of them.

"...you have to fight for them."

His eyes sharpened slightly.

"Strength isn’t something you get because you want it. Neither is wealth. Neither is freedom."

He took another bite.

"So go inside."

Tolu stared at him.

"You’re coming with us, right?"

Folami smiled.

"Of course."

He stepped inside.

The others followed.

---

The first chamber was surprisingly quiet.

Their footsteps echoed against the stone floor.

Water dripped somewhere in the darkness.

Tolu slowly raised his hammer.

"Something feels wrong."

Akin nodded.

"Too quiet."

Temi glanced around.

"Maybe everything is scared of us."

Ore smiled.

"That’s definitely it."

Tolu almost laughed.

Then something moved.

The wall exploded.

"DOWN!"

Tolu threw himself sideways.

A massive creature burst through the stone where he had been standing.

It resembled a hyena, but it was far larger, its body covered in dark scales. Two curved horns grew from its forehead, and its mouth opened far too wide as it lunged.

Tolu rolled across the ground and came up on one knee.

"Monster!"

Three more shapes emerged from the broken wall.

Then another.

And another.

Akin drew his great sword.

"Six!"

"Seven!" Ore corrected.

"Eight!" Temi shouted.

Folami walked past them.

Crunch.

He bit into his apple.

"Nine."

Tolu stared at him.

"You counted the one behind you?"

"Yes."

Tolu looked over his shoulder.

A horned beast was already charging.

He barely raised his hammer in time.

BOOM!

The impact drove him backward.

His boots scraped across the stone.

The creature’s jaws snapped inches from his face.

Tolu gritted his teeth.

"You’re not getting through!"

Green energy flowed through his arms.

The muscles in his shoulders tightened.

He twisted his body and slammed the hammer upward.

The beast was lifted off the ground.

"Temi!"

"I’ve got it!"

Temi rushed past him.

Fire erupted around one of her short swords.

She slashed upward.

The flaming blade tore across the monster’s exposed belly.

Blood splashed across the stone.

The creature crashed to the ground.

Temi immediately turned.

"Next!"

Two beasts charged her.

She crossed her swords.

The first bite struck one blade.

The second beast came from the side.

Akin intercepted it.

His great sword crashed down.

The beast’s horn met steel.

The impact sent a shock through his arms.

Akin’s boots slid backward.

"Heavy!"

The creature pushed forward.

Akin’s eyes narrowed.

"Ice."

Frost spread along the edge of his sword.

Not across the entire blade.

Only the edge.

Thin spikes of ice formed along the cutting surface.

Akin twisted the sword.

The ice teeth tore through the creature’s neck.

It collapsed.

A second beast lunged at him immediately.

Akin ducked.

The jaws passed over his head.

He spun.

His great sword slammed into the creature’s side.

The monster staggered.

Ore’s arrow struck its eye.

It screamed.

Temi finished it.

The first chamber became chaos.

Tolu smashed one creature’s skull with his hammer.

Another leapt toward him.

He raised his free hand.

"Stone Grip!"

A chunk of broken floor ripped upward.

He caught it with his earth energy.

"Stone Spike!"

The rock elongated into a jagged spear.

"Earth Shoot!"

He launched it.

The stone slammed into the monster’s chest.

It fell.

Tolu breathed heavily.