The dungeon entrance looked like a mouth.
An enormous stone archway stood beneath the ruined structure, its surface covered in ancient markings that seemed to twist whenever Hitake stared at them for too long. Cold air drifted from the darkness beyond, carrying a faint metallic smell.
Nobody wanted to be the first one inside.
Unfortunately, Thorne had already decided who would volunteer.
“You go.”
Hitake slowly turned toward him.
“Why me?”
Thorne folded his arms.
“Because you're expendable.”
John coughed.
“Technically, that's murder.”
Thorne looked at him.
“Do you want to go instead?”
John immediately took a step backward.
“Technically, I support you.”
Zack nodded solemnly.
“Leadership is important.”
Hitake sighed.
“I hate all of you.”
Vicky smiled.
“Give it time.”
Hitake looked at her.
“Why?”
“You'll hate us more later.”
“That isn't reassuring.”
Professor Mira stepped between them before the argument could continue.
“Enough.”
Her voice carried through the group.
“This is a controlled academy expedition. Nobody wanders off, nobody provokes monsters, and nobody plays hero.”
Her eyes settled on Thorne.
“And that last part was specifically for you.”
Thorne looked offended.
“I don't play hero.”
“You tried to fight a Grade C beast with your bare hands last semester.”
“I was confident.”
“You were unconscious.”
John raised his hand.
“Those aren't mutually exclusive.”
Mira sighed.
“Just get inside.”
The group entered.
The moment Hitake crossed the threshold, the temperature dropped.
He instinctively rubbed his arms.
The dungeon was nothing like the training grounds at the academy.
Blue crystals grew from the walls, illuminating the passage with a dim, unnatural glow. Their light wasn't steady. It pulsed faintly, almost like the crystals were breathing.
Elowen stopped beside one.
“These aren't natural.”
Mira looked at the crystal.
“Explain.”
“The structure is too perfect. Natural mana crystals develop irregular formations.”
She brushed her fingers over the surface without touching it.
“These were shaped.”
“By whom?” Vicky asked.
Elowen shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Hitake stared at the crystal.
Something about it bothered him.
He reached out.
The moment his fingers touched its surface, the world disappeared.
For a heartbeat, the dungeon was gone.
He stood beneath an enormous underground sky.
A city stretched endlessly before him.
Towering buildings of black metal pierced the darkness. Strange lights moved between them, while enormous structures floated high above the ground.
People—or things that looked like people—walked through streets far below.
Hitake's heart raced.
Then the vision shattered.
He jerked his hand away.
The crystal continued glowing as if nothing had happened.
“Did anyone else see that?”
Elowen looked at him.
“See what?”
Hitake hesitated.
“Nothing.”
Zena immediately noticed his expression.
“You're lying.”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
“I’m really not.”
Zena stepped closer.
Her eyes searched his face.
Hitake forced himself to smile.
“Maybe the dungeon just doesn't like me.”
“That isn't funny.”
“It was a little funny.”
Zena didn't smile.
She looked at the crystal instead.
For the briefest moment, the shadow beneath her feet moved.
It crawled toward the crystal.
Then stopped.
Zena's expression changed.
Hitake noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying too.”
She looked at him.
“Then we're even.”
Hitake smiled.
“Fair.”
They continued deeper into the dungeon.
For the next twenty minutes, nothing happened.
The silence became almost unnerving.
Then they heard it.
A growl.
Thorne immediately drew his sword.
“Finally.”
Mira raised a hand.
“Formation.”
The sound came again.
This time, several glowing eyes appeared between the pillars ahead.
Stone wolves emerged from the darkness.
Their bodies were covered in rough gray armor, and blue mana pulsed beneath their stone-like skin.
Thorne grinned.
“Watch this.”
He charged before Mira could stop him.
“Thorne!”
His sword came down.
The first wolf dodged.
Another slammed into him from the side.
BOOM!
Thorne crashed into a wall.
Everyone stared.
John blinked.
“That went well.”
Zack nodded.
“Extremely tactical.”
Thorne pushed himself out of the rubble.
“SHUT UP!”
The wolves attacked.
Mira immediately summoned a barrier.
Elowen raised both hands, creating several layers of defensive magic.
Vicky fired concentrated bolts of mana from the rear.
Zena disappeared.
Not literally.
One moment she was beside Hitake.
The next, she was behind a wolf.
Her shadow stretched beneath its feet.
The creature froze.
Zena's blade flashed.
The wolf collapsed.
Hitake stared.
She's getting faster.
Another wolf lunged toward Vicky.
“Left!” Hitake shouted.
Vicky ducked.
The creature's claws passed inches above her head.
“Thanks!”
“Behind you!”
She spun and fired.
Another wolf fell.
Hitake's breathing became faster.
He was seeing the battle differently.
The wolves weren't moving randomly.
Their attacks followed patterns.
Their attention shifted toward the weakest targets.
Their bodies tensed a fraction of a second before attacking.
“Right!”
Zena moved.
A wolf missed her.
“Jump!”
John jumped without questioning him.
A claw passed underneath his feet.
John landed awkwardly.
“I don't know how you knew that!”
“Neither do I!”
Hitake froze.
Something was changing.
The world suddenly became clearer.
The sounds of battle faded.
The crystals seemed brighter.
The wolves slowed.
Then his vision changed.
He could see through their bodies.
Bones.
Muscles.
Mana pathways.
And deep inside each creature—
a glowing core.
Hitake's eyes widened.
“What…”
A wolf lunged toward him.
He saw the movement before it happened.
He stepped aside.
The claws missed him by inches.
The creature stumbled.
Hitake looked directly at its chest.
He knew exactly where to strike.
He grabbed a fallen blade from the ground and drove it into the glowing core.
The wolf collapsed.
Silence followed.
Hitake stared at the blade in his hand.
Something was happening to his eyes.
He could see things that shouldn't have been visible.
The structure of the dungeon.
The mana flowing through the crystals.
The hidden weaknesses of the creatures.
Even the subtle changes in everyone's expressions.
And then—
something inside him opened.
A wave of information flooded his mind.
Hitake staggered.
He instinctively closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the world was different.
He could see everything.
Not just what existed.
What was hidden.
Illusions.
Deception.
Emotions.
Weaknesses.
Conditions.
Things that normal eyes were never meant to perceive.
His heart pounded.
What happened to me?
He didn't know.
But deep inside, he understood one thing.
Whatever had awakened—
it had always been there.
Zena approached him.
“Hitake?”
He looked at her.
For a brief moment, he saw beyond her expression.
Concern.
Relief.
Fear.
And something else.
Something she was desperately trying to hide.
His eyes widened.
Zena frowned.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Nothing.”
“You're blushing.”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
“Shut up.”
Hitake smiled.
“Okay.”
She turned away.
Her ears were red.
Hitake almost laughed.
But then his eyes shifted downward.
Through the stone floor.
His smile disappeared.
He could see beneath them.
A chamber.
A massive chamber buried beneath the dungeon.
Ancient doors surrounded it.
And on the far wall was a symbol.
A symbol he had seen before.
Not at the academy.
Not in any history book.
At home.
On one of the few belongings his father had left behind.
Hitake's breathing stopped.
No…
He focused harder.
The vision became clearer.
Ancient letters appeared across the stone.
He could somehow understand them.
ONLY THE CHILD OF KAEL MAY ENTER.
Hitake's heart stopped.
His father's name.
Here.
Inside a dungeon that had existed long before Hitake was born.
He slowly clenched his fists.
“My father…”
Zena turned.
“What?”
Hitake immediately looked away.
“Nothing.”
She stared at him suspiciously.
“Hitake.”
“I'm fine.”
He couldn't tell her.
Not yet.
He didn't understand what was happening himself.
And whatever secret his father had left behind, Hitake had a feeling that telling anyone about it would put them in danger.
Especially Zena.
He looked toward the others.
Mira was checking the students for injuries.
Thorne was complaining about his shoulder.
John and Zack were arguing over whose tactical advice had been more useless.
Nobody had noticed.
Good.
Hitake looked back at the floor.
The ancient chamber remained hidden beneath them.
Waiting.
Then his eyes flickered again.
For a fraction of a second, he saw something else.
A man standing inside that chamber.
White hair.
Cold eyes.
A familiar silhouette.
Kael.
The vision vanished.
Hitake's heart pounded.
His father wasn't simply connected to this dungeon.
He had been here.
And whatever he had left behind…
had been waiting for Hitake to arrive.
Somewhere beneath the stone floor, an ancient mechanism began to move.
Click.
Hitake heard it.
Nobody else did.
Then another.
Click.
The hidden doors beneath them slowly began to open.
And from the darkness below came a whisper so faint that Hitake almost convinced himself he had imagined it.
The blood has returned.