The system window hung suspended in front of Raphael.
[New Sovereign Quest Available.]
Elena, lounging comfortably on the couch, caught the abrupt shift in his posture. "What is it?"
"Nothing."
Her left eyebrow arched sharply. Raphael hastily dismissed the visual feed, mentally driving a command into the interface. ’Open quest.’
The translucent blue screen reshaped itself.
[MAIN QUEST: The First Step]
- Objective: Enter a Dungeon.
- Requirement: Clear one dungeon.
- Reward: Throne Room.
- Failure: None.
- Time Limit: 7 Days.
Raphael stared at the simplistic text block. "That’s it?"
Elena paused, looking up from her tablet. "That’s what?"
"The quest."
"What quest?"
Raphael went stiff as a board. Did I just say that out loud? "Nothing."
Elena’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Ignoring her intense gaze, Raphael focused entirely on his internal link. ’System... you’re sending me into a dungeon?’
[Confirmed.]
He leaned his head back against the wall with a weary thud. ’You do realize I only awakened three days ago, right?’
[You awakened a week ago.]
Raphael blinked. ’That is completely beside the point.’
[Understood.]
’Do you? Because I have zero combat experience.’
[Experience can be built.]
’I don’t even know what my actual abilities are!’
[Discover them.]
Raphael slowly tilted his chin toward the ceiling, praying for strength. ’And your logical solution to this is throwing me into a dungeon?’
[Confirmed.]
He shut his eyes. The system was undeniably developing a personality... specifically, the personality of a sadistic supervisor who thoroughly enjoyed watching him suffer.
He refocused on the bottom line. The reward was utterly blunt.
[Reward: Throne Room.]
No elaboration. No breakdown. Nothing.
Yet, Raphael instinctively understood that anything tied directly to the "Throne" was monumental. Right now, his Authority level sat at a pathetic one. The Throne was locked. The Kingdom was locked. Even his own core status was obscured behind endless question marks.
If clearing a dungeon meant unlocking the physical or metaphysical Throne Room, this was his first genuine step toward understanding what he was becoming.
’What does the Throne Room actually do?’
[Information unavailable.]
Raphael’s mouth twitched violently. ’Of course it is.’
The system offered no further commentary. Dismissing the menu, he scanned the apartment. Elena was still scrutinizing him like a high-level threat. She stood up from the plush couch, stepping toward him.
"You’ve been staring at that exact patch of drywall for nearly a minute."
"Have I?"
"Yes."
Raphael glanced back at the paint. "Maybe the wall is unusually interesting."
"It isn’t."
"You don’t know that."
"I’ve lived in Bureau housing longer than you."
"You live here?"
"No."
"Then your argument is entirely invalid."
Elena stared at him in disbelief before her eyes drifted toward the sleek Bureau communication device Miriam had left on the glass table. "Is this weird trance related to your... unclassified details?"
Raphael’s posture stiffened.
"You’ve got that suspicious face again," she noted.
"I have several faces."
"Most of them look like you’re hiding a crime."
Walking over to the table, Raphael picked up the device. "Can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
"Can I ask you something serious?"
"That depends entirely on how stupid it is."
"How do I enter a dungeon?"
The remaining lightheartedness drained instantly from Elena’s expression. "Why?"
"Because I want to."
"That’s not an answer."
"It’s the only one you’re getting."
Elena crossed her arms, stepping into his space. "Raphael, you were discharged from the medical wing today. You are under high-level observation. Your official classification is an absolute disaster zone. And you want to wander into a dungeon?"
"Yes."
She stared at him, then looked toward the ceiling as if quietly asking the universe for patience. "Why do I feel like this is about to become a massive problem?"
"Because you’re very perceptive."
"No. Because you have the suicidal instincts of a moth diving headfirst into a blast furnace."
Raphael frowned. "That’s wildly unfair."
"You literally died five days ago!"
"That was different. I was saving someone."
"And now?"
Raphael fell silent. At the edge of his peripheral vision, the quest text flared softly.
[Time Limit: 7 Days.]
"Now I need to grow stronger," he said softly.
Elena’s expression shifted, the harshness softening into something guarded. "Why?"
Raphael thought back to Vanessa. He remembered the icy, uncompromising look in the Saintess’s eyes during her trial. Your body is weak. But your soul isn’t.
His fingers slowly curled into a tight fist. "Because I refuse to stay helpless. I spent my entire life standing on the sidelines, completely unable to do anything while real people fought monsters. Yesterday, I had to be rescued by a being I summoned because I couldn’t even stand up on my own two feet."
He looked down at his trembling palms. "If chaos erupts again, I don’t want to be the dead weight everyone has to die protecting."
Silence settled over the room. For once, Elena didn’t offer a biting remark. She simply studied him, measuring the weight behind his words.
Finally, she let out a long sigh. "You’re aware that wanting to grow stronger and actually being combat-ready for a dungeon are two entirely different things, right?"
"Yes."
"Are you really?"
"Not in the slightest."
Elena rubbed her temples. "At least you’re honest." She reached out and snatched the communication device from his grip. "What kind of dungeon are you expecting?"
"Which one is the safest?"
"A low-tier Training Dungeon."
"Then request that one."
"Those are reserved for officially registered Awakened."
"I am registered now. Technically."
"You don’t have a combat rank, Raphael."
Right. A minor detail.
Elena tapped the device’s glowing screen. "The Bureau won’t approve a solo entry for an unclassified Awakened without high-level supervision."
"Fine. Supervise me."
Her eyes narrowed. "You want me to go in with you?"
"You’re an A-Tier Awakened. That sounds extremely useful."
"You are treating me like a glorified panic button."
Raphael pondered that for a fraction of a second. "A very attractive glorified panic button."
The words left his mouth before his brain could filter them. Absolute silence fell over the kitchen. Elena slowly turned her head, her gaze locking onto him.
Raphael immediately regretted his entire existence. "Was that inappropriate?"
"Extremely."
"I apologize."
She looked away, but Raphael could have sworn the faintest flicker of a smile tugged at her lips. "You’re lucky you’re still recovering."
"Is that a threat?"
"It’s a promise." She returned to the device, fingers flying across the glass.
[Additional Condition Detected.]
Raphael’s breath hitched. ’Additional condition?’
The interface updated violently.
[ADDITIONAL CONDITION]
- The host must personally participate in the dungeon’s completion.
- Combat contribution
- Strategic contribution
- Survival contribution
’Does that mean I have to fight personally?’
[The host must contribute directly. If a proxy clears the dungeon entirely on your behalf, completion will be nullified.]
Raphael winced. So much for hiding behind an A-Tier or letting Vanessa vaporize the boss while he hid in a corner. The system was forcing him onto the front lines.
Elena set the device down. "Request sent. It might take a few hours because your file contains the words ’unmeasurable’ and ’classification failure’ a dozen times."
"Sounds impressive."
"It sounds like a death warrant." She sat back on the couch. "Try not to do anything reckless while we wait."
"Define reckless."
"Anything that makes me regret agreeing to this."
"Can I at least summon Vanessa inside?"
"Absolutely not," Elena shut him down cold. "The last time she manifested, half the hospital’s electrical grid melted."
"That wasn’t her fault!"
"She said the exact same thing!" Elena pointed an accusing finger at him. "That right there is why I’m terrified."
Raphael sank into a chair, staring at the hovering countdown.
[Time Remaining: 6 Days, 23 Hours, 58 Minutes.]
He let out a long, exhausted sigh. His first Sovereign Quest had officially begun, and somehow, he already missed his hospital bed.