Two weeks passed in the rhythm William had built for himself since the tavern conversation with Reyes, low floor Towers by day, careful training in the Realm by night, every hour spent sharpening what he had rather than chasing what he didn’t yet possess. Word of the noble house inquiry never resurfaced beyond Kessa’s secondhand rumor, and slowly, cautiously, William allowed himself to believe he had more time than Reyes’s warning suggested.
The dungeon beneath Ashvale’s eastern quarter was deeper than anything he’d attempted since the Tower incident, five floors instead of the usual two or three, monster density thick enough that even seasoned C-Rank parties gave it a wide berth without proper backup. William stood at its entrance with Cerberus at full size beside him, Frost already darting ahead into the first floor’s shadowed entrance, and called his status window forward out of habit before stepping inside.
Name: William Belforht
Age: 17
Rank: F-Rank
Title: Abandoned One • Survivor of the Tenth Floor • Second Awakener
Primary Talent: Mythical Taming System (Unique - Growth Type)
Grade: Mythical
Core Stats:
Strength: 46
Agility: 52
Vitality: 58
Mana: 89
Spirit: 97
Luck: 55 (+15 from near-death resonance)
Free Stat Points: 6
Skill Points: 4
’Nearly double where I started, and I haven’t even touched the free points sitting unused right now.’ William allowed himself a small, satisfied breath. ’Two weeks of consistent training, and the numbers actually show it.’
He checked Cerberus next, curious how the accelerated Realm recovery combined with two weeks of controlled sparring had shifted things on that end.
Name: Cerberus
Species: Split-Form Guardian
Grade: Epic
Loyalty: Devoted (91%)
Core Stats:
Strength: 210
Agility: 165
Vitality: 240
Mana: 140
Active Skills:
Doppelganger (Tri-Split)
Hellfire Manipulation
Shadowflame Regeneration
Guardian’s Roar
William stared at the loyalty figure a moment longer than the rest. Ninety one percent, climbing steadily from the desperate 78% it had registered the day of the taming, each shared fight and quiet hour in the Realm apparently doing more to cement the bond than he’d fully appreciated in the moment. He pulled up Frost’s window last, the numbers there smaller but no less satisfying for the gap they’d already closed.
Name: Frost
Species: Silverfrost Fox
Grade: Uncommon
Loyalty: Devoted (85%)
Core Stats:
Strength: 24
Agility: 88
Vitality: 30
Mana: 65
Active Skills:
Frost Step
Keen Senses
’From a wounded, cornered stray to this in two weeks.’ William closed the windows and looked down at the fox weaving impatiently around his ankles, eager to press ahead into the dungeon proper. ’Whatever else happens, this part of my life actually makes sense now.’
The first floor fell quickly beneath their combined efforts, Frost scouting every side passage before William or Cerberus committed to it, Doppelganger splitting William into two bodies that no longer buckled under their own divided strength the way they had weeks earlier.
[Doppelganger Active: 2 Bodies]
[Combined Strength: 78% per body]
’Seventy eight now, up from sixty five.’ He caught the readout mid fight, driving a blade through a lurking cave serpent’s skull with a strike that would have been impossible for his original body alone to deliver so cleanly. ’Growing faster than I expected.’
By the third floor, the dungeon’s monster density had climbed to something that would have tested his old raid party’s full roster, packs of armored boars with tusks capable of goring through leather armor, the occasional ambush from burrowing creatures that struck without warning from beneath the floor itself. William met each encounter with a confidence utterly unlike the frightened, cornered boy who’d cowered beneath Cerberus’s jaws three weeks earlier, directing his tamed pair with the easy coordination of someone who’d finally begun to understand the shape of the power he’d been given.
Cerberus split fully into three near the floor’s midpoint, overwhelming a boar pack from three directions at once while Frost darted between the chaos picking off stragglers with quick, precise strikes, silver fur nearly invisible against the frost trailing behind each burst of speed. William watched from the periphery, directing traffic more than fighting directly, and felt something settle into place that hadn’t been there before. Not just power, but command, the quiet certainty of a tamer who finally understood how to use what he’d tamed.
[Hellfire Manipulation — Mastery Improving]
[Stamina Cost Reduced]
The notification flickered past almost unnoticed in the middle of the fight, and William filed it away for later examination, more interested for now in simply finishing the floor clean and pushing toward whatever waited on the fourth.
They emerged from the dungeon’s fifth floor as evening settled over Ashvale, exhausted but intact, all three of them carrying the particular satisfaction of a hard day’s work honestly earned rather than desperately survived. William dismissed Cerberus back down to puppy size at the entrance out of habit, Frost trotting along at his heel, and made his way back toward the fourth district with the loose, easy stride of someone who’d finally started to trust the ground beneath his own feet.
He didn’t notice the figure waiting near his apartment’s entrance until he was close enough to make out the fine tailoring of the coat, dark green trimmed with silver thread, the kind of quality no one in the fourth district could afford on an honest hunter’s wage.
The man straightened at William’s approach, expression carefully neutral, a folded letter already extended between two fingers bearing a wax seal William didn’t recognize but instantly understood the weight of.
"William Belforht," the man said, voice smooth and practiced. "House Ardenfeld has been very eager to make your acquaintance."