Dane pulled out some stolen rations from the mess hall and used the chemical pouches to heat the food. He remembered his dad complaining about MREs that soldiers would eat out in the field. Compared to the food Dane had grown accustomed to since the apocalypse started, this was fine dining.

  The meal consisted of some type of meat in gravy, accompanied by a piece of bread that had a texture more akin to a dense cake than traditional fluffy bread. Although the bread wasn't ideal for sopping up the gravy, it was sufficient. In fact, Dane found himself resorting to licking the bottom of the pouch, as the bread was too heavy to serve its intended purpose. He chuckled at the thought of how his mother would react if she saw him doing that.

  "Dane, if you're going to start laughing in the dark like a creep, you should at least tell me what's so funny," Ada said.

  "I was just thinking about how my mom would have slapped me for the way I was eating in front of a lady," Dane replied, still smiling in the dark. \

  "Well, it doesn't really matter since this cave is pitch black." Ada wasn't foolish; she understood that she could very well die down in this dungeon. Still, she wanted to believe she had made the right choice. It would help if she could actually see down here. The darkness felt suffocating, and she was struggling to maintain an everyday conversation.

  "I have been thinking about that, if we are gonna be fighting together, we need to know what the other can do," Dane wanted to know what made her different. Most creatures would light up a little when he used mana sight. But Ada radiated a golden, almost holy energy. "For skills, I have Axe proficiency, Small weapons, Haste, Danger Sense, Caveman, Meteorite, and Exodus. For magic, I have the space and time affinity. I pretty much use it to create portals and increase the gravitational pull on objects. I can also see down with mana augmented eyes, which allows me to see what I have been calling ambient mana."

  "Are you level 60?" Ada asked, her face filled with shock. She knew that Dane was powerful enough to take down level 40 abyss wolves easily, but this raised a question about just how strong he really was. The last time she had seen him, he was an unremarkable miner, and now he possessed all these skills and could even wield a legendary affinity.

  During her tutorial, she learned the basics from combat bots and discovered that she had a light affinity, which was quite rare among humans. But Dane, on the other hand, casually claimed to have a magic affinity reserved for heroes and kings.

  "I'm a level 37. I had three skills unlocked when I accessed the system, and I earned one of them while battling a shadowcat during my proving." Dane realized he had no experience with how the system worked for others, and he began to suspect that the rumors about her already having the system unlocked might have been an understatement.

  Ada sat there, her face a mask of disbelief. She couldn't believe that this guy had just claimed to be level 37. He must have defeated over 12 abyss wolves on his own, and he was acting like it was no big deal. Either he was lying to her, or he was foolishly trusting someone he had just met. Ada had learned her lesson the hard way when she was thrown into the mines after being catfished for a desk job.

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  "Dane, don't take this the wrong way, but are you a child in a man's body? I mean, I know that we were both slaves, but you can't just tell people what you just said. You fight like you are 30 levels higher than you are. I mean, seriously, you have to keep some things to yourself until you are strong enough that it doesn't matter who you tell."

  Dane thought for a long time. He had just met Ada, and he found himself sharing things he should have kept to himself. Perhaps it was because he hadn't spoken to a real person in such a long time. However, there was one thing Dane couldn't share with Ada: he would keep his hybrid heritage a secret. "I suppose I could just leave you here in the dark if I ever think you might tell the elves," he said, his expression deadpan, which was supposed to emphasize the humor of the situation. Maybe he should teach her mana sight, since his visual humor required sight.

  "You don't have to be a dick about it. I followed you down this tunnel, didn't I?" She said with a tone of disgust.

  "Well, technically, I pulled you down here," Dane said. Ada's expression was so animated that it could have been ripped out of a sassy cartoon. "I want to head out to fight the Mole King soon, so let me know your level, your class, and how support classes gain experience points." Dane had used the Identify skill on Ada the night before, but she only showed up as a support member.

  "I am a level 24 mercenary healer with two spells: Heal Minor Wounds and Regeneration. Heal Minor Wounds restores 10% of my target's HP and can seal both internal and external wounds. Regeneration is a passive skill; when I cast it on my party, each member experiences an increase in their natural health regeneration for two hours. The effect varies depending on the individual."

  She paused for a long moment as if she was remembering something she didn't want to.

  "I completed the tutorial when the world fell apart. As a support character, I gain experience based on my contributions in battle. I'm not sure of the exact breakdown, but since our party consists of just two members, the experience will be roughly split evenly."

  "Alright, since you only have one buff and a minor healing spell, we need to level up until you reach at least level 41. Right now, your presence would be more of a hindrance than a help in a boss fight." Ada looked hurt by the comment, but she didn't defend herself.

  "Here's the plan: first, we need to teach you how to use mana eyes. You won't be able to help if you can't see properly. Then, we'll track and eliminate the remaining Abyss wolves. We might also need to start reducing the mole population, but I want to avoid encountering the king until you have two more spells. How is your mana manipulation coming along?"

  Dane now understood how Dia must have felt when she had been teaching him. The process was excruciating. He had thought, since Ada was a caster, that it would be much easier to guide her—but apparently, she had never once tried to channel mana outside of activating her spells. Everything for her was automatic; she didn't even need to think about what was happening.

  They had to start from the beginning, with simple breathing exercises. Fortunately, Dane's mana eyes made it easier for him to instruct her, pointing out what she should be feeling and where the energy was moving. Once she was able to dispel mana from her hands, he had her channel it through her eyes.

  Her vision wasn't the same as his. Instead of seeing shades and ambient mana, she saw only the energy within living things. Dane guessed it was a matter of affinity—her light affinity was meant for healing, and it granted insight into the bodies and systems of living creatures. In contrast, his space affinity allowed him to track cosmic energy, which was all mana.

  As night fell, they made camp. Tomorrow, he planned to show Ada the Mana River and set a trap for the wolves.