Crimson eyes peered into a quiet room from the cracked door, his ears pressed against the walls. On one side, the draconian was out cold, taking shallow breaths as she slept. However, on the other side, the brunette was having a hard time speaking, but both Igneel, Zyreth, and a few others gave her the time to speak.

  "It started out no different from any of our other dives..."

  Red pressed himself further against the wall as if he was trying to fuse his ear to the structure, trying to catch every word.

  "... everything was fine. Xaio took the lead like always, with Vira in the back, with myself in the center. It was a simple position we always took." Trish started out calm, but slowly as she recounted what happened, her voice started to become weak and shaken.

  Clinging to each word she spoke. From how Xaio and Vira mowed down each monster that crossed their path, the deeper they went. T

  "Not too long after we left one of the main chambers, we came to another opening. We thought it was just a smaller chamber, but we were wrong. The moment we stepped inside, we were caught by surprise by a swarm of monsters." Even as she tried, Red could hear her get choked up. She took a moment to breathe and collect herself.

  "After we got ambushed, we ran until we got separated when Vira was blindsided by a Bomber Beetle. Xaio screamed at me to get Trish out, I... I didn't want to leave her, but I... I... I didn't have a choice!"

  Igneel did what he could to try to calm her. Zyrath gently pushed the girl into the bed. "Take it easy, we aren't blaming you, it was a tough call. Can you recall anything about the chamber you got separated in?

  "We were surrounded by trees, but I can't remember everything. After Xaio distracted them just turned into a blur." The girl just kept shaking with every word she spoke.

  Before she could continue, Red pulled his ear free from the wall.

  'Is this because Xaio helped me? Am I the reason?' Before another thought had any time to settle, he shook his head. 'No! That's not why! Xaio needs help; she helped me, so I'm going to help her.'

  Without a second to waste, he took off to his room, unaware that a pair of eyes were now gazing down the hallway as he ran.

  Entering the room where both he and his grandfather left their gear, he was greeted by the sunlight that divided the two beds.

  With a simple motion, he slipped on his small chestplate and tightened the straps until it was secured to his chest.

  "Everything is gonna be fine with me here."

  Slipping his hands through his vambraces and making sure they were snug against him.

  "Me a hero? ...if you wanna call me a hero, then go ahead, I won't complain."

  Checking his potion bag and canteen.

  "I still have my potions, but it sounds like my canteen could use a refill. I could do that on my way out."

  And so he did, leaving his book bag on the bed, he made his way back down to the main floor. With each step he took closer to the front door, he was met with confused and concerned looks. The moment he reached the door and cracked it open, that same booming voice he spent the past week listening to silenced the room with a single word.

  "Red. What do you think you're doing?" His voice seemed to shake the room; all eating and drinking stopped. A raised fist showed off the two rings, one gold and the other black with silver runes.

  But those crimson eyes couldn't journey any further past that raised hand; the sound of footsteps grew closer. Zyreth, armed with a staff that had a metal spike on both ends, and Jerome, now carrying the same mace that hung on the wall and wearing heavy-looking armor, appeared behind him.

  "Red, answer me."

  "I... I wanted to—

  "Go back to the room and don't leave it until I get back." He wasn't even given the chance to finish before Igneel spoke over him. The boastful, kind tone that normally filled his voice was gone, replaced by a serious one.

  The three of them just walked past him.

  'Is Grandpa going to help Xaio? That means she'll be alright... but.'

  "Jerome, you remember the way there, right?"

  "Of course I do, but why don't you just warp us to the girl with that ring of yours?"

  "That is not how it works—

  "Grandpa."

  The trio turned back and crimson eyes locked with older blue. "I thought I told you to go to the room."

  Looking up, his grandfather's gaze pierced deep within him.

  "I... I," With each stuttering word, the glare Igneel was giving him became sharper... 'The same glare he gave the Berserk Bear.'

  "I'm coming with you."

  The moment he finished, his grandfather towered over him. Before he could process anything, Breaker was taken from its sheath and in Igneel's hand. The black ring started to glow.

  'When did he... why am I shaking?'

  "Get back to that room. If you don't, I will send you home right, we will never do this again, and you won't be getting this back." As he spoke, the ring started to glow brighter. "This isn't a game where you play hero; it's dangerous down there."

  A low gulp came from him, and crimson eyes hid behind his eyelids and a deep breath left him before they opened to meet Igneel's gaze.

  Still, he flinched.

  But he didn't look away.

  "That's not why... Xaio helped me, so I want to help her."

  The two stayed connected; the pounding of his heart could be heard throughout the building. Slowly, that towering gaze softened. Breaker found its way back to its sheath, and a tired groan followed.

  "You really are like your mother."

  "Wait, you're—

  "You will follow my words down to the smallest of details. Any and I mean any misstep and I'll send you home, do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes, Grandpa."

  A sudden groan from Jerome. "So this went from a rescue to an escort mission. Great, la,d don't go slowing us down."

  Red turned his glare to him.

  "Come now, Jerome," Zyreth cut in. "Even if he's a boy, if he's anything like Igneel or his daughter, he shouldn't slow us down too much."

  "Alright, enough talk, everyone, let's get moving before it's too late."

  Igneel brought the group's attention back to him before he took the first step towards their new destination.

  'Hang on Xaio, we're coming.'

  As the small group left the village's limits, a hidden pair of golden eyes watched them leave.

  —-

  The open sky of the plains soon gave way to the shade of the forest's treeline. Jerome kept leading the way until they came to a small hill with an opening.

  The moment they all came within grasping distance. The deeper he started down the cave, the darker it got, but the lack of light wasn't what concerned Red.

  "What's that smell!?" He cried the moment a musty, nasal vomiting smell crawled up his nose. "Why does it smell worse than Roy's diapers!!?"

  A slight chuckle came from the group. Igneel's hand found its way onto his head. "Red, if the smell is enough to drive you away, you might want to reconsider your goal."

  "I'm not scared of a bad smell!" And without a single thought, he ran into the cave.

  "That's not what I meant." But it was too late, and with an annoyed glare from Jerome and a humorous one from Zyreth, they went in after him.

  Leaving behind the shaking brush.

  —

  With each rapid step, the light started to wane as darkness rapidly took its place. Even as his eyes tried to adjust to the change, it was hard to see anything other than darkness. That was until a soft glow of light came into view.

  "Is that light? Underground?" The curious sight pulled at his intrigue. "Is this a rock? It looks more like a crystal, but why is it glowing?"

  Reaching out to grab the head-sized object, he grabbed one of the protruding edges. 'Wired, it doesn't feel warm.'

  Looking further down, there are more glowing stones.

  The faint sound of low screeching came from deeper within the cave. Slowly, it grew louder and louder. The sound of flapping followed, and it too started out quiet, but grew louder. Before he knew it, the screeching cloud flew past him.

  His arms rose to cover himself as flapping wings flew past him. 'What the heck is that?"

  But just as quickly as they arrived, they left. The swarm made its way to the entrance.

  "Were those monsters?"

  "No, that was just a group of bats flying from danger."

  His attention shot to the side, finding the group at his side.

  "Hey Grandpa, I didn't mean to run ahead." His voice was meek as Igneel stepped past him and broke off a piece of the glowing stone.

  "This here is called a sunstone; it's one of the few natural sources of light you can find down here." He barely gave Red a second to look it over before tossing it down the tunnel.

  "Grandpa, why did you—

  The low sound of snarls and cackles was only contrasted by the draw of his grandfather's crimson blade as slowly a leg covered in dark gray fur stepped into the light. An arm with sharp claws emerged from the dark, and a canine-like head followed.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  But it wasn't alone as more followed the lead into the dim light.

  "Grandpa, what are those?"

  "Kobolds, now do me a favor and—

  "Finally, an excuse to move these bones!" Jerome cried out over Igneel as he jogged past them and into the small horde. With a swing of his mace, he turned a pair of Kobolds into paste.

  Igneel is quick to follow with a set of burning slashes

  Despite their age, the duo's movements were too quick for Red to track as the monsters were reduced to a stain on the cave walls and floor.

  'I kinda feel bad for those things.'

  A low set of growls came from deeper as a new wave of kobolds emerged from the dark and charged them.

  Jerome, with ease, swung his mace, crushing heads and bodies with an echoing smash.

  However, Red's attention wasn't on him; it was solely on his grandfather. Each burning slash, each wave of flame that came from that red colored blade. Every motion held just as much effort as when they would spare over the past week.

  "Grandpa really is cool."

  'If it's this easy for him, maybe I can do it.'

  The moment he grasped Breaker's handle, a strange glow, followed by a new growl, appeared at his side.

  Clawing through the opening, it fell to the floor before looking up and launching itself at the crimson-eyed boy.

  Another growl followed from behind him as the same sight happened again.

  Their glares paralyzed him; his body shook from their snarls. Before he could even react, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

  Watching Zyreth kick a Kobold into the air and her metal-tipped staff thrusted upward, plunging both it and the kobold into the cave's roof.

  "How the—

  "The ring of the storm, the winds that carry heavy clouds ready to cool and wet the earth. These shots from above pierce those in your path."

  "Rain Shot."

  Before Red could act, Zyreth spoke calmly and quickly as her hands left her staff. As she spoke, water formed around her fingertips before they shot off at the kobolds. Striking them dead as five rain-like bullets impacted them both.

  "Wha... what... how did that?"

  "Impressive, wasn't it?" Piling her staff from the roof, Zyreth turned to face him as the kobold fell. "Is it safe to assume this is your first time in a dungeon?"

  A slow nod was given. "Yeah..."

  "Well then, looks like you're going to have an easy first time. Use this moment to pay attention and learn. Your first lesson in one of the most important: never let your guard down in the dungeon. Monsters have a funny way of appearing when you least expect them."

  "But they how, I saw them come out of the walls! How did they do that?"

  "I don't know, it's one of those great mysteries of life. It's been like that all my life."

  "That doesn't make sense. If they just appear down here, then why can we find them above ground and—

  "Like I said, it's just one of the mysteries of how the world works."

  "I'd listen to her lad, Zyreth has been around the block a bit longer than I have."

  Turning to see that the pair had ended the goblin wave, Red didn't notice the glare Zyreth was sending Igneel."At least I've aged like a fine wine; meanwhile, you gain nothing but wrinkles and folds over the years."

  Igneel couldn't hold back his infectious laughter as it slowly spread to Red. Jerome, however, reached into his bag only to pull out a smaller one just before tossing it Red's way.

  "Lad, you're in charge of pickin up those stones and don't go missing a single one. Last thing I need to worry about is a bigger mess later down the line."

  "What, why?"

  "Just do what you're told, down here you play by a different set of rules than when you were killing slimes with Igneel."

  Looking between both his grandfather and the dark elf, only for an annoyed groan to escape from him as he started gathering the available stones as they moved deeper into the dungeon.

  "Miss. Zyreth, is Jerome a greedy person?"

  A small laugh escaped from the elf as Igneel gave a joking slap to Jerome's back. "Now, why would such a sweet boy like you ask such a question?"

  "Because he's having me pick up these stones. I thought we were here to help Xaio not collect money."

  "Well, he may be a dwarf who likes his coin, but he has his reasons. Tell me what do you do when you're hungry?" Zyreth's soft laughter came to an end, she spoke and reached into her bag.

  "I eat?"

  She smiled and pulled out an apple. "That's right, and for a growing boy like you, you must eat a balanced diet that helps you grow big and strong; it's the same for animals and monsters."

  The claim only confused him.

  "You see monsters, like animals, they need to eat, but they don't just eat meat. They feast on magic stones to help with their growth." That only made his confusion grow. "You see, since monsters are magical creatures, once they eat a stone, it fills their body with a type of energy that makes them stronger. So to try and prevent any monsters from getting too strong, the best practice is to gather any stones you find so that doesn't happen."

  "Wait, they get—

  "Come on you two. Don't fall behind!" Igneel's call brought their attention back to them as they marched deeper.

  —

  As they went deeper, the encounters only increased.

  A pair of white scaled Dungeon Lizards, the size of a large dog and over eight feet long, crawled along the cave walls before leaping at Igneel. Only to be met by a flash of hot crimson as Red watched his grandfather cut them to bits the moment they leapt into the air.

  With the swing of his mace, Jerome flattened a Kobold under the weight of his mace.

  The whole time, Red was left to gather the stones under Zyreth's watchful gaze, if there was any for him to gather.

  It seemed to repeat on loup. The deeper they went, the more monsters they encountered. Leaving Red to watch them be slain and pick up the stones that remained.

  —

  The passage seemed to be unending, with each step they took, there was a new set of winding twists and turns, sharp inclines that rose and sank.

  Every step was lit by more and more small sunstones, but these stones weren't a substitute for the sun; darkness still clung to the walls.

  "Red, come here," Igneel called him to the cave wall, grabbing the end of a root that managed to break through the stone. He snapped it off before placing it in his hand. Zyreth gave a small smile as she moved further ahead, but Jerome just gave a stubborn groan.

  A confused look was sent to his grandfather as he was given the root. It was strange, its skin was rough, almost bark-like, yet fuzzy, and the snap revealed the inside was a mixture of green and white.

  "Peel off the skin and take a bite."

  Another confused look was sent, but Red still did what he was told and took a bite.

  'Strange it's chewy and wet. It feels like I'm chewing rubb—

  A foul, disgusting taste washes over his tongue. It wasn't even a second later before he spat it out. But it didn't end there, Red started scratching, clawing at his tongue before drinking from his canteen and spitting out what he could in an attempt to remove the taste.

  "What was that? Why did you give me that, Grandpa? It was so disgusting, I thought I was gonna puke."

  Igneel had a loud laugh, Zyreth quietly chuckled, and Jerome just groaned as his tapping foot echoed.

  "It's a special type of root found in dungeons; eating it can provide you all the nutrition you'd need for a day."

  "But how can anyone eat that? I felt like my stomach was going to punch my tongue."

  "That's why it's called the Lost Mealroot or Deadman's Regret. It's often eaten by those who get lost within the dungeon, and when they've run out of food. The only issue is that it doesn't go down easily."

  "Ok, the two of you have wasted enough time, now come on." Jerome called out. "Do you want to find the girl or not?"

  Red shook his head before tossing the root to the ground. 'Yeah, I need to find Xaio so she doesn't have to eat one of these disgusting roots.'

  As they continued deeper into the dungeon, something else picked up the root and curiosity got the better of them.

  —

  The cave floor became rougher and uneven as loose stones marked the ground and the cave walls started to change from gray to black.

  The air grew stale, cold and damp the deeper they went, but...

  'At least it doesn't smell like Roy's diapers anymore, so that's nice.'

  The cave walls were still lit up by the sunstones that slowly started to grow slightly larger and provide just a little more light. The tunnel started to open up into a small chamber that held a little more open space.

  'I wonder how deep we are? We've been walking for a while.' Stuck in his thoughts once again, he didn't notice Igneel pause.

  "Huh, why did we stop Grandpa?"

  Words weren't needed to give him an answer; all he had to do was look past his elders. There was a fork in the road, three diverging paths with one tunnel to the right, the other to the left, and finally one straight ahead.

  "There are more paths?

  "Red thought I told you, dungeons are like ant hives. They're filled with interconnecting tunnels that lead to different rooms. This also means that there will be diverging paths."

  "Then how will we know what path they took?

  An annoyed groan came from Jerome as he moved towards the left. "Maybe if you kept quiet, we'd be making quicker progress. This is why I hate escort missions, they always slow the group down, ask too many questions, get in the way, and cause more harm than good."

  Red could only throw a scowl, but Jerome ignored it as he started looking around the tunnel.

  But while he did that, both Igeenl and Zyreth used the moment to either lean against the wall or take a moment to sit.

  "Why did he move ahead alone and why are we just sitting here?"

  "Red, just take the moment to rest your feet. Jerome is just checking to see which path they went down. He won't take long."

  "But Grandpa, what about Xaio?"

  This time, the one to answer him wasn't Igneel but Zyreth. "If this girl was able to both save you and is strong enough for her team to get out, I'm sure she'll be able to hang on until we arrive."

  He simply took a set, watching as Jerome went a few feet deeper before returning and making his way down the center-most path, leaving everyone to sit in their thoughts.

  Watching water drip off a stalactite, a small splashed quietly echoed with each shallow drop.

  "Hey Grandpa, you said monsters were really common in a dungeon, so why haven't we seen many after those kobolds?"

  "Likely because Xaio and her team cleared out the lot of em and the dungeon hasn't had the chance to rest."

  'The dungeon rests?' Before he could question further, his mouth grew dry. Turning to his canteen for a drink, ignoring that Jerome had moved on to the next tunnel. 'Maybe I should save some of this for Xaio, she might be thirsty.'

  But while his mind was busy, the soft sound of wings flapping from where the group had just came from caught his attention, and a low cry followed.

  "Huh?" Getting up, curiosity got the better of him. His mind led him to the path they just came from, and the cry slowly got louder and closer. Before he even knew what happened a body slammed into him. A wave of pain spread over his back as they rolled across the stone floor. Slowly, his eyes opened to find icy-blue hair and golden eyes. "Aurali? Why are you—

  "Help me!!"

  Her voice was louder than he'd ever heard her before, and her face was flushed, and her golden eyes had fearful tears pooling in them. But no one had time to react as right behind her, a pale purple colored moth the size of a small dog with a golden scale wing span to match.

  As its wings flapped, its compound eyes reflected the young pair's image back at them. Between its massive eyes was a monster stone.

  "Grandpa, what the heck is that!?"

  With each wing flap, a strange powder fell, and its mandible snapped open and closed.

  "That the—

  A white thread launched at them, watching as it was sent their way. Without a second thought, Red wrapped his arms around Aurali and forced her to roll with him to the side before the webbing splat against the floor.

  Pushing Aurali off him, he jumped to his feet. The poor girl's head hit the floor, but when he reached for Breaker, he ignored her pained whimpers. Before he could even draw out his blade, he watched as in a single motion a burning slash cut the moth down the middle. The first to crack was the stone as the two halves hit the floor, and the wings stopped.

  "You kids alright?" Igneel caked out as he returned his blade to his side and Zyreth darted to Aurali's side.

  "I'm fine, Grandpa." But looking to his side, the same couldn't be said for Aurali.

  "You didn't have to toss me on the floor! I told you heroes aren't real if you treat a girl like that!" An annoyed, hurt cry echoed down the path as she held the back of her head.

  The moment she sat up, Zyreth swarmed her. Checking her up and down, looking all over to see if there were any signs of injury, small or large. Her voice was filled with concern, bombarding the girl with questions of "Are you ok?" and "Does anything hurt?"

  All of which Aurali confirmed she was okay, except for a now pounding headache. Answering Zyreth with a smile before shooting a glare at Red.

  'I wonder how Mom would react if she were down here?"

  "That's great, dear, but... WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU HERE?"

  As her voice echoed, Jerome reappeared with a groan at the additional member they now had.

  "Aurali, how and why are you here?"

  "I followed you after you left Decon." Her voice was still the same as when Red met her. "I just stayed back so I wouldn't get seen... well, until that moth saw me."

  "Do you know how dangerous this stunt you pulled was? This wasn't a simple joy ride; this is a rescue."

  "Then why did you let Strange Eye come? I'm older than him, that's not fair."

  "My name is Red, would you get it right? And I'm here to help."

  With the raising of his hand, Igneel spoke up. "Well, I'll get a portal so we can send her back."

  She shot up the moment he finished, pouting, protesting against it. "I'll just march my way back if you send me home."

  The bickering between the pair continued as Zyreth threatened not just to return the Constellation flowers but also to ban her from eating any of her favorite foods for a month.

  Aurali just pouted; her foot echoed as she tapped on the cave floor.

  "This is such a waste, I'm going to help Xaio." Red claimed. marching towards the left-most tunnel.

  "That's great and all, lad." Jerome's callout caused him to stop. "But if you want to help her, then you're going down the wrong path. They came from the right tunnel."

  "Oh... I see. " Red quickly changed course as everyone, including the new party addition Aurali, despite a few members' protests.

  As they made their way down the tunnel, both Igneel and Jerome maintained the front, with Zyreth at the rear as she kept a firm gaze on Aurali. Leaving Red in the middle, but he didn't stay there for long. Increasing his pace, he closed the distance between him astonend his grandfather.

  "Mr. Jerome—

  "No need for the Mr, Jerome is fine."

  "So how did you know this was the path they took?"

  "Well, for starters, did you notice anything at the tunnel's entrance?" Red simply shook his head. "There were bloody hand and footprints on the floor, and on top of that, dozens of monster stones littered the ground."

  Looking around, there wasn't just monster bodies and those bloody markings, but there was also. "Why is there rope around the sunstones?"

  "You see, lad, when you're in a dungeon, you have to pay attention to your surroundings, and it helps to leave markings to show what path you took."

  With each step, they kept going deeper. The tunnel narrowed to the point where they all had to walk in single file, only to have it widen later down the line.

  'It feels like we've been walking for hours. I wonder how much longer it will take for us to find a chamber.'

  Slowly, they moved forward. The tunnel got brighter as a new light caught his eye. It was brighter than any of the sunstones they passed along the way.

  As the light filled the path, Ree found his legs moving quicker as he ran to the blinding light, going past his grandfather and Jerome and into the light.