Chapter 41: Dungeon Day

The morning light bled into the room and landed on his face causing him to wake up.

For a few seconds he lay still, breathing in the morning air and listening to random noises— water running somewhere down the hall, a door closing, the low distant noise of students already moving.

He sat up, and the kiss from last night played again in his memory...

He ran a hand through his hair, pushed it aside and checked the system out of habit.

```

[Rank: E]

[Level: 3]

[EXP: 203 / 300]

[Death Energy: 500/500]

[Control Capacity: 54]

```

He stared at the numbers for a while and closed it with a sigh.

He dressed up, and stepped into the living room.

When he came out, Lila was already there. Her hair tied back and in the black fireproof jumpsuit she wore in their last dungeon trip.

She glanced at him, then nodded toward the door.

"Nora’s meeting us at the south pad," she said. "The schedule board says first wave groups are already rotating back."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Marcus?"

"His team was on the early slot. They would be grounded by now."

Ethan hummed, and followed her out.

***

The south ground was busier than Ethan imagined...

Portable barriers marked off the landing zone, a pair of academy transport helicopters sat on the pad idle while a third was being guided in from the far side of the sky as the the sound the helicopter roared when it got closer.

Students that had geared up clustered near the helipad — some waiting for their own entries and others clearly returned from earlier entries.

Ethan inhaled. The air carried the mixed smell of dust, fuel, and the faint ozone tinge that sometimes clung to people who had just left a dungeon.

Marcus’ group was easy to find.

They stood near the front of the returned cluster, still in gear with the members looking tired and satisfied.

Marcus himself looked satisfied in the way that told Ethan that he had scored high enough to make him feel like he was on top of the world...

One of his teammates was talking too loudly about a multi-kill combo, and the other kept checking a recovery pouch as if he was trying to confirm the Aetherite inside was still real.

Ethan’s gaze moved to the small crowd of students who had gathered close enough to hear the highlights.

"...cleared the second chamber."

"...three ranked monsters before the ten minute mark."

"...scored a finishing blow against a C rank monster."

Marcus noticed Ethan’s group approaching the pad and let his smile widen. He didn’t call out, he didn’t need to. The look alone carried the same message he wanted to deliver since they met:

’Know your place, Necromancer.’

If Ethan could read minds, that was probably what he would hear.

Lila’s eyes narrowed as Marcus sauntered over with his hands in his pockets.

"Here to rub it in our faces?" Ethan asked with a flat expression.

Marcus scoffed. "It’s a bit too early for that. I’ll wait till after the results are out..."

Ethan looked at him, and began walking towards the second helicopter.

"Necromancer."

He turned...

"They won’t tell you this, but gathering Aetherite has the highest effect on your scoreline."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I can’t risk her scores being lowered because of you." He said this while glancing at Lila and giving a smirk.

Lila’s face contorted in something like disgust, and turned back to the helipad with a click of her tongue.

Ethan gave Marcus one last look, then turned and walked towards the helicopter.

The ground handler waved them toward the helicopter.

"Day Three cohort, Group Seven. Board when ready. Flight time twelve minutes."

And with that, the rotors began to turn.

***

The cabin was narrow and loud.

Ethan took the seat across from the open side hatch with Nora to his left, and Lila to his right.

Their harnesses were clicked into place and the helicopter lifted slowly as the campus buildings began shrinking beneath them when the pilot angled toward the designated dungeon.

Through the hatch the landscape shifted from the academy and training fields to the broader outer grounds, then to the broken terrain that marked the approach to the stable dungeon clusters.

Any conversation that was intiated was mostly impossible over the noise. That suited Ethan fine.

He ran the formation once more in his head....

All in all, he had to be careful to properly manage his Death Energy as the moment he ran out, that would spell trouble...

Two hours, clear what they could, recover as much as they could and leave before time was up.

Lila’s shoulder brushed his once when the helicopter tilted sideways and Nora watched the terrain below with her eyes narrowed slightly against the wind.

The first visible marker of their destination came into view — a perimeter of sensor posts and a cleared landing circle near a dark cleft in the rock face.

Even from the air the environment felt dense and heavy— typically for a dungeon entrance.

The helicopter descended....

Dust blew outward in a wide circle as the helicopter landed and the moment the cabin door was pulled open, they were hit with the pressure that accompanied a dungeon.

They all came out in order and was met with a pair of field instructors waiting with tablets and a simple timing unit.

Ethan looked around. He didn’t see Crane. The instructors checked names, confirmed the time slot, and stepped aside.

"Group Seven," the nearer one said. "Two-hour limit begins after full crossing. Monitoring is active but limited and intervention is reserved for critical failure only. Don’t do anything stupid. Dungeons are very dangerous."

They nodded.

Lila rolled her shoulders and flexed her fingers, Nora unrolled one sleeve far enough to expose the edge of her forearm, and Ethan just sighed and prepared himself as they stepped closer to the opening.

Behind them, the helicopter was already powering up to return for the next group, and ahead, the cleft waited — dark, cold, and an endless expanse of darkness and horror..

Marcus’s team had come back with a clean result and a loud story. Their turn was simpler...

Walk in, work the clock, and bring back enough to make have a good score.

He exhaled. "Alright. Here we go..."