CHAPTER 160: NEW QUEST

Jae’s eyes widened and he whispered. "You make it look effortless."

"It’s practice," she said lightly. "And being royal helps."

He chuckled softly. "I’ll have to work on my own ’royal presence’ then."

"Don’t worry," she teased, elbowing him lightly. "By the end of this, you might scare a few guards yourself."

They pushed the heavy stone door open together, revealing the dark tunnel beyond. Jae’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, noting the damp air and earthy smell. The walls were lined with ancient markings, faded murals of battles and rituals.

"This place... it’s incredible," he murmured.

The two moved into the tunnel, careful but alert.

The tunnel opened like a crack in the cliff, wide enough to swallow the light behind them. The air that drifted out was cooler, carrying a damp, musty smell that clung to the skin. Jae stepped in first.

Their footsteps landed softly at first, but even the smallest sound seemed to echo, caught and swallowed by rock. Jae brushed his hand along the wall.

Grooves ran across the surface, faint symbols that seemed to coil into each other. They weren’t sharp anymore, but dulled with age, worn by time and perhaps by touch. A pale glow traced through them, weak sparks of mana.

Yuna walked close at his side. Her hair caught the dim light in pale strands, bright enough to stand out against the dark. She wrinkled her nose. "Smells like a tomb."

Jae smirked without looking at her. "If it is, we’re already walking over the bones." He dragged a hand through his hair, part habit, part shield. The tunnel pressed in too tight, the weight of stone making his chest feel heavier than usual. It wasn’t fear, not really. Just a tension that he’d rather hide than admit.

From behind came muffled shouts, the guards. Their voices carried down the stone, sharp at first but quickly thinned out.

They had found their courage late, after being cowed into silence earlier, but it didn’t matter. The echoes never reached far enough to touch him or Yuna.

The tunnel narrowed soon after, forcing them into a single line. Loose stones shifted underfoot, some slick, others brittle enough to crumble with a step.

Jae adjusted his stride, careful to place his boots where the rock looked firm. He didn’t slow. Yuna kept close, her own steps falling in the same places as his.

She copied without complaint, her focus sharp, but he could still feel her right at his back.

When the floor lit faintly under his boot, Jae froze. The sigil beneath the dust flared with sudden light, glowing brighter before dimming again.

He eased his foot away, watching the mana pulse then settle. Residual energy, thick enough that even dormant carvings reacted to careless movement.

He muttered, half to himself, "Step wrong and they wake."

Yuna peered past him. "They don’t feel dangerous."

"They’re not." He sidestepped, placing his weight on a cleaner patch of stone. "Just noisy."

He moved ahead. Yuna followed, but one of her steps landed close to another sigil. Light burst upward like a firecracker, startlingly bright in the tight space. She gave a sharp yelp, quickly swallowing it, then turned a glare on him.

"You didn’t warn me properly."

"You didn’t step where I did."

"You could’ve said it louder."

He tilted his head, smirk tugging at his lips. She puffed out her cheeks, the beginnings of a pout forming. He turned away before she decided to jab him for it.

The tunnel continued like that, patches of glowing sigils scattered along the ground and walls, each one ready to flare with sound or light if disturbed.

None were harmful, but every burst tugged at the nerves, making them both more alert. Jae traced the patterns silently, testing how the energy shifted in clusters, while Yuna kept her eyes on the walls.

She pointed at one groove cut vertically into the stone, her voice lowered. "See there? That marking shows a change. The tunnel bends."

Jae narrowed his gaze and nodded. She wasn’t wrong. "Not bad."

Her smile came fast at the compliment, small but genuine, before she tucked it away again as if she hadn’t been waiting for it.

The path grew tighter still. A low ceiling forced Jae to duck, his back brushing against rough stone. Yuna bent after him, less graceful, shaking dust from her sleeve as soon as she straightened.

Her face carried that determined look again, the one she wore whenever she thought he might underestimate her.

The tunnel pressed on their senses in ways more subtle than traps. Every drip of water echoed like a heartbeat, every scrape of their boots clung to the stale air.

The glowing sigils painted them in soft colors as they passed, flickering pale across their clothes and skin. The air thickened, not colder, but heavier, like mana had settled in the walls and refused to move.

When Jae brushed too near a cluster of symbols carved into an outcropping, the glow flared so bright it stung his eyes. A crack of sound followed, sharp as thunder in the closed space.

He grit his teeth against the vibration humming in his chest. Yuna’s hand shot forward, brushing his sleeve before she caught herself and pulled back.

"Are you good?" she asked, sharper than her usual tone.

He flexed his fingers, shaking off the buzz in his bones. "I’m fine. Just testing."

"You know you could test less right?."

"Where’s the fun in that?" His grin came easy, though it didn’t fully reach his eyes.

The tunnel had its own natural tricks. Patches of slick stone sloped downward, forcing them to steady their balance. Jae kept moving, boots grinding over grit.

Yuna slipped once, catching herself against the wall with a mutter about how her dress wasn’t made for crawling around in old caves. He didn’t disagree, but he found her persistence more amusing than the complaint itself.

The air shifted after a while, the heaviness loosening like something finally exhaled. The sigils grew fewer, their light dimming until the tunnel faded back into natural dark. The path widened, the ceiling rising higher until it no longer pressed down on them.

Then the walls opened completely.

The chamber beyond stretched wide, much larger than the path they had followed. The air carried a faint bite, sharper than before, tinged with the scent of smoke.

Jae stepped forward, boots crunching against scattered stone. He scanned the hollow space, eyes adjusting quickly to the deeper dark.

Something flickered at the edge of his vision.

Then his system chimed, clear as thought itself.

[Quest: Defeat the Cave Bear and claim the Flame Dragon Eye.]