CHAPTER 55: [ LIFE ]

He stood still several minutes, processing the scene before him.

He couldn’t hear the whispers behind the other doors anymore, or Fae’s slight tug on his sleeve.

Rage and pain—yet he couldn’t express either. His body wouldn’t move, as if he was a prisoner in it.

It took half an hour.

That’s how long he needed to commit to memory the broken mementos.

"We’re leaving."

Alexander turned around and walked away.

His pace was faster, and more decisive.

It felt as if his face was unable to smile, his eyes unable to find warmth.

Fae matched his speed easily—she was the only one he could count on.

Alexander felt his phone vibrating.

While exiting his apartment building he took it out, ignoring the messages from Sunder and Silver to go toward the dungeon tab.

"Things will change," he said.

Fae looked at him, nothing had changed in her gaze.

She was still the same person he met in that place. She would die for him if he asked her to.

"There, a dungeon—C tier."

Alexander pointed at a restaurant on the map, the dot located in the connecting alleyway.

They walked through the streets, Alexander’s frenzied eyes located through his body jumped at everything that moved.

Every person, every detail.

People avoided them on the sidewalk, cars patiently waited for them to cross despite how they ignored the red light.

Even when crossed diagonally through an intersection, it felt as if time stopped.

Nobody honked, nobody tried running him over, nobody yelled at him.

They walked several streets, finally arriving at the alleyway.

At its entrance he could recognize a car belonging to the Adventurer’s Guild.

He walked through the garbage bins and parked cars, finally seeing it.

What looked like a backdoor that should’ve lead into a restaurant—shimmering, a colorfully woven mantle of energy.

Half a dozen people stood before it, turning the moment they saw him.

They all glanced at each other with a frown, leaning onto their friends as they whispered among themselves.

"Listen pal, we don’t need help. It says here, ’Coal And Steel guild’, read it," said the one in the middle, showing the dungeon app on his phone.

He wore a sword at his hip that matched his shiny armor.

"Solo is taking over," said Alexander as he got closer.

"What?"

The man turned to the Adventurer’s Guild official, both palms up while frowning.

The official nodded quickly. "Coal And Steel guild are the ones—"

Alexander’s pace didn’t slow down.

"Hear its whispers."

[ Whispers beyond ]

Alexander raised a hand. The fabric of reality tore open, but not visually.

Sounds, like a low humming. It was vibrations belonged to another realm, words that couldn’t be comprehended.

They could all hear it. It seeped through their ears, bleeded into their brains. They were all pulled by it.

They balanced on the edge of a sword, eyes staring at them from the abyss below.

In unison, they all crumbled to the ground.

Alexander hadn’t stopped in his stride.

He walked around them, Fae following right behind, as he entered the portal.

Walking through it felt the same way as it did the first time, but the wonder was gone.

He looked around, things had changed.

His first dungeon was tunnels connecting to a final room.

Here, they arrived in what already looked like a boss rooms.

A giant door was at the end of the room, arching almost all the way to the ceiling.

It must’ve been a similar layout to his inner path, rooms of monsters that needed to be taken care of before advancing.

Monsters were indeed there, all standing still as they processed the two new challengers that entered their domain.

They looked like spriggans. Creatures made of intertwined wood that sculpted into a humanoid form.

Some were slender, breasts shaped by the wood curving on their chest, while others had beards made of leaves with a thick layer of wood covering their bodies.

The green leaves sparkled, the essence of their magic visible to the naked eye.

Some held that sparkling energy in their hands, as if it was something physical that could be thrown around.

He could see how the bigger ones held wooden weapons, mostly large axes and weapons that extended from their own body.

Those weapons were directly connected, replacing a hand for most of them.

The blade of those weapons looked like a solid version of the energy held by the casters.

Deep and dark green, it looked like solidified resin. It shone, light dancing on their weapons as if it was alive.

There had to be about twenty of them, dispersed through the room.

At any moment they could converge, circling them.

The casters would likely try to limit their movements, while those wearing weapons would try to cut them down.

A simple strategy—one that would work.

Alexander turned to Fae.

As his eyes met hers, he gave her [ The Gift ]. She didn’t even flinch, her eyes turning to crosses under her mask.

"Kill them all."

She got her swords out.

Without a word, she dashed forward.

She danced through the enemies, flowing through them like a powerful gust of wind.

Her blades spun with her breath—cutting, singing, humming like echoes of death.

He watched her swiftly move through the room while cutting down the spriggans.

They were no match.

They tried casting spells, roots grew from the ground trying to get ahold of her foot yet always one step behind.

Alexander slowly walked his way toward the door at the other end of the room.

Most monsters ignored him, those that didn’t were casually tossed away with a tendril snapping out of the abyssal tear.

They couldn’t slow him down, and he barely even looked at them.

He soon reached the other side, turning around as he was right in front of the giant arching door.

Only a few of them remained, Fae running toward them at full speed.

He patiently waited, messages popping up through the air.

[ Level up! ]

[ Your stats have increased! ]

[ Your companions grow stronger! ]