"What do you want to do, Glia?" The mental bridge quickly formed from her side, as if she could read my emotions so well that she understood I wanted to speak with her.

"I don't know... I want to go with you to help somehow, it's just that... I'm the weakest of the grade 3 monsters... I'll be a burden." Glia looked at me for a moment, thinking whether she should go or stay. "I'll go, there's something I haven't tried, it must work and I won't be a bother." She let out a feline smile before curling up again.

"Maki... we're talking to you." Sol's voice snapped me out of my daze. I had been so focused on talking with Glia that I'd forgotten the situation in the room. The three girls were talking to me about several things I hadn't been paying attention to.

"Yeah, sorry, I was a bit distracted... Could you repeat that again?" I forced a guilty smile and shrugged to show remorse.

"Sure." Arisa let out a sigh. "We were talking about where to go for dinner later, and we also want to help with your training after dinner." I do want to eat with them. Eating with Sol means getting a bigger portion made with extra care. However, I already have plans to enter a dungeon.

Just as I'm about to answer, there's a knock at the door. We all turn to look, and a moment later it opens. Camux walks in calmly and searches for me with his eyes. "It's time to go, Maki." I nod gently, stand up with Glia in my arms, and follow him.

"Where are you going, Father? We were making dinner plans." Sol asks her father before we can leave the room. I just wait for Camux's reply.

"It's a secret, dear." He winks at his youngest daughter. "I don't know how long it will take, but I doubt Maki will be back in time for dinner." He pats my head and walks toward the door.

"Sorry, girls, it seems someone already booked a date with me." I glance at them as I apologize and then begin walking behind the Baron until I catch up with him. It still feels odd treating Marga like that. If she hadn't insisted so much on being treated the same way I treat Sol and Arisa, I'd still be calling her young Lady.

"So... this is Glia." The Baron looks curiously at my new companion. Glia looks back at him as if trying to memorize his features.

"Yes, she's like a little sister to me." I look at Glia for a moment. The Baron gives her a few more glances before facing forward again.

"Maki, the dungeon is about twelve minutes away by carriage. I've already taken the necessary precautions regarding its safety, and you can use this for now." From his dimensional bracelet, he pulls out a completely white mask that covers my entire face. I have no intention of revealing my eye color, which is quite different from everyone else's, and I don't need them to see anyway. The robe is simple, black, and covers me down to my shoes.

"It's perfect. That way, no one will suspect who I am." I get dressed inside the house and then we head to the carriage. The coachman has been working for the Solar family for about 50 years and is someone trustworthy. He didn't glance at me or ask any questions, he just focused on driving—the Baron had already instructed him to keep everything secret.

"How many days do you plan to stay?" According to his wife, who is a dungeon expert, she predicted around 2000 monsters. Compared to the ogres from last time, these are a bit stronger since they're naturally formed. In any case, I'm stronger too.

"I'm not sure... Maybe two or three days?" I don't need to kill all the monsters, just the vast majority and leave a small percentage... If I manage to kill between 600 and 700 a day, I can finish quickly.

The Baron's eyes show surprise and happiness at the same time. "You keep amazing me with your strength. One feels safe hearing your words." We chat a bit more about some minor details of the dungeon until we reach the guarded area.

Upon arrival, I find a medium-sized booth with a wide surveillance perimeter. I can sense around twelve soldiers. Some are walking around the area while others are inside the booth.

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"You're on your own from here. I wish you luck, and don't overdo it." We're standing next to the portal. According to the Baron, once inside, I'll appear on a platform that can be reactivated by placing three cores from the dungeon monsters. That's another way to exit without needing to complete it fully; it's how everyone maintains their training dungeons.

"See you soon, Baron." I jump into the dungeon and feel a slight turbulence in my body as everything goes black. A moment later, I appear on the mentioned platform. It's quite complex, covered in many runes, entirely made of a rare stone with a particular design and three pillars.

"Glia. What do you have in mind?" I speak out loud since I can't yet form a mental bridge like she does.

"Let me try something." She jumps from my hands to the floor and sits to concentrate. I take the opportunity to remove the mask and robe. While I can fight just fine with them, they're still uncomfortable.

A few seconds pass and Glia opens her eyes. "I found the path, it'll be much easier now. I'm ready." She vanishes from my sight, and I feel something enter my body—specifically, my Cube.

"What the hell just happened?" I don't feel anything strange in my body. I touch myself all over to check, and everything seems normal. I look inside my core and see Glia lying on a bed.

"I'm in a dormant state while inside your body. It helps me recover energy faster, and I can slightly enhance the affinities we share." That's good to know. As far as I understand, she hasn't fully developed the Life affinity yet, but she has the Death affinity at an impressive level. That will help me clear this faster. "I'll be here if you need me, just try speaking to me through your Cube." After those words, the connection is lost.

Why is it so dark? I finally focus on my surroundings—everything looks so gloomy, as if this dungeon is in a permanent night. I hear no nearby sounds. I'd better investigate what kind of monsters are inside.

I walk for several minutes until I hear some noise in the silent dark forest. As I approach, I see what kind of monsters I'll be facing. "Denosis." They're humanoid monsters, similar in build and height to humans, usually around 165 cm tall, and they adapt to all types of environments.

Their type depends heavily on ambient mana and location. From what I've read, they're the most common monsters in dungeons. Since they adapt to any environment, they survive like cockroaches and can be found in almost every dungeon and open world. They're quite intelligent, always moving in groups—some focus on melee combat and others on ranged attacks while supporting their allies.

"This won't be easy… though it's good training." As I get closer, I move as silently as possible and notice the spheres on their chests indicating their affinities. Black and purple? That means some kind of dark or death affinity and something related to poison or curses. This makes it more complicated. I'll try to avoid getting cut at all and my healing will be very important.

I draw my twin swords and prepare all possible abilities. I've been improving a lot lately with my fortified construction. I can now cover my entire head, torso, and arms without much effort. If I try covering my legs, it becomes too complex to control so much mana and combine it with abilities.

I move to the side of the closest one using my charged steps. They react, but a bit too late. My swords slash his back with little resistance, and he's flung away by the force of the blow. "He survived." My words are barely a whisper, and in that moment, I dive into battle against the remaining nine.

Six of them charge at me full speed while three stay back casting spells. My swords begin cutting down anyone in my range. Their defensive skills are worthy of grade 3 monsters—they're stronger than those ogres. However, for my Death Sharpness, they're just a small resistance to overcome.

My calm mind allows me to dodge from side to side to avoid the black thorn-like spells, dodging just in time to keep from being caught by the melee fighters. They're faster than ogres, but weaker, and they don't have that cursed rapid healing ability.

It took me less than a minute to finish them off. They managed to slash me with a couple of sharp claws near the end, which I'm healing now. Their dark affinity makes healing harder, but by pushing more mana into the skill, I manage to overcome it. I finished them quickly because they couldn't heal like the ogres and because of my improved abilities.

"This will be good training." I got injured trying to use my mana-woven tissue, which took longer than usual. The skill is very useful when I have time to prepare, but in fast-paced combat, it becomes a disadvantage—something I'll need to overcome.

I keep searching and taking down every Denosis in my path. Little by little, more and more of them appear. In my last fight, another group heard the noise and rushed in to help. I used my mana pit to gain a slight edge and emerged victorious.

A giant thorn of dark mana pierced through my palm, and I only endured the pain thanks to my mental ability. Luckily, only a few were left, and they were defeated by ice swords V3 that pierced through their chests. I'm healing my wound now, which is taking longer than usual due to their cursed affinity. Maybe these monsters are close to obtaining a pseudo Law, which would explain the strength of their abilities.

Without my ice armor, I'd be lost. Thanks to it, I've been able to withstand their massive claws trying to tear me apart. I just need to rebuild it immediately. "Let's go for the next horde!"

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