They stood before a familiar cave. Two stone lion statues guarded the entrance. Something about them felt wrong. Cassis remembered broken statues and a sky full of ash, not a clear blue stretching over the mountain, or the greenery still clinging stubbornly to this rocky landscape.

To reach this cave, the team had fought more rock elementals. These ones had been alive, not puppets controlled by another monster. Individually, they'd been tougher, but they hadn't swarmed like before. Arianna had healed everyone, and they'd made good time.

That same familiar tug pulled at Cassis again. This dungeon mattered. Memories hovered just out of reach: important, heavy, but blurred. He recalled a maze, lava pools, a threat like a nightmare, then a miracle, yet he couldn't grasp the details. Everything here was too… peaceful.

Bryce stood before the group after their short rest and called Faith forward. "This space is restricted. Use echolocation and scout the inside."

Faith nodded, proud and almost eager. Since when did she have echolocation? Arianna hadn't mentioned that. Cassis shot her a look. She caught it, winced a little, and mouthed oops, then maybe I forgot. He sighed.

Faith disappeared into the darkness with Bryce guarding her. A faint peep echoed from within, then nothing. Soon they returned, Faith already drawing a map.

"I couldn't reach all areas," she reported, "but it's definitely a maze. If we move deeper, I can get to key points and scan again."

She stood a little straighter, trying hard to contribute. Cassis understood the look in her eyes, the need to prove herself, to earn her place. With a father like hers, it made sense. Thinking about Keith filled him with disgust. He had to keep that man far from Arianna. She hadn't said anything, and she'd thrown herself into healing, into fighting like always, but he had seen Keith's interest and her shaky reaction to it.

Though she seemed to have repressed it deep inside her. And most worringly, Cassis had seen Bryce's uneasy expression too.

If Bryce was worried about that man, then Keith was more dangerous than Cassis had thought.

Too bad Keith wasn't here. Cassis could have killed them both. But he hadn't had a chance to discuss it with Arianna again, and judging by how she looked at Bryce now, almost with respect, convincing her would be difficult.

Cassis wrestled with doubt himself. Bryce was different than the man Cassis remembered. The coward who hid behind slaves, giving orders from the back. This Bryce fought at the front, shielded weaker teammates, and even pulled people back when they were at a disadvantage. What was happening?

From what Cassis had observed, Keith was far more likely to embrace slave collars than this Bryce.

Still, Cassis hadn't abandoned his plan. During the boss fight, he would know who Bryce truly was. A real battle, one that threatened lives, revealed character. That would be the moment of judgment.

One future led to death. The other… maybe to something else.

Cassis exhaled slowly and accepted that path. Bryce's choices in the boss fight would either save him or condemn him. And that would satisfy Arianna, too. If Bryce proved selfish, willing to sacrifice others for victory, then Cassis would kill him. But if he fought with everything he had, showed strategy and courage…

Then maybe this Bryce deserved to live. Maybe he could help stop the slave collars from rising at all.

Against everything the past had carved into him, a fragile, dangerous thing stirred in Cassis's chest.

Hope.

"Just around this corner. Wait a sec." Faith raised a hand and guided them to a narrow bend in the stone. The soft peep echoed out again, her echolocation cutting through the maze.

Echolocation, a rare ranger skill, only usable by those with wind affinity.

"I can see a big cavern," Faith whispered. "Something's alive in there. Massive. Strong. Behind it are more rooms, but they're blocked off somehow."

Bryce's face flickered with pride before settling back into its usual calm command.

"Alright, team. Mana topped? Weapons good? Armor secure?" His gaze swept over all of them. "We're likely about to face the Hoarder. The rooms behind the boss are almost always treasure vaults in dungeons like this. This will be the first D-rank dungeon boss we face, so be prepared. Formation standard. Protect each other. Arianna will heal what she can, but don't get complacent."

A ripple of tension passed through the group. They moved forward, guided by Faith's map.

Cassis's stomach twisted. He'd walked this path before. Fought in this maze before. But the memory kept dancing away from him, just out of reach. What had been here?

Then he saw it, lying on the stone path.

An obsidian scale.

And the memories slammed into him like a blade in the ribs.

No.

No. No. No.

They needed to leave. Turn back. Now.

He opened his mouth, too late.

The roar exploded from the cavern ahead. A sound that shook bone and soul. Cassis froze, just like before. Three endless seconds of primal terror shredding through him. Then willpower burned through it, muscles obeying again.

Around him, the others crumpled or trembled, some hitting their knees. Bryce broke free next, jaw tight, eyes wild.

But Cassis only saw Arianna.

Tears glittered in her frightened eyes, but she, too, was already moving again. Healing surged outward in waves, warm and steady. Strength crept back into Cassis's limbs, and his breathing eased.

She was healing their minds. Weakly, but it was working. He hadn't known that was possible. Hadn't ever felt that way when other clerics had healed him. Was this because of her high rank, or something uniquely her?

Then another warmth brushed him, different and sharper.

The Blessing of Courage.

She'd used it. They'd planned to save it, maybe keep it secret. But in this moment, nothing else mattered.

Because if they froze every time that thing roared, they were already dead. Thankfully, as Sapphire's avatar, the blessing would radiate around Cassis, giving those around him a weaker version of it.

"Be prepared!" Bryce barked.

Just in time.

Molten lava erupted from the cavern and arced toward them. The team scattered, dodging the sluggish projectile. Cassis hissed, familiar with this attack. But it was also wrong. It was weak. Too weak.

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This was only an E-rank dungeon. Meaning the boss was D-rank.

Not the S-rank monster he had faced in the past. The roar was the same… but the power wasn't.

Maybe we can win.

He didn't exactly know how he'd won the last time. Everything had been a blur in these lonely years when he'd believed Arianna had betrayed him. He remembered the monster, the dragon, clearly now, but the fight had been fought full of rage. He didn't have many clear memories of that time.

Concentrating back on the present, they regrouped, no longer collapsing under the roar thanks to Arianna's blessing. Footsteps wavered here and there, muscles trembling, but they moved. They fought the fear.

Finally, they reached the cavern.

And there it stood.

An obsidian black dragonling, no wings yet, more reptile than dragon, like some prehistoric beast forged from volcanic nightmare. Lava pulsed behind its blazing red eyes, and its scales glimmered like sharpened glass. Wicked looking spikes that were the size of his legs grew on its back.

A baby monster. Still a nightmare.

Bryce inhaled, steadied himself.

"Attack."

The warriors ran towards the dragonling, brandishing their swords and elemental blades. The mages and rangers took position in the back and fired arrows and spells at the creature.

The dragonling roared again, then spewed more lava, not a ball this time, but a wide, arcing spray. Cassis dodged, hearing pained groans behind him as the molten stream splashed across armor and flesh. He didn't look back. Arianna would heal them.

His opponent was the dragonling. He needed every skill, every spell, every shred of strength he had.

Their elemental affinities were similar, but the dragonling had already advanced to lava, a fusion of fire and earth. Wind and water users would be strongest here. Cassis still charged. Bryce wasn't far behind when Cassis slashed with his fire blade. The obsidian scales drank in the heat, nullifying his attack. Bryce's wind blade fared better, leaving a small wound, but far too shallow.

The tail whipped. Cassis and Bryce dodged, but warriors behind them weren't as lucky. Bodies crashed into stone. Yet within seconds, they rose, sprinting forward again, Arianna's healing mending shattered bones as if they'd never broken.

Arrows and spells rained on the dragonling. It answered with another molten spray, then lashed claw and tail in a brutal combo, catching Gerald square in the chest. Its jaws snapped down to devour him, but Bryce and Walter slammed their blades against its fangs, forcing its head up. A moment later, Gerald stood again, breathing hard but alive.

Then the dragon roared, disrupting spellcasting and staggering the ranged fighters, before turning, thinking.

Clever. Damn clever.

It lunged at the backline.

"Defend the casters!" Bryce roared.

They formed a wall. Spells and arrows peppered the beast, slowing but not stopping it, until things went horribly wrong.

Stone spikes erupted beneath the defenders. Several warriors were impaled mid-guard.

"Shit!" Cassis barked. "Spikes stay lodged. Arianna can't heal them like that! Ines, Bryce, get Gerald and Walter off those spikes now!"

They obeyed instantly, and paid for it. More molten lava sprayed, burning Faith and Ubau. Arianna healed them both immediately, face pale with strain. When Gerald and Walter were freed, she restored them too, but Cassis could see the toll. She looked faint, mana stretched razor-thin.

Still, she pushed.

Zara tried to bait the dragonling, and it moved faster than anything its size should. One stomp, and she vanished under its claws.

"Zara!" Faith sprinted for her friend. Cassis slashed at the dragonling's foot, only shallow cuts. Zara's crushed body twitched, then healed into motion again under Arianna's power.

"Careful, I'm close to depletion," Arianna warned over party chat.

Cassis's chest tightened. She'd done miracles already, was drawing more attention to her abilities than he'd feared. They were supposed to keep her limits secret. But this fight demanded everything.

The dragon roared again. Faith staggered while dragging Zara back. Though healed she was still disoriented.

Cassis took the opening, igniting a charged fire blade and driving it into the dragonling's flank.

A screech shook the cavern. Lava-blood spilt from the wound, splashing and hissing across the stone.

The beast snarled, and spikes shot from its spine straight toward Faith and Zara.

Too fast. Cassis saw it coming and was too far.

Faith stepped in front of Zara, brave, desperate, not enough—

"NO!"

Bryce's roar cut the chaos. He threw himself between the spikes and Faith, taking the hit head-on. His body shook, blood blooming across torn armor.

For a heartbeat, Cassis could only stare.

Then he moved. Fight now, think later.

"Faith, pull out the spikes!" Arianna shouted desperately.

"It's fine." Bryce's voice was strained, but steady. "I can hold. Kill the monster."

Good. He wasn't crumbling. The team surged again. Cassis fought with everything he had, technique and fury and memory all burning in his veins.

Bryce rejoined moments later, armor shredded, soaked in blood, but alive.

A surge of manarippled across the cavern. Arianna had activated her full pattern, overloading on mana. She was drawing mana dangerously fast now, well beyond safe limits. Water lances shot from her hands, slamming into obsidian scales.

Bryce's wind cut deeper than Cassis's fire could against this monster. Still, it wasn't enough.

Frustration gnawed at Cassis. In the last timeline, he'd beaten a stronger version of this thing, but back then he hadn't been so limited, and he had fought like a dying man, not caring about his safety, about his comfort.

Maybe if—

"I need to prepare a strong attack," he said through the party channel. "Hold the line."

Bryce didn't hesitate. "Do it."

Cassis dashed to the backline.

"Arianna." Her face was white, eyes sharp with strain. Once she activated her full pattern, she couldn't turn it off, not without collapsing. And he was about to ask more of her.

He lowered his voice. "Give me a Mana Blade."

Understanding flickered in her expression, then doubt. "But the others… I need to keep healing them. They'll die without constant healing."

"Then ask someone to watch for you. We can't beat that with our normal attacks. I need something stronger."

She nodded, calling Tracy over. "Tell me who needs healing and what kind. I'll keep channelling, you call targets."

Tracy, already familiar with Arianna's strange brilliance, nodded instantly. She'd seen what she had done during the fight with the puppet master.

Then Arianna clasped Cassis's hand and reached deep.

Her non-elemental mana poured into him, stripping the fire from his mana. He knew it felt effortless for her. For Cassis, though, it felt like being carved open from the inside.

But he let the non-elemental mana pool inside him. He waited, holding himself still while she converted a large chunk of his fire mana into neutral mana. He had no idea how she could do this so casually when it felt to him like his insides were burning alive, but at least she didn't seem to be experiencing any of the same pain.

Meanwhile, she kept healing the targets Tracey called out. Soon, Cassis had enough non-elemental mana stored to summon his mana blade for quite a while. He rushed toward the dragonling with a whispered thank you and a quick kiss to her cheek.

The warriors had been holding the monster back, but no one had managed to land a fatal blow. Cassis summoned his mana blade, then drove it deep into the creature's neck the moment he was in range. The dragonling thrashed in sudden agony, forcing the blade deeper. Capitalising on the opening, the other warriors pushed forward with renewed fury.

Cassis slashed again and again, bringing his mana blade down into the dragonling as it tried to throw him off with its tail and spiked, but he and the other warriors held.

Arianna's water lances exploded into the thing's open maw, steam hissing as molten blood splattered. It roared and lurched toward another warrior, only for Cassis to wedge himself further along its neck, carving deeper with brutal determination. More lava spilled, but no one relented.

He jumped down from its neck, then forced every drop of non-elemental mana into his blade again and stabbed into its flank, over and over. Bryce, having somehow climbed up the beast, stabbed his wind blade straight into one of its eyes; Gerald climbed atop the monster, too, and hacked down with all his strength.

Cassis stabbed again, a last surge of non-elemental mana running through his mana blade. The dragonling's roar turned desperate, then weakened, until finally, the System chimed:

[Dragonling (E-rank) slain. EXP gained.] [Congratulations! You have killed the Hoarder. Take one of its scales to leave the dungeon. The dungeon timer has been reset.]

Cassis looked toward Arianna. She stared at the message in disbelief, then suddenly laughed.

"We did it!"

The others snapped out of their stunned silence.

"We did! Good job, team," Bryce said, then sank down, exhausted. "Let's take a break here."

Everyone nodded. No one had the strength to drag themselves away from the dragonling's corpse yet.

Arianna exhaled, and then her spell pattern cut off abruptly. She collapsed. Cassis darted forward, catching her before she hit the stone floor. He lifted her upper body gently, and she gave him a weak, strained smile.

"I'm… so tired. I need to rest."

He nodded. He felt bone-deep exhaustion, too, but he would stay awake. He would guard her while she slept. Thanks to her, no one had died.

"Sleep. I'll be here when you wake," he promised.

Arianna's smile softened, and she let herself fall into unconsciousness.

The others panicked for a moment, but Cassis calmed them.

"It's just mana depletion. She pushed past her limit, healing us all."

They settled again, awe in their eyes at her capability.

Cassis sighed. She had even healed Bryce, when it would've been so easy not to. But then he remembered: Bryce had thrown himself between Faith and danger. If they could reach and recruit Faith, maybe Bryce would follow. Maybe Cassis could change the future without killing the man.

He shook his head in wonder at his own thoughts. Arianna was rubbing off on him.

He cradled her in his arms and sat down against the cavern wall, pulling her gently into his lap. He would make sure she rested comfortably. She deserved that much.

And soon, in the treasure room, he would likely find it, the miracle that had started everything.

The Wishing Lamp.

He needed Arianna to decide what she truly wanted… because with that relic, he could probably send her home.

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