Ding!

[Congratulations! You have slain: Mirror Wraith (x69)]

The message hung in the air for a few seconds, glowing a faint, triumphant gold.

Wade exhaled slowly, his hand tightening around Toothpick before he dismissed the notification with a flick of his wrist.

The garden was quiet now, eerily so. Smoke still curled upwards from the scorched remains of what had once been crystal trees and the mirror fountain.

The air shimmered faintly with heat, and tiny fragments of reflective glass drifted down like ash, catching the light as they fell.

Rowan was the first to approach, his boots crunching on the glass-covered ground.

His tunic was torn near the sleeves, and faint scorch marks lined his staff, but his grin was wide and genuine.

"I saw your moves," he said, whistling low. "You sure you didn't level the entire ring of monsters by yourself?"

Wade smirked faintly, wiping a streak of soot from his cheek. "You could say they pissed me off."

Rowan chuckled, then jabbed his staff lightly in Wade's direction. "That last skill you used, what was that? That explosion from the air? I've never seen fire magic like that before."

"Fireburst," Wade said simply, resting Toothpick on his shoulder.

Rowan's eyes widened. "That was Fireburst? You're kidding. I've heard of it before!"

"Not kidding," Wade replied, shaking his head. "It's a mid-grade spell, simple in structure, but powerful if you channel enough mana into it."

"Burns hot and spreads fast. Though," he added with a half-smile, "you probably shouldn't try it in close quarters. Unless you're fine with singeing your eyebrows off."

Rowan laughed, shaking his head. "And here I thought I was doing well with Wind Surge. Maybe I'll have to add that to my arsenal before the horde hits."

"Still," he gave Wade an approving nod, "that was good. Real good. With that kind of firepower, I guess we shall see each other on the other side."

Before Wade could reply, Sebastian's voice carried across the smoking clearing.

"Rowan! Wade!"

They both turned.

The party leader was standing near the center of the ruined garden, axe in hand, his expression serious as always.

Ingrid was beside him, crouched low as she sifted through the remains of the shattered wraiths.

She was quiet and moved methodically, her eyes scanning the debris for anything valuable.

"Loot's been gathered," Sebastian said as Wade and Rowan walked over. "Mostly stat stones, a few coins, and some skill stones. Nothing special."

Once they were all gathered around him, Sebastian raised his voice.

"Listen up," he said. "We might have just conquered the second ring, due to Wade's deductive reasoning, but don't get comfortable. The third will drop soon."

Instantly, the atmosphere shifted.

The team straightened. Even Rowan's humor faded. The third ring, the last and hardest of the three within a single-layer dungeon, was always the most dangerous. It meant the dungeon was about to show its hand.

Sebastian glanced towards the melted remains of the fountain. "You all know what that means. The next wave won't come from one direction. They'll be everywhere. Expect ambushes."

Wade nodded, adjusting his gauntlets. "Got it."

Ingrid checked her bowstring, tightening it. "How long?"

Sebastian tilted his head, glancing upwards as if checking an invisible timer only he could probably see. "Five minutes, maybe less."

Rowan grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Great. Just enough time for my legs to stop feeling like jelly."

Wade cracked a faint smile. "Then you'd better hope they start feeling like steel in about four minutes."

And so, they made preparations.

Soon, it was time.

Sebastian hefted his axe. "Form up," he ordered. "Same formation as before. Ingrid, take high ground if you can find it. Rowan, barriers first, offense second."

"Wade," his gaze locked on him, "you're our center. Those wings of yours gave you mobility last time. If we get surrounded, you'll be the one breaking us out."

Wade met his stare and nodded once. "Understood."

"Good." Sebastian turned his attention outwards, scanning the fractured garden walls. "Then get ready. The dungeon's about to test us again."

The faint rumble of shifting glass echoed from somewhere far away, a low, crawling sound that reverberated beneath their feet. The shards on the ground trembled.

The garden, already ruined and blackened from Wade's flames, began to hum, that same telltale resonance that always preceded a ring change.

Wade tightened his grip on Toothpick. "Here we go again."

Rowan adjusted his stance, soft light flaring faintly around his staff. "Just another day in paradise."

Ingrid's fingers brushed the fletching of her arrows, eyes scanning the dark corners. "Don't miss your cue this time, Rowan."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he muttered.

And then they fell silent.

The only sound left was the soft wind brushing through the scorched branches, and the faint, rising hum beneath their feet.

They gathered once more, back to back in the center of the broken garden, weapons raised.

The dungeon wasn't done yet.

The third ring was about to begin.

[][][][][]

The sound of shattering glass chased them through the corridor.

Each step echoed around them as the floor behind them gave way, collapsing into the endless abyss below.

The wraiths weren't stopping. They kept splitting, one into two, more climbing out of the abyss for every one struck down.

"Keep moving!" Sebastian roared over the chaos, his axe cleaving a wraith that lunged from the ceiling. "Don't stop!"

"I'm trying!" Rowan shouted back, his voice raw as he extended a hand behind them.

A wave of pressure burst from his palm, flinging a mass of pursuing wraiths backwards. "These things just keep multiplying!"

The corridor groaned. Cracks raced along the walls, spiderwebbing outwards as the entire tunnel seemed to buckle.

Shards of glass fell like rain. Wade ducked under a falling chunk, sparks flying as it shattered beside him.

"Rowan!" Ingrid's voice came from ahead. She loosed an arrow that split in the air, the glowing bolts striking two wraiths at once. "Your right flank!"

"I see it!"

Wade slammed Toothpick into a lunging wraith, the hammer end crushing its torso.

But even before it shattered, another wraith had already separated from it.

"Where have they been fucking coming from?!" Wade yelled.

"If I knew, we still wouldn't be fighting them for the past twenty minutes, would we?" Rowan yelled back.

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