Chapter 15 Uneven Ground
"No."
Kael stood in the middle of the inn's room. Back straight, jaw locked — a posture Ren had never seen from his friend before. Usually Kael was water, flowing to fit whatever shape held him. Tonight, he was a wall.
"Kael—"
"A B-Rank quest, Ren. B-Rank. You're D-Rank — officially and by cover. If you die in that dungeon, your fake identity won't save you. If you don't die but fight too well, everyone's going to ask why a D-Rank Fighter cleared a B-Rank dungeon."
"I've already thought about that."
"When?" Kael's voice rose — not shouting, but sharp like a freshly honed blade. "When did you think about it? Before or after you already paid the guild to 'loosen' the rules? Because from what I'm hearing, you had everything arranged through Griff before you even talked to us."
Silence.
Aela sat in the corner, legs tucked beneath her on the chair, saying nothing.
Kael stepped closer. "You said we're a team. But you'd already decided before you asked." His voice dropped — and that was exactly what made the words land harder. "When did you start becoming like them, Ren? The kind of people who think the weak don't need to be consulted?"
Those words hit harder than any punch Ren had ever taken.
Because Kael wasn't wrong.
Ren opened his mouth — a defensive reflex, ready to explain, to justify, to rationalize. But he stopped. Closed his mouth again. Let the silence do its work.
"He's right," Lyra said quietly. No sarcasm. No lecturing tone. Just fact.
Ren drew a long breath.
"You're right," he said. Two words that felt like swallowing stone, but they needed to be said. "I should've talked to you first. I'm not pulling the plan — we need those rank points, and we're running out of time while Sentinel's still here. But I should have brought it to you both first."
He looked at Kael, then Aela.
"Ashvein Pit. B-Rank dungeon. High risk, possible mana corruption inside. I can't force anyone to come. If you choose not to — I go alone."
Kael stared at him for a long time. Something shifted behind his eyes — not forgiveness, but acknowledgment. That Ren could still listen. That the humanity hadn't been lost.
"I'm in," Kael said. "But don't make me say this again."
Aela rose from her chair. "I've been in since the start. But you two needed that fight." A small smile. "A team that never argues means someone's staying quiet when they shouldn't be."
Ashvein Pit sat on a mountainside three hours from Helgard. The dungeon's mouth wasn't some grand gate like the official dungeons in the capital cities — just a hole in the cliff face, surrounded by rocks stained black as though they'd been scorched from the inside.
The air seeping out felt wrong. Heavy, oily, smelling of sulfur mixed with something sweeter — the smell of mana corruption. Like fruit rotting from the core while its skin still looked perfect.
"This dungeon is sick," Lyra said. Her tone shifted — guarded, tense. "Mana corruption at this level isn't natural. Someone — or something — infected this place."
"Lovely bit of foreshadowing," Ren muttered.
They went in.
Three floors. Ashborn-type monsters — creatures of ash and molten rock that moved like solid shadows. B-Rank, per classification. For a normal D-Rank team, this was suicide.
The first and second floors were manageable. Ren fought within the limits of "Eren Valk" — slow, sloppy, with deliberate openings. Kael healed. Aela used long-range enchantments to weaken the monsters. A system that worked, even though every second of holding back felt like chains wrapped around Ren's hands.
Third floor. Dungeon boss.
Ashborn Sovereign. Twice the size of the others, with a mana corruption core pulsing dark red in its chest. One swing sent Kael crashing into the wall. Another nearly shattered Aela's barrier.
"Ren." Lyra. Something in her voice — panic, barely contained. "You have to use Void. But listen to me — minimum. Absolute minimum. Every use leaves residue, and that residue can—"
"I know."
Ren didn't wait for the full explanation. The Void Core pulsed — one beat, controlled, channeled into his right hand. Not an explosion. Not a wave. Just a thin layer of dark energy wrapping around his fist like a glove made of nothingness.
One punch. Straight into the corruption core.
The Ashborn Sovereign imploded — collapsed like a dying star. The dungeon walls shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
And behind Ren, Aela stood with her hands raised, her Enchanter mana still active from the last barrier she'd put up.
Her mana trembled.
Not because of the dungeon. Not because of the collapsing boss. But because something had just passed through it — an energy she didn't recognize, one that made every strand of mana in her body react like guitar strings plucked by an invisible hand.
Aela lowered her hands slowly. Her eyes moved to Ren — and something changed in them. Not fear. Not suspicion. But the understanding that the man standing in front of her was hiding something far, far bigger than a D-Rank Fighter.
She didn't ask.
Not yet.
"We need to go," Lyra urged. Her panic was no longer subtle. "Now. The Void residue will dissipate in twenty minutes, but if there's a mana sensor within range—"
"We're leaving."
Dungeon cleared. Rank points: significant. Enough to be within striking distance of C-Rank in one or two more quests.
But outside the dungeon's mouth, someone was already waiting.
Juno. Leaning against a rock with a short bow slung over her shoulder, an unreadable expression on her face.
"A D-Rank Fighter who clears a B-Rank dungeon," she said flatly. "Even by Helgard's standards, that's a hard story to sell."
Ren said nothing. Beside him, Kael went rigid. Aela moved her hand near her hip — close to her enchantment components.
Juno raised one hand. "Easy. I'm not Sentinel." She pushed herself off the rock and walked closer. Her eyes were sharp but not hostile. "I don't know who you really are. And I don't want to know."
A beat.
"But if you're looking for a fast track up..." Juno tilted her head slightly, a half-smile that looked more like a dare, "...there's a place beneath the city. They call it The Cage."
The words hung in the cold mountain air.
Ren held Juno's gaze for a full three seconds. Inside his head, Lyra was silent — whether because she had no comment or because she was weighing something she wasn't ready to say.
"Tell me more," Ren said.
Juno smiled — a real one this time.
"Not here. Not now." She turned and started walking down the slope. "Meet me at the Rusty Fang tomorrow night. And come alone."
Ren watched Juno's back disappear down the trail, then turned to look at the mouth of Ashvein Pit behind him — dark, sick, holding too many unanswered questions.
In his pocket, the Eren Valk card felt heavier by the day.
But for the first time, there was a new direction. A path leading downward, into a different kind of darkness.
The Cage.