The rest of the night passed with laughs, food, and music. Even without Bel, the party still had fun, though it wasn’t quite the sa.
So joked louder than usual, and others drank a bit more. But deep down, everyone felt slightly annoyed.
By dawn, the group stood together in front of the very first dungeon of the day. The air was cold, but the mood? Fired up.
The first dungeon stood ahead. The group gathered, eyes sharp and hearts racing. Today was the first of a big race, ten dungeons. A crazy idea, but sohow, it felt possible.
Maybe, just maybe, if they gave it their all, fought like a true team, then Bel would finally look their way and see them as more than just side characters in his story.
Lyraen grinned, already bouncing around Bel like a cheerful squirrel.
"Bel~ Did you sleep well? Are you gonna carry us like a prince today? Or should I warm you up first?"
Bel didn’t respond. He barely looked at her.
Sienna suddenly popped up on Lyraen’s other side, hands behind her head and a crooked grin on her lips.
"Clingy much? What if he prefers girls who don’t throw themselves at him like a puppy?"
Lyraen laughed, tossing her hair.
"Oho? Soone’s getting territorial. Don’t tell you’ve decided to annoy the icy prince too, Sienna."
"Please," Sienna said, snorting. "I just don’t want him getting the wrong idea. Not all girls are like you."
Then she glanced at Dusteria and smirked.
"Right, Dusty? You’ve been extra quiet over there. Maybe he’s your type after all?"
Dusteria, who had been very intentionally pretending to be invisible, jumped.
"Wh-what?! No way! Where does that co from?! I’m just... I don’t care what he does. He’s... whatever. Leave out of your gas."
Lyraen raised a brow.
"Then why are you turning red like a tomato?"
"I’m not! It’s just cold! And annoying! You’re all annoying!"
But before their teasing could go further, Bel turned and walked away, heading straight for the dungeon entrance.
He didn’t say a word.
The three girls fell quiet, watching him.
"Oof," Lyraen mumbled. "He’s in serious mode."
"Maybe we pushed too hard," Sienna murmured.
"Hmph... whatever," Dusteria muttered, crossing her arms and looking the other way.
Bel stopped at the edge of the dungeon and looked back, eyes sharp.
"I’ve decided on the nu. We’re clearing all ten dungeons today," he said flatly. "Six Category E and four D. That’s doable. No breaks this ti."
The group stared at him.
"You serious?!" soone blurted.
"That’s insane," another whispered.
But Ronan stepped forward, eyes lighting up.
"Insane... or legendary. Let’s do it. I’m not backing down."
Cassandra smiled slowly, already counting numbers in her head.
"The profit we could make if we did this regularly..."
Arkel, less shiny than his peers, just shrugged.
"Whatever. Since you’re the leader in front of the leaders, apparently."
"Alright, team!" Ronan shouted. "You heard him. Ten dungeons. Let’s show the guild what we’re made of!"
The party cheered, excitent spreading like fire.
Everyone but Dusteria.
She sighed softly, scratching her arm, eyes flicking toward the ground.
From a distance, Crest stood still. His eyes trembled as he watched her.
The morning raids felt like a blur.
They entered the first dungeon together, weapons drawn, formation tight. But before anyone could even show off, the boss crumbled.
Literally.
One flick of Bel’s hand, one burst of abyssal fire, and the monster was reduced to a corpse.
By the second dungeon, the party barely had ti to position themselves. Bel moved like lightning, fast and brutal, tearing through monsters like they were made of paper.
The third? Sa story. Enter. Boom. Exit.
At this point, the others weren’t even fighting. They were watching.
So stared in awe, others in quiet fear.
Bel wasn’t holding back. He wasn’t training. He was on a mission.
The bosses literally vanished. Each death ca with a single, overwhelming attack. Firestorms, ice storms...
One attack, clean death.
By the fourth dungeon, it was noon.
And the party? They suffered the consequences of travelling so much across the region in such little ti.
Sweating. Breathing heavy. So sitting on the ground, so leaning against rocks.
"We can’t keep up," soone finally admitted.
Bel didn’t argue. He just nodded.
"Then don’t. I’ll handle the rest alone."
The group protested imdiately.
"That’s against the guild rules!" "We need at least four adventurers inside!" "You’ll get flagged!"
Bel exhaled.
"Then split up. Wait near each dungeon entrance on the list. If soone from the guild shows up, act injured. Or go in for five minutes and pretend you’re doing your part."
No one could believe what he was saying.
But they obeyed, and then Bel vanished.
Two more dungeons fell in record ti.
Bel moved like a ghost, leaping over terrain, crossing entire kiloters in minutes. His stamina burned, but he didn’t care. He even resulted in combining his draconic form with Burning Soul to move faster, crossing the lands like a teor.
Enter. Clear. Exit. Move on.
But by mid-afternoon, reality was setting in.
Seven dungeons cleared. Three more to go. The sun was still up... but not for long.
Inside one of the dungeons, Bel stood over a pile of monsters, frost still clinging to his arms.
He opened his status.
[Level 46]
Only one level, after all of this?
The experience bar barely moved. Even the boss cores felt weaker. Less rewarding. Like the world was dragging him down.
The higher he climbed, the slower it went.
But Bel didn’t care.
Leveling was nice, but today wasn’t about leveling.
It wasn’t about rewards either.
It was about a single thing: empty the schedule, so he could have more free ti the following day for sothing important.
During the afternoon, near the entrance of one of the dungeons, Dusteria was sitting on a rock, poking the dirt with a stick, her legs stretched out lazily.
She looked like she didn’t care about anything. But her eyes were far off, lost in thoughts.
Sienna flopped beside her, kicked her boots off, and stretched her arms.
"You keep spacing out. Just say sorry already."
Dusteria blinked.
"Huh? Sorry for what?"
"Oh, I don’t know," Sienna said with a smirk. "For having treated him badly when he was your knight. For treating him like he’s dirt. For being a little pest..."
Dusteria’s face turned red instantly. She turned away, crossing her arms with a loud huff.
"Are you really my friend?! I... I’m not the one in the wrong here; I don’t have to apologize. And even if I was, why should I apologize? I’m fine with the way things are!"
"Sure you are," Sienna said with a laugh, rolling her eyes.
Then, a quiet voice cut through the mont.
"So now you’re into him?"
They both turned. Crest was standing there, arms crossed.
Dusteria flinched, standing up quickly.
"C-Crest? What’s that supposed to an?"
Crest tilted his head, still calm, but sothing in his eyes was colder.
"I’m just asking. You’ve been acting strange around Bel lately."
Sienna raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word. She knew better than to jump in now, and she had the best spot anyway.
Dusteria looked away.
"You’re imagining things. I’m not into anyone... and certainly not him."
"Right," Crest said flatly. "Because you’ve always looked this nervous around people you don’t care about."
Her lips tightened.
"Why do you even care? You didn’t want around, rember? So why are you bothered by what I do?"
Crest didn’t flinch.
"I didn’t want you stuck with soone like because it’s better for you. That hasn’t changed. But seeing you hover around him like this..." He paused, eyes narrowing. "It’s pathetic."
Dusteria’s breath caught. She took a half-step back, eyes wide with shock, as if Crest had just slapped her.
Her voice trembled.
"That’s... not fair."
Her voice dropped to a murmur, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.
"Why are you doing this... why are you trying to get rid of again... it’s not fair."
Crest’s gaze softened.
"It’s for your own good. You’re my friend; I only want the best for you. You should leave with your father."
Dusteria’s lips quivered. Her fists clenched at her sides.
"Stop it... just stop!" she snapped, her voice cracking, rising in pitch.
"You don’t get to say that! You don’t get to act like you’re doing a favor while kicking down!"
Her voice was louder than she intended. Heads turned from nearby; everyone paused mid-conversation.
Her hands trembled. Her whole body was tight, her eyes glistening.
"I know what I am! I know I’m just the daughter of the lowest noble house in the kingdom! I know I’m not good enough for anyone. I’ve heard it my whole life! But you..."
Her breath hitched. She raised a shaking hand and pointed at him.
"You keep pretending you’re doing this to protect , but you’re the one who hurts the most... You don’t want to protect , Crest. You want gone. You only want to get rid of the deadweight!"
Crest looked like he’d been slapped. His mouth parted, but nothing ca out. She stepped back once, like the words had physically hurt her.
"You act like I’m just so weak little pest clinging to you, and maybe I was. But when I try to move on, to find sothing else... you suddenly care?!"
Her voice cracked.
"You don’t want , but you don’t want anyone else to have either. That’s not protection, Crest. That’s cruelty."
The silence that followed was thick. Even those who didn’t hear everything could feel the tension.
Sienna stood slowly, her mouth parted, eyes wide.
Dusteria’s voice dropped to a whisper, her lips trembling.
"Why are you doing this to ... after everything... I thought I was important at least for you..."
Crest tried to speak, to reach for sothing that might soften the blow.
"You... You were... I an, you are, of course! You took it the wrong..."
"SHUT UP!!"
The scream ripped from her throat. Her whole body trembled now, her breath coming in shallow bursts.
"You don’t get to decide anything about ! Not anymore! Not after everything!"
She turned and ran, her boots crunching against the ground as she fled toward the trees. Sienna blinked hard. She started pursuing her, then flinched and spun toward Crest.
"Wow," she snapped. "Just... wow. That was low. Even for you."
She turned on her heel and chased after Dusteria, shouting her na.
Crest stood there, completely frozen. His chest rose and fell, but his face was pale.
Around him, the rest of the party watched in stunned silence, the laughter and chatter from earlier completely gone.
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