Nova took a deep breath as he stepped forward through the blue membrane and into the muted darkness of the second floor. The most immediate change was the complete absence of sound. His footsteps made no noise against the stone, and even the rustling of his clothes was entirely silent. The effect was disorienting, like the world had been wrapped in cotton.

He glanced back at Anny, who pointed to her ears and shrugged. She was experiencing the same thing.

'This effect is interesting. I wonder if there's a formation behind it… It would have to be extremely complex.'

The corridor ahead branched into three separate paths. Each one looked identical—narrow passages cut from the same gray stone, illuminated by the same blue crystal formations embedded in the walls. Without discussing it, they both knew they needed to split up to find the keys faster.

Anny pointed to the left passage, then to herself. Nova nodded and gestured toward the right path.

They separated, each heading down their chosen corridor.

Nova moved quickly, adjusting to the strange silence. The complete absence of sound made it difficult to detect approaching enemies, but he wasn't concerned. Nothing on this level posed any threat to him.

'The muted sound would be a nightmare for normal adventurers. No warning from footsteps and no communication to coordinate attacks. This would be a true test of teamwork and preparation.'

The corridor curved gently to the right, opening into a small chamber with four exits. In the center stood a strange figure—a humanoid shape constructed entirely of rough stone blocks. Its proportions were awkward, with arms too long for its squat torso. It stood motionless, almost like a poorly made statue.

'Ahh, golems! Lovely creatures, made with magic and care. Maybe I should make a few in Collport to protect the academy… They would be far stronger than these, of course.'

As Nova entered, the stone creature jerked to life. It turned toward him with a grinding motion he could see but not hear. The rock golem charged toward him, only strong enough to carry its own weight.

Nova simply flicked his wrist, sending a concentrated blast of essence that shattered the golem into dozens of fragments. The pieces scattered across the chamber floor, bouncing silently against the stone.

To his surprise, the rubble began to vibrate, then slowly reassemble. Within moments, the golem had reformed. It turned into a much more detailed humanoid due to the smaller rocks, and it focused once again on attacking him.

'Regeneration. That's to be expected, I guess. There should be a formation in here somewhere, then.'

He glanced around the chamber and quickly spotted a small formation etched into the floor in the corner. The runes glowed faintly blue, pulsing in rhythm with the golem's movements. He walked past the charging golem, casually sidestepping its attack, and stomped on the formation. The floor cracked under the force, and the runes shattered.

The golem froze mid-step. Then it started trembling for a moment before collapsing into rubble.

'This would be too easy even for normal adventurers. This one was probably set here to teach the divers about the enemies on the level. A surprisingly kind design.'

Nova strode through the remaining chambers, barely slowing as he encountered more golems. He smashed them with casual backhands or kicks, immediately destroying their anchor formations afterward.

After another dozen or so chambers of increasingly challenging fights, he entered a larger chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling. In the center stood a golden statue fixed to the floor. It depicted a young man in an unusual pose.

The statue was sitting on its knees, with its right arm on its heart and the other held firmly behind its back. Its head arched upwards, and its eyes were closed. The craftsmanship was remarkable, with details so precise it almost looked like a real person frozen in gold.

Nova examined the statue quickly. He tried to lift it, but the statue remained firmly attached to the floor. Whatever it was made of, it was far stronger than steel.

'This must be one of the keys mentioned in the objective. But how do I 'combine' it with the other one if it can't be moved?'

He memorized the pose, assuming the solution would become clear once they found both statues. But as he turned to leave the chamber, a group of golems was blocking the doorway. More were approaching from the corridor beyond.

'Trying to slow me down? Well, good luck.'

Without breaking his stride, he charged through the group, enhancing his body with essence. Stone limbs shattered against his body, exploding outward in all directions. He destroyed each anchor formation as he passed, leaving piles of inert rubble in his wake.

Meanwhile, Anny was making similarly rapid progress down her path. The rock golems might as well have been made of wet paper for all the challenge they posed. She swatted them aside with casual swings of her arm, not bothering with using any skills.

After destroying the first one and watching it reform, she quickly spotted the pattern and began hunting the hidden formations that anchored each construct. Unlike Nova's surgical approach, she simply smashed through floors and walls to destroy the anchor points, leaving a trail of destruction that marked her path clearly through the dungeon.

She moved through corridor after corridor, chamber after chamber, demolishing golems and searching for one of the keys. To avoid getting lost in the identical passages, she scratched large arrows on the walls at intersections, marking her territory like a predator.

Eventually, she too reached a circular room, with multiple pillars stretching from floor to ceiling. Between two of these pillars stood a golden statue of a young woman.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The statue was bowing forward, with its arms cupped in front of its face. The hands seemed to be holding something like a large invisible egg, bringing it up to its lips.

'Statue… Key? But how do I bring that together with something? Will Nova find an egg to place in her hands?'

She approached the statue and tried to rip it free, gripping it and pulling with enough force to tear steel. The gold showed no marks despite her enormous strength. She circled it several times, analyzing its purpose.

'Not that simple. Is the pose the key, perhaps? Either way, I should get back to Nova.'

Nova had just pulverized another wave of golems when Anny appeared from a connecting corridor. He relaxed his stance immediately, nodding in greeting.

'Did she find a key? How do I ask?'

Anny pointed down the passage she had come from, then made a gesture with her hands that suggested a statue. Nova nodded and mimicked her gesture, then pointed back the way he had come. They both had found statues.

Communicating without sound proved more challenging than fighting. Nova tried to describe the pose of his statue through gestures, kneeling on the ground to match its position. Anny watched with confusion, then shook her head. She demonstrated her own statue's pose, which looked completely different.

Nova frowned. 'Two statues… It has to be the pose that is the key, then. But how do we bring them together? And where?'

He pointed to Anny, then to himself, then made a gesture of bringing two things together. Anny nodded and pointed to a larger passage leading deeper into the dungeon.

'I'm not sure she understood me, but I guess we'll have to go there either way.'

They moved through the corridor together, crushing golems that appeared in their path. Soon, they reached a massive set of double doors at the end of a wide hallway.

The doors were ornately carved, with stone flowers and white silk bands running down their sides. In the center of the two doors was a lock that seemed to be turnable, currently in the wrong position. In front of the doors was a heightened podium of marble, one step higher than the ground around it.

'Okay… Do we do the poses on the platform?'

He stepped on top of the platform, standing to the side to make room for Anny, and then he knelt in front of the door, assuming the right pose. He glanced to the side, but Anny only looked at him with widened eyes instead of assuming her pose.

He pointed to his side, shooting her a questioning look.

That made her move, but she still seemed unsure about it. Nova watched her get into her pose before returning to his own, craning his neck and closing his eyes. Then he waited for a good while before opening them again.

Nothing happened.

He frowned, adjusting his stance slightly—still nothing. Anny seemed to be doing it correctly as well, as far as he could tell.

'Okay, this is harder than I thought. Do we need to be touching? Since we need to bring them together?'

He looked over at Anny again. She was blushing, biting her lips together.

'...She knows something? What's with that look?'

Noticing his glare, Anny smiled lightly, but she still looked ill at ease. Then she clapped her cheeks lightly and took a deep breath.

Her hands grabbed Nova's shoulders and turned him toward her, still sitting on his knees. Then she tilted his head up and gestured for him to close his eyes again.

'...Okay. I'm sure she has an idea.'

His eyes closed. Then he felt her hands grabbing hold of his head. Only then did he understand.

A soft peck touched his lips. It was very brief, very scared of the consequences—but also very honest.

Immediately after, the ground began to shake beneath him. The keys had been united.

As he opened his eyes, Anny had already turned away from him and stared at the door. It was opening. It was open.

'...Hmm…'

A spark of some kind charged through his body. It was like a sensation he had never felt before, both alien and familiar at once—and impossible to ignore.

As he knelt there, Anny charged through the doors without looking back.

Some kind of large mass of rocks moved around for a while in the large room. Then another rumbling shook the floor, much heavier than the previous one. The rocks were no longer moving.

A blue message appeared in front of Nova's eyes, which were still staring at the dark ceiling.

[Congratulations! You've completed Floor 2!]

[The reward will be evenly split between both party members upon exiting the dungeon.]

[Do you wish to continue to the next floor?]

'...Hmm…'

Deep inside the dungeon, Millie sat huddled in the small corridor just before the floor's entrance. Her small form was pressed against the cool stone wall, knees drawn tight to her chest.

Nearly an hour had passed since she'd been ripped away from Nova and Anny, yet her quiet sobs still hadn't fully subsided. Tear tracks marked her cheeks, glistening in the eerie blue light of the dungeon crystals.

But despite her feelings of loneliness, she wasn't alone. She never was.

"Millie, you should go out and explore!" Kovu's voice echoed inside her mind, attempting to convince her.

"Are you stupid, Kovu?! I couldn't even beat level one on my own!" Millie shouted into the empty chamber, feeling her throat struggle to cooperate.

"Millie is right, Kovu." Paula's calmer tone contrasted sharply with Kovu's impulsiveness. "This level will be much more dangerous. It's better to wait here for Nova."

"Bleh, Nova can't do everything for us." Kovu's dismissal was almost visible in her mind. "If we want to prove that we can protect the others, we need to be brave!"

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't told me to sneak after them!" Millie pressed her palms against her eyes, feeling fresh tears welling up. "Nova was really angry!"

"He was angry because he wants to protect you." Kovu's voice gained that stubborn edge she knew too well. "Why does he get to decide who protects who?"

"Because Nova is smartest." Paula countered calmly, as she so often did once Kovu started arguing. "Nova is always the smartest. And strongest."

"Anny beat him." Kovu snapped back. "The one who took Millie's place."

"Shut up, Kovu! You always twist things!" Millie's voice echoed in the empty chamber.

"I'm right!" His voice grew more insistent. "Are you just going to sit here and do nothing while you wait for him to rescue you?!"

"Yes!" Millie hugged her knees tighter against her chest. "I'm scared! I can feel it! This place is death!"

"Anny gave you her rings so you could stay still and wait." Paula's voice was gentle but firm. "So that's what you should do."

"Hmph, if I was still alive…" Kovu's words trailed off deliberately.

Millie winced. That was the card he always played. The one that let him win any argument. If it wasn't for her, both Kovu and Paula would still be alive. They would be playing with the other children in the academy.

Maybe it would even happen earlier since Nova wouldn't have to go to the holy city because of her. Maybe she was just a hindrance to them.

Maybe it would be better if…

She looked up at the blue text floating in front of her, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

[Floor 10 - Special Effect: All traits are disabled.]

[Objective: Defeat the Dungeon King]

[Party Size: 1]

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