Seated on the bare stone, squinting in the eerie glow of the three still-functional Dungeon portals, Rylan went over his Status one last time.

Status

Mana Pool: 13/13

Mana Shell: 5/5

Attributes

Strength 2

Dexterity 3

Endurance 2

Mind 3

Perception 3

Presence -1

Skills

Knife-Throwing, Rank 3

Jumping, Rank 2

Quint Structures

Mana Core, Tier I

Mana Pool, Tier I

Mana Shell, Tier V

Quintessence Credits: 58

After succeeding in getting the Rotation Control Augmentation for his Knife-Throwing Skill, Rylan had shifted his focus to Jumping—much to Arphin's dismay. Despite the spiritgear's protestations, however, Rylan had persevered and finished the Overcharge Augmentation for his second Skill.

The two Rank-Ups had netted him 100 Quintessence each like before, which he'd dutifully spent to raise his Mana Shell to Tier 5.

Guess I'm as ready as I'm going to be anytime soon...

With a healthy amount of trepidation, Rylan glanced over at the golden portal that Soren had just entered, its surface now frozen and impassable. He still tried not to show his nerves, as Tamina was sitting next to him, her right arm casually propped up onto her knee.

Despite some not-so-subtle prodding from Soren, she had yet to show any interest in entering the Challenge Dungeon, seeming to confirm their theory that she wasn't allowed to enter it without permission.

Because Rylan didn't believe for a second that she was worried about getting hurt in there.

"Relax, Ry," Tamina said, actually causing him to tense up more, before he deliberately loosened up his shoulders. "Soren is going to be fine, and so are you. You'd have to be an extraordinarily stubborn, gullbrained foghead to die in a Challenge Dungeon."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better about Soren's chances of survival?"

Tamina cracked a smirk, leaning sideways to bump her shoulder into his. "You're right, what was I thinking? He's dead for sure. His corpse ought to come out of that portal any second now."

Rylan laughed a little too hard at that. "Wait," he started after bringing his laughter under control. "Is that how it works? I thought you said people disappeared inside Dungeons if they died..."

She shook her head. "That's only true for Champion's Dungeons, and then only sometimes. I guess the difference would be... well."

"That there's a hungry Malequint inside," Rylan finished, suppressing a shudder at the implications. "To be honest, I'm more worried about losing Arphin inside the Challenge Dungeon than about getting hurt."

[Aww Boss, that's so sweet! But you know I'm not going anywhere, right?]

'I know, Arphin,' Rylan replied mentally. 'I just worry.'

At the same time, Tamina shrugged. "I don't think that should be too big a concern. As far as I know, anything that hits those shimmering walls inside a Dungeon is simply spat out by the portal."

"What if I throw Arphin into one of those puppet soldiers but then get knocked out myself, though?" Rylan asked. "If he doesn't hit the walls of the Dungeon... wouldn't he get stuck?"

This time, Arphin didn't reply, a shock of fear spilling through the node that caused Rylan's gut to clench.

Tamina frowned, lifting her metallic left hand to scratch at the base of her braid. "You know, I'm not sure what would happen in that case. But that's why you've done so much testing and practising with Recall, right? Just make sure he Recalls in time if you fall."

Rylan pursed his lips. It was true that they had practised a lot. After making sure that Arphin could Recall mid-flight with Knife-Throwing active, Rylan had even started using the spiritgear to hunt.

And frankly, after even a little time working with Arphin, other blades couldn't compare. Because it was truly working with Arphin.

The feedback Rylan received through their connection was a complete game-changer. The sense of acceleration and rotation during the throw told him exactly how fast Arphin would leave his hand. What's more, Arphin would lock onto Rylan's intended target with needlepoint focus, making it easy to determine the exact moment he should release the blade.

Add to that the fact that Arphin was entirely unaffected by gravity, and Rylan felt like he was perpetually in the zone when throwing the spiritgear—like he couldn't miss. If only the mana expense of using Recall wasn't so steep, he'd probably never use another blade in his life.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Still, he was willing to give all of that up for the Challenge Dungeon, if need be.

Rylan let out a sigh, pulling the spiritgear out of his sheath and lifting the blade in front of his face. The gleaming yellow metal reflected the concern in his light purple eyes. "Arphin... you know I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to sit this one out, right?"

The blade vibrated harshly in his hand. [Not a chance, Boss! I go where you go. Miss Tamina is right; if something like that happens, I can simply Recall. Fog, I would Recall to you from inside the Dungeon if I had to!]

Rylan's brows rose, followed by the corners of his lips. 'I'm not sure that's possible, buddy,' he sent back silently. 'But I still appreciate the sentiment.'

"You know it's rude to whisper in company, right?" Tamina drawled, clearly studying his expressions.

"Good thing we're not whispering, then," Rylan replied, sticking out his tongue at her.

She narrowed her eyes, gaze flicking down towards the offending appendage as she leaned a little closer. "You know," she said in a husky tone of voice, the corners of her mouth quirking up into the barest hint of a smirk. "You should be careful with presenting such delicate parts of your body around me. I've been known to bite."

Rylan felt heat rise to his cheeks as he swiftly withdrew his tongue, continuing to stare at Tamima's quirked lips and gleaming eyes, neither of them blinking.

[Ehm, I don't mean to alarm you, Boss, but she looks rather hungry,] Arphin spoke worriedly. [You might want to present her with some food before she tries to eat you or something!]

'I... what?'

Right then, the solid golden surface of the Challenge Dungeon rippled. Rylan drew back as if burned, right before an absolutely fabulous glowing boot stepped out, swiftly followed by the rest of Soren.

The young noble struck a dramatic pose. "I return... triumphant!"

Rylan blinked, his eyes drifting up to Soren's unkempt hair, then down to his dishevelled clothing, the crimson cloth covered in various tears and suspicious wet patches.

"Triumphant?" Tamina echoed dryly as she got to her feet. "You look like you got mauled by a pack of armadons."

"Or like Dreadmaw used you as a chew toy," Rylan tacked on as he clambered up as well, simultaneously shocked and relieved at his friend's appearance.

"Eh, I'm fine," Soren replied, waving his hand dismissively as he started to walk over. "Nothing Ethereon can't fix in the hour of accelerated recovery I've already requested and paid for."

While Soren's voice was assured, Rylan couldn't help but notice a slight limp in his friend's gait. All in all, the young noble's bedraggled appearance didn't make him feel better about entering the Challenge Dungeon.

"The important thing," Soren said, raising his chin as he stopped in front of them. "Is that I succeeded!"

Tamina folded her arms across her chest. "Oh yeah? What'd you get, then?"

"I got a Perception Enhancer, which I already took," Soren replied with a shrug.

That makes it the fifth Enhancer he's taken!

Tamina narrowed her eyes, cocking her head sideways. "How convenient. The Soren I know would've brought it out to rub it in our faces before taking it. You know there's no shame in failing a Challenge Dungeon, right? Many Quinthar fail their first try..."

"He did come walking out, not flying," Rylan offered, trying not to be bothered by her statement about the odds of failure. "That suggests he exited through a portal rather than falling through the bottom of the Dungeon, right?"

"He could've used those boots of his to slow himself down, though..."

"Believe what you will," Soren said with a huff, looking miffed that his glorious return had lost some of its lustre. "Either way, I cannot enter the Dungeon a second time, which means it's your turn, Ryles. Are you ready?"

Rylan glanced down at Arphin.

[Ready when you are, Boss!]

Taking a deep breath, Rylan lifted his head again, and nodded. "Wish me luck."

Tamina shook her head. "You don't need luck, Ry. You have everything you need to forge your own success. Get in there and kick that Dungeon's butt."

It was a very Tammi thing to say, but Rylan didn't get long to bask in her crooked smile, as Soren scrunched up his face in a mockery of sadness, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "My little boy... all grown up!"

Shaking his head, Rylan turned around and strode towards the golden portal, making a rude gesture over his shoulder as he stepped through.

The glittering, softly glowing, blue platforms of the Challenge Dungeon hung suspended in a bubble of shimmering gold. The colour scheme wasn't the only difference compared to the Equipment Dungeon, however.

First of all, the bubble containing the platforms was much larger. More importantly, there were only two stone platforms: the hexagonal start platform Rylan had appeared on, and the distant exit platform that featured an oval-shaped ring holding a shimmering golden portal.

Rylan waited patiently. After a few seconds, all of a sudden, the empty space in between the entrance and exit started to shimmer, and more platforms began coming into existence.

After a moment, it became clear the appearing platforms could be separated into two categories. In front of the large platform he was on, a cloud of roughly door-sized hexagonal platforms suspended at various heights was slowly forming. To his right, on the other hand, a series of long platforms connected by narrow bridges was coming into being, seeming to form a long, sinuous path towards the exit.

Only two paths for me to pick from then, no third...

Rylan didn't see any of the puppet soldiers that would attempt to bar his way either. Not yet, anyway.

《Welcome to Challenge Dungeon AW3,》Ethereon suddenly spoke.《Your goal is to overcome all opposition and reach the other side, by any means. Opposing forces will activate upon departure from the first platform, and reward selection will occur only when the final platform is reached within one hour from that time.》

The moment Ethereon said 'one hour,' a patch of air high above the platforms started to shimmer, and a massive hourglass appeared, with a pool of blue sand lying at the bottom. Rylan nodded, mostly to himself; so far, everything matched what his friends had told him.

He'd made sure to ask them about what to expect in detail this time, so that he would recognise if anything deviated from the normal course of events.

《Be warned:》Ethereon continued its script,《participating in this Challenge may result in injury, or even death. The challenge may be given up at any time by calling out 'I forfeit.' Forfeiting or falling off will cause the challenger to be ejected, failing the attempt at the challenge. Good luck.》

As soon as Ethereon stopped speaking, the air started to shimmer once more, as odd, blocky constructs started to appear, seemingly made of the same glittery blue stone as the platforms.

The first to fully form was a roughly humanoid puppet, about Rylan's size, that appeared to be guarding the first bridge on the sinuous path. It had blocky limbs, a triangular head with carved, expressionless features, and wielded a kite-shaped shield and a cudgel.

[Is that it?] Arphin commented. [Pssh. We could take that poser in our sleep, right Boss?]

Then the puppet guarding the next bridge finished shimmering into existence, proving to be a bit bigger. And that pattern held for the one after that, and the one after that, all the way up to the sixth bridge, where a true colossus stood, guarding the bridge with his log-sized cudgel.

[Well... the bigger they are the harder they fall, right Boss?]

Swallowing, Rylan turned to what he mentally dubbed the 'cloud path' in front of him, but didn't immediately spot any foes.

[Up there, Boss!] Arphin said, directing Rylan's attention to a spot up and slightly to the left.

Arphin had gotten a lot better at judging in what direction Rylan was looking, which definitely had its benefits.

Craning his neck back, Rylan finally spotted a puppet standing high up on a platform, seemingly looking down at him. It was a lot slimmer and sleeker than its burlier siblings, with smooth, rounded arms that ended in hollow pipes rather than hands.

Moreover, its arms had what looked like the limbs of a crossbow sticking out at the wrists, the attached bowstrings disappearing into slits on either side of its arms, ending near gears attached to its elbows.

What mostly drew his attention, however, were the puppet's odd legs, with knees that went the opposite way of a human's. Actually, they kind of reminded him of the legs of hoppers, the little jumping bugs he'd used to catch with Soren and Zahra, to use as frog bait.

Of course. It's a jumper. Looks like it's going to hop around firing crossbow bolts at me out of its arms if I take that path.

Now that he knew what he was looking for, he quickly spotted two more of the athletic-looking puppets roughly in the middle of the cloud, and finally a further three beyond even that.

In fact, as Rylan studied their positions, he realised the path didn't consist of one continuous cloud as he'd first thought after all. Rather, the cloud was divided into three sections, with two larger platforms in between, probably meant to serve as demarcations as well as resting points.

So that's why the puppets are arranged like that—they're all confined to a section of the path!

That meant the difficulty would scale as he continued on this path as well, as the first section contained only a single puppet, the second contained two, and the third contained three. But at least they couldn't gang up on him with all six.

"All right," Rylan said out loud, not bothering to send messages through the spiritual node connecting him to Arphin. "So we've got one path with six guarded bridges, and one with three clouds of platforms that we'd need to cross. I guess we just have to pick a..."

He trailed off when, seemingly as a final touch, a large portion of the hexagonal platforms in the cloud path started to move, while at the same time, the long sinuous path of the bridge path started to slowly undulate.

[Oh wow... This is going to be tough, huh Boss?]

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