Finally. Cassis exhaled as Mrs. Walters cut down the last beetle with her short sword. She'd finally hit level 5, the last one in the group to reach it. Relief surged through him, but it lasted only a heartbeat.

The next instant, he heard it: the faint, crawling scittering of more beetles echoing through the tunnel.

Shit.

He'd been too impatient to relocate after the last fight. Now the swarm was closing in because they'd killed too many beetles.

"Everyone, defensive positions in front of the cave!" he barked over the party chat. "Don't let them spill out or surround us!"

Being encircled by hundreds of weak, low-level monsters would be a nightmare, especially with several party members still under level 10.

Josh was the highes one at level 8 now, Irene just behind at 7, Janice at 6, and finally Mrs. Walters at 5. Even Camden had managed to climb to level 16. Not bad progress after four days of endless grinding.

Four exhausting days.

The reason of their fast progression was that they'd been forced to kill chimaera after chimaera. There were far too many of those monsters at this altitude. Normally, they could only be found halfway up the mountain. Something wasn't right. The chimaeras had been strong, restless, and unnaturally drawn toward the lower caverns. Cassis still didn't know why.

And now this damn swarm.

He gritted his teeth. His fault. His impatience. His team would pay for it.

The others moved without hesitation. His mother, Benny, and Camden sprinted towards him at the mouth of the cave. Elena stayed back with Josh and the others, summoning flickering walls of fire to narrow the path and funnel the beetles to the ground and straight toward the front line.

She wouldn't be able to sustain those flames for long, but even brief barriers would keep the monsters from scattering around them.

Joseph stood halfway between the two groups, bow drawn, eyes scanning both the tunnel and their rear. Behind him, those under level 10 held their positions, watching the flanks, ready to call out any danger.

Janice, newly advanced into her Ranger class, gripped her bow with white knuckles. Irene, their second mage, looked pale but steady, her gaze fixed on the glowing eyes emerging from the dark. Cassis wasn't sure whether Mrs Walters had picked her class yet, but they were about to find out.

Then the beetles came.

They poured from the tunnel like a tide of black shells and skittering legs. Small, weak, but endless.

Cassis lunged forward. His sword sliced, his boots crushed, his fists smashed. He moved in a steady, intimately familiar rhythm: stab, parry, kick, slice, barely aware of anything beyond the crunch beneath his blade.

All around him, the others fought just as fiercely. But he couldn't spare a glance. The sheer number of enemies demanded every second of focus.

Elena's fire walls blazed at the edge of his vision, her magic funnelling the creatures straight into their line. They needed to hurry. She wouldn't be able to keep this up long.

He lost track of time, how many he'd killed, how many had injured him. All he knew was motion, impact, blood.

Something sharp clamped down on his arm. He snarled, tore the beetle off, and crushed it underfoot. A second later, his wound closed. Josh had healed him.

"Don't bother," he snapped through the party chat. "Only heal if it's life-threatening. You'll run out of mana otherwise."

Josh didn't say anything, but the healing stopped. He was a good healer, just inexperienced. That would be remedied in this fight

Cassis adjusted his stance and dove back into the swarm.

The swarm felt endless. But finally, the tide turned.

The beetles thinned, their numbers dwindling with every strike. Judging by Elena's fire walls still holding strong, they hadn't been fighting long, maybe five minutes, though it had felt longer. Cassis allowed himself a breath, just one, of relief.

Then his instincts screamed.

"Josh! Earth barrier! Now!"

Cassis barely had time to turn. The last of the beetles forgotten, his attention snapped toward a far more dangerous presence. Thankfully, Josh reacted instantly. Because the barrier rose just in time to catch a slicing wind cutter that would've bisected them all.

"Mom, Camden, keep the beetles contained! Benny, with me! Josh, another barrier, protect the backline!"

The boy didn't hesitate. Pale and shaking, he raised another wall of solid earth around their most vulnerable group. Different from Arianna's translucent water barriers, Josh's version was thick, packed soil. No one could see inside.

Cassis dashed forward, intercepting another wind cutter midair. The force rattled his arms. Beside him, Joseph was already loosening arrows, and Benny came sprinting to his side.

Then Cassis saw it.

Not a chimaera. Not a beetle. A troll shaman.

And judging by its feathered head-dress, it was the high priest, the right hand of the Troll King himself.

What the hell was that thing doing here? Its tribe lived near the top of the mountain. The beetle caves were as far down as one could go in this dungeon.

The monster came into full view as it floated around the mountainside, its massive and green body wrapped in a primitive purple robe that was flicking around in the wind it was generating. Magic pulsed off it in visible waves. Cassis's stomach tightened. That thing was strong, E-rank, close to level forty. His group didn't stand a chance.

The shaman didn't attack again immediately. It hovered, studying him, black eyes gleaming with mockery. Smart. Too smart. It knew exactly who the real threat was.

Cassis's jaw clenched. He hated intelligent monsters. They always went for the weakest first, just like this one had already done, just like the hobgoblin during the first wave.

Another wind cutter slashed out, hammering against Josh's barrier. Cassis intercepted a second, Joseph's arrow streaked through the air, but the shaman deflected it easily with a gust of wind.

Benny joined him a heartbeat later, and the three of them held the front as best they could. Behind them, the sound of steel and flame still echoed. His mother and Camden were finishing off the last beetles.

Cassis turned just in time to parry one wind cutter, then another. But two more smashed into the earth barrier. Benny hadn't been able to intercept them. The earthen dome shattered.

Dust and dirt exploded outward.

The group inside reeled, coughing. Josh stumbled, ghost-pale, his mana all but gone. He wouldn't be able to cast the barrier spell again.

Damn it. At least he'd discovered his earth affinity yesterday, if not, they'd already be dead.

Cassis's mind raced. The shaman hadn't moved closer. It was baiting him, analysing them all.

He made his decision.

Using Dash, Cassis sprinted forward, trying to draw its focus away from the others. But the shaman only grinned, propelled backwards with a gust of wind, and loosed another slicing current straight toward the exposed group.

Cassis cursed and spun midair, sprinting back.

Too late.

Benny threw himself into the line of fire, blocking the attack with his sword, but it sent him flying. Elena retaliated with a fire lance, but the shaman twisted aside effortlessly.

Cassis's teeth ground together. He dashed again, closing the distance, flames bursting along his sword. His strike landed, searing deep into the shaman's flesh.

It screamed. Then, in the same motion, unleashed another wind cutter, ignoring him completely.

Cassis roared and triggered flame burst through his sword inside the creature's body. The stench of burned flesh filled the air.

A human scream answered it.

He turned. Joseph lay sprawled across the ground, blood gushing from a slash across his torso. He'd thrown himself in front of the attack to protect the others.

"Joseph!" Elena's voice cracked with fury.

Josh, trembling, cast another heal, but then his mana was used up. He fell to his knees and vomited. Mana depletion

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Joseph staggered upright, teeth gritted against the lingering pain, though he had been healed. Still standing. Barely.

Cassis's gut twisted. This was bad. He could kill the shaman, yes, but not without losing someone.

"Mom," he called through the party chat. "Status with the cave?"

"Only a few beetles left," his mother answered, breathless. "But too many to leave yet. Can you manage?"

"I have a plan. Take everyone and retreat into the cave. You can survive these last few beetles; the shaman will kill you all."

Camden's voice cut in, sharp. "It'll follow us."

"No, it won't." Cassis's tone turned cold. "I'll keep it here."

His mother's voice cracked. "You can't!"

He winced, blocking another wind cutter while maintaining the conversation. "I have to. I can kill it, but not if I have to protect everyone at once. Right now, you're a distraction, a liability."

Silence. Then Camden asked quietly, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Cassis's voice was steady. "Get to safety. But don't go far. I want everyone to get the experience when I take it down."

That last part did it. His mother sighed heavily. "All right. The beetles are manageable. Everyone, move!"

Cassis kept his stance between the shaman and the retreating group, parrying every gust and slash. Once, he even had to tackle Benny aside when a tornado began forming under his feet.

Finally, everyone was inside the cave. A last "be careful" sent by his mother came over the party chat, then silence. They didn't want to distract him.

The shaman hovered across the clearing, its grin stretching unnaturally wide. Malice radiated off it. It had wanted to kill the weak ones first. Now it was angry, its easy prey gone. The only one left a warrior strong enough to be a challenge.

Cassis's lips curled upward—not in a smile, but in a snarl.

"Not anymore," he muttered.

Now he could finally fight.

And maybe, finally, burn off the frustration of the last few days.

He raised his sword. Flames surged. Then he dashed straight toward the shaman.

The shaman bombarded him with Wind Cutters. It hovered above the ground, pushing itself around with gusts of air to dodge his attacks.

Cassis had to stay in constant motion. Every time he paused, a small tornado formed beneath his feet, ready to fling him away. The shaman still had no intention of fighting him directly; it just wanted him out of the way. It wanted to follow his team into the cave.

Not a chance.

Cassis dashed, made impossible turns by jumping wider with his momentum, and used the mountainside as stepping stones. Some Wind Cutters got through, slicing at his skin, but they were only surface-level injuries. He barely noticed the pain, just catalogued each cut to assess whether it would hinder his movement.

He charged at the shaman again and again, stabbing with his flaming blade. He wasn't worried about getting too far from the cave. The shaman wanted to go inside, so it kept circling near the entrance anyway.

After a few exchanges, Cassis noticed a rhythm forming between them. Time to change it up. He gleefully planned what to do next. After all, he wasn't just a warrior anymore.

So when the shaman pushed itself away again using its wind abilities, Cassis unleashed a barrage of Fire Lances. They exploded directly into its face.

Cassis grinned. Got you.

The shaman screeched, then turned toward him. "Finally got angry enough to fight, you coward!" he snarled.

The creature gestured sharply, and a powerful air current seized him, slamming him into the mountainside. Hard. Pain flared through his ribs, but nothing broke. His body reinforcement absorbed most of the impact.

In retaliation, he fired another Fire Lance, then used the cratered indentation as a springboard to hurl himself back at the shaman. His blade plunged into its flank, flames bursting from the wound and lighting up its insides.

Cassis pushed his mana pattern to its limit, reaching his arms, head and upper legs. A splitting headache stabbed behind his eyes, but he didn't stop. He activated Blazing Body, burning the shaman on contact, and used his free hand and legs to cling to the shaman's left leg while his sword stayed buried in its flesh.

The shaman slashed at him with Wind Cutters, tried to rip him off with tornadoes, but nothing worked. The wounds kept piling up: cuts across his back, his arms, his legs. One Wind Cutter nearly severed his leg. Uselessly hanging, he held on with the other.

Then he prepared for the final strike.

He tore his sword free and, using his good leg, leapt up toward the shaman's neck. At the same moment, he fired another Fire Lance into its opposite side.

Distracted, the shaman failed to defend itself. Cassis's blade slashed across its throat, cutting deep. Blood spurted out in a hot spray. The creature groaned, unable to scream anymore.

A sudden tornado caught him and hurled him against the mountainside again. The world spun, pain roared, but when he pushed himself up, panting, a sweet message appeared before his eyes:

[Troll Shaman, High Priest (E-Rank) slain. EXP gained.]

Cassis grinned ferociously, pulled a healing potion from his inventory, and downed it in one go. His wounds closed up as if they had never existed.

"Just like old times," he muttered with a sharp breath. "Now only Arianna's worrying is missing."

He'd missed this: the freedom, the rush, that raw satisfaction of surviving against all odds. It was easier being alone. You only had to worry about yourself.

The constant concern for others… it wore him down. Made him tired.

Then again, it was also lonelier.

Right as that thought hit, his party chat flared to life:

"Cassis, are you alright!?" "Cassis, say something!" "CASSIS!"

His mother's voice came through loud and frantic, worsening his already pounding headache. He felt a pang of guilt. He should've said something to her immediately.

"I'm okay," he said quickly. "Don't worry. Don't come out. I'll come to you."

It physically hurt to leave the shaman's corpse unbutchered, but their fight had been loud, and he didn't want to risk attracting anything else.

He turned and sprinted into the cave, following the tunnel down. The ground was slick with crushed chitin. There were no beetles left alive, only corpses, their shells crunching wetly under his boots with every step.

Cassis followed the only tunnel there was. With every step, the air grew warmer.

When he reached the next bend, he called over the party chat, "Almost there. I'm coming around the corner."

He slowed his approach. Rushing in after a fight could end badly. Someone might be so on edge they'd attack him by accident. That wouldn't help morale. Then again, he sighed, what I did probably didn't help morale either. He'd called them a liability. Which they were. But still, he'd have to build their confidence back up. There were more battles ahead, and he was already planning how to hold back and let the others fight more next time.

Finally, he spotted the group. They were gathered together in front of a pit of lava. No wonder it was so hot. He was drenched now.

As soon as he reached them, his mother rushed over and began patting him down, checking for injuries. "I drank a healing potion, Mom," he said, half amused.

She nodded, tears in her eyes as she took in the state of his protective gear. His shirt and pants were shredded, clear proof of how much damage he'd taken. Then she suddenly pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't do that again," she said, voice trembling. "I was so scared."

Cassis hugged her back. "You know I'll have to again someday. I'm the strongest, and I was right. I won."

She sniffled. "That doesn't make it better."

He sighed wearily. As much as he'd enjoyed the solo fight, this, his family, his team, was definitely better. Keeping an arm around his mother, he addressed the rest of the group, who were doing their best not to eavesdrop.

"Alright, let's get everyone levelled up. If you're stronger, I won't have to send you away next time."

Camden gripped his sword tighter, met Cassis's eyes, and nodded. He looked irritated, probably blaming himself for being weak, but Cassis could see the resolve there too. He'd change that.

Then Cassis noticed what the group had been staring at.

In the centre of the lava pit lay a golden egg in a nest made of blackened coal.

So this is where it was. He'd never found the golden egg before, only the eagle's feathers and, of course, the troll king. But how were they supposed to get it?

Could he use Blazing Body and walk through the lava? The heat was intense but not unbearable. His body should withstand quite a bit. And Josh had recovered a little, maybe enough to heal him while he was inside the pit. He could even use Dash for momentum to jump in and out quickly.

His thoughts were interrupted when his mother tweaked his arm. "Ow!" He winced. She'd used her full level-20 strength.

"No! You are not going into that lava pit!" she growled.

"But, Mom, I'd survive. I'm pretty sure of that."

Her glare could've melted stone. The pretty in that sentence hadn't helped.

Elena stepped in, putting a calming arm around his mother and whispering quietly to her. Benny and Joseph exchanged sceptical glances between Cassis and the lava.

"Can you really do it?" Camden asked.

Instead of answering, Cassis activated Blazing Body and Body Reinforcement, then pushed his finger into the lava. The heat was excruciating, but he didn't pull back. After a full minute, during which his mother loudly cursed him out, he withdrew his hand. The skin was darkened, like it had burned, but otherwise fine.

He frowned. His body would be okay, but his clothes wouldn't. They'd burn right off. The idea made his ears heat up worse than the lava.

"Okay, guys," he said awkwardly. "I can go through the lava, but, uh… my clothes…"

Benny immediately burst out laughing. Joseph rolled his eyes at his son. "You'll need to strip," he said dryly.

Cassis sighed, feeling awkward, especially with the underage Janice, his longtime neighbour Mrs. Walters and his mother, watching. Not exactly a group a man wanted to get naked with.

He looked at the women. "Could you please turn around?"

His mother's glare could have killed. The others turned away, some snickering.

"What if something lives in that lava?" his mother demanded.

"Good point," Cassis admitted. "I'll do it fast. You've been here for a while. Anything seem like it's living in there?"

She shook her head but still looked horrified. "Alright then. The guys can keep watch," he said.

She huffed, muttering under her breath something about changing his diapers in the past, so why would she need to turn around now?

Cassis cringed and stripped quickly before using Dash and leaping into the lava.

It burned, but not like dying. The lava reached his chest at its deepest, and though his skin stung, his reinforced body endured. He moved quickly, grabbed the golden egg, and returned without incident.

He got out and the part of his body that had been submerged was black. Josh took one look at threw a heal at him, then promptly vomited again. Poor guy.

Once dressed again, the group gathered around the egg, wondering how to hatch it.

Elena was the first to speak. "We could feed it some fire mana. It was in a fire environment. It probably needs heat to hatch."

Cassis nodded. "I'll do it. With my luck, if anyone else tries, it'll explode."

Before anyone could object, he channeled fire mana into the egg. His mana circuits still burned from the earlier battle, and it hurt like hell, but soon the egg began to glow.

Shit, it really is going to explode, he thought grimly.

Before he could warn the others, the egg cracked open.

A burst of light filled the cave, and when it faded, a small but majestic fire bird hovered before him. Its presence was overwhelming, far too strong for this dungeon. Cassis couldn't even gauge its level, but he knew phoenixes were born at B-rank.

The others buckled under the pressure, some dropping to their knees. The lower-levelled ones even fainted. Cassis barely managed to stay standing.

Fuck. What did I just unleash?

Before he could act, a voice brushed through his mind.

"Thank you, human. You protected me from those who would have devoured me, and you hatched me. Your mana is delicious. As thanks, I grant you one blessing, unique to my kind."

A searing pain spread through his left forearm, but he dared not look away from the bird that could kill him like it was just swatting at a fly. Its burning gaze was ancient, intelligent, yet not hostile. It had just been born, but phoenixes got their ancestors knowledge upon birth.

"You are a strong one," the phoenix trilled, amused. "My blessing will make you stronger. Hear me, human: I am Phoenix, the fire bird who returns to ash and is born anew. My blessing shall grant you this gift once: one death, one life, given in thanks for saving mine."

Reality rippled, and the bird vanished.

Cassis stood there, stunned. He'd never heard of anything like this. Why was this timeline so different from the one he knew?

Dazed, he looked down at his left forearm. A bright phoenix tattoo glowed there, still warm to the touch.

Then a system message appeared before him:

[Congratulations! You have hatched the Golden Egg of the Phoenix.] [All predators drawn to consume this delicacy will return to their natural habitats.] [You may now leave the dungeon.]

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