Leo had a dozen questions, each louder than the last in his mind. But he said nothing.

  Not yet.

  “It should be close,” Suri muttered, eyes scanning with the help of her illusions, thick underbrush as they moved in wide loops through the forest. The canopy above them filtered the light into dim, dancing shadows, branches clawing at their shoulders.

  “We’re here,” Kana said suddenly. She crouched beside a mound of leaves and vines that didn’t quite belong. With a sweep of her arm, she brushed aside the camouflage.

  Beneath it, a soft blue light shimmered from the ground—an entrance, circular and silent, etched with symbols that hummed.

  Boris let out a breath. “Finally.” He knelt to help her clear the rest of the debris.

  Kana frowned slightly. Her [High Awareness] skill hadn’t detected the dungeon at all. That was unusual. Suspicious. But she had noticed something else—something smaller. The leaves here didn’t fall naturally. The angles were wrong. The way the branches twisted felt… guided. So she’d focused. Let her intuition guide her.

  And it worked.

  Without another word, Boris stepped inside.

  Suri followed, her cloak trailing like smoke.

  Leo paused at the entrance. He looked back. Kana stood behind him.

  He swallowed, then stepped through the threshold. Kana followed close behind.

  As they crossed into the dim tunnel, Kana leaned toward him. Leo startled and stumbled back a step, nearly slipping on the wet stone. Her presence came with the sharpness of intent—like a blade drawn, but not swung.

  “Make sure to choose Yes. The one on the left,” she said quietly.

  Leo blinked. Then, the familiar shimmer of the text of god appeared before his eyes. He’d heard of this. Dungeons often came with conditions from the gods—opt-in engagements.

  He nodded and selected [Yes].

  Ahead, Suri was already moving. Her hands weaved through the air as she activated [Illusion Call]. Dozens of shadow-fish skittered across the stone floor like darting eels of smoke, vanishing into the distance to scout.

  “All clear,” she said with a nod.

  “Since we’ve got a new member,” Kana began, her voice shifting into a commanding tone, “we’re doing a quick briefing.”

  She turned toward Leo, then gestured to Boris.

  “Boris will take out most of the dungeon monsters. We’ll support as needed. When we reach the boss, we go full force.”

  Then she looked straight at Leo.

  “Leo? You will do nothing. Just watch.”

  Leo opened his mouth—but nothing came out.

  Three of them. Against a dungeon boss? And he was supposed to just sit and observe?

  “How am I supposed to get stronger if I’m just standing around?”

  Kana paused.

  She could’ve explained the system—how the party interface distributed experience. How his level would skyrocket just by being nearby while they fought. How this method—power leveling—worked.

  But instead, she softened her voice just a touch. “You’re right. But for today, just watch. Learn how we do things. Next time, we might throw you in.”

  Leo frowned but didn’t protest further.

  Kana glanced at her party window and sighed.

  Leo was level one.

  Figures.

  At least his HP was oddly high compared to their beginner level.

  Leo – Lvl 1 HP: 22/22 | Mana: 15/15

  That… was something.

  “We’re not sure if this is a low-mid or low-high dungeon but just walk beside us.”

  ……

  Suri grunted as cold water soaked through her boots, the shallow creek running beneath them slick with moss-covered stones. Each step splashed, but it was too late to care now.

  “They’re here,” she said, her voice low. “Green Lizardmen.”

  Kana stilled.

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  Green Lizardmen—intelligent dungeon mobs, potentially semi-sentient. For a heartbeat, she hesitated. Can they speak? Were they one of those borderline races like the Ageless. She was just about to voice the thought when the forest shattered into sound.

  A roar of rage.

  They’d already been seen and they were not going to confront them peacefully.

  Figures burst from the trees—some dropped from branches above, others slithered out of the bushes, bodies melting out of camouflage like nature itself.

  Tall, lean, reptilian forms. Their green-scaled hides shimmered in the light, tails whipping behind them. They moved upright, humanlike—but predatory. Most carried crude spears, barely more than sharpened branches, though a few bore tools of chipped stone lashed with sinew.

  Some were taller than Boris.

  Boris didn’t flinch. His spear came up in a single fluid motion, one foot shifting back in a defensive stance. For just a second, his eyes narrowed. They had spears too. Primitive, yes—but still weapons.

  “That makes this a low-mid tier dungeon,” Kana muttered to herself. She recalled it from her readings—dungeon difficulty tiers and what monsters they spawned.

  There were at least two dozen of them.

  They fanned out in a wide arc, surrounding the party. The Green Lizardmen paused for a brief moment, glancing toward Kana’s group—then blinked in confusion.

  They were gone.

  Suri had already moved, fingers weaving light and shadow into a shimmering veil. The illusion fell over them like a blanket—seamless, precise. It bent the light as if they were becoming nature itself.

  Leo stared in silent awe. He’d heard of [Illusion Call] before, but never seen it used like this. Her control was near-perfect. Not just a simple trick. It was not like her demonstration before.

  His heartbeat pounded harder as he looked past the veil.

  Boris stood alone.

  Two dozen against one.

  Leo could probably take one. Maybe two. Not that many. No way. No way he could.

  Then Boris moved.

  And the massacre began.

  Green Lizardmen charged, spears raised—but Boris didn’t backpedal. He pivoted smoothly, parrying one thrust and twisting his spear around in a brutal counter that shattered the enemy’s shaft. Another came from the side—Boris ducked under the strike, drove his shoulder forward, and used his momentum to throw the attacker off balance before finishing it with a short, brutal jab.

  The battle became a rhythm. Motion. Precision.

  They swarmed him, but they couldn’t touch him. He fought like a fortress that moved—his focus not on aggression, but timing. Letting them come to him. Waiting for each mistake. And punishing it.

  One by one, they fell.

  The last four didn’t hesitate.

  They turned and ran.

  Deeper into the woods. Vanishing into the trees.

  Kana raised a hand—wordless. A signal: Let them go.

  Boris nodded silently, breathing steady, not a scratch on him.

  Leo exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  What in the gods' names did I just witness?

  …..

  It was the weekend, so Yuri had to return home—and she had a lot of questions.

  A few days ago, her parents had paid her an unexpected visit at the academy after receiving a short-notice letter. She assumed they were just concerned about her joining the northern expedition, maybe even considering pulling her out. She’d prepared a list of counterarguments just in case. After all, graduating from the academy guaranteed a stable future.

  But that wasn’t it.

  They weren’t there to express concern. They were there to give her orders.

  “You must team up with Kana, Suri, and Boris,” her mother had told her.

  Yuri had been stunned. She knew who they were—Copper Class students, surrounded by rumors and odd achievements. If anything, she had planned to distance herself from them. Associating with Gold Class elites made more sense. It was safer. Smarter.

  But no. Her parents didn’t ask.

  They threatened.

  If she refused, she’d be pulled from the academy. And they were dead serious that time.

  Now, sitting at their dinner table with warm food in front of her, Yuri pushed her plate slightly aside. After a few tense bites, she couldn’t keep it in anymore.

  “You owe me an explanation,” she said flatly.

  Her mother, Asha, let out a soft sigh. Then she glanced to her side.

  Yuri nearly jumped out of her seat. A strange rat sat on the edge of the table, unmoving.

  “You see the situation…” Asha murmured. “It’s okay to tell her now, right? My daughter can keep secrets—just like her parents.”

  The rat stared at her mother in eerie silence, then gave a single, slow nod.

  “Oh! Looks like we got approval,” her father, Opel, said cheerfully, taking another sip of soup.

  Yuri blinked. “You’re talking to a rat now?”

  Asha chuckled. “Don’t worry—it’s not real.”

  She reached toward the creature. Her fingers passed right through it.

  “See?” she said casually. “Just an illusion.”

  Yuri took a deep breath, trying to calm the racing thoughts in her head. Her parents had been acting strange for weeks. She knew they were hiding something—but nothing like this.

  “Go back to your seat,” Asha said gently. “I’ll explain.”

  Yuri obeyed, eyes flicking warily to the illusion rat before settling back into her chair.

  “That rat?” Asha began. “It’s Suri’s skill. Some kind of advanced illusion magic.”

  “We met them on one of our odd jobs,” Asha added, “and quickly realized they were... a capable bunch.”

  “To put it simply,” Opel said, looking Yuri in the eyes, “they're stronger than your parents.”

  Yuri stared at him. That couldn’t be right.

  Even if her parents had failed the adventurer exam, they were still experienced fighters—type of class. Fully capable adults. She had seen them in action. Maybe some fourth- or third-year students could challenge them—but first-years? Like her?

  It didn’t make sense.

  And yet... the proof was right in front of her. The rat. The illusion. Suri wasn’t even here—she had to be in the academy. Yet the illusion was aware and capable of basic communication across a significant distance. The academy had no record of this kind of capability in Suri’s file.

  The academy didn’t know.

  Yuri gulped.