The dirt road stretched ahead of Mirai and Hikari, flanked by sparse trees and low hills. The midday sun hung high overhead, their footsteps kicking up a light dust in their wake.

  Mirai walked beside him. Her gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon, her mind occupied by the path ahead. Hikari glanced sideways. He noticed her lost in thought, far more than usual. They walked for several minutes in silence before he finally broke the quiet.

  "Mirai."

  She tilted her head slightly. "Yes?"

  "I've been thinking about something." He paused for a heartbeat. "When you transform, you grow long claws. How're you going to hold a sword hilt?"

  Mirai looked down at her hands as she walked. She opened and closed her palms slowly. She hadn't considered that before. The claws from her partial transformation were long enough to make gripping objects incredibly difficult.

  "The claws'll be a hindrance." Hikari kept his eyes on the road. "You won't be able to grip a blade properly. Even if you could, the length would ruin your balance."

  Mirai stopped. She stared at her hands a moment longer, then looked up at him. "I won't need the sword."

  Hikari raised his eyebrows.

  "My body's my weapon." She offered a faint smile. "The claws're a part of me, not something I carry. I won't have to worry about dropping them or losing them. It looks like I really won't need a blade."

  Hikari mulled over her words. It wasn't a reckless decision this time. It was practical. Smart, even.

  "The claws." He rubbed his chin. "You can use clawed gauntlets. They'll enhance what you already have and protect your hands at the same time. And remember, you aren't going to be transformed all the time. You'll use your sword normally, and when you transform, you shift the blade into a claw weapon. It's perfect."

  Mirai considered the suggestion. It made perfect sense. Instead of struggling to hold a hilt with elongated nails, she could turn the claws themselves into her primary armament.

  "Let's use your sword, Umbra." Hikari turned to face her. "It shifts into any melee weapon you master. If you train well with clawed gauntlets, it'll become an incredibly powerful addition to your transformation."

  Mirai nodded slowly, her mind already working through the possibilities. She glanced at her hands one last time before they resumed their trek. The sun drifted across the sky as the dusty road rolled out before them.

  Hours later, a small town materialized in the distance. Wooden walls surrounded the settlement, guarded by modest watchtowers. They passed through the main gates and secured a room at a simple tavern near the market to drop off their gear. Once settled, they stepped back out into the bustling streets, making their way to a small weapons shop tucked away in a corner alley.

  The shop smelled heavily of oil and cold iron. Mirai and Hikari were inspecting a display in the corner when the heavy wooden door slammed open, shattering the quiet atmosphere.

  Three men dragged themselves inside. They wore heavily battered and deeply gouged metal armor. Their clothes hung in tatters, stained with a grim mixture of blood and grime. One of them leaned heavily against the wall, panting as a sigh of sheer relief escaped his lips.

  "Man. I'm just glad we made it back alive."

  The old merchant peered at them from behind his counter, raising a bushy brow. "Oh, you're back early."

  Another man limped to the counter. He unrolled a small cloth pouch with trembling fingers. Inside gleamed distinct diamonds of a strange, unnatural hue.

  "Yeah, we nearly died." His voice shook. "That dungeon's a nightmare. We barely managed to get this."

  The merchant's eyes narrowed as he inspected the gems. He looked up, his expression hardening.

  "Hold on. Did you boys go to the Nightmare Dungeon? Isn't it strictly forbidden to enter that place?"

  The man nodded, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yes, but we didn't have a choice! There're no quests at the guild, and hunting's been terrible. We'd have starved if we didn't go. But look at these diamonds. They're from the fourth floor alone. We found something truly valuable."

  The merchant scrutinized the stones closely. "Oh. The quality is exceptionally good."

  The third man stepped forward, his eyes bloodshot. "We're selling it for double the price, then."

  The merchant didn't even blink. "Sorry. The price is fixed."

  Veins bulged on the adventurer's neck. "What?! We almost died in there! We saw horrors we've never even imagined!"

  The old man sighed, cutting him off with sheer apathy. "That's not my problem. It's your call. Sell them to me or don't."

  The men exchanged frustrated glances. Their leader let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly agreed.

  Throughout the exchange, Mirai and Hikari observed in complete silence.

  After the broken adventurers took their coin and limped out with their wounds and their disappointment, the merchant turned to the pair with a pleasant smile, as if nothing had happened. "Have you two chosen what you need?"

  Hikari placed a pair of heavy iron clawed gauntlets on the wooden counter.

  "These." He pulled out his coins. "And I want to ask. What's the story behind this dungeon?"

  The merchant immediately waved his hands in warning. "Please, don't even think about going there. It's a magical dungeon, it's different. Yes, it has monsters like anywhere else, but it's filled with hallucinations. Rumor has it there's a floor that shows you the worst nightmare resting in your own heart—a nightmare even you don't know exists. It exposes your deepest fears. A party went in a few weeks ago, and only one man came back. All his comrades died... but they died because their hearts simply stopped."

  Hikari pushed the coins across the table in silence and took the gauntlets. Mirai exchanged a fleeting, curious glance with him.

  They gathered their purchases and left the warmth of the shop, stepping back out into the crisp street air.

  "Alright, Mirai." Hikari adjusted his pack. "Tomorrow morning, we start your training."

  Mirai nodded. The two of them headed off to find the nearest inn.

  ***

  Early the next morning, well before the city streets grew crowded, they left the inn and headed toward an open clearing outside the walls. The area was perfectly quiet, dotted with ancient trees and scattered boulders.

  Mirai stood still, examining the iron gauntlets on her hands. They were cold and incredibly heavy. She flexed her fingers slowly, testing their weight and the slight restrictions they placed on her movements.

  Hikari watched her for a while. "Close quarters combat is different from fighting with short swords. It relies heavily on proximity and explosive speed. Every single movement has to be precise to make up for the lack of reach."

  Mirai gave a silent nod.

  He pointed to a nearby tree. "Try striking the trunks first. Build up your power gradually so your muscles get used to absorbing the recoil."

  Mirai stepped forward and drove a strike into the bark. The impact cracked loudly in the morning air. A harsh vibration shot straight into the bones of her arm, but she didn't stop.

  She trained relentlessly for hours. Her routine blurred into a gruelling mix of muscle fatigue and intense mental focus. They soon transitioned to working on her speed. Hikari instructed her to land multiple rapid strikes on the exact same focal point.

  "Pay attention, Mirai. Rocks're different." Hikari's voice cut through the air as they moved to a rocky outcrop. "If your stance isn't perfect, the impact will rebound straight into your joints. Don't just rely on your arm. You have to use your whole body's momentum to distribute the force of the collision."

  When she struck the boulder for the first time, the recoil was so brutal she felt her teeth rattle. Yet she pushed through the pain. She focused on the angle of her feet, the sharp twist of her waist, and channeling the kinetic energy from the dirt all the way through her shoulder and into her fist.

  Then the moment finally clicked. Mirai struck a solid slab of stone, and instead of a violent shudder, there was no recoil. She had adjusted the angle of her fist perfectly, driving her body weight behind the blow so the force dispersed smoothly without straining her arm.

  She stopped. She raised her hand, staring at it in total silence. One of the iron claws had bent out of shape, and deep cracks spiderwebbed across the cheap metal.

  "I felt something different." She murmured the words. "The strike was stable. It didn't bounce back, but the gauntlet couldn't handle the force."

  Hikari smiled, visibly relieved. "That's the key. You've mastered the technique and synchronized your body perfectly. It looks like normal weapons just aren't going to withstand your physical strength and speed anymore. It's time. Use Umbra."

  Mirai took a step back. She stripped off the shattered iron gauntlets and tossed them into the dirt. Reaching out, she drew her sword, Umbra. The moment the hilt settled into her palm, she closed her eyes and focused her intent with clarity.

  The weapon responded instantly. The black metal melted, wrapping around her forearms and hands with flawless fluidity. When she opened her eyes, Umbra had taken its new form. They were elegant, tightly fitted combat gauntlets tipped with elongated claws as sharp as razors. The metal was a pitch black that seemed to swallow the light, veined with thin, faintly glowing golden lines that gave the weapon a regal yet deeply lethal presence.

  She flexed her fingers. The weight was immaculate, resting on her like a second layer of skin. She unleashed a flurry of strikes into the empty air. The wind split with a sharp, hair-raising shriek. For the first time in her life, she felt as though her weapon wasn't holding her back, but making her whole.

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  Lowering her hands, Mirai looked at the battered trees and crumbled rocks. A sigh escaped her lips, her features settling into that familiar boredom brought on by easy targets.

  "I think stationary targets've served their purpose." Her tone was calm and measured. "But they aren't going to teach me how to adapt to this weapon in a real fight."

  She turned to Hikari. Her crimson eyes gleamed with raw defiance as a confident smile graced her lips.

  "That dungeon we heard about in town. The Nightmare Dungeon. There's no better place to test my speed and my claws against actual enemies and moving targets."

  She let silence hang for a second before continuing with iron resolve. "We're going there. Like they said, only the fourth floor was dangerous."

  Worry etched itself across Hikari's face. He let out a soft sigh. "But We don't have a single shred of information on it, and we have no idea what's waiting in the depths. Besides, isn't it strictly forbidden?"

  Mirai waved a hand in utter dismissal. "I've broken every law in existence to the point of being exiled from the demon territories. You really think I'm going to be scared of some petty little rule here?"

  Hikari smiled helplessly. His voice was laced with a warm resignation. "Alright. If you're dead set on going, I'll be right behind you. Like always."

  Mirai looked down at Umbra's black and gold claws once more. She clenched her fists with a slow, unshakeable certainty.

  "I'm ready."

  ***

  Reaching the foot of the eastern mountain took half a day of relentless trekking. As they drew closer, nature itself began to warp. Lush greenery gradually rotted away, replaced by twisted, blackened trunks stripped of leaves. They looked like skeletal arms begging the heavens for mercy. The air grew suffocatingly heavy. It carried the sharp scent of ozone and damp earth, accompanied by an unnatural chill creeping up from the ground below.

  At the end of a narrow rocky pass, the dungeon entrance finally revealed itself. It wasn't merely a cave. It looked like a violent tear in the mountain's very fabric. The edges were jagged like the fangs of a colossal beast opening its maw to swallow the light. The darkness pooling inside wasn't normal. It was a suffocating void that shifted slowly, breathing like thick black smoke.

  Mirai stood before the precipice. A bizarre magical pressure pushed heavily against her eardrums.

  "This place feels dead." She whispered the words as her eyes tried to pierce the gloom.

  Hikari stood beside her, his expression serene but intensely focused. He raised his right hand, murmuring familiar incantations. A warm glow blossomed in his palm before bursting into dozens of radiant golden butterflies. The magical constructs fluttered in perfect harmony, drifting slowly into the abyss to illuminate the damp stone walls weeping with thick, viscous droplets.

  "Let's go down." Hikari stepped forward. Before they took their first real plunge, he raised a hand and muttered a hushed spell, enveloping Mirai's body in a translucent Golden Barrier as a standard precaution.

  The moment they crossed the threshold, the dungeon swallowed them whole.

  On the first floor, the quiet didn't last long. The golden butterflies illuminated a broad corridor, and suddenly, yellow eyes flared in the pitch black.

  Five massive wolves emerged. They were far larger than the shadow wolves they had fought in the forest. Their coats were coarse and black, and acidic saliva dripped from their jaws, burning into the stone floor with a violent hiss.

  The pack lunged in perfect unison.

  Mirai didn't retreat an inch. She moved like lightning. She ducked under the first wolf's snapping jaws and drove Umbra's claws straight up into its belly. There was zero resistance. The black and gold blades sheared through the beast's flesh like a hot knife through butter. A spray of blood followed a piercing, agonizing howl. Before the creature even hit the floor, she had already spun on her heel, catching the second wolf with a rising slash that severed its head cleanly from its neck.

  She was incredibly fast and brutally precise. The weapon harmonized perfectly with her every twitch. Within minutes, the shredded corpses of the wolves littered the stone, while Hikari watched calmly from behind, not even needing to summon his jewels for an attack.

  As they descended into the lower depths, the monsters grew fiercer. They clashed with stone spiders on the third floor and mud golems on the fifth. Through it all, Umbra's claws proved flawlessly efficient at tearing through whatever dared cross their path.

  But when they finally hit the eighth floor, the environment violently shifted.

  It was no longer a simple network of stone halls. The walls appeared to breathe in the dark, and the corridors warped themselves into an impossible labyrinth the second they turned their backs. The air turned freezing and dense, carrying incomprehensible whispers that clawed directly at the mind.

  Suddenly, a grotesque monstrosity with a massive, unhinged jaw leapt from the shadows straight for Mirai. Her instincts took over. She swiped at its throat, but instead of tearing flesh, her hands passed right through its body like mist. The beast evaporated into black smoke, leaving only muffled, mocking laughter echoing down the corridor.

  Hallucinations.

  Phantoms materialized out of thin air. They vanished the moment they were struck, draining the pair's stamina, while real monsters hid among the illusions to launch devastating sneak attacks. If it hadn't been for the brilliant flashes of the Golden Barrier absorbing those blindside hits, she would've been torn to pieces. The mental exhaustion was staggering, yet Mirai kept marching forward with an icy composure, ignoring the phantoms with indifference.

  After several grueling hours of wandering and exhausting battles, they discovered a long staircase plunging into the abyss. It finally led them down to the tenth floor.

  The chamber was vast and circular, ringed by horribly disfigured statues. In the dead center stood a hulking bipedal monstrosity. A pale bone armor encased its body, and its arms ended in massive, scythe-like skeletal blades. It was a creature known as a Dark Reaper.

  The second they stepped inside, the beast unleashed a deafening shriek. It charged them at a speed that defied its massive bulk and heavy armor.

  Hikari leaped backward to dodge a scythe strike that cleaved the stone floor, sending shrapnel flying in all directions. Mirai, however, lunged straight ahead. Umbra's claws gleamed dangerously in her hands, ready for the kill.

  She moved in a blur, dodging the creature's second scythe with terrifying grace before unleashing a barrage of wild strikes. Umbra's blades pierced the bone plates with a sharp crunch, scattering the monster's black blood across the room. The Reaper roared in sheer fury and tried to impale her, but she dropped low and buried her claws deep into its knee joint.

  The beast refused to fall. It spun with horrifying agility, executing a sweeping horizontal strike with both scythes to cut her clean in half.

  To escape the kill zone, Mirai realized she needed to push her human body to its limits. She forced her leg muscles to contract with explosive power, accelerating her speed and reflexes to the point of sheer agony.

  But in that exact fraction of a second, it happened.

  Pushed to the brink of her physical limits and teetering on the edge of death, Mirai felt a strange, abyssal pulse echo deep within her chest. It wasn't pain. It was a dark, feral instinct that violently flooded her senses. A pure, unadulterated craving to rip. To devour. It felt as if something truly terrifying had just awakened inside her, ready to shatter her human shell and claw its way to the surface. Her eyes went wide in mild shock at the utterly alien sensation, and her body locked up for a fraction of a heartbeat.

  That split-second hesitation was all it took. The monster seized the opening, delivering a treacherous, crushing blow with the flat of its bone scythe. But the strike slammed hard against the Golden Barrier.

  A violent crash rattled the chamber. The shield flared blindingly bright as hairline fractures webbed across its surface. Even though the magic absorbed the damage, the sheer kinetic force sent Mirai skidding backward for several meters before she finally dug her heels into the stone.

  "Mirai!" Hikari yelled out in alarm. He threw his hand up, pumping raw energy to mend the fractured shield.

  The dark instinct evaporated into nothingness, leaving behind her usual cold, calculating consciousness. She glanced at the barrier that had just saved her life, then casually dusted off her clothes without showing a single hint of pain.

  "I'm fine. The barrier did its job. Don't interfere." Her voice was pure ice, refusing to show even a sliver of weakness.

  She blasted toward the creature once more. This time, her focus was dead calm and deeply lethal, enforcing an iron grip over her body and mind. She evaded a frantic flurry of attacks with breathtaking finesse. The moment the beast's neck was exposed through a gap in its armor, she launched herself into the air. She buried Umbra's claws deep into the joint, severing its head in one brutal, decisive motion.

  The colossal monstrosity collapsed, shaking the very earth beneath them before dissolving into a cloud of black ash drifting through the dead air.

  Mirai stood alone amidst the swirling dust. She concentrated for a brief moment, canceling Umbra's transformation. The weapon shifted smoothly back into a standard blade before she tucked it away. She stared down at her bare hands in silence, trying to process what had just happened to her and what that horrifying sensation had truly been.

  "That was dangerously close." Hikari walked over, inspecting her condition with his usual veteran expertise. "But your footwork with Umbra's claws was incredibly precise. Terrifying, really."

  "I just lost my focus for a second." Mirai kept her tone perfectly level as she brushed the last of the ash from her sleeves, firmly dodging any discussion about what she'd just felt.

  The golden butterflies drifted to the far end of the chamber, revealing a relatively secure rock alcove isolated from the dungeon's miserable main corridors.

  "We burned through way too much stamina in the labyrinth." Hikari gestured toward the alcove. "We're going to rest here for the night before we go any deeper."

  He gathered scattered pieces of dried wood and sparked a small fire. Mirai sat down beside the flames, leaning her back against the rough stone wall to watch the firelight dance. The heat chased the dungeon's oppressive chill from her bones, but it did nothing to burn away the disturbing questions left by that abyssal pulse.

  Hikari took a seat directly across from her.

  "Mirai." He broke the suffocating silence without warning. "You mentioned once that your brother, Darius, is stronger than you. Exactly how big is the gap between you two?"

  She stopped massaging her shoulders. Her mind drifted back to a distant memory.

  "Massive." Her voice blended softly with the crackling wood. "He learns everything he can. Or rather, he learns exactly what he thinks he needs. He even managed to master a soul incantation. A spell that attacks the very spirit."

  Hikari stared at her in utter shock, the firelight reflecting in his widened eyes. "Those're incredibly advanced spells."

  Mirai waved her hand with feigned apathy. "Don't get too excited. He's terrible at everything else. He used to turn in blank exam papers. He was just obsessed with spells. Locked himself in his room like a ghost most of the time."

  Hikari leaned forward. A grim severity washed over his features. "Did he master the Soul Reading incantation?"

  Mirai looked at him, slightly taken aback by his sudden tension. She gave a slow nod. "Yeah. He did."

  Hikari shook his head with grim finality and laid out the reality. "That's insanely dangerous, Mirai. Casting direct soul spells always leaves a permanent mark. It causes irreversible spiritual trauma that never heals. Every single use carves microscopic cracks into the caster's very soul. They build up over time until it destroys them from the inside out."

  Mirai blinked a few times. She stared at him with a face practically void of all emotion, then slowly turned her gaze back to the flames. A long, uncomfortable silence settled over the alcove, interrupted only by the popping of the scorching embers.

  "Uhm." She finally broke the quiet. Her tone was flat, a single bead of sweat forming on her brow. "We didn't actually know that."

  Hikari's brow twitched violently. He looked at her in sheer disbelief. "How could you possibly not know something that life-threatening and still let him use it?!"

  Mirai let out a sigh. She grabbed a small twig to poke the embers with forced nonchalance. "I told you, he locked himself away like a ghost. Oh, and for the record, some of those books were strictly forbidden. He stole a grimoire from the library once without my mother ever finding out. Let's just say he was a bad kid who never listened to his mom."

  She looked back up at him with her usual icy demeanor. "Anyway, how do you know all of this? Nobody ever talks about this kind of stuff."

  Hikari shifted his gaze back to the blazing fire, trying to process her apathetic reaction.

  "My mother owns a collection of incredibly old, rare books." He kept his voice soft. "I read a few of them when I was little, and the information just stuck with me. She hates talking about how she got her hands on them, so I never really asked. But what I read was clear."

  "Well, I just hope he figures out the risks before he destroys himself." Mirai tossed the twig into the fire.

  Then, she kept her thoughts to herself.

  I wonder where he is right now, and what he's actually doing.

  The hours dragged by agonizingly slow in their little safe zone. They finished their rations in quiet company.

  When the fire finally died down to nothing but red-hot embers, Hikari stood up and dusted himself off. Mirai gathered her gear. They cast one final glance around their temporary sanctuary before turning toward the wide stone corridor plunging straight down into pitch black.

  Stepping past the dying coals, they walked together into the suffocating gloom.

  "Floor eleven." Hikari stared ahead. "I wonder which floor is the Nightmare level they were talking about."

  "By the way." Mirai didn't look back. "That merchant at the armory said the nightmares take the shape of your deepest fears. Do you have a specific fear, Hikari?"

  Hikari pondered the question for a moment. "Honestly, I really don't know. I have a lot of things I'm afraid of." He looked over at her. "What about you? What's your biggest fear?"

  Mirai brought a hand to her chin, lost in thought. "Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe my mother? But at the end of the day, nothing's going to scare me that much."

  They descended the ancient stone steps with unwavering certainty, marching straight toward the eleventh floor. The depths where true terror dwelled, and their very worst nightmares were waiting.