The rooms tremble, and dust from the rocks falls over us, making me cough and erect a few [Light Shields] to get a sense of what's happening in this mess.

"Goddammit," I say, as I see the three marble columns slowly moving apart from each other, revealing a hole in the ground. Well, not exactly a hole-hole, like the kind I fell in when I first entered the Dungeon. Nope, there are stairs attached to this hole.

"The statue did say that there were more floors," I say as soon as the trembling stops, looking back at everyone and making sure they're ok. "So that is the second floor, I gather."

[Princess] Laurealia moves cautiously to the front as she inspects the opening in the floor just behind one of the columns.

"I've read the reports the [Captain] of the Watch made available to the Royal Guard," the [Princess] said. "You were trapped in the Dungeon, you said."

"Yeah, it took a while to get out of here, even after cleaning it up. Actually, I don't even know why this hole just appeared—"

But before I can say anything else, red words appear in my mind.

[Time: One Week]

"What the—"

I hear several members of the Royal Guard unsheathing their swords immediately and the Adventurers spinning and wielding their weapons as well.

Wait, was it…

"Guys, did you get the red words as well?" I ask.

"Yes," Lisith replies before her leader, Marcellus, can get a word in, "red words… they are not to be underestimated."

"It looks like a timer to me," I explain to those present, "one week, though? One week for what? To clear out the second floor?"

Everyone looks around, trying to find an explanation on someone else's face. But no one seems to have any idea what this is about.

"This is unusual, isn't it?" I ask the [Princess].

She nods gravely, still staring at the hole—the entrance to the second floor of the Dungeon.

"Why is it unusual?" I ask the silent woman.

"Because Dungeons shouldn't be able to tap into your mind," she mutters. "You can only receive notifications about your classes and skills. The reason is a mystery, but it's believed to be connected to your soul."

I heard the words as well, young Luciani. And my levels… suffice to say that without o body, it's hard to make any use of them.

"So, what are you saying? That the Dungeon tapped into our souls or something? Could it be just, like, a way to communicate? Maybe it's unusual, but you said yourself that those Hounds were stupidly strong. It's probably just a weird Dungeon, no? Who knows, maybe the Vanedeni," I say, turning to Lisith, "have similar Dungeons back on Kome, no?"

No.

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"No," Lisith sighs, "not that I know of. I left my family fifteen years ago, and the entire continent is still unreachable—I can't even ask. But I would be back trying the Climb if I could anyway."

What's the climb? I ask mentally.

The rock making up Kome's cliff is unsuitable to be sculpted into stairs, and there are too many adverse weather effects to attempt to build a permanent method of transport between the top and the bottom. Therefore, if you want to reach Kome, you need to climb. My people always saw it as a fit trial for anyone wanting to reach us and a great strategic advantage over our enemies.

As I stare down into the darkness of the pit and hesitantly send a floating [Light] down, seeing that the stairs just go on seemingly forever. Or at least, for something close to a hundred yards.

"Do you want to go down?" [Princess] Laurealia asks, looking straight into my eyes when I hear a grunt from behind.

A member of the Royal Guard removes their helmet to reveal a seasoned warrior's face, with a huge scar on his forehead. "Your Highness, I'm sorry, but I must prevent this foolishness. We cannot assure your safety if there are even stronger monsters down there and if the Dungeon were to suddenly seal us in. We need reinforcements."

[Princess] Laurealia looks at me for a second, trying to see if I would protest this man. But I'll be very honest with you, I'm shitting myself. As I stare at whatever might be at the bottom of the stairs, I realize how long it has been since I actually trained properly and how little progress in magic I've made compared to what I could've done if I had focused on it the whole time. I can still feel the taste of chocolate in the back of my mouth, but that only makes it worse.

I shake my head slowly at the purple-haired woman.

"Licinius, at rest," Laurealia says. "We'll go back now. I need to talk to the [Captain] of the Watch. Leave three men here. Don't let anyone enter. We don't know what it might trigger."

When we start walking back, I give a side-eye to the hole in the ground, and a tight feeling in my chest makes me choke.

Will you ever be a true Vanedeni?

I hear the words in my head, but I'm not sure if it's Magister Mulligan or me talking.

…

"Are you sure?" I ask Irene as she's hugging me in her bed.

"Yes, Joey. The body's already here. We'll have the funeral tomorrow. You can come, but please, stay in the back. The military will flip otherwise. Apparently, the [General] himself paid to have the body delivered by a [Courier]."

"Good, good," I mutter.

I have no idea what the procedure for funerals here is, and I wouldn't even know how to start helping. I proposed to, but it's my understanding that I, the Human of Amorium, would cause great grief if involved in organizing Plinius's funeral. Funny how I genuinely feel more of a connection to the man now that he's dead than when he was alive.

That damn letter…

"I'm sorry if I've not been present enough… the Dungeon, the [Princess]…"

"It's ok… those red words were scary."

Oh, yeah. By the way, we apparently unleashed a notification that got to the entire population of Amorium, causing more than a mild panic. [Princess] Laurealia is addressing it right now together with [Captain] Drusillus—yet another event I was suggested to stay out of to avoid the Elves blaming the Dungeon's craze on me.

I pull Irene closer, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and smiling.

"At least you're not hanging out with that whore anymore," Irene clicks her tongue. "Are you?"

"No, I told you I'm ok with not seeing Lucinda again, Irene. We're working on this. This is a hard moment… and we need to overcome it together."

"Good," the woman says, snuggling closer to my chest.

After a bit more fooling around, Irene, now standing and dressed, speaks up again, "do you want to try the new chocolate I made?"

I nod with a smile.

Irene disappears into the kitchen and returns with a plate with four little chocolate treats on it. They are pretty simple pralines with a coating of nuts. I sniff them, and I smile, "seems good. Let's see."

But as I plop one in my mouth, a tsunami of sweetness assaults my tastebuds, so strong that I almost cough at how much sugar ended up in this confectionery.

"Is it bad?" Irene cringes.

I shake my head, not willing to give her the bad news since her dead brother’s body is traveling at high speed to Amorium, "pretty good. Maybe go easier on the sugar."

"Rotten roots, I thought the sugar was good. Whatever, I'll think about it."

She looks hopefully at me and the plate, and I smile again, taking another sugar bomb and placing it in my mouth, trying really hard not to show what I'm really feeling.