********

Since you’ve decided to exit the dungeon with only one stage cleared, your rewards will be limited.

~~~~~~~~

Congratulations! Your rewards are:

* Gold Coins (x30)

* Wolf Fangs – Craftable Item (x15)

* Bone Dagger – Rank D

~~~~~~~~

Come Again!

********

A grin stretched over my face as I looted the chest at my feet. I dropped the gold coins and pearly teeth into my rift bag without sparing them a glance. They weren’t of much help to me – I hadn’t the first clue on how to begin crafting things out of teeth, and gold coins were about as useful to me at the moment as the pebbles at my feet.

What was useful to me, however, was the bone dagger that lay against the bottom of the chest. The blade of it was moonlight white, curved just slightly and terrifyingly sharp. The handle was also made of bone, but was wrapped in leather strips that made it easier to hold. A sheath lay next to it, and I wasted no time in tying both to my belt. The dagger was a great addition to my arsenal. I’d been needing something to fill in the close-range area in fights. I had my claws, of course, but they were too costly to use for just anything. Not to mention, having a dagger was useful for much more than just fighting, and having to borrow Ren’s every time I needed one was getting annoying.

With the chest cleaned out, there was nothing else left for me to do in the dungeon, so I headed out of the same portal that we’d taken to get in. I was slightly miffed that we were headed out so early – and the tone of the dungeon screen had done nothing to allay that feeling – but the rational part of my brain knew it was the right decision.

Two-star or not, the dungeon boss room was too big of a risk to take for just Ren and me. The mob stage was risky, sure, but at least we had the luxury of leaving at any point. But the moment we stepped into a boss room, even a mini-boss’ room, there was no leaving until one side was dead. And while the dungeon had graciously offered us the name and information of the boss we’d face, Ren and I had no research resources to consult to find strategies and tricks to help us.

So instead, after clearing the second and final round of the first stage, we’d decided to halt our run there and head out of the dungeon. I hadn’t even been expecting to receive any kind of reward, so what we did receive was a pleasant surprise, even if it was less than what we could have gotten. After all, I would've been happy simply with the opportunity to fight new and interesting beasts. The jungle animals had been getting boring, after all.

And I’d gotten exactly what I’d wanted, and more, with the Tundra Dungeon. The opportunity to visit a wintery arctic, to behold the beauty of an untouched, sprawling field of snow, to fight giant wolves who could even shoot icicles in the second round was exactly what I wanted at the moment. I wanted to see the world, with all its strange and unbelievable sights. And, more importantly, I wanted to fight – and dungeons were perfect for just that.

Ren felt much the same way, thankfully, and since we were in agreement, we didn’t skip a single dungeon portal that we came across after the Tundra Dungeon.

We visited all kinds of different places and environments, faced all sorts of monsters as we continued on our journey. The vast majority of the dungeons we came across, however, were only one-star, with only the occasional two-star, and not a single other three-star dungeon. Which meant that, as fun and interesting as they were, the dungeons hardly posed much of a threat to the two of us. Or at least, their first stages hardly did. We never ventured beyond, though, even on the easiest ones.

For all my recklessness, the thought of one of us dying for such meager gain was enough to rein me in. Instead, I contented myself with the two to three rounds of battle that we got in the first stage. And they were enough to sate my thirst anyway. I didn’t want to clear dungeons, I wanted to fight interesting fights.

All the while, Ren and I continued to get better and stronger, and for the first time, I could actually see my own growth. It was slow, but watching the numbers on my own stat board tick up as the weeks passed brought an addictive sense of achievement unlike anything else I’d ever felt.

Usually, it was a Revive that spurred on a change in any of the numbers, especially the Toughness and Strength attributes, but I eventually realized that it was not the only way to increase the numbers. Normal training had an effect too, it seemed, just a much smaller one. Once, I saw my Agility attribute go up after a particularly tough one-on-one fight with a wind bird. I wasn’t injured in the fight, so I didn’t Revive, but I had to push myself to the physical limits of my brain and body to dodge the bird’s attacks.

So, I concluded, that attributes could be increased both by the integration of Flux with the body, or by just simply pushing against its physical ceiling.

The weeks turned to months as Ren and I continued on our journey, winding our way through the forest as we battled its denizens and explored its hidden dungeons. The days settled into a routine equal parts exciting and relaxing, and I realized at some point during the time that my life as it was, was perfect. Obviously, I couldn’t live the life I was living forever – I had dreams that needed realizing, after all – but at the moment, I was the happiest I'd ever been. And I cherished the days, because I’d dealt with fate enough to know that good days like these would never last. Things would undoubtedly change, probably before I’d be ready, and probably for the worse.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

And indeed, just a few days after we hit the four-month mark, change came knocking.

It was a lazy, warm morning. I had just gotten up, further past sunrise than was ideal, but I wasn’t in any hurry to get the day started still. Instead, I lay limp on the branch I’d slept on, half groggy as I opened up my own stat board, as was my routine.

********

Name: Ruby Redthorn

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Level: 17

~~~~~~~

Strength: 18

Agility: 16

Toughness: 18

Mental: 15

Reaction Time: 140 ms

Strike Power: 1380 fin

Flux Reserve: 200/200

~~~~~~~

$#^#: $#@

$#@%: %@#^^$#

********

The numbers hadn’t changed from yesterday, unsurprisingly. Nor the day before, nor the day before, nor the day before. But that wouldn’t stop me from checking. One day, I was sure, the numbers would magically shoot up overnight, and when that day came, I’d know as soon as they did.

Still, I'd made good progress over the months, and I was happy with where I was. I would destroy the Ruby who'd crash-landed on this planet all those months ago in a fight. I knew it beyond a doubt. And I'd stand a much better chance against Gyda, if we were to have a rematch. Though I was still a ways away from beating her.

With a sigh, I whisked away the screen from my eyes and finally slipped off the branch, landing on the ground with as much grace as I could manage in my sleepy state. I looked around for a moment, feeling like something was out of place, though I had no clue what.

My quick reconnaissance revealed a panther not too far from where I was, but the thing knew not to try me. It still nursed its burns from last night.

I gave it a little smile as our eyes met, and the thing shirked away in fear as I did. My face fell at its reaction – I’d been hoping it’d try its luck again. A nice morning spar was the best way to start the day, I'd found, but it seemed I was out of luck for now.

Brushing that aside, I realized I was famished, so I called out to Ren, since it was his turn to handle breakfast.

“Ren! Where’s-” I started, before suddenly catching myself, my brain fully waking up as that feeling of something missing finally clicked in my head.

Ren had slept in the branch above me, but I hadn’t seen him when I’d woken up. That hadn’t been too surprising, since he usually got up before me on his breakfast days, but usually, he was also already cooking something by the time I woke up. But today, he was nowhere to be seen, and a gut feeling told me his disappearance had to do with something more than a hunting trip.

I waited for a little while, just in case my gut was wrong, but half an hour later, he still wasn’t back. And, long as I’d been living in the forest, I didn’t trust my tracking skills enough to follow Ren’s footsteps without getting myself lost, even though I could make out where his path started. So instead, I went out hunting on my own, made quick work of a monkey and turned it into breakfast, before returning to camp to wait. I figured Ren would eventually find his way back from wherever he was, so all I had to do was wait. And I didn’t mind waiting all that much – a day lost in our journey would hardly make much of a difference, and I welcomed the chance to relax a little.

I waited for the greater part of the day, filling the hours with naps and occasional fights with passing animals. It was late evening when Ren finally broke through the edge of the clearing, stepping into the waning sunlight with a rustle that roused me from my fifth nap of the day.

I grinned as I saw him, but the retort I’d spent the day preparing for his return died in my throat when I saw his sunken expression. I slipped off my branch and landed on the ground, making my way over to him wordlessly. I stopped, almost subconsciously, three meters away from him, the range I’d come to learn was his preferred one. He often limited his range to that when he was exhausted or worn out, both of which he seemed to be today.

As I’d expected, he seemed to only notice me once I stepped into that range, and he offered up a small, weak smile at me as he did. His face was pale, devoid of color and almost of life. He leaned heavily on his sheathed sword. He'd taken to using it as a walking stick, presumably out of habit since he rarely ever needed it. Today seemed to be an exception, though.

I raised a questioning eyebrow at him as he looked at me, and he shook his head in response.

“Sorry about vanishing on you,” he said.

I waved away his apology. “Never mind that. What’s up with you? Something wrong?”

Ren gave a wry chuckle at that. “Did you know…” he began, before trailing off. He stood up a little straighter then, his eyes fluttering open as he gave me a look. A strange light glimmered in his glossy eyes. “Did you know it's been almost a year since we met?”

It took me a moment to respond to that, since it was about the last thing I was expecting to hear from him. But my brain ran the calculations and realized, quickly enough, that it had indeed been almost a year since the day we’d met. “Huh,” I said. “I guess it has.”

Ren smiled. “Well, assuming that the days here are as long as the days on Earth, anyway.”

I nodded again, still unsure of where he was going with this.

“Anyway,” he started again, “I, uh, just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna go for like a week or so, k? I need a little time alone right now. This part of the year is a little…special for me. You don’t have to wait here, though. You can keep following the map. I’ll find you on my own once…once I’m ready.” Ren paused again, looking more conflicted and genuine than I’d ever seen before. “I’m sorry about this. I’d explain more, if I could. I’m sure I will, one day. But-”

“Ren,” I said, cutting him off softly. “I understand. You don’t have to explain yourself. And don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself for a week or two. Go, do what you need to. Take care of yourself, however it is that you have to.”

Ren softened at my words, the worry lining his face easing just a little. “Thanks,” he said, breathing out a little. “I guess…I’ll be seeing you around then.”

I nodded and gave him a smile. “I guess you will. See ya.”