"Happy birthday, sweetie! This is my gift for you."

I received a dagger from my mother as a present for my tenth birthday.

"Can I open it?" I eagerly asked.

She handed me a long purple box adorned with a beautiful red ribbon that asked to be ripped away.

"Of course. You can open it, sweetie," she responded with a warm smile, granting me permission.

I hastily untied the ribbon and lifted the lid of the box. Inside lay a unique and beautiful dagger. It was marvelous, shining as brightly as my eyes witnessing it.

"This is my favorite weapon, sweetie. I called it 'Purple Night'. I consider it my magnum opus. It's an incredibly powerful dagger; it's indestructible, just like a divine weapon, and I've imbued it with one of my most powerful spells," she informed.

I gazed at the dagger with even more astonishment, literally drooling as I admired its form.

"I want you to have it, sweetie," she softly said.

"Can I really?!" I almost screamed; I just couldn't believe it.

She mischievously chuckled, seeing an opportunity to tease me. "Only if you give mom a strong hug."

I immediately jumped at her, giving her the longest and warmest hug someone could ever imagine. "Thanks, mom! It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, still clinging to her.

After some moments, I calmed down.

"Why don't you give it a try, sweetie?"

Carefully, I lifted the dagger, still resting in the box. It was surprisingly light, I could move it around swiftly and with deadly precision.

"You look beautiful with it, sweetie!" she remarked, causing me to blush.

"Wait... you said you imbued one of your spells in it?" I suddenly noticed.

She chuckled. "You were paying attention, hmm? Do you want to know it?"

"But what do you mean with it, though? Only you can use your own spell. And what do you mean with 'imbued'? You can imbue your spells?" I tilted my head.

She playfully brought her finger to her lips, pressing it gently. "That's a secret."

I pouted. "That's not fair, mom. Always with your secrets..."

She kept smiling, gently caressing my head. "Listen carefully, Argenta. This spell is not to be taken lightly. It's incredibly dangerous. You must use it only, and I repeat, only when absolutely necessary. It possesses immense power and could harm you as well. Once you pronounce it, you must never release the grip until its conclusion. Is that clear?"

I listened intensely, absorbing all of her words. Then, I nodded, ready for her to continue. Her gaze was fixed on me.

"The spell is..."

...

"And I lost it?!"

My mind was going crazy, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"I did put it back in my pocket! It must've fallen out when I was falling... My dagger!"

I fell to my knees, desperation taking over me as I watched the Envokers' headquarters from afar.

"No, no, no... Wait, let's think about it. There must be a way to retrieve it!"

I tried to think of a solution. My mind set in motion all of its gears trying to find a way amidst the chaos, squeezing my head as if I were trying to squeeze juice out of it in search of a viable solution. However, as I kept analyzing, my fragile castle of ideas kept crumbling down, collapsing all over me, just like my tears falling on the ground.

"There isn't!" I blinked at the realization. "I can't think of anything! I don't know where it fell, but I can't go there because of the guards. And they may have already found it. And I don't know where they'll take it. Either way... I can't reach for it... I can't retrieve it... I can't retrieve it..."

I punched the ground.

"Stupid!"

I punched the ground repeatedly.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. STUPID!"

I kept punching the ground relentlessly until my knuckles were raw, the skin shredded away in painful abrasions. But it didn't matter. I deserved all of that pain. There was no remedy to my mistake.

"How could you... How could you be so stupid, Argenta?!"

I cursed myself.

"Idiot... You idiot. How could you? How..."

I brought my hands over my face. I was exasperated, raking my nails across my own face. Blood from the earlier strikes now streaming down my arms, staining my face as I tried to wipe the tears away.

"Mom... mom, I'm so sorry..."

I crouched down, my forehead meeting the cold stone.

"I lost it... I'm so sorry..."

My breath came out ragged and tired. I was exhausted, my body so drained of strength to the point that every breath required effort, slowly forcing me to calm down.

After a while, I finally got back up on my feet, releasing a heavy, weary sigh; it felt like my soul left my mouth along with it. "I have to go back to my guild..."

Concealing my face once again with my cloak, I slowly redirected myself along the path towards my guild. I kept my gaze down, ashamed of myself as I dragged my feet along. I had failed my mother, losing her most cherished weapon. How could I even look at myself in the mirror? I should've spat at my own reflection.

"Hey girl, what happened to you?" a voice from the shadows asked; it was referring to me.

"Move," I ordered.

It really wasn't my day. Nobody was around, and yet, a drunk appeared on this deserted road, pointing an empty bottle at me and blocking my path.

"Y-you! You're covered in blood! What happened?" his voice was shaky.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Move."

"I-I can't let you go when you're bleeding like this, girl. Let me see," he insisted as he approached me.

As soon as he tried to grab my arm, I intercepted it, seizing his wrist. With a fluid rotation of my entire body, I delivered a decisive kick to his neck, sending him crashing to the ground. Dead on the spot.

I sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Moving on and returning on my apparently arduous quest to reach my guild, I eventually, and finally arrived at its entrance, only to find two guards blocking it.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Halt! Who goes there?" one of them questioned, raising a sword.

"Fuck... Luck is really not on my side today. I don't have my capelet with me, so I can't prove I'm part of the guild... Do I have to fight again?" I pondered as they stared at me.

Hesitantly, I removed my cloak to show my face, hoping for a positive reaction. "I'm Argenta, a member of the guild."

"Ah, Lady Argenta! Welcome back. Leonard briefed us about you. Please forgive us, it was not our intention to stop you," he replied, lowering the weapon.

Well, color me surprised. At least something went well...

I sighed, and I immediately threw myself onto the bed, my skin still stained with my own blood, but I couldn't care less about it. I closed my eyes, hoping it was all just a bad dream, but I knew too well it wasn't. Yet, I just wanted to sleep. I didn't want to think about anything. Nothing mattered but my failure, which I didn't want to confront anymore...

... In the morning, a knock on my door woke me up.

"I'm Leonard, may I come in?" I could hear from outside.

"Yes..." I mumbled, burying myself deeper under the covers so that the kind of mess I was could not be seen.

He opened the door, speaking to me from the doorway. "I've heard reports of your doings. Quite chaotic, I daresay."

"The bastard was still awake."

"I see. Are you injured? It's nearly midday, and you're still in bed," he questioned. The sun was already high, indeed.

"I'm just sleepy, he did nothing to me," I hastily responded.

"Hm. Well, regardless, you did a splendid job. I'm not sure what you did exactly, but your target is dead and they're now looking for a 'robust man in white clothes'. You've earned yourself a spot in the Double-S dungeon, Lady Argenta. Keep up the good work. I'll leave you to rest now. Take care," he informed, closing the door behind him.

"... Eh?"

What Leonard told me completely threw me out of my drowsiness, my eyes wide open.

"They could see it...?"

My mind was trying to make sense of what I just heard.

"Maybe because it was the spell...?"

Yet, the pieces of the puzzle refused to fit together in my mind. Turning restlessly in bed, I found myself staring blankly at the ceiling, letting out a weary sigh.

"Ever since I arrived in this city, my world has been completely turned upside down... First, I die and lose my ability to see the demons, only to discover a new one that can touch me. Then, that demon also disappears. Now I lost my mother's dagger because my target was still awake and I had to use my new spell, which summons that white demon that nobody could see. And now, for some reason, they can see it?"

I rolled onto my side, finding myself mentally tired.

"I don't understand shit..." I murmured to myself.

"I'm nothing like my mother..."

As I kept loathing myself, a low growl emanated from my stomach reminded me of my primary needs. Even though I didn't feel like it, I had to eat. And so, unwillingly, I dragged myself out of bed, washing away the mess I was; my hands throbbed with pain, even the simple act of flexing my fingers was agony. Then, before exiting my room, my eyes suddenly caught sight of my capelet, adorned with the Abyss Reavers' insignia.

"Well, might as well," I murmured, wearing it before heading out.

In the kitchen: Joey, once again. He was all alone, preparing lunch.

"Hi," I greeted as I entered.

"Hey, goo-! W-what happened to your hands?!" he bolted out.

"Nothing, Joey. Please just ignore it," I replied, trying to downplay the situation.

"H-how could I ignore it?! We have to treat it! I have ointment in my backpack, wait here."

"Joey..." my words reached no one as he had already gone off somewhere. I sighed. It was not my plan to make him worry. I literally just wanted to eat...

After a while, he returned, letting me sit on a chair, while he carefully and meticulously tended to my injured hands with ointment and bandages.

"What happened?" he asked me; I could see he was concerned.

I pondered on what to say. I wanted to share my pain, not because misery loves company, but because I acknowledged the failure that I am and I wanted to let it out.

"Joey, I... I lost my weapon," I painfully admitted.

"Your weapon? You mean the knife?" he said.

I nodded. "I don't know what to do."

"This is a problem..." he pondered for a moment, his hand covering his mouth, before giving me an answer. "I know the tavern has a lost and found, but your dagger is truly unique. I'm not sure you'll find it there. Where did you lose it? I can help."

"No, don't worry about it. Thanks, though."

"Are you sure?" he persisted. "I can help. Something happened, right? Is this why your hands are like this?"

I sighed. "Yes, Joey. I am sure. And I've already told you to ignore my hands. All I need right now is food."

He frowned, finally accepting my refusal. "Lunch is almost ready," he replied, finishing tending to my hands. "And this is done," he said with a reassuring smile, before returning to the food.

"Thanks," I murmured.

While he was cooking, I noticed that, today as well, nobody was around.

"Where are the others?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Leonard went out for some errands. Laura and Elizabeth will return for lunch. I had the chance to meet other members, but I don't know where they are right now," he replied.

Speaking of the devil, Laura and Elizabeth showed up mere seconds later. Elizabeth approached me, glancing at my hands; she asked no question about them, though.

"Lunch is ready!" Joey announced shortly after, the aroma of the food filling the room.

We all sat at the dining table. I would've liked to bring the food in my room and eat alone in my misery, but opted to stay with them; it would've been ugly leaving Joey after what he did for me.

"We met the leader on our way back. Looks like you'll be joining us in a Double-S dungeon," Elizabeth started.

"Really?!" Joey exclaimed, looking at me with surprise. "Wow, you're amazing, Argenta..."

"You still haven't met the rest of the members, have you, Argenta?" Laura asked me with a gentle tone.

I responded with a shake of my head.

"Don't worry, you'll have the chance to meet them before the dungeon expedition. We have five days to prepare, and most of them should return by then," she reassured me.

"I had the chance to meet Jerald yesterday, the one with the big shield," Joey shared. "He told me his girlfriend is also a member and that she's currently in Silveandria."

At Joey's words, Elizabeth's stare instantly turned serious. "Yes, that's right. She's there for training."

Now Joey was the one with the serious expression, and worried too.

"Um... what's happening?" I asked, bouncing my gaze between them, confused by the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Silveandria... it's currently a city in ruins," Elizabeth answered.

"I've heard about it. My father mentioned it a few days before we arrived here," Joey added. "It seems like a dungeon appeared around there and went unnoticed for too long. The monsters made their exit and, during the night, the city was razed to the ground. Now it's incredibly dangerous just to travel near those roads; numerous were the deaths."

"Yes, but that's not the only issue. The dungeon is yet to be discovered, nobody knows where it is, and judging by the monsters and their strength, it's classified as a triple-S dungeon. The more time it passes, the more those monsters will become stronger, and more will spawn from its inside. Reaching it seems impossible. The dungeon we will enter in five days will be extremely important for the guild; once we clear it, high chances are we will reach top three in the annual festival. The King is attempting to assemble the top three guilds to liberate Silveandria from the monsters, but He's currently holding off, likely due to the high cost of such an operation. So, for the moment, He's just requesting to eliminate the monsters that stray too far from the city," Elizabeth explained.

"Couldn't libromancers just use spells with wide area impact to kill the monsters?" I asked. Such a straightforward solution.

"It could be fairly easy with that, yes, but the priority is to save what's left of the city," she responded.

"It's terrible..." Joey commented, pursing his lips together. "All those homes... It's really horrible. I'm a bit confused, however. I thought nothing could escape dungeons above rank S."

"Monsters can. Everything else coming from this world can't," she clarified.

I nonchalantly sipped a glass of water as I listened to them continuing the conversation. They're people willing to worry about strangers' well-being, a sentiment that eludes me... Instead, I was more intrigued by the story itself...

"An entire city destroyed because of a dungeon... Interesting."

- - - - - - -

"A dungeon that laid waste to an entire city... Fascinating."

"How can you say such things?" I asked her.

"Hm? Don't you find it interesting?" she replied.

"Of course not! My spells are not even strong enough for these monsters! And what even are they? I've never seen them before!" I retorted.

"You just lack spells... that's why they're weak," she remarked with indifference.

"Hmph!" I pouted at her.

She stood over a tree, nonchalantly and unfazed, searching for the dungeon using a magical monocular.

"Ugh, I just wanna go back and see my boyfriend..." I confessed, with a little overly exaggerated sniff of sadness.

"Then go? I don't need you," she bluntly replied, hitting me right through the heart.

"How am I supposed to leave you when we're supposed to stay together like a team?! I'll come there and push you down!" I yelled at her.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. I turned around and what I saw was a gross, rounded, dark-blue monster charging towards me.

"Kyaa!" I screamed, cowering down and shutting my eyes.

I could hear a sigh coming from above, it was her. "You're so hopeless... Emarginferno."

An explosion unfolded, and then... silence. I slowly opened my eyes; the monster was gone, reduced to atoms, only smoke and ashes remained.

"Wow... so strong," I murmured. "Wait, that's not important! We have to get away from here! The monsters are here too now!"

I turned my gaze to her, a creepy smile playing on her lips. "I found it."

"Huh? You found the dungeon?" I asked.

"There are too many monsters crowded together, but I can see the stairs. It's underground. And... it has a star engraved on top of the entrance!" she exclaimed, excited.

"Huh? A star...?" I murmured.

"Hmm... yes. I don't know what that means. Oh, but I bet it's something special! Oh, I want to enter it! I want to!" she exclaimed before glancing at me. "If we can't, I might even change guild," she giggled.

"Huh?! Don't you even try! And now let's go back!" I shot back.

"You can go, I'll stay here some more," she dismissed me.

"Come down! I won't cover for you again! I don't wanna get scolded by Leonard again because of you!" I insisted.

"That's fine, I'll handle it," she persisted.

"Argh! You make me wanna punch the ground!"