Ace felt tears gently pouring out of his eyes. He checked the sensation of his tears, but he could only look down, recalling all his memories of her.

"Ahh, to think you would see me in such a state." Ace spoke up.

"We can take a long break here if needed," Darklin replied. He watched as Ace's eyes slowly drifted elsewhere until eventually, his sights landed on Luna's belongings.

"Let's do that." Ace said in an empty tone.

Trying to give Ace some time to recover, Darklin decided to simply rest beside him, notifying him that Ace should wake him up the moment he feels ready to continue the rest of the dungeon.

Ace paid attention to Luna's robe, noticing signs of multiple stabs and slashes amongst the fabric. Excluding his attacks, Ace could see that Luna died fighting the King but didn't know what to make of it. He had already concluded that Regis was the killer, yet he continued to stare at the robe silently, with no drive or motivation to do anything. At the same time, he felt that his distractions from thinking about Luna had been lifted.

'At least I can let the thought of you surviving go...'

After staring at Luna's former belongings, Ace eventually went ahead and picked up her magic bag. It contained what the other Heroes carried - long-life rations, a pouch of gold, a variety of potions - but most importantly, her former personal items. Upon closer inspection he noticed a written diary inside her bag.

"...I wonder what she wrote." He picked up the book and flipped to a random page.

"It's nice to see your writing again." Ace said with a small smile.

There were several parts of her diary, one titled "20XX," then a new section titled "Time in Alterea," and the last one titled "Regrets." Ace flipped through the pages and read what some of the contents in the diary.

Day 1 - A World Believed To Be Fantasy

It was a normal day at school, fourth period. It was my final class of the day, and I was excited to meet Ace at the library, as always. However, the excitement was short-lived when everyone experienced a nauseous sensation. I tried my best to move until it hit me - this must be how everyone disappeared. My thoughts were correct. A magical circle appeared, and suddenly, everyone was teleported in front of King Regis and a group of Paladins. I realized there was a reason why no one had returned from the 'disappearances,' and finally, I knew why. Although I had concerns for my class, I thought of Ace and wondered how he would react.

Day 2 - Glorified Pawns

The King stated that everyone was going to be trained as heroes for his war in exchange for going home once we grabbed what he wanted - the Dragon Stones. I knew they were our ticket out, but at the same time, I also knew that not everyone here would survive in this world, no matter how hard they trained. Already, I knew the King saw us as disposable. Luckily enough, my stats were high enough to be one of the class mages. I wanted to learn a variety of spells where I could learn a spell to leave this world. Hopefully, that day would come without the need for these so-called Dragon Stones.

Day 34 - The Class Split

Our class was split in half - one half was to help with the ongoing war, and the other half was to help with the dungeon exploration in hopes of finding relics to aid ourselves for the war. From what I've read from the books my trainer, Ophelia, has given me, what Regis wants is one of the masterwork items by Artes. Whether it's somewhere in this dungeon or somewhere else, that is our current goal.

Day 53 - News

We heard successful news of the war from our friends, winning multiple skirmishes against the enemy kingdoms. Part of me wished that I was on the front lines. I can boldly claim that my strength should speed up the process of going home, but at the same time, King Regis seems to be hiding something from us. Ophelia told me that she was going out on a secretive mission to investigate the underground chambers of the kingdom. From what I'd known, she and a few others do not approve of Regis' methods of running this kingdom and wanted to see what he was hiding in these tunnels. She told me that she was supposed to leave to join the front lines, but feigned her departure in hopes of doing her investigation. I wished her luck before her departure.

Day 60 - Ophelia

For some reason, I have yet to hear from Ophelia. She has not returned for a few days. From what she had told me before she left, she could feel something big deep underground where several Holy Knights bring numerous slaves and peasants every few days. I want to investigate myself, but security around the Kingdom is quite difficult. The number of guards roaming around the area is already too high. Today, we already passed floor 40, but without the second half of our class, dungeon progression is quite slow.

Day 70 - The Dragon Orb

After making my way through the dungeon alone, I stumbled upon a Dragon Core just waiting to be used. As I read about the many possibilities of this core, I realized that such an item could be our downfall. Although I wanted to use it for our own gain, I worried about what the King would do with it. With no time left, the Holy Knights were already nearing my location. I knew they were going to present the relic to the King if I did not act. However, they might take it off me if I tried to harness its power after all, Regis started the war to retrieve these special stones. To prevent both negative outcomes, I chose to block passage to the room, blaming it on a sacred dungeon trap. I did not tell them that I had found the relic and lied that there was only typical jewelry. I cannot allow such power to fall into the hands of a selfish King. I've memorised the location of this orb and when the time is right I'll go back to retrieve it for my own.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Day 73 - Her Death

The Paladins came to me and reported that Ophelia was dead. However, their story did not add up. They claimed that she died in the war, but I knew she was on a special mission. What did she find in the chambers? Why did she die? Whatever the King is hiding, I have to ensure that my class is safe. I could only grieve quietly and wish to return home. But at this rate, I can only feel everyone's concern for our friends on the front lines. The only thing I can do for Ophelia is to finish what she started.

Day 90 - News from the Front

Our friends have managed to take hold of a fortress near the borders of the enemy kingdoms. Once they establish themselves and hold this strategic position, we can take the first Dragonstone. The moment they establish a teleport point, we can go there instantly. However, it will take some time for such a device to construct. I fear that if things go our way, it will still take at least two years to go home.

Although this is good news, I want to note my findings from the deep chambers. I tried to peek through with dimension magic, but teleporting there is out of the question. The place has sealed any use of surveillance magic, and the only thing I found was that they often transport random peasants or slaves into the underground, all blindfolded and tied up. I wonder what this is about. However, my little secret mission must be postponed as tomorrow we will be heading into the dungeon.

So far, we have only reached floor 70. The King has been exploring with us for the past few days, alongside his two Holy Knights. I know I have to keep my guard up at all times.

That was the last chapter Luna had written. Ace flipped through the many pages of her diary and saw little notes here and there, but what stood out was a page with his name on it.

"Ace's Chance of Teleporting in This World.

1/3795 High Schools.

The odds of Ace teleporting to this world are very slim. I doubt he would appear here, but if he did, I would have to be cautious. I wouldn't want to accidentally fight against him if he were fighting for another kingdom. Still, I'll make sure to find him if he does come here, although I shouldn't let my naivety get the best of me. However, the chances of him arriving here are low. (What am I thinking writing this here?)

"That girl, writing that little note in brackets." Ace chuckled.

Ace flipped to the next page, still saddened by the news of Luna's death, but he wanted to hear her voice through her writing one last time. He found a page with information about each Dragonstone that Luna had confirmed.

* The Flerea Kingdom = Fire Dragonstone

* Aegis Empire = Ice Dragonstone

* The Hagi Kingdom = Water Dragonstone

* The Cromor Kingdom = Wind Dragonstone

* The Alinia Kingdom = ???

* Sacred Dungeon = Dark Dragon Stone

There might be more Dragonstones in various dungeons, but until we are free from the King's grasp, we will have to be extra careful.

"That's because the final key is in the dark territory." Ace replied back to Luna's last sentence.

Finally, Ace flipped to the last section of Luna's diary titled "Regrets." As the title suggests, it listed Luna's regrets before her death.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I died before finding a way back home. There are too many variables that can lead to both my and my class's death. I can die at any given moment, but there would be things that I'd be forced to leave behind if I do. These are the regrets I will carry to the grave. Not everyone is going to survive in the war, even with my strength. I will have only two regrets if I happen to fall into this world: the failure in going home with my class and not being able to see Ace one last time.

"I wish I had more time to spend with Ace so he could find his own happiness. But I'm afraid he will have to do it without me. If only I could find a way back, I wouldn't have to carry this concern of mine. Writing in this little diary is the only way I can stay sane. If only I had enough time to help Ace, my life would have some meaning in changing his."

Ace stared at the contents of Luna's regrets about him in silence, not even letting out a word of thought. He looked at the slash marks at Luna's robes again and muttered.

"Regis... The reason why Luna is dead."

Taking a deep breath he gathered strength in his hand forming a fist before releasing the tension as he breathed out.

"No... I'll have to stay calm. Killing him would be a big distraction."

Ace let out a depressed sigh before proceeding to look through Luna's other items in her bag. In addition to the diary, there was also a photo book and an instant film camera in her inventory.

Flipping once again through the contents of the photobook, he found numerous photos of Luna smiling with her friends. The book itself was only a quarter filled, with the last photo showing him and Luna smiling together.

He took the last photo of himself and Luna for himself before putting back all her belongings into her magic bag.

Ace felt a hollow sensation in his chest. He looked down at himself until he accidentally nudged Darklin, who was resting.

"Right, I still have things to do here."

He stood up and gently tapped Darklin's sleeping body until he reacted.

"Get up, I'm ready to get to the surface."

"Understood... but are you sure?

"I'm alright now."

"I understand that, but..." When Darklin looked at Ace's eyes he held an approved expression before hopping onto Ace's shoulder. "Ok, let us proceed further."

Ace took a look at Darklin and smiled.

"If it weren't for you saving me, I probably would have never found out what happened to Luna. I can finally think clearly now. So, thanks."

"I only saved you to fulfill my duty."

"Haha, even still. We just have a common enemy to concentrate on now," Ace said with a focused expression.

"That is good to hear."

Both Ace and Darklin finally walked out of the room, becoming the first ones to have gone past floor 75, with only 25 more floors to go to be the first ones to complete the Sacred Dungeon.