Lyon POV:
“Uh... If I heard that right, you’re the disciple of Lord Zane?...”
Barrel stood a noticeable distance away from me now that the atmosphere had returned to normal. He scratched the back of his head, lowering it and then raising it in a struggle to decide if he should bow or not.
“That’s right. Treat me just the same.”
“A-ah, right! Thanks!”
His wide grin loosened the tension in his shoulders, and my gaze shifted to Terra, fanning her cheeks. She let out slow breaths, recomposing herself until the blood drained away from her face some minutes later.
“My Lady, it was nice to see Lord Zane again, wasn’t it?”
“G-gah!... Um... A-ah... Yes...”
Terra covered her mouth, unable to stop the blood from rushing to the surface once more. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and her gaze fell. It was quite a cute sight to watch, but I was concerned about Kana.
The moment the Pantheons had arrived, she hid her presence and disappeared somewhere behind the buildings surrounding the plaza. She only reappeared once she had confirmed that they had entered the dungeon.
“Kana! Zane was here earlier!”
Terra sprang to her feet and rushed over to Kana. A katana covered the distance before she could, stopping Terra in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
Terra’s head tilted to the side, observing Kana’s eyebrows curve inwards. They quivered, and her eyes refused to look at anyone; she seemed visibly upset about something.
“...You wouldn’t understand.”
She lowered her katana and took a seat on the bench. Terra pondered over her words for a while before sitting down beside her.
“So... When are we going to enter the dungeon?”
I glanced at Erick, who smirked at me before walking off with Ellen. He had finished the dungeon a while ago and seemed perfectly fine, besides the thick bandage wrapped around his neck.
“I think we should be fine now. 3 parties went in after Erick’s group and they all came out fine.”
Barrel nodded his head in agreement with my words. Despite it having an average completion time of 20 minutes, most parties cleared the dungeon within five.
“Are you both ready?”
“Yes!”
“...”
Kana’s fierce eyes stared at the ground in front of her as she opted to remain silent. If the Skyblades were close to the Pantheons, then it was logical to assume that the Hojo Clan also had a close relationship with them.
It was the same for the other 5 noble families of Efros. In one way or another, they would all have a connection with each other.
“Kana, what’s wrong?”
“...Just... Nothing... Let’s just get this over with... I need... To train...”
She bit her lip before getting up, consumed by her constant desire to breakthrough to Shin. I watched Kana walk ahead while Barrel trailed behind her. Terra gave Hubert a quick hug and ran after the others.
“Lady Kana’s condition is rather worrying, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, Master Lyon.”
I was going to tell him to drop the honorifics, but I knew he probably wouldn’t. I gazed at Kana’s lonely back that seemed to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“It’s related to my Master, isn’t it?”
Hubert folded his hands behind his back and stood perfectly straight.
“In a way, that is correct, Master Lyon. Since their youth, Lady Kana and Lord Zane were both said to hold an enormous level of talent that surpassed their forefathers. Lady Kana looked up to Lord Zane, and many expected her to be another pillar of Efros like he was touted to be.
However... She failed to live up to the expectations, and the gap between the two of them grew. It grew to the point that it was no exaggeration to say that Lord Zane is in a realm that Lady Kana may never come close to reaching.”
‘It makes more sense now.’
“The pressure was too much.”
Hubert nodded his head and let out a soft sigh. His gaze rested on Kana, who pressed the katana deep against her chest.
“Such enormous talent crushed by the weight of expectations. It is why she cannot bear for Lord Zane to see her in such a sad state.”
Terra and Barrel turned around to wave me over.
“Thank you for letting me know, Hubert.”
“Of course, Master Lyon.”
He bowed his head, and I caught up with the others. We reached the dungeon entrance, where a few soldiers were standing guard. They moved to the side, giving us entry, and a flash of light appeared around us.
‘Let’s end this quickly.’
***
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“Party Formation.”
Terra fanned out her fingers once we arrived in the safe zone area. It looked exactly the same as before; the faint multi-coloured glow emanating from the stained glass provided enough light to see our surroundings clearly.
[Terror Skyblade has invited you to join her party.]
[Accept/Decline.]
I tapped the blue ‘Accept’ button and immediately saw everyone’s HP and KP in the corner of my vision.
“Should we also view each other’s information?”
Barrel seemed keen to see what skills everyone had, but Kana’s mood was already bad enough. If he were to say something careless, she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him.
“...I don’t want to.”
As expected, she distanced herself away from the group. I saw the concern and worry on Terra’s face as she observed Kana’s condition. She shuffled towards Barrel and whispered.
“Barrel, now’s not a good time...”
He scratched the back of his head, understanding that he had misread the situation again. But Barrel was a curious person. He turned to face me, and I splayed my hand, revealing my information to everyone in the party.
“Huh?... Uhh... Lyon? What... Is this?”
I raised an eyebrow, confused by his expression of perplexity. First Kana, now Barrel. It was strange. Even Terra’s eyebrows crumpled together; her small hand rested against her chin, examining the floating window in front of her.
“Umm... Why is it blank?”
“What...?”
‘Status Window.’
I pulled up the window myself to better understand the situation. My eyes instantly narrowed at what was being displayed on the screen.
[Name: Lyon Asphalios
Age: 16 Gender: Male
Title: ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
• ???
Ki Stage: Irini?
Skills: ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???...
???]
“What is this?”
Terra and Barrel both looked at me with concerned eyes. I fanned my fingers out, dispelling and recalling the status window multiple times, but nothing changed.
“Well... It’s not blank anymore, but all of your information is hidden?”
Barrel cocked his head to the side when Kana got to her feet and walked toward us. She splayed her hand and summoned my status window, only to see the same thing everyone else was seeing.
“Why did it change?”
“You saw it before?”
Barrel questioned Kana, who now stood in front of the group.
“I saw some of Oddjob’s information yesterday. We went to the same dungeon tutorial.”
“Okay, okay, so what exactly does this mean then? Since when did the system have the ability to forcefully hide our information?”
Barrel sat on the floral pattern covering the ground, trying to make sense of the situation. I called up the status windows of the other party members, receiving permission to see if there were any noticeable differences.
[Name: Terra Skyblade
Age: 18 Gender: Female
Title: The Skyblade Princess
• Peerless Talent of the Sky (Sealed)
• Adorable Bookworm
Ki Stage: Uso
Skills: ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???...
Loving, adorable and sweet. A young woman who struggles to socialize well with others, but has a heart purer than most.]
‘Terra’s skills are also hidden? So, it isn’t just me then.’
I turned my attention to Barrel, and another status window flickered in front of me.
[Name: Barrel Slodiere
Age: 17 Gender: Male
Title: Encyclopedia
• Book Lover
Ki Stage: Uso
Skills: ???, ???, ???, ???, ???...
A young man who is curious about the world around him. He loves reading books and has a particular interest in the lives of monsters.]
“It’s not just me. Everyone check your own status windows.”
They nodded their heads, and several light blue windows floated in front of them. Kana’s facial expression contorted into one of pure rage, so I checked her information before she had an outburst.
[Name: Kana Hojo
Age: 18 Gender: Female
Title: Heir to the Hojo Clan?
• Prodigy of Nothing
• Fractured Flower of the East
Skills: Hojo?, Talent?, ???, ???, ???, ...
Cold, distant, and demanding. A person who will never unlock the depths of her true power.]
‘...’
The veins on Kana’s forehead popped, and her katana sliced the floating window in half. Her eyes flashed red, forcing Terra and Barrel to back away from her.
[You have entered the Tower of Spiralling Despair.]
I grabbed Kana’s arm, but she smacked it away without looking in my direction. She sheathed her white blade and we all stared at the flashing blue window that had arrived later than usual, almost as if it deliberately waited for things to reach this point.
“We should leave. This doesn’t feel right.”
Terra and Barrel agreed with my assessment. We turned around to summon a gate that would take us out of the dungeon, only for another light blue window to flash in front of our eyes.
[Leaving from the Safe Zone is prohibited in the Tower of Spiralling Despair.]
My eyebrows furrowed, but Kana’s lips spread into a crazy smile.
“Yes... This is better.”
She stepped forward and cracked her knuckles. There was no choice but to clear the dungeon in the end. We all approached the gate; its white whirlpool of light giving us no option but to step through it.
We stood in the middle of a gigantic cave that was lined with thick stalagmites protruding out of the ceiling and ground. They formed razor-sharp edges, reflecting off some of the ambient light that came from behind us.
I was about to open the map, but a red window popped into my vision. It shook about, grabbing my complete attention.
[A penalty has been applied to your party due to a previous violation of the dungeon rules. The dungeon difficulty will now be adjusted accordingly.]
“W-what? Wasn’t the whole point of going in late to avoid this exact scenario??!”
Barrel shouted over the loud rumbling sound of what appeared to be the dungeon itself, shaking. Several stalagmites fell. They pierced through the air, penetrating the rocky earth in an upright position.
A flash of red light swept over the cave.
A deafening explosion rocked the area further, summoning dust clouds that took a minute or two to clear. A floating window appeared over a tall, muscular silhouette; its two eyes glowed in the darkness.
[Floor Boss: Orc Leader]
The shadow peeled away, revealing sticky green skin that was only covered by loose clothes around its privates. It took a single step forward, and that was enough to shake the entire cave once more.
The Orc’s eyes flashed red; its lips spreading into a wide smirk. Its gaze swept over Terra’s body multiple times before a wet tongue ran over thin lips.
‘!’
I saw Terra still trying to look at its status window when I dashed forward. The Orc Leader arrived seconds after I did; his fist tore through the air, and my body stiffened.
The Mark of a Pantheon didn’t respond to my call.
The Orc Leader’s fist flew towards me in slow motion. If I dodged, Terra would get hit. If I parried, I wasn’t sure if I could withstand its power. I took the best course of action, taking it head-on to make sure Terra would be alright.
I clenched my teeth and raised my Ki Armour to the limit, only for the world around me to abruptly spin upside down.
‘What?’
The force of the blow had crushed through my guard as if it didn’t exist. It made me literally bounce off the rock-hard ground, catapulting me toward the daggers of stalagmites that lined the top of the cave. A trail of blood left my nose before I snapped out of my surprise.
‘...’
My eyes narrowed, and I ignored the pain from my broken arm. I spun in the air, launching my foot squarely against the Orc’s jaw. It crashed into the nearby wall, giving me enough time to land and grab Terra by the waist. I threw her towards Barrel, who manipulated the earth to catch her from a distance.
“Lyon!! Behind you!!”
His desperate warning was appreciated, but there was no need. The Orc’s fist slid past my face, failing to hit its target when my shin crashed into its elbow, blasting its entire body back into the darkness of the cave.
That’s what should have happened.
However, the moment I turned around, I was forced to raise my guard. I angled it, ready to disperse as much of the Orc’s power as I could, but its giant fist crushed my face into the ground.
‘Ugh...’
He wriggled his foot down on my head, and my consciousness began to fade. My mind moved faster than my current body could keep up with, resulting in disharmony and sloppy movements. My senses were a mess, failing to keep track of the Orc Leader’s simple movements multiple times.
He took advantage of those openings, and now I was paying for my oversight. Master had warned me beforehand, but to think it would be this crippling...
“Hojo Style:...”
Everything went pitch black as I heard Kana’s angry voice drift into my ears.