Sakura trees swayed in the warm breeze, their light pink peddles floating down the vibrant green hills. Houses were scattered along a calm river, meandering through a valley and cutting through a bustling village. Villagers migrated through the small buildings as children ran with handmade kites that soared through the air.

Behind a house in a grassy field, a dark-haired woman with ocean blue eyes, around her early thirties, soaked clothes in a tub of soapy water. Squeezing the water from a blouse back into the tub, she grabbed a couple of clothespins to hang it on a line above her.

A small bell on her hip jingled as a gentle wind brushed against it. She continued with her chores, softly humming a tune to herself as a figure prowled behind her. Its blue predatory eyes had locked onto its prey, its hunched posture an indicator it was preparing to pounce.

As it made its silent approach, the woman paused her chores and her humming stopped abruptly as if sensing its presence, a smirk playing on her lips. As the figure launched its surprise attack, she sidestepped to her left, causing the figure to narrowly miss its target and skid across the grass.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Fuyumi." the woman snickered.

Fuyumi's forehead wrinkled in frustration as she eyed the bell on the woman's hip. She watched as the woman casually squeezed the water from a shirt back into the tub. The young girl glanced at a dried white dress that hung from the line, a thought popping into her head.

She snatched the dress down, tossing it over the tub of water. The once composed woman now had a look of shock, baffled by the child's audacity. Dashing over, she caught the dress as a tip of its fabric tapped the water's surface, producing a gentle ripple. Capitalizing on the new opening, Fuyumi rushed to her side with an outstretched hand. Just as her finger was mere inches away from the bell, the woman smirked as she twirled the wet shirt in her other hand and swatted the back of Fuyumi's hand.

𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘱!

"Ow!" she yelped, reflexively retracting her now reddened hand.

"Such a dirty trick young lady. But that won't work either." the woman shot her a smug yet playful smile.

Fuyumi gritted her teeth, her frustration only growing as she dashed forward again. In a graceful display of agility, the woman evaded her every attempt at stealing the bell. As Fuyumi grew more desperate, she began weaving in kicks into her assault in hopes of throwing her off balance but to no avail. The woman easily blocked and parried everything she threw before catching her wrist and using her momentum to redirect her off to the side. Fuyumi stumbled momentarily as the woman hung the dress back in its original place, continuing to hum to herself.

Finally, the child had enough and recklessly charged in, arms wide for a tackle. The woman casually took a couple of steps back, causing Fuyumi to whiz past her. Unable to stop herself, her momentum sent her tumbling over the tub's edge, collapsing face-first into the soapy water.

𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩!

The woman placed a hand in front of her mouth, failing to stifle a giggle as Fuyumi scrambled out of the tub completely soaked and her head covered in foam.

"No fair, mom!" She pouted, spacing her drenched arms apart and hunching over so her shirt wouldn't stick to her.

"Oh? And trying to ruin my dress is?" her mother looked at her with a raised brow.

Fuyumi whipped her arms in an attempt to shake the soap and water off.

"It's not like it was gonna get dirty..." she pouted as she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length silver hair, removing the liquid soap in the process.

Her mother swung the wet shirt she had in her hands over the line before approaching her daughter.

"Give me your hand, dear."

Her soft voice was soothing, enough to make Fuyumi's frustration dissipate. She held out her hand as her mother placed the bell in her palm. Confusion crossed her face as her mother assisted in removing the remaining bubbles from her hair. Before Fuyumi could question her, she answered while cupping her daughter's cheek.

"Go clean yourself up. Afterward, we'll grab lunch together at your favorite place, yeah?" she smiled softly.

Fuyumi's face lit up in an instant.

"Okay!" she beamed before scurrying back through the house's sliding back door.

Fuyumi's eyes blinked open, her vision blurry. She groaned, sliding her hands under her and pushing herself up to one knee. As her vision cleared, she excitedly scanned her surroundings in hopes of finding her mother. However, she was met with disappointment as the glitter bulbs dotting the cavern's walls, slightly illuminating the massive tree root she stood on, brought her back to reality. Her once hopeful expression evaporated, replaced with gloom as she realized it was only a dream.

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Shaking her head to regain focus, she looked over the edge to find numerous roots protruding from the stone walls, twisting into the ground below, making nice platforms for a safe descent. She patted her belt but found an empty sheath and sighed, figuring she'd dropped her dagger after using it to slow her fall.

She examined herself, stretching to test if she was in pain. Fortunately, cuts and bruises were the only injuries she sustained. She then made her careful descent, leaping from one root to another until reaching the bottom.

𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩!

The glitter bulbs scattered here and there didn't offer much light but it was just enough for her to see what she'd landed in. Splotches of green covered the ground. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she surveyed the open cavern. Shriveled-up bodies littered the stone floor as if they'd been mummified, the calling card of a bloodhound.

She recalled the first pit the group encountered before. She'd suspected a few philorium sacks had been triggered before they'd arrived. These kobolds probably tried ambushing what they'd trapped down here.

She carefully stepped over the corpses scanning the ground but the only weapons she could find were broken spears.

'It's gotta be here somewhere.'

After several minutes of searching the area, she found a familiar shape in the distance. Walking toward it, the blue glow of her surroundings reflected off the dagger's blade.

As she reached down to grab it, she stopped halfway. Something had caught her eye. Just as what they'd witnessed on their way to the dungeon, there was a minuscule amount of red blood scratched into the wall beside the dagger. Her gaze then followed a trail of blood down the vast cavern. She then turned back to the corpses the monster had left behind as the situation became clear.

'A bloodhound is down here with us,' she determined, a spark of anger flickering in her eyes. 'I guess with the kobolds numbers it was bound to get injured.'

As she retrieved her dagger and returned it to its sheath, a thought popped into her head. She glanced back at the incalculable amount of corpses left behind. If kobolds made their way down here, that would mean she could reach the exit from her position. But something else was nagging at the corner of her mind.

Monsters who were native to these parts would know the dungeon's interior like the back of their hands, but an outsider? She was almost certain that the bloodhound trapped down here was still lurking. And if any of her comrades were unfortunate enough to find themselves running into a ruthless beast like a bloodhound, it would end with their deaths. Even a single bloodhound could easily match an A-rank, such as Kateshi, in combat. With this in mind, a new priority formulated in her mind.

Her gaze traced the blood from the wall down the cavern as she began marching toward its owner.

'I'll regroup later.'

In another part of the cave system, Yakeru found himself trapped in a large chamber when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Yakeru?!" the voice echoed through the massive cavern. "Where are you?! Shout if you can hear me!"

Hope glimmered in his eyes as he remained trapped.

"...Aoi...?!" he strained. "...I'm over here...!"

Soon he began to hear hurried footsteps approaching and the silhouette of a person emerged through the glitter bulbs' soft glow.

"...over here...!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!"

The figure climbed over heaps of debris before eventually reaching the bloodied swordsman.

"Are you okay?" she gasped as she kneeled beside his battered body.

"Yeah...just need some healing..."

"Of course."

With a worried expression, she looked him over a second time. He was riddled with burns, gashes, and bruises. Blood oozed out from wounds that were too severe to close on their own. To make matters worse, the boulder on his leg could've crushed his bones. Even if she were to free him from the boulder's grasp and heal him, he wouldn't be able to walk. She stood to her feet and drew the wand holstered on her hip.

"Hold on, I'll set you free," she said infusing her wand.

Radiance gathered around the tip of her wand before she fired a single round at the boulder.

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬...

A small crack had barely formed in the rock. Although she primarily trained her radiance to heal she wasn't ignorant to its other uses. Firing off small blasts of radiance would be quite handy when venturing into uncharted territory, even if she wasn't as strong as her fellow teammates. She fired again.

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘤𝘬...

'One more should do it.'

She shut her eyes as radiance swirled around her wand before firing once more.

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮! 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘤𝘬!

The fracture had finally split the boulder into two slabs. She scrambled to the smaller chunk that had broken off and tucked her fingers underneath it. Summoning every ounce of strength, her body trembled as she lifted with all her might, her face turning beet red and her veins bulging in her forehead. The stone scaped against the floor, producing a dry screech that echoed through the room. Freeing his leg, she scrambled to his side, panting.

"...thanks, Aoi."

"Please refrain from speaking."

After catching her breath she raised her wand and traced an invisible circle over the injured swordsman. He glanced back and instead of the amber-colored radiance he was used to seeing, soft green orbs of light accumulated around her wand and floated down to him. His wounds gradually healed as they caressed his skin. His burn marks and bruises faded while his wounds mended. Soon the agonizing pain from before had disappeared, enabling him to finally flip himself over and sit up straight.

"Wow Aoi..." he said in amazement as he examined his once-wounded arms. "Thank you so much!"

Aoi tried to respond but instead broke into a fit of wet coughs. Blood trickled from the corners of her mouth as she collapsed on her hands and knees, still coughing.

"Woah! Are yo-ouch!"

As he moved to help her up, a torrent of pain shot through his leg. It didn't take long for it to subside, however. He was almost certain it was broken, even after receiving her aid.

Yakeru returned his attention to her as she continued to cough into her palm.

"Hey, are you okay?!"

"Y...Yes...I'm just a little fatigued is all." she removed her hand to reveal her palm now painted red. "As you can imagine, I've suffered a few injuries myself and had to heal. I've already exhausted so much of my reserves so I can't fully heal you. My apologies."

He shook his head.

"You've already done more than enough, thank you."

Now that he could think straight with most of the pain gone, he recalled the rest of the team.

"I'm guessing you didn't find anyone else down here?"

"I didn't. Hopefully, they didn't find themselves in the same predicament."

"Yeah, hopefully," he pulled out his talisman, its faint glow grabbing her attention.

"Is that a talisman tracker by chance?"

"Yeah, it'll let us know if Fuyumi or Kenji are nearby. But for now, let's rest up."