It was the day before the dungeon run, and Kaiden had planned to spend it like every other off day—training by the stump. As he approached, though, he was surprised not to see Liana there. “Guess she had other plans,” he muttered, feeling a slight pang of disappointment. They’d been meeting up regularly, and he’d come to enjoy the practice sessions with her.

Still, he wasn’t about to waste the day. Taking a breath, he held up his hand and cast Healing Touch on the stump, a faint glow of green mana seeping into the wood as he activated Arcane Vision. The runes flickered and pulsed, shifting with each flow of mana. Kaiden watched them closely, committing every small pattern and symbol to memory, then stopped to let his mana regenerate before casting again.

He’d lost track of time, deep in concentration, when a familiar voice called from behind him.

“Hey, Kaiden.”

Grinning, Kaiden didn’t have to turn around to know it was Liana. He turned, smiling, “Hey, Liana. I thought maybe you had other plans today.”

Liana stood a few paces back, her expression a mix of awkwardness and something else he couldn’t place. She looked away, fiddling with the strap of her pack. “I...almost didn’t come today.”

Kaiden raised a brow, wondering what could possibly be up. “What happened?”

She seemed hesitant, and for a moment Kaiden’s mind raced with possibilities as he studied her expression again. Wait! Was she...Was she possibly going to say she had a crush on him? His pulse quickened at the thought. It wasn’t entirely unlikely; they’d been spending time together, and she was cute. Then again, they were on the brink of a dungeon run. Wasn’t this terrible timing? But what if it wasn’t? What if she’d just wanted to—

“I’m not doing the dungeon tomorrow,” Liana said quietly.

Kaiden’s jaw dropped, and he quickly snapped his mouth shut, feeling foolish. “Sorry, I—I wasn’t expecting that.”

Liana gave a soft, slightly sad laugh. “I know, it’s a little surprising. But I already talked to Sergeant Farron, and it’s official.”

Kaiden felt a flush of embarrassment as he realized how far off he’d been, thinking this was some sort of romantic confession. He mentally blamed his Mindforge ability for overthinking things—of course she wasn’t interested in him. Back on Earth, he wasn’t exactly a ladies’ man. He’d only ever had one girlfriend, and that was back in high school. It lasted a few years, but... now wasn’t the time to remember such things, so he waved the memory away. Clearing his throat, he shoved aside those stray thoughts and asked, “What made you decide?”

Liana looked away, her fingers brushing absently over the stump. “It’s my ability.”

“What do you mean?” Kaiden asked, though he thought he had an idea.

Liana sighed, staring at her feet before meeting his gaze. “It still hasn’t reached level 2, even after all this practice. And it’s too weak to kill anything in a dungeon. If I get in over my head and can’t handle my role, someone else will have to cover for me… and if that gets someone hurt, or worse, I don’t think I could live with myself.”

Kaiden nodded, taking in her words. He hadn’t realized how much thought she’d given to it, but she was absolutely right. The risks were real, and as much as he wanted to say “You can do it,” this wasn’t just a test—this was life or death.

“If that’s how you feel,” Kaiden said, “then I think you’re making the right choice. So, you’ll stick with the support platoon, practice until your ability levels up, and then tackle the dungeon?”

“Exactly.” Liana’s face softened a little, a hint of relief breaking through. She looked more confident in her decision now. “I’ll practice with you today for a bit, then head off to meet with my squad to say goodbye. We actually got along really well, and I’m gonna miss them.”

“Let’s get to practicing, then,” Kaiden said, smiling.

Liana returned his smile and took her place in front of the stump, firing off controlled blasts of water as Kaiden analyzed her ability with Arcane Vision. As he traced each rune and noted every line of her mana signature, he felt a growing appreciation for how much Liana wanted to grow stronger, just as he did. After a while, she lowered her hand, exhaustion shadowing her face, but she gave Kaiden a warm look.

“Good luck tomorrow, Kaiden.”

“Thanks, Liana. Hope we run into each other again soon.”

With a smile, she said, “To boss and back.”

“To boss and back,” Kaiden replied, watching as she turned and walked away.

Once she was gone, he turned his attention fully to his own training, practicing his abilities until the sun dipped low in the sky. His Arcane Vision traced familiar runes on the stump as he concentrated. He was so absorbed in his focus that he almost didn’t notice the faint glow in his peripheral vision—a notification hovering before his eyes:

Arcane Vision increased to Level 2. Your vision grows. +15 Mana Regeneration. +10% Mana Regeneration.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

A wide grin spread across his face as he looked at his status page.

Kaiden Hayward

Age: 26

Class: Health Weaver (Common) Level 1+50 to mana and +5% to mana regeneration

Skills / Abilities

Regeneration: Level 2 (Passive) +20 constitution +10 stamina

Mindforge: Level 2 (Passive) + 50 to mana and + 10 to mana regeneration

Arcane Vision: Level 2 (Active) +15 mana regeneration +10% mana regeneration

Healing Touch: Level 1

Attributes

Strength: 0 {0%}

Stamina: 10 {0%}

Constitution: 20 {0%}

Mana: 98 / 200 {0%}

Mana Regeneration: 25 {15%}

Kaiden closed his status page with a grin, marveling at the new boosts to his mana regeneration. That flat +15, combined with an extra 10% regen, would be a game changer—perfect for his Healing Touch and Regeneration abilities, even if the latter ran passively. Just thinking of how he’d need every last bit of it for tomorrow’s dungeon sent an electric thrill through him, a mix of anticipation and nerves. This was what he’d been waiting for. But for now, it was time to wind down and get ready.

Before he left, he turned to glance back at the familiar stump that had somehow become his makeshift training partner and one daily constant. He smirked, shaking his head a little. “Y’know, I’m actually gonna miss this stump.” It wasn’t much, but it had become a small piece of his routine, a reminder of his days of training.

Noticing the sun dipping below the horizon, he realized it was dinner time and headed back to the barracks. He wondered if Davick would be waiting, or if he’d have to stop by the forge to get him. But, to his surprise, Davick was already standing outside, joined by two familiar faces: Garin and Harlan. They looked up as Kaiden walked over.

“About time you showed up, Chicago,” Garin said, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Hey, good to see you too,” Kaiden replied with a grin.

Harlan gave him a nod of greeting, and Davick chuckled. “Finally! Now we can eat. Come on, I’m starving.”

“Were you guys waiting on me?” Kaiden asked, glancing between the three of them as they all started heading toward the mess hall together.

“Yep, we figured it was only right,” Davick said with a grin. Kaiden laughed as they fell into step, trading stories and laughs about their past week of training.

They collected their trays and took seats together, and as they dug in, their laughter and talk naturally turned to what lay ahead: tomorrow’s dungeon dive—their first real test as Dungeoneers.

Garin leaned in, giving everyone a smug look. “So, who’s nervous?”

He eyed each of them up and down, and Davick scoffed, “Not nervous—excited. I can’t believe the day’s practically here.”

“Agreed,” Garin said, nodding with a grin.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Harlan said, cutting through their bravado. “This isn’t something we’ve ever done before.” His words seemed to take a bit of the edge off the excitement around the table.

“Yeah, I’ll admit,” Kaiden said, glancing between them, “I’m nervous and excited.”

Garin shrugged, giving a cocky grin. “Fine, you all can be nervous, but I’m ready. Just don’t be shocked when I come out as a D-rank!” He burst out laughing, clearly proud of himself.

“Yeah, yeah,” Davick replied, waving him off.

Kaiden tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. “Wait, is that even possible?”

Harlan shook his head with a chuckle. “No, no, he’s just being Garin. Overconfident as usual.”

“Hey!” Garin said, straightening up defensively. “This one’s actually true. I heard it from a valuable source!”

“This one’s actually true?” Harlan repeated.

“Forget I said that part.”

“Here we go again with the rumors,” Davick muttered, but Garin ignored him and looked at Kaiden.

“Listen, I’m serious. I actually heard that the Camp Thorne Dungeon functions as a Trial Dungeon too. Think about it. Why else wouldn’t we get a ranking until we complete it?”

Davick and Harlan both paused, looking like they were actually mulling it over for a moment. Kaiden had to admit, it was an interesting point.

“But,” Kaiden said, “I thought it worked kind of like a stamp of approval. As in you completed this Wood-grade dungeon therefore you’re granted E-rank status, no?”

“Sure, it seems like everyone starts at E-rank,” Garin said, grinning. “But that’s because no one is good enough right out the gate. Only the best of the best—the true elites—can walk out of there with D-rank.”

Harlan’s brow furrowed. “First time I’m hearing of it, but… maybe it’s possible?”

Davick just shook his head, dismissing it. “No way. If that was the case, Sergeant Farron would’ve told us, wouldn’t she?”

Garin smirked, undeterred. “Oh, you mean your crazy instructor girlfriend? C’mon, it’s not like she knows everything. I bet most people don’t even know.”

Davick rolled his eyes. “Oh, but you do? A lowly private?”

Garin’s grin widened. “That’s right. I just know shit.”

Kaiden looked around at the group and asked, “So, anyone know what happens next? I mean, I know we’re all shipped off to our first units, but… any chance we’d end up together?”

Garin shrugged and, surprisingly, admitted, “Now that’s something I actually don’t know.”

Davick chuckled, giving Garin a light shove. “Shocking, really. There is something you don’t know?”

They shared a laugh, but Harlan chimed in with a serious expression, “Because the dungeon runs can take days, sometimes longer, and we don’t know who’s gonna make it out… there’s usually a few days of deliberation after. Then, there’s a ceremony. We get our orders, and we’re off.”

“Makes sense,” Davick said, nodding. “So, it’s a wait-and-see, then.”

Harlan nodded, and the mention of “surviving” hung heavy over the group. Unspoken, but shared, was the hope that all four of them would be standing there, getting their assignments together. But even Kaiden knew it was far from guaranteed.

“Well, I guess we’ll know more at the ceremony,” Garin said, a hint of sobriety in his voice.

“Yeah,” Harlan added, as they all stood to leave, carrying their trays out of the mess hall. “It’s always possible we could end up in the same unit or four different units.”

“Right. It depends on who they need.”

“I for one would be happy to serve alongside any of you in my first unit,” Harlan said.

Everyone voiced their agreement, the unknown hanging over them like a shadow.

Just outside the doors, Garin looked around at the others, a rare, genuine seriousness in his eyes. “So… see you at the ceremony,” he said, his voice carrying a weight of its own.

“At the ceremony,” Davick repeated, matching Garin’s tone. Harlan grunted in agreement.

Kaiden said, “To boss and back.” One by one, they echoed him, repeating the phrase. Garin and Harlan walked off together, while Kaiden and Davick headed back to their barracks, both pairs quietly steeling themselves for what was to come.