The next dungeon we tackled was the buried one. As usual, when we arrived at the city’s outskirts, everyone waited for me to check the area. The place was eerily empty this time—no cats slinking through the shadows like before. Instead, two hairy, hornless rhinos lumbered through the territory, their massive bodies sending tremors through the ground with each step. And, of course, they just had to be inconsiderate, wandering off in opposite directions. I needed two scrolls because of their stubborn refusal to stay together. One rhino was about fifty meters to the left, the other nearly a hundred to the right. Annoying.

I ripped the first scroll, and the rhino instantly found itself a lot less hairy—and a lot more roasted. I could almost sense its confusion.

Too bad, buddy.

I pulled out the second scroll and repeated the process for the other rhino. The damn thing didn’t even flinch as its thick pelt burned away, leaving it looking like an oversized, angry cow.

Once they were sporting their new, streamlined looks, I shot them with the quill-bear bolts. With quick, practiced motions, I aimed and fired. The bolts flew true, striking each rhino squarely. After five bolts each, they collapsed into the dust with a dull thud, with little fanfare.

At least they weren’t dramatic about it, and the crystals from them were relatively large. My inventory still labeled them Small Mana Crystals, but they were easily three times bigger than the ones we got from the cats.

It took us half a day to clear all the debris and reach the portal, buried under what had once been an entire building, now reduced to a mess of stone and twisted metal. Finally, we uncovered the portal’s black surface, hidden beneath the ruins.

Stepping through, we entered a massive cave. The first thing that struck me was the sheer size of the place. It was so vast that the ceiling was invisible, disappearing into the oppressive darkness above. The air was cool, almost damp, carrying an earthy scent mixed with something faintly metallic.

There were no visible light sources, no glowing crystals or torches, yet somehow, we could still see—just barely. The dim, shadowy atmosphere was like being outside on a clouded night with no city lights. It felt oppressive, the kind of darkness that made you squint and question every shifting shadow, unsure if something was lurking just beyond your line of sight.

We stood there, taking in the eerie expanse of the cave, our breaths echoing faintly in the silence. Just as I relaxed, a faint rustling reached my ears, coming from somewhere above. Instinctively, I looked up.

A swarm of small creatures descended on us, pouring out of the darkness like a living wave. They were almost spherical, their gaping mouths stretching across their entire bodies, packed with rows of razor-sharp, piranha-like teeth. They had no eyes, just gaping maws. Four leathery wings beat furiously and drove them toward us at an alarming speed.

In perfect sync, the four of us cast Wind Blade. The magic cut through the air with a sharp whistle, slicing clean through the swarm like a hot knife through butter. They didn’t even have time to scream; they just fell apart mid-air. Blood rained down on us, thick and steaming, splattering against my skin with a wet, burning sting.

I screamed. The sound tore from my throat uncontrollably, raw and desperate. My skin was on fire. No, worse, it was melting. My vision blurred, then vanished completely as everything went black. A fire ignited in my mouth and through, silencing my screams. The pain was so intense, it was like I was being eaten alive.

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I pressed a trembling hand to my burning skin, summoning the magic to heal myself. The magic worked, but the acid was relentless. I could feel it eating deeper, faster than I could heal. Panic rose in me as I stumbled backward, my feet slipping on the slick floor. It smelled like burnt hair and scorched flesh. I gagged on the thick stench, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

Just as I thought it was all over, something clamped onto my arm—teeth, sharp and unyielding. I was yanked backward with brutal force. The world spun as I crashed onto my back. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs, and for a moment, all I could do was gasp as the pain swallowed me whole. I was being devoured, piece by piece.

Sharp, searing pain flared up on my shoulders, back, and arms. New patches of my skin were being ripped away. The agony was relentless, each new burn more unbearable than the last. My mind struggled to stay focused on healing, but I was trying to put out a wildfire with a trickle of water. My whole body was burning alive. I was on fire.

“Undress!” Mahya’s voice screamed through my mind, sharp and urgent. Her telepathic shout cut through the agony. My hands were useless. They shook so badly I couldn’t grasp the edge of my armor. My body wasn’t obeying me.

“I can’t!” My mind screamed back in a frantic rush as I tried to peel away the fabric.

Mahya’s voice came again, louder, more desperate. “Stow the clothes right off your body!”

In a haze of pain, I finally remembered. With a flick of my mind, I shoved the burning clothes into my storage space, but the damage was done. I could feel the acid eating away at me. Melting my skin down to the bone. Someone—Mahya, I think—splashed water over me. It hit my raw skin like ice over an open wound. For a moment, the relief was so sharp it ignited the pain all over again.

“More water!” I managed. Another splash and the burning eased a little more. I poured everything into healing, the magic coursing through my veins, fighting back the damage. My mind was racing, but my body was falling apart.

It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t think straight. The pain was suffocating me. Breathing was hard, like I had to fight for each breath. Every nerve was screaming, each wave of agony louder and sharper than the last. My hands were shaking so much I could barely keep them steady. I touched my eyes. Blind. I was still blind. Panic surged again, but I forced myself to focus.

Regrow flesh. Just one eye. Start with that.

It took every ounce of concentration I had left, but after what felt like an eternity, my vision slowly returned to one of my eyes. I blinked against the dim light, trying to see through the haze of pain and exhaustion.

We were out of the dungeon. Somehow, we had escaped. The others looked like hell. Mahya’s left side was melted almost to the bone, her ear and part of her face missing. Al’s front was mostly fine, but his head and back were a mess, his flesh still melting.

My mouth wouldn’t work. My lips and tongue were too damaged to speak. Instead, I reached out telepathically, my voice a weak echo of what it usually was. “Come closer to me. And more water.”

They did. I split my mind into four parts, touching each with whatever strength I had left. My hands rested on Rue, my feet brushing against Al and Mahya. I poured healing into all of us. The magic flowed weakly at first, then stronger, until the worst burns healed.

As the pain slowly ebbed away, Al’s voice broke the heavy silence, raspy but filled with sincerity. “Mahya... thanks for getting me out of there.” His usual condescending tone was gone, replaced by something raw and honest.

Mahya, still wincing as she poured more water over us, gave a small nod. “Of course,” she mumbled, her speech distorted.

Al and Mahya kept pouring water on us, trying to get rid of the acid on our bodies. The acid ate us up with a foul chemical stench that made breathing hard. The water was fighting the acid with each splash, but each splash was another wave of pain. It was forever before the burning finally became bearable. I got dizzy.

Mana: 50 out of 11,700.

Active regeneration and Absorb Mana sped the process to 56 units a minute, and every few hundred, I stopped and cast a healing Touch on all of us again and again. After the third regeneration stop, I switched to Regrow Flesh, focusing on the worst areas and patching up the deep wounds. Time blurred. Hours? Maybe more. I wasn’t sure.

Finally, it was over. We were whole again, but the damage lingered. Most of our hair was gone, burnt away by the acid. Poor Rue looked like a mangy dog, his fur missing in patchy clumps, but the worst was behind us. The pain was gone.

We weren’t whole, not by a long shot—but we were alive. And that was enough.