“How did you do that? That was a Chalcite, you know?!” Feera exclaimed, her voice becoming increasingly shrill as she spoke, unintentionally mimicking Kara quite well.

“It's pretty simple, see,” Rox said, pausing for emphasis, “I swung my new sword.”

Feera's face, which was normally a moonlight pale skin tone, was currently turning bright pink. Rox could not help but think that she was cute when she was angry. In a flash she grabbed the much taller man's collar and spoke in a controlled tone, barely hiding her emotions. She tried to look him in the eyes, but he averted them expertly.

“I'm going to the rest of the party. I'm going to explain what happened, even though I don’t really understand it myself. When I come back, you're going to explain exactly how you did that. How you gathered enough mana in the matter of a few seconds to do that to one of the most feared creatures found in dungeons.” The mix of emotions was barely veiled in her voice. Excitement at what happened, anger at having her question dodged and much more were flowing through her mind. She was unable to process it all and planned to take the walk back as a moment to breath, as well as to get away from the cause of her flustered state temporarily.

“Okay, I understand. When you get them and catch up, I'll explain whatever you want to hear.” Rox responded, not wanting to push her any further, despite wanting to see her cute angry face a bit more. “Besides, if I only explained it to you, I'd have to explain it to everyone all over again, right?”

She let go of him and wordlessly stormed off to the door they had entered through. When the sounds of her footsteps grew faint, Rox made his way into the next room.

“When you catch up, of course.” He thought out loud.

- - - -

When Feera reached the rest of the party, everyone was still sitting down. Only fifteen minutes had passed and they all looked at her, confused, with the exception of Kara. Feera stood still, looking at everyone, not quite sure how to explain what she had witnessed while hidden in Rox’ shadow.

She must have looked perplexed, because Toley suddenly stood up and ran to her. He grabbed her shoulders and began to frantically question her, “Is he okay? Does he need our help? Should we hurry? Oh, gods, is he dead?”

Feera, in turn, grabbed his shoulders as well to push him away from her then covered his mouth so that she could speak with a flat tone, “Yes, no, no, no. He killed the Chalcite in the next room; quickly, too.”

Everyone, including Kara, was surprised at the news. Their eyes were wide with a mix of shock and curiosity. That Rox had not only managed to complete the second room of a boss dungeon on his own quickly but also that the second room had contained a Chalcite. If the second room were something like that, what would the rest of the rooms be like? Furthermore, how long was this dungeon going to be, if they're filled with creatures of legendary strength like the giant and Chalcite?

Stolen story; please report.

“So where is he now? Resting?” Kara asked her.

Feera nodded, “Probably. I left him in the next room while I came to get you all.” She said, returning to her cheery self.

“No, before that, how did he do it? You still haven't told us the most important part!” Sheeron interjected.

“Ah, right.” She cleared her throat, then did her best impression of Rox, “He swung his new sword.”

Kara and Toley had to hold in their laughter, however, Sheeron was not amused. One could see a vein bulging on his forehead. “How does that make any sense?!” He yelled.

“I know! Right?!” Feera said, agreeing with him at the same volume. “That's ridiculous! How does someone melt a Chalcite just by swinging a sword!”

“Wait, he melted the Chalcite?” Kara interjected, “How does swinging a sword cause that?”

“Well, he walked towards it, pretending to be cool, while his sword was all bzzt. Then he said he was 'going to end this in one swing', or something, and there was a flash like buahhhh and suddenly it was melted on the floor!” Feera said, using noises instead of describing the lightning or the actions it took when he was using it. Kara could only stare at her in disbelief, while Toley was applauding as if he understood everything.

“Well, that... Certainly sounds like Rox.” Kara responded, not sure how else to react. All she was able to gather was that Rox, once again, did something outside the realm of common sense. It probably would have huge drawbacks, like when he released some of his power against Jeerae. However, it suddenly dawned on her. “Wait, you said you left Rox in the next room?”

“Oh, yeah. When I asked him what he did, he said it would be easier to explain it to everyone at once, so to go get you guys.” She said, oblivious to what Kara was thinking.

Sheeron caught onto what Kara was thinking, “We need to catch up to him, right now.” He sternly responded as he started to run ahead. The rest of the party followed quickly behind him, running down the long, well-lit passage that would bring them to the next room.

When they arrived they quickly saw the Chalcite remains, but Rox was nowhere to be found. Toley walked up to the melted orichalcum that used to be a Chalcite and examined it. Everyone else stood in the empty room in silent resentment at getting left behind. It was as if he were calling them a burden, even Kara felt anger welling up inside of her. Had they not essentially promised to walk this road together when they made their deal?

Kara glanced at Toley and the leftover Orichalcum. Maybe he was right, even in a sealed state with barely a fraction of his original power he was able to do this. It might have been because of a weapon with a powerful effect, but the fact is that he was capable of doing something insane like this. Them not being around meant he only had to protect himself and could focus on doing destructive attacks like this one. They were just in the way, were they not?

“Well, we had better catch up to him quickly, huh?” Feera said, looking annoyed and making her way to the next room.

“Why bother? He clearly doesn't need us, we're just in the way.” Sheeron said, “What's the point in risking our lives when he can probably clear all of this on his own.”

Sheeron said what Kara had been thinking, although more bluntly. She stayed silent, unable to refute what he said.

“I think it would be more fun to clear it together,” Toley chimed in, “Besides, this seems like a great way to get stronger quickly. Also, who's going to help him if he gets into trouble and we're not around?”

“Toley's right. Plus, whether we're in the way or not, we're a team. If we're weaker than him now, we just need to get stronger.” Feera said in a slightly more serious tone, “I joined this quest because I was tired of doing things alone, not so I could sit back and let someone do my work for me. I'm going, even if you all aren't.” After saying her piece, Feera walked towards the next door along with Toley.

“Well, Princess,” Sheeron asked Kara, “What are we going to do?”

Kara took a deep breath. Even if what Feera and Toley said was a bit naive and full of lofty ideals about companionship, she could not say that she did not feel the same. Even if they were weaker than him, even if they held him back a bit, even if they were in the way, they came to this dungeon together. They will complete their mission and clear this dungeon or fail, together.

“Let's go.” She responded.

“As you wish,” Sheeron said without question, with a subtle smirk on his lips.