The ten-day journey was surprisingly peaceful. The sun cast a warm, golden-red glow over the beautiful, winding roads as evening approached on their final day. The tranquility was, however, frequently interrupted by Garrus.
For the past hour, he had been jogging alongside the wagon, his gaze fixed on Luna. "Please, my lady Luna, marry me!" he pleaded, his deep voice filled with comical desperation.
Luna simply stared ahead, utterly ignoring him.
With a dramatic sigh, Garrus switched his attention to the other side of the wagon. "My lady Nyx! You, then! Please, you marry me!"
Nyx's response was a silent, cold glare that could freeze fire.
"Why?" Garrus wailed, throwing his hands up in despair. "Why does no one love me?"
Kaelen, riding at the front, laughed loudly. "Alright, that's enough for one day. Let's camp here!" he announced. "We have to rest. This road has made me tired."
They pulled the wagon to a clearing and set up camp. As night fell, the five of them sat around a crackling fire, the meal they had shared now finished. Zarya, polishing her blade, looked over at Liam.
"So, Liam," she began, her voice curious. "What's with your two companions? Why don't they talk? We haven't heard a single word from them."
Liam looked at Nyx and Luna, who sat perfectly still, their beautiful faces illuminated by the firelight. "They have their reasons," he said simply. "I don't know them all."
An awkward silence fell, which Garrus surprisingly broke with a somber tone. "I have a sister," he said, staring into the flames. "She's ten. I do all this work to provide for her. I know someday I might die in a fight with a monster, but I don't care. I have to be strong for her."
Seraphina spoke next, her voice soft but laced with steel. "I have an old mother and father. I'm their only child, the only source of their income. When I was a child, I remember them telling me every day how they hoped I would be a boy, not a girl. They said a girl can't make a living in this world. That's why I'm here. To make them apologize for that."
Zarya let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "I'm from a wealthy family, but I'm not wealthy. They hate me because I was better than my brother in everything. My father wanted a strong man to be his heir, but he got a strong girl instead."
Kaelen grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "And me? I just want to collect enough money to make one of them marry me!"
The group laughed, the shared moment breaking the tension. Liam glanced over and saw the faintest hint of a small smile on the lips of both Luna and Nyx.
"Alright," Kaelen said, stretching. "Let's sleep. We have to be ready for the road tomorrow."
They all settled down for the night. Liam lay on his back, looking up at the star-filled sky. Every one of them has their own problem, their own burden, he thought. I have to protect them. Can I protect them?
The next morning, they were back on the road. Around midday, Kaelen, who was scouting ahead, let out a massive scream. "THAT'S IT!"
Liam looked up. In the distance, a structure of impossible scale pierced the sky. It was the dungeon, so colossal that its peak was completely lost in the clouds.
When they finally arrived at the entrance, they found a scene of chaos. Other hunters were gathered, their faces pale with shock. Just outside the dungeon's massive, gaping maw, two hunters were lying on the ground, their bodies soaked in blood.
Without a second thought, Liam jumped from the wagon. He knelt beside them, and a soft, green light enveloped his hands as he healed their grievous wounds. The two men gasped, their eyes flying open as they sat up.
"Thank you," one of them stammered, looking at Liam with wide, fearful eyes. "Thank you. But please, don't go in there. It's hell. The hell lord itself, I think he is in there."
The other man stood up, trembling. "He is white, but you can't see him until he moves! We were on Floor 50. Until then, we were fine. We don't know what happened when we entered that floor. Everything happened so fast. We don't recollect anything, only that me and him... we woke up out here. We didn't even come out on our own." They flee the area
Liam understood. A creature of immense speed and power. He turned to his new companions. "Let's go back," he said, his voice level. "I'm not going into the dungeon today either." He planned to send them away and return later with only his two guards.
But Kaelen shook his head. "We can't go in now, even if we wanted to. Before us, that group failed to clear it. We have to wait ten hours for the dungeon to open again. The system is cleaning itself. That's how it works."
Liam stood watching the colossal entrance, a strange feeling of destiny washing over him. As he stared, his own System flared to life, displaying information only he could see.
> The First Dungeon
> * Difficulty: Medium
> * Floors: 100
> * Reward: The Book of Dungeon, Small Gold, Small Silver, Basic Weapon
>
The end of the episode.