Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

They went down into the depths of the cave, keeping their steps slow and quiet. Rena was terrified to be there.

What would they find? Until that moment, they hadn't come across a single beast on that floor of the dungeon, so they were both anxious to find out what was waiting for them at the end of the cave.

Along the way, they could see piles of bones scattered around. William noticed that none of those bones belonged to people. They were beast bones.

That was strange to him. How could there be so many beast bones there when they hadn't encountered a single one so far?

In the end, they reached the back of the cave… and found nothing. It was completely empty. The only thing there were more bones.

"And now?" Rena said, her tone clearly frustrated. "We came all the way here for nothing."

William had no idea. "But if there are bones here, then something lives or used to live here. And more importantly, it means we might actually find beasts in this region. Maybe we should leave and keep exploring around here."

That was the only idea going through William's mind. Rena agreed.

They left the cave but decided to stay nearby. The idea was to wait and see if some creature would return to the cave.

If it was a flying creature, then maybe it had gone out hunting and would come back later. That made sense, but William also noticed there were no tracks inside the cave.

Only bones. Which meant the creatures had been dead for a while. There were no signs indicating they had been killed there recently.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to wait a bit just to be sure. He'd feel better knowing there was nothing than risking missing out on a good chance to get a flying beast.

Hours passed. It got dark where they were, and even then, no flying beast appeared.

That was a little sad. William tried to stay positive the best he could.

"At least we have a place to sleep and won't have to spend the night out in this cold," he said.

Rena sighed, then smiled. "You're right. Damn, our situation is really not easy. I'm starting to feel jealous of the others who went back to the hub or left the dungeon."

She was referring to the people who had been in that camp on the previous dungeon floor.

"Same here. But at least we're making some progress in the dungeon. I just want to reach the next hub before leaving this place," William replied.

That was his plan — to push through five more dungeon floors until he reached the next resting hub, and only then leave the dungeon. He still had things to take care of outside, after all.

But to make that happen, there were still plenty of floors left to complete. So he couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Time was precious.

They worked together to build a fire inside the cave. Even though it shielded them from the cold wind and the rain outside, it was still pretty chilly inside. A fire was more than necessary.

In the end, making a simple fire together wasn't difficult at all. The only bad part was having a fire but nothing to cook on it. And in that moment, neither of them had the energy to go out and look for something.

So, in the end, the two of them just lay down and rested there, watching the raindrops fall outside.

It was still dark when William woke up. Thanks to his heightened senses, he could hear things that Rena couldn't. And right then, in the middle of the night, he heard voices.

That was not good at all. He woke Rena and pulled her toward a darker corner of the cave. Before that, he quickly put out the fire.

Luckily, there was a big rock that served as a decent hiding spot for both of them. Not perfect, but better than nothing.

And then they were hit with a huge surprise when they saw who was talking near the entrance of the cave.

"Soldiers!" William thought.

He recognized the armor they were wearing. It was the same one Rena used back when she was stationed at the fortress — the standard armor of that kingdom's soldiers.

How were they already here? It had only been a few days since William and Rena escaped the battle at the fortress, and yet somehow they had already managed to find them. That was insanely fast.

The soldiers stepped into the cave and spotted the fire remains.

"Someone stayed here," one of the soldiers said, crouching down. "I think they left during the night."

"You think they knew we were tracking them? Unlikely, but you never know," another soldier replied.

William hadn't even realized they were being followed. That could only mean one thing: either someone really skilled was leading the investigation… or they had a way to track them from a distance.

"There's no way they've been following us up close without me noticing," William thought. "And considering how small their group is, this must be a special team assigned to track fugitives."

That was bad news. A team like that would be way more skilled than normal soldiers — and probably strong too, since fugitives were usually powerful as well.

William stayed completely still behind the rock, praying they wouldn't be found by that group. But deep down, he knew it was only a matter of time. There was no real way to hide from them in that place.

"I don't think they realized we were tracking them," one of the soldiers said. "Must've been a coincidence they didn't stay here. I could've sworn they would spend the night in this cave."

With that sentence alone, William already knew things were starting to take a turn for the worse. The soldiers would soon begin to wonder if William and Rena had really left the cave. And once they started looking around… well, they'd find them.

William was ready to fight at any moment. That would be the only way out of that situation.

Or maybe not.

Luck really was on their side this time.

Another soldier came running from outside the cave. He had stayed behind to keep watch at the entrance.

"Guys," he shouted, "there's a flying beast coming! I'm not in the mood to fight that thing, so let's get out of here."

The soldiers didn't exactly seem scared of the flying beast. They were strong — strong enough to win in a fight, no doubt. But was it worth it?

Fighting a beast would waste time and might get someone seriously injured… or worse, killed. And their main priority right now was tracking William and Rena.

So, the soldiers chose to leave the cave.

But what about William and Rena?

They couldn't just leave right then. And by the time it was finally safe to move, the magical beast had already entered the cave.

And of course, the magical beast found the two of them hiding behind that rock. They moved away from behind the rock. William already had Asura in his hands. It was time for a fight.