That Time I Got Reincarnated as a King (Old Version)

Morning mist coiled through the outer woods like lazy snakes, blurring the edges of the world into pale silver and green. The air smelled of damp earth, wet leaves, and distant woodsmoke. Kael tugged his cloak tighter around his shoulders as he hiked uphill, Rimuru bouncing weightlessly over his head in rhythmic pulses of blue.

Nyaro padded ahead in near silence, his golden coat brushing against hanging moss strands. His ears flicked forward, alert to every shift in the undergrowth.

Kael glanced around. "You sure this is the spot?"

Great Sage:
"Affirmative. Mana disturbance localized ahead. Dormant dungeon signature detected. Probability of awakening with external stimulus: 72%."

Kael grinned. "That's good enough for me."

They pushed through a thicket of bramblevines. On the other side, the land dropped sharply away into a shallow basin—half-hidden by roots, boulders, and collapsed earth.

At the center of the depression, barely visible beneath layers of moss, stood a cracked stone archway.

Rimuru pulsed bright yellow with excitement.

Nyaro growled low, hackles lifting slightly.

Kael stepped closer. The air around the arch tingled—mana currents swirling faintly like the heartbeat of something sleeping underground.

There, at the base, etched into the stone but almost entirely worn away by time, was a single symbol: a burning tree.

"Great Sage?" Kael asked.

Great Sage:
"Emberdeep. Codename assigned in ancient records. Status: Uncharted. Risk classification: Moderate to High."

Kael brushed away some moss. The archway thrummed under his fingertips.

A sudden breeze kicked up, swirling leaves around them.

The entrance shimmered—and opened.

Stone steps spiraled downward into yawning darkness, the scent of old magic pouring out in a slow exhale.

Kael tightened the straps on his boots. Rimuru dimmed her glow to a soft white, floating closer. Nyaro circled once, then stood ready at Kael's flank.

He grinned.

"First dungeon dive," he said aloud. "Feels about right, doesn't it?"

Rimuru displayed a floating word over her head: HYPE.

Kael laughed once under his breath.

Then, without hesitation, he took the first step into the unknown.

Nyaro and Rimuru followed close behind, and the shadows swallowed them whole.

The stone steps spiraled down sharply, cool and damp underfoot. Each footfall echoed faintly off unseen walls, swallowed quickly by the dense air. The only light came from Rimuru, who floated just ahead, casting a soft, steady glow that turned the stairwell into a tunnel of shifting blue and silver.

Kael trailed one hand along the wall, feeling the ancient grooves worn into the stone. Not just carved—etched with precision, with lines that pulsed faintly under Rimuru's light. Like veins. Like something alive.

Great Sage:
"Dungeon stabilization detected. Mana concentration increasing. Recommend enhanced caution."

Kael grunted softly. "Yeah, no kidding."

Nyaro slunk ahead with silent, predatory grace, nose twitching as he sniffed the stagnant air. His tail lashed once—on edge but controlled.

At the base of the stairwell, the tunnel opened into a vast stone chamber.

The ceiling stretched high above, lost in darkness. Jagged stone pillars loomed at odd angles, like the ribs of a buried beast. Strange, bioluminescent moss coated sections of the walls, shedding a sickly green light that barely reached the ground.

The floor was cracked and uneven, littered with fallen debris and faded murals half-buried in dust. Ancient glyphs spiraled outward from the center—half-erased, but still powerful enough that Kael could feel the mana hum through his boots.

Rimuru floated low, scanning the glyphs curiously.

"Great Sage?" Kael whispered.

Great Sage:
"Floor 1 confirmed. No hostile signatures detected within immediate vicinity. Environment analysis: Structural decay moderate. Mana residue strong. Defensive enchantments likely dormant."

Kael exhaled slowly, letting the tension ease from his shoulders. "Alright. First step down."

He walked cautiously toward the center of the room. At the heart of the floor lay a stone pedestal, cracked down the middle, but still upright.

On it rested a single, half-shattered brazier filled with cold ash.

And next to it—a faint shimmer of mana.

A checkpoint, Kael realized. A dungeon marker—waiting to bind itself to whoever dared enter.

He placed his hand against it.

The glyphs along the pedestal flared briefly, and Kael felt a pulse through his body—like a heartbeat syncing with his own.

"Checkpoint activated. Retreat path secured."

Kael smiled grimly.

"One down," he muttered. "Ninety-nine to go."

Behind him, Nyaro growled low—ears flat against his skull.

Kael's body tensed.

From the darkness ahead, something shifted.

The sound came first.

A scraping, like bone against stone.

Kael turned, mana already gathering at his fingertips. Rimuru floated higher, her glow sharpening into a focused beam ahead of them. Nyaro lowered into a crouch, muscles coiled.

From the far side of the chamber, the dungeon's first guardians emerged.

Shapes formed from crumbling rock and hardened soil—stone golems, but incomplete. Their arms were uneven; their heads cracked and hollow. Glowing cracks ran through their bodies like fault lines, and each step they took scattered dust across the floor.

There were five of them. Slow. Heavy.

But not harmless.

Great Sage:
"Threat level: low to moderate. Recommend swift elimination to preserve stamina."

"Got it," Kael muttered.

One of the golems lunged, swinging a jagged stone arm like a mace. Kael ducked under the clumsy attack and retaliated with a sharp burst of fire from his palm.

"Flame Lance!"

The spell pierced the golem's chest, sending spiderweb fractures racing across its core. The creature staggered, then collapsed into a heap of rubble.

Before Kael could celebrate, another golem lunged at Rimuru.

Without hesitation, Rimuru spun and projected a shield of compressed mana in front of her. The golem's fist hit the barrier—and promptly rebounded with a heavy crack, throwing itself off-balance.

Nyaro pounced.

A golden blur, faster than the eye could follow. His claws, reinforced by Kael's latent magic, tore into the golem's joints. The creature collapsed, twitching once before falling still.

Kael turned, spotting two more closing in.

He didn't hesitate.

Planting his feet, he gathered the fire swirling through his core, focusing it into his palms. The temperature spiked—heat shimmered visibly in the air around him.

"Flame Crush."

He slammed both hands down into the stone floor.

The mana ignited along the cracks, erupting in a spiderweb of fire that raced toward the remaining golems. The stone creatures froze, too slow to react, before the flames engulfed their legs—melting them into the floor. Toppling them.

A single, clean fight.

Dust settled. The room grew quiet again.

Kael exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Well," he said, half-laughing, "that could've gone worse."

Great Sage:
"Minimal mana expenditure. Battle efficiency: 89%. Commendable."

Nyaro padded back to his side, tail flicking smugly. Rimuru bounced once, her glow returning to a calm sky-blue.

Kael crouched down near the rubble of the last golem.

Inside the cracked remains, something glinted.

A shard—small, red, and humming with faint mana. A dungeon fragment.

Kael pocketed it carefully.

"First loot," he said, grinning.

He stood and looked toward the tunnel ahead—narrow, winding deeper into the unknown.

"Ready to keep going?" he asked.

Nyaro growled low, eager.

Rimuru pulsed bright green—Excited.

Kael smiled.

"Alright then. Let's see what this place really has."

And they stepped into the next corridor.

The deeper they moved into the Emberdeep dungeon, the quieter it became.

Not the natural quiet of a deep cavern—no, this was something different. It was a watching kind of quiet. As if the stone itself was listening.

Kael slowed his steps, his boots crunching lightly over gravel. Rimuru floated just ahead, casting a soft, pale light that barely reached the jagged ceiling above. Nyaro padded silently at his side, hackles occasionally raising for no visible reason.

A faint vibration skittered across Kael's skin.

"Great Sage," he whispered in his mind, "analyze the ambient mana."

Great Sage:
"Mana concentration increasing by 4.7% every fifty meters. Flow pattern: abnormal. Structure of dungeon appears... aware."

Kael frowned.

"Aware?"

Great Sage:
"Metaphorical description: The dungeon's mana field exhibits reactive behavior patterns consistent with low-tier sentience."

Kael winced. "Meaning?"

Great Sage:
"Meaning: it may not appreciate your intrusion."

Ahead, the walls began to change.

The smooth, craggy stone gave way to carvings—old, worn markings, some shaped like flames, others like chains coiling into fractal patterns. Most were indecipherable, weathered down by centuries of magical erosion.

Rimuru hovered closer to one of the carvings. She pulsed a questioning orange.

Kael ran his fingers lightly over the etched lines. They were shallow but deliberate, forming a looping spiral at the center.

"This place..." he muttered, "it's old."

Nyaro growled low, his nose twitching at something Kael couldn't smell.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Great Sage:

"Recommendation: Proceed with caution. Mana density indicates a shift in dungeon architecture. Anticipated threats: increased."

Kael stood and brushed his hands off.

"Noted," he said.

He looked at Rimuru and Nyaro. Both were tense, ready. He grinned slightly.

"Let's not keep our mysterious host waiting."

They pressed on.

The tunnel narrowed sharply ahead, forcing them into single file. The air grew hotter, thicker. Every few steps, Kael thought he heard faint whispers—echoes that faded the moment he turned his head.

Whether it was the dungeon... Or his imagination... He wasn't sure.

But the message was clear.

Deeper.

Stronger.

Worthy.

Kael shivered despite the warmth and kept moving.

The corridor ended abruptly at a wide, arched threshold, its frame carved from blackened stone and embedded with glowing runes—runes that pulsed with a steady, heartbeat-like rhythm.

Kael paused at the entrance.

A massive chamber stretched beyond, circular and hollow, its floor cracked and scorched. The air shimmered with heat. Braziers mounted along the walls guttered with blue-white flame, casting ghostly shadows that writhed across the stone.

At the center of the room stood a pedestal, and atop it floated a swirling orb of condensed fire.

Not just fire. Mana given flame.

Great Sage:
"Trial detected. Parameters: Endurance, precision, elemental manipulation. Failure consequence: critical injury or death."

Kael tightened his fists.

"Lovely."

Rimuru hovered closer, her surface rippling gold in anticipation. Nyaro growled low—not fearful, but focused.

The moment Kael stepped into the chamber, the door behind them slammed shut with a deep boom.

The orb on the pedestal flared.

From the broken floor, three figures erupted—beings formed entirely of molten rock and crackling flame. Their eyes glowed white-hot. They moved with slow, inevitable steps, each radiating enough heat to make Kael's skin prickle.

Rimuru pulsed red, shifting into a battle-ready gleam.

"Engagement conditions?" Kael asked quickly.

Great Sage:
"Objective: defeat summoned guardians within allotted mana threshold. Secondary condition: maintain flame control integrity. Excessive elemental loss will result in environmental destabilization."

Kael cracked his knuckles. "So don't just blow up the room."

The first guardian lunged.

Kael sidestepped the swipe of a burning arm, feeling the heat slice across the air. He ducked under the next strike and retaliated, forming a short-range blast of compressed flame in his palm.

He didn't just hurl it. He shaped it.

A spiraling lance of fire shot forward, drilling into the guardian's chest. The molten creature staggered, parts of its torso sloughing off in sizzling chunks—but it didn't fall.

Behind him, Rimuru unleashed a spray of mana bursts—tiny, precise explosions that targeted the guardians' joints. One stumbled as its knee partially shattered.

Nyaro darted around the third, snapping and slashing with blazing speed, harrying its movements without overcommitting.

Kael grinned fiercely.

They worked better as a unit now. Stronger. Smarter.

The second guardian closed in, throwing a massive overhead blow.

Kael caught it—not with his hands, but with a sudden pillar of flame that exploded upward from beneath the guardian's feet, knocking it off balance. While it reeled, Kael gathered mana at his fingertips, compressing it tighter, denser.

"Flame Spike."

The spell fired like a cannon—straight through the molten chest of the second guardian.

The creature froze. Cracks spiderwebbed across its form—and then it collapsed into a puddle of smoldering slag.

"One down," Kael panted.

The other two guardians shifted tactics, moving faster now, twin afterimages of burning stone.

Great Sage:
"Overcharge level: 19%. Mana stabilization advised."

Kael grimaced. "On it."

He inhaled deeply, drawing mana inward instead of bleeding it out, wrapping his core with a thin membrane of control. Rimuru assisted instinctively, dampening stray leaks with her own siphoned energy.

The second guardian met Nyaro in a brutal clash of claw and molten fist, while Kael squared off with the last one—the biggest.

It roared—a soundless, searing pulse of anger—and charged.

Kael didn't retreat.

He raised both hands, palms outward, and pulled on the ambient heat of the chamber.

The brazier flames bent toward him.

The burning cracks in the floor flared brighter.

The floating orb above the pedestal pulsed faster, as if recognizing his dominance over the element it guarded.

Kael grinned through the sweat dripping down his face.

"You want fire? Let's dance."

With a sharp movement, he unleashed a ring of fire from his position, a horizontal cyclone of flame that slammed into the final guardian with enough force to peel molten layers from its surface.

Nyaro took down the third with a vicious swipe that crushed its core.

And Kael, gathering everything into one moment, slammed a fire-infused punch straight into the heart of the last guardian.

It exploded in a shower of embers.

Silence fell.

The orb on the pedestal dimmed, pulsing once in acknowledgment.

"Trial complete. Advancement permitted."

Kael dropped to one knee, catching his breath.

Rimuru floated to his side, glowing warmly. Nyaro prowled in a loose circle, muscles still tense but satisfied.

Kael looked up at the pedestal, his chest heaving.

"One floor down," he said hoarsely.

"And a long way to go."

The pedestal faded back into inert stone once the last ember died out, and a section of the far wall trembled—dust raining down from the ceiling. With a low rumble, a hidden passage slowly ground open, revealing a tight, spiraling stairwell carved into the rock.

Kael wiped sweat from his forehead and exchanged a glance with Rimuru.

"Secret doors already?" he muttered. "This place doesn't mess around."

Rimuru pulsed a mischievous shade of orange and bobbed toward the opening. Nyaro stalked just behind her, ears pinned flat, nostrils flaring as he tested the air.

Great Sage:
"Mana density beyond threshold. Unidentified structures detected below. Probability of artifact presence: 74%."

Kael straightened, fatigue forgotten.

"Artifacts?"

Great Sage:
"Potential. Recommendation: proceed with caution. Probability of traps: 61%."

He grinned despite himself. "You really know how to inspire confidence."

Torch sconces lined the stairwell, but their flames guttered low, casting the descent in flickering half-light. Every step Kael took sent small echoes ahead of him, swallowed quickly by the oppressive silence.

As they descended, a strange vibration began to prickle at the edge of Kael's senses—not exactly mana, not exactly sound. A whisper, so faint he couldn't quite catch the words.

He stopped halfway down.

"You hear that?" he whispered.

Rimuru froze mid-bob. Nyaro bristled.

Great Sage:
"Residual enchantment detected. A memory echo."

Kael pressed forward cautiously, hand skimming the rough wall.

The whisper grew louder—not in volume, but in presence. It pressed against him like a tide, heavy and disjointed.

"Only those who endure the flame… only those who bleed their strength…"

He stumbled slightly. Rimuru zipped closer in concern.

"I'm fine," Kael said, steadying himself. "It's just… loud."

"Beyond the fifth floor… only the worthy… shall reclaim the forge's heart…"

The whisper faded into a lingering chill.

At the base of the stairwell, they emerged into a small antechamber carved with runes older than anything Kael recognized. Even the language felt alien—twisting, layered, complex.

Great Sage:
"Warning: ancient script detected. Classification: Pre-Cataclysmic Relic Language. Translation incomplete. Partial rendering available upon interaction."

Kael exhaled slowly.

"This dungeon's a lot older than anyone realized."

He approached the main wall, where a sealed archway dominated the room. No obvious locks. No visible mechanism.

Only a sigil at the center—shaped like a flame bound in chains.

Kael reached out, hesitated, then touched it.

A brief spark—then the sigil dimmed.

Nothing else happened.

He frowned. "Well. That's not ominous at all."

Behind him, Rimuru spun in slow, thoughtful circles. Nyaro gave a low rumble, ears pinned forward.

Great Sage:
"This door is currently sealed by a multi-phase trial mechanism. Activation conditions unknown. Estimated unlocking point: after clearing floor ten."

Kael stepped back, feeling a mix of excitement and frustration.

"Then we keep moving," he said.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever waited beyond that door… wasn't just treasure.

It was a promise.

And a threat.

Kael slumped against the antechamber's cool stone wall, dragging in a deep breath. Sweat slicked his brow, and his mana reserves felt… rattled. Not dangerously low, thanks to Rimuru's ambient siphoning, but enough to make him think twice before rushing forward.

Nyaro flopped down nearby, tail flicking irritably. Even he looked winded.

Rimuru settled herself atop Kael's head like a half-melted hat, her surface dimming to a soft, steady blue.

Great Sage:
"Mana reservoir at 61%. Recommend passive recovery before further engagement."

Kael wiped his face with his sleeve and chuckled weakly. "Yeah. No arguments."

He fished out a dry ration from his pack—root crisps and a chunk of hard cheese—and tossed a few pieces to Nyaro, who caught them midair with lazy snaps of his jaws. Rimuru extended a pseudopod and poked the cheese until Kael offered her a crumb as well.

"You earned it," he muttered.

For a few minutes, there was only quiet: the faint crackle of mana torches, the slow exhale of the dungeon's breath through unseen vents. Kael let himself sink into it, letting the pressure of the morning drain from his body.

Still… he couldn't stop the flicker of thoughts behind his tired eyes.

The whisper at the stairwell. The sealed flame door. The talk of enduring and bleeding strength.

It wasn't just about monsters anymore. This place was testing something deeper.

Strength of spirit. Strength of will.

Rimuru gently tapped his forehead with a soft bop, as if sensing his thoughts spiraling.

"I'm good," Kael assured her. "Just… thinking."

Great Sage:
"Emotional processing: appropriate. Cognitive reflection: healthy."

Kael grinned. "Thanks, therapist mode."

He popped another root crisp into his mouth and stood slowly, feeling strength trickle back into his limbs.

"Alright," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Let's clear floor two."

Nyaro rose silently, stretching until his claws scraped sparks from the stone.

Rimuru bounced once, her color shifting from blue to a determined, fiery gold.

Kael took one last look at the sealed flame door.

"I'll be back for you," he promised under his breath.

Then he turned toward the descending stairs, the next layer of the dungeon yawning open before him.

And he walked forward, carrying the embers of something larger than a simple adventure.

The stairwell spiraled downward, tight and claustrophobic, forcing Kael and Nyaro to move single file. Each step seemed to breathe heat—not unbearable, but enough that the air shimmered faintly around the torch sconces embedded in the stone walls.

Rimuru floated ahead now, glowing like a living lantern. Her soft golden light revealed narrow cracks in the stairs, tiny trickles of magma seeping from the rock and disappearing into thin, snaking grooves. It was beautiful, in a dangerous sort of way.

Great Sage:
"Environmental hazard detected. Heat concentration at floor level increasing. Probability of elemental traps: moderate."

Kael nodded, even though his boots were already feeling warmer.

At the base of the stairs, the passage widened into a cavernous expanse. This second floor wasn't a maze—it was a broken arena. Pitted stone pillars jutted up at random angles. Pools of molten rock gurgled in shallow basins, casting flickering orange reflections against the walls.

And scattered across the chamber were dozens of creatures—small at first glance, but brimming with menace.

Flame Sprites.

Each sprite hovered a few feet off the ground, tiny humanoid figures made entirely of dancing fire. Their eyes—bright slits of yellow—flickered toward Kael the moment he set foot inside.

He grimaced. "Of course it's fire elementals."

Great Sage:
"Enemy threat level: D-minus to D. High evasion, minor explosion risk upon defeat."

Nyaro growled low in his throat, his fur rippling with suppressed energy.

Rimuru pulsed bright orange, practically vibrating with eagerness.

Kael drew a small mana thread from his palm and let it weave into a simple shield—a thin sheen of mana wrapped around him like a second skin.

"Alright," he whispered, rolling his neck. "Let's see if we can dance without getting burned."

The first sprite shot toward him, leaving a trail of sizzling sparks.

Kael ducked low, pivoted, and swung a palm outward—using Flame Manipulation to snatch the creature's own fire midair. The sprite let out a crackling screech and collapsed into embers.

The others hesitated.

Kael grinned. "Yeah. That's right. Picked the wrong guy to ambush."

Rimuru launched herself into the fray, bouncing from sprite to sprite, her body absorbing bursts of fire and releasing playful pulses of mana that knocked them spinning.

Nyaro blurred across the battlefield—silent, efficient, claws swiping out in dazzling arcs.

Kael moved with them, weaving magic through his steps, turning enemy flames against their owners.

For a brief moment, they were a perfect triad: flame, spirit, and steel.

The sprites fell one by one, leaving only the hum of magma and the hiss of cooling ash behind.

Kael wiped soot from his cheek and surveyed the smoldering wreckage.

"Floor two cleared," he said with a tired smile.

Great Sage:
"Correction: Primary hostiles neutralized. Secondary hazard still active."

Kael frowned. "Secondary—?"

The floor rumbled underfoot.

A chunk of the far wall crumbled inward—and from the gap crawled something bigger.

Something with too many legs, made entirely of smoking black rock and molten joints.

Kael's grin sharpened.

"Round two."

The thing heaved itself into the open, a grotesque fusion of rock and living fire. Six jagged legs gouged the stone as it skittered forward, each step leaving molten craters in its wake. Its body pulsed with veins of orange light, magma surging just beneath the cracked black surface like blood under torn skin.

Its head—if it could be called that—was a blunt wedge of obsidian, crowned with a ring of glowing red eyes.

Great Sage:
"Designation: Molten Crawler. Threat level: High D to Low C. Weak points: exposed joints. Risk factor: moderate to severe if engaged carelessly."

Kael shifted his stance, eyes narrowing.

"Looks like you're the floor boss."

Nyaro growled low, his muscles coiling with tension. Rimuru hovered beside Kael, crackling with absorbed energy, the tips of her slime form sharp and blade-like.

The crawler hissed—a sound like steam venting from a broken engine—and lunged forward.

Kael rolled sideways, barely avoiding the snapping mandibles. He skidded across the loose gravel and immediately threw out a hand.

"Flame Bind!"

Tendrils of conjured fire erupted from the ground, wrapping around the crawler's front legs. The creature shrieked, struggling against the bonds, cracking the earth as it writhed.

Nyaro darted in, slashing at an exposed knee joint. Sparks exploded, but the beast bucked violently, forcing Nyaro to retreat with a snarl.

"Hold it down!" Kael shouted.

Rimuru whirled upward, condensing a heavy orb of compressed mana and hurling it like a hammer at the crawler's back. The impact staggered it—but didn't bring it down.

Kael gritted his teeth. They needed something bigger.

He drew on Rimuru's siphoned mana, feeling the surge build up in his core.

"Great Sage," he whispered. "New spell?"

Great Sage:
"Recommended: Firelance. Condense a spear of highly focused flame to penetrate the core directly."

Kael closed his eyes briefly, envisioning it.

The heat bent around his palm, fire collapsing into a single point—a shimmering lance of searing red light.

The Molten Crawler tore free of its binds with a screech and charged.

Kael opened his eyes.

And threw.

The Firelance exploded forward, a streak of pure destruction. It pierced the crawler's chest plate with a deafening crack—and burst out through its back in a shower of molten shards.

The creature stumbled.

Collapsed.

And finally, stilled—its body hissing and splitting apart as it cooled into inert stone.

Great Sage:
"Target neutralized. Mana expenditure: 38%. Recovery window: acceptable."

Nyaro padded forward and prodded the corpse once, just to be sure.

Rimuru floated down, glowing a proud golden hue.

Kael grinned at them. "That's two floors down."

He turned toward the far end of the cavern, where another set of stairs waited—spiraling deeper into the earth, beckoning.

"And about ninety-eight to go."

They made camp just beyond the boss chamber, in a hollow where the walls were cracked but stable. Emberleaf's mana crystals cast a faint glow from Kael's pack, bathing the rocky cavern in soft orange light.

Rimuru floated lazily over the fire Kael had conjured—small, controlled, more for comfort than heat. Nyaro curled beside it, tail flicking now and then as he kept a quiet watch on the shadows.

Kael sat with his back against the cavern wall, one boot propped up, arms resting on his knee.

His body ached, but it was a good ache—earned through effort, not accident.

He stared into the small fire, letting the warmth sink into his hands.

Great Sage:
"You did well. Mana efficiency: improved. Tactical deployment: effective."

Kael smirked. "Are you… praising me?"

Great Sage:
"Observation: reinforcement of successful behaviors increases probability of survival."

He chuckled quietly. "I'll take it."

Rimuru floated down into his lap, humming faintly. She projected a little heart into the air—then immediately replaced it with a glittery image of the Molten Crawler exploding.

Kael laughed under his breath and rubbed the top of her slime form.

"I know," he said. "It was awesome."

Nyaro made a low, contented rumble.

Kael leaned his head back against the rock, letting his eyes drift half-shut.

Tomorrow, they'd keep descending.

More monsters.

More magic.

More mysteries.

But tonight—tonight was theirs.

The fire crackled. The crystals pulsed. And for the first time in a while, Kael allowed himself to simply exist, surrounded by friends who had followed him into the dark—and would follow him even deeper if he asked.

"I guess we're dungeon explorers now," he murmured.

Rimuru pulsed bright blue.

Nyaro's tail thumped once.

Kael smiled, eyes closing as the emberlight danced across his skin.

"Let's see how far we can go."