SYSTEM ASCENSION

The dome was dark except for the faint glow from a lamp. Kael was out cold, one arm dangling off the bed, soft snores filling the room.

Elias lay flat on his back, eyes closed.

Then,

DING!

The system showed.

Elias opened his eyes.

[Mission alert!]

[User: Elias Morail]

[Occupation: S rank raider]

[Status: Upholder/Sector seven sole survivor]

[Mission Type: Solo]

[Location: Dungeon ”The Sunken Maw”]

[Objective: Clear Anomaly. Terminate Null]

[Reward: 200xp]

[Penalty for refusal: Scorched Trial Grounds. Two days.]

[Initiating mission time Limit: 03:00:00]

He blinked once.

”...Three minutes,” he muttered to the ceiling. ”Generous.”

He didn’t move. Just kept staring at the countdown like it personally offended him by existing.

Then, from the other bed: ”Let me come with you.”

Elias just turned his head.

Kael was sitting up, hair a mess, eyes sharp despite the hour. No trace of sleep in them. He had been awake the whole time.

Elias raised an eyebrow. ”It seems an Upholder can see another Upholder’s screen.”

”I can’t see it. I just suspected it via your facial reaction. Besides, you’re already dressed like you’re expecting it.”

Elias didn’t insist that he had fought a nightwalker and was too tired to change his clothes.

”Is that why you’re also dressed?”

Kael swung his legs off the bed. ”An Upholder can follow another Upholder to a solo mission, remember?” He tapped his temple. ”As long as the primary doesn’t reject the sync, the system counts it as ’voluntary oversight’.”

The system window flickered, like it heard him. A new line appeared at the bottom:

[PARTY SYNC REQUEST: AVAILABLE]

[Yes/ No]

Elias looked back at the window. Then at Kael.

”You were eavesdropping on the system.”

”I got lucky.” Kael shrugged.

”And you want to come... why?”

Kael paused. Glanced at the window, then at Elias. His voice dropped.

”Upholders are above normal rankings, so you’d probably be fine on your own, but I’m not letting you die in an unknown location before I get to persuade you to take me to the black eye city. No way in hell.”

Silence.

The countdown hit 00:19.

Elias sat up. The system light carved shadows under his eyes.

”So basically, you’re a leech.”

”Call it whatever.” Kael shrugged again.

Elias swung his legs over the bed and stood.

”Don’t slow me down,” he said.

Kael grinned, sharp and awake. ”You don’t get to die before I get to visit the mysterious city.”

Elias tapped accept on the main window.

[Party sync: accepted]

[Teleporting party: 2]

[00:03]

[00:02]

Kael rolled his shoulders. ”Let’s go!”

Elias finally looked at him.

”If you die. You’re dead. I’m not playing knight.”

”Of course,” Kael said as the bright light swallowed them. ”Anyone who expects help from you is courting death.”

[00:01...]

Dark light enveloped them immediately and the dorm went silent again.

Lamp light tore away, and gravity hit first.

Cold air ripped past them. They found themselves plummeting instead of appearing.

SPLASH!

The impact was waist-deep and brutal. Black water closed over Elias’s knees and sucked at his clothes like hands. The shock of it killed his breath for a second. Kael hit a foot to his left with a choked curse, sending a spray that vanished into the dark.

Silence.

Then the dripping started.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Elias surfaced slowly, water streaming off his hood. He didn’t wipe his face. He just stood there, letting his eyes adjust.

Jagged rock walls curved up and in, disappearing into darkness. Sixty feet up, maybe more, thin needles of moonlight stabbed down through cracks in the ceiling. The light didn’t reach the water. It died half-way, leaving everything below in shadow.

Kael exhaled, sharp. ”Okay. ’Sunken’ was literal. Noted.” His voice bounced, doubled, then came back from the wrong direction.

He frowned.

”That’s weird.”

Elias ignored him. He looked up first. Then down. The water was black, yet, an unnerving amount of heat rose from the bottom, like they were stuck in a heater.

Along the walls, clusters of stone pulsed faintly. As he watched, one cluster near his shoulder quickened, pulsing faster, matching his heartbeat.

”Kael, don’t move.”

Kael froze with one foot half-lifted. ”Why—”

The crystals around Kael flared in response to his voice. The light crawled up the walls, lighting the cavern in short flashes.

And the dripping stopped.

Every. Single. Drop. Stopped.

The whole cave went dead quiet except for the water lapping against their legs.

”It’s reacting to our movement.” Elias muttered softly.

Kael raised a brow. ”What? The clusters?!”

The clusters flared up again, making a shrieking sound.

Elias slowly palmed his face.

”Whatever is here knows we’re here.” Kael looked around.

”It knew before we landed. Look at the walls,”

Kael did.

There were deep gouges carved into solid stone, all of them angling down, toward the water. Something was lucking in the dark.

Kael swallowed. ”Mawlurker.”

”Mawlurker?” Elias turned. ”You named them?!”

”It’s a Maw, Elias and they are lurking around!”

”I am beginning to regret accepting you for voluntary oversight.”

A new sound cut through the argument.

The water beneath their feet began to ripple. While Elias was looking down, Kael was looking up.

”Elias, those stalactites are moving...”

”Those are not stalactites. Those are feet!”

”Feet!” Kael’s voice echoed, making the clusters pulse wider.

”Shut up Kael! You’re drawing attention.”

The sound returned from somewhere far ahead, louder now. A shriek shook the cave.

”Elias,” he said quietly. ”The mission timer.”

Elias glanced at his window.

[Mission: Sunken Maw: The Belly]

[Time Limit: 02:58:41]

”Something is coming Elias! The water is getting hotter!”

Elias moved first. ”I see a shelf. Let’s move.”

”Why is there a shelf here?”

The duo moved to the other side of the dark, the water receding.

Elias stepped up onto the shelf.

Kael stepped up beside him, eyes on the black pool ahead. He pulled a knife from his boot.

”Keep that back.” Elias objected.

”What? No!”

”You’re an observer on this solo mission. If you intervene, we’ll be sent to the penalty zone!”

”I have to protect myself at least!” Kael snapped back. He frowned afterwards. ”My solo missions are always in a bright place. I almost want to live there! Why is yours so damn different!”

”I’m Elias. You’re a leech.”

Kael snorted. ”Typical!”

Elias glanced around.

”It’s silent.”

Kael’s eyes followed.

”Yeah, maybe it’s not so bad after a—”

Another terrific shriek rented the air. The cave shook. The stalactites moved faster now. They could feel it. Something big, crawling in the dark.

The screen popped.

[New Notification: You have been detected]