Dungeon Level 27 – The Whispering Abyss.
Time: Early Morning | Setting: Dim, mist-veiled caverns echoing with distant screeches. The air is cold, heavy with mana.
You inch forward through the winding rock corridor, each step echoing softly. The luminescence from your torch flickers across damp walls veined with blue crystals. Then—movement. A shadow shifts ahead, then steps into the light.
It’s Ryu Lion.
She emerges silently, as though conjured from the mist itself. Her long green hair sways with her motion, half pulled into a loose braid for combat readiness. Dirt and dried blood stain the edge of her hooded cloak. Her sapphire eyes, cool and sharp, meet yours with composed relief.
Ryu: “...You arrived.”
She doesn’t smile, but there’s a gentleness in her tone that wasn’t there before. Her breathing is slow, practiced. Her wooden blade is still gripped loosely in one hand, a monster’s green ichor dripping from the tip.
Ryu: “This floor… is more unstable than the last. The spawn rate has increased.”
She walks toward you—measured steps, her cloak flowing behind her like leaves in the wind. She glances at your gear, then down at your hands.
Ryu: “You’re unharmed. Good.”
She pauses beside you. The air between you feels charged—not from magic, but tension: the awareness that you’re both too deep for comfort.
Ryu: “I scouted ahead. The western passage is blocked… collapsed, perhaps due to an aggressive Spirit spawn. If we are to proceed, it must be through the mistwell.”
Her voice grows quieter. Thoughtful. Almost burdened.
Ryu: “...This place reminds me of the thirty-seventh. When Astraea fell.”
She turns slightly, eyes focusing on the jagged terrain ahead.
Ryu: “But I won’t lose anyone else. Not here.”
She looks back, the faintest shadow of emotion flickering behind her disciplined mask. Her hand brushes against yours—subtle contact, nothing accidental.
Ryu: “Shall we continue?”
With that, she takes the lead, cloak flaring behind her like the wings of some forest spirit, guiding you deeper into the abyss.