Faith was the one driving them back to his apartment in Vallendale, using the visit as an excuse to see her father, who still lived in the city. The drive passed quickly, filled with laughter as Arianna and Faith reminisced about the most absurd and entertaining moments of the past week.
He was glad she had made a friend, that she was making connections in his world. He hoped that she didn’t miss her old world too much since he wanted her to stay. But the decision was hers when he told her the truth. It had almost slipped out during their argument. But he’d caught himself. He couldn’t lose her just yet and she didn’t have anyone else in this world she could turn to yet.
Arianna and Faith were talking about the future—about the uncertain days ahead, the looming shortages, and their determination to keep in touch. The last part made him relax a bit more. Now, it seemed, she had found someone who could be her friend, not their friend as the others in his parents’ neighbourhood were. Hopefully Faith turned out to be genuine and not some spy or enemy.
When Faith finally pulled the car to a stop in front of his building, the women’s farewell was more emotional than expected. Arianna and Faith hugged tightly, reluctant to part ways.
“Text and call me,” Faith said.
“I will,” Arianna promised. “Don’t forget me.”
Cassis shook Faith’s hand with a smile, and then he and Arianna headed upstairs to his apartment. Once inside, they began making their rounds calling everyone. Liam, Camden, Luke, Nadine and Helen were already preparing. Since they didn’t have an inventory yet Cassis volunteered to get their provisions and sleeping tents.
Arianna told everyone that Sapphire would get them some basic protective sets – a grey pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt that were reinforced with mana. Cassis thought back to the first time she had bought those sets when they and his family had gone out to find Luke during the first wave. They had come a long way since then.
They got off the phone with the promise to meet at the dungeon gate near his home at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
That the dungeon he got from the government was near his home showed just how calculating Brice was – trying to get them on his side by making things as easy for them as possible without showing blatant favouritism. But according to Arianna he had a different side to him – raising Faith and taking care of her – and she believed something would happen to him to turn him into the crazy tyrant who used slave collars. Cassis hoped that that was the case. Maybe they could keep it from happening?
But he didn’t count on it. Even if Brice had lost his mind in the other timeline, he had been way too efficient at grasping power, manipulation and fighting. He had been too ruthless to just be the commander of an army that was at peace for decades by the time the first wave hit. People didn’t just change from nice and kind into someone like that. He was carrying those abilities, those feelings inside him already.
And once Brice showed his true colours, Cassis would kill him. It was the best course of action. He couldn’t allow the tragedy with the slave collars to repeat itself. Still, he wouldn’t tell Arianna about his plan. She was the positive one in this relationship, and he had to admit that sometimes she was right. So, he hoped she was right this time, too, but still prepared for the worst.
During their conversation with the Bristols they made plans to have Violet stay with his parents as after Matteo and Felicia reached level 5, Violet would wear the experience sharing bracelet. Cassis then called the Morrisons and asked if they wanted Noah to also wear the bracelet, maybe even baby Jessica. In the other timeline children under three hadn’t been able to awaken but now with the system protection maybe it would work. It would be good to know for certain and the Morrisons agreed.
Last he called his parents to tell them about the visitors they would get tomorrow. His mother put Matteo on the phone. He had some questions and seemed very excited. “Uncle Liam already told me about the bracelet. So, I just wear it and then level? That seems too easy but at least I’m getting stronger.”
Cassis answered. “Yes, just like that. Once you reach level 5 it won’t work on you anymore and you need to give it to your sister. Once she reaches level 5, Violet gets it. And after her it’s Noah’s and Jessica’s turn.”
Matteo sounded annoyed, just like any normal teenager. “Yes, I understood it the first time Uncle Liam explained it.” Cassis could practically see the eyeroll Matteo must have been doing and smiled. Matteo was dealing with his parents’ deaths – maybe not in the healthiest way possible but not in a bad way either. Felicia worried him a lot more since she still hadn’t said a word.
“Ok, I’ll make sure the others pass the bracelet around once they reach level 5.” Matteo proclaimed. It was good he was taking care of others. That would ground him and give him a way to balance out his craving for revenge. Cassis knew this from experience. He looked at Arianna who had been his way to balance out every bad thing that had been happening in the other timeline – a being that cared for him, worried for him and stayed with him. Everyone needed someone like that.
During the conversation with his parents he mentioned their plan to purchase a house in their neighbourhood. His mother was overjoyed. His father, ever the calm presence, assured him that they would support them financially and expressed how glad he was. He would even talk with the neighbour across their house if he wanted to sell it to Cassis and Arianna.
Cassis felt a surge of relief at his father’s steady tone. He could sense that Arianna did too. His father sounded... alright. Whole, in a way that mattered. He hoped he was truly learning to live with the loss of his arm. He knew that Arianna wanted to find a way to one day reconstruct it for him. She’d only told him about it, not wanting to give his father false hope. But with everything going on, she simply hadn’t had time to experiment with the complex mana techniques it would require.
Then he and his parents talked a bit more about farming. His mother – much to his father’s displeasure – had gone out with Joseph to buy seeds, books and equipment. Before Cassis could ask, why Joseph, he remembered that during his childhood Mr Morrison’s garden hadn’t been a nice decorative garden but a small farm. His mother informed him at the same time he remembered that Joseph had experience with farming as he came from a farming family.
He was relieved they had someone who knew what he was doing with the farming since Cassis had never done that. He could forage and hunt with the best of them, but farming wasn’t something he had tried before.
He talked a bit more with his parents, even laughing when his mother teased his father with her shopping trip with Joseph. It was still weird, but he had missed this. And he could tell they were worried about their dungeon raid tomorrow. So, he let them stay on the phone with him for however long they needed him there.
Meanwhile Arianna had been fiddling with her phone. Once he ended the call, after his mother had told him and Arianna to be careful at least three more times, he asked her what she was doing.
She answered. “I’m sending the training videos we took to Elena. She said she would edit them and then upload them tomorrow. I wonder if we’ll get any profession exp out of this.” Cassis was curious, too. If it worked, they’d get quite the boost to their levels and abilities.
Then he thought back to their little argument about her demonstration of healing magic. He may have overreacted, but every time she got hurt it was like someone shot him in the chest. The only reason she was here was his wish. He cursed himself again for his stupidity and vowed to make this right for her. He would find the wishing lamp and if she wanted, she could go home again. Still, he was hoping for her to stay. He never said he wasn’t a selfish bastard.
The next morning Cassis and Arianna prepared themselves for the dungeon raid, both starting with their mana pattern exercises. The effort left a familiar pressure behind his eyes, but he welcomed it—progress, however painful, was still progress. Afterward, they dressed in the new basic defensive sets Arianna had purchased from the Patron Shop. The previous sets, tattered and ruined from their last fights during the first wave, were no longer usable.
Cassis found himself hoping that someone in their group of friends or acquaintances would soon unlock a tailoring profession—someone who could study and eventually repair or even improve the gear they wore. It was a practical thought, not unlike his growing desire to meet an alchemist. His inventory still contained numerous monster parts from the first wave. Depending on what creatures they would encounter in this new dungeon, that number would only increase. Thankfully, his inventory had expanded following his class evolution. Without that, he’d already be overloaded.
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Once dressed and geared, he and Arianna made their way to the supermarket. They stocked up on provisions—bottled water, various drinks, and enough food to sustain seven people for a week. They also stopped by a nearby restaurant and picked up more perishable fare. It would all stay fresh inside their inventories, safe from time and spoilage. Cassis doubted the dungeon would take a full week to clear, but it never hurt to overprepare.
Next, they went to a sports store in the same shopping mall and bought sleeping bags and tents for their group. They’d probably need to sleep inside the dungeon. But he knew that only a few hours would pass in this world even if they stayed there for days.
On their way to the gate, they took the subway. As he looked around at the subdued passengers, Cassis once again felt a deep respect for those who had returned to work, keeping the remnants of society running. But the shortages were already starting. At the supermarket, some prices had nearly doubled, and a few ingredients were simply unavailable.
The tents they had purchased had been some of the last ones, many buy those to prepare for a different kind of survival should the second wave bring more surprises than monsters. The subway no longer ran every ten minutes but every thirty—there simply weren’t enough personnel left to maintain previous schedules.
A third of the population had vanished, and the absence was palpable.
Thankfully nobody seemed to recognize them. Most people were too preoccupied with themselves and their new situations to pay much attention to others.
When they arrived at the gate’s entrance, they were a bit early. Soldiers stood guard, ever watchful. One of them, a lieutenant, stepped forward to confirm their identities and clearance. He was polite but firm, the kind of man who’d do his work earnestly. A few of the other soldiers cast curious glances their way, perhaps wondering what sort of crazy people willingly stepped into a dungeon.
Soon, the rest of the group arrived.
Cassis greeted Helen first with a hug. He still felt a bit weird after finding out his middle-aged aunt had an active love life. Then Liam, who clung to him a little longer than usual possibly making sure he was ok, and finally Camden. He extended a hand, keeping his expression neutral, but Camden only smirked as they shook hands. It was subtle, but enough to stir the familiar irritation in Cassis' chest. That man had a talent for getting under his skin.
Arianna, meanwhile, was doling out hugs with practiced ease—Luke and Nadine received warm embraces, followed by Helen and Liam. Even Camden earned one. Cassis knew she wouldn’t exclude him; she would never leave someone standing apart while the others were welcomed in. Still, part of him wished she’d just skipped that one hug. She was too kind sometimes.
Cassis also greeted Luke and Nadine, telling them again that he was glad they came. They told him that they would happily go into a dungeon to make Violet stronger.
With the greetings done, Arianna handed out the rest of the basic protective sets she had prepared. The others moved toward the temporary restrooms the soldiers had set up nearby—simple portable toilets and partitions offering a semblance of privacy.
Cassis stood for a moment, watching them go. Then he set his sights on the gate – a black hole that looked like a crack in reality. Inside the darkness he felt like mana was swirling even contorting reality, on the outer edges of the oval he could see that it pulsed with power. Everything around it looked distorted – a side-effect of the mana that swivelled around it. Soon, they’d step through.
The others returned, all dressed in their basic protective gear, and began retrieving their weapons from their cars. Liam, Camden, and Luke each gripped swords with varying degrees of familiarity; Helen was twirling a dagger in one hand while keeping her bow securely slung over her shoulder; Nadine quietly counted the arrows in her quiver before slinging her bow over her shoulder.
Arianna had already pulled her mace from her inventory, its dark metal gleaming faintly. Cassis followed suit, summoning his sword with a practiced motion.
He asked the others to make their own party. They were all below level 10 and he didn’t want to take away their experience, especially because it wouldn’t do a lot for him and Arianna in the beginning. The gate seemed to keep bigger groups of monsters out of its vicinity.
They’d join the party when they were fighting against groups of F-ranks or an E-rank monster. Other than that, they were going to be the safety net the others needed. Nadine established the party and then they moved toward the gate.
The moment Cassis stepped through, the familiar sensation hit him—space twisting and spinning around him in a dizzying spiral. He had grown accustomed to the disorienting transition over time, but the others weren’t so fortunate.
Taking a defensive stance out of habit, Cassis scanned their immediate surroundings – even though most monsters didn’t come near the gate, it always paid to be vigilant – while the others stumbled, dry heaved, and actually vomited as Luke seemed to have an especially sensitive digestive system. Thankfully, no monsters awaited them right at the gate's threshold.
Turning his attention more fully to the landscape, Cassis took in the surreal sight before him.
They stood in a dense jungle, but unlike any jungle from Earth. The thick, humid air clung to them, saturated with a heady, almost sweet fragrance. Towering trees loomed overhead, their bark shimmering in hues of deep red, burnt orange, and luminous pink. Vines, thick as a man's arm and tangled like living serpents, hung from the branches, swaying slightly even though there was no breeze. Giant flowers with iridescent petals peeked through the underbrush, some the size of dinner plates. The sunlight filtering through the canopy above was tinted faintly gold, casting everything in an ethereal glow. Strange, birdlike creatures with bright scales instead of feathers flitted from tree to tree, letting out melodious, unfamiliar calls.
It was a typical low-rank gate: the environment was close enough to Earth's that it felt familiar, but alien enough that their senses constantly reminded them this was another dimension.
Finally regaining their composure, the others straightened up and began to take in their surroundings with wide-eyed amazement.
Over their private party chat, Arianna’s voice chimed in, filled with wonder:
"Wow, this looks amazing."
Cassis nodded. It was what pretty much everyone said the first time they laid eyes on it. Even Arianna — who had seen countless dungeons as his patron in the other timeline — couldn't hide her amazement. But it was different actually stepping into them, wasn't it?
Cassis remembered this world clearly.
Well — "world." The scientists back then had never really agreed on whether dungeons were worlds or dimensions. He’d never understood the difference anyway. "World" just sounded better, so that's what he called them.
Each gate was a crack in space, opening into a fragment of a world, a place sealed off by mana barriers. A dungeon. Since worlds were a lot bigger than a single dungeon area, each world had several gates leading to different pieces of it. He was pretty sure he hadn’t entered through this particular gate before — but he had been to Rezon. And he knew this place.
Beautiful. But absolutely cursed.
So many plants were poisonous. So many monsters were venomous. At least Arianna would get some creative use out of her healing spell. Cassis wasn't looking forward to meeting the special monsters of this world though. Not because they were strong — but because they were gross. And obnoxious.
While he mused, the others shook off the usual disorientation from passing through a gate.
And then it came — the system message.
[Welcome to Rezon.]
[Your Objectives:
- Kill the Frogman Chief
- Find and retrieve the Healing Vine
- Gather 10 Mesmerizing Blossoms]
[Complete at least one objective to leave the dungeon.]
Right now, nobody else could enter this dungeon. Only once all of them left would the dungeon be open to other awakeners again. They also wouldn’t meet other awakeners who had entered this world through another gate since the dungeon was protected by mana barriers.
But they also couldn’t leave until they had completed at least one of the objectives. Cassis and Arianna sighed almost at the same time. Gathering missions were the worst.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Arianna scrunching her face, already guessing what ‘finding the Healing Vine’ meant. Yeah. She remembered too. The first time she’d seen the monsters who were protecting that Healing Vine back when she was just a patron, she had screamed in horror at how disgusting they were.
Honestly, he couldn’t blame her. He’d also had a visceral reaction to them and their actions.
"Are those monsters here?" she asked quietly over their private channel. Cassis nodded grimly. Arianna's face twisted like she’d just bitten into a rotten lemon.
They were going to have to deal with them — at least if they wanted to complete the second objective. Sure, they technically only needed to finish one mission to get out. But experience points were too precious to pass up, especially now. Who knew when they'd get the chance to dive into another dungeon? He told her as much. Arianna nodded, still visibly unhappy but resigned. He didn’t like it either.
Meanwhile, the others had started discussing which objective to tackle. Cassis raised his voice slightly to get their attention. "Why not just do all of them? Or at least try," he suggested. "It’s not like we’re in a hurry. And maybe we’ll get bonus rewards for it. That's how it’s been so far, right?"
There were thoughtful expressions all around, and after a moment, everyone agreed.
Nadine, as the party leader, quickly took charge and got them into formation.
Liam, Camden, and Luke took the front like a spearhead — Camden standing slightly ahead of the others, the wall between danger and the rest of them.
Nadine moved to the back, covering their retreat routes as the ranger. Helen, even though she was officially a ranger too, slotted into the middle line — close enough to stab if things got messy. She liked her knives more than her bow, anyway.
Cassis watched her from the corner of his eye. He really hoped she evolved into something like a Thief once she got her evolved class at level 10. Sure, she’d picked up Slash and Stab through their combat training... but an evolved class would open up new skills like Sneak and Backstab, maybe even Stealth. That’s when Helen’s real talents would shine since she had quite some life experience with those actions. Though perhaps she could learn them by herself in this jungle. There would be a lot of opportunities for her to try.
He adjusted the grip on his sword and glanced at Arianna, who gave him a look that clearly said let’s get this over with. The jungle around them pulsed, the thick red and orange leaves trembling as if breathing.
He and Arianna took their place behind Nadine, close enough to help out but far enough that their Monsterbane I titles wouldn’t scare off the single F-rank monsters that liked to roam around the gates. The packs wouldn’t avoid him and Arianna, but it would take a while to reach where they were. For now, the others could practice their fighting skills with lone monsters.
Time to get moving.