The dungeon's exit led to a shimmering portal. I glanced at Jian, who adjusted her spear on her back.
"So… what now?" I asked.
"We survive," she said simply. "And we find a way to bring them back."
Alicia. Her mentor. Our reasons were different—but our goal was the same.
I took a deep breath and stepped into the portal. [The dungeon doors slammed behind them, sealing off the reeking rot of the undead lair they'd just conquered. Jackson exhaled, still gripping the hilt of the Demon Devourer, his knuckles white and bloodied. Jian leaned against him slightly, her breathing steadying as the last of the boss's light particles faded into the air.
"Level 6," he muttered, glancing at the notification.
"You good?" Jian asked, flexing her hand. Her spear, newly repaired and glowing faintly with runes, pulsed at her side.
"Yeah… Better than expected." He looked down at his own body, surprised by how natural this strength was starting to feel. Yet with every kill, every use of the Demon Devourer, he felt something… off. Like something inside him was watching—waiting.
Jian noticed his hesitation. "Your sword. It's alive, isn't it?"
He nodded slowly. "It's like it gets hungrier every time I use it. And I can feel it—sapping something from me."
"It's cursed," she said flatly, adjusting her armor. "A Chaos weapon. They always have a cost. If it feeds too much, it'll feed on you."
Jackson's jaw tensed. "So what, I just let it starve?"
"No," she said, eyes scanning their new surroundings, "You learn to control it before it controls you. Or find a relic strong enough to contain it."
Jackson hesitated. Then remembered something.
"The dragon scales."
Jian turned sharply. "What do you know about them?"
"Not much. But the system hinted I'd need them to survive this blade. That I'd only find two in this world."
Jian was quiet for a moment. "My mentor… she used to speak of the dragon scales. Said they could suppress even time magic… or purify a Chaos-bound soul."
Jackson glanced at her. "Your mentor. You still think she's alive?"
"I know she is," Jian replied, her voice suddenly heavy with conviction. "She was taken. But not by monsters. By time itself. Something... twisted her path."
A moment passed in silence before a system message appeared:
"Quest Completed: Night Emperor's Lair"
XP Gained: 4,500
Credit Earned: 3,200
Hidden Lore Unlocked: Fragment of Light
New Title: Undead Bane
A glowing icon blinked in his inventory. Jackson opened it. A shard of golden crystal pulsed softly.
Item Acquired: Fragment of Light
Description: A sealed memory of someone dear, locked away by time magic. Only those bound by fate may awaken it.
His breath caught. The moment he touched it, an image flickered across his mind—a girl in white robes, standing before a massive tree, her back to him. Her voice echoed, not as a sound, but as a feeling.
"Find me before it's too late."
Jackson dropped the shard. Jian caught it before it hit the ground.
"You saw her, didn't you?"
"…Yeah."
"That's my mentor," she said. "I'd recognize that light anywhere."
But Jackson didn't answer. His heart was racing. That wasn't just her mentor. That was Alicia.
She had changed. But he'd know her presence anywhere. And now he understood something crucial: She wasn't lost. She had thrown herself into time, willingly. To save him. To help him break the curse Lilith cast.
And the staff Jian carried—the one with soft carvings of vines and stars—he realized now, had once belonged to Alicia.]
The world twisted around us, pulling us toward our next challenge.
And as I felt the familiar tug of another world calling, I knew one thing for certain:
I wasn't done fighting. Not by a long shot.
P.s the first reward in the inventory was the reward for killing the boss this is the quest reward