Vincent charged the monster with the tentacles and putrid hands, shield first and sword raised above his head. He was surprised he had seen the thing coming quickly enough to intervene, but not that it had caught Tara; after all, she was an archer. There was little she could do. He thought he would heroically save her before the tentacle could crush her skull, stab her between the eyes, but he didn't.

  Ayame threw the monster and smashed it to pulp against the nearest wall before he could even swing his sword, with just a push.

  Well, that had been somewhat anticlimactic. Tara fell to the ground, clutching her throat, coughing hard, she looked weakened, surely she had been close to fainting.

  "Yeah, we started off fucking great," Tara said. "I hope the rest of the way isn't like this."

  "Be more alert next time," Ayame said bluntly.

  "You saw it coming," Tara challenged.

  "Well, it didn't get me, did it?" Ayame replied.

  Tara clicked her tongue and looked away. Was she already rethinking the decision to invite them, haha? But well, they were the strongest of the year, or at least they seemed to be, so she would have to swallow it.

  "It doesn't matter whose fault it was," Vincent said, not bothering too much to smooth things over. "Let's move forward carefully so it doesn't happen again."

  Tara nodded, took an arrow from her quiver, nocking it. Vincent supposed she must have some skill that created arrows, reloaded them automatically somehow, because otherwise, he didn't see how she could be useful for the entire dungeon run; there were maybe thirty arrows in the quiver, maybe a few more, but that wasn't much, it was rather very little.

  Maybe he should have asked about these things before, he thought, but Tara wouldn't get them into this mess if she believed it was a suicide mission. As much as Tara trusted their abilities, she wouldn't expect them to protect her, if she was even remotely sensible, no matter what. They would know best.

  They continued forward through the darkness. Some light came in through the hole, soon they would leave it behind, but further ahead, there were occasional lit torches. Not very frequent, but Vincent let his shield hang on his back and pulled one of the torches from the wall. Someone had to carry it, and it was better him, or perhaps…

  "Let me carry it," Ayame said. "I have no weapon other than my fists, claws, and fangs, after all."

  Yes, carrying the torch would prevent him from using his shield, but it would hinder Ayame less, much less. It made sense. So he didn't argue, just nodded, handing her the torch.

  As they advanced, the corridor became narrower and narrower, turning into a passage where you couldn't even stretch your arms out to the sides. Not that he was claustrophobic, or anything like that, but it wasn't very pleasant either. Ayame and her torch were, of course, in front, and Tara in the middle. And she was the one who voiced Vincent's thoughts.

  "What will we do if we're ambushed here? As good as I am, I have no room to shoot."

  "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Ayame replied, very relaxed, as if it had nothing to do with her.

  Tara didn't protest, quite the opposite, she immediately conceded.

  "I suppose that's true, there's no other way."

  If such an ambush occurred, by necessity, the enemies would have to reach them one by one, at most one from the front, one from behind, and one from above. So, although it sounded terrifying, it wouldn't be that big a deal, even if it happened.

  But they weren't ambushed, neither inside the passage, nor outside. Outside there was nothing, not the slightest noise, except for the wind, of course. Oh, and a distant click-click, like dripping water. That too.

  They continued forward until they could go no further. Why? Well, the way was down. A few stones, but the same applied to the entrance to the dungeon, and in the end, the fall hadn't been that bad. He wasn't going to test it. It wasn't as dangerous as it looked.

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  Ayame looked up, then took a step back and stretched out her arm to throw the torch with all her might. It landed with a clatter on the ledge, rolled towards them, wobbled – Vincent thought it would fall into the void – but stayed there, on the ledge, illuminating the path upward. The wall was climbable; there were plenty of handholds and footholds. A dungeon was an environment prepared to some extent for humans to traverse. That was common sense, although no one in the world knew the reason for dungeons, how they could change location or configuration just like that. That much, at least, they understood.

  Vincent took a deep breath and jumped towards the wall. His hands and feet found purchase immediately. Climbing wasn't something he had done often. Sometimes playing with other children, he had climbed trees in the forest, made a few jumps. It's not like there were many ways to have fun in his village in the middle of nowhere. But he had enough practice, apparently. It was manageable, something he could do even with the weight of the armor on his shoulders. Well, and the rest of his body. Not to mention the sword and shield. Anyway.

  "Come on, up we go."

  Ayame went ahead, transforming into a bat and flying directly to the top. The wind displaced by her wings, the air displaced by her wings, ruffled his hair as she passed nearby. Ah, she could just do that directly. Yes. Of course.

  Vincent and Tara also reached the top. Just slower, very carefully. Vincent felt the glory of being able to put his feet on solid ground. Ayame bent down to pick up the torch from the ground. And no, it hadn't gone out. For now. The torches found in dungeons could go out, they just lasted much longer than normal. And why? Well, because things were simply like that in a dungeon. Nobody knew the reason for that either.

  They continued moving forward.

  "We're doing well," Tara said. "I know we've barely started, but… you know what I mean."

  Vincent understood her perfectly, but he didn't appreciate that. On the contrary, it made him tense. He knew the tentacle creature had given them a warm welcome, but afterward, they had done nothing more than walk and climb a bit. Wasn't everything too quiet, too calm? Didn't it seem too easy? Surely there was some bullshit waiting around the corner. He knew it was tempting fate, but oh well. Even if he acted differently, the same thing would happen. That's how dungeons were. They were literally designed to screw you over. However essential they were to their society. Anyway, it wasn't the only thing that seemed specifically designed to screw you over.

  He almost forgot to reply.

  "Yeah, maybe we make a good team."

  It was a true test of their worth as a team. It arrived shortly after, as he had suspected. More of those disgusting creatures gathered down there. They seemed to be staggering in circles, with nothing to do. They didn't growl, didn't make the slightest sound, except for the sound of tentacles twisting, stretching, contracting, like the rhythm of some heartbeat. That was a hundred times creepier. But at least they couldn't see them from here, so high above them. Meaning, they had the element of surprise.

  "Why does my first dungeon have to be full of these disgusting creatures?" Vincent muttered.

  "I'll cover you," Tara said, nocking an arrow, crouching.

  Sure, very clever. But well, she was an archer, it was her ideal distance. What did he expect?

  Ayame and Vincent looked at each other, nodded, then jumped to the ground, a ten-meter drop. Maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less. Come on, nothing.

  Ayame's landing was graceful and practically silent. Vincent didn't fall on his ass or anything, but he was wearing armor. However graceful he might be, it was impossible not to make noise. So all the sons of bitches turned to look at them.

  "The more limbs they have, the more weak points. Look at it that way," Ayame said.

  Vincent almost laughed.

  "Now that's being optimistic."

  They engaged in combat.

  It wasn't a matter of being better or worse. There were too many tentacles. He simply couldn't block them all with the shield or dodge them. In each exchange of blows, he had to suffer something, even if it only took, quote unquote, a small piece of flesh. In the end, it would add up. He couldn't let this drag on, obviously. Especially since it would only be the first fight of many.

  The more limbs, the more weak points. That wasn't false. Certainly. Every time he slashed a hand on a tentacle, they felt it. They stopped abruptly, even if only for a tenth of a second. The way creatures without voices screamed.

  Meanwhile, Ayame moved through the creatures with superior violence. She didn't care how many tentacles there were. Nor if they caught her wrists or pulled her legs back, towards the ground. She had enough strength to break free from their grasp. And if her strength ever failed her, she could simply change shape. A mist, a bat, whatever. In any case, she had the ability to escape instantly. Vincent wondered why she didn't transform more often. Jumping around like that, she would be practically untouchable. Even if these enemies were more terrible. She knew she was doing fucking great. So, what could he say?

  The third link in the chain didn't lag behind. When Vincent sent one of the monsters flying, or when one approached him from behind, Tara was always there, with an accurate arrow. Finishing the job, or covering them defensively. Just what an archer was supposed to do. Besides, if the two of them faltered, Tara would have little chance of escaping alive. So, they were in the same boat, more or less.

  The three systematically tore the sons of bitches to pieces. And with great effectiveness. Though it seemed like more of them kept appearing. They were doing well. He had no doubt they would succeed. Killing a dragon. The fight against the five.

  And now this, being the first of the year to clear a dungeon.

  All eyes were going to be on them.

  Good. Great.