It had been a long time since Kyra last fought a hobgoblin. Even their mightiest warlords were a rare sight beyond C-rank dungeons. It didn't matter how many there were. They couldn't do a thing to her.

  No, her one and only challenge was in disguising her true strength from Noemi.

  Had she been only a little stronger—had she been at mere C-rank—then it would have been a difficult task. A C-ranker didn't have much to fear from D- and E-rank monsters, but they would have to put forth a great effort, and in so doing expose the truth of their skills and stats.

  But a paradox arose when the gap was wide enough.

  For someone like Kyra, the hobgoblins' attacks weren't something to be parried. Everything was telegraphed when you had a keen eye. You didn't need such quick reflexes or impressive agility when you could see a javelin's trajectory before it left the enemy's hand.

  Of course she made sure it didn't look too smooth. Some of those throws came awfully close. And when she ducked under the thrust of a spear, she did it clumsily and stumbled. Yet the hobgoblins were never in a position to take advantage, and somehow, by virtue of luck, she made it past the encirclement to take her place by Noemi's side.

  Noemi looked at her in disbelief while the knight captain stared at its own forces like they'd just been caught eating crayons.

  She touched Noemi on the arm and fed her mana in through the fabric, restoring the other's stamina. Unlike the other hunters, Noemi avoided the heavier armors, preferring to remain light on her feet, and in particular kept her arms clear of anything that could slow her sword.

  "Keep your promise, captain, and keep me safe," she whispered.

  The fire returned to Noemi's eyes twice as fierce. Not even the auxilia could keep up with her now. But the hobgoblins had her greatly outnumbered, with additional scouts and warriors reinforcing from the side rooms.

  Noemi energetically pushed and probed, taking every opportunity to drive the enemy back and create an opening to bring them closer to the first chamber. It was a tricky dance as they had to circle around the hobgoblin knight captain, its heavy sword being something Noemi seemed to rather not deal with.

  With Kyra at her back and topping her up, Noemi was able to fight at her peak all the way through. But the knight captain had anticipated their retreat and ordered some of its troops to cover the doorway into the first chamber. There were three scouts blocking their escape, and Noemi didn't have the muscle to move them.

  Abruptly one of the scouts caught an arrow in the back. In a familiar scene from earlier, Noemi seized on the hobgoblin's moment of weakness to pierce its neck with her estoc. The other scouts backed away from the doorway, unwilling to be caught in an attack from two directions.

  At last Kyra and Noemi passed through into the first chamber, leaving behind the frustrated hobgoblin knight captain to curse at its subordinates.

  The other three hunters had set themselves up by the portal. With the wall to their back, Gabin was covering one angle with his shield while Lucas had erected some ice barriers to block the other.

  The arrow had come from Alba, who had a direct line of sight into the second room, and she gave them a thumbs-up. "Got your back, captain!"

  Noemi returned the thumbs-up and then rampaged her way through the sea of weaker goblins. Their hobgoblin leader lay dead, its chest riddled with arrows and ice lances, and the remaining F-rank monsters were fodder to Noemi's estoc.

  Kyra followed closely behind Noemi, and Gabin patted her on the back when she made it past his shield.

  "Didn't think we'd leave you behind, did you?" he quipped.

  On Noemi's order they retreated through the portal, with the captain being the last one through.

  Back in the basement of the computer repair shop, the hunters all collapsed in an exhausted heap on the floor. Kyra was the only one faking.

  Gabin, Alba, and Lucas had pushed themselves to their limits to stay inside the dungeon, and it showed on their faces. But it was this decision that had saved their captain's life. It wasn't just the clearing of the blockade at the doorway for Noemi's retreat. They had kept the goblins in the first chamber occupied and dealt with the hobgoblin leading them. This had given the second chamber some extra room to breathe.

  The shop worker appeared at the top of the stairway. "Are you guys done already?"

  When he came down and saw them, his face paled.

  Kyra realized that they were all covered in blood, and their faces hardly glowed victorious.

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  Noemi brought herself to her feet and addressed the man. "We'll have to come back tomorrow with a bigger team."

  The worker glanced nervously at the portal. "How long will we have to close up shop for?"

  "You're safe to stay open," Noemi replied.

  "Really?" He glanced down at the state of her armor.

  "Monsters can't escape from a dungeon that has only recently appeared," Noemi assured him.

  The worker looked doubtfully back at the portal. "You're certain of that?"

  "According to the Hero of Teelameer himself," Noemi said. "But if you're nervous, why not set up an alarm and barricade the door? The monsters in there are nothing like the ones that ravaged Teelameer. It will take them time to break through a reinforced door. We'll be back in the morning to finish the job."

  In the end the worker called his boss, who gave the shop staff the afternoon off. The team helped wedge a couple of filing cabinets in front of the basement, and as they were leaving, they saw the workers sticking up a notice in the front of the store.

  "A bit excessive," Lucas said, watching from the van.

  "They just want to keep everyone safe," Noemi replied. "Can't blame them for being cautious. Everyone is terrified of another Teelameer."

  Gabin drove them back to the guild hall, where they got themselves cleaned up and then Noemi gave a little speech to boost their spirits.

  Afterward Noemi approached Kyra privately and asked to talk. Together they left the guild hall and walked to a nearby park where they found a quiet spot beneath a sycamore tree.

  "I want to thank you for being there," Noemi said. "Had it been anyone else, we would have been wiped out."

  "Will you be all right?" Kyra regarded Noemi with concern. Outside of her speech back at the guild hall, the team captain had been quiet since they left the job site.

  "I just have a lot to think about. And the rest of the team does too. That's if I still have a team in the morning."

  "I wouldn't worry about that," she said. "I saw them all head into the training room even though you said they're allowed to go home."

  "I should have listened to you," Noemi said. "You noticed something off about the dungeon from the very first door. You suggested going back to get more people."

  She stayed quiet and listened as the captain put out her thoughts.

  "All the signs were there," Noemi continued. "If only I'd been paying attention. If only I'd taken a moment to think."

  Noemi leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. On the surface she looked quite calm, but Kyra could sense the emotional turmoil in her heart rate and her breathing.

  After a moment Noemi opened her eyes and said, "Do you know what I was before I got my powers? I was a shopkeeper. We sold handbags and backpacks and fashion accessories. Because we stocked a range of high-end products, we got rich customers coming in. Doctors. Lawyers. Business owners.

  "I used to get so jealous. Why wasn't I good at anything? Why couldn't I be successful? I applied to law school. I tried to start my own business. The bank wouldn't give me a loan. I tried selling little handmade toys online. No one bought them. I was mediocre, I was nothing special, and every day I was surrounded by merchandise I couldn't afford and serving people who had proper talent."

  Noemi took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing.

  "The day I got my powers, I was so happy. At last there was something special about me. Something I could do that many others could not. And it didn't end there. I learned about ranks. That all hunters are not created equal. I was determined to make it to the top. To prove that I was worthy of this special gift."

  Noemi sighed. "But even in this, I've proved to be nothing more than mediocre."

  "You're being unfair on yourself," Kyra said.

  "I've been falling behind. No matter how hard I work, no matter how many hours into the night I train, the top rankers keep soaring ever higher away from me."

  "You can't keep looking up all the time," Kyra said. "Sometimes it's better to look back and see how far you've come."

  "Do you want to know what makes it even worse, Kyra? Today has made me realize that I've only gotten where I am by taking shortcuts. I'm not a true D-ranker. I only got here because I focused my efforts in one area and neglected all the others. But what good is it that I can outmaneuver a D-rank monster if I don't have the strength to take it down? If I don't have the endurance to bring the battle to its end?"

  Noemi turned her head down and said softly, "I was so blinded by ambition that I lost sight of what really mattered and nearly got my friends killed."

  She moved in closer to Noemi and said firmly, "But they're alive. And so are you."

  She could understand why the younger woman had chosen to confide in her. Noemi probably wasn't comfortable showing this side of herself to any other member of her team. There were certain expectations of leadership, and she probably felt a lot of pressure to uphold them—particularly given her age. But everyone needed someone to lean on, and Noemi had chosen her.

  It didn't matter that they'd barely known each other a day. Many people go through life without knowing which of their friends were truly friends. Which ones would extend an arm and pull them out of the water, and which would let them drown. She supposed that in Noemi's heart, Kyra had already proven herself.

  Noemi could have instead gone to Joan. But it was understandable why someone would be reluctant to show weakness around their boss. Or maybe the two had never fought alongside each other. Or maybe it hadn't been Noemi's intention at all to say any of this when she'd brought her here.

  Noemi shook her head. "This is a poor showing, isn't it? I brought you here to thank you."

  She didn't think they had to leave the guild hall for that, but she let the excuse slide.

  "Not just for saving my life but for opening my eyes," Noemi continued. "The time we spent in that room, just the two of us and those hobgoblins, I know it's weird to say this, but it really reminded me of the joy of being a hunter. I mean if we removed the whole fighting-for-our-lives bit. Just being able to move like that for an entire battle and not have to worry about slowing down—it felt really good, you know?"

  She'd had a feeling that the brush with death hadn't soured Noemi's spirit. A hunter was a hunter after all, and one didn't rise to D-rank without some hardships. This was why she was also confident about the other members of Noemi's team. They chose this life, and they'd already stuck with it this far.

  "I see some endurance training in your future," Kyra said with a smile.

  "I don't blame you if you've soured on the guild after everything that's happened today," Noemi said. "But I'm going to ask Joan to keep a slot open for you. And if you ever want to raid with us, you'll always be welcome. I'm going to train the right way and focus on the right things, and the next time you work with us, I'm going to fulfill that promise I made to you."

  "What promise was that?" she asked.

  "That we're a team you can trust with your life."