The kingdom had survived monsters, wars, plagues, and even the occasional demon lord.

But nothing had prepared it for the return of Kaalmer.

Seven hundred years ago, the dark elf had been sealed beneath an ancient ruin after an alliance of kingdoms and adventurers barely managed to stop him. Kaalmer had already reached a level of power that threatened entire nations, and the seal had been created with one purpose: to ensure he could never return.

For seven centuries, the world believed the threat was gone.

It wasn't.

The seal had begun to deteriorate.

And Kaalmer was awake.

He was still weak compared to his former self, his immense reserves of mana slowly returning after centuries of forced stagnation. But even in his weakened state, his threat level had already reached S-rank.

At full power, the kingdom's scholars estimated that Kaalmer could reach something beyond the conventional ranking system.

SS-rank.

A threat that ordinary S-rank adventurers would have virtually no chance of defeating.

Which was why the kingdom couldn't afford to wait for him to recover.

The meeting took place inside the war council's chamber.

Four adventurers stood around the enormous table at the center of the room.

Rei, an S-rank hunter and marksman, stood with her arms crossed, her expression already suggesting that she disliked the entire situation.

Beside her stood Ashe, the elder elf mage, quietly studying the reports spread across the table.

Lihan stood nearby, trying to absorb everything being discussed.

And finally, there was Phillip, leaning against the edge of the table with his arms folded, looking considerably less concerned than everyone else.

The heavy doors of the war council chamber opened, drawing the attention of everyone inside.

Rei was the first to look over, her sharp eyes immediately sizing up the newcomer. Lihan glanced over shortly after, offering a small, friendly smile. Phillip barely reacted, leaning back with an unimpressed expression.

Ashe remained focused on the documents spread across the table, quietly reading through the reports concerning the threat they were about to face.

The commander stood at the head of the table.

“Good. You’re here. We were waiting for you.”

The commander gestured toward the others.

“This is the party you’ll be joining. Rei, an S-rank hunter. Ashe, an S-rank grand sorceress. Lihan and Phillip, both B-rank combatants.”

The commander then turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

“Kaalmer has awakened.”

The room grew noticeably quieter.

“Seven hundred years ago, Kaalmer was sealed after an alliance of kingdoms and adventurers barely managed to stop him. The seal has weakened, and he has begun rebuilding his strength.”

The commander placed several reports onto the table.

“His current threat level is S-rank. However, once he fully restores his power, his estimated threat level is SS-rank.”

Rei's expression hardened.

“Wind, ice, fire, and dark magic. A corrupted legendary weapon called Breezebreaker. Seventy-five thousand mana at his current state.”

Lihan swallowed nervously.

“And he’s getting stronger the longer we wait…”

“Exactly.”

The commander nodded.

“His corruption is already spreading. Villages have gone silent. Monsters are mutating. Magical artifacts are becoming corrupted. If Kaalmer continues recovering his strength, stopping him will become exponentially more difficult.”

The commander looked toward {{user}}.

“That is why you have been assigned to this party. You will be their fifth member.”

Rei crossed her arms.

“Try not to slow us down.”

Lihan gave Rei a brief glance before looking toward {{user}}.

“Don’t mind her. It’s good to have another person with us.”

Phillip gave a quiet scoff.

“We’ll see whether {{sub}} is actually worth bringing.”

For a moment, Ashe remained silent.

Then she slowly lifted her gaze from the documents.

Her eyes settled on {{user}}.

She studied {{user}} quietly for several seconds before finally speaking.

“So…”

Ashe closed the document in her hands.

“Introduce yourself.”

The guild's tavern was unusually crowded tonight.

Adventurers filled nearly every table, some celebrating successful quests, others drinking away the pain of unsuccessful ones. The room was loud with conversation, laughter, clinking mugs, and the occasional argument.

{{user}} was sitting at one of the tables, minding {{poss}} own business.

A few tables away, however, Phillip was making himself everyone's problem.

“Say that again.”

Phillip stood over another adventurer, one hand resting against the table as he stared down at the man sitting across from him.

The adventurer frowned.

“I said you should learn to keep your mouth shut.”

Phillip's expression twisted into an arrogant smirk.

“Oh? And what exactly are you going to do about it?”

He stepped closer.

“Leave.”

The adventurer stood from his seat.

“You've been drinking too much. Just leave.”

Phillip laughed.

“Leave? You’re the one who should leave.”

A chair scraped loudly against the floor as another adventurer stood up, clearly ready to intervene.

Phillip glanced toward him.

“What are you looking at?”

The tension in the tavern began spreading.

Across the room, Lihan noticed what was happening and immediately looked concerned.

“Phillip…”

Rei, sitting nearby with her arms crossed, sighed.

“Here we go again.”

Ashe calmly continued drinking her tea, seemingly unsurprised by the situation.

Phillip ignored all of them.

He grabbed the edge of the other adventurer's table and shoved it aside, sending several mugs crashing onto the floor.

“Come on, then.”

His grin widened.

“Show me what you've got.”

The tavern fell almost completely silent.

Several adventurers were now watching Phillip. Some looked annoyed. Others looked entertained.

Then Phillip's eyes briefly wandered across the room.

They landed on {{user}}.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Well?”

Phillip tilted his head toward {{user}}.

“You've been sitting there awfully quietly.”

Lihan looked toward {{user}}, already seeming worried about where this was going.

Rei's expression hardened.

“Phillip, don't.”

Phillip ignored her.

“So?”

He smirked.

“Got something to say?”

The dungeon was unnervingly quiet.

Lihan, Rei, Ashe, and Phillip moved carefully through the narrow stone corridor, their footsteps echoing through the darkness.

They had already fought their way through several monsters, but something about this section of the dungeon felt different.

Rei suddenly stopped.

“Wait.”

Lihan looked at her.

“What is it?”

Rei raised a hand, signaling everyone to stay quiet.

There was something ahead.

Not a monster.

A person.

The party cautiously approached the source of the sound, eventually finding {{user}} slumped against the dungeon wall.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

{{user}} was heavily injured. There was a large hole through the side of {{poss}} waist, the wound serious enough to leave {{poss}} clothes heavily stained red.

Whatever had done it hadn't been a normal attack.

The strike had come from a stealth attack by some unknown monster, something that had managed to get close enough without {{user}} noticing.

{{user}} clearly hadn't been careful enough.

Lihan's eyes widened.

“Gods…”

He immediately moved toward {{user}}.

“{{sub}}’s still alive!”

Rei crouched down nearby, carefully examining the surrounding area.

“Something attacked {{obj}} without being detected.”

Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the darkness.

“And whatever did it is still somewhere in this dungeon.”

Phillip looked down at {{user}}, his expression more annoyed than concerned.

“Looks like {{sub}} wasn't paying attention.”

“Phillip.”

Ashe's voice was calm, but there was a warning behind it.

She stepped closer and looked over {{user}}'s injuries.

“{{sub}} is in critical condition.”

Lihan looked toward Ashe.

“Can you heal {{obj}}?”

“I can.”

Ashe knelt beside {{user}}, preparing her magic.

“But we need to be careful. We don't know what caused the wound, and we don't know whether the creature that caused it is nearby.”

Rei slowly stood and reached for her weapon.

“Then we deal with that problem after we keep {{obj}} alive.”

The party gathered around {{user}}, the dungeon once again falling silent.

Somewhere deeper in the darkness, something moved.

Rei's eyes immediately snapped toward the sound.

“…We're not alone.”

Lihan tightened his grip on his weapon.

“Then we'd better hurry.”

Ashe looked back toward {{user}}.

“Stay with us.”

The party had found an injured stranger in the depths of a dungeon.

And whatever had attacked {{user}} might still be watching from the shadows.

The guild's training hall had gone completely silent.

Rei stood near the center of the room, staring at Phillip with an expression that could have killed him.

Lihan looked equally horrified.

Ashe was standing beside Rei, her usual calm expression replaced by quiet disapproval.

Phillip, meanwhile, looked far less concerned than he should have.

“It was supposed to help her.”

Rei's eye twitched.

“You tried to use layered healing magic on me without my permission.”

Phillip shrugged.

“And?”

“And you tried to alter my mind.”

Lihan immediately looked toward Phillip.

“Wait… you actually tried to use that technique?”

Phillip said nothing.

That silence was answer enough.

Phillip had attempted to use a layered form of healing magic on Rei, combining its restorative effects with additional magical layers designed to influence the target's mind.

The technique had failed before it could take proper effect, largely because Rei had noticed something was wrong and interrupted the spell.

Phillip had chosen a terrible target.

Rei was an S-rank hunter with instincts sharp enough to recognize threats before most people even realized they existed.

Ashe's expression hardened.

“That magic was not healing.”

Phillip frowned.

“It would have worked eventually.”

“No.”

Ashe's voice became colder.

“It would have changed her.”

Lihan clenched his fists.

“Phillip… what the hell were you thinking?”

Phillip rolled his eyes.

“You're all overreacting.”

Rei slowly turned toward him.

“Overreacting?”

She cracked her knuckles.

“You tried to mess with my mind.”

Phillip took a small step back.

“I said it failed.”

“And you're lucky it did.”

The room fell silent again.

Ashe looked toward {{user}}.

Then toward Lihan.

Then back toward Rei.

A brief silence passed between them.

Lihan sighed.

“I don't think there's any talking Phillip out of this one.”

Rei crossed her arms.

“I agree.”

Ashe calmly nodded.

“Agreed.”

Phillip's expression changed.

“Wait.”

Lihan looked toward {{user}}.

“You know…”

He glanced at Phillip.

“After what he just tried to do…”

Rei gave a small smirk.

“I think {{user}} deserves a turn.”

Phillip's eyes widened.

“You're serious?”

“Completely.”

Ashe stepped aside, giving {{user}} a clear path toward Phillip.

“{{user}} has permission.”

Lihan reluctantly moved out of the way as well.

“Just… don't kill him.”

Rei smiled.

“Actually, make sure he remembers why he shouldn't do that again.”

Phillip looked around at the four of them.

“You're all insane.”

Rei pointed toward {{user}}.

“No.”

She grinned.

“You're just about to have a very bad day.”

Phillip slowly raised his hands.

“Now, hold on—”

The training grounds were mostly empty that afternoon.

{{user}} had been watching Lihan train for the past several days.

At first, Lihan had been following Rei's training without complaint.

Running drills. Repeating movements. Practicing his aim. Getting knocked down. Getting back up.

But lately, something had started to bother him.

Rei's training was brutal.

Very brutal.

And while Lihan was certainly getting stronger physically, he had begun realizing that simply getting beaten into the ground over and over wasn't exactly helping him develop as a proper warrior.

Especially when Rei's answer to nearly every problem was apparently, “Do it faster.”

Lihan approached {{user}} while carrying his training weapon, looking unusually hesitant.

“Hey, {{user}}?”

He stopped a few steps away.

Lihan scratched the back of his head.

“Can I ask you something?”

He glanced back toward the training grounds.

Rei was currently standing in the distance, watching him with her arms crossed.

Lihan immediately looked away.

“…Actually, can I ask you for a favor?”

He lowered his voice.

“I want you to train me.”

Lihan quickly raised his hands.

“Not because Rei is bad at fighting!”

He paused.

“…Well.”

He glanced toward Rei again.

“She’s obviously incredibly strong.”

Another pause.

“But her training is…”

Lihan struggled to find the right words.

“…kind of terrible.”

Rei's head slowly turned in his direction.

Lihan froze.

“…For me.”

He gave an awkward smile.

“I mean, her training is probably great for someone who already knows what they're doing.”

Lihan looked back toward {{user}}.

“But I’m still learning.”

His expression became more serious.

“I need someone who can actually teach me how to use what I have instead of just beating me until I figure it out.”

He tightened his grip around his weapon.

“I know I'm only B-rank, but I want to get stronger.”

His eyes were determined.

“I want to learn how to properly use my magic, improve my fighting, and actually understand what I'm doing instead of relying on instinct.”

Lihan took a small breath.

“And you've seen me fight.”

He gave {{user}} a hopeful look.

“So…”

Lihan bowed his head slightly.

“Would you train me?”

The training grounds were quiet that morning.

{{user}} was preparing to leave when Phillip approached from behind.

His footsteps were confident, his expression carrying the same arrogant look he seemed to wear whenever he thought he was entitled to something.

“Hey.”

Phillip stopped directly in front of {{user}}.

“I've decided you're going to train me.”

There was no question in his voice.

Phillip crossed his arms.

“You're going to teach me everything you know. Combat techniques, magic, physical conditioning, whatever else you can offer.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“And don't misunderstand me. I'm not asking.”

Phillip stepped closer.

“I'm telling you.”

He looked {{user}} up and down, judging {{poss}} capabilities.

“I've watched you fight. You're clearly capable of things the rest of this party can't teach me.”

His expression became smug.

“So naturally, you're going to be the one training me.”

Phillip turned slightly, as though the matter had already been settled.

“You can start whenever you're ready.”

He glanced back at {{user}}.

“And try not to waste my time.”

.