Darkness. Everything around was covered in pitch-black darkness.

The area was completely devoid of sunlight; there wasn’t a single source of light which can illuminates the surrounding.

Suddenly, a spatial whirlpool opened in the center of the dark cavern. Its glow briefly illuminated the pitch-black surroundings, revealing a rocky, uneven floor and several tunnels branching out in different directions.

Two figures stepped out from the whirlpool. As soon as they appeared, the portal vanished, swallowed back up by the surrounding space.

"Huh... Where are we? Why is there no light? Are we inside some kind of tunnel?" Serene murmured.

Her voice echoed down the dark cavern walls, repeating two or three times through the tunnels.

[Ding!]

[Location: ’????’ Unknown]

[Trial: Conquer the Dungeon of Chaos!]

[Time limit: 3 days]

Looking at the glowing trial mission on their interfaces, they finally understood that they weren’t in a normal cavern. They were inside a dark dungeon.

Alen looked forward.

[Night Vision: Activated!]

His sensory ability quickly flared to life. Instantly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He could see clearly through the dark cavern as if it were broad daylight.

But the same could not be said for Serene. She didn’t possess any skills to see through the darkness, which makes it more incredibly difficult for her to see past her own hands.

"Do you have anything that will help you see in the dark?" Alen asked.

She looked out into the blackness and nodded.

"I don’t have any items, but I can still try something..."

[In the Name of Heaven... I request to illuminate the darkness around me.]

[The Heaven’s Grace: Light Type - Brilliant Light!]

A warm pulse of bright light slowly shaped into a floating sphere above her head. It acted like a miniature sun, illuminating the entire dark chamber.

They could now clearly see the several tunnels in front of them, each leading down a different, mysterious passage. Their mission was to conquer the dungeon, which meant they had to find the correct passage that would lead them to the dungeon’s center.

Alen turned toward Serene.

"Well, do you know anything about this kind of mission?"

"Hmm... Well, I don’t know much," Serene admitted, rubbing her chin.

"But my father once told me that dungeon monsters are usually weak..."

Alen gave the girl a flat look. He didn’t know why her father called the dungeon’s monster ’weak’.

"That’s not exactly helpful, you know. If the monsters are weak, why would the ’Ascension Realm’ set this as a three-day trial?"

"Oh... I don’t know..."

"Sigh. Let’s just go, then. We’ll find out the truth after we face them ourselves," Alen said. He paused, looking at the blue-haired girl.

"By the way, your hair got really messy."

The intense air pressure from the whirlpool had blown her hair all over the place. Her hair become completely messy.

"Wait, what?! Do I look funny? Hey, don’t look at me!"

She hurriedly turned around, her hands flying to her head as she tried to fix her messy hair.

Alen tilted his head. He hadn’t originally planned to tease her. But seeing the perfect opportunity, he couldn’t resist backing down.

"You know, Serene, you look more beautiful with messy hair..."

"Any boy would fall for you looking like that."

Serene stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned back around, her embarrassed face lighting up with a hopeful, bashful expression.

"Really?... Are you telling the truth?"

Alen nodded and stepped closer. He gently raised his finger and tucked a stray strand of blue hair behind her ear, looking deeply into her silver eyes.

"Of course... You can see for yourself."

He smiled and held out his palm.

As the mana gathered above his hand, it slowly took the shape of water. Soon, it formed a small sphere that reflected everything like a mirror.

Alen had learned the water element after watching Serene’s attack closely in the last trial where she had wiped out hundreds of Mummies monster. It wasn’t very hard for him to learn it. He already had a high affinity for all elements, so he only needed to understand the basics. Since water was one of the basic elements, he learned it quickly.

The glowing water sphere floated above his hand, showing Serene her reflection. She could clearly see herself—and instead of looking beautiful, she looked a bit funny.

She turned her head and saw the smug expression on Alen’s face. She looked completely ridiculous, not beautiful at all.

"Y-You! Scumbag!"

Her face turned bright red with embarrassment as she realized she had fallen right into his trap. She had genuinely thought he was telling the truth because she assumed he was just a cold, stoic guy who didn’t know how to joke around! To her absolute shock, he wasn’t just an innocent stoic guy; he was a menace who knew exactly how to mess with her.

She quickly fixed her messy hair using the water sphere reflection.

She glared at him, an expression that actually looked rather cute on her petite features.

"Hmph! Just wait a little bit. I will make sure to take my revenge against you. You’ll regret messing around with this young lady!"

"Hehe... So the young lady knows how to take revenge? That’s surprising," Alen chuckled, thoroughly amused.

"I will eagerly await for it... Hehe."

As the tense atmosphere of the dungeon lightened thanks to their banter, a terrifying sound suddenly shattered the peace.

*ROOOOOAR!!!!!*

*BOOOOOM!* *BOOOOOM!*

Alen and Serene both snapped their heads toward the tunnels. It wasn’t just a scream. Several continuous, heavy blasts echoed through the stone passages, sounding as if a massive, angry creature was throwing an absolute tantrum.

"Judging by the mana fluctuations, that could either be a several monsters or another Awakener fighting for their life," Alen said, his eyes narrowing. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What do you think?" Serene asked.

"Shall we go down that tunnel, or should we choose a different one?"

They both looked at each other and nodded firmly, completely agreeing on the same direction.