The following days passed in relentless battles.
Ren traveled with Diavel's group as they traversed one dark tunnel after another, fighting both familiar dangerous monsters and unexpected new ones that caught everyone off guard.
Each battle was no less intense than the last, with strange shadows, Kobolds, and other creatures lurking around every corner.
However, Ren began to notice a change in the way he fought. The sense of unfamiliarity was gone.
At first, the nonstop battles had left him numb, his arms and legs aching after every fight.
But gradually, his body adapted to the pace, and his mind stopped being overwhelmed by tension.
He learned how to focus his strength on decisive blows without worrying too much about meaningless attacks.
Moving between Diavel's attack waves had become a part of daily rhythm.
With every monster defeated, Ren not only gathered material fragments but also earned a significant amount of experience.
His accumulated experience had already passed the halfway mark for leveling up, a remarkable achievement in such a short time.
Although he wasn't fully used to refining himself under such intense pressure, he had to admit it was effective.
Still, there were things Ren couldn't ignore: the experience required to level up grew steeper each time, like an insurmountable wall without thorough preparation.
He couldn't rely on simple combat alone if he wanted rapid progress. Nonetheless, he had amassed a decent amount of money and materials along the way.
The Kobold items, though seemingly mundane, turned out to be a surprising source of profit.
They dropped frequently during battles, and a shop was willing to buy them in bulk, making them a hidden goldmine no one paid attention to.
Ren couldn't help but feel a bit proud. In this world, power alone wasn't everything, it was also about spotting and exploiting even the smallest opportunities.
He wondered if he could maintain this pace or if he would eventually face challenges that couldn't be overcome by loot alone.
Meanwhile, Diavel's group continued to move forward, like shadows trailing endlessly in the darkness.
But there were things that began to test Ren's patience.
Every day, he had to repair his equipment constantly, sometimes even twice in one day.
Though he had grown used to the wear and tear of combat, having to replace parts and make adjustments wore him down, as if fighting itself weren't hard enough.
Luckily, Chest, though not highly skilled, was always willing to help. But every time Ren handed him an item, Chest would just sigh and shake his head when the durability couldn't be fully restored.
Then came that awkward smile, lacking any real confidence, making Ren feel like it was nothing more than empty consolation.
What frustrated Ren even more was the way Chest always gave special attention to Yuna and Nautilus.
Yuna, Ren could understand. No one could resist the charm of her sweet voice and gentle demeanor.
But Nautilus? Ren couldn't understand why Chest treated him like someone special within the group.
Nautilus hadn't done anything to stand out. There was nothing particularly exceptional about him that warranted such favor.
Yet every time Chest looked at Nautilus, there was something different in his eyes, some kind of admiration Ren couldn't explain.
And when it came to Ren, he always had to bring his own repair materials just to ask for help.
Whenever he saw Chest working intently on each detail, Ren felt like he was just an object needing to be fixed to perfection, nothing more.
The small frustration in Ren's heart slowly ignited. It wasn't jealousy, it was an undeniable sense of unfairness.
Why was it like this? Why didn't Yuna and Nautilus have to deal with it, while he was always the one left behind? Was there something about them that made Chest look at them that way?
Ren also began to notice subtle changes in the group he hadn't picked up on before.
Shivata, a warrior who had always fought with a one-handed shield, had now switched weapons, wielding a longsword instead.
It was a major shift, not just because his skills would have to change, but because Shivata's shield had long symbolized protection, a mark of a resilient and steadfast warrior.
Now, this new sword marked a change in his entire combat style.
"Is this what they mean when they say walking ten thousand miles is better than reading a hundred books?"
Ren didn't know the exact reason, but he could sense a stronger determination in Shivata's every step.
Meanwhile, Lind still carried himself with the same cold arrogance, but there was a clear change in the way he looked at Ren.
In the past, Lind had always looked at him as if judging from above, his gaze full of mockery and disdain.
But now, those looks had grown fewer and farther between. It wasn't that Lind had completely changed, but the indifference and harsh judgment no longer appeared each time their paths happened to cross.
That feeling left Ren slightly bewildered. Had Lind noticed something in him that he hadn't seen before?
Or was it simply a natural shift in the relationship between people who had fought side by side?
Even so, Ren couldn't deny that these changes created a different atmosphere within the group.
He didn't know where these changes would lead, but one thing was clear: no one in the group remained who they once were.
Each person...even Ren, was changing with every battle, with each passing day.
And yet, there were some things that truly saddened him.
Ren couldn't help but notice the growing distance between himself and Yuna, Nautilus, over the past few days.
They used to talk after each battle, even if it was just idle questions or short words of encouragement.
But now, the silence between the three of them had become increasingly noticeable. Yuna was still Yuna, quiet as always, but her eyes held a vague sadness, as if she was keeping an invisible distance from Ren, unlike before.
She no longer asked him about the fights, nor did she smile softly when he made lighthearted jokes to ease the tension.
And Nautilus, who had always been the more aloof one, now spoke even less.
He no longer provoked or joked with Ren like he used to. Instead, there were only slight nods, short replies that left no lasting impression.
In those brief pauses between battles, when the three stood side by side, Ren could feel the distance, a clear, undeniable gap.
It wasn't anger. Just a strange emptiness that no one even tried to fill.
It felt like everything had changed, and Ren couldn't quite understand why.
Was it because he had never truly become part of the group, even after fighting alongside them all this time?
Or was it because each of them was changing in their own way?
Ren couldn't say for sure. He only knew that the few words they exchanged, the glances they shared, no longer held the same warmth. They had been replaced with a kind of avoidance, as if he was no longer an important part of their lives.
That feeling was like a thin but deep fracture in the bond between the three of them.
And Ren could do nothing but feel helpless, unable to understand why it had turned out this way.
It was as if he were trapped in an invisible cage, where every apology caught in his throat.
He knew clearly what he had done wrong, how he had made their relationship feel unfamiliar, but every time he tried to speak, the words seemed to be strangled by a feeling he couldn't explain.
The strangeness between them only grew, not from anger or resentment, but from something else, a heavy silence he didn't know how to break.
Sometimes, in those quiet moments, Ren would glance at Yuna and Nautilus, thinking of apologizing, but their expressions, the invisible distance, always made him hesitate.
A part of Ren wanted to express his regret, to say that he hadn't fully understood his own emotions, to say he was sorry for hurting them in ways he hadn't realized.
But whenever he opened his mouth, the words caught and refused to come out.
His mind told him to speak, that if he didn't change things now, this distance would only keep growing.
But his heart couldn't decide. The silence between them had become a threshold too difficult to cross, an unspoken awkwardness that couldn't be denied.
He could feel the sadness in Yuna's eyes, the coldness in Nautilus's demeanor, and that made Ren even more hesitant, unsure of how to act or what to say.
"I guess I can only wait…" Ren told himself, but deep down, he wasn't sure if waiting was truly the right answer.