The scream echoed through the dungeon.
It came from deep inside.
Len froze. "T-That was Kai's voice!"
Sera turned pale. "Should we help them?"
Eiden looked ahead.
The dungeon's path split into two tunnels.
One led forward.
The other led to danger.
He closed his eyes for a second.
This place… it's changing. It's not just a normal test dungeon anymore.
---
Instructor Rovan's voice suddenly crackled through their wrist coms.
"All teams, regroup at the first marker. Emergency protocol active. This dungeon is unstable!"
But they were already far from the marker.
Eiden made a choice.
"Let's go," he said, turning toward the screams.
"But Instructor said—!" Len cried.
"If we wait, more will die."
His voice was calm, but firm.
Sera nodded. "I trust you."
Len followed, shaking.
---
They ran through the tunnel.
More growls.
Claws against stone.
Then—blood.
They found Kai's team.
Two students were down. Hurt, but breathing.
A third was fighting with a broken sword.
And Kai—
He was backed into a wall, blood on his arm.
Three monsters circled him.
Not weak ones.
These were F-class or higher.
Too strong for a beginner dungeon.
---
"Get down!" Eiden shouted.
He stepped forward and slashed.
One monster fell, clean and silent.
The second jumped—
Eiden moved.
He touched the air—whispered an invisible spell.
"Gale Cut."
A thin line of wind sliced the monster apart.
The last beast froze.
Then ran.
Kai stared, wide-eyed.
"You—How did you…?"
Eiden didn't answer.
He knelt beside the injured.
"Can you walk?" he asked one.
They nodded, weakly.
---
Sera began healing spells.
Len kept watch.
Kai stood, still shaking.
"T-That wasn't normal swordplay," he said.
Eiden didn't reply.
His face was calm, but his mana was slowly rising.
Inside, he was watching the dungeon.
It's mutating. Something inside is leaking mana—corrupted mana.
This was not a natural dungeon.
It was turning into a gate.
A bad one.
---
After a few minutes, Instructor Rovan arrived with other teachers.
They secured the area, treated wounds, and called for retreat.
The dungeon gate would be closed by force.
No more exploration.
But one teacher—a woman in red robes—kept looking at Eiden.
She had felt it too.
The wind magic.
But he's just a sword student… right? she thought.
Eiden stood beside his team.
Silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
---
Back at the academy, students talked non-stop.
About the monsters.
About Eiden.
"How did he kill them so fast?"
"Did he use magic?"
"Why didn't Kai fight like usual?"
Eiden just walked away.
He didn't care.
But the name started to spread.
Ghostblade.
Fast. Silent. Deadly.