Night Attack

Bai Xuan broke the dry rations in half and handed one half to Phoebe.

Phoebe accepted it silently, took a small bite, and chewed slowly, her expression as calm as ever.

Bai Xuan also took a bite of his food, chewed twice, and broke the silence to ask.

“Which floor of the dungeon did you come from? Have you remembered yet?”

Phoebe's chewing paused. She slowly raised her head, her gaze drifting to the opposite stone wall, her eyes turning slightly vacant as if she were trying hard to recall something.

She set down the dry rations in her hand, extended her arm with her palm facing down, and slowly gestured a deep downward curve.

Then, her fingers slowly moved upward, stopping when they reached the level of her chest.

Shaking her head gently, she gestured a much shallower depth.

Bai Xuan understood her meaning instantly.

Their current location was still very shallow, and there was still a great distance to go before they reached the place she had emerged from.

He nodded gently and didn't press further, seeing that the memory might not be an easy one for Phoebe.

After eating, Bai Xuan packed away the utensils and spoke to Phoebe.

“Go to sleep and rest up to recover your strength.”

Phoebe shook her head instead. She propped her axe upright in front of her, resting both hands on the top of the handle.

Her gaze quietly fixed on the flickering campfire, clearly intending to keep watch.

Bai Xuan frowned and advised her.

“If you don't sleep, you won't have the energy to fight if we run into monsters tomorrow.”

Phoebe still shook her head. Looking at her, Bai Xuan knew he could not convince her and had to compromise.

“Alright, you take the first half of the night, and I'll take over for the second half.”

Only then did Phoebe nod gently.

Bai Xuan took off his coat, folded it into a pillow, slid into his sleeping bag, and closed his eyes.

Although the mat beneath him was not particularly soft, having Phoebe on watch by his side brought him peace of mind.

This sense of security was entirely different from the past, when he had to sleep alone in the dungeons, constantly on high alert for danger.

Turning over gently with no worries on his mind, he quickly drifted into a deep sleep.

In the dead of night, a sudden crashing sound startled Bai Xuan from his sleep.

He snapped his eyes open, his hand instantly flying to the staff at his waist as his expression grew alert.

The campfire was still burning, its dancing flames stretching the shadows inside the mining chamber into erratic shapes.

Phoebe was no longer in her original spot.

She was standing at the entrance of the chamber with her axe held across her body, dark green blood clinging to the blade and dripping down onto the ground with soft, quiet splats.

Three Decay Moss Beasts blocked the tunnel entrance, each a size larger than the one they had encountered during the day.

Their small, cloudy eyes glowed with an eerie light in the gloom, staring intently at the two inside the chamber.

The corpse of one Decay Moss Beast already lay on the ground, its head split completely in two with green blood splattered everywhere, emitting a pungent, metallic stench.

The remaining two Decay Moss Beasts were slowly backing away, but they had not given up, still maintaining their aggressive stances and watching like hawks.

Bai Xuan immediately scrambled up, golden light instantly gathering at the tip of his staff, ready to support her at any moment.

But Phoebe did not wait for him. With a flash of her figure, she charged forward first.

The axe in her hands hacked fiercely toward the nearest Decay Moss Beast.

The Decay Moss Beast instantly spat a glob of yellowish-green corrosive fluid, which Phoebe dodged with a quick sidestep.

The corrosive fluid splashed onto the stone wall behind her, sizzling and emitting puffs of white smoke as it rapidly ate small pits into the rock.

Seizing this brief window, Phoebe's axe slashed brutally into the Decay Moss Beast's front leg, sending the beast stumbling and collapsing to its knees, unable to stand again.

The other Decay Moss Beast took the opportunity to pounce from the side, but Phoebe had already spun around swiftly.

She swung the shaft of her axe in a wide sweep, slamming it hard against the beast's head.

The immense force sent it flying, crashing heavily against the opposite stone wall before sliding to the ground, where it twitched twice and then fell completely still.

The last Decay Moss Beast, still kneeling on the ground, struggled to get back up, but Phoebe stepped forward and pinned its neck down firmly with her foot.

Raising her axe high with both hands, she brought it down with a heavy strike, thoroughly ending its life.

Silence returned to the mine tunnel, leaving only the crackling of the burning campfire.

Bai Xuan lowered his staff and walked forward.

Phoebe stood amidst the corpses of the three Decay Moss Beasts, her silver ponytail having come undone with a few damp strands of hair clinging to her sweat-slicked cheek.

A lingering battle intent still flickered within her gold-red eyes.

Slowly lowering her head to look at the corpses on the ground, her movements remained precise as she bent down to carefully pry out the Magic Cores with the tip of her axe.

Bai Xuan also squatted down to help her gather the monster materials.

The glowing fungi on the backs of these three Decay Moss Beasts were much more intact than the one from earlier, so he harvested them one by one, wrapped them carefully in soft cloth, and stored them in his Space Ring.

Once everything was packed, he stood up, looked at Phoebe's tired face, and spoke in a soft voice.

“Go to sleep. I'll handle the rest of the watch.”

This time, Phoebe did not shake her head, having clearly exhausted a significant amount of her stamina.

She walked silently to the sleeping bag, lay down, pulled his coat over herself, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Bai Xuan sat down by the campfire, resting his staff across his knees, his gaze drifting toward the depths of the passage as his expression gradually grew serious.

Those three Decay Moss Beasts had actually delivered the rest of the materials needed for the commission, which saved Bai Xuan some time.

But they had likely not been just passing by.

Decay Moss Beasts were not pack-dwelling monsters, yet they had encountered four of them in succession along this path, all concentrated in the same area.

He instinctively glanced at the sleeping Phoebe.

Her silver hair was scattered across the mat, her breathing soft and peaceful.

Her arm was wrapped in bandages, beneath which the mysterious golden patterns faintly flickered.

Bai Xuan still had no idea what those patterns represented.

But a feeling grew increasingly clear in his heart that taking Phoebe to the deepest depths of the dungeon might not just be to help her find her Class.

There seemed to be other secrets hidden within this journey.

A piece of wood in the campfire suddenly popped with a sharp crack.

Sparks flew upward, tracing faint arcs in the air before quickly dying out in the dim mining chamber.

With a thought, a faint light flashed on his finger as he opened his Space Ring.

Among the clutter inside the ring, a dark blue potion caught his attention.

He reached in and pulled it out, the bottle smooth and without any label.

The dark blue liquid inside was distinctly layered, the upper layer crystal clear, while the lower layer was suspended with fine silver particles that swirled slowly with a gentle shake.

This was the Echoing Medium he had picked up for a bargain from a stall owner back at the dungeon entrance market.

He had almost forgotten about its existence.

“An ancient creation...” Bai Xuan murmured softly, raising the potion to his eyes to examine it closely in the dim light.

The effect of this potion was to produce a faint resonance with nearby ancient creations or ruins magic.

Since this dungeon was itself a ruin of the Glayde Empire, this potion might just come in handy.