Flames, Shadows, and Lies

"The heck… he reached the boss room in half an hour?" Gerard muttered, his eyes wide as they stood on the tenth floor of the dungeon.

Rethrus was already engaged in a fierce battle with the Fire Archmage—an undead pyromancer, its hollow eyes burning with sinister fire.

Gerard watched from the side, barely able to contain his awe.

'He's holding his ground against a high-ranked monster… at his age? That's insane.'

The battle intensified.

The pyromancer unleashed a Pyroblast, hurling a massive sphere of molten fire toward Rethrus. With a flick of his wrist, Rethrus conjured a dense veil of darkness, absorbing the blast before it could touch him.

Another fireball came hurtling his way, but this one behaved differently. It twisted midair, bending unnaturally as the archmage guided it with frightening precision.

Rethrus dodged effortlessly, his movements fluid and calculated. Behind him, shadowy hands emerged from his back—silent and steady—as they condensed a Dark Nova, compressing it smaller and smaller.

The two mages exchanged attacks, their magic colliding in bursts of heat and darkness. The archmage, growing desperate, conjured an even larger fireball, its heat warping the air around it.

But before the pyromancer could release it, Rethrus muttered a single word.

"Devour."

The darkness surged forward, swallowing the fiery mass entirely. The flames flickered and died, leaving nothing but a hollow silence.

The archmage's eyes narrowed, sensing something amiss.

By then, it was too late.

The shadow hands had already fused three Dark Novas into a single, dense sphere of concentrated darkness, nestled securely at the tip of Rethrus's staff.

The undead pyromancer tried to muster another spell, but Rethrus was faster.

In a blink, he closed the distance, sidestepping the archmage with so much speed.

"Not fast enough," Rethrus murmured.

Point-blank.

He released the condensed Dark Nova, and the moment it struck, the archmage's head simply ceased to exist. The body staggered for a moment, the light in its eyes fading before it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The lifeless corpse remained intact, its twisted form crumpling into the dirt, flesh and bones still whole.

Gerard exhaled, his breath shaky. "Unbelievable…"

Rethrus simply straightened, brushing nonexistent dust from his sleeve.

As they collected weapons and loot from the army of the Archmage, Gerard spoke up while picking through the swords left by the fallen monsters.

"I can't believe he's that fast too," he muttered, his voice filled with disbelief.

Rethrus, meanwhile, crouched beside the Archmage's corpse, his sharp gaze scanning for anything of value. After a moment, he opened the body and extracted a large fire crystal.

'So this is it...' he thought as he examined the glowing gem.

The crystal pulsed faintly, radiating heat even after the Archmage's death.

"This crystal..." Rethrus murmured. "It's what they embed into staffs, making it easier to conjure spells. Since the element is already within the staff, all the mage has to do is supply mana and control it."

"Never knew you were kind of a bookworm," Gerard said as he heard Rethrus muttering under his breath.

"Ah, yes," Rethrus replied.

"I think that's enough," he added, glancing at the collected loot. "Besides, we already got the Fire Crystal."

"Wait… was there an egg when we got here?" Rethrus suddenly asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No. Why?" Gerard raised a brow.

"Dunno. They asked me to bring some eggs too, if they're available. Wonder what they're gonna do with them?"

"Oh, from what I know, it's for their research," Gerard answered.

"Ah, that makes sense."

The shadow hand silently lifted the heavy bag filled with their spoils.

"Let's go," Rethrus said, and the two of them took off, running toward the exit.

As they ran through the dungeon, the sound of their footsteps echoing off the stone walls, a question popped into Gerard's mind.

"By the way," Gerard began, glancing at Rethrus, "I've been meaning to ask… You always use your shadow hands to attack, and they hit like a real punch. But… they're still just shadows, right?"

Rethrus didn't stop running, but a small grin tugged at the corner of his lips. "You noticed, huh?"

"Of course. I mean, it doesn't make sense. Shadows shouldn't be able to punch anything," Gerard said, his brow furrowed.

Rethrus nodded. "That's because they don't."

"Huh?"

"I'm not really punching them," Rethrus explained, his tone calm but with a hint of excitement. "The shadow hands don't strike. They pull."

"Pull?"

"Yeah," Rethrus glanced over, eyes gleaming. "When I move the shadow hands, I don't just extend them. I condense my mana within them, increasing the gravitational pull toward the target. When that force suddenly changes, it drags whatever is in the way toward the point of impact. The speed and pressure make it "feel" like a punch—like getting slammed by something hard."

Gerard's eyes widened slightly. "So… they aren't hitting. They're… pulling things so fast that it's like a hit?"

"Exactly," Rethrus smirked.

"Sheesh," Gerard muttered, shaking his head. "Nerd."

"Hey," Rethrus shot back with a grin. "What else am I supposed to do besides reading? Maybe buy a harp after this?"

Gerard chuckled. "You'd probably enchant that too."

'He's so strong, smart, and kinda matured... but he's still a kid,' Gerard thought.

They both laughed as they kept running, the tension from the dungeon finally starting to ease.

At Kaeli's house,

The faces of the two were filled with disgust as they looked at Caesar, who was finally freed from his itchiness.

"What?" Eri couldn't believe what she had just heard from Caesar.

"But that's not me! It's my cousin," Caesar explained, his tone defensive.

"They're just kids... and you dwarves live for more than a century," Kaeli said, trying to hold back his anger at what he had heard.

"So... can I go now?" Caesar asked, his eyes darting between them.

The two exchanged a glance.

Then, they laughed.

"You know they already launched a big search for you across the whole city," Kaeli said, crossing his arms.

"It would be dumb of us to let you leave... and besides, Rethrus wouldn't be happy about that," Eri added with a smirk.

"Wait, wait! I told you what you wanted to know!" Caesar protested.

"We know," they said in unison, their smiles unwavering.

As Kaeli took out his dagger,

Caesar's eyes widened, fixating on the blade. His face paled, and sweat began to form on his forehead.