Argument

Sunny shook his head, dismissing the quest window. 

'A Silver Rank skill sounds good, but saving these people? That sounds impossible.' He focused on the task at hand, gathering the remaining mana cores. Each one pulsed with a faint light before he dropped it into the collection pouch Aria had given him.

The journey resumed. 

For the next few hours, they moved deeper into the frost-covered landscape. Encounters were sporadic but consistent. A pack of Ice Goblins here, a lurking Frost Serpent there. Each time, the Radiant Dawn heroes dealt with the threat swiftly.

Aria directed, Brynn smashed, Nyx darted and sliced, and Lina unleashed bolts of energy or protective barriers.

Sunny trailed behind, collecting the loot, his pack steadily growing heavier. He watched their teamwork, their casual power. 

'They make it look easy,' he thought. 'Too easy.' His shadow, however, seemed to revel in the proximity of so much vanquished monster essence, subtly drinking in the lingering energies.

[UNIQUE SKILL: VOID ABSORPTION - 31% UNLOCKED]

'Still a long way to go for that skill,' he noted.

As the pale blue sky began to darken towards a deeper twilight, Aria called a halt. "We'll make camp here for the night," she announced, indicating a relatively sheltered alcove formed by a massive overhang of ice. "Porter, get the shelters set up."

Sunny unslung his heavy pack and began to extract the compact, self-inflating thermal tents. He worked efficiently, laying out the groundsheets and activating the inflation mechanisms. The heroes, meanwhile, shed their outer layers of gear, looking remarkably unfatigued.

Once the small camp was established, they gathered around a magical heat source Lina conjured – a sphere of warm, orange light that pulsed gently.

"So, Sunny," Brynn said, her voice surprisingly gentle as she accepted a ration bar from Aria. "First time in a real, uncleared dungeon, right? How are you holding up?"

He looked around at the towering ice formations, the eerie silence broken only by the wind. "It's… cold," he said. Then, considering her question more, he added, "But I'm alright. Probably because I know I'm safe with you all around."

Nyx, who had been sharpening her daggers, let out a short, derisive laugh. Lina elbowed her lightly.

Aria smiled faintly. "It's good you feel secure. Confidence, even if borrowed, is better than fear."

"He's not wrong though," Brynn chuckled. "We haven't exactly been struggling."

"It's almost over, anyway," Nyx said, sheathing her daggers with a click. "We've swept most of this valley. The only place left is up in those mountains." She jerked her chin towards the colossal, jagged peaks that dominated the northern horizon. "Boss is probably holed up there."

'The boss room,' Sunny thought. 'That's where things usually go wrong.' He remembered the stories from the cleanup crews – how Players, even strong ones, sometimes misjudged a boss's power or got caught by an unexpected mechanic. 

The new quest flashed in his mind again. 'If I'm going to save one of them, it'll probably be there.'

Lina, who had been quietly observing him, tilted her head. "You said you failed the Player testing before," she began, her voice soft but clear in the icy air. "Do you have plans on trying again? Becoming a Player? Or maybe a Hero?"

He met her gaze. "Yes," he said. "That's why I'm working with SEM. I need the money for the registration fee."

"The exam," Brynn corrected gently. "It's more than just paying a fee. And you know it's happening in about a month, right?"

"Yes," he confirmed. 'A little less than a month, actually.' "Which is why I'm working so hard. I need that money, and I need it fast."

Lina leaned her chin on her hand, a wistful look in her eyes. "So you want to be a Player, huh? How nice." A small smile played on her lips. "I remember my first day, fresh out of the hero academy. Thought I knew everything." She chuckled softly.

Her gaze returned to Sunny, now more thoughtful. "What do you think being a Player, or a Hero, means, Sunny?"

He thought of Starfall, laughing above the ruins of his home. He thought of his parents, buried under rubble. He thought of the power he craved, the power to make them pay.

'It means having the strength to take what you want, to crush those who stand in your way, and to make sure no one can ever hurt you or what's yours again,' he thought.

Out loud, he said, "It means having power. Enough power so that things like... what happened before... don't happen again."

Aria and Brynn exchanged a quick, almost imperceptible glance. Nyx just snorted quietly, unimpressed.

Lina watched him, her expression unreadable. "Power," she echoed softly. "Yes, that's certainly a part of it." She didn't press further, her gaze drifting towards the flickering magical flame.

'He has a hard road ahead if that's his only focus,' she thought. 'But that's for him to find out.'

Nyx scoffed, the sound sharp in the cold silence. "Power," she repeated, her voice dripping with contempt. "So that's all it is. My gut was right. You're just like all the other losers, crawling out of the woodwork, whining about revenge and wanting power to feel big."

Sunny's head snapped towards her. "What's wrong with wanting power to protect what's yours?" he shot back. "Or to make sure those who take everything from you pay for it?"

"Because it's pathetic," she sneered, her eyes glittering dangerously. "True power isn't about settling scores. It's about being the best, about crushing any challenge. Your kind? You're just driven by petty grudges. You'll burn out or get yourself killed chasing ghosts."

'She has no idea what she's talking about,' he thought, anger flaring hot within him. 'She kills for sport, for the thrill. How is that any better?'

"At least I have a reason," he said, his voice low and tight. "What's your excuse for enjoying all this killing so much? Just getting your kicks?"

Her face contorted with sudden fury. "You little—"

"Is that what being a hero is to you?" He pressed, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. "A game? A way to feel strong by tearing apart things weaker than you?"

"Shut your mouth, porter!" she snarled. Her hand blurred. A flash of silver cut through the air, aimed straight at his arm.

'Shit!'

Aria moved faster. Her hand shot out, intercepting the dagger mid-flight, snatching it from the air inches from Sunny's sleeve. 

"Enough!" Aria's voice was like a whip crack, cutting through the tension. Her eyes, usually calm, blazed with authority as she fixed Nyx with a hard stare. 

"Stand down, Nyx. Both of you." She tossed the dagger back to Nyx, who caught it with a glare still fixed on Sunny. "We're a team here. Act like it."

Nyx snatched her dagger from the air, her knuckles white around the hilt. She shot Sunny a venomous glare, her breath hissing between her teeth. 

Sunny met her gaze, his own anger still simmering, his heart pounding from the near miss. The air crackled with unspoken hostility.

After a tense moment, Nyx scoffed again, louder this time, and deliberately turned her back on him, resuming her dagger-sharpening with aggressive, jerky movements. 

Sunny, likewise, looked away, staring out at the desolate, icy landscape, his jaw tight. 

'She almost took my arm off,' he thought, the adrenaline slowly ebbing. 'And for what? Because I questioned her idea of heroism?'

Lina watched the exchange, her brow furrowed slightly. She sighed softly, a small puff of white in the cold air.

'These two,' she thought, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. 'One burning with vengeance, the other with pride. This dungeon might be the least of their problems.'