Fay noticed the rapid improvement in the team's coordination. Even though Horin wasn't thrilled to have Selûne on the team, she still found herself relying on her to get better.

"Alright, Jolt, wound them, but don't finish them buddy. You get two if you leave them half-dead, only one if you kill them. This is about more than killing; you need to learn how to fight as part of a team."

His lizard likely didn't understand the words, but it did grasp his summoner's intent.

Jolt suddenly rolled through the dungeon. The flat terrain made it easy to keep his momentum, but the narrow walls forced him to adjust constantly to avoid collisions. Any lesser beast would have crashed by now, but with Jolt's new form, this was hardly a problem.

Arcs of electricity burst from his body, aiding his movement and letting him pivot sharply before circling back to slash the enemies just enough to weaken them.

"All yours, Horin," Fay called. "I really want to see what your creature becomes."

Horin didn't hesitate. She pointed forward, and Nuel pounced.

Her small body dissolving into mist that seeped into the monsters as she closed in.

The fog slid into their mouths, noses, and even through the gaps in their armor.

A faint, muffled sound escaped them, half gasp, half choke, before their eyes glazed over.

Nuel's spirit power drained the strength from their limbs, sapping their life-force as if pulling aether directly from their cores.

The kobolds stumbled, the goblins clutched at their throats, and within seconds they collapsed, their bodies shuddering one last time before falling still.

"If she can do that as a kitten," Maria said, bracing her mace and buckler, "just imagine her when she's Jolt's size…"

The fight ended quickly. Three kobolds and two goblins lay motionless, not even a drop of blood spilled.

They were truly the weakest monsters this floor had to offer, or possibly the only ones that could be produced.

Nuel's aether suddenly swelled.

Her misty form condensed, shrinking into a bead of swirling fog. It thickened and spun, the haze twisting until a slender limb slipped free, then another.

She gripped the edge of the mist and pulled herself out like an inmate escaping its cage.

By the time her transformation was complete, she had grown to the size of a fully grown house cat, soft gray mist trailing around her like a ghostly cape.

"Well, at least she's still cute," Fay muttered. He had expected something more intimidating, perhaps closer to Kimya's panther, but the three girls beside him seemed completely taken with her.

"Wish I had one," Maria said. "She was adorable as a kitten, but now… now she looks like a cat wearing a little cape." Having seen the twisted mutations of cats back on Earth, she couldn't help but wonder if they'd once been this charming before turning into monsters.

"Too bad," Horin added with a faint smile. "Your creature is powerful, so you don't have to care about mine too much. I doubt it will ever be able to stand against yours when you're finally able to summon Chrono."

"Ah… it's still not fair that the kitten like Horin has the kitten summon…"

As always Selûne began to mess with the catkin who just hissed probably from being tired this time.

"Alright…alright, I will stop and get serious by bringing out even more of them now, but this time, let Maria and me take the kills, okay? Otherwise, I won't have enough mana to sustain the string that will return us to the entrance."

Selûne gave a light tug on the spider's thread, as if to emphasize her point. Everyone's gaze shifted to the string, their lifeline back to the entrance.

"Fine. But I will have to kill one with Nuel, at least. I want to see what she's capable of."

Horin, unaffected by her creature's ability to drain spirits, gently stroked the ghostlike cat, who began to purr softly.

Within minutes, more creatures were drawn in by the butterflies radiating mana. Selûne's spider moved with eerie precision, each leg controlling a separate puppet while keeping its balance behind her like a living backpack.

Grin, hidden in the shadows and cloaked in his illusion magic, struck from nowhere, his swipes leaving enemies disoriented and vulnerable. That made for easy kills for Maria and Selûne, the two working seamlessly together, while Fay turned to look at Joan.

"You need to start using your creature, too man. I'm sure it can kill just fine. Send it to bite that goblin's neck; it should die almost instantly."

The little otter didn't wait for its summoner's command. It had already latched onto the goblin, chewing through flesh and bone with ease.

Even Joan looked stunned at the sight. He remembered playing with it before, how it would sometimes nip his finger when chasing a ball. It made him look down at his trembling hand.

"Seems you didn't know these creatures are ravenous. I did mention it though… I wonder if you were paying attention… or maybe you were too busy looking at Mar—"

"Yes, sorry. I wasn't paying attention when you were giving instructions, but I will now, so please don't mention that…"

Joan glanced toward the girl in question, but she was far too busy clubbing a kobold with a lovely determined expression.

"See? If she can push herself for her creature, why can't you do the same? We're here to train. Take it seriously if you want to keep your mother safe, Joan… I'm sure you know what's waiting for us in a few weeks."

Fay's voice held a sharper edge now. Being a mama's boy was fine, just not when they were heading into a fight that could get them killed if they didn't learn to stand for themselves.

"Fine. Pass me a sword or something. This weapon… I don't like it."

Joan had brought a small knife meant more for protection than offense.

"Start small, Joan. Learn to wield that, and then I'll have you carry a sword. This one here," Fay tapped the blade at his waist, "could hurt the girls. I'd rather not use it in a small enclosed space."

Joan looked from the dagger in his hand to the blade at Fay's waist, a flicker of doubt pulling at his resolve.

But when he turned and saw Maria felling enemies with nothing more than a club, his hesitation almost instantly faded.

He charged forward, stabbing at another goblin that Grin had dragged back then tossed it aside so someone else could finish the kill.

Fay was glad the boy had started moving on his own. He had begun to think he might have to physically hold Joan's hand and force him to stab something.

Before long, the three had killed more than forty creatures, and it was becoming clear this place was far more dangerous than they had first thought.

They were thankful for the dungeon's strange properties, though; by the end, none of their creatures could eat another bite.

All that was left was to remove the aether cores and watch as the dungeon slowly consumed the bodies, drawing them into the earth as if the ground itself were feeding.

"If we get overrun with these numbers all at once, then we might have a problem…" Horin said, wiping sweat from her face.

"Yeah, I think we should head back for now. We'll have to set camp nearby. Good thing my grandfather brought some sleeping bags for us… Well, at least for Horin and Maria. Sorry, you two… you'll have to sleep on the floor," Selûne said with a grin.

"Yeah, hasn't bothered me in years… we just need to keep our distance from the cave. Two of us will stay up to keep watch."

Joan, who had never kept watch or slept outside thanks to his mother, hated the idea. But then he thought about what Fay had said earlier about protecting the people he loved. His gaze shifted to the black-haired, gentle but slightly strange girl who often kept her distance.

Thankfully, the group hadn't gone far from the entrance. After only a few turns and a long set of stairs, they stepped back outside.

They had arrived in the morning, but as the breeze brushed their cheeks and the sunlight began to fade, it became clear that no one had accounted for how long they'd actually been down there, not even Selûne, despite having been told countless times to always keep track of the time.

"Well… we should eat and sleep," Selûne said, almost whistling the words, knowing the others would glance her way for forgetting to remind them.

Fay pulled some jerky from his bag, saved for just such an occasion. It would be their only meat for the next few days, along with bread that would grow harder with each passing day.

The kids didn't seem to mind. They ate, laughed, and talked, with Horin and Maria once distant slowly warming to the rest of the team.

"So, first watch will be mine," Fay said. "I'll call one of you to switch after a few hours, and we'll keep rotating. With my creature, Somni, I can have you all asleep within seconds, so don't worry about getting your rest. Who knows, having so many of you around might even help my creature get stronger."

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