Zane stood there panting. His everything hurt. Tarni was on the floor. Zane thought he was dead until he noticed him drawing a ragged breath. He really didn't look good.

Lily was still pinned to the cavern floor by the spider's leg. She had no idea how they were going to get the massive thing out of her calf. From her position, she could just barely see her Dad checking on Tarni. But then the giant spider started dissolving into monster smoke before vanishing into the ground. The leg pinning her vanished with it, leaving the wound in her leg wide open. Blood started pouring out, making Lily almost faint in shock.

Bell gripped her bow so tightly the wood creaked.

Kai's heart was in his throat as he watched Lily and Tarni's HP bars draining fast. His mind raced. I'm not there, I can't help, it's going to be my fault if they die.

Just as the panic reached a breaking point, a new System message appeared in front of all five of them.

________________________________________ Dungeon Progress: 100% Congratulations! You have finished the Second Floor.

You Have Unlocked: 🛠️ Job Classes, including Crafting Skill Set, added to Skill Tree

…Because knowing what's coming will keep you motivated… Next Dungeon Level reward:

Guild & Quest System (People in authority may give quests to adventurers registered to a Guild; Rewards will be managed by the System) ________________________________________

Bell nearly fell over when the message popped up. Relief flooded through her—until she saw Lily and Tarni's HP were still dropping, slowly but steadily. Zane's had jumped up a bit.

She was still trying to figure that out when Kai—who had just been on the edge of losing it—suddenly found himself calm and focused.

"I guess Dad's title kicked in," he said flatly. "Hope he doesn't get any more hurt—he's gonna be real low when it wears off."

Ding!

__________________________________________________________________________

For conquering your panic in a highly stressful situation, you have earned a

New Title

Panicking never helped anyone!

When your allies are in danger and you're under high stress, you will find it easier to calmly make decisions

After reading the message, Kai grunted and dismissed it.

________________________________________________________________________________

Zane had rolled Tarni into the recovery position and was now fumbling with a tourniquet for Lily's leg. That's when another message appeared in his vision:

________________________________________________________________

40 seconds until the Dungeon closes. Mate, you might want to find that loot… I'm just saying. ______________________________________________________________

With a final yank on the knot, the tourniquet tightened—hard. Lily screamed in pain. "Sorry, honey," Zane said breathlessly, "but I've gotta find the loot drop—we've only got about 30 seconds left!"

Lily looked up at him for one full second, then shoved him toward the cavern's far end.

"Go! Go quick—look before we miss it!"

Zane stumbled past Tarni, checking that he was still breathing, and began searching. Luckily, it didn't take long to find the loot drop: a round shield. Unluckily, it was half-buried under a pile of loose rocks.

He guessed he had about five seconds left.

Falling to his knees, he started yanking rocks out of the way with his one good hand. Sharp edges cut into his fingers as he worked frantically, ignoring the pain. He could feel the dungeon beginning to hum, the same vibration that came just before the teleportation began.

Desperate, he grabbed one exposed strap and yanked with everything he had. Not easy—especially one-handed. But he wasn't leaving without it.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The world lurched.

They blinked and stumbled as they were unceremoniously dumped back into the black tunnel of the Cube. The late afternoon sun streamed through the entrance.

Lily and Tarni were still on the ground.

The heat hit them first—then the relief, as each of them realised: everyone was there.

Kai dropped his bat and ran straight to his dad, hand glowing with healing energy— —but Zane held up his good hand and said, "No. Do Lily first. Then Tarni. I'm okay. I can wait."

Kai hesitated, then glanced at the party screen.

___________________________________________ Party Window Party Leader: Zane Rider Level: 6 HP: 12%

Tarni Walker Level: 6 HP: 4%

Lily Rider Level: 6 HP: 8% → 7%

Isabelle Rider Level: 6 HP: 98%

Kai Rider Level: 6 HP: 98% ___________________________________________

"Right—Lily first. Targeted Heal."

Kai placed his hand over her leg. One pulse of energy. Then another. The bleeding slowed… then stopped.

A glance at the screen:

Lily Rider Level: 6 HP: 28% → 29%

Stable.

He turned to Tarni next. One Targeted Heal closed the puncture wound in his shoulder. Two Basic Healing Touches after that, and Tarni's breathing eased.

Another check:

Tarni Walker Level: 6 HP: 30%

Bell was crouched beside Zane, carefully inspecting his broken arm without jostling it too much.

Kai turned to them—then swayed, the world spinning around him from the effort. Still, he pushed forward.

Zane, seeing how pale and drained Kai looked, held up a hand. "Leave it. Save your energy. I'll be fine."

Bell frowned. "Don't be an idiot."

"He's got this, mate," Tarni groaned weakly from the ground. "Let him fix you."

Kai mind was calm and he didn't bother trying to argue. He just laid a glowing hand on Zane's arm. Targeted Heal. The bone shifted and fused, the swelling going down almost immediately.

Kai stepped back, then stumbled, barely staying upright.

He leaned against the tunnel wall, chest heaving, eyelids heavy.

Just before passing out, he whispered:

"Group Heal."

A soft green light burst in a circle around them, washing over the team like a warm wave.

Then Kai slumped to the ground and lost consciousness.

Ding! A soft chime echoed in the minds of everyone still conscious.

A shimmering blue screen popped into view.

_________________________ LEVEL UP! You are now Level 7. +3 Stat Points Awarded _________________________

The group exchanged quick glances as the glowing messages hovered before them. But for Zane and Tarni, an extra line blinked into view:

__________________________________________________________

Title Bonus Applied: +1 Bonus State Points to all Stats granted from "First Blood!" +1 Bonus State Points to all Stats granted from "Well, You Were Almost First" __________________________________________________________

No one said anything right away. The air was still. Warm light from outside filtered faintly into the tunnel behind them.

Eventually, someone muttered, "We'll sort stats later."

Everyone nodded.

A quiet, unanimous decision was made: minimise the quest window, and deal with it all back at the house.

For now, they rested.

They were bruised, battered, and not fully healed—but alive. And together.

They sat or lay in the dark tunnel just past the Cube's portal, the hum of System energy slowly fading behind them. No monsters. No countdown. No pressure.

For once, the System didn't interrupt.

There were no timers or urgent pop-ups, no messages forcing them forward.

Just the heavy breathing of survivors and the soft green glow of regeneration.

They would wait. Let Kai wake up when he was ready.

And then they'd go home.

Bell had her arm wrapped around Zane as hard as she dared, with his injuries still healing from the Group Heal.

It took longer than they thought for Kai to wake up.

Zane wanted to stay there, cuddling with his beautiful wife forever. Well, that's what he thought until he remembered the shield. He knew he had succeeded in getting in time, as it was on the floor just out of reach of his good arm as he and Bell sat with his back to the wall and her face in his chest.

"Honey? . . .Bell!"

"What?" came the muffled reply

Zane realised what he'd just done and leaned down to kiss her on the head.

Unfortunately for him, it was too late.

Bell extracted herself from the cuddle and wiped her eyes, then looked him in the face.

"Was I hurting you?"

Now in a bit of a panic, Zane waved both hands. "No no! I'm fine."

"Then what?" Bell asked, frowning as she looked him over.

With a sigh of frustration, Zane muttered, "I just wanted to look at the new shield."

Bell looked between him and the shield a couple of times before shaking her head.

With a small smile, she went over, picked it up, and handed it to him.

Zane—now with two working arms thanks to Kai's healing—took the shield from his wife.

He held it up in the tunnel's dim light, inspecting it properly for the first time.

It was round and heavy, forged from what looked like the same dark shale as the tundra cliffs. Jagged patterns ran through the stone, and glowing golden runes circled the outer rim—old, curling script that seemed to shimmer faintly with energy.

"Let's see what you are…" Zane muttered.

He focused, activating his Item Appraisal skill.

_________________________________________

Medium Frost Shield of the Tundra

+30 to Armour when equipped

40% chance to inflict Medium Frost status on enemies

_____________________________________________________

Zane let out a low whistle. "Bloody hell," he said under his breath, running his hand across the edge. "Now this was worth a broken arm."

He looked over at the others, still recovering on the cold stone floor. Lily had propped herself up and was sipping from a canteen. Tarni was half-conscious but stable. Bell now squatted quietly at the edge of the group, her bow resting across her knees, watching Kai like a hawk.

Zane tucked the shield under one arm and leaned back against the tunnel wall.

They'd survived a dungeon boss. Barely.

And now they had loot, a level-up, and a whole new system to unlock, guilds, and quests.

But first, they needed Kai awake.

Then they could go home.

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