Kael wasn't there when I woke up.
For a moment, I stared at the empty chair across the table, the one he usually sat in, flicking his dagger while mocking my poor breakfast choices, and felt a small, stupid pinch in my chest.
Whatever.
He probably had Shadow Reaper business to handle. Guild leader things. Broody elf stuff. Not my problem.
I ate in silence, packed a full stash of bread, potions, and dried meat, then opened my inventory screen. My cursor hovered over the teleport coordinates for the Abyssal Beast Labyrinth. Floor 20.
I didn't need anyone to tell me what to do next.
It was time I started moving on my own.
°°°°°°°°°°
The world blinked white before my eyes as the teleport sequence engaged. When I opened them again, I was standing in that familiar violet haze, floor 20, the checkpoint.
The air was thick with iron and damp stone. The torches along the wall sputtered faintly, their light reflecting off dark puddles that definitely weren't water.
