The morning air in the Soma Familia base tasted of stale wine and regret. Aiden woke up with a stiff neck, his head resting against a damp wooden pillar. Lyra was still asleep on his shoulder, her breathing shallow and even.
He didn't move for a moment. He checked his internal clock—the System interface. It was 5:00 AM. The "cannibals" of the Familia were either passed out or prowling the streets. The main hall was quiet, save for the snoring of a hundred addicts.
Aiden looked at his left forearm. The bandage Lyra had tied was soaked through with dried blood, but the bleeding had stopped. The pain was a dull throb, a constant reminder of his lack of speed.
Strength I-4.
It wasn't enough. He needed to be faster, tougher. But without Agility or Endurance, he was a glass cannon. If he missed a swing with the sledgehammer, he was open. If he got swarmed, he was dead.
"Wake up," Aiden whispered, nudging Lyra gently.
She stirred, blinking groggily. "Is it morning?"
"It's grind time," Aiden stood up, grabbing the sledgehammer. It felt heavy, cold, and brutally simple.
They left the base without a word to Chandra or the guards. They bought two hard biscuits and a flask of water from a street vendor for 100 Valis—breakfast.
"Floor 2 today," Aiden said as they chewed the dry bread while walking toward Babel. "The layout changes. It's more vertical. More hiding spots for Kobolds."
"And the hammer?" Lyra eyed the iron block on his shoulder. "Can you swing that all day?"
"No," Aiden admitted. "I have maybe twenty good swings before my muscles give out. So we have to make every swing count. No misses. No glancing blows."
They entered the Dungeon. The descent to Floor 1 was routine now. The walls glowed blue. They ignored the stray Goblins near the entrance—waste of stamina—and headed straight for the stairs down to the Second Floor.
The Second Floor was darker. The corridors were wider, the ceiling higher. The air was humid.
Skritch-scratch.
The sound of claws on stone.
"Right side," Lyra whispered, raising her bell. "Three signatures. Angry."
A pack of Kobolds rounded the corner. These weren't the naked runts of the first floor. Two of them carried crude wooden shields—likely scavenged from crates or dead adventurers. The third held a stone spear.
"Shields," Aiden noted. "Perfect."
The Kobolds snarled and charged. The two shield-bearers took the front, blocking the path, while the spear-wielder lurked behind.
"Lyra, blind the spear," Aiden commanded.
Lyra rang the bell. "Fog of the mind."
[Magic: Gossamer]
The violet ripple hit the rear Kobold. It paused, shaking its head as if a sudden migraine had struck, its spear dipping.
Aiden didn't wait. He stepped forward, planting his feet. He didn't charge; he waited for the shield-bearers to come to him.
The lead Kobold raised its wooden plank, confident in its defense against swords and arrows.
Aiden swung.
He didn't use [Render] on the wood. He used physics.
The eight-pound iron head crashed into the center of the wooden shield.
CRACK.
The wood didn't just break; it exploded inward. The force of the blow carried through the shield and into the Kobold's arm, shattering the radius and ulna, then continued into its chest.
The Kobold was thrown backward as if hit by a truck, knocking into the second shield-bearer.
Aiden used the momentum of the recoil to spin the hammer back up.
"One," he grunted.
The second Kobold, unbalanced by its flying comrade, lowered its shield to snarl.
Aiden brought the hammer down in an overhead arc.
SPLAT.
It wasn't elegant. It was a demolition. The Kobold dissolved into ash instantly, the damage threshold exceeded by a massive margin.
The third Kobold—the spearman—shook off Lyra's spell just in time to see its packmates turned to dust. It squealed and lunged, thrusting the stone spear at Aiden's exposed stomach.
Aiden was mid-recovery. The hammer was down. He couldn't lift it in time to block.
"No!" Lyra screamed.
She didn't use magic. She physically threw the brass bell.
It wasn't a weapon, but it was a distraction. The bell clanged against the Kobold's head. It did zero damage, but the sudden noise and impact made the monster flinch. The spear thrust went wide, grazing Aiden's hip instead of impaling his gut.
Aiden roared, abandoning form. He shortened his grip on the hammer handle and jabbed the butt end of the shaft into the Kobold's throat. The creature gagged, stumbling back.
Aiden recovered his grip, swung the hammer horizontally, and took its head off.
[Combat End] [Stamina: 85%]
Aiden leaned on the hammer, breathing hard. "Good throw."
Lyra scrambled to pick up her bell, wiping monster dust off it. "That was too close. You're too slow on the recovery, Aiden. The hammer leaves you wide open for two full seconds."
"I know," Aiden checked the graze on his hip. Just a scrape. "I need to sever the impact lag. The recoil."
"You can't sever physics," Lyra frowned.
"Maybe I can," Aiden looked at the hammer.
The Severance Devil was quiet, but it was watching. It understood the concept of 'cutting,' but Aiden was teaching it the concept of 'breaking.'
If I use [Render] not on the enemy, but on the air resistance? Or the momentum?
No. That was too abstract for his current level.
Sever the structural integrity BEFORE impact.
"Let's keep moving," Aiden said. "We need more stones."
They spent the next four hours in a grueling loop. Walk. Detect. Ambush. Smash. Rest.
They cleared six groups. Eighteen Kobolds. Four Goblins.
Aiden's arms were burning. His shirt was soaked in sweat and dust. Every swing of the hammer felt heavier than the last. But his technique was changing. He was learning to use the hammer's weight to move him, pivoting his body like a counterweight.
They reached a dead end—a large cavern room with a single pillar in the center.
"Dead end," Lyra sighed, leaning against the wall. Her mana was down to 40%. "Let's head back to the main route."
Rumble.
The ground shook.
From behind the central pillar, a shadow emerged. It was big. Too big for a Kobold.
It was a Dungeon Ant. A "Killer Ant."
Usually found on deeper floors (Floor 7), but sometimes they wandered up the ventilation shafts or spawned due to dungeon errors. It was the size of a large dog, covered in dark red chitinous armor that was harder than steel. Its mandibles clicked like shears.
[Threat: Killer Ant (Level 2 Potential - High Defense)] [Warning: Physical Immunity High.]
"Run," Lyra said instantly. "Aiden, the hammer won't dent that shell. It's too thick."
The Ant saw them. It hissed, a sound like dry paper tearing, and charged. It was fast.
"Can't outrun it," Aiden realized. "It'll catch us on the stairs."
He stepped forward, leveling the hammer.
"Aiden!"
"Lyra, hit it with everything! Make it think the ceiling is falling!"
Lyra grabbed her bell with both hands. She poured her remaining mana into the Reverie.
"THE SKY IS HEAVY!" she screamed the chant.
[Magic: Gossamer - Overload]
The air in the cavern shimmered violently. The Killer Ant skidded, its antennae twitching wildly. To its sensory organs, gravity had just shifted. It felt an immense, phantom weight pressing down on it. It hunkered down, bracing its armored legs, mandibles raised defensively.
It was stationary. But it was armored.
Aiden sprinted.
He raised the hammer.
Regular swing won't work, the System warned him. That shell can tank a broadsword.
Aiden reached into the deep reserve of his soul, grabbing the Severance Devil by the throat.
Don't cut the shell. Sever the BOND that holds the shell together.
[Skill Activation: RENDER] [Target: Molecular Cohesion] [Cost: All Remaining Stamina]
The hammer head didn't glow red this time. It turned a void black. The air around the iron warped, as if the space itself was being cut.
Aiden leaped, bringing the hammer down on the Ant's head.
The hammer made contact.
There was no crunch. There was a sound like a high-pitched glass chime.
PING.
The "hardest armor on the lower floors" didn't crush. It shattered.
The kinetic force of the hammer, combined with the conceptual severing of the armor's integrity, turned the chitin into shrapnel. The hammer punched through the shell, through the head, and buried itself into the stone floor beneath.
The Ant convulsed once, then collapsed into a massive pile of black ash.
Aiden fell with it. He didn't let go of the hammer because his fingers were locked in a spasm. He hit the floor, gasping for air that wouldn't come.
[Combat Encounter Resolved]
[Victory: High Difficulty]
[Proficiency Gained: Render 5.0%]
[Drop Item Detected.]
"Aiden!" Lyra was at his side, rolling him over. Her face was white; she was trembling from mana exhaustion. "Did... did we kill it?"
"Shattered," Aiden wheezed, a grin tugging at his mouth. "Glass jaw."
He sat up, his arms shaking uncontrollably. He looked at the ash pile.
Resting in the center was a magic stone the size of a fist. And next to it, a jagged piece of the Ant's mandible.
"Drop item," Aiden whispered. "Killer Ant Mandible. That's... that's crafting material. Or a weapon."
Lyra picked it up. It was a curved, serrated blade of red chitin, about the length of a shortsword. It was light as a feather but hard as diamond.
"It's a dagger," Lyra said, testing the edge. It sliced the air with a hum. "A natural dagger."
"Give it here," Aiden tried to reach for it, but his hand wouldn't obey.
"No," Lyra said firmly. She tucked the mandible into her belt. "You have the hammer. This is mine. I can't just be a bell-ringer, Aiden. If you go down, I need to be able to stab something."
Aiden looked at her. Her eyes were hard. The Reverie Devil was changing her too. She was realizing that dreams weren't enough to stop nightmares.
"Fair enough," Aiden nodded. "Let's loot the stone and get out. I can't lift the hammer anymore."
They gathered the loot. Aiden had to drag the hammer behind him like a dead body, the iron scraping on the stone.
As they slowly made their way back to the surface, the System pinged softly in Aiden's mind.
[Status Update Available] [Aiden Cross]
[Str: I-4 -> I-9] [End: I-1 -> I-3] [Dex: I-1 -> I-2]
[Skill: Render - Evolution Unlocked (Locked until Level 2)]
"I-9 Strength," Aiden murmured. "Almost to double digits."
"We're pathetic," Lyra chuckled, though she was supporting half his weight.
"We're alive," Aiden corrected. "And we just made rent."
They emerged into the twilight of Orario. The tower loomed above them, indifferent. But deep in the dungeon, something had noticed the echo of the Severance. The dungeon walls had felt a bond break that shouldn't have been broken.
And down on Floor 18, a certain blonde Sword Princess sneezed, wondering why she suddenly felt a chill.
[Inventory Update: Killer Ant Mandible (Dagger), Medium Magic Stone.]
[Finance Projection: +3,000 Valis.]