Raul sat there for a while, back against the cold stone. He remained crouched, muscles trembling faintly. Sweat poured down his face, dripping into dirt already stained with blood not his own.
And yet, he was smiling.
Not wide. Not triumphant. Just a quiet, stupid smile that refused to go away.
Mina didn't linger. The second Captain Rank Stoneback was already finished, Castle holding it pinned, its movements sluggish and uneven, wounds stacking faster than it could compensate. Mina stepped in with practiced calm, Midnight Flash blurring once, twice, then driving clean through the base of its skull. The massive body convulsed, let out a final grinding breath, and went still.
Silence settled again.
Arin and Victor were already moving.
Victor reached Raul first, crouching beside him, eyes sharp and searching.
"You actually did it, you son of a gun," he said, voice rough with something between disbelief and pride. He gave Raul a firm shove in the shoulder, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to ground him. "Captain Rank. You're officially unbearable now."
Arin followed, slower, more measured, but there was no mistaking the relief in his eyes. "Congratulations are in place," he said. "Good job. That was… clean. Risky. But clean."
Raul let out a weak laugh that turned into a cough. "You say that like it wasn't a mess."
Arin exhaled. "It was. I didn't say it wasn't."
Mina approached last.
She walked instead of running, spear resting against her shoulder, Castle looming behind her like a moving fortress. Her expression was calm, but her eyes were bright. When she stopped in front of Raul, she didn't say anything at first, just looked down at him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
"Captain," she said simply.
Raul blinked, then groaned. "Don't do that. It sounds weird."
Mina smiled anyway. "Get used to it."
Raul pushed himself up slightly, wincing, then gave up and leaned back again. His gaze drifted from their faces to the massive carcass beside them, the Stoneback he'd killed. Something that would've flattened him weeks ago.
He swallowed.
"I still can't believe it," he said quietly. "It all feels like a dream." He flexed his fingers, feeling the strength there, the steadiness that hadn't existed before. "I'm finally Captain Rank."
Victor snorted. "If this is a dream, don't wake up. You owe me drinks."
"Since when do you drink?" Raul shot back.
"Since I became friends with idiots who fight monsters twice their size."
That earned a laugh from Raul, from Mina, even a small one from Arin.
They stayed there for a bit, letting the moment settle. No one rushed it. No one tried to make it bigger than it was. Just four people in a cavern full of dead monsters, breathing in the aftermath of something earned the hard way.
Eventually, Arin sat down as well, leaning against a stone pillar. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened his status.
The numbers appeared, familiar and yet somehow new.
___________________________
Name: Arin
Core Talent: Lord
Rank: Soldier (77%)
Core Skills: Lord's Eyes, Lord's Imprint
Regular Skills: Advanced Swordsmanship, Timed Step, Anchor of Identity
----------
Subordinates (3/3):
1. Raul Slade — Captain (0%)
2. Victor — Soldier (90%)
3. Mina — Captain (2%)
Lord Coins: 1352
___________________________
Arin stared at it longer than he needed to.
They weren't just numbers.
They were bruises and late nights. Near misses and stupid decisions. Hours spent sparring until muscles stopped listening. Fear swallowed and spat back out through clenched teeth.
Hard work.
He exhaled slowly. "Once Victor ranks up, I'll be able to rank up as well." He glanced up at them. "We have more than thirteen hundred Lord Coins now. If we want, we can rank up Victor right now. All of us would be Captains."
Victor raised an eyebrow. "Tempting."
Mina shook her head immediately. "Wouldn't that be a waste? He's already at ninety percent. One or two more months, and he'll get there naturally."
Raul nodded, breathing still heavy but under control. "Yeah, save it. Wouldn't want the blacksmith flexing on us by jumping the line."
Victor snorted. "Jumping the line? Come on. If we were all Captains already, we'd walk through this place."
Mina finally looked at him. "That's exactly the problem," she said. "You're thinking about how easy it would feel, not how sloppy you'd get." She paused. "A Captain Rank body isn't something you rush into using. One bad move down here, and it won't just be you paying for it."
Arin nodded. "Yeah. I agree with her. Let's save them for now."
Victor shrugged. "Fine. More incentive to work harder."
Arin then shifted his focus and opened Raul's status panel.
___________________________
Subordinate: Raul Slade
Core Talent: Combat Sense
Rank: Captain (0%)
Talent Skills: Sixth Sense, Martial Kinesthesia, Prime Augury
Regular Skills: Dagger Arts, Flowstep, Enduring Heart
----------
Upgrade Panel (Raul Slade):
1. Upgrade Rank to Commander — 10,000 Lord Coins
2. Upgrade Skill: Dagger Arts > Dagger Intent — 1000 Lord Coins
3. Upgrade Skill: Flowstep > Phaseshift — 1000 Lord Coin
Prime Augury: Allows the user to anticipate enemy movements by reading their patterns, revealing weak points and exploitable flaws in combat.
___________________________
Arin let out a low whistle. "This is quite good. Prediction-type skill."
Raul leaned forward. "Prediction is underselling it." He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "It's not like seeing the future. It's more like… it tells me what the enemy is about to do. Every shift of weight, every breath, every bad habit. They light up."
Victor frowned. "That's broken."
Mina tilted her head. "You can see weak points too?"
Raul nodded. "Not glowing targets or anything flashy. Just… inevitabilities. Places where force will travel. Where it will fail if hit right."
Arin smiled faintly. "That explains the kill."
Victor crossed his arms. "Great. So now the fast idiot knows exactly where to stab."
Raul grinned. "I prefer 'efficient professional.'"
Mina laughed softly. "With that skill and your Enduring Heart, you're terrifying."
"Hey," Raul said. "I'm still me."
"That's the terrifying part," Victor muttered.
The moment stretched, lightened by familiarity and shared exhaustion.
Then Victor's eyes caught something.
"Wait," he said, standing abruptly. "Hold on."
He walked toward the far side of the chamber, toward the remains of where the Captain Rank Stonebacks had been eating. Something there glinted faintly, unnatural colors against the dull stone and bone.
Victor crouched, brushing aside debris. The light intensified.
"…You guys might want to see this," he said, voice suddenly tight with excitement.
Arin and Mina stood immediately. Raul pushed himself up, slower this time, but curiosity won out.
Victor lifted the object carefully.
It was crystalline, irregular, glowing softly from within like bottled light. The air around it felt… different.
Victor's hands were steady, but his grin was anything but calm.
"Tell me," he said, barely containing himself, "that this isn't what I think it is."
Arin's eyes narrowed.
Mina's breath caught.
Raul leaned in closer, a smile creeping back.
"Well," Raul said. "Looks like the mines aren't done giving us gifts yet."