Chapter 303 (Patreon)

A cold shiver still lingered at the base of Kana’s spine, the kind that had nothing to do with temperature.

It had been days since that conversation with Patricia, yet the memory clung stubbornly. The question. The tone. The way Patricia’s eyes had sharpened, just for a moment, as if she had glimpsed something hidden beneath the surface.

Can you read the text of the gods? 

Her voice still echoed in her mind. Kana had denied it, of course. She had pointed to the ring, and explained that the potion’s effect was close enough to its description. Patricia had smiled, nodded, and let it go.

Kana trusted her instincts more than words, and her instincts had whispered something uncomfortable that day. Patricia knew more than she was saying. The thought lingered even now, as Kana stepped into the mouth of the dungeon and let the cold swallow her whole.

It was a mid lvl dungeon.

The atmosphere inside the cave bit at her skin, sharp and dry, carrying the faint scent of frost and stone. Each breath felt thinner, colder, as if the cave itself was quietly draining warmth from anything that entered. The walls glistened faintly, a thin layer of ice clinging to the rough surfaces, catching what little light there was and scattering it into dim, fractured reflections.

Their footsteps echoed. Kana moved forward, her boots crunching softly against a thin crust of frozen ground. Somewhere deeper inside, something shifted. A low, guttural sound followed, distant but heavy.

The [Greater Elite Orcs] were already awake and ready for them.

Behind her, Boris held up the vial again, eyeing it like it might suddenly grow teeth.

“Are you sure we need to drink this?” he asked, his voice echoing slightly against the frozen walls. The liquid inside swirled slowly, purple and green refusing to mix, like oil and water locked in a quiet argument. “It looks like poison.”

“In this place, that might actually help,” Suri muttered, her breath visible in the cold air.

Kana turned slightly, the faint glow from deeper in the cave catching in her eyes. “I’ll drink it too,” she said. “We all take it at the same time. Then we clear this dungeon as fast as we can and then we move to the next.”

There was no room for hesitation and every second mattered.

Kana’s fingers tightened around the vial. They were on the way to the port city where the rare ingredient could be found and clear the nearby dungeons in the road while travelling. Principal Light already agreed to their one month preparation, they weren’t able to get Chelle Pint because the principal was still in the middle of negotiations with her parents. They didn’t invite Ryle though for other reasons. Kana simply didn’t trust Ryle. It was because of his purposely lackluster performance from the last year’s annual tournament against the empire’s student that he could have a chance to win.

So Suri, Boris and herself would go for a dungeon grind, at least for now. The three of them exchanged a glance.

A silent understanding passed between them. Then they drank the vial simultaneously.  The potion was colder than Kana expected, the liquid sliding down her throat with a strange, almost metallic sharpness. It left behind a lingering taste, something faintly bitter with a hint of citrus.

For a moment, nothing happened. Kana exhaled slowly and glanced at their party status.

It worked!

The numbers lined up just as she had hoped. An additional 1.5x exp boost.

Even for one hour… it is more than enough.

A deep, heavy stomp echoed from within the cave, followed by a low growl that rolled through the tunnel like distant thunder. Frost cracked softly along the walls as something large shifted its weight.

The [Greater Elite Orcs] were coming.

Larger than normal. Faster too.

“I’ll go ahead,” Kana said.

And then she vanished forward. Her body surged into motion, faster than the eye could comfortably follow. The frozen ground cracked faintly beneath her step, a thin spray of frost scattering behind her as she cut through the cold air like a blade.

The darkness swallowed her almost instantly.

Suri watched her disappear, then stuck out her tongue slightly.

“It’s a bit salty for me,” she said, as if that were the most important observation.

Boris turned to her, baffled. “Why would you taste a potion?”

Suri shot him a flat look, her breath fogging in front of her. “Idiot. You should taste everything you put in your mouth.”

Boris frowned, genuinely considering that. “Is that so?...”

On top of his head, Thorne moved slightly, the small lizard shaking her head with clear disapproval.

Boris glanced up. “Even you don’t agree?”

Suri snorted softly, lifting her staff. Faint arcs of lightning flickered at its tip, the glow reflecting off the icy walls in sharp, jagged patterns.

“Come on,” she said, stepping forward into the cold. “Before Kana gets tired of waiting.”

Another distant crash echoed from ahead.

Something roared.

And without another word, they followed, chasing the storm Kana had already unleashed into the frozen dark.

The cold only deepened the further they went.

What had once been a thin layer of frost beneath their feet turned into hardened sheets of ice, cracked and uneven, reflecting faint glimmers of light like broken glass. The air grew sharper too, each breath stinging their lungs, each exhale turning into pale mist that lingered for a heartbeat before vanishing.

Yet despite the growing hostility of the cave, something felt… off.

There were no monsters.

No growls. No movement. No resistance.

Only silence.

The kind that came after something had already been decided.

Boris ran, his heavy steps echoing through the tunnel, boots striking against frozen stone with a steady rhythm. Behind him, the wind howled faintly through narrow crevices, carrying a hollow whistle that made the emptiness feel even wider.

Beside him, Suri didn’t run.

She glided. Her body hovered just above the ground, barely a finger’s width away from the ice, her cloak trailing behind her as if caught in a current no one else could see. She moved smoothly, effortlessly, her speed matching Boris without the strain.

Boris spared her a glance, frowning. “How’d you do that?”

Suri didn’t even look at him. “Even if I tell you,” she said lightly, “you won’t be able to do it.”

Then, without warning, she leaned forward slightly.

And accelerated.

“I’ll go first, slowpoke.”

Boris grunted, tightening his grip on his spear. “Tch.”

He pushed harder, muscles straining as he forced more speed from his already tired body. The cold bit into his skin, his breath growing heavier, but he didn’t stop.

Minutes passed. By the time he reached the end of the tunnel, his lungs burned and his body felt like it had been dragged through the entire dungeon twice over.

Kana and Suri were already there.

Waiting.

A massive door loomed before them, carved from thick stone and rimmed with faint frost, its surface etched with worn symbols that had long since lost their meaning. Cold air seeped from the cracks, heavier than before, carrying with it the presence of something large… and waiting.

“I told you to run quickly,” Kana said, glancing back at him. “The potion only lasts an hour.”

Boris bent slightly, catching his breath, sweat dripping despite the freezing air. “I am running with all my might,” he muttered. 

On top of his head, Thorne remained completely unbothered, curled up and fast asleep, her tiny body rising and falling peacefully as if she were resting in the sun instead of deep within an icy dungeon.

Boris glanced upward.

“Must be nice.”

He straightened and looked between Kana and Suri. His eyes landed on Suri, who was casually munching on something, as if they weren’t standing in front of a dungeon boss door.

“I can’t believe I’m the slowest now,” he added, almost to himself.

Kana ignored that entirely. She stepped forward and placed her hand against the massive door. Frost cracked faintly beneath her touch.

Then she pushed. The door groaned open, the sound deep and heavy, echoing into the chamber beyond like a warning.

[The Dungeon Boss has appeared.]

The air inside was colder and filled with presence.

Boris blinked.

“Two of them?”

The dungeon boss room was wide, its ceiling disappearing into darkness. Frost clung to every surface, thick enough to dull sound, yet not enough to hide what stood at its center.

Two [Greater Elite Orcs]. But more massive. Not just large… overwhelming.

Each one towered nearly five times Boris’s height, their green skin stretched over thick cords of muscle. The one on the right stood armored, heavy plates covering its body, a massive shield strapped to one arm and a spiked mace resting against the ground like it weighed nothing.

The other stood bare-chested, scars running across its torso, both hands gripping a pair of brutal axes that gleamed faintly in the dim light.

They turned.

Slowly.

As if acknowledging prey that had willingly walked into their domain.

Kana didn’t hesitate.

“I’ll take the left,” she said, already shifting her stance. “Keep the right one busy.”

“She’s really in a rush,” Boris muttered under his breath, rolling his shoulders. “Still don’t feel anything special from that potion…”

Kana paused, just slightly.

“It will make us stronger,” she said. “But the result… comes after. Way after.”

Boris blinked. She heard that?

Before he could think further, Kana was already gone. She shot forward, her form cutting through the cold air, aiming straight for the axe-wielding orc.

Boris inhaled sharply, then tightened his grip on his spear.

“Alright then…”

He stepped forward, planting his foot firmly against the frozen ground.

“Let’s see what this does.”

And with that, he charged the armored giant, the clash already beginning before the echo of his first step had even faded.

Boris knew it wasn’t going well long before he admitted it to himself.

Five strikes, maybe more. Each one had felt solid when it left his hands, each thrust backed with enough force to crack bone or split armor. Yet every time, the result was the same. The spear glanced off metal, scraped uselessly against the Orc’s shield, or met nothing but reinforced plating with barely a dent to show for it.

The [Greater Elite Orc] in front of him wasn’t just big. It was disciplined.

Its movements were slow, but never careless. The shield turned with every strike, always in the right place, always closing the angle Boris thought he had found. The armor left little room for error, and Boris was starting to feel just how small those openings really were.

He stepped back as the Orc’s mace came down with a thunderous crash, the frozen ground splitting beneath the impact. The vibration ran up through his boots, into his bones.

Boris exhaled sharply, tightening his grip.

Terrible matchup.

Behind him, flashes of blue light lit the room in quick, stuttering bursts. Suri’s [Lightning Bolt] struck again and again, arcing across the Orc’s armor in jagged streaks. For a moment, the light made the creature look almost skeletal, its outline burning through the darkness.

But the effect was nothing significant.

The lightning scattered across the armor, crawling along the metal before fading. The Orc barely flinched, its focus never wavering from Boris.

“That’s not good…” Boris muttered under his breath.

He adjusted his footing, preparing for another exchange, when something heavy slammed into the ground behind him.

The sound was wrong. Boris glanced back, just for a second. And the breath caught in his throat. The other Orc was already down.

Kana’s opponent, the one that had seemed just as monstrous moments ago, lay crumpled on the frozen floor, its body dissolving into faint motes of light. No struggle. No drawn-out fight. Just… gone.

“What…?”

A dark blur cut past him before the thought could settle. Something struck the Orc in front of him with a sharp, cracking impact. The armored giant staggered, its shield snapping up instinctively, but not fast enough to stop the force entirely.

Boris didn’t need to turn fully to know who it was.

Kana.

He caught her in the edge of his vision, already moving, already closing the distance before the Orc in front of him could recover its balance.

She wasn’t holding back tonight. That was the first thing he noticed.

Kana moved like a shadow slipping between cracks, her steps light, almost effortless despite the frozen ground. Her curved sword flashed in quick, precise arcs, each strike aimed not at the armor, but at the places where it failed.

The eye.

The jaw.

The thin seams where metal met flesh.

There was no hesitation in her movements, no pause to measure or adjust. It was as if she already knew where to strike, as if the Orc’s defenses had been laid out for her before the fight even began.

The Orc roared, its earlier composure breaking as it swung wildly, trying to catch her in its reach. The mace carved through the air, heavy and destructive.

It never touched her. Kana was already gone before each attack landed, shifting just enough, moving just far enough, always a step ahead. She didn’t dance around it like she usually did, didn’t let the fight stretch or breathe.

She pressed forward. Boris frowned, watching for a moment longer than he should have. This wasn’t how she usually fought with them. Normally, she would slow things down, let them struggle through the problem, and offer small corrections in between.

Not today.

Today, she wasn’t teaching.

She was finishing everything as fast as possible. Kana slipped past the Orc’s shield again, her curved carving into a narrow gap near its hip. The creature staggered, its stance faltering for the first time.

A second strike followed, then a third, each one placed with unsettling precision.

The Orc’s leg buckled. Its massive frame tilted.

Then it fell.

The impact shook the chamber, frost scattering across the ground as its weight hit the floor.

Boris didn’t hesitate. He pushed forward, muscles burning as he launched himself into the air, spear raised high.

[Cleave]

The strike came down hard, the tip of his spear driving into the Orc’s head with a solid impact.

For a moment, everything seemed to pause. Then the body began to dissolve, fading into the same faint light as the other.

Silence returned, heavy and cold. Boris landed, breathing hard, his chest rising and falling as he stared at the empty space where the Orc had been. The fight had ended too quickly.

[Dungeon Boss has been defeated]

He looked up at Kana.

She stood there, calm as ever, her breathing steady, her expression serious as always. No instructions followed. No comments. No small lessons like she usually gave.

Just… quiet.

Boris frowned slightly, a thought settling in the back of his mind like something unfinished.

Why is she so impatient tonight?Post note:

Suri lvl 30 soon!Fifth chap of the week. Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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