"Of course you're here," Melinda snapped, her voice sharp with derision.
She glared at Elias, the surprise on her face quickly giving way to a look of thinly veiled contempt. Her focus locked onto him with the cold precision of someone sizing up a dull-witted servant who’d overstayed his welcome.
“Excuse me?” Marco said, frowning, his tone laced with surprise and warning.
Melinda flinched, turning to him with a confused, searching look, as if she'd only just remembered he was there. Her eyes widened slightly as awareness returned, and with visible effort, she pulled herself back from her tunnel vision.
She closed her eyes and drew a steady breath, gathering herself before smoothing her expression back into composed elegance.
"Oh, hello Marco. What a pleasant surprise to meet you here. How have you been? It’s been far too long since we last saw each other," Melinda said pleasantly, a graceful smile on her lips.
The facade didn’t fool Elias for a second; he knew exactly what she was like. And judging by the thoughtful frown on Marco’s face, his friend wasn’t buying it either.
"Hello… Melinda, right? It has been quite a while indeed. I hope your parents are doing well," Marco replied politely.
Despite the courteous words, Elias could tell he was being guarded. His tone was clipped, drier than usual.
"They're very well, thank you for asking. In fact, I’m sure they’d love to see you again. You should definitely come by the house sometime," Melinda said invitingly, even adding a wink.
"Thank you for the invitation. I’ll keep it in mind," Marco replied, his tone flat.
"Please do," Melinda said evenly after a pause, her brows drawing together as her mouth settled into a faint pout.
As the silence stretched, John cleared his throat loudly, glancing between Melinda and Marco with a pointed look. The interruption snapped Melinda out of her mood, and her smile returned as if it had never left.
"Oh, right. Where are my manners? Let me introduce you to my party!" she said, her earlier enthusiasm slipping back into place as she gestured to the two men beside her in turn. "This is John, an old friend. And this is Simmons—my parents hired him as a bodyguard, just in case we got in over our heads while dungeon delving. You know how parents are. Always worrying too much."
She flashed Marco a knowing smile.
"Though, since you were trained by your father, I’m sure you're more than capable. I doubt you’d ever need such precautions."
"Nice to meet you, Marco," John said with his usual bright smile and an easygoing wave. Simmons only nodded in greeting, his stare still cold.
"Nice to meet you. John, Simmons," Marco replied, offering a small smile to John and a polite nod to Simmons.
Then, in a deceptively calm tone, he added, "I’d introduce Elias over here, but I get the feeling you all already know each other."
"Indeed! In fact, you could say Elias and I are childhood friends. When I was very young, my parents recognized my potential as a future adventurer, so they hired trainers to build my foundation and teach me combat skills early on. Those trainers happened to be Elias’ parents, so we saw each other quite often back then. We even trained together in the beginning, but that had to stop once I outpaced him by too large a margin. A shame, really, but it was inevitable, given how talented I was and how he was… well, less so," Melinda said proudly.
"That's one way to put it," Elias scoffed, incredulous.
Melinda shot him a sideways glance, her eyes full of arrogance. The message was clear: she saw him as nothing more than jealous of her perceived superiority, bitter about being left behind.
The truth was, Elias didn’t think she was all that talented as a fighter. Not compared to himself, or Marco, or Isabela. And from what he'd seen over the past few days of training, even Rebecca had more raw potential than Melinda ever had.
"I'm more curious about how the two of you ended up together. It's honestly quite the unlikely pair. You never struck me as the type to help power-level others out of pity, Marco," Melinda said with a teasing lilt and a light giggle.
Elias clenched his jaw at the backhanded insult and started to respond, but Marco beat him to it.
"We're delving together with the intention of forming a party in the future. Why? Do you have a problem with that?" Marco asked, one eyebrow raised, a clear edge in his voice.
The blunt reply only made Melinda raise an eyebrow of her own and tilt her head slightly, as if confused by his reaction.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
John, meanwhile, devolved into a fit of coughing that dragged on until Melinda turned and gave him a glare sharp enough to shut him up. Once his coughing subsided into strained silence, she cleared her throat and turned back to Marco.
"There’s no problem, Marco. No problem at all. You’re a grown man and more than capable of making your own choices. I just think you might not fully understand all the options available to you. Any party would be lucky to have someone as strong as you. There’s no reason for you to settle on the first choice that comes along," Melinda said, her tone calm and matter-of-fact. "I’m just looking out for you, since you’re new around here and all."
"How kind of you… Though, let me guess—you also happen to think your party is the best option for me to join," Marco deadpanned.
"As a matter of fact, yes. That’s exactly what I think. Of course, we’re not the only good option, even though this is a fairly small town, but I believe you’d come to realize that we are, by far, the best," Melinda said primly.
"Oh, really? How so?" Marco asked, rolling his eyes.
Melinda gave no sign of noticing and continued speaking, undaunted.
"Well, first of all, John and I are the same age as you, and from what I can tell, we're the only new adventurers in this dungeon with any real talent. Well, besides you, of course," Melinda said. "Most of the others don’t even perfect their foundation before reaching Beginner rank, or never trained their combat skills properly."
She turned her nose up at Elias and added, voice sharp with disdain, "In any case, we’re a far better option than the weakest adventurer in the dungeon."
"Alright, that’s it!" Elias snapped, finally fed up with Melinda’s backhanded insults. "Who the hell are you calling weak? Just because you were born with high attributes, you think you’re better than everyone else? What a joke!"
"The only joke here is you thinking you should be an adventurer in the first place," Melinda shot back. "Worse, you’re trying to weasel your way into the party of someone who actually has a future, just so they can carry you through the dungeon. Would you have even made it this far without Marco? I really, really doubt it."
"Alright, that’s enough. Come on, Elias, let’s get out of here," Marco said, the annoyance in his voice unmistakable.
"Please, just keep what I said in mind, Marco," Melinda relented with a sigh. "I just think it would be a shame to see your potential wasted by joining people who have no hope of keeping up with you. All that’s going to happen if you go that route is they’ll drag you down. Or worse, they’ll just—"
"You know what, Melinda? Let me tell you something," Marco cut in, his voice heated.
"If I thought joining your party was in any way a better option than teaming up with Elias, I might’ve taken what you said seriously. But the truth is, you overestimate yourself. A lot. I’ve seen real talent while traveling with my dad, and you’re definitely not it. Even if you were, I still wouldn’t want to party up with you. Actually, I don’t think anyone would. Not with someone who treats others the way you do. I’ve seen how you talk to your own party members when you think no one’s watching."
"Suit yourself. But don’t come running back to me when you realize I was right," Melinda said darkly, her teeth clenched. "It’ll be too late to regret your words then."
Her composure had unraveled steadily as Marco spoke, the polite smile fading from her face until nothing was left but simmering fury. Elias couldn’t remember ever seeing her this upset. She looked ready to swear bloody revenge for the audacity of being spoken to like that.
Without another word, Marco and Elias moved to gather their things at the base of the fig tree, preparing to leave the glade.
All the while, Melinda glared at them with murder in her eyes. Elias, notably, felt like most of that venom was directed at him. For some reason, she seemed to blame him for everything, which struck him as deeply unfair. He wasn’t the one who’d pissed her off.
John, on the other hand, looked painfully awkward standing beside her. He kept glancing away whenever Elias met his eyes, occasionally flashing an embarrassed smile that only made his discomfort more obvious.
In contrast, Simmons showed no reaction at all. He simply watched the two of them with cold, steady eyes, like he was expecting a fight to break out at any moment.
Marco and Elias left the glade through the side opposite Melinda’s group, just in case she snapped and actually tried to attack them. It wasn’t likely, but she seemed angry enough to make it a real possibility, and with Simmons around, they didn’t want to take any chances.
Dealing with Melinda and John in a fight wouldn’t be much of a problem—especially now that Elias’ attributes were at a decent level and he had Marco at his side. But the older man was a different story. He looked like a veteran adventurer, not a newbie like the rest of them. And something about his expressionless stare made Elias uneasy.
Elias kept glancing back toward the glade as he and Marco made their way through the jungle in silence. He watched the fig tree shrink in the distance, only relaxing once it finally disappeared behind the thick vegetation. With each step, the tension began to ease from his shoulders, especially after he was able to release some of it on the first monster they encountered.
Putting his new levels in Charisma to good use, Elias started to reflect on what had just happened, and was surprised by how upset he felt, deep down. He’d never truly expected Melinda to change, but part of him had still hoped she might see him differently now that his body had improved, even if only begrudgingly.
He realized it wasn’t just about proving people like her wrong. He wanted them to know they were wrong. He wanted them to admit it—to acknowledge him.
That thought made him stop in his tracks, his mind grinding to a halt as his fists clenched at his sides.
After years of frustration and anger, he finally understood why it always stung so much when people dismissed him as weak, or untalented, or lazy. Deep down, he felt like he’d failed—failed to live up to the dream he’d clung to for so long. The dream of becoming a great adventurer, admired and beloved, like the heroes in dungeon stories.
And now that he saw it clearly, it felt... vain.
No matter what he did, some people would never like him, and there was nothing he could do to change that. He could never please everyone, and every moment spent trying was a moment wasted. Elias understood that now. More importantly, he understood that the real problem was the desire itself—the need for external validation.
The need to be acknowledged was the line between pride and humility.
So, he made his decision: he would let go. Let go of the need to be admired. Let go of the craving to be accepted. He refused to walk the same path as Melinda.
From now on, he would improve himself for his own sake, so he could pursue his dream of exploring the dungeon and uncovering the wonders hidden within.