The stone walls of the pyramid blocked out the night sky.
There were no stars to be seen—the sun had just begun to rise on the horizon, chasing them away. But the hanging vines that spilled from above felt just as magical, their lengths illuminated by the four glowing pillars that surrounded the Hanging Vines Temple.
They had approached the stone pyramid from the direction of the water pillar, its blue glow casting the illusion that they were strolling through an underwater kelp forest.
The glowing crystals embedded in the walls and ceiling of the tunnel twinkled, as if the stars that had fled the night sky had hidden underground. Because of them, Elias’ vision brightened as he followed his mother deeper into the tunnels—deeper into the dungeon.
Exiting the tunnel, they turned right, walking along the cavern wall until they reached a narrow trail that led out of the clearing. It was barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side, so Vivian continued to lead, with Elias and Rebecca following close behind.
“All right! I think we’ve walked long enough,” Vivian said animatedly. “Let’s pick up the pace. I want to reach the Temple well before dinner so we can claim a good camping spot—and the whole point of this trip is training, after all.”
With that, she broke into a jog. Elias sighed, motioned for Rebecca to go ahead of him, and then followed suit.
Thankfully, his mother settled into a fairly sedate pace. It was still far too early for real exercise.
He had no doubt they’d be jogging for most of the day, but at least they didn’t have to carry anything on their backs. Vivian had stored their backpacks, tents, and even some energy-powered utensils in her spatial storage ring, freeing them up to move unhindered. Otherwise, even this easy jogging pace would have been exhausting.
Elias used Analyze on the crystalline purple-silver ring on her finger.
*******
Spatial Ring
Arcane
Spatial Storage
Effects:

Energy Storage
Spatial Storage

*******
Following the trail took far less effort than moving through the jungle. Elias didn’t have to slip through thick foliage or weave between trees, and even the ground was more even underfoot. As a result, his pace was much faster.
Thanks to that, they reached the far side of the zone in under an hour—whereas it would normally take him more than an hour just to reach the zone’s center, even at full speed. And he wasn’t even tired.
The trail led directly into a small tunnel carved into the cavern wall. It was identical to the one that had brought them into the dungeon, except there was no clearing here. No stone pyramid. Nothing. Just an inconspicuous hole in the rock wall.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
They entered the tunnel without even slowing down, and a short while later, emerged on the other side—in the Beginner-rank zone.
As before, a trail led straight out of the tunnel, curving to the right to trace along the cavern wall. It carved a path through a sprawling jungle, no doubt leading into the next zone as well, though this one was wider than before. It was closer to a small dirt road than a trail, easily wide enough to accommodate the three of them jogging side by side.
In fact—everything was larger.
The tree trunks were thicker, stretching taller than their counterparts in the previous zone. The leaves were larger too, now forearm-sized compared to the hand-sized ones they’d seen before. Even the ceiling was farther away, nearly twice its previous height, and the crystals embedded there glowed brighter as well.
It felt as if they’d stepped into a land of giants.
About five minutes into the new zone, another important difference made itself known: the monsters had no intention of leaving them unaccosted on the trail.
A puma with bluish fur and a tail made of water burst from the treeline, lunging straight at Rebecca. Its claws were extended, teeth bared—clearly going for the kill. Still midair, it lashed its tail at them, and the watery appendage exploded into a spray aimed at them all.
But before the water could reach them—or the beast could get anywhere near Rebecca—Vivian moved.
She snapped her fingers, and three spheres of light materialized before her and shot toward the monster. Two expanded as they flew, intercepting the spray of water and evaporating it on contact. The third flew straight into the puma.
It pierced the creature’s chest without resistance, leaving a gaping hole. The flesh wasn’t even charred, just… gone, as if it had been erased from existence.
Knowing the beast wouldn’t last much longer, Elias quickly used Analyze.
*******
Aqua-Tail Puma
Uncommon
Level 14
*******
“Be on your guard, you two,” Vivian said. “You’re not in the newbie zone anymore.”
She smirked, a mysterious glint in her eyes, as if she’d just played a prank—a joke only she understood. Then she pointed to the energy crystal the puma had dropped.
“Eli, could you grab that for me?”
Elias complied.
Unlike the inscribed crystals he’d once used for training with his dad, this one didn’t carry the distinct water flavor he was used to sensing. Still, it clearly contained tier 1 water energy, not the tier 0 unaspected kind from the newbie zone.
Looking into it was like peering into a crystalline cup of water. The image was so familiar it couldn’t possibly be mistaken for anything else.
He handed the crystal to Vivian, and they resumed their run. Every so often, another monster would lunge at them from the treeline. This time, Elias and Rebecca kept to the center of the path, giving themselves more time to react when it happened.
As they jogged, a thoughtful frown began to form on Elias’ face, deepening slightly with each encounter.
The monsters attacking them were all between levels 10 and 14, as the dirt trail only passed through the outskirts of the jungle. And since this was the Beginner zone, they were all Uncommon-ranked—significantly more dangerous than the Common ones from the newbie zone.
Even so, Elias could handle level 10 Common-ranked monsters easily by now, and he couldn’t help but wonder just how much stronger these Uncommon ones truly were.
He picked up the pace slightly, slowly drawing closer to Rebecca, and said quietly, “Do you think we could take one?”
She grinned.
“You? I’m not so sure…” she teased, tapping the knives strapped to her thigh and lower back. “But I think I could take one.”
“Want to give it a try?” Vivian said, slowing to a walk and glancing back at them with a grin of her own. “I can pull a monster for each of you—and don’t worry, I’ll heal you if you get hurt.”
Elias turned to Rebecca. Her eyes were already widening, a smile forming on her lips—and he knew his expression had to be the same.
How was that even a question? Of course he wanted to try!