Chapter 112: 112. The Other Party Members

Elsewhere within the story dungeon, a monster den sat in a collapsed temple three kilometers outside the city walls. Yuki found it on the quest board that morning

//Serpent Nest Clearance, C-Rank, Pays 10 gold coins//

She killed the first serpent before it finished uncoiling.

Her katana took it through the base of the skull, where the scales thinned. The body thrashed once, twice, then stilled. Behind her, Odessa’s Azure Sky dragon-Kin wrapped around a second serpent and squeezed until its spine cracked.

Alfred stood at the temple entrance, shield raised, waiting for anything that might try to flee but Nothing did.

There were Three more serpents in the main chamber, yuki took the left while Odessa’s dragon took the right. Alfred handled the center when one broke past their line with a single shield bash that caved in its ribs.

They collected the cores and heads for proof of completion.

“I can’t believe you were just an F-ranj a few months ago” Odessa said, dropping serpent heads into her collection bag. “You moved like you’ve been fighting all your life, Yuki”

“It’s just my Battle Intuition, Ode” Yuki said. “It’s been getting sharper.”

“Lucky.”

“Practice.”

They walked back toward the city through fields that had gone fallow. The afternoon sun sat heavy overhead. Farmers worked distant plots, their figures small against the horizon.

Alfred walked slightly ahead, shield on his back, scanning terrain with an automatic vigilance. “The city’s been quiet since the cathedral fire.”

“Quiet how?” Yuki asked.

“Fewer patrols. More checkpoints. The guards who remain seem tense.” He stepped over a drainage ditch. “Something’s happening.”

They reached the city gates as the afternoon bells rang. The guards checked their papers, glanced at the blood evidence bag, waved them through. Standard procedure. But Alfred was right, there were fewer guards than usual. The ones present kept looking toward the cathedral district.

The Adventurer’s Guild occupied a converted warehouse near the market square. They submitted their quest completion, collected payment, and settled at a corner table with ale and the day’s rumor board.

That’s where they heard it.

Two tables over, a pair of merchants talked loudly enough to be overheard.

“—heard they’re calling it the Cathedral Burning. Whole archive wing gone.”

“Church says it was heretics. Celestial defilers working with—” The merchant lowered his voice. “—with dragons, I say! DRAGONS!.”

“Dragons? In the city?”

“Not in the city. But the woman they’re hunting, the blacksmith from the eastern district, she had dragon companions. Witnesses saw them at the warehouse district during that demon incursion last week.”

The other merchant whistled. “Church ain’t gonna like that one”

“They’re putting everything together. The woman, the dragon sightings, the timing.” A pause. “They’re saying she is a heretic . That the dragons were trying to use her to—”

“That’s enough.” A third voice, sharper. A cleric passing their table. “Such speculation aids no one.”

The merchants fell silent. The cleric moved on.

Yuki caught Odessa’s eye. Odessa’s expression had gone carefully still.

Alfred set his tea down slowly.

They waited until the merchants finished and left. Then Odessa leaned in.

“Dragon companions…” she said quietly. “…At a demon incursion. A week ago.”

Yuki nodded. “…The cathedral fire was three days ago.”

“The timing matches. If Owen is involved—”

“—then he’s the companion the church is hunting.” Yuki’s hand moved to her katana grip, then stopped. A habit now. “….Which means Owen’s in the middle of whatever this is.”

Alfred’s voice remained calm. “We don’t know that. There are other dragons in the kingdom.”

“Alfred.” Odessa fixed him with a look. “How many dragons do you think are running around human cities befriending blacksmiths and fighting demons?”

“…Fair point.”

Yuki reached through the bond. ’Owen. Can you hear me?’

Silence. Then a faint distant pulse of acknowledgment. ’Alive. Occupied. Unable to talk right now’

’We’re in a city. Hearing rumors about a church hunting a woman with dragon companions. Is that you?’

Another pulse. ’yhup…’

’Are you safe?’

A pause. Then.. ’it’s Complicated, Yuki. I’ll Tell you later’

The connection faded.

Yuki exhaled. “He’s alive and involved in something. But Can’t talk now.”

“Involved in what?” Odessa asked.

“He didn’t say.”

They sat with that for a moment. The guild hall buzzed around them, NPC adventurers coming and going, quests being posted and claimed, the ordinary rhythm of professional monster-killers.

Alfred finished his tea “We continue as planned. Gather information. Complete quests. Stay visible. Level up” He set the cup down precisely. “When Owen needs us, he’ll reach out. Until then, we don’t draw attention.”

“Agreed…” Yuki said.

“Also agreed!” Odessa added. “Though I reserve the right to be extremely curious and ask approximately forty questions when this is over.”

—

Forty kilometers east, in a different pocket of the story dungeon, Leah moved through tall grass.

The landscape had shifted around her days ago. open savanna replacing the stone corridors she had been navigating. She had walked without destination, following instincts that felt older than her conscious mind.

The beast-folk village appeared at sunset.

Not ruins. Active. Living. Figures moved between structures built in the old style—woven grass and cured hides, designed to breathe with the land rather than dominate it. Cooking fires sent smoke signals she could almost read.

She approached openly. Hands visible. No weapons drawn.

The elder who met her at the village boundary was old even by beast-folk standards. His mane had gone completely white. His eyes held the particular clarity of someone who had outlived expectations and was still going.

“You carry the scent of the Pride-Mother’s line,” he said.

“I…” she paused to consider her introduction. “…am Leah of the Auric Pride.”

“Hmm. So you are.” He turned and walked into the village. “Come. There’s something you need to learn.”

She followed.

The training ground sat at the village center—packed earth worn smooth by generations of feet. The elder stopped at its edge and faced her.

“You smell like battles…” he said. “…you have Survived things that would break most warriors.”

“Yes.”

“But you’ve never truly transformed.”

Leah’s hand moved to her chest as she realised what he was saying. “The full beast form. Pride warriors train for years to achieve it. Of course I haven’t—”

“You don’t have years.” The elder sat cross-legged on the packed earth. “The thing that have brought you here won’t wait. The companions you travel with won’t wait. The war that’s coming definitely won’t wait.”

“I don’t understand.”

“No. You don’t.” He gestured to the space before him. “Sit. We shall begin now.”

Leah sat.

“The full transformation isn’t about forcing strength…” the elder said. “…It’s about surrendering to it. Letting the beast beneath your skin rise without losing yourself in it. Holding the shape while keeping the mind.”

“How do I learn that in days instead of years?”

“Stop asking questions and start listening, young cub” His eyes closed. “Feel the land. Feel the herd moving in the distance. Feel the hunt that lives in your blood. Then… let go.”

Leah closed her eyes.

The grass whispered. The wind carried scents she hadn’t noticed before: water, prey, predator, all distinct, all readable. Her fingers elongated slightly. Claws extended without conscious command.

The elder’s voice came from somewhere far away. “There. That’s the door. Now… walk through it.”

Something shifted in her chest. Power building. Form wanting to change.

She held on and felt herself growing.

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