Noa groaned as he stirred awake, morning light slipping through the open windows.
He blinked groggily and sat up.
Selene stood near the window, fully dressed in her black and silver armor.
"You're already up?" Noa muttered, rubbing his eyes.
She glanced over her shoulder. "Of course. Unlike you, I don't sleep like a collapsed ox."
"...I don't snore."
"You do."
Noa slid off the bed like a dying cat. "Whatever. Just order breakfast from the innkeeper, will you? I'm starving."
Selene blinked at him. "I can't."
"Huh? Why?"
She looked at him as if he'd grown a second head.. "Because I don't have any money."
Then Noa stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"You—you don't have any money?! Are you serious?!" His voice rose with each word, drawing a muffled complaint from the next room.
Selene's response was infuriatingly calm. "I came here recently. I only needed directions to the labyrinth."
"I already had to pay for the room yesterday—and do you know what I had to do?! Beg. I begged the innkeeper to take what I had!"
Selene raised a brow. "You mean the coins you looted from Alaric's corpse?"
"IT WAS SURVIVAL MONEY!"
She gave a noncommittal shrug. "You spent it poorly."
"Excuse me?! What else was I supposed to do, sleep in the gutter?!"
The door creaked open suddenly, and the innkeeper poked his head in with a long-suffering sigh.
"If you two are done yelling about finances," he said dryly, "you might want to try the Adventurer Guild down the street. About the only way you'll make coin around here."
Noa froze. "…There's an Adventurer Guild?"
The innkeeper nodded. "Yeah. Head two blocks down, take a right past the blacksmith, can't miss it. Big stone building with a fox emblem on the banner."
Noa turned to Selene, still fuming. "See? Was that so hard? We could've been there yesterday if you said something useful."
"I wasn't hired to give tourist advice."
He opened his mouth to respond—then thought better of it. Muttering curses under his breath, Noa stomped out of the inn. Selene followed without a word, the corner of her lips twitching upward.
***
Ashvalen Adventurer Guild – Late Morning
The Adventurer Guild in Ashvalen wasn't grand, but it had a quiet authority to it. The main hall was constructed with solid blackstone, and on the far wall, a massive job board stood empty—oddly so.
Only a few adventurers milled about inside. A couple of grizzled men, a sleepy-looking mage, and someone passed out on a bench.
Noa approached the front desk where a young woman flipped through a ledger with bored efficiency.
Her fox ears twitched at their approach.
Without looking up, she said, "If you're here to complain about the lack of quests, take a number."
"We're here to register," Noa said.
Now she looked up.
Golden eyes sharp as a dagger met his, framed by a cascade of orange hair. The receptionist's fox ears twitched again as she gave both him and Selene a once-over.
"...You two look like trouble," she said flatly. "And not the fun kind."
"Thanks?" Noa replied, unsure if that was an insult or compliment.
The girl leaned forward, resting her chin in one hand. "Name's Ira. And no, you can't register yet."
"What?"
She tapped a sign posted behind her with her clawed fingertip.
NOTICE: Adventurer Registration Exams Delayed
Due to Guildmaster and Examiner Teams Investigating the Western Ruins
"Guildmaster's not here," Ira said, voice clipped. "Neither are the examiners. You can register after they return. Maybe two days."
Noa glanced around. "Is that why there's barely anyone here?"
"Bingo," Ira said. "They all ran off to poke around the ruins that showed up after the last sandstorm. Something weird got unearthed near the desert edge."
Selene's eyes narrowed. "Ruins?"
"Big ones. Magic leaking from 'em and everything," Ira replied. "That storm wasn't normal, either. Blew through like a divine sneeze, and suddenly we've got half a tower poking out of the desert."
Noa and Selene exchanged a look.
"Can we get a map?" Selene asked. "We'll pay for it later."
Ira blinked. "You want to go there?"
"Yes," Noa said. "We're not the wait-around type."
"Suit yourselves." She dug through a drawer and slid a folded parchment across the desk. "That's the best we've got. Be careful—last I heard, even some C-Rankers didn't come back."
Noa took the map. "We'll take our chances."
"Idiots," Ira muttered under her breath. "Hot idiots."
***
"Alright," he muttered, mostly to himself, "guess we should grab supplies first. Food, water, maybe some—"
"I have something to do," Selene said suddenly.
Noa turned. "Huh?"
She met his gaze, golden eyes calm and unreadable. "I'll meet you at the ruins."
"Wait, what do you mean you have somethi—?"
But before he could finish, her figure shimmered—and vanished.
Noa blinked. "—ng to do…"
He stood there in stunned silence, arm still halfway raised like he was about to point something out.
"…Seriously?!" he groaned. "Can she not disappear dramatically for once?! What, does she have a quota to meet?!"
A passing cart driver gave him a weird look before steering clear.
Noa sighed, kicking a pebble down the road. "Fine. Solo supply run it is. At this rate, I'm gonna die of heatstroke before I even get to the ruins."
noa look at the map. Again the road and again. "ahhhhh... food can wait, mystery ruin first"
***
A few hours later.
Noa stood near the ruins, panting slightly as he gazed up at the crumbling structure ahead.
The ruins jutted from the earth like the broken ribs of some buried beast—jagged stone walls, partially sunken towers, and cracked archways covered in faded carvings. The air around it shimmered with residual magic, still thick from whatever storm had unearthed it days ago.
And of course, there was a crowd.
A sea of lower-ranked adventurers clustered around the entrance, murmuring, arguing, trying to bribe or sweet-talk their way past the bored-looking guards stationed at the ruined gates. Their armor bore the familiar insignia of the Adventurer's Guild—confirmation that this place was off-limits.
Noa clicked his tongue.
"Of course it wouldn't be that easy."
He approached casually, hands in his pockets, weaving through the annoyed mob until he stood in front of the guards. One of them, a bulky man with a square jaw and sunburned face, held up a hand.
"No entry unless you're ranked B or higher," he said flatly. "Turn around."
Noa blinked, then smiled. Not smug. Just mildly amused.
"Ah, right. Because letting lower-ranked people in would totally ruin the Guild's secret operation to recover the Anima Vault."
The guard squinted. "What?"
Noa leaned in slightly, lowering his voice just enough for it to sound conspiratorial.
"You didn't hear? I mean—I figured your captain would've briefed you. Or maybe they only told the upper-rank guards. That's... awkward."
He turned slightly, like he was about to walk away. "Guess I shouldn't have mentioned the Anima Vault, huh? Guild secrets and all..."
The other guard, a younger woman, frowned. "Wait. What's an Anima Vault?"
Bingo.
Noa gave a half-shrug, feigning hesitance. "It's, uh... hard to explain. Magical convergence theory, layered beneath ruin structures, creates a sealed reservoir of soul-energy. You don't want a rookie poking around and accidentally triggering a bleed pulse. That's how entire expeditions disappear."
He leaned back with a sigh. "But I'm sure your captain has it all under control. I mean, it's not like the last two ruins that exploded were his fault, right?"
Both guards looked at each other, uncertain now.
"...Wait here," the older one muttered, moving to step away.
Noa took that chance, lowering his voice just enough to sound serious. "No need. I'm already late. My team's inside doing a sweep. Just tell your captain 'the containment tech from Ashvalen is in position.' He'll know."
The hesitation cracked.
The guards stepped aside.
Noa walked past them with a confident nod, hiding the racing of his heart behind a carefully blank expression.
Only once he was out of earshot did he let the grin return.
"I can't believe it worked," he muttered, sliding into the cool shadows of the ruin's interior. "Half of the things I said—not even I know."
The moment Noa crossed into the ruined halls, he noticed it.
The air changed.
Dry heat of the desert was gone. In its place, a cold, damp chill slithered along his skin, like fingers tracing down his spine. He paused, adjusting his grip on the sword at his side.
"...The hell?"
His breath fogged slightly in front of him—in the middle of the desert.
He stepped deeper, boots crunching softly over cracked stone.
There are spores that clung to everything, floating lazily in the air like motes of blood.
Noa knelt and brushed his fingers through them. They smeared slightly, leaving a faint burn on his fingertips.
"Tch… Lovely."
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't stop. The light from outside had already vanished—but Noa could still see.
A dull grey-blue glow painted his vision, outlines and details sharpening unnaturally.
[Night Vision]
The hallway ahead stretched into shadow, broken by collapsed archways and shattered pillars.
The deeper he went, the worse it became.
That's when he saw the first corpse.
At first, he thought it was a statue.
A man slumped against the wall, arms limp, armor rusted.
But as Noa approached, he saw the truth.
The body was dry. Mummified.
The skin was sunken against the bones, pale and papery, with veins visible like black vines. The mouth was open in a silent scream.
There was no blood. Not even a drop.
And there wasn't just one.
Two more. Five. A dozen—scattered like discarded puppets along the ruin's winding corridors.
"...Well that's not ominous at all," Noa muttered, stepping over a curled corpse with a missing face.
Noa rounded a corner, the stench hitting him before the sound did.
A low, guttural growl came—like something trying to remember how to breathe