"I'll try to make good use of it. I will respect your will and give this inanimate piece of metal a new life", Yoichi replied, clasping the small chest in his hands and bowing his head towards Osai.

"We will never meet again. If you ever get out of Blackvault Mines alive, you'll never be able to meet us again. Entering this room for the second time, you'll find only three cold, inanimate stone tombstones," Asai remarked. ​​

"What happened to the mine? What is this black mud and how does it make demons immortal?" Yoichi asked, noting that the three spirits had taken on their original positions, ready to return underground.

"A dark and mysterious force is about to envelop Tentochu. Despite our message of hope, the end of everything is approaching. I wish you to see the daylight again, valiant warriors of Goldhaven," Ysai whispered.

"No, please... don't go away! Tell us what happened! What are we going to find inside the boss's room? Have you seen a necklace?" Enatsu yelled, taking a step forward and extending his arm toward Osai, the closest spirit.

When Enatsu's hand reached the miner's ethereal body, it disappeared. The three spirits dissolved into nothingness and the two shiny stone that had appeared vanished into a gust of wind.

That narrow cavern had returned a long rectangular room with mud-dirty walls. Nobu's power was now the only source of light.

"I can't believe it... you unlocked the secret loot of the dungeon!" Shioko rejoiced, showing a sincere interest in her companion. The red-haired tamer approached Yoichi, carefully looking at the trunk in his hands.

"The secret loot? but... but I did nothing but..."

"Whatever you did, it was enough to unlock this treasure. Sometimes, in dungeons, you may come across puzzles or rooms that need to be 'solved'. Well, it's clear that no one ever thanked those three spirits for their valuable life lesson. Your attitude must have hit them very, very good", Shioko interrupted again.

Once again, the archer was setting aside her grumpy nature and began to react to events with positivity, caring about the other members of her team, without selfishly focusing on herself.

"Um... how about getting the hell out of here? I don't see any necklaces around and I'm afraid the door might close again, so... I don't know..." Enatsu mumbled. Walking backward, he took two steps towards the exit.

The three adventurers finally came out of that narrow room, finding themselves in the central atrium. The light of Nobu, as during the battle against the Komoerus, could only illuminate part of the mine.

The wall to the left of the half-smashed door from which they had just left was cleaner than the others. The landslide had broken down enough to erode the surface, exposing the raw rock below, not yet impregnated with mud.

Attracted by an instinctive impulse, Yoichi stared at that wall for a few seconds. The substance that came out of the fractures of those porous rocks was not mud, but dense red blood.

Dripping vertically and horizontally, counteracting the force of gravity, an inscription of blood came to life. The Demon Pet System was speaking.

[Kenji: (6/6 pts – level up) – (level 6 reached)]

[Kenji: (7/7 pts – level up) – (level 7 reached)]

[Kenji: (8/8 pts – level up) – (level 8 reached)]

[Kenji: (9/9 pts – level up) – (level 9 reached)]

[Kenji: (1/10 pts – level 9)]

Among the XP points report letters Kenji received in the last battle, the level numbers overlapped with each other. To the surprise of Yoichi, the keikemon he and his Oracle had eaten before entering had worked.

By doubling the XP points received, those earned from the killing of 15 Komoerus had become 30. Adding up, Kenji had leveled up from level 5 to level 9.

As Yoichi's eye fell on the last digit, the writing disappeared and the red blood got back into the pores, generating new letters.

'Secret Mission completed: receive the tetsuiasa from tombstone spirits'

[Reward: +1 to all stats of your Oracle]

After joyfully learning that second piece of good news, Yoichi looked at Kenji. The young tamer noticed that even his little dragon was looking towards that wall, trying to figure out what its tamer was looking at.

'New mission: Defeat the boss and exit the dungeon'

[Reward: +1 to your 'scorching breath' skill]

"Hey! Are you all right? Why did you stay there, gawking at the wall? Come on, there's a necklace waiting to be found," Enatsu exclaimed. The merchant's words caught the attention of Yoichi, who looked away from the bloody wall.

"Sorry, you're right. The story of those three brothers made me think a lot and... forget it. Let's go," he replied, making up an excuse at the moment. When he looked at the wall again, the Demon Pet System's writing was gone.

Kenji has received so many XP points and the effect of Kuniaki's magic fruit will last for several hours! If those Komoerus gave us all those points... who knows how many the dungeon boss will give us! Yoichi thought, clenching his fists.

Scorching breath... maybe that's the name of Kenji's dragon skill? By leveling up, its body and powers have been upgraded. I didn't think the same could happen to its skills!

Realizing how a simple dungeon as the Blackvault Mines could benefit an inexperienced tamer like him, Yoichi was determined to complete his next quest. In addition to the boss's, another room could have hidden Hyobe's late wife necklace.

"I know a blacksmith that fits the bill" Shioko affirmed, interrupting her partner's thoughts. "He lives in Goldhaven. His works are quite expensive, but I'm sure you can afford it, after receiving the reward for finding the necklace," she added.

"What are you going to do with that shining metal? When using Kenji's skill, your hands become too big to hold a sword or a spear... a bow is off the table and a kunai would disappear between your huge fingers. Maybe you'd better forge a piece of armor!" Enatsu spoke, ready to express his opinion.