*Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock*

Mmm? Ah! I am awake! Grandma had sent me to sleep so that I would have enough energy for the dungeon raid. I slept for nearly seven hours now according to Mr. Tock.

Alviona did not want to get out of bed quite yet. Instead, she rolled around, embracing her wings, and hugging the pillow.

Today is going to be too much fun! I am overly excited! For some reason, I have this weird sensation going through my body that makes me a little scared. “Will I do all right? Will grandma pet me in the end? Can I keep myself composed? Will my mommy be excited when I meet her again and tell her of my tales?” These are the questions that I keep asking myself. Aack! It is tickling me. Why, what is this feeling?! Thought Alviona, tightly holding the pillow closer to her heart that seemed to pound ever slightly quicker.

“Alviona, is everything all right?” Asked Mira, who picked up on the child’s odd behavior.

“I… I do not know grandma. I am feeling uneasy,” replied Alviona, holding her gentle hands around her heart area.

“Oh, my. Is it perhaps that you are nervous?” (Mira)

“Nervous… What does that word mean?”

“It means that you have developed anxiety, being unable to focus at any situation given. Are you scared a little?”

“Just a tiny bit. It is just that, it is my first time going with anyone that is not my two mommies, you, Mr. Solomon or Janine,” said Alviona while wiggling her elven ears.

“Do not worry my darling. You will do fine. We have to watch our step and be careful. Remember what we practiced earlier today?”

Alviona nodded.

“I must prioritize my safety first.” (Alviona)

“Correct,” replied Mirra, hugging and patting the child’s head. “Come now, let us have dinner before departure. Let’s find you some shinies ok?”

“Shinies! Yay!” Followed Alviona, easing up her shoulders a little and rolling on the bed one more time. “Grandma, is Janine not coming with us?”

“No. Darling, you have to understand that she is too tired. Her back is sore and requires some rest. Perhaps another time?” Replied Mira, tickling her granddaughter.

An hour after the dinner was served, the members of Ironmight came over to their carriage.

"Good evening!" Greeted Brunor who was wearing his heavily plated armor. The man had a kite shield strapped onto his back, and a mace sheathed on his right side of the belt. "Are you ready?"

"We are," replied Mira after glancing at Alviona and ensured that she was confident in herself.

"Splendid. While we have already met and done the introductions, we have not talked much about the distribution of roles for each member. Allow me to explain. Lady Mira, you will be assigned a support role that is responsible for healing the allies and crowd-controlling the foes. Salia will be a hybrid between offense and defense because of her ability to heal alongside you. Lucas is a ranged damage dealer, whereas Hayden and I shall be front-liners. My defensive capability is much higher so I will be a full out assault while Hayden will be a mixture of damage dealer and a defensive line to not allow anyone near the casters. Does this sound good?" Asked Brunor, who seemed to have analyzed and distributed roles.

"That sounds excellent. But, what of Alviona?" (Mira)

"Yes, it was going to be my next topic of discussion. I do not know what role to give her or Solomon. They are both damage dealers, this is clear. However, the problem is that the girl can easily be a front-liner. It is sad that she is ill-equipped for that. If I set her as a mage, the balance of the party will shift because protecting six back liners will prove to be challenging.” (Brunor)

“Wait… six? I, Lucas, and Mira make up three. Who are the others?” asked Salia, confused by the sudden statement.

“Kornel,” replied Brunor.

“Ah. I forgot about that man. Where is he anyway?” Asked Salia with a disgusted expression.

“He should be waiting for us by the city gates. Yesterday morning he led another group of adventurers, and they all returned with some decent loot. Earlier today Might of Dadala party entered the dungeon. However, we have not heard of them since. It is not a bad idea to have a guide.” (Brunor)

“I heard that some people even took out gold coins! Is that true? Apparently, the dungeon spawns above the average amount of silver coins. Some enemies drop one gold coins too! Isn’t that amazing?!” Said Lucas, his eyes shining from all the treasures that he would lay his hands on. Everyone member of Ironmight seemed to fall into the fantasy realm for a brief moment until snapping out of it and talking to Mira once again, whose face showed no interest. The elf only seemed to care about Alviona and her adventures or the experiences gained from them.

“Why don’t you allow Alviona and Solomon to be a squad of their own in that case?” (Mira)

“H-huh? But if someone attacks them…” (Hayden)

“They will take care of themselves and will still help you out. My granddaughter is an inquisitive child by nature. Solomon will not do much for you unless he is around her. So why bother creating a headache for yourself? I agree with the role you gave me. But when talking about those two, it would be much better to give them autonomy,” said Mira without slightest of hesitation.

“Hm. All right then. Let’s do it. Though I would like to warn you. If the girl gets injured or dies, I will not carry that on my shoulders. Are we clear? It will not be my fault,” replied Brunor with a grin. Salia could not understand why he had agreed to such a drastic gamble but decided not to question it.

“Worry not about that. I will keep track of the child and will heal accordingly. It does not mean that I will somehow slack off and not provide the support you spoke of. I will fulfill the contract we made,” replied Mira nonchalantly. Irrelevant of what Ironmight could have thought, her priority was still Alviona. Despite this, as stated, she intended to help out to the best of her abilities. Unlike most, Mira’s mana well was massive, and its control was excellent. After all, the elf was six centuries old and had been through a lot of adventures herself.

The party headed towards the gate with Brunor taking the lead, followed by Hayden. Kornel joined them once he saw their approach.

“Good evening. I am glad that you decided not to delay the raid. After all, I do not get paid by the hour you know. Oh, are those new recruits?” Asked the man, pointing at the new members.

“Don’t worry about them. We hired those people as mercenaries. Now then, let’s go.” (Brunor)

“I-is that so? All right then,” said Kornel, his face displaying slight confusion.

Interesting. That person looks different from others. It is okie though. They are friends as long as they are not meanies, thought Alviona as she observed the man.

After walking some distance, Ironmight’s party finally reached their destination. It was the same field where Janek had perished the day prior. Salia was feeling uneasy and slightly nauseous. Fortunately for her, Mira picked up on this and provided her with a potion as a remedy.

Goblins and death hounds were actively patrolling the area, ready to engage in combat with any and all who did not belong to their dungeon. “Kyak, I wonder when humans will come so we can eat them. I am hungry Kyak.” Said some goblins, frustrated by the lack of activity at night. “Kyak, kikiki. Me too, A’su kyak. Meat, kyak.”

Salia was disgusted by the words that the wind carried to her ears. She was ready to cast a [Fireball] and roast those goblins on the spot. “Shit. Bastards! This is what they do to anyone that is not a creature of their kind. They eat them. Janek, you poor bastard, if only you paid more attention,” she whispered.

“All right team. Do not forget what happened yesterday. Watch out for ambushes and be vigilant. Nobody dies today, understood?! We need to work as a team, make it into the dungeon, get the treasures, and leave.” Said Brunor with an inspiring voice to boost the morale of the party. It had its desired effect.

Lucas was the first to attack. Charging his bow with the projectile and letting loose, the arrow pierced the goblin head, instantly killing the unarmored creature. While his techniques were not as good as Sofia’s and apparently lacked the magical damage, the man definitely made up for it with the speed at which the arrows were drawn. One after the other, he kept launching projectiles. Despite not being one hundred percent accurate, it would not be an exaggeration to state that Lucas was handling his job well.

Hayden and Brunor moved out of the way as Salia started chanting her [Icicles], impaling ten death hounds in the process. Meanwhile, Mira, Alviona, and Solomon just observed as they did not have to do anything so far.

Owie… Mr. Solomon, I am slightly bored, said Alviona with a pout, and looking around to find an activity to pursue. She looked in the direction of the ruins and noticed small mana patterns that were different from the current goblins that the Ironmight was slaughtering. Oh, those there! They look like ones from yesterday night. Mr. Solomon, can you come with me, please? I have to teach them a lesson. Yesterday they lied to me, so they are meanies!

Solomon looked at the girl that was wiggling her hands and ears randomly and appeared to be utterly irritated. The faces that Alviona was making was quite cute, reminiscent of a child that got upset due to someone not purchasing chocolates or sweets for her when asked. Slightly chuckling, he nodded and took the lead.

“Wait, where are you two going?” Asked Salia confused, but no reply came back.

“Salia, leave them be. Like we agreed, they are their own squad of two. They have the autonomy,” replied Brunor quickly and focused on not letting the foes get close to the backlines.

Meanwhile, Alviona wandered off, slowly walking towards the goblins that were hiding and preparing for an ambush. Even though the creatures noticed her and wanted to attack, they did not seem to wish to be detected this early. Walking just a little further, the girl came to a halt.

All right. Grandma strictly instructed me to not go overboard, so I have to reveal their positions without killing them. Hmm, in that case, I will let Mr. Solomon deal with them as I launch them into the air, thought Alviona as she kneeled down and touched the ground.

“Mr. Solomon, I will use earth to launch them into the air. Can you catch them with your abilities?” Asked Alviona to Solomon replied with a nod. With his affirmative, she launched her instructions for power to be converted into mana. After fifteen seconds, the earth where the goblins stood in concealment slightly shook and quickly shot upwards. The enemies were launched into the air, where Solomon noticed them, casting his [Submerged in Water] ability.

“Hey, Salia. Shoot them with your [Icicles],” commanded Solomon once his ability caught the enemies high up in the air.

Salia switched her attention to the man. Seeing what he and Alviona had done, she immediately cast the skill that she was told. “Very interesting. Their ability combinations are something I have never seen before. Water that holds enemies mid-air?!” she thought as the goblins fell down with their abdomen pierced by the volley of icicles.

Bliss! That was cool. I wish my essence had expanded a little more so that I could compress more energy into mana. I wonder if there exists a way for me to get rid of mana altogether, and instead, use the raw power. Well, I suppose I will find out when I grow up. There is no rush for it.

“Lucas, is that all of them?” asked Brunor, holding his shield up and casting [Fortress] to absorb projectiles flying towards him.

“Yes. Salia and Solomon already dealt with the concealed foes, so there are no ambushers left in this area. My [Tracking] is not detecting anything,” came a reply.

“All right then. We need to deal with those ranged creatures over there. Hayden, can you deal with it?” (Brunor)

“Pfft, you doubt me?!” Asked Hayden mockingly, tightening her grip on the battleax, and casting [Agility]. Mira, who was accustomed to the fighting style of warriors, ensured to cast [Blessing of Earth]. This ability provided extra layers of protection in the form of magic that reduced damage taken by 30% for three minutes.

Hayden charged with all of her might, closing the distance in under two minutes. She took the arrows and small [Fireballs] head on, casting her [Strength] to boost her jumping height, landing in the middle of the horde. Upon arrival, the girl started spinning around, chopping off the goblin heads one by one. Anything that came into contact with her while she spun was decimated.

Panicked goblins attempted retreating back to the dungeon, but to no avail. Hayden immediately dashed in front of them and struck the ground with her battleax, causing a minor tremor that knocked everyone in front of her off balance. She then nimbly retreated and allowed Salia to finish them off with her [Icicles]. Not forgetting what happened the day prior, the girl withdrew with her back facing her allies. Hayden did not intend to die like Janek did, so she acted cautiously.

“Good job Hayden!” Praised Brunor upon her safe return.

“So, what now? We got rid of a headache from yesterday. Still, I have a gut feeling that this is not the end. It all went too buttery smooth,” said Hayden whose warrior instincts were on alert. Something awry was going on here.

“I agree with you,” replied Salia. “Something is definitely wrong here. Why is it that other groups have not encountered such creatures during their raids? How come they are in such quantities and so organized? If not for Alviona and Solomon over there, we would not have discovered the goblins that were concealed! This is too unusual. No other group earlier today or yesterday encountered any such enemies.”

“It is possible that this dungeon is of advanced level,” replied Mira after careful thought.

“Huh? Advanced? What do you mean by that?” (Lucas)

“I mean that the dungeon is not a regular one that an adventurer’s guild party can tackle by themselves. You would need at least three parties to clear it. Even if your comrades were doing raids earlier in the morning, chances are that the real deal is now – during the night. What they have been doing up to this point was just clearing low-level monsters and perhaps some medium ones. But the boss would not be reached in the end, thus rendering entire raid useless. You would not be able to close the dungeon from respawning for a year.” (Mira)

“S-so, does that mean that the loot would also be better?!”

“While the loot is still randomized, the answer would be a “Yes.” The items gained right now would be of far better quality,” replied Mira nonchalantly.

“Then should we retreat and let others know?” (Salia)

“Child, have you hit your head on something? How did you jump to that conclusion?” (Mira)

“B-but you just said…” (Salia)

“Yes, I did. I would be worth one party at least. How many years of experience do you think I have?! Besides, have you already forgotten what my granddaughter showed you yesterday? Do you really think we can not manage this? For crying out loud, she just helped you out with a headache that you had yesterday no?!” Asked Mira with an irritated voice. She was getting slightly frustrated by the fact that she had made a mistake. Perhaps it would have been better if only Alviona, Solomon and herself went to the dungeon. That would be a far better experience and would allow the child to experiment with her abilities. “Pity,” she thought, but there was not much she could do right now as the contract was already established. Mira was not the sort of woman to back down from her words and neither did she want to give a bad example to Alviona.

“You have a point. Forgive me,” apologized Salia with a light bow to which Mira nodded and shrugged.

“All right. Let us cease the futile talk. How is everyone holding up? Anyone fatigued? Is everyone ready to continue?” Asked Brunor, glancing around and ensuring that nobody was in bad shape.

“My mistress would like to rest for ten minutes and drink water if that is all right.” (Solomon)

“Certainly.” (Brunor)

Alviona materialized a giant barrel filled with water from her . The Ironmight could not understand how it happened and were mesmerized and confused by the sudden action. It was just like earlier in the day if they had not gotten carried away with everything else that happened.

Seizing the moment, Salia decided to appease her curiosity. “Listen, Alviona, may I ask you a question?”

“Okie,” replied the child chirpily, not seizing her current action and sipping on the cold water.

“How do you make items appear and disappear?”

“Oh, I don’t. I just move the items into my box.”

“Box?!”

“Yeah. Just like you can store items into magical boxes and pouches, so do I have one that allows me to store belongings in it.”

“Hm, I see. All right then. Thank you,” replied Salia who assumed that her recalling weapons were related to SoulBound items. That would make sense. “And here I was, thinking that she was some sort of an illusionist,” thought Salia while slightly chuckling.

After Alviona was done, the party advanced towards the dungeon. As they approached the entrance, Brunor stopped and raised his hand to halt everyone else alongside him.

“What is wrong?!” (Lucas)

“Shh. Something is wrong. Take a good look,” said Brunor, pointing towards the entrance.

“W-what the…” (Hayden)

A large door, probably made of oak, stood tall and shut in front of the party. No matter how hard Brunor tried to open it, the entrance would not budge. Even with the help of five people, it would not move.

Frustrated, they decided to withdraw but were soon greeted by an unknown enemy.

“Good evening there adventurers. I see that you have defeated the underlings of my K-kyak, King. I am very, K-kyak, impressed by that. For this, we have deemed that you are worthy of becoming our meal. Once we feast on your f-flesh, Kyak, we will become stronger and continue ruling the dungeon!”

Once the words faded away, the earth seemed to quake as the loud footsteps were heard. From atop the dungeon’s roof jumped a giant goblin that was seated atop a giant rat. The rat was fully armored in plate and chainmail, while the rider wore leather armor with riveted chainmail under it. He held a machete in its left hand and a steel shield in its right.

The creature’s appearance had tossed Ironmight into a state of shock and panic.

“W-what is that?!”

“T-that is not something I have ever seen in my life. Stand strong though! We will prevail!” Shouted Brunor who charged at the goblin first, casting his [Charing Bull] ability that made him accelerate at a superhuman speed. However, the rat nimbly avoided it and caused the man to crush into the door.

Lucas shot an arrow at it, but the creature blocked it with the shield.

“Pathetic,” snorted the goblin while whistling. At that moment, the party found themselves in an awkwardly unfavorable situation. Atop the dungeon gates, on both sides of the walls, was a small opening from where smaller goblins appeared. They consisted of archers and supports. Without any delay, those that held bows started raining down arrows onto the party.

“Spread out! Spread out! Do not let them hit you!” Shouted Brunor, quickly moving to help Salia by covering her with his body. The shield, thankfully, deflected the arrows.

Mira immediately cast a [Mass Greater Blessing of Earth], reducing any and all incurred damage by 50% for one hour. She understood well that this goblin was probably a captain or a guardian of sorts. It appeared that her assumption related to this place was not wrong and that it indeed was an advanced dungeon.

Meanwhile, Alviona and Solomon, who stood a little far away, observed this occurrence.

I think we should have knocked. Mr. Goblin got upset because we were rude. What do you think Mr. Solomon? Asked the child to the man next to her. Do you think they would be nicer if we showed our manners?

“Mistress, I think they would not care. Those creatures only care about eating whoever is in front of them. They are actively trying to hurt your grandmother, as you might have noticed.” (Solomon)

Oh, yes! Don’t worry I do not intend to be kind to them because of that. However, I was just wondering if it would have made a difference. Maybe after we deal with them, we can try it out?

“Well, I do not see the harm in that,” replied the man.

Yay! Mr. Solomon, you are the best! You always support me and my ideas. I genuinely love you, good sir!

Declared Alviona chirpily.

“Oh, my. T-thank you very much, goddess!” Whispered Solomon, who appeared to be overjoyed with her words.

*Cough*

“Now then, your orders?!”

Oh, right. Please kill every single one of the goblins. They are meanies and dared to attack my grandma and our new friends! You deal with the right side, while I will take on the left. Does it sound good? Oh, and please, no [Anchor]. I want to teach that big meanie a lesson myself.

Solomon listened to Alviona’s instructions and embedded them in his mind. Those orders were absolute and had to be carried out with extreme severity. With a grin, he waited for Alviona to move away before commencing his concert.

“There is no god damn end to them!” Screamed Lucas who kept knocking the goblins off the balcony one by one with his arrows. Every second one would fall, someone else would take its place. What was going on?!

“Mr. Lucas, stop focusing on the upper floors. Instead, help your teammates out with what is in front of you. My mistress and I are going to deal with upper floors,” said Solomon loudly enough to let every member of Ironmight know of their actions.

Brunor and Hayden understood, as they switched to an offensive position and engaged the Goblin Captain. Mira cast [Advanced Minor heal](s) to ease off fatigue from her allies.

Okie then. I have two objectives. First, punish the meanies. Second, get patted by my grandma. To achieve this, I need to get rid of those goblins on the balcony. Ack, they have supports again. Hmm, I have absolutely no intentions of wasting my time and making instructions for that spell again. In that case how about this? Thought Alviona who was running to the left flank of the field, dodging incoming arrows and touching the ground to quickly create a boulder that launched her towards the balcony.

Yay! I am flying without my wings, she said to herself mid-flight. Before landing, she created instructions to create a flame and form it in her mouth followed by an exhale. Since no incantations were made for this ability and were too sudden, the supports never managed to cast the barriers at the archers. What seemed to be an infinite strand of flames breathed out by the girl soon ended up scorching the creatures, limiting their vision, throwing them into a panic, and allowing Alviona to stab at them with her sword.

Upon landing, the girl did not stop moving. She quickly rushed into the dungeon area, breathing flame and thrusting with her sword in-between.

Solomon had also started his job, using his [Hail Of Fireball] four times to cause debuff. However, the damage caused by the spell ended up being so intense, that most creatures perished after the second impact. To make things worse, the fireball strands emitted at the end of the spell kept bouncing off the walls continually damaging the enemies. For the man, this could not have turned out any better.

Alviona reached a vast room that did not seem to lead anywhere. A giant crystal was located inside of it. Curious she decided to touch it, only for it to start emitting faint light and bringing forth more goblins that were slain upon their arrival.

Oh, it is like the gate that grandma talked about back in the city. This one seems to transport goblins from within the dungeon. Wow! This is interesting… perhaps I should keep it to myself? Thought Alviona as she attempted moving it into her . Unfortunately, it did not work. This forced the girl to pout and get slightly disappointed. Well, fine then! I did not like you either… Well, I do like you, but you refuse to move into my box. Meanie!

Alviona cast her [Fireball] that ended up shattering the object with relative ease; turning it into a powder of glass. With that, the reinforcements ceased to stream in at the dungeon entrance. The girl moved towards the right side of the balcony, stepping out and waving at Solomon. She then shifted her attention to the battle that was unfolding below.

Ironmight was having a hard time dealing with the goblin captain. The creature was far too agile while mounted atop the rat.

“Kyak, Kyak. Pathetic humans! Kikiki! Su, Kyak,” said the goblin, nimbly rushing at Lucas. Brunor understood its intentions and moved in on the creature, bashing his shield at it while using his [Charging Bull] ability. However, it did not work as the rat pounced and chewed off the man’s arm before retreating and slashing at Hayden on its way. The warrior managed to land a hit at the rat, but it seemed to be immune to her steel weapon.

“Fuck! What sort of armor is that rat wearing?! My ax won’t even scratch it. I can not penetrate no matter how hard I try!” Said Hayden who was not injured thanks to her reinforced steel armor that was of rare rank.

Mira moved in on the injured party member and dragged him away to treat him. She closed his wound that was bleeding but did not do anything else. Right now, she had to be cautious and keep track of the battle to prevent the same thing happening to the rest of her allies.

“God damn it! There is not a chance in the world that we will kill this thing! It is far too agile! If only we could paralyze it somehow. Mira, can you paralyze it?!” Pleaded Salia, who was getting exhausted as her [Icicles] were ineffective at piercing the armor.

“I tried to. It did not work. That creature is wearing a magically enchanted armor that negates paralysis,” replied Mira hurriedly.

The rider, who had been paying attention to the movements of the party, decided that it was about time to take out the support. Without it, the column would quickly fall. The rat was instructed to pounce at Mira with all of its might. “And this is why you are pathetic. Nothing but filthy food, Kyak!” said the goblin, followed by the said pounce.

“I will kill them all, then eat their flesh. The king will reward me,” thought the goblin as it was mid-air. However, nothing went according to his plan from this point onwards.

Alviona who had been watching the development of the events was irritated. The meanie is trying to take my grandma’s arm! Hey you! Yes, you! Those hands pat my head! Keep your filthy mouth off my grandmother! She shouted in her mind, creating an instruction related to the earth element.

It was at that moment that the earth shook, four tall walls erupting from the ground and trapping the goblin inside the box. Not even a moment after, the party could feel violent tremors that caused them to fall down.

*Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom*

“W-what is going on?!” Asked Salia, who looked at the direction of Alviona. She seemed to be clenching her fists at the intervals that each *Boom* was heard.

After ten minutes of listening to the sound, the child finally released her hands. As a result, the noise stopped, and the walls retreated back to the earth. What the party witnessed after was splatters of blood, minced meat, bones, and metal. The goblin captain was crushed as if inside a meat grinder.

Brunor, Hayden, and Salia were all shocked from the sight. Salia, especially, became so nauseous that she ended up vomiting. How could this happen?! What was this ability? Furthermore, how did one person defeat the creature that they had struggled with for nearly fifteen minutes?! These were the questions that jolted through her mind.

“Child, it is all right. Calm down. It is over. Come here,” said Mira, embracing Salia to calm her down. As she did, the girl ended up bursting into tears. “Solomon, can you please clean this up?”

Solomon obeyed. The man quickly cast his [Bath of Flames] ability, devouring the remains until nothing remained. Even blood was evaporated.

Alviona quickly came down by creating a staircase from rocks.

“Grandma, are you all right? Did that meanie hurt you?!”

“No, I am fine. However, Salia here has an emotional breakdown. She is apparently not used to this much gore.”

“Oh… I am sorry. I did not mean to scare her. I just did not want anything bad happening to you, grandma,” replied child apologetically.

After Salia calmed down, Mira proceeded to treat Lucas’s injury. She grew his bones back and reassembled his limb.

“Heesh, I did not know that you could do that. Thank you very much, Mrs. Mira,” said Lucas with utmost gratitude.

“You are welcome. I would be ashamed to call myself by my name if I could not do this much,” replied Mira with a chuckle.

“So then, what now? The door still won’t budge,” said Hayden, looking at the large entrance to the dungeon.

“Oh, I can help with that,” came a reply from Alviona.

*Stomach Growl*

“Uhm… that. Before I do it, can we eat?” She asked, her face clearly displaying a hunger for the girl was drooling.

“Yes, I made sure to bring provisions for this raid. It would not hurt to let Salia drink some green tea. Actually, no. All of you should have some,” said Mira, asking Alviona to take out the items that were stored in her .

After eating their post-midnight meal, and calming their nerves with herbal tea, Alviona straightened her shoulders and stretched.

“So then, how are you going to get us into the dungeon?” Asked Brunor curiously. “I think that the doors are enchanted with fire-resistant alloy, so your flame won’t help much.”

“Oh, I do not plan to use fire though,” replied Alviona with a childish grin. “I plan to knock on it.”

“W-what?! Knock?!” Said Hayden dumbfounded, walking up to the door and actually doing what the child had just stated. Uninterestingly enough, nothing happened.

“No, no. Not like that. That is not loud enough. We have to make a loud knock so that the door opens,” replied Alviona, touching the ground and creating a giant and oval-shaped stone that was launched at the door, reminiscent of a trebuchet.

*Boom!*

“Like that,” said Alviona, as the stone landed and created a massive hole in the door. “Now we can enter. See?! Knocking is polite. Next time, ensure to always knock. Isn’t it interesting, how simplest of things can become solution at times?!”

The jaws of Ironmight dropped after witnessing what the girl had done.

“T-that was not a knock but a full out siege!” Exclaimed Hayden and Salia, but Mira stopped them.

“Trust me, kids. It is futile to argue over it. Just go with the flow. In the end, we have an entrance. Speaking of which, good job Alviona. Come here, I will spoil you,” said Mira.

Hearing her words, Alviona immediately skipped over to her grandmother. She was excited about all the pampering she was to receive. Mira embraced her and patted her on the head, slightly caressing her hair and landing a kiss on the child’s cheeks. As she did this, only one thought could be formed within Alviona’s head: “Bliss. Life is truly fascinating!”

With this, the party prepared for the main raid on the dungeon. After walking into the darkness, Salia screamed.

"W-what?! W-what is going on?!"