The moment his lips met Lyda's, Cyrus jerked back, slamming into the arm of the couch as he began stammering out an apology.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know why-I don't know what-it just-I don't understand why I-I'm sorry, Lyda, I-"

"Cyrus," she spoke calmly, and his stammering ceased. He detected a trace of amusement and sadness in both her mind and voice, and that worried him. "You've locked a part of yourself away, haven't you?"

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"Nothing," she answered. "You were trying to say that you don't know why you did that, you don't know what overcame you, and you're sorry for kissing me. Is that correct?"

"Yes," he answered. "I was just trying to figure out how to answer your question and explain the book without just telling you the whole plot. And as I looked into your eyes, my body just… moved. I'm-I'm sorry, Lyda. I think I'm going to go to bed."

Cyrus stood and hastily made to his room, undressed, and lay on the bed as he tried to sort through what had happened. The last time he did something like that was back in his old relationship, but he wasn't dating again. Lyda was just someone he was accompanying and helping, and that was it.

Eventually, he decided to just sleep, and so that was exactly what he did, straight through the night. When morning came, he returned to his routine as usual, grateful Lyda chose not to bring up the kiss.

The next two weeks passed without another incident, Lyda assisting in making more potions when it was time to do so. Cyrus thought over why he was feeling the way he did about Lyda, but couldn't come up with an explanation. He began to observe her more, hoping that would solve the mystery.

Finally, the day of the trip to the Dungeon came, and after making sure Lyda had lighter clothes to wear once they entered, Cyrus drove them to the Dungeon. The half-hour drive was made in silence, and when they arrived, Cyrus pulled into the parking lot at the Dungeon, smiling a little at the shock and awe radiating out of Lyda at the sight.

The Dungeon, like all of them, took the form of a hole in the ground. The Srentas Dungeon stretched one thousand feet in width as a perfect circle, though not all of that was the Dungeon itself.

"The ten feet of width," Cyrus explained to Lyda as the stepped onto the stairs and began to descend. "You see for the stairs? That was carved out by the earth mages excavating this when it expanded about two hundred years ago, though it formed about fifty years before then. The stairs are outside of the Dungeon because it's safer – nothing spawns on them since they aren't a part of it. Also, you'll be grateful for those boots. Once we get inside, the ground is warm."

"Thanks," Lyda looked down at the boots, made of dark red salamander leather. "How did you get boots my size? Don't these have to be made on order?"

"Yeah," he answered. "So I ordered them. I've seen your shoes and your feet, I know your size. Anyway, there are two things to keep in mind here. The moss absorbs the toxic fumes from the magma, making the air breathable, and several of the mushrooms absorb the fumes from fires, also keeping the air breathable."

"Okay," Lyda said. "Anything else I should know?"

"If something attacks," he nodded. "Ignore it. I'll kill it without you needing to worry. Only harvest what I tell you to. You never know if a mushroom might suddenly attack because you thought it was safe."

"That… would be unpleasant," she said. "How often do people come here?"

"There's a regular operation," he answered. "Which comes down once a month and stays for five days. Otherwise, there might be one group every day or two. The regular option clears out anything dangerous which might have spawned in the upper levels, where most normal groups work. They also harvest goods for sale from the upper levels and some of the middle ones."

"Okay," she said.

They descended past the solid stone first level, which nothing grew on nor wandered upon, and down to the second level. There, the tunnels were illuminated by flaming moss and glowing yellow crystals.

Cyrus ignored the entrance into the second level and continued walking. They descended past the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth level, then Cyrus pulled out the shorts and tank they had sent into the warehouse before leaving.

Lyda changed into them and Cyrus sent her other clothes back into the warehouse. The temperature had steadily risen as they descended, making wearing winter clothes unbearable. Cyrus himself wore a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt, though he bore no signs of sweating, much to Lyda's interest.

"Do you not sweat?" She asked, checking the sheen of sweat on her arms before looking at him again.

"I'm able to regulate my body temperature with magic," he told her. "Sweating is your body's attempt at cooling you down, and since I'm able to keep my body at the safe level, there's no need to cool it down. Therefore, no sweat."

"That sounds extremely handy," she said.

"Anyone at Tier Seven or above can manage the spell," he told her. "Though only those in the Ultimate Tiers really bother to take the time to learn it, since they have an easier time learning new and complicated spells. If Rynovar grants your wish, you might be able to learn it, too."

"That sounds cool," she told him, then laughed. "And would literally let me be cool, too."

"Yeah," Cyrus shrugged. "Come on, we're going a few more levels down before we'll get to what I want."

"Is it going to continue to get hotter?" She asked.

"No," he answered. "The temperature remains steady starting with the fifth level, but it's about five degrees hotter once we're actually into them. The cool air from outside is still cooling us here, even if you don't feel it anymore."

"Okay," she said. "Let's resume the journey, then."

Cyrus nodded, then led Lyda down to the eleventh level before entering the Dungeon itself. The tunnel immediately turned and seemed to follow the edge of the Dungeon for twenty yards, before coming across a river of magma bordered by flaming moss.

They followed the river of magma for several yards, Lyda looking at the mushrooms, moss, and crystals, until Cyrus stopped.

"Here we are," he announced. "The first thing we need."

The god produced three jars as Lyda examined the bushes of crimson berries with crimson leaves growing in the middle of the wide path. He knelt in front of the bushes and set the jars down.

"There's no danger," Cyrus informed Lyda. "As long as you don't remove the leaves. They'll turn to flames if you do, so remove only the berries."

"They'll turn to flames if I pull off a leaf?" She asked.

Cyrus plucked a leaf from the bush, and the removed leaf immediately burst into flames between his fingers. He let it burn to ash, the flames not affecting his skin at all.

"Like that," he told her. "You said you wanted to start using the potion that makes it harder to use fire magics, right?"

"Yes," she told him. "To push me harder when casting spells."

"Okay," he counted the jars, then pulled out a fourth one. "I need four jars full for two batches. If a berry is singed, don't put it in there. Same with any you squish by accident. I need them whole and undamaged, they'll last longer that way. Otherwise, they'll probably rot before we return."

He opened up a jar and began plucking berries, and Lyda followed suit. She pulled each berry off with her fingers. Cyrus, on the other hand, used a careful application of wind magic to remove the berries and drop them into the jars.

When they finished, Cyrus made sure the lids were screwed on tightly, then sent the jars back to his warehouse before pulling out a wooden box. The ground under one of the bushes shifted and pulled out, and Lyda jumped back.

"I need the roots as well," Cyrus told her as he used wind magic to cut roots and move them into the box.

After filling the box with roots from each bush, Cyrus used his earth magics to move the dirt back into place. He sent the box back to the warehouse as he noticed Lyda's confusion.

"The roots will regrow in a few days," he explained. "As long as we rebury them. Effects of the Dungeon and the high levels of ambient mana within it."

"There are high levels of mana here?" She asked. "I knew this was a magical place, but I've never heard of that before."

"All Dungeons have high concentrations of it," he told her. "Though the concentration levels don't necessarily relate to the size of them. There are smaller ones than this with greater concentrations, larger ones than this with lighter, and vice versa."

"Ah."

"Come on," Cyrus told her. "There are salamanders up ahead. We can use the bigger ones for this potion. In fact, it's better."

They made their way into a cavern twenty feet in height and roughly forty on one side and fifty along the other, the river of magma falling down into a pond below, before trailing off into another tunnel. As their tunnel ended at the top of the cavern, Cyrus and Lyda descended the stairs to face off against the flame salamanders, each of which stood two feet in height and over ten in length. Flames ran along their backs in burst, and Lyda counted eight of them.

"Perfect!" Cyrus said. "I need eight for two batches, so this saves us some trouble!"

Before Lyda could ask how he planned on killing them, all eight salamanders ceased moving, the flames on them fading away. Cyrus walked up to each and placed on a hand on it, then the beast disappeared.

"Cyrus," she said. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" He asked.

"Kill them," she answered.

"Remember how I said I can sense the elements around me?" He asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "Something Rynovar taught, right?"

"Something like that," he answered. "If you can sense the element, you can affect it. Since I can sense everything, I can affect it, manipulate it, generate the element there, and so on. I simply cut them in a vital spot, killing them instantly. I'll go somewhere other than the suite to butcher them, so don't worry about that."

"That's frightening," she told him. "Did you come up with that?"

"It's in one of Rynovar's books on magic," he told her. "Come on, let's keep hunting. Not everything will be as close together as those."

They walked around the chamber, Cyrus examining several things and harvesting a few fire crystals. He used what appeared to be a thin wire of a bluish-white coloration to do so, informing Lyda it was manalirate stretched until it was thin. The crystals were not fully removed, instead harvested a little above their base.

"That," Cyrus explained when Lyda inquired about it. "Is to allow the crystals to regrow in that spot a little faster. The quality isn't as good on crystals that regrow like that, but if they're left alone for awhile, they'll purify back up to a good quality. The older the crystal is, the higher its quality is likely to be."

"I didn't know that," Lyda admitted. "It wasn't in anything I found in Dungeon manuals."

"Because it's not in them," Cyrus shook his head. "For whatever damn reason, they never stick that information in them, instead sticking them in the manuals for magic crystals. One day, I'm going to sit down and write some proper Dungeon manuals. Once my brothers start behaving themselves."

"Good luck with that," she told him, and Cyrus snorted.

They continued their search, exploring the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth floors, moving between them several times. Occasionally, Cyrus would harvest fire crystals, or have Lyda assist in harvesting special moss, mushrooms, and other reagents. He made certain to let her know when they were dangerous and how to harvest them properly. On the truly dangerous plants, he let watch, but not touch, as he harvested them himself.

It took them the rest of the day to clear out both of the two floors of the resources Cyrus needed, but it wasn't enough for the potion, confirming they needed to spend another day hunting.

"Are we heading back up?" Lyda asked once Cyrus told her that.

"No," he answered, not pausing in his step as he continued walking down the tunnel, beside a river of magma on the thirteenth floor. "It'll take forty-five minutes or more to get back to the surface, then at least twenty minutes to the nearest hotel, or we could take another ten on that to get to the lodge."

"Are you keeping watch all night, then?" She asked. "I've heard that camping in a Dungeon isn't exactly safe."

"You've probably talked to people who only went to smaller ones," he told her. "Or who didn't want to reveal the truth. Any proper Dungeon guide tells you about these, so it's not exactly a secret."

Cyrus indicated the rune-etched metal door set into the wall they had come across, no window allowing a view into it. He grabbed the handle and pulled it open, then let Lyda enter.

Upon entering, they both felt cooler air immediately greeting them, and Cyrus pulled the door closed to avoid the warmer air of the tunnel from heating the room too much. Pale blue crystals were set into the walls and a line of runes wrapped around the walls beneath the ceiling.

"The way those are set," Lyda looked at the crystals. "People put those in the walls. This room doesn't have anything manifesting in it?"

"Nope," Cyrus indicated the crystals. "Those are magic crystals. Normal ones. Notice how the runes connect to them? They draw on the magic crystals constantly, at the same rate the magic crystals are drawing in the ambient mana from the room. It provides both light and the cool air we feel, plus keeps the air fresh. It's a potent enchantment, and Kylnar put them in any Dungeon large enough people might stay in overnight, on every floor starting with the twelfth. Further down, there will be more rows of runes and more magic crystals to draw in the heavier concentrations. It keeps it low enough that nothing can spawn in here."

"That's… rather kind of him," Lyda said.

"It is, indeed," Cyrus nodded. "And he adds them in to Dungeons that grow deeper or new ones which form, too. It's not an old thing. And in Dungeons that have submerged levels but are otherwise large? The rooms have a barrier similar to what's at the Silver Oracle's reality marble."

"The safe rooms are dry?" She asked. "In submerged Dungeons?"

"Correct," Cyrus nodded as he pulled out two bedrolls and pillows. "Get some sleep. We have another day of hunting."

"Can we have dinner first?" She asked. "Lunch was about eight hours ago."

"Oh, right," he said. "And if you have to go to the bathroom, just head outside and dig a hole like you did before."

Lyda made a face at that instruction, but knew that even though her body hadn't wanted to go, she'd probably have to at some point. Cyrus put a small shovel by the door, and assured her that nothing dangerous roamed the area near the safe zone they were in, but if she needed to go and wanted the protection of someone who could fight it off, to wake him up.

After Lyda went to bed, Cyrus pulled out his tablet and checked to see if there was connection. He smiled upon seeing that Kylnar had done whatever it was necessary to add connection in the Dungeon, and hoped that meant the others had it, too. Cyrus had been asking the god to do that for years with no success.

He worked for a little while, before finding that watching Lyda as she slept kept distracting him. Frowning, he shook his head, then began to focus on his work again, only to find himself distracted. After half an hour of that, Cyrus froze, then pulled up the contact with SnK and sent them a message.

Am I falling in love with Lyda?