I awoke to a light touch on my shoulder, the gentlest of pressure pulling me from a dreamless sleep. Eva's face hovered above mine, her finger pressed to her lips in the universal sign for silence. The waterfall's constant rush provided enough background noise to mask whispers, but her caution was instinctive.

  "I need to talk to you," she mouthed, gesturing toward the far side of the chamber.

  I glanced at our sleeping companions. Hellene was curled on her side, white hair fanned across her bedroll, while Duncan's chest rose and fell in the deep, steady rhythm of exhausted slumber. My internal clock told me it was early—too early for anyone to be awake without purpose.

  Nodding, not bothering to grab my dagger or the hook lying next to my bedroll. I quietly followed Eva across the chamber, my limbs still feeling slightly numb from sleep. The stone floor was cold beneath my feet, and droplets from the waterfall created a fine mist that clung to my skin.

  When we reached the opposite wall, far enough that our whispers wouldn't disturb the others, Eva turned to face me. Something in her posture struck me immediately—a tension I hadn't seen before. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her scarf, and her eyes darted briefly toward the waterfall before settling back on me.

  "I have a question," she said finally, her voice barely audible above the rushing water. "I need you to be absolutely honest with me."

  I nodded, suddenly wary. "Of course."

  Eva took a deep breath, her shoulders squaring as if preparing for a physical blow. "Is Jesse better at archery than I am?"

  The question caught me off guard. Of all the things she might have asked in this secret pre-dawn meeting, I hadn't expected this. But there was no point in hesitation—she'd asked for honesty.

  "Yes," I replied without pause. "She is."

  Something flickered across Eva's face, a shadow of disappointment quickly masked. She nodded once, as if confirming something she already knew, then immediately pressed on. "Do I have any chance of getting better than her? Ever?"

  This time I didn't even bother delaying the answer. "No."

  Eva flinched visibly, the blunt assessment striking harder than she'd apparently prepared for. I watched her swallow hard, her throat working beneath the edge of her scarf.

  "I'm sorry," I added, feeling I should explain rather than leave it at the brutal monosyllable. "Jesse's class—Bulls-Eye Archer—is devoted entirely to archery. Every single one of her stats, every ability she gains from leveling, they're all designed for one purpose- to shoot an arrow with perfect accuracy."

  Eva's gaze dropped to the floor as I continued.

  "I've never run into a Bandit Archer before," I admitted, "but I can tell your class is fundamentally different. Your abilities are split between combat and thievery skills. You're designed to be versatile—good at multiple things rather than exceptional at just one."

  Eva's shoulders slumped, and she turned slightly away from me, her profile silhouetted against the dim chamber light. "I guessed as much," she muttered, her voice barely audible over the waterfall.

  The resignation in her tone made me pause. I studied her for a moment, the pieces suddenly clicking together.

  "Eva does your plan for vengeance involve some kind of archery competition with Jesse? Because if so—"

  "It's not that," she interrupted, shaking her head. "I'm not so naive."

  Her green eyes met mine, and I saw a flash of determination cutting through the disappointment.

  "But my plan does require me to get one good shot off," she continued. "Just one arrow that actually hits her. Even if her HP aura prevents it from doing any real damage, I need that single hit."

  I frowned, thinking back to the battles I'd witnessed during my time with the Heroes Party. Jesse wasn't just skilled at firing arrows—she was unnaturally good at avoiding them too.

  "She has this ability," I said slowly, recalling a particular skirmish against orcs while hiking in a forest. "She calls it True Shot. When she activates it, her arrow will always hit its target, no matter what."

  Eva leaned forward, interest sparking in her eyes.

  "I saw her use it once while blindfolded," I continued. "Just to show off. If you could invest points in something similar when you level up, you'd have a guaranteed hit."

  The brief hope in Eva's expression vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She seemed to deflate further, her back pressing against the cold stone wall.

  "I've never seen such an ability available after leveling," she said flatly. "I don't think it's something my class can access."

  I nodded sympathetically. "It might not be. Different classes have different ability pools."

  I hesitated, not wanting to crush her spirits completely, but also unwilling to give her false hope. "You might need to rethink your strategy if it depends on landing a shot on Jesse. She's not just great at firing arrows—she's incredibly nimble. I've seen her dodge attacks which should have been impossible to avoid."

  Eva stared silently at the waterfall for a long moment, her expression unreadable.

  "Once we're ready to go after her," I suggested gently, "we should brainstorm together. Find the best approach. There's more than one way to get payback."

  She nodded once, her face carefully blank as she turned away. "We should head back. The others will be waking up soon."

  I watched her walk away, her steps measured and controlled despite the obvious blow to her ego. I quietly followed her, forcing myself to keep my mouth shut. Part of me wanted to offer more reassurances that we’d figure out a way to beat Jesse, but at this point she’d probably just feel patronized if I said anything else to try to cheer her up.

  We found Duncan and Hellene awake when we got back to the camp, but they were smart enough not to ask what we were doing. Maybe it was the slump in Eva’s shoulders which clued them in to keep quiet.

  We all prepared ourselves for the next fight and entered the unexplored tunnel. As Eva and myself scouted ahead on the tunnel, I knew what question was on everyone’s mind- Would we run into another Doppelganger?

  We just barely pulled off exposing the imposter last time and I wasn’t sure if the same trick would work on one twice if we were tested again. So there was a bit of irony with how relieved both myself and probably Eva were when we found another chamber with a monster waiting to fight.

  The chamber opened up before us, my eyes immediately drawn to the dozens of stalagmites jutting from both floor and ceiling like the gaping maw of some stone beast. They formed natural columns in places where ceiling and floor formations had grown to meet each other over countless centuries.

  But the stalagmites weren't the focus of my attention.

  At the chamber's center hovered a massive orb of water, perfectly spherical and at least ten feet in diameter. It floated several feet above the ground, defying gravity as it stayed stationed. The surface rippled and shifted, catching what little light existed in the chamber and refracting it in hypnotic patterns.

  I activated Scan immediately.

  [Scan Results] Monster: Superior Water Elemental Race: Elemental Level: 40 Stats: Str 10, Con 18, Dex 10, Wis 18, Int 18 HP: 350/350 MP: 250/250

  Before I could call out the information to Eva, the elemental's surface suddenly rippled more violently, like a pond disturbed by a thrown stone. My Wisdom-enhanced intuition screamed danger—a sensation so powerful it felt like someone had grabbed my spine and yanked.

  "Eva, jump back!" I shouted, already launching myself backward in a desperate leap. I didn't care how my Darken Stealth shattered the instant I broke the silence—survival trumped stealth.

  A projectile of glowing blue water shot from the elemental's surface with terrifying speed, striking exactly where we'd been standing a heartbeat earlier. The impact against stone created a sharp cracking sound, leaving a hairline fracture where it hit.

  "Fuck!" Eva cursed as we both scrambled further back into the tunnel.

  We retreated until we were safely out of sight around a bend in the passage, both of us breathing hard from the sudden burst of movement.

  "How did it know we were there?" Eva whispered, her back pressed against the tunnel wall. "We were completely silent and practically invisible."

  I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. "Being invisible is pointless with something which doesn't have eyes. Not sure how it detected us, maybe it can sense vibrations or even the displacement of air as we move. Vision isn't its primary sense though."

  Eva nodded, her expression grim beneath her scarf. "So stealth isn't going to work. Great."

  "Let's get back to the others," I suggested. "We need to regroup and figure out how to approach this."

  We made our way back through the winding tunnel to where Duncan and Hellene waited patiently. The knight had his sword drawn but resting point-down against the floor, while Hellene leaned casually on her staff, looking bored.

  "Found something interesting?" Duncan asked, straightening as we approached.

  "Superior Water Elemental," I reported, my voice strained. "Floating orb of water about ten feet wide. It nearly hit us with some kind of water projectile."

  “Well let’s think of a way to give it a proper greeting,” Hellene said with a smirk.

  There would be no traps and no baiting this time. Shark-Men might get angry and charge into situations, a powerful water elemental though was just going to wait patiently no matter how many insults I yelled at it. In a way this would be a lot like fighting the Doppelganger, fighting a creature of pure water. And there were a few lessons we learned from that fight.

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  An hour later, we put our plan into motion.

  I watched anxiously as Duncan took point, charging headlong into the chamber with determined strides. His sword remained sheathed, both mithril bracers raised in a crisscross pattern to shield his face. The water elemental reacted instantly, its surface rippling violently before launching a glowing projectile directly at him.

  The watery missile struck Duncan with tremendous force, drenching him completely. His bracers deflected the worst of the impact, but he still staggered slightly before regaining his momentum. He pushed forward relentlessly as the elemental fired again and again.

  "Keep going!" I called out, my hand tight around Blood Thirst's hilt as I waited for my moment.

  Another projectile struck the lower part of his breastplate, water exploding outward on impact. A third hit his leg, causing him to stumble momentarily but not fall. Despite the barrage, Duncan kept advancing until he stood just feet away from the massive floating orb.

  From behind me, Hellene began her incantation, the words flowing in a rhythmic cadence I'd come to recognize as her frost magic. Her staff glowed with blue-white energy as she finished the spell.

  An arc of glowing white magic shot from her hand, streaking across the chamber to strike the massive water orb. Where the spell made contact, the elemental's surface crystallized, patches of ice forming across its watery body. The spell wasn't powerful enough to freeze the entire creature, but it created several solid targets.

  Duncan seized the opportunity, finally drawing his sword. He began hacking at the frozen sections with swift, precise strikes. I darted forward to join him, Blood Thirst gleaming in my hand as I targeted the same icy patches.

  The frozen areas shattered under our combined assault, chunks of ice falling to the stone floor with satisfying cracks. The elemental seemed to shudder with each piece we broke away, its perfect spherical shape becoming increasingly distorted.

  My blade sank into a particularly large patch of ice, and I felt a strange resistance - different from the Doppelganger's watery form. This creature had a more defined structure, almost like a membrane beneath the frozen surface.

  The water elemental suddenly lashed out, forming two long tentacles from its surface which whipped toward Duncan. He raised his bracers to block, but the impact still sent him staggering backward.

  "Break!" Duncan yelled, the signal we'd agreed upon when someone needed to retreat temporarily.

  I couldn't use Displaced Image against the elemental—it would be pointless. The monster had no eyes for crying out loud. Instead, I relied on the tingling sensation of Hellene's Instant Grace spell still coursing through my limbs. With supernatural agility, I leaped high into the air, sailing over the massive water orb as tentacles lashed at where I'd been standing.

  "Over here!" I taunted, landing on the opposite side.

  The elemental's surface rippled with what I could only interpret as confusion. Its watery appendages twisted awkwardly, reorienting to strike at my new position. I was already moving again, launching myself sideways just as a tentacle crashed against the stone floor.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Duncan limping behind a thick stalagmite, his armor dripping. He was breathing hard, face pale from the beating he'd taken. I needed to give him a moment to recover.

  I continued my dance around the elemental, each leap taking me to a new position, forcing the creature to constantly readjust its attacks. The Instant Grace spell made me feel lighter than air, my movements fluid and precise in a way that would have been impossible otherwise.

  "Keep it distracted!" Eva called from somewhere behind me.

  I caught glimpses of her arrows flying through the chamber, each shaft embedding itself into the elemental's watery mass. The arrows didn't seem to exit the other side—they just floated inside the orb like suspended sticks in a pond. I couldn't tell if they were doing any damage, but at least they weren't being ejected.

  A tentacle grazed my shoulder as I miscalculated a jump, the impact sending me stumbling.

  [HP: 170/186]

  Nothing serious, but a reminder that I couldn't keep this up forever. I pushed off again, launching myself over a low stalagmite as two tentacles crashed together behind me.

  Behind his stone cover, Duncan was downing heal potions in rapid succession, the empty vials discarded at his feet. Color returned to his face with each swallow, his breathing steadying as the magical liquid repaired whatever damage the water projectiles had inflicted.

  I narrowly avoided another strike, the tentacle passing so close to my face that I felt the cold mist of its passage. My lungs burned with exertion, muscles screaming despite the Instant Grace spell. This wasn't sustainable much longer.

  Just as my stamina began to give out, Duncan emerged from behind the stalagmite, sword gleaming and posture restored. He charged back into the fray with renewed vigor, slashing at a tentacle which had been pursuing me.

  Almost simultaneously, Hellene's voice rose above the chaos, the familiar incantation of her Frost spell echoing through the chamber. Blue-white energy erupted from her staff, striking the elemental with even greater intensity than before.

  This time, the ice spread further across the orb's surface, crystallizing nearly half of the orb’s surface. There was no effort needed to aim for the ice at this point.

  The ice shattered under our combined assault, and I noticed chunks of frozen water falling to the ground as we hacked away at the elemental. Small streams began leaking from the orb, running down like water from a faucet, forming puddles on the stone floor. Each strike seemed to damage the creature's integrity further.

  I ducked beneath a whipping tentacle only to catch another across my back. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs and sent me stumbling forward.

  [HP: 90/186]

  My health had dropped below half. Between the constant dodging and the glancing blows I'd taken, I was reaching my limit.

  "Break!" I shouted, immediately disengaging from the fight.

  I sprinted toward the nearest stalagmite, diving behind its protective bulk. My hands trembled slightly as I pulled two Superior Heal Potions from my Inventory Box, uncorking the first with my teeth before chugging it down. The familiar warmth spread through my body as I quickly followed with the second.

  [HP: 174/186]

  I took a deep breath, ready to rejoin the fight, when Hellene's voice cut through the chaos with unexpected urgency.

  "Duncan! Get away from it now! Find cover!" she screamed, her voice higher and more panicked than I'd ever heard from the normally composed enchanter.

  Duncan didn't hesitate or question. He immediately backpedaled, abandoning his attack mid-swing and sprinting toward a massive stalagmite several yards away. His armor clanked loudly as he pressed his back against the stone formation.

  I frowned, confused by Hellene's sudden alarm. What had she seen which I missed? Then I noticed the elemental's surface—the entire orb was vibrating violently, its entire form shaking as if something inside it was desperately trying to come out.

  Instinct took over. I ducked deeper behind my stalagmite, pressing myself against the cold stone just as a deafening sound filled the chamber. The explosion was like nothing I'd experienced before—a combination of shattering ice and rushing water which echoed off every surface.

  The pressure wave hit an instant later, water and ice fragments blasting past my hiding spot with enough force to make my ears pop. I felt the stalagmite vibrate against my back from the impact. Smaller chunks of ice peppered my exposed arm, stinging like angry wasps.

  When the roaring finally subsided, I cautiously peered around my stone shield. Where the massive water elemental had been floating moments before, there was now only a spreading puddle on the floor. Two stalagmites near the explosion's epicenter had snapped clean in half, their broken tops lying amid scattered ice fragments.

  "What the hell was that?" Duncan asked, stepping out from behind his cover, water dripping from his armor.

  "The elemental had a self-destruct ability called Spiteful Explosion," Hellene explained, her voice matter-of-fact despite the chaos we'd just survived. "It's designed to take out enemies when the elemental knows it's losing the fight."

  Eva arched an eyebrow, adjusting her scarf which had come partially loose during the battle. "And how exactly did you know what was going to happen?"

  All eyes turned to Hellene, who gave us a calculated look, as if deciding whether we deserved the truth. After a moment, she sighed and raised a finger to her right eye.

  "I saw it coming," she said simply.

  Then, to my absolute shock, she tapped her finger against her eyeball and pulled out what appeared to be a contact lens. She held it between her thumb and forefinger, the translucent object catching the dim light of the chamber.

  "What is that?" Duncan asked, stepping closer to examine it. His curiosity was understandable, it was an object which shouldn’t exist in Seanair. As far as I knew, contact lenses weren’t invented yet in this world.

  "A contact lens," Hellene replied, holding it carefully. "Glass, shaped specifically to fit over the eye."

  I stared at the small disc in amazement. "How did you get one? I didn’t know your world had these."

  "They didn't," she said with a hint of pride in her voice, "until Elane explained the concept. The two of us spent months perfecting the design and enchantment."

  She turned the lens slightly, letting me see the faint runes etched around its perimeter. "It works just like your Scan ability, but better. It shows me in real time which abilities a monster or person is attempting to use. I saw the elemental gathering energy for the Spiteful Explosion before it happened."

  A memory suddenly clicked into place – the first time I met Hellene in her swamp tower. The strange sensation of being examined, probed somehow. My intuition had been right.

  "So that's what I felt when we first met," I murmured. "You were scanning me with that lens."

  Hellene nodded, carefully placing the lens back into her eye with practiced ease. "I don't trust easily. I needed to know what I was dealing with."

  Duncan stepped forward, water still dripping from his armor and hair. "Thank you," he said earnestly. "You probably saved my life back there."

  Hellene waved him off dismissively, but I caught the hint of a pleased smile on her lips. She raised her palm, conjuring a ball of dancing flames which hovered in the air between us, radiating welcome heat.

  "Both of you are shivering," she observed, nodding toward Duncan and me. "My Frost spell might be excellent for attacking water monsters, but it's not so kind to you two."

  I hadn't even realized how cold I was until the warmth of her fire spell reached me. My teeth had begun chattering, and my fingers felt numb. The combination of being soaked with water and hacking at ice had lowered my body temperature significantly. Both myself and Duncan raised our hands to get warmed by the ball of fire floating in the air.

  The water elemental didn’t drop any loot which seemed extremely unfair considering we nearly got wiped out by its explosion. We were rewarded though in one way- Duncan and Eva leveled up to level 37. After they had a moment to make point spending decisions, Eva and myself scouted the next tunnel on the other side of the chamber.

  The tunnel beyond the water elemental's chamber was shorter than the others we travelled. After only a few minutes of cautious advancement, Eva and I found ourselves entering a space so dramatically different from everything we'd seen before that I stopped dead in my tracks.

  "We’ve reached the end," I whispered.

  Gone were the natural cave formations, the rough-hewn walls, the stalagmites and stalactites. Instead, we stood at the threshold of an enormous chamber with perfectly cut gray stone bricks lining the walls. Torches in iron sconces burned with steady flames, casting long shadows across a polished floor inlaid with intricate wave patterns.

  But what truly captured my attention was the massive door at the far end.

  Twenty feet tall and nearly as wide, it dominated the opposite wall. Made from the same gray stone as the bricks surrounding it, the door was carved with elaborate depictions of sea creatures—sharks, octopi, and what appeared to be a massive jellyfish with tentacles spreading across both sides. Two steel handles, each as thick as my arm, protruded from its center, held together by a pulsing blue lock which cast eerie light across the chamber floor.

  "Is that what I think it is?" Eva murmured beside me, her bow already half-drawn.

  I nodded slowly. "The boss door. We've reached the end of the dungeon."

  At least that’s what years of dungeon diving were telling me. This wasn't just another chamber—this was the antechamber to the final confrontation. The architectural shift from natural cave to constructed fortress, the elaborate door, the glowing magical lock... I've seen similar setups in other dungeons I'd explored.

  "Should we go get the others?" Eva asked, her eyes scanning the chamber for any hidden threats.

  "Yeah," I replied, still taking in the scene before me. "But let's check for traps first."

  We spent the next ten minutes systematically examining the chamber. Despite our thoroughness, we found nothing suspicious—no pressure plates, no tripwires, no magical wards. The room appeared to be exactly what it seemed- a waiting area before the final challenge.

  When Duncan and Hellene joined us, their reactions mirrored our own. Duncan let out a low whistle as he took in the massive door, while Hellene immediately began examining the blue lock with professional interest.

  "Fascinating," she murmured, leaning close to study the pulsing light. The blue color appeared to be due to a magical aura on the lock, otherwise it would have just appeared as a simple steel lock.

  [Drowning Lock—This is a rare item. This is considered a magical lock which when activated, will engulf anyone who touches it in a orb of water in order to try to drown them. The orb will only dissipate after the lock is picked.]

  I approached the lock myself, feeling little concern about what my scan showed. With Spellbane Lockpicking, I was never subject to the magical curses which magic locks would inflict.

  "I can pick this," I said, turning to face my companions. "But I don't think we should go through yet."

  Duncan nodded in agreement. "We should rest first. Recover our strength and prepare ourselves properly."

  "Especially after that water elemental," Eva added, adjusting her scarf. With the decision made, we all headed back to camp for one more night of rest before it was time to fight the dungeon boss.