The portal chamber had fallen quiet by the time they stepped through again. Mana barriers hummed softly around them, and the automated system acknowledged their return with a muted chime.

[TEAM RETURN: PORTAL D-7]

[STATUS: ALL MEMBERS ACCOUNTED FOR]

Professor Voss was already waiting in the prep chamber, standing beside the equipment racks with his arms folded, pale gray eyes moving over each of them in turn.

An unusual sight, usually, a professor’s only job was to assign teams to students without Solo Authorization; it didn’t include micromanaging every party they sent into the portal.

"Didn’t expect you to be waiting for us, Professor," Kara said.

"You brought someone new back with you. Of course I’d be here," Voss replied. "Report."

Kara stepped forward. "Usual goblin run as always. The dire wolf alpha is still likely active in the central chamber. We withdrew because supplies were running low and Ren was injured."

Voss’s gaze dropped briefly to the bandage around Ren’s forearm, then shifted to Harris’s nearly empty satchel. "Acceptable. Any complications?"

"The nest was overpopulated. At least double the expected count." Kara glanced toward Damon. "Persival handled the archers by himself. Without him, we would’ve been pinned down."

Voss’s expression remained unreadable, though his eyes settled on Damon. "Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"And the King Slime?"

Damon met his gaze. "You heard about that already?"

"The first-years you rescued returned twenty minutes ago. They wouldn’t stop talking about the blue-eyed Resonator who killed a D-Rank boss alone." Voss unfolded his arms. "I take it that was you." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"It was."

Voss regarded him for a long moment, then gave a single, curt nod.

"Kara, Ren, Harris, report to the infirmary. Come to my office if you want to attempt another run." His attention shifted back to Damon. "Persival, stay."

The others filed out without protest. Kara gave Damon a brief nod as she passed. Harris said nothing, but this time he didn’t avoid looking at him.

The door clicked shut behind them.

Voss leaned back against the equipment rack. "Solo authorization. That’s what you want, isn’t it? I could tell the moment you walked in."

"Yes, sir."

"You’ve had one portal run. One. You did well, but that isn’t enough for that kind of permission."

"I understand the risk."

"Do you?" Voss’s voice sharpened. "I’ve watched talented Resonators die in D-Rank portals because they let skill turn into arrogance. Your stats are exceptional, but none of that will matter if a dire wolf tears out your throat because you forgot to check a blind corner."

Damon didn’t flinch. "Then give me a test."

Voss’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What kind of test?"

"The dire wolf. Let me kill it alone. If I succeed, you grant the authorization. If I fail..." He gave a small shrug. "Then I wasn’t ready."

"You’d be dead."

"Then I wouldn’t need the authorization."

Voss stared at him in silence. The pause stretched until the low hum of the mana barriers became the only sound in the room.

"At times like this, you remind me of your father," Voss said at last. "He was insufferable too."

Damon wasn’t entirely sure that was meant as praise.

"Tomorrow morning. Six o’clock. You’ll enter Portal D-7 alone when other people are still sleeping, go straight to the dire wolf spawning area, kill the dire wolf alpha, and return alive." Voss pushed himself off the rack.

"Do all four, and I’ll sign the authorization myself."

"I’ll do it today, sir."

"Today?" Voss repeated, flatly. "It’s almost eight in the morning, the alpha is likely dead by now."

"It won’t hurt to try. The nest has already been cleared. The archers are down. If I go now, I won’t have to fight through goblins a second time."

"And you still consider yourself fresh after a boss fight and a nest clear?"

"I’ve got enough left."

Voss studied him again, long and quietly. Then he exhaled, and the sound could have been irritation or reluctant approval.

"You really are your father’s son. Fine. But you’re not going in with borrowed gear, and that sword has seen better days."

Damon glanced at the longsword resting at his hip. It was usable, but Voss wasn’t wrong.

"The equipment locker is through that door." Voss jerked a thumb toward the side chamber. "Standard D-Rank issue. Take what you need and be at the portal in ten minutes. I’ll log the attempt."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don’t thank me, you’re lucky academy procedures give children of S-Ranks more leeway."

The equipment chamber was small and practical, lined with racks of armor and weaponry. Damon moved through it quickly, trading out the borrowed pieces for gear that actually fit.

A leather chestpiece reinforced at the shoulders and ribs. Vambraces that stayed where they were meant to. A longsword with a grip properly sized for his hand.

He gave it a few testing swings. Better than the borrowed one. Not ideal, but better.

Before leaving, he opened his system screen.

[TRIBUTE: 25]

Twenty-five tribute. The dire wolf alpha was a D-Rank boss, just like the King Slime. If it dropped thirty tribute the way the slime had, he’d have enough for a summon to experiment on and still have some left over.

He closed the screen and made for the portal.

Professor Voss was waiting at the platform, a tablet in hand.

"Final checks," he said. "You understand this is a solo attempt. If another team has to pull you out, the authorization is void. I don’t care whether you kill the wolf or not; if someone else has to save your life, then you’re not ready."

"I understand."

"The dire wolf alpha is faster than the average dire wolf. Smarter, too. If things go south, it shouldn’t be too hard to find other teams fighting dire wolves to help you get out."

Damon nodded. He’d read the bestiary. Dire wolves were ambush predators. They used the darkness of caves to their advantage. Their claws could score steel. Their bite could crush plate.

"One more thing," Voss said. "I suggest fighting a normal dire wolf first. If that one gives you trouble, head back out and don’t even attempt it."

Voss tapped the tablet, and behind him the portal flared to life.

"Remember, the academy won’t be liable for this."

He stepped aside.

"Stay safe, I’d rather not have to tell your father you’re dead."

Damon walked through the portal.

Cold swept over him, and then the cave came into focus around him. The same bioluminescent moss. The same damp, mineral-heavy air. But this time, he was alone.

The silence pressed in from every side. No crackle from Kara’s gauntlets. No boom of Ren’s shield. No Harris muttering under his breath about dwindling potion supplies.

Only Damon’s breathing, and somewhere in the distance, the steady drip of water.

He got his bearings. The goblin nest lay west. The slime spring was east. The dire wolf chamber was north, deeper into the cave system.

He headed north.

The tunnel sloped downward, and the moss thinned the farther he descended. The air turned colder. His footsteps echoed against the stone, and after a while he stopped trying to soften them.

The dire wolves would hear him coming either way. Better to spend that energy staying alert.

The first side chamber he passed was lit by the flickering glow of torchlight. A pair of second-years stood back-to-back in the center of the room, fending off a lean, gray-furred wolf that circled them with predatory patience.

One of the students barked a command, and the other lunged forward with a spear, driving the creature back toward the wall.

Damon didn’t stop. They had it handled.

Farther down, a larger party had set up a chokepoint near a narrow passage. Three students in total: a vanguard with a reinforced shield, a caster weaving fireballs, and a support-class darting between them with potions and quick words of direction.

Two dire wolf corpses already lay dissolving near the tunnel’s edge, their bodies breaking apart into faint motes of mana. A third wolf was still fighting, snapping its jaws against the vanguard’s shield as the caster lined up a finishing shot.

"Need help?" Damon asked as he passed.

The vanguard glanced over, sweat streaking his face. "We’re good. Alpha’s still deeper in, if that’s what you’re after."

Damon nodded and kept moving.

The passage opened into a vast chamber, larger than any he had seen in the dungeon so far. The ceiling disappeared into darkness overhead. Broken stalactites lay scattered across the ground. A faint sourness lingered in the air, a mix of musk and old blood.

At the center of the chamber, caught in a shaft of pale light filtering down through a crack in the ceiling, lay the dire wolf alpha.

"Still early in the morning. Lucky for me, no one’s killed you yet. I heard your respawn time takes at least half a day..."