Footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Six figures in hooded cloaks walked side by side, boots crunching over rat corpses. Their torches hissed in the stale air. Blood trailed behind some of the bodies, but none of the thieves stopped to check. They already knew who killed them.
"Damn. These weren't weak rats," one muttered.
"No shit. Did you see those gashes? Someone tore through 'em fast."
"Bet it was that girl," another said. "She moved like a scout."
"Don't matter who did it. What matters is what that blue-haired idiot's carrying."
The leader, a bald man with a jagged scar across his chin, turned to them. "Full pouch. Pure jade. You saw it."
They all nodded.
"Five pieces of that stuff's enough to pay the Hound," one said. "Ten, and we don't ever owe another coin."
"He had a whole damn pouch full."
"We're talking thirty, maybe more."
"If we had that... we wouldn't just pay off our debts. We'd own Floor 0."
"The Hound? He wouldn't be able to say shit."
"We'd control Edgaris. Midras. Skunghir. Hell, Belodum too."
"All the settlements. All of 'em."
The leader grinned. "Exactly. All of Floor 0. No more begging. No more hiding. I can finally get my revenge on that evil man."
They reached the massive chamber where the puzzle had been. The wall stood open, just barely visible in the moving torchlight. Beyond it, the air shimmered.
A strong wave of mana pressure rolled across the chamber and hit them like a fist.
Every man stopped.
The ground felt... wrong. Like something big was breathing.
One of them squinted. "What the hell is that?"
They took a few more steps.
Then they heard it.
BOOOOOOM!
Stone cracking. Wind roaring. Something growling. And then another crash. None of them spoke for a long second.
"...Holy shit," one whispered.
"I-If we walk in there, we die..."
"They're probably dead already."
"Not our problem. Let's scram. We came for money, not a fucking grave."
They ran.
***
"You can't use skills?!" Vaylan shouted, ducking under another wild swing.
Tauros' axe missed his head by inches, carving a deep gouge into the floor behind him.
Vaylan stumbled and looked at Zara again. "Wait, like... none? Zero?"
Zara's face was red. "I didn't choose this, okay?!"
"But how does that even work? I thought everyone got skills!"
Lato leapt back beside them. "This isn't the time!"
Tauros stomped forward, dragging his axe. His nostrils flared.
Lato looked at both of them. "We're leaving. Now."
Vaylan glanced at the massive beast closing in. "Yup. Yep. That's fair. Let's go."
They turned and sprinted toward the entrance.
Zara hesitated only for a second, then followed.
Tauros roared and charged.
The moment the three of them crossed the threshold, the pressure plate under their feet clicked.
The door behind them rumbled.
SLAM!
The stone slammed shut just in time.
BOOM!
Tauros crashed into the door with a deafening roar, horns cracking against the stone.
But it held. Silence followed.
Vaylan, Zara, and Lato collapsed to the ground, panting.
Zara covered her face with both hands.
Vaylan looked at Lato, then at her. Then back at the door.
"...So," he said, still catching his breath. "That went well."
***
An hour went by since they made their narrow escape.
They made a campfire.
It wasn't big, just a few dry branches and a bent steel bowl filled with scavenged oil, but it gave enough light to see each other's faces, and enough warmth to make silence uncomfortable.
The fire crackled. No one spoke.
Zara sat cross-legged, eyes on the flames. Vaylan threw a twig in. It popped.
"So," he said, trying for lightness. "At least none of us got impaled, right? That's a win."
Lato didn't laugh.
"What do you mean you have no skills?!" he shouted, rounding on Zara. "You didn't care to tell us that before we walked into the throne room?!"
Zara winced but didn't look up. "I didn't think it mattered."
"Didn't matter?! You were charging into a boss fight without any combat skills!"
"I didn't lie," she muttered.
"No, you withheld the truth, which is worse."
"Lato," Vaylan cut in gently. "She's sitting right here. Ease up."
Lato grumbled but didn't press further.
Vaylan scratched his cheek. "I don't get it though. Why is not having skills such a big deal? I mean... can't people just fight normally?"
Lato looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Vaylan. You use skills."
"Yeah, but like... I didn't realize it was weird not to. I mean, I guess skills are normal, but like, why?"
Lato sighed and sat down. "The use of skills is normal because most people have mana. The moment a child becomes aware of it, skills start to manifest. Even the smallest ones, like levitate. So to say you can't use skills is like saying you don't have mana, which is absurd."
Vaylan nodded slowly. "Okay, that... kinda makes sense."
"In fact," Lato continued, "everyone is born with a mana core. Even me."
Vaylan blinked. "Wait. Cats have mana cores?"
Lato narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, sorry, sorry," Vaylan said quickly. "So if everyone's born with one... does that mean Zara's core is just sealed or something?"
"I don't have one," Zara said quietly.
Both of them looked at her.
"You don't have a mana core at all?" Lato asked.
She shook her head. "Never did."
Vaylan tilted his head. "Okay, hold on—actually... what is a mana core, exactly?"
Lato groaned. "Don't you know anything? It's an organ. Inside your body. Your center. It draws in mana from around you and lets you use it. You need it to cast spells and use skills. No core, no mana."
Vaylan frowned. "That sucks. So you were just... born without it?"
Zara nodded. "People get their cores as blessings from the gods of their floor. But Floor 0 has no gods. So no blessings. Hence, no mana cores."
Lato's tail stopped twitching.
"You're saying... no one born here has a mana core?"
"None of us," Zara said. "Not unless we leave the floor and get blessed later. But no one's ever come back to Floor 0 after leaving. Not this garbage dump."
Lato went quiet for a second. Then: "That's weird... Vaylan and I were both born with mana cores. Yet we didn't have any blessings or any of that sort."
Zara stared. "Wait. Seriously?"
Lato nodded. "We didn't get blessed by anything. We just... have cores. In fact, everyone we know is the same. This is our first time learning about blessings."
Zara blinked, mouth slightly open. "So you weren't joking?"
"Huh?" Vaylan said.
She turned to both of them slowly. "You really came from beyond the Veil. That... that wasn't a joke in the market?"
Vaylan smiled nervously. "Nope."
Zara looked stunned. "The realm of demons..."
"What? No!" Lato snapped. "That's nonsense. There are no demons beyond the Veil. If anything, we always thought the world inside the Veil was the cursed one. We were told inside the Veil was hell."
Zara snorted. "Well... you're not wrong. Floor 0 is hell."
Vaylan scratched his head. "Okay but back up—why does mana even power skills? I get it for spells. Like Fire Ball, sure. That's magic. But what about stuff like Fleet Foot? That's just running faster."
"Spells are just a type of skill," Lato said. "Any skill that creates an effect outside your body is a spell. Like fire, ice, lightning, shields, stuff like that."
"But Fleet Foot only boosts me," Vaylan said.
"Exactly. It's still a skill. But not a spell."
"So..." Vaylan raised a hand and counted on his fingers. "Fire Ball is a skill and a spell. Fleet Foot is just a skill."
"Correct."
"And I've been using skills this whole time without knowing how they work?"
"Yes."
Vaylan laughed. "I think I get it now. You're smart, Lato."
Lato nodded without hesitation. "Of course."
Zara giggled.
Vaylan turned to her. "Hey, what about unique skills?"
Zara stiffened. "Wait. Do you have one?"
Vaylan hesitated. "Uh—"
She leaned in close, eyes wide. "You have a unique skill??? Really????"
Lato gave Vaylan a sideways look that said don't you dare.
Zara turned to him instead. "Why won't you let him answer?"
"Because we don't trust you yet," Lato said simply.
Zara's face darkened. "Seriously?"
"You hid something important."
"I didn't lie," she said. "I just didn't tell you."
"Which nearly got us all killed," Lato snapped.
"I had my reasons!"
"So do we."
They both stood now, glaring.
Vaylan raised both hands. "Okay, okay! Can we not fight again?"
They paused. Neither moved.
Vaylan sighed and looked at both of them. "Look. I trust her."
Lato looked at him. "You trust everyone."
Zara looked down, fists clenched.
Lato narrowed his eyes, then finally sat again.
Zara sat too.
The fire crackled between them.
"…Thanks," she whispered.
Vaylan grinned.
"You're an odd one, Vaylan. What's your story?" Zara asked as her eyes grew heavy.
Vaylan remained silent as his grin faded. He remembered the voice's final words.
"Climb."