The words were calm, but edged, like everything Varik said. Not anger. Just fact.

Lucen exhaled through his nose, looking away toward the blank screens. "Maybe. Or maybe the monster was about to flatten both of us, and I had to actually try for a second."

"You're not careless," Varik said. "So why now?"

Lucen's eyes slid back to him, sharp under the half-lid of amusement. "You tell me, oh wise one. You're the top ten. I'm just some rookie with a 'bad habit of overextending,' remember?"

Varik didn't blink. Didn't flinch. Just stared, the kind of look that made it hard to tell what he was holding back.

Lucen felt the weight of it settle on him, prickling along his skin. He leaned forward slightly, dropping his boots from the table. His voice lowered.

"You're the only one who knows. You planning to start telling people now?"

Varik's silence stretched. Then: "No."

Lucen smirked, leaning back again. "Good answer."

But the tension didn't ease. If anything, it pressed heavier in the sterile room. Varik's gaze lingered too long, too steady.

Lucen felt it coil in his chestm that mixture of annoyance and thrill. Being seen. Being known. Only by him.

'If anyone else found out… my fun ends. The system, my rank, all of it. No more slipping under the radar. No more watching their faces when they underestimate me.'

Lucen rolled his neck, breaking the silence with a loud crack. "Alright. You've got that brooding look that screams lecture, so go on. Tell me how reckless I am. How I need to be more careful. How I'll slip up."

Varik folded his arms, but didn't lecture. Instead, he said, "Next time, you'll hold back. Even if it's harder."

Lucen blinked, then let out a short laugh. "You really do love making things sound easy, don't you?"

"You can handle it."

Lucen's grin lingered, sharp and crooked. "Damn right I can."

He stood, stretching, the hem of his jacket riding up. "So what now? You gonna lock me in one of these cozy little rooms until the next break? Because if so, I'm calling dibs on the one without the flickering light."

Varik stood too, slower, taller. His presence filled the space like a drawn blade.

"You'll stay here. For now. It's safer."

Lucen tilted his head, amused. "For me? Or for everyone else?"

Varik didn't answer.

Lucen chuckled under his breath, brushing past him toward the corridor. "That's what I thought."

The hum of machinery followed him down the hall, each step echoing against steel. He glanced back once, catching Varik's silhouette in the doorwaym solid, unmoving, watching.

'Always watching. He says nothing, but he's always calculating. Doesn't matter. As long as he keeps my secret, he can brood all he wants.'

Lucen shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, smirk curling back into place. 'SSS rank or not, I'll keep playing the part. Let them all think I'm just scraping by. It's more fun this way.'

–

The hum of the ventilation was the first thing Lucen noticed when he woke. A low, constant drone that had worked its way into his dreamsm a dream where every wall had been made of buzzing bees. He groaned, dragging a hand over his face, and blinked against the sterile ceiling light above.

'This place really knows how to kill a mood. Concrete, steel, buzzing lights… it's like someone designed "soul-crushing" as an interior aesthetic.'

He rolled onto his side, staring at the thin metal cot he'd been dumped on last night. The sheets were stiff, the pillow lumpy. His neck complained as he sat up.

Somewhere down the hall, footsteps echoed. Heavy. Unhurried.

Varik.

Lucen pushed to his feet, stretching until his spine popped. He shuffled toward the door and opened it, stepping into the hallway.

Sure enough, there was Varik, already dressed in full gear, his sword strapped to his back, like he'd been awake for hours. He glanced over once.

"You're late," Varik said.

Lucen rubbed at his eyes. "It's morning, not a briefing. Chill."

Varik didn't stop walking, and Lucen had to quicken his pace to fall in beside him.

The main chamber looked exactly as it had the night before: sterile, cold, that wide steel table like the centerpiece of some minimalist prison. On it sat two trays of food.

Lucen blinked. "Wait. You actually… cook?"

Varik gave him a flat look. "No."

Lucen walked closer, eyeing the tray. Toast, eggs, something that looked suspiciously like reheated meat. He picked up the fork, twirling it between his fingers.

"Ah. Government rations. Bon appétit," he muttered, stabbing at the eggs.

They tasted like cardboard that had once met an egg in passing. He chewed slowly, smirking.

"Not bad. Better than that vending machine crap I usually eat."

Varik didn't reply. He just ate with steady precision, like the food was fuel, not a meal.

Lucen propped his chin on his hand. "You ever… you know… eat like a person? Restaurants, street stalls, anything with actual seasoning?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Yesterday. Before the dungeon break."

Lucen snorted. "Right. Forgot. You tried to feed me after the city nearly got leveled."

Varik gave him that steady look again, then returned to his food.

The silence stretched.

Lucen broke it with a low chuckle. "You really are impossible to read, you know that? All that 'top ten strongest in the world' reputation, and yet you act like a monk who forgot what jokes are."

Varik's gaze flicked up, just for a second. "You're easy to read."

Lucen arched a brow. "Oh yeah? Enlighten me."

"You deflect. You talk so no one notices what you're really thinking."

Lucen grinned faintly, spearing another piece of egg. "And what am I really thinking?"

Varik set his fork down, folding his arms. "That you're bored. That you don't like being stuck here. That you're already planning how to sneak out."

Lucen froze, then let out a low laugh. "Damn. Not bad. Ten out of ten for effort. But I wouldn't call it sneaking. More like… creative vacation planning."

Varik didn't smile.

Lucen leaned back, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. 'He's not wrong, though. This bunker's suffocating. My system's screaming for use, and he expects me to just sit here twiddling my thumbs? Not happening.'

[Daily Quest Available]

[Perform Mana Manipulation Exercises x100]

[Reward: +2 Stat Points]

The text flashed faintly in his vision, translucent over Varik's face. Lucen blinked it away, fork tapping the tray.

Varik finally spoke. "After you eat, we'll train."

Lucen perked an eyebrow. "Train? As in, what, spar? Because unless you're into getting singed, I'm not sure that's the best idea."

"You'll hold back," Varik said simply.

Lucen smirked wider. "That's funny. That's exactly what I thought about you."

–

They moved to the training chamber, a rectangular room lined with reinforced walls, faint scorch marks from past use. The air was colder here, the hum of machines louder.

Lucen stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles. "Alright. Ground rules. If I accidentally vaporize the ceiling, you're explaining it to the engineers."

Varik drew his blade, settling into stance. "Don't vaporize the ceiling."

Lucen snorted. "Not much of a rule-setter, are you?"

He flexed his fingers, mana curling at his palm in a faint glow. The system whispered again:

[Quest Progress: 1/100]

Lucen flicked his hand, sending a small bolt of energy darting past Varik. It sizzled against the wall with a sharp hiss.

Varik didn't move. "That was weak."

Lucen smirked. "Yeah, well. You said hold back."

In a blur, Varik closed the distance, his sword stopping just short of Lucen's shoulder. The air shifted with the force of it.

Lucen tilted his head, grin widening. "Touchy."

He spun away, launching a brighter flare of mana toward Varik's side. Varik deflected it with the flat of his blade, sparks bursting across the floor.

The exchange quickened, Varik's strikes, clean and precise; Lucen's magic, sharp and playful, never quite serious. Every clash rang out, the air buzzing with heat and pressure.

[Quest Progress: 47/100]

Lucen wiped sweat from his brow, chest rising steady. 'Damn. He's good. Always is. Reads me like a book.'

Varik stepped back, lowering his sword. "Enough."

Lucen blinked. "What, already? I was just getting warmed up."

"You're sloppy when you're tired," Varik said flatly.

Lucen let out a breathless laugh. "Sloppy. Cute. You should've seen the worm thing yesterday. I was poetry."

Varik didn't reply, just sheathed his sword and turned away.

[Quest Complete]

[+2 Stat Points Awarded]

The system chimed quietly in Lucen's head. He smirked, rubbing his wrist. 'Good. That's progress.'

–

After training, they returned to the operations room. Lucen sprawled across the chair, boots back on the table despite Varik's look.

"You know," Lucen said, "for a bunker built to withstand the apocalypse, it's boring as hell in here. You ever think of decorating? Throw up a poster, maybe a plant?"

"No."

"Of course not. God forbid you show human taste."

Varik leaned against the wall, arms crossed. His presence was still heavy, still watchful.

Lucen's grin softened slightly as he studied him. "You really aren't gonna let me out, are you?"

"No."

Lucen sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well. Guess you're stuck babysitting me then."

Varik's eyes narrowed, though faintly. "That's not what this is."

Lucen chuckled under his breath. 'Feels like it, though. Him looming, me playing the brat. Hell, maybe that's why it works.'

He leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. "Fine. We'll play bunker life. For now. But you owe me real food when this is over."

Silence answered him. The kind of silence only Varik could make feel heavy.

Lucen smirked. "Deal, then."