Kralen was smiling from ear to ear because he finally achieved what he wanted. He had worked hard for the past 5 years to become a member of a remarkable and formidable party.

  Right now, he is enjoying drinks and food with the party he got into. The party is an A-rank party known as "Legacy".

  It is a comparatively new party, but rising up the ranks very quickly, it was known to be "The Party Of Hope".

  I can finally pay for her medications now, Kralen thought.

  "Hey!" Reisse de Leonard came over, smacking Kralen in the back. "What are you doing looking all gloomy here!"

  "Oh, leader!" Kralen said, his voice shaking as he snapped out of his thoughts.

  ...

  "What's wrong?" Reisse asked, looking a bit concerned for his fellow party member.

  "No, it's nothing." Kralen visibly happy that someone other than "her" was caring for him.

  ...

  "If you say so..." Reisse replied still not fully convinced. "Also, just call me Reisse. No need for formalities."

  Kralen nodded. He still feels as this is a dream and he will wake up at any moment.

  After eating and drinking with his party members, Kralen decided to head to bed early as tomorrow was their first dungeon dive.

  Kralen sighed as he went on to open the door to his room. I had fun today, he thought.

  "Wait! Mr. Kralen, I have something to say to you."

  A bit confused, he looked back to see that it was his party member, Phalina Vansis. The healer of Legacy.

  She was a short and timid girl with cyan hair and dark blue eyes. Despite trying to hide it, she was Kralen's type.

  But I dont have time for romance, he thought. "So, do you need anything from me?"

  Phalina, looking a bit hesitant, said, "It's nothing that important but... there's a really dangerous monster in the dungeon we are exploring tomorrow...."

  Kralen raised his eyebrow. "A dangerous monster?"

  "Yes! But it's really rare to encounter it. So, theres not a point in worrying about it," Phalina added. She looked down for a second before saying, "But if we do happen to encounter it... you are the only person that has a chance in stopping it."

  Then, after talking with her for a little more, Kralen decided to head into bed for tomorrow.

  ***

  The portal for this dungeon was situated in a deep cave up in the mountains. Each dungeon had it's own portal that teleported the adventurers. All portals had a habit of appearing in isoted and desote pces.They all had their own ranks based on the colour they emitted.

  This particur one was a purple portal meant for D-rank and above parties and adventurers. Since, Legacy was an A-rank party with everyone being A-rank themselves except Kralen, who was B-rank, this dungeon was an easy one.

  They had only picked this dungeon to practice teamwork with Kralen.

  All of them entered the portal tired after hiking for hours up the mountains. Even though this was an easy dungeon, for the grueling and hard travel to the portal, it might just be considered as S-rank.

  Kralen looked at the surroundings a little bit more before activating his magic.

  [Void Pulse]

  A faint, translucent shadowy ripple expanded from his hands to the floor. In an instant, all traps became visible to him. Kralen, then expertly, proceeded to guide his fellow party members forward avoiding the traps.

  "That is actually really useful magic!" Kristina Alexis, the Attack Mage of Legacy, said in a cheery voice.

  "I agree. With magic like this, we never need to worry about traps or monsters," said Alissa Bowman, the Support Mage of Legacy.

  Kralen, never having heard that much praise in his life, did not know how to respond to it correctly. "Thank you... it really is not that much."

  With a hearty ugh, Boulock Landers slung an arm around Kralen. "Don't give yourself less credit, friend! This magic of yours is really wonderful. We needed exactly this to complete our party!"

  Are all tanks this easygoing? Kralen thought, as he was being crushed against the man's heavy armor.

  "Everyone, into your positions!" Reisse, the leader of Legacy, shouted.

  A pack of Hungry Wolves was approaching. Despite only being D-rank monsters, it hunted in packs which made them annoying to deal with.

  But Kralen was utterly surprised. Seeing the pack of Hungry Wolves being defeated within a matter of seconds, he was left speechless.

  A few Magic spells from the Attack Mage and buffs from the Support Mage to Reisse for nding the final blow was all it took.

  Wow... so this is an A-rank party? Kralen unknowingly thought.

  His thoughts were disrupted by Reisse calling them to move forward.

  As they moved forward, they encountered little to no monsters at all. Kralen found it confusing; if there were no monsters left, the dungeon portal should've disappeared–or would've been on the verge of disappearing. A portal vanished only after a dungeon was explored completely.

  Kralen was seemingly disturbed. Just what is going?

  Out of nowhere, a small bck gooey like creature was infront of them. Kralen was shocked to see it appear so suddenly.

  "Guys there is-"

  Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a violent push to the back and fell. When he opened his eyes after, he saw the little bck creature being just inches away, motionless. Just as he tried to scramble back, the creature lunged and disappeared inside his left eye.

  "AAAGHH!"

  A raw, jagged sound tore from Kralen's throat. It didn't sound human. He could not even process what was going on. He clutched his eye and rolled on the floor.

  Phalina came rushing forward from the back, her staff nearly tumbling from her grip. "That's the monster I was talking about!" She grasped at her clothes, her voice trembling. "That's a deadly parasite! It goes into your eyes to your head and kills you in a matter of minutes!"

  The party members stood bewildered, frozen in shock—except for one. The one who had pushed him through hell’s door.

  Despite the immeasurable pain, Kralen’s mind raced. This was the same monster Phalina had warned him about. With every passing second, the thing was crawling deeper. He thought of the only possible way to stop it from reaching his head, and it would require a drastic decision.

  With a resolve forged in desperation, he ripped the short dagger from his vambrace. Dark energy coiled around the bde as he imbued it with Shadow Magic. He gripped the hilt with both hands tightly, the bde aimed directly at his own face.

  I have to live... i have to. For her, my only family.

  Taking one st deep breath, he plunged the dagger into his left eye.

  He tried to scream, but the sound was too big for his throat. It started as a guttural roar from his stomach and ended in a wet, high-pitched wheeze as his voice finally gave out, leaving nothing but the sound of his ragged, broken breathing in the sudden silence. Then the world around him slowly faded into a dark void.

  ...

  ...

  ...

  "...can’t keep him. He’s... useless now. Even if... lives, he won't be able to... with that thing inside... eye."

  "I agree. And I especially... tolerate looking... face every day. Eugh!"

  "What are you... talking about?! We are the... for this accident, are we not?"

  "That doesn’t... matter now, Phalina. Try to... understand."

  "Underst—what?! That... pushed him intentionally and ruined...?"

  "Would you... rather one of us had...? If you get what I mean, then shut.... and don't.... any furthe—."

  ...

  "Also... white hair turned... bck like a... demon. It will... ruin the party's reputa—"

  ...

  ...

  ...

  ...

  Slowly coming to his senses, Kralen groaned as he opened his right eye. Shooting pain radiated from all over his body, but his head felt the worst.

  "Ugh." Just from the pain alone, he felt like he was going to die.

  Still trying to gather himself, he reluctantly sat up on his bed with his st bit of strength. He saw all his teammates gathered around him. They all avoided his gaze as though he were a monster.

  Phalina was the first to compose herself, looking at him with caring eyes. "How.... are you feeling?"

  "I do- Argh!" Before finishing, pain erupted through his body. He clutched his head as if that would give him even an ounce of relief.

  Everyone watched on as if it was a circus, doing nothing. Phalina rushed to his side and pced an arm on his leg.

  ...

  "I healed the wound that was inside your eye. I also healed other wounds that you might have suffered." Phalina looked down as if a massive weight of guilt were crushing her. "I am sorry... but i cant do anything about the parasite inside your head."

  Kralen looked at her with his remaining eye, his mind foggy. "What do you mean?"

  "That is an immortal parasite known as 'Insecta'. Although, it can't be killed, it can be immobilised"

  At this, Kralen remembered the conversation the two had, the day before. The only thing capable of stopping the parasite was his Shadow Magic.

  ...

  Reisse took a deep breath and moved towards the bed.

  Chink

  A leather bag weighted with gold coins was dropped by his side. Kralen, still semi-conscious, looked at the bag and then to Reisse.

  Reisse folded his arms across his chest. "Compensation."

  Kralen felt a wave of confusion. His head still refusing to work at top speed.

  Reisse sighed. "I am sorry, but you won't be eligible to be in our party anymore". Biting his lip, he added, "Since it was partly our fault, we decided to compensate you."

  Kralen was still confused. Why am i not eligible anymore.... Surely after i recover.... right?

  Right at that moment, Kralen felt something odd weighing his head. He slowly brought his fingers up to his left eye. He couldn't believe what he felt. The cold texture of wood and leather seeped into his fingertips. It was his dagger..... the same one that he had plunged into his eye.

  Kralen gripped the hilt, trying to pull it off, but right then, Phalina stopped him.

  "Don't! If you remove it, the parasite will begin to move deeper. And then.... you will...."

  Kralen, visibly shaking, remarked, "So, I am forever stuck like this?"

  ...

  He did not get any response.

  "You did this to me.... and now you are discarding me like this?" Kralen said, in a raspy voice.

  Reisse snapped. "No one did this to you!" Hands twitching, he said, "It was just an accident!"

  Knowing it was a waste of time to argue further, Kralen slowly reached out to the bag of gold, only to get stopped by a hand just before he got hold of it.

  Kralen looked up to see that it was Reisse who had stopped his arm from reaching.

  "You will get this money, but only if you don't speak about what happened yesterday. Well, not like anyone will believe you."

  He paused for a moment. Even wanting to argue, he knew it was pointless. Nor was he in the right state of condition to argue.

  Nodding silently, he took the bag and opened it. Shining and pristine, sat there 10 gold coins. It was more than enough for "her" medications.

  Finally, i can save her now. My one and only Juni.... My precious sister.

  But that hope shattered quicker than it came.....

  —Author's Note:

  Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of With you, I can! This is my first time publishing, so I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. If you enjoyed it, please consider adding it to your library!