The news about Faralynn and Matthew dating took the school by storm. Not that anyone was surprised, but that they were making it official. "About time" was the most commented phrase by those who knew them. "Lucky bastard" was the one Matthew's haters used more.

It was an odd feeling for Matthew for being congratulated on that. It was not like were getting married or anything. They were just dating. Getting to know each other better. Hopefully going on dates and enjoying themselves. Serious, but not like they were building a family together.

Faralynn was beet red all day hiding whenever she could. Those who insisted on showering her with questions were met with hostility by the elf. She could not handle all that attention. She even thought of denying it all, saying it was only a joke or a miscommunication and date in secrecy. But when she saw Mia's face struggle between legitimate happiness for Faralynn and a bit of jealousy, the elf thought it was best to claim Matthew publicly as hers.

On their day to day dealings, nothing was different. Faralynn was too shy to hold hands or to flirt or cuddle in public. Classes and training took most of their days and nights were mostly dedicated to resting. At Saturday Matthew had to help Claudio with the Labyrinth. This meant they could only have Sunday to go out just the two of them. But neither Faralynn nor Matthew made any plans for the day.

The week passed fast like that. Tina, who kept teasing them on the first days, now lost interest. Helen and Erin were genuinely happy for the two, but praising them for their relationship got old fast. Mia got more distant from them, more pensive and introspective. As if she was searching her own feelings.

By Thursday a big news hit the city. The Howling Spear's Vice Leader, Yuki Takeda was arrested for drug traffic. Matthew recognized the game shop he went with Vanessa on the TV as the Japanese woman was being put on cuffs and escorted to jail by a special police unit dedicated to deal with high level adventurers.

The news said that loads of documents were apprehended that might implicate the guild itself into drug trafficking and dozens of other crimes. They mentioned specially disturbing pictures that could not be shown in TV that were sickening just to watch.

The prosecutor that tried Matthew gave an interview after the story ran. He was most likely the man Claudio had inside the DA. Was his lazy way of dealing with Matthew's trial an order from Claudio? Or was the other way around, was the trial itself and order from the Tower?

The Prosecutor has a sharp demeanor on the interview. Very different of the apathetic behavior he had during Matthew's trial. It seemed he just didn't care for what happened in Matthew on that trial. But, here, he seemed determined and focused. He could also be only putting a show for the press.

Matthew texted Vanessa questioning her on what was going to happen now. She said it might take months for anything concrete to happen and many years for the trial to actually happen. But it was the beginning, the Howling Spear and the Mayor were going down. This news would certainly mean at least that the Mayor would lose her reelection.

Saturday, Matthew, Michael and Paula and Lumi went to the Labyrinth. Vanessa was aiding the DA to prepare the case against the Howling Spear. Eric wanted to spend time with his daughter. Erin had her own businesses to tend to. And Faralynn had some physiotherapy for her leg and wasn't yet ready to fight.

Claudio had a sour expression on his face when he saw Matthew. Without Erin's and Faralynn's protection, the man was hard on Matthew about not taking pictures. He accused him of not taking the experiment serious, threatened to remove his support from the Howling Spear case.

But Claudio's smile came back when Matthew told him what he discussed with Ffyr about navigating the Labyrinth. That her wants made her feel the way. Claudio himself then interrogated Ffyr about her feelings and how she moved. He wanted to know everything. How she flied, how she used mana, what she could do…

When they entered the Labyrinth, Claudio tried to hook Ffyr into the same machines he hooked Matthew the first time they all went in together. But Ffyr was only a foot tall, the sensors would not fit her.

"You." Claudio pointed at one of his staffers. "Go to the Tower and make them make sensors small enough to fit Fyr by next week." He ordered making the young looking man with a lab coat almost trip while he was running out of the dungeon.

Suddenly, a screen opened for Matthew much like his stat screen or the mission screen from the Castle of Novak. It read:

"Welcome Back!

You have 1 checkpoint!

Would you like to teleport to Checkpoint 1?"

Matthew froze upon reading that. Checkpoint? And 1? How big was this dungeon? He looked at Claudio who was ordering his staff around while Michael and Paula got ready to dive.

Could he bring them? Could he come back? What happened if he teleported?

He then chose yes silently just to see what happened.

Luckily for him, another screen opened in front of him. There was the names of every person around him. "Pick your party (1/5)." It said on the top.

"Claudio." Matthew called his employer. "I have something here that will make you really happy."

"What is it kid?" Claudio said getting closer.

"I have a screen in front of me. Apparently I got a checkpoint from last time I was here. I bet that odd room was the checkpoint. And I can teleport a party of 5 there with me, including me." Matthew explained what he was reading.

"What?" Claudio asked wide eyed. "Is this true?" He said a bit incredulous.

"Yeah. Let me show you." Matthew said picking Claudio, Michael and Paula for his party and choosing to teleport.

"Wait, Matt!" Paula tried to stop him, but was too slow.

Suddenly a flash of light took all of them back to the room with runes over the walls.

Claudio smiled like a child getting a Christmas gift. He was soon running about the room taking pictures of the runes and trying to decipher them.

Meanwhile Paula admonished Matthew on teleportation inside a dungeon and how dangerous it could be. But it was not like he didn't know that it was dangerous. He almost died a week ago because of it. However, the wording, Checkpoint, and how safe Ffyr was feeling in that room made Matthew believe he would just teleport back there. And he was right in the end.

"We should be careful around here." Matthew said. "The monsters that appear here are the same as the rest of the Labyrinth, but they appear in bigger groups. I had to fight with 5 Minotaurs last time, only me and Faralynn."

"I see." Claudio acknowledged Matthew's warning. "But first I want to study this room. Let's all go back to base." He added.

After all of them used the teleportation circle in the checkpoint room, they saw themselves back to the first room. All of them had the checkpoint screen now. Claudio laughed loudly seeing that.

"This is incredible! This is the best thing that happened to me all year!" He laughed more. "Go home, Matt." He added waving Matthew away like an annoying fly. "I'll spend the day researching that Checkpoint room."

Matthew, Paula and Michael hurried away before Claudio changed his mind and went all to Eric's house. Upon communicating Eric that they were dismissed early, the big man called them to spend time with him and Katia in his pool.

Claudio and his team spent a long time researching the checkpoint room. Every rune and crevice was documented. They spent days in there studying everything and testing every hypothesis they had.

They found out that monsters from the dungeon didn't enter the checkpoint room. That anyone regardless of level could be taken with the party system. That once a person activated the checkpoint teleportation, that person could leap back to that room while standing in the first room at anytime.

They also found that the checkpoint room, like the first room, never changed even after the timer reset the dungeon. It was exactly like the name suggested. It was a checkpoint to delve deeper into the dungeon. And as the name said Checkpoint 1, it meant that more checkpoints existed.

Meanwhile, Matthew, Michael and Paula arrived at Eric's house. Katia immediately started to play with Lumi and Ffyr while the others talked peacefully around Eric's propane barbecue.

"Where's Vanessa?" Paula asked taking a sausage and making a sandwich with it.

"She's in her room." Eric said. "Arrived a few minutes ago, but said she still had work to do. She's deep into the Howling Spear's case." He explained.

It was at that time, when everything seemed normal and peaceful that a huge explosion was heard. Pieces of the garage fell over them like ashen snow. The top floor of the garage exploded and was now ablaze.

"Vanessa!" Eric and Matthew screamed running towards the garage.

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