I ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED A DUNGEON

The sun was barely above the horizon by the time they came home. They left the presents in Leto’s room, bags and parcels neatly arranged near the door.

"I’m kinda tired," said Leto, rubbing his eyes. "I think I’ll take a nap for a while if you don’t mind."

"No problem. I’ll wake you up when it’s dinner time." Felix walked out, closing the door after him.

Leto gave him a warm smile, which disappeared once he locked the chain right after him. He sighed heavily, turning towards the untouched Numen sheets on the bed and approaching them, his eyes growing more determined with each step.

Two hours seemed to pass in minutes. Felix spent this time alone in his room reading a book he got from the marketplace several weeks ago and was halfway through without finding anything of use in it.

"Felix?" called Leto through the door. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, just a second," Felix got off the bed and walked to open the door. "What is it?"

Leto stood in front of him soaked in sweat, panting, holding a rolled scroll in his hands tightly. "It’s about Dune."

Felix frowned. "What about her?"

"Well, can you bring her too? I would prefer to talk downstairs with all of us," he turned away to walk to the stairs before waiting for an answer.

Felix watched him walking and frowned. "What is wrong with him?" He walked to Dune’s room and knocked on the door.

After a couple of minutes, they all sat at the dining table.

Leto’s gaze fell on Dune, and he struggled to speak. "Cracks on her face and neck. Have you ever known about their appearance?"

Felix looked sideways at her. Her face remained perfectly made up, and all traces of those cracks disappeared under it. "I don’t have any idea. She had them since the very first day I saw her."

"’I’ve actually seen cracks like that on a man before.’ Leto told him. ’Two years ago, in the capital.’"

"Really?" Felix leaned closer. "Was it ever discovered why that happened?"

"We never got a concrete reason for that phenomenon. All we knew is that the man had been buried by the collapsing mountainside for several years. The mystery about him was that he was still alive when they found him. After an examination, we came to the conclusion that his body has been absorbing natural and raw Numen during that period. However, there were some problems with that. For example, his body had cracks all over it, and his skin became hard and rock-like. Second thing, his core lost its stability. Every time he used his power, those cracks grew larger, lighting up with faint blue color along their edges."

"But you must have found some way to stop that from happening?"

"Yeah, we did." Leto nodded. "Me and my two colleagues created the Numen seal for restricting his power so that it wouldn’t affect him more. It worked good enough for about a month. Then the man used too much power for it to be restrained by it and his body completely disintegrated. That seal couldn’t take such power."

"That’s terrible." Felix wince. "Pitty the guy."

"I made the same circle as the one we had back then." He laid it down softly in front of Felix. "If you want, we can use the same spell for Dune."

Felix looked at the scroll carefully. "Can I look at it properly?"

"Of course, just do not put any Numen into the circle yourself because it may harm you very badly." Leto spread the scroll on the table. "I saw her today. Those cracks are spreading very fast. If she continues to use Numen in the way she does now, I honestly don’t even want to think what would happen."

Felix leaned back after the extended inspection of the seal design, odd lines weaving themselves around odd shapes. "I’m not opposed to trying it, but how long would it really last? And how restricting would it really be?"

"On average, four to five years, if she doesn’t push her Numen very hard at all. If she uses it often, closer to two. It all depends on how much she takes from it. As far as restriction goes, it would be minimal. The seal only activates when she pulls more energy than is safe for her body to take."

"And if I wanted to remove it down the line?"

"Remove." Leto paused a bit before he answered. "The easiest way to do that would be to have someone who has good Numen control abilities channel their Numen straight into her core and unravel it. That’s the simplest solution. However, there is a second way to do it, although I wouldn’t recommend it. If she pushes herself hard enough over her limit, the seal will fall by itself."

"Seems like that’s not going to go well." Felix mulled that information over in silence for a while.

"I understand that you’re still not trusting me." Leto didn’t seem to take any offence at that statement. "It’s natural. Someone who offers to help quickly, anyone would hesitate. But I think it’s important for you to understand that my intention is in no way harmful. You let me into your home without hesitation, helped me today shopping and didn’t ask for anything in return. At the least, I should repay you for that."

"You do understand that." Felix gave a small smile. Then he turned to Dune. "Are you alright with this? He’s going to lower your capacity to pull power, so it doesn’t hurt you."

"If you’re fine with this, then I am too." Dune replied calmly.

"Alright, then." Felix looked back to Leto. "Do your business, physician."

Leto nodded, placed the circle sheet on the floor in front of him and motioned for Dune to come near. "You just need to stand on it. I promise you nothing is going to happen to you."

Dune moved to the circle and stood at its center without even pausing for a second.

Leto dropped down on his knees before the circle, placing both of his palms on the circle’s line. "Felix, you’d better stand back a little."

Felix walked several steps away, did not say a word, his arms crossed.

Leto looked up at her. "Dune, do not panic. Do not get nervous. Once we start doing this, you may start feeling some very strange things happening to your body, but do not worry about it."

She nodded.

He gave her a faint smile and started mumbling some phrases. The circle below her feet came alive, its lines started twisting and rearranging themselves, and soon enough it rose up, covering her ankles first, creeping up along her skin. The cracks on her body lit up instantly, bright and sharp. Dune clenched her fists, standing there, motionless.

The light continued rising, marking her legs, her arms, her neck and then reached her face, hovering above her face for a few seconds and tracing each of the cracks carefully.

One by one, they started to disappear, the light fading out and the cracks disappearing right behind it, until there was absolutely nothing left on her face or her neck.

"It’s done," Leto said quietly as stood up.

"’That’s all?’" Felix came closer. "’I thought it would be more impressive. Yelling, perhaps. Something flashy. At the very least a complete loss of control because of the pain.’"

"No, no." Leto shook his head. "’The actual spell is rather simple. It’s the design, not the casting, that makes it complicated.’"

"Still," Felix examined her from head to toe. "’Do you feel anything different?’"

"’I feel calmer at the moment.’" she replied.

He nodded approvingly. "’Give it a try and hit me. Reduce your Numen production to the maximum extent possible.’"

"’You’ll get hurt.’"

"’I’ll handle it. Have some faith in me, Leto.’" He winked at Leto and moved one step back, spreading his legs.

"’If that’s what you want.’" Dune punched him in the stomach.

Felix bent in half immediately.

"’Damn—" He gripped his stomach and started coughing, taking several steps back until he fell into the nearest chair. "’I said to hold back.’"

"’I told you that you would get hurt.’"

"’I think I’m gonna throw up.’" Felix covered his mouth with a hand and ran towards the bathroom.

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