I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

The evening air outside Glassjaw Warren felt unusually clean after several hours inside the dusty cavern.

The hired Obsidian Hand carriage waited on the dirt road outside the Warren. Squad 7 gathered beside it while Felix pulled out his ledger and Emily dropped her canvas bag near the rear wheel.

"Nobody get in the carriage yet," Arthur said, holding up a hand. "Let the interface finish."

A blue window opened in Arthur’s vision. Around him, Emily, Felix, and Chloe fell quiet as their own dungeon results appeared.

Arthur watched the results settle across his window.

[Arthur Vance: Level 27 → Level 28]

[Attribute Points Gained: 2]

[Emily Thorne: Level 30 → Level 31]

[Attribute Points Gained: 2]

[Felix: Level 23 → Level 24]

[Attribute Points Gained: 2]

[Chloe: Level 22 → Level 24]

[Attribute Points Gained: 4]

Chloe remained fixed on her result after the other three had finished reading theirs.

"Two levels?"

Arthur had expected the larger jump. The Warren had been above Chloe’s level, and she had contributed from the first tunnel to the final chamber. Successfully treating Felix under real field conditions had been enough to push her across the second threshold.

"You earned both," he said. "Just don’t spend the points while you’re tired and covered in lizard dust."

A second group of notifications followed.

[Arthur Vance]

Whisperwind Proficiency Increased

Post-Movement Release Stability Improved

[Emily Thorne]

Impact Control Proficiency Increased

[Felix]

Shield Redirection Proficiency Increased

[Chloe]

Advanced Battlefield Healing Proficiency Increased

Foreign Material Removal — Basic Proficiency Recorded

Chloe read the final notice twice before closing it. It was not a new healing spell, but the system had formally recognized her first successful removal of a dangerous fragment in the field.

Arthur opened his personal status and assigned the two new points.

[Perception: 108 → 109]

[Stamina: 38 → 39]

Arthur Vance — Level 28

Strength: 44

Intelligence: 30

Dexterity: 115

Perception: 109

Mana: 320

Stamina: 39

Unallocated Attribute Points: 0

Emily noticed the unchanged Strength before he closed the screen.

"You were pinned against a wall by a lizard, and you still ignored it."

Arthur closed the status window before Emily could continue studying the numbers.

"One point in Strength would not have moved that Glassjaw," he said. "Perception helps me kill it before it reaches me. Stamina helps me escape when that plan fails."

Emily folded her arms. After pulling the creature off him herself, she had every reason to remain unconvinced.

Arthur chose not to reopen the argument.

Felix and Emily left their new points unassigned until they could review their builds. Chloe did the same with all four of hers rather than spending them while tired and covered in cavern dust.

No other names appeared. The interface had rewarded only the four people who entered the Warren.

Once the last window disappeared, Arthur lowered his hand.

"Now we can leave."

Felix was already climbing into the carriage with his ledger open.

Emily took the bench opposite Arthur and dropped her canvas bag between her boots. The carriage had barely started moving before she returned to the hidden Glassjaw.

According to her version of the fight, Arthur had been one second away from becoming part of the cavern wall. Arthur maintained that the position had only been temporarily inconvenient and that he had already found the creature’s jaw hinge.

Felix continued writing while they argued. He recorded the cleared sector, the number of intact crystal nodes, the samples stored beneath the rear seat, and the damage to his forearm guard. When Emily asked whether he planned to include Arthur’s failed attempt at wrestling, Felix admitted that the report had no category for avoidable humiliation.

Chloe sat beside him with her own notebook open. She wrote down the location and depth of the crystal fragment, the steps she had followed before healing Felix, and the absence of pain or swelling during the return journey.

She did not ask Arthur whether she had handled it correctly. She had seen the closed wound, checked Felix twice, and received the proficiency notice herself.

By the time the carriage reached Lornfell, her field report was already finished.

The Obsidian Hand guildhall was still busy when they returned. Sylvia accepted the mineral samples and spread Felix’s node map across the front desk while he explained which deposits Emily had managed not to punch.

The intact nodes earned the guild a higher payment than expected. Sylvia approved the completed contract, then noticed the stretched leather around Arthur’s wrist.

Arthur showed her the loose stitching near the thumb and explained that Brunhilda had specifically asked for the test wrap after a real dungeon run.

Sylvia advised him to return it quickly, preferably before Felix decided to record it as depreciated guild property.

Felix looked up from the expense sheet. "It is guild-relevant equipment."

Arthur removed the quill from his hand before the argument could become another appendix.

Before leaving, Arthur borrowed a clean sheet of paper and wrote a short note to Professor Elena Moon. He described the spoiled alchemy shipment, mentioned that Beatrice had encountered similar grit in miners from a closed settlement, and asked whether Elena could compare the sample with old academy records.

Arthur folded the page, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Sylvia.

She placed it with the guild’s evening academy dispatch before returning to Felix’s contract report.

Two evenings later, Arthur entered the Iron Anvil after his final class.

Brokk was working beside the main forge with two apprentices when Arthur arrived. Arthur greeted him and crossed the workshop to the fitting bench, where Brunhilda was sorting a tray of finished buckles.

With hammers ringing only a short distance away, the visit remained firmly about the damaged wrap.

Her bright green eyes dropped immediately to the damaged wrap.

"You finally brought it back."

Arthur reminded her that the dungeon contract had taken place exactly when the guild scheduled it. Brunhilda ignored the defense and held out her hand.

He unfastened the wrap and passed it over.

Brunhilda bent the leather near the thumb and pulled gently at the loose stitching. She asked Arthur which movements had strained it most, so he demonstrated the shortened bow draw, the sudden dagger transition, and the angle of his hand when the hidden Glassjaw drove him against the wall.

She placed the damaged wrap beside the unfinished bracer frame and marked the weak points on her pattern. The edge near the thumb needed reinforcement, the dagger hand needed more room, and the narrow strap had concentrated too much pressure in one place.

Brunhilda widened the marked strap line, then set the damaged wrap aside for reference.

She kept the damaged wrap as a pattern and gave Arthur an ordinary support band from a nearby drawer.

"Ten days," she said while fastening the plain band around his wrist. "Then you come back for the final fitting."

Arthur watched her pull the last strap tight. "Should I wait for a formal summons?"

Brunhilda’s fingers stayed around his wrist a moment longer than the fitting required. A hammer struck metal near the main forge, and she finally released him.

"Return before I have to send another order."

Arthur adjusted the plain support band and smiled.

"Ten days," he said before walking back toward the front of the forge.

Arthur had barely stepped outside when an academy messenger called his name.

The boy handed him a narrow envelope bearing Elena Moon’s seal and hurried back toward the main road.

Arthur broke the seal beneath the forge lantern.

Elena’s reply was brief. She had secured temporary access to the old mine report and agreed to examine Tolan’s sample.

The final instruction occupied its own line.

Bring the vial to my private workroom tomorrow evening.

Come alone.

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