[S2] Chapter 19: I'm fine

"I don't feel like it anymore. Turn around, or you're just as much to blame."

Without further explanation, Luna grabs a stick, kneels down, and starts scribbling something on the forest ground. Krystoff and Wace actually avert their eyes. Call me confused, what's happening?

"She uses sorcery, which involves drawing magic circles containing symbols from the other world, similar to those found on the dungeon gates. Unlike the magic we use, where a lot depends on how good you can control your mana and how capable you are of manifesting your imagination, this is more like playing a preset program."

During Miko's explanation, I remember a section in the textbooks for the license where these magical drawings are only mentioned in a small paragraph. Still, I remember one thing, thanks to the unusual reactions of the others.

"This kind of magic is forbidden, isn't it?"

"Correct," Luna replies as she continues to draw. "There are only a few of these magic circles known today, and even smaller is the number of mages who know them. There's kind of a silent agreement between us not to snitch, so if you'd be so kind, Kayla."

I wasn't planning to tell anyone about it. Rather, I find this almost too exciting and might be observing her a little too closely, even if that does make me an accomplice.

"Stop staring. You'd better not learn any of these spells." Miko says, while also not taking her eyes off Luna's drawing.

"Why?"

"Worst case scenario, it kills you."

"How?"

"As soon as you activate the circle, it drains the required mana from your body, regardless of whether you have enough or not."

"And how do I know if I can use the spell?"

"A lot of stupidity to take the risk and a healthy dose of confidence in your mana pool," Luna says with a laugh.

Wace sighs.

"Come on, just tell her what it's really like. She might need it one day. Listen, Kayla, certain symbols show how much mana is used for the spell. You can adjust it if you know how and adjust the power of the spell. To find out how much you can handle, simply keep adjusting this value. Your mana system and your body will eventually tell you what you can and can't deal with."

I am wavering between gratitude and fear at having gained this knowledge. But just because you know how something illegal works doesn't mean that you do it. I've seen enough videos about how to open doors, and yet I've never broken in anywhere.

"It's all right, don't worry, I don't want to have anything to do with that," I wave it off with a smile, Miko will probably realize how little truth there is in my statement. While I'm still not a big fan of being in a dungeon, my interest in magic as such has increased significantly.

Luna clears her throat with a fake-sounding cough, "I'm done. Let's see if anything or anyone is hiding around here."

Out of curiosity, I take a closer look at what she has drawn. Never in my life would this moment be enough for me to imitate something so complicated from memory.

The circle in front of which she is crouching begins to glow, and the illuminated mana suddenly spreads across the entire forest ground, disappearing from my field of vision only to fade out a few moments later. Without anyone showing any great reaction, a shiver goes down my spine. Luna jumps up and looks at Wace in disbelief.

"I can feel thousands of life forms within the mountain."

Miko grabs me by the arm. "We're leaving."

Even before Wace gives the order to retreat, Miko and I are running and are the first to arrive outside the mountain pass. Looking at the blue sky and the endless meadow in front of us, I find it difficult to make sense of the information Luna has given us.

I don't know whether my heart is racing because of the running or the anxiety. My face is tingling a little, and I feel like I'm not quite on top of things. Shortly afterward, I see the other three running up to us.

"What does that mean?" I ask the group with some concern. I notice Krystoff staring at the floor with his fists clenched as if his favorite toy had been taken away from him. Meanwhile, Wace looks at Luna as if he's waiting for her to explain.

"The spell I used scanned a wide area around us for any life signals. I can't say what kind of creatures they were because only pillars of light appeared before my eyes, showing me that there were living beings inside the mountains."

Miko takes a deep breath as if she needs to calm herself down first. I had assumed that it was out of concern for me that we had fled, but could it be that she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible?

"We're going back to camp for now. I know that was a bit unsettling, but it's all good." Wace sounds a bit like the only adult in the group trying to calm us, kids, down. And in my case, it works pretty well. What also helps is that we do the way back, walking and not running.

While Luna, Wace, and Krystoff have a lively discussion about how there are so many creatures in the dungeon, Miko and I walk quietly side by side. I don't know what's going on in her head, but somehow, I imagined her differently in a situation like this. Loud-mouthed, perhaps suggesting to wipe out the enemies immediately, but not so introverted.

When we see the dungeon gate, Wace takes out his walkie-talkie and starts speaking. "We'll be back in a minute. Don't be alarmed when the portal becomes active."

"Understood," Alex says shortly. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about her and Nada. The two of them have been sitting and waiting in the camp for the last few hours without knowing what just happened.

We had no contact with the enemy or anything like that. However, the atmosphere in the camp has changed completely compared to yesterday when we were still happily cuddling with slimes. Although I have to say that Luna and Wace radiate a certain calm that reassures me a little. Meanwhile, Miko worries me because she is a little too quiet.

"Are you all right?" I ask and nudge her a little with my shoulder.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're so silent."

"Is that something new?"

Ah, her attitude is pissing me off a little bit. "No, sorry for asking."

"It's okay. Let's see how things go from here," she says before sighing.

I follow her gaze and see Krystoff stomping toward Wace and Luna.

"We have to destroy the dungeon. Whatever's lurking in there," he says confidently but only receives cold looks from the two of them before Wace has the mercy to respond.

"You're going to take a nice break and make yourself comfortable here. I'm not going to take the blame for someone dying on my watch."

"What are you going to do? Waiting?"

"I don't know if you've read the description of our mission, but for now, we're supposed to find out why this dungeon is so different. Destroying it at the first chance would be contradictory, wouldn't it?"

Instead of answering, Krystoff turns and marches towards his tent and disappears into it. There is an awkward silence, and Alex looks like she is about to follow him before Wace gives her a sharp glare. "You study dungeons and monsters, right?"

"Exactly," Alex answers, sounding somewhat intimidated.

"Perfect. We found the remains of an orc inside the dungeon and, unfortunately, didn't get the chance to take them with us. Would you be so kind as to return to the dungeon together with Luna and pick them up?"

"Of course," she replies and grabs her backpack, which is lying next to the camping chair she was sitting on earlier. Nada looks hesitant, as if she wants to say something, but leaves it at that.

"Miko?" now, Wace looks in our direction.

"What?"

"You go into the dungeon with Nada and Kayla, please, so they can get used to it a bit. Maybe you can show them the difference between real living beings and creatures created from mana."

"If I have to."

"Thank you. In the meantime, I'll go talk to our problem child. Don't forget your walkie-talkies, and keep an eye on the time. There's no sun in the dungeon, so it probably won't get dark there."

"Sure."

MIKO

"I'm sorry you have to take care of me," Nada says as soon as I arrive inside the dungeon with her and Kayla. I don't know what she's worried about. My somewhat foul mood was only because I had to talk to Wace, not because of this task.

"Never mind," I wave it off and glance over at Kayla. I think she's doing quite alright, even if she's a little too worried about my well-being. But it's my own fault. I panicked a little too much earlier. I don't know why I reacted the way I did because of Luna's words.

Speaking of the devil, the moment I think of Luna, she runs past us with Alex, heading for the forest to collect the orc's remains. And just as they are fulfilling their job, I intend to do the same.

Kayla and Nada should get used to the dungeon. However, this is supposed to work. Maybe we should fight some kind of monster. What does all this actually have to do with the mission? No, I'm not going to question it now. The fact that we took students with us is something I don't understand anyway.

"Do you have anything to say to us?" Kayla grins stupidly, but I'm fine with it. At least I don't have to be alone with her. It was a mistake to talk to her about our feelings, especially mine. Since then, I feel like she's just itching to tease me.

"What do you guys want to do?" I put all my hopes in Nada with this question. The little one is clever, more than Kayla and me. But when I look at her, she seems as if something is weighing on her, as if she wants to say something but doesn't dare.

"Nada, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, none of us are going to rip your head off."

"I'm just annoyed."

"About what?"

"I don't know. Somehow, I'm being treated like air. For some reason, Alex only has eyes for this guy and is rewarded by being allowed to pick up the orc."

"You don't want to see that, believe me," Kayla interjects, but Nada just huffs angrily.

"You have no idea what I want or don't want. Luna is responsible for looking after us students. Why exactly do I have to sniff dungeon air with you two now? That's not fair."

I'm not here to babysit any kids, so I refrain from all the comments about her age or height and instead try to take her seriously, which she honestly deserves.

"Then let's go there too. I'm only supposed to teach you about the dungeon, and no one said we couldn't go see the forest, right?"

Nada's eyes light up as she realizes what I've just said, and I'm startled by how warm it makes me feel when I see her happy. I wonder what was wrong with me back then that I never managed to treat others like this.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

We set off at a pace at which we definitely won't catch up with Luna and Alex, but fast enough to perhaps allow Nada to watch them retrieve the corpse.

"Really sweet of you," Kayla whispers to me, running beside me. If she wasn't wearing such a smug face, I might even appreciate her comment.

"Shut up."

"Never."

"Should we radio the others to let them know we're coming too?"

Nada's question is valid, but to be honest, I don't feel like listening to any opposing arguments about our actions. I'd rather put up with it after it's already happened.

"Nah, we'll surprise them," I say, putting an end to this topic.

I'm not quite sure if we're going the right way. Of course, we're heading towards the mountains, but the pass between them that leads into the forest isn't quite so easy to make out from a distance.

"Okay, do we have to go left or right now?" Kayla asks as we finally stand in front of a steep stone wall that leads hundreds of meters upwards.

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"Left?"

"Then we go left."

The joy and excitement that Nada was radiating earlier disappear steadily as Kayla and I wonder where we have to go. I'm sorry, but the first time we were here, I was just blindly following the others and didn't pay attention to the directions.

With the shattered dreams of Nada in mind and the exhausted wheezing of Kayla in my ear, we keep moving and discover not what we are looking for but something else quite interesting.

Alex is standing in front of what looks like the entrance to a cave and is getting paler by the second as we walk towards her.

"What are you doing here?" Nada asks, looking around, "And where's Luna?"

"Okay, I'm not even going to try to bullshit you. Luna said she wanted to explore the mountain and that we would get the body of the orc afterward."

I don't know what motivates her to do something like that, but it's stupid to do it alone and leave the student she's supposed to look after standing here on her own.

"I'll go and look after her," I announce without further ado. Nobody said I was any smarter than Luna, after all.

At the entrance to this cave, mana is floating around everywhere, which makes it clear that what I call a cave is actually not a cave but rather a tunnel that Luna somehow creates in front of her. She's either destroying the mountain bit by bit or manipulating the mana it's made of, which would definitely be impressive.

After a short time, it is pitch black in the tunnel except for the yellowish glowing mana particles, which is why I conjure up a ball of light. Only then do I see how deep inside Luna must already be. I can't help but let out an annoyed groan.

I flinch briefly as I suddenly hear quick footsteps approaching me. It's Luna, glaring at me with glowing red eyes.

"Turn off the light," she hisses quietly at me, which is exactly what I do.

"Walk slowly. It goes deep down over here. And just be calm, understand?" Her tone is serious, but she doesn't seem angry that I'm here. Rather, she's excited about showing me something.

I slowly put one foot in front of the other, and even before I reach the slope, I hear noises that get louder and louder. They remind me of a mixture of a train station and an annoying building site. Without giving it a second thought, I reach the end of the tunnel and look far down, deeper into the mountain.

It takes my breath away for a moment, not only because of the sheer height. But also because of the countless goblins and orcs running around, which look like miniature figures from up here, dragging large stones from somewhere to this large structure that resembles a huge gate. The dimensions are hard to grasp, but the one we came through is tiny in comparison.

Luna grabs my arm, pulls me back, and walks off in the direction we came from.

"The mountain is starting to repair itself. Let's get out."

"What are they doing down there?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure you had a similar thought to mine."

A cold shiver runs down my spine. "Why would they build such a big gate inside a dungeon? What's supposed to come through there?" I'm lacking the imagination at this very moment. Still, whatever these monsters are up to, it's not going to be for good.

"Miko, is everything alright? Your hand is freezing cold." I only now realize that Luna is still holding me and pulls me along with her.

"Yes, everything's okay. I'm fine."