inimical

three

CHAPTER 3: SAVED BY SOMEONE 

"Ladies, good morning. I have an announcement to make!" Everyone at the table settles down and went quiet. 

You take the seat next to your sister and grab a plate. 

"A new dungeon has been located." Captain declares. 

Your ears perk up. A dungeon..! 

"The difficulty is undetermined, but I want to send 1st class Junior Magic Knights at the least." 

You frown. So close... 

Chewing slowly, you focus on the captain appointing members for the mission. You knew you couldn't get in, and yet... 

"Excuse me!" You catch their attention. 

"Yes, Lady [f/n]?" 

"I-I would like to help in capturing the dungeon..!" 

She purses her lips. "But you are a 2nd class Junior Magic Knight..." 

"Please let me go." You plead. 

There was a moment of contemplation. 

She sighs. "Fine." 

You put your grimoire in a leather strap bag then secured it on your waist. Next, you pull up your thigh-high leather boots, which were near your black shorts, and tightened the black leather corset that also acts as light chest armor. Finally, you fix your Blue Rose robe on top of your white turtleneck sweater and put your hair in a ponytail. 

Charlotte enters the room. "Are you hoping to find something?" 

"Perhaps," you reply. 

"Nonetheless, I wish you good luck." 

"Thank you." 

We are the same, after all. 

━━━━━━ 

You look to the other members of the group, two senior Magic Knights. One was the leader, she specializes in attack, and the other in strategy and ranged magic. Then there's you, mainly a backline support because you are unexperienced. 

"Excuse me..? Why are we here..?" You weren't sure why they waited in the central. 

"The Magic Emperor assigned two squads to cooperate in this mission." Your leader replied. 

"Ah." You understood. 

"Blue Rose and Grey Deer." 

━━━━━━ 

The walls closed between you and your teammates, their spells did nothing to stop it, nor slow it down. 

"NO..!" You yelled. 

Yet nobody could hear it, you were alone. 

A magic trap was set off below you without your knowledge, and this was the result. You are left to stare at the labyrinth walls and structures that hummed with aged mana. They aren't living, but you could tell that they laugh at your miserable and vulnerable self. 

"Damn it..!" Your voice echoes throughout the room. 

This was the worst possible outcome that you could think of before the mission, and now you regret thinking of such a scenario. You somehow jinxed yourself with your thoughts, you dared not to wonder what else could happen. Focusing on the present was important. 

Okay... Okay... You take deep breaths. 

There is an unlit opening at the top, it's quite far away. The path to it is clear, but you won't let that deceive you. Traps are sure to be scattered everywhere, waiting to be activated. You realize your chances of leaving alive is getting smaller by the second. 

You pinch yourself. No. Don't think of that... I can absolutely get out of here..! 

"Shit!" 

You felt mana radiate from beneath you, a trap was activated. 

In the next few seconds, you feel your feet leave the floor and your hands restrained by sticky tentacles. It seems that a strange entity was created from the trap. It harshly pulls on your limbs, probably planning to tear them apart. You use all your strength to keep yourself together. It's a painful experience, but you needed to live. 

Cursing, you struggle to free one of your hands to conjure a spell. A shield or projectile, any spell could help at this point; you were desperate. Your grimoire floats in your vision, it's frustrating to realize how helpless you are at the moment. 

A tentacle sneaks up to latch around your jaw, it covers your mouth and nostrils. Oh no..! 

You manage to free a hand and then your mouth. But it won't be long before the creature retaliates. You immediately casted a spell, taking a breath wasn't important right now. 

"Glass Magic: Glass—" 

CRASH! 

A force breaks through the wall in front of you. 

"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Avidya Wild Slash!" 

Multiple familiar dark slashes came after, they quickly went towards you. They are too fast for you to counter, so you close your eyes and wait for the pain. 

Instead you hear multiple attack fly by, and then you hit the floor with a thud. You groan as you use your arms to help yourself back up. 

"Oops. I didn't notice you there." It was Yami. 

You take in relieved breaths. "You almost..! Killed me..!" 

"I couldn't sense you. Your mana is weak." 

You grit your teeth and pound a fist onto the ground. He's right... 

"WOO!" Your teammate cheers. 

It was by some miracle that you managed to find your way back to your group and reach the treasure room. Money and items glisten from every corner, they invite greed. You could be like everyone else, enjoying the secured riches and trying every magic tool, but you couldn't find the feeling that you deserved to do so. 

All you could do is think of all the times you were a nuisance. You had to be saved by someone for a number of times, you set off a quite a lot of traps, and you needed help to fight off monsters. This was enough to make you consider a lot of things. 

Am I really... a Magic Knight? 

"Oi. Why are you crying?" You didn't notice Yami near you. 

You quickly wipe off the tears you never knew you shed. "I-I'm not." 

"Tch. You're weak like your magic." 

You grew a vein. "Shut up..!" 

"But... your magic is strong too. It sucks that you don't use it that well." 

"Are you trying to make me feel better or not?!" 

━━━━━━ 

"So? Did you find anything?" Charlotte asks. 

You sigh. "Unfortunately, no." 

"I'm sorry to hear that... I'm sure the next one will have something." 

You smile. "Thank you." 

CHAPTER 3 END