the beginning after the end perfect duo

Bonds Forged in Darkness

Arthur's pov

"These tunnels seem different than those up there, don't they?" I pointed out, scanning the lightened area around me.

Wherever I am, Tom is probably in here somewhere. I hope that brat's fine.

And where the hell is this place? I never heard of a dungeon that has these huge tunnels underneath, with less mana, and no signs of rocks or other indications that can come as a dungeon; it looks like a man-made passage.

I swallowed my saliva, and then said,

"Less mana density in the air, no signs of those annoying wolves, nor signs of a previous raid," I stated.

"I guess you're right about that. Something about it makes me feel uneasy," Sylvia commented, taking a deeper look at the place.

"We should try to find our way up, or at least out, and hope the others do the same. We have to cooperate on this one," I told Sylvia, heading straight forward into the tunnel.

I hope Lilia's doing fine with Jasmine. She can barely keep her mana consumption in control. I can clearly imagine Jasmine's reaction to this unexpected fall.

"What makes you think that's the right way?" she asked, bringing me back to the moment.

"You can call it a lucky guess, I guess," I said, putting a wide smile on my face.

Sylvia hesitated for a minute before following me. I looked back at her, seeing that she's finally on trail.

According to what I know, we should have seen a number of beasts. That doesn't make any sense.

When we were both walking at the same footing, I initiated a conversation.

"So, what are your powers, Sylvia? If you want to share, that is," I asked her, half expecting no answer, going for eye contact.

That'll make me appear calmer than I am, I thought, fidgeting my fingers.

"Just for the sake of the raid, right?" she asked, with a high-pitched voice, avoiding eye contact.

Not exactly the talkative person, I figured.

"Of course," I urged her to speak, as I don't have much to do in here, do I?

"Wind affinity, and illusions," she said, statically so.

"That's it?" I blurted out. "You really suck at having a chat, you know?" I added, half-laughingly.

"Isn't that enough for the raid's sake?" she paused before adding, "And where are we heading to anyway?"

"To the exit, I hope," I said, biting my lip afterwards.

"You hope? Well, isn't that just lovely. I'm out here in a tunnel, underneath a dungeon, with a short adventurer who looks like a kid, heading towards what the kid hopes is an exit?" she said, what looks like the largest sentence she ever said.

"I know you're stressed out. Heck, I am too. I am starting to sweat out here, but we have to make it out here safe, do you understand? And I think I already proved my worth previously, didn't I? As for the exit, do you have any better way to go? It's a two-sided road, and if it's in the same orientation as the floor above, this way should be the exit," I told her, raising my voice, to make it clear.

A sudden voice could be heard from the front of the tunnel. Whispers, chatters, humans talking, and their footsteps' echoes ran through the tunnel.

Probably my crewmates. It can't be anyone else, anyways, right?

Sylvia's eyes went wide, and her body stiffened. She quickly turned towards me and placed her hand over my shoulder.

"Wh..." I tried to speak as she put my mouth shut.

What the hell's going on now? I thought.

The mana signals got closer, but now I sensed that they weren't the ones I know, and they didn't even seem familiar.

Sylvia and I stayed on alert until the coming shadows approached. There were four of them. They wore silver-made armor, looking like soldiers, in fact. Their mana signals felt off compared to the usual, and they seemed to be inspecting the tunnel.

They kept getting closer without actually seeing us. I could only understand it was Sylvia's doing. We waited until they were far gone to talk about what the hell just happened.

"Who were these guys anyway? Thanks for the illusion," I said as I took a look towards where they had gone.

"I absolutely don't know, but what I know is there should be an entrance where they have come from," Sylvia said, already starting to move there.

"Not wasting time now, are we?" I said, chuckling.

"I guess you were right about the exit being somewhere in this direction," she said, with a softer tone than usual.

"Is that a sorry?" I teased.

Sylvia didn't answer; she kept marching ahead.

"I'll consider it one,"

I confirmed my suspicions; she's quite the chill person, I guess.

After a few minutes of silent walking, a cold breeze of air swept by, showing that the exit is getting closer. I hope no beast is in our way.

"A pack's getting closer. Prepare to get engaged," Sylvia said.

As soon as Sylvia spoke, I activated Thunderclap Impulse. I stood back to back with Sylvia, each of us guarding the other.

The pack arrived quickly, but what made me skeptical was that they had horns. The others didn't have horns. Their mana was different; there was something dark about it. They looked more savage than the previous beasts.

"There is something different about them!" I yelled.

"I figured," Sylvia said.

They charged at us. A wolf's paw got closer to my face as I pulled my sword and cut it. It retreated with painful howls. The others continued their onslaught. I slid down their throats as many as I could.

We kept our back-to-back formation, rotating mid-fight.

I tried to keep them under control. Some of them scratched my arm and even tried to bite it off, but I was quick to move it out of harm's way. I got damaged a bit, I should admit.

There were around ten left. My right arm was bleeding from the many bites and paw swipes that reached it. My sword was bloodied.

"How are you holding up, Sylvia?" I asked.

A paw extended towards me, and I cut it off, using fire to heat up the blade.

"Not much better than you," she said, holding out her daggers.

"Note, get down!" she yelled.

I did as she said, and a large mouth was about to snatch my head if I had stayed. It sneaked up on me while I was busy with the others.

"Thanks," I said, holding off one's mouth with my blade. I pushed it back up and cut its head off.

"It would have done just what I did now to me," I added.

"To your right! Now!" I yelled.

I sent my sword flying towards a wolf, and it got into its heart.

"These bastards were tough," I said.

"Got any bandages? My hand's bleeding," I asked.

"Of course I do. I'm well prepared," Sylvia said, throwing a bandage to me.

"I got some snacks though," I said, holding out a sandwich from my backpack.