CHAPTER 108: TRUST

After staring off for a few minutes, Aldriana finally makes a long sigh.

"Fine. But you need to listen to me. Don’t wander off, and always stay close. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Ms Aldriana. I can. And thank you. I know this dungeon is dangerous, and yet you’re still willing to protect me." Sam bows politely.

"Alright. Alright. Now I need to seal this dungeon first."

"Se... seal?"

"Yes. I came here to seal the gate from the inside so no one can wander in. Like you." She scoffs and glares at him.

Sam looks guilty. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to enter. The gate pulsed and sucked me in."

Then something clicks in his brain. "But... how can I enter when you’re not dead yet? I mean... usually..."

He trails off, because even he knows that sentence sounds wrong.

"It’s not you. It’s this dungeon. According to Arthur, this dungeon has a lot of abnormalities. We also thought Julian had died when we discovered the gate was open."

"So, I can just leave? Ah. That’s why you asked me to leave earlier. Because you already knew."

Aldriana freezes and mumbles.

"We only assumed that. We never confirmed it."

She snaps to Sam. "We need to test it. Come on."

She grabs his sleeve and drags him toward the gate.

Sam follows, tense but obedient.

Aldriana steps out of the dungeon and appears back in the Mt. Helen clearing. Fresh air. Open sky. The usual lack of mana suffocating her.

But Sam is nowhere to be seen.

She turns. Waits.

Nothing.

She rushes back inside.

Sam is standing just beyond the threshold, pale, stiff, and confused.

"I... I can’t get out." His voice shakes. "I tried. My hand hits an invisible wall."

He presses his palm forward again and it stops against something solid. He punches the barrier a few more times. Nothing. It is like hitting bulletproof glass.

Meanwhile Aldriana walks in and out like she owns the place.

She frowns, her expression sharpening into something serious. Thoughts racing.

She murmurs under her breath, "Is this why the missing people never left? Because they couldn’t? Then what’s the criteria?"

Sam’s face goes even paler. Fear creeps up his spine, cold and sharp.

He forces himself to take several slow breaths before he embarrasses himself further.

Aldriana looks at his hand still pressed against the invisible wall. She steps beside him, places her palm next to his, and sends mana forward.

She feels it instantly. A thick wall of mana. It opens for her... but not for him.

"Put your palm on the back of my hand and push."

Sam doesn’t understand, but he obeys.

Amazingly, his hand goes through. His eyes widen. He stares at Aldriana, full of questions he doesn’t know how to ask.

"Next I’m going to see if I can open and hold this wall so you can get out," she says.

Sam stares at her, suspicious.

She rolls her eyes at him. "I’m not going to lock you out. Didn’t I say I’ll take you to see Arthur? You need to have a little trust."

Sam says nothing. He clearly still does not trust her.

Aldriana shakes her head. "Fine."

She sighs, "I’m opening it."

She steps back, lifts both hands, and makes a motion like sliding a heavy door apart.

"Go. Try."

Sam steps forward... and slips through.

Sun. Green grass. Trees. Blue sky. Birds. Fresh air.

The contrast hits him so hard he almost refuses to walk back in.

But he turns around and re-enters the dungeon.

------------------------------

"I can feel it!" Julian jumps and yells, practically vibrating.

"Art, I can feel it! I really can!"

"Congratulations, Jules." Arthur smiles. He is genuinely happy.

"What do you feel?" Liam asks, deliberately imitating Aldriana’s tone.

Arthur almost bursts out laughing at Liam’s mimicry, but he manages to hold it in.

Julian is too busy being excited to notice. His expression turns serious, brows tightening.

"Erm... heavy."

"Heavy?" Liam repeats. Arthur also looks confused.

Julian nods. "Yes. Heavy. And safe. And... at home?" Even he sounds unsure.

"Have either of you felt anything like that?"

Arthur and Liam both shake their heads.

"I felt warm. Liam felt calm. We didn’t feel heavy, safe, or home." Arthur says.

Julian frowns. "Is it weird that I feel that way?"

"I don’t think so." Liam replies. "It probably means your element resonance is different from ours. Right?"

Arthur nods. "Exactly. Look at me and Liam. Fire and water. You could be something else. Air, wood, earth... whatever fits."

"Earth!" Julian blurts out. "I’m sure it’s earth. It feels right!"

"What’s the spell for earth?" he asks immediately.

"Sorry, Jules. We don’t know." Arthur shakes his head. "Everything we learned, we already told you."

Julian glances toward Maeve. "Maybe she knows."

Maeve, meditating on the far side of the cave, looks completely serene, untouched by chaos. Her aura is white with a hint of green.

Arthur’s gaze shifts toward her as well. "We need to be careful around her. She knows magic. And it’s not from Aldriana. Which means she already belongs to a group that teaches it. And up until now, I’ve never even heard a rumor about any magi community. Not one. For a group to stay hidden this long... it means they hide themselves extremely well."

He pauses, voice turning low.

"I can’t trust people whose origins we know nothing about."

"Yeah, isn’t that kind of hypocrite, Art?" Julian says quietly. "Our own magic teacher is a mystery. We don’t know who she really is. But we trust her completely with our lives. And now you’re suspicious of Maeve? Isn’t that a little absurd? Aldriana can wipe us out in a second."

"But she hasn’t," Arthur says. "That is the point, Jules. She has the power to do it, but she hasn’t. Everything she’s done has been for us. You weren’t there, but she was just as worried as me and Liam about you."

"I could see it was genuine. I could feel it." Liam adds solemnly.

"Yeah, you’re both right. I don’t feel malice from her either," Julian admits.

"But guys, I don’t feel anything bad from Maeve at all. So maybe she is from some secret society. Aldriana could be too." He flicks another glance at Maeve, thoughtful. "But here’s the thing... Maeve isn’t hiding her face. She told me her real name and her real job. I can check her story easily once we’re out."

He exhales. His expression hardens with sincerity.

"And she went through life and death with me. She didn’t abandon me when she could have. She chose to stay. To die. With me."

Julian meets their eyes, steady and determined.

"That’s why I trust her."