CHAPTER 307: CHAPTER 306: UNKNOWN PLACE

Bragg props his back against the cave wall and rubs at his temples. "Okay—let’s rest a minute before we go any deeper. I don’t know where this hole leads, but I hope there’s a way out the other side." He gives a humorless chuckle. "If not, we’ll at least find somewhere to die comfortably."

Kyra drops to a flat stone and pulls a strip of cloth from her pack. She works methodically—cleaning, binding—hands sure despite the tremor in the cave air. "Comfortable," she repeats dryly, then slaps a salve onto a shallow gash on Mave’s forearm. "Try not to make comfortable a habit."

Mave winces but manages a smirk. "No promises." He leans his head back, letting the dim light of Kyra’s floating orb wash his face. Around them the cave smells of damp stone and old roots. Drips from the ceiling keep time.

Toren sits a short distance from the entrance, sharpening his blade against a slab of flint. Sparks flare and fade quickly in the dim light. "I figured something like this might happen," he mutters, "but it’s still damn annoying to be stuck in it."

Alix stands apart, hands tucked into the sleeves of his cloak. He doesn’t fuss with salves or food, he watches the cave with the quiet focus of someone mapping lines on a page. When the others settle into their small routines—bandaging, tending bruises, trading jokes too brittle to be funny—he moves.

He walks the passage with slow, deliberate steps. He runs his fingertips along the wall’s rough surface, listens to the way sound bends here, follows tiny drafts that whisper cold against his skin. He marks the route with scratches—small notches and charcoal slashes—simple signs anyone could follow. No showy light, no grand spell. Just the patient work of someone who’s done this before.

When he returns, he folds into a sitting position without fanfare. He doesn’t say much at first—only watches as Kyra wipes a smear of blood from her blades and Toren checks a seam in his armor.

"Find anything?" Kyra asks finally, nodding toward the faint charcoal trail on the wall where he’s been.

Alix looks up at her, his expression unreadable. "Nothing much," he says easily. "I just tried to see how far I could map this cave."

Kyra tilts her head, skeptical. "And?"

"I used my mana sense," Alix replies, keeping his tone casual, like it’s nothing special. "It went farther than I expected."

Kyra narrows her eyes, curious now. "How far?"

Alix pauses just long enough to seem like he’s thinking. "A few hundred meters, maybe? Hard to tell exactly with the interference down here."

The reaction is immediate. Kyra straightens, disbelief flashing across her face. "A few hundred meters? You’re kidding."

Her tone isn’t teasing—she’s genuinely surprised. As a scout, she knows exactly how difficult it is to extend mana perception. Even Tier 6 scouts like her rarely push past fifty meters before the feedback becomes unstable.

Mave whistles low. "That’s... more than a little impressive for a low-tier six."

Alix gives a faint shrug, eyes flicking down. "Guess I got lucky. Maybe the rock’s thinner in that direction."

Kyra snorts. "Yeah, sure. Maybe the cave just likes you." She leans back, one arm draped over her knee. "I guess that means we’ve got a better shot at finding another exit now."

Bragg pushes himself up with a grunt, brushing dirt from his gauntlets. "Alright, that’s enough resting. We move now before those damn beasts start sniffing around again."

Bragg then turns toward Alix. "I guess that means we’ll need your help for now." He claps a heavy hand on Alix’s shoulder—more like a thud than a pat. "You lead. If your mana sense goes that far, you’re our best bet out of this pit."

Alix nods, expression calm. "Understood."

He takes the front without hesitation, raising a faint light between his fingers—small, steady, just enough to mark their path. Inside, he hides a faint smile. Of course, he’s already mapped every twist of the cave long before they rested. But he keeps his steps slow and deliberate, pretending to feel the air as he walks.

Kyra follows close behind, her sharp eyes sweeping every shadow. "If you sense anything alive up ahead, say it right away. I’m not in the mood for surprises."

"Noted," Alix says evenly.

The group moves in a loose formation—Bragg and Toren at the sides, Mave just behind Verrin, who’s still pale but focused. The only sounds are their boots scraping against stone and the steady drip of water echoing from deeper in the cave.

After a few minutes, Alix raises his hand slightly. "Movement ahead. Tier 3... maybe tier 4."

Kyra draws her blades in silence, her mana flickering faintly along the edges. "Small group?"

"Five," Alix replies.

"Then we don’t waste energy," Bragg rumbles, cracking his knuckles.

The beasts emerge a moment later—lean, pale creatures with eyes that glint like wet stone. Tier threes, maybe a stray tier four among them. They hiss at the sudden light, claws scraping against the ground.

Bragg steps forward and meets the first one with a single swing of his arm. The impact echoes, and the beast folds in half before it can scream.

Kyra moves like a streak of silver beside him, blades slicing through two more in the same motion. Mave’s blade flashes once, clean and efficient, cutting through the neck of the fourth.

The last beast lunges—but a small pulse of energy ripples from Alix’s hand, invisible to everyone else. The creature seizes midair, then crashes lifelessly against the wall before anyone notices what happened.

Kyra exhales. "That was fast."

Bragg grins. "Good warm-up."

They keep moving. The deeper they go, the thicker the air becomes—humid, metallic, with a faint vibration that hums beneath the stone. Verrin’s brow furrows. "Something’s off about this mana flow... it’s like the deeper we go, the more the air itself starts to resist perception."

Alix doesn’t answer. He just keeps leading, guiding them steadily toward the place where his perception hits a wall—a void in the weave, silent and impenetrable.

Kyra notices his slight change in pace. "You sense something?"

"Maybe," Alix lies smoothly. "Could be a fork up ahead. Hard to read past this point."

"Good," Bragg mutters. "Means we’re getting somewhere. Just hope ’somewhere’ isn’t straight into another nest."

"Only one way to find out," Kyra says, spinning one of her blades in her hand.

They move as one, the flickering light bouncing off the damp stone. Every few steps, small creatures scurry away—Tier twos, mostly, vanishing before they can even hiss. Nothing truly threatens them here.

But as they draw closer, even the smaller beasts vanish. The cave grows unnaturally still.

Verrin frowns. "The mana here... it’s gone."

Kyra slows beside Alix, tension rising in her voice. "Gone?"

Verrin presses his palm to the wall, eyes narrowing. "Yeah. Completely drained. I can still feel the structure of the elements, but there’s no free mana left in the air."

Toren’s brows knit. "You mean... it’s empty, is that even possible?"

Verrin nods. "Empty. Like something bled the mana dry. We can still use our skills, sure, but only from what’s stored in our cores. Two skills at most before we’re tapped out."

That draws a grim silence.

Toren exhales, running a hand down his blade. "Should we keep going, then? We’re walking into a dead zone blind."

Kyra glances at Bragg, her voice steady but edged with tension. "If we stop, we’re trapped. If we move forward, maybe we find a way out... or die faster. Your choice."

Bragg scratches his chin, thinking. The flickering light from Alix’s orb paints harsh shadows across his scarred face. Finally, he grunts. "Let’s go. We don’t really have a choice right now."

"Good enough for me," Kyra mutters, checking her blades again.

They start forward once more, steps cautious and soundless. The air feels heavier now, dry and suffocating. Each breath burns faintly in their lungs, as though the cave itself rejects the presence of life.

At the rear, Alix remains silent. He senses what the others cannot—a subtle rhythm, a pattern beneath the emptiness. The law of fire still linger here, faint but distinct.

Even stripped of mana, the stone carries its memory—tiny particles vibrating with heat long gone. Someone tampered with this place. Someone powerful enough to bend the law. A powerful Tier 7 or above, he thinks, gaze flicking toward the cracks in the walls. Whoever they were, they burned this place clean.

They move deeper until a faint glint catches Bragg’s eye ahead. He quickens his pace. "Wait—look there!"