Eldin had begun to irritate me. Maybe it was because he ordered around my bonded. Or maybe it was because he looked at her with something other than the indifference that most elves treated her with. I didn’t like it, whatever it was. And I didn’t trust him. Well, I trusted him enough to do this task with him, but that was it.

We continued down the narrow stairwell. The taller than normal steps gave me the sensation of continually misstepping and nearly falling.

Eventually, we entered the basement’s main room which was lit with dim, barely-working wall sconces. This vast space overflowed with supplies set up in a maze of poorly designed pathways.

As we walked we passed old sofas, crates of packaged foodstuffs, and large empty cages built for medium-sized monsters. One even had empty bowls of food and water as if it had once had something in living out of it.

Perhaps this was where the thing Mia found in the chute came from.

Finally, after navigating a bit further, we entered the leftmost room. A massive magi-machine sat there looking not unlike the pump that would often break down in the old inn I used to live at. The difference was that this one seemed a bit odd. I couldn’t place why it was unusual though.

“Oh, it’s just a pump,” Eldin said, “This should be for when seawater floods the place.”

I briefly glanced at him. “I’m not so sure, but I doubt we could fix this thing without the repair tool.”

He grimaced. “I agree.”

Cautiously, I made my way over to the machine. Its copper surface mostly gleamed though it did have grunge caked in places and some cracks here and there.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose as if something stalked us from the shadows.

I equipped my Night to Day Ring. Everything appeared brighter and the dark areas that were now illuminated showed that I was just imagining things. But that feeling of being watched didn’t vanish.

“Mia, guard my back.”

She nodded and turned to face the door.

“Eldin, go search for clues.”

He rolled his eyes as if to comment that he had the better chance at noticing and giving a heads up on whatever came after us, but I didn’t think that was the case. Sure, his Observe might have been a higher level, but his intelligence and wisdom certainly didn’t come close to Mia’s, and those were what enhanced the skill. That was why, in the previous room, Mia was able to find so many possible clues while Eldin hadn’t.

You have a tool to fix this magi-machine! Would you like to use it?

I agreed and brought out a crystal device. It had a round shape with several small rings slowly rotating in the center near tubes containing glowing liquid.

The tool for fixing this magi-machine requires mana and concentration. Please provide the following for 15 minutes:

- All of your available mana

- 85% of your concentration

If your concentration lapses then this tool will stop working. You’ll have to continue the repair by yourself from where it stopped.

I grimaced. Well, shortcuts always had a price.

Parts of the device swiftly spun as the whole thing began to shine. It cast a beam of beautiful light on the magi-machine from its top-right to its bottom-left as if scanning and cataloging necessary repairs.

As it continued to drain my mana, it flew from my hands and changed the wide scanning beam into a focused white laser. Wherever this new light touched it, the magi-machine started to transform and take on a shimmering and new appearance as if turning back time.

As the repairs reached a tenth of the way down I had this feeling… as if there was something I was missing. But I couldn’t lose focus. It would only be for fifteen minutes, probably only eleven now.

The repairing light spiraled down, getting every bit of the surface area.

Sudden crashes outside the room lowered my concentration levels.

Was that a growl of some sort?

More crashes.

The white laser started to dim. I redoubled my concentration. It didn’t matter what was happening. I wouldn’t be able to help anyway.

Desperately, I ignored the clatters and viscous snarls to focus on my task.

A scream echoed through the room. It came from my bonded. The urge to drop everything and run to help her practically overwhelmed me.

The light flickered so intensely that I thought it would go out. I almost wanted it to so I could say fuck this and help her.

My hands shook. I needed to focus on this though, because, without this device, none of us had the knowledge to repair this damn machine. Letting me finish this was what she risked her life for. And I would not fail due to not trusting my partner.

Eventually, I heard her talking softly and the wobbly light stabilized.

Finally! Finally, it reached the bottom corner.

Congratulations! Your team has finished the third Repair Task in record time! You have 2.5 hours to start on your next!

I quickly spun around and looked at Mia and Eldin. They both appeared haggard.

“What happened?!”

She grinned. “Well, you see...”