After the counter with golem, Aaron wandered deeper into the innermost corridors. The once vibrated glow dimmed until Aaron could barely see. He automatically lifted his hand to construct a light rune, but brought his hand down. He looked over to the runes. Studying the runes to see why they were dim, his eyes widened. Overlapping shadows formed within the circuit like patterns. He was certain the shadows were not there before. Drawing closer to examine them, he noticed another set of runes running parallel to the active ones. Instead of glowing, they appeared to be dead. Bringing his fist to his lips, he stared at these empty runes. Nothing. No mana flowed through the mark path. Making them no different from the wall. Yet, he could not shake the feeling something was out of place. He lifted his hand closer to the wall. Flinching he pressed his fingertips against them. Nothing. No burning heat or freezing coldness. Completely dead.

Tracing his hand across the smoothness his whole-body shivered. Why? He sensed nothing. He felt nothing. He saw nothing. No smell. No sound. He even considered licking them. Despite everything about it screamed nothing out of the ordinary. His mind told him they did not belong there. He shook his head. Trying to observe them was like trying to focus on something in the corner of the eye. It's very nature opposed his perceptions. Aaron frowned. Beautiful runes laid before his eyes, yet there was no way to study them. He could not touch the active runes to feel out their core nature. While for the other set, despite it giving off a weird vibe, the runes were empty, no mana to work with. What was worse, even recording them down in his journal would be fruitless. Their complexity gave him no confidence in being able to reproduce a detailed drawing. He never came across such runes before, so he had no clue how to approach them. Shame the mana was not similar to his own though, then he would have something to work with. He froze. That was it. No mana flowed through them ergo he can add his own mana. Grinning, he rubbed his hands together.

He placed his hand unto the runes gathering up his mana. Without warning, a force flung his hand away. His mana dispersed. Strange, his mana collided with magic. Mana collision only happens in highly dense areas where it can longer be compressed. Yet, he sensed no magic within the dead rune. The mana collided with nothing. Aaron narrowed his eyes. Nothing about this place made sense. First uncharacteristic, energy draining, freezing mana. Now, unperceivable runes. It defies logic. The social norms of the aristocrats made more sense. Half-smiling, he raised his hand to construct a new program. This was not over. He needed to keep testing. Understanding any bit of the mystery of these ruins might be the key for completing his investigation.

Casting a perceptive spell, he gathered his mana. Without even missing a beat, he dispelled it. Rolling his eyes, he turned his head. Figures appeared from the shadows blocking his path.

"So this is where you ran off to." One of the lackey masked men looked around. "Where did your guard go? Are you all alone? You have nowhere left to run. Be a good boy and come with us. ”

Aaron shook his head. Not again. He did not want to engage with them in the forest and even more so here. Slouching he grabbed his forehead.

“What do you want? I’m busy.”

The lackey froze. “Weren’t you listening? I said…”

Aaron hoped they would stop talking and go away. These strange runes already made him dizzy and their persistence was giving him a headache.

“Hey, stop ignoring us.”

With no hint of them stopping and Joshua no were to be seen, Aaron scanned the corridor. Not the ideal place to fight in. The enclosed walls hinder his movement. Their entrapment did cover only one side, leaving him space to run away. However, something tells him they would chase him to no end. No choice, drawing his sword, he readied his stance. He did not like to use his sword without mana, but he needed it.

Aaron glared toward the mask men’s captain as a warning. The captain shrugged. With a hand he silenced his lackey. “Come on, Boy. Can you not make this easy? My men clearly don’t want to fight.”

‘Cough’

“That isn’t it boss.”

“We were just trying to-”

“Shut up, Morons!” he cleared his throat “As I was trying to say, We can talk like reasonable men.” He stretched his hand out for a handshake.

“Are you going to fight or not? I don’t have all day.”

“You,” The Captain pointed his finger at him.

“It’s not polite to point.” Aaron shrugged.

“That’s it. Men, I don’t care if you break his bones. Attack.”

“Come on, then.” Aaron provokly motioned his index finger.

All the mask men roar in union. Who did the boy think he was? Putting aside their pride they attack him all at once.

Arron grinned, without fail the men reacted according to his plan.

The fastest man arrived first punching straight to his face. He lowered his body. Sweeping a kick to the man's ankle, he tripped him onto the ground.

The next man thrust his small sword toward Aaron. Raising his body position, he used his forward movement to parry the sword to the side. The men fell forward piercing the grounded man.

Aaron turned around lunging his sword forward. A heavy axe met with his sword locking him into place. He leaned back letting the axe move forward. Pivoting on his heel, he swiveled behind the man. Striking the man in the back.

The man screamed with rage as the blood rushed out of the cut. He rotated his axe to strike Aaron. Aaron retreated inches away from the cold blade. Giving the man no time to readjust his stance, he advanced. Kicking the man's awkward position, the man fell onto the others.

Aaron turned to the other mask men “Weak, is this all you guys got? No wonder you were stalling.” raised his lip into a smirk, “You should retreat before you have to explain how you got destroyed by a single boy.”

The mask men clutched their weapons until their knuckles turned white. They charged at him with no hesitation.

Aaron smiled. If he kept using their pride, they would not work together. The flow of battle will stay in his control. Leading them into their crushing defeat. Aaron steady himself. One at each time with precision he tripped, parried, and stunned each man. Then he tripped, parried, and stunned them again. Then again. Minutes pass with no clear advancement. Aaron narrowed his brow. Why did they keep getting up? He controlled the flow of battle. They should have been defeated by now. He disengaged to recollect his thoughts.

Aaron locked eyes with the Captain as he backed away from the masked men. Aaron hoped he did not notice his confusion. The Captain smiled. This wasn’t good.

The captain walked toward him. “Did you really believe you could defeat my men with only the strength of a teenager? I know my men are pathetic, but still you need to at least buff your strength with mana to crush them.”

“Hey captain don’t say mean things”

“We aren’t pathetic. It's just a bad day.”

The captain cringed. Ignoring his men, he continued, “‘Anyways, this won’t end anytime soon. Just used your magic and hurried it up. Come on, use it. Show us some lights.”

Aaron flinched.

The Captain caught his small movement and smiled. “Oh, I meant it; my men need a good pounding. Use your mana like you did with that golem.”

In the tiniest motion Aaron moved one of his feet a step back.

“Hey what’s stopping you. You don’t seem exhausted. You should have plenty of mana left. Shows us some nifty spells. Where is it?”

Aaron's face contorted. The captain had gotten him.

The captain did not miss the chance, he raised his voice. “What’s wrong? Afraid to show off your magic. Aren’t you a big boy? If you do not want to fight, surrender.”

The captain burst into laughter.

“Hey Captain, don’t provoke him?”

The Captain froze.

“Yeah we already have a hard-enough time.”

“No, we aren’t having a hard time. We are just going easy on him, since him a kid.”

“Yeah, a kid” all the masked men nodded.

The captain's face reddened. “Idiots! I was trying to psych him out. Now look at his face. It went from fear to who are these idiots?”

“Captain, you're the one calling us Idiots.”

“Shut up!”

Aaron shook his head. He considered leaving. He had more important matters to attend to. The captain's perception was scary, but his men were scarily pathetic. Enough is enough. He turned away, ignoring them to walk away.

“Hey look. Now he is leaving. After him.”

“Um, Captain.”

“I give my orders.”

“Yes, but no, um what’s that?” a man pointed to the air.

The captain turned to the empty corridor. His eyes widened. “No way.”

“A D-d-d-drag-d-“

“A Dragon. Retreat!”

The mask men screamed like little girls, fleeing at rapid speed. They kept tripping over each other not wanting to be the last one. It was every man for himself.

Aaron tilted his head looking back at the commotion. “What dragon? What are they talking about?” He searched around. Even cast a perception spell. Nothing.

“Maybe they felt embarrassed from being bested by a kid. And needed an excuse to run away.” Aaron snickered to himself. Turning around, he headed farther into the ruins.