Placed upon the table before her, the pet Slime oscillated its gelatinous body in response to Morganna's touch. When Morganna put a little more strength in her finger, she was able to break through the Slime's surface and into its body. While at first there was resistance, soon, she could feel the gelatinous body wrapped around her finger, feeling as if the Slime was suckling up to it. Moments later, Morganna pulled her finger out, noting that there did not seem to be any visible damage upon her skin. The Slime seemed to be able to tell the difference between its food and its owner, as it did not appear to have made any attempts to dissolve Morganna's finger as it did the pieces of dried meat she fed to it.

While both Auguste and Morganna were supposed to be on nightwatch duty, there was only one entrance and only one pair of eyes were needed. With Auguste keeping vigilance, all Morganna needed to do was provide support when things do come up. As such, Morganna could engross herself with the Slime.

After spending quite a bit of time with the Slime ever since Auguste brought it back with him in a bottle, Morganna was able to confirm one thing, that the Slime was not a living being. Morganna could tell from its Ether, that the Slime was mostly made of water with traces of what would be known as protein. There wasn't a single thing within the Slime that could be considered alive and yet, it behaved like a living being. At one point, it could all be explained as some kind of twisted creation from the Abyss, but so far, the Heaven's Ward did not seem to be affecting it.

Morganna couldn't understand how it worked. She had seen all sorts of creature from the Dungeon, many of which made no sense, but as far as the ones that could exist beneath the Heaven's Ward, the Slime was something she had never quite seen before.

As she pondered the existence wiggling beneath her touch, Morganna thought back to what Joseph had said, about the behavior of Ether within living and nonliving objects. Only the Ether within living things will form Ethereal Threads that extend outside of the body, allowing for witches such as Morganna to link their own Ethereal Thread with that of the object. It was through this method that the witches absorb the memories within their catalyst used to construct their Abyssal magic. Morganna was able to extract the memories from the Slime's Ether, meaning that, at the very least, the Ether within it was behaving as if it was in a living object. How this was done was not clear. In fact, Morganna could not even fathom it.

She could distinctively feel it, her own ignorance. It was like staring up a mountain and only understanding that it was tall, unable to actually see how high the peak lies, not even knowing if the peak was there at all. Upon reaching that epiphany, Morganna, for the first time, wondered if running away from home was for the best.

With her thoughts tormenting her, Morganna raised her head and took a peek at Auguste, the one she stepped out into the world with. What would have happened if she had not met him in the woods that day? What would have happened if he was not there to fight the great boar with her? She didn't want to imagine it. She was confident that she would have survived regardless, though perhaps not without injury. But, even if she did, remembering the range of emotions she had felt back then, the lingering fear of death, the panic of facing an opponent that the flames she was so proud of could not easily burn. Had she been alone, she might not have gained the courage she needed to step outside of the forest. It was only by triumphing against it did Morganna first gain the confidence, arrogance even, to believe that she'd be fine leaving the nest she was confined to.

"Morgan, Auguste, it's time to switch."

A voice calling to them pulled Morganna from her thoughts. Turning to the voice, Morganna found Elaine, her hair disheveled and her eyes sleepy from just having woken up. Somehow, she was always able to wake up without help no matter which shift she's been put on, making Morganna wonder if she's getting decent sleep at all.

"Hm? Something the matter?" said Elaine upon catching Morganna's gaze.

"It's nothing..." A wave of embarrassment kept Morganna from voicing her concern. Elaine was a grownup, other than Gladiolus, she's the most mature of the group. She didn't need Morganna to worry about her, that's how Morganna thought about it.

"I'll go wake Henri for you," said Auguste, stretching as he stood up from the chair.

"It's fine, we had quite a hike getting to the ruin didn't we? She looked pretty worn out from it, so let her sleep. I can handle this."

"You spoil her. Two sets of eyes are obviously better than one. And you can't exactly fight if something came up can you?"

"Oh, don't you worry, I can at least defend myself," Elaine showed off the humble woodcutter's axe she carried with her. "Besides, if something happens, you and Gladiolus would be able to jump right up from bed, wouldn't you?"

It was true. Gladiolus, being a seasoned traveler, and Auguste, being thoroughly 'trained' by Cera, were able to go into full alert at the drop of a hat. All Elaine had to do is call out, and they'd be ready to leap into a fight right then and there.

"........."

However, Auguste wasn't quite yet convinced. He was well aware that small slipups can easily lead to a party being wiped out. At the same time, he did saw Elaine's point. Henrietta was tired, and her little tantrum at the elevator might be signs that she's at her limit. Not to mention that the Dungeon can do strange things to one's body and mind. How long was it since they saw the sun, the real sun? As he made a mental note to suggest taking a break once they're freed by the Orcus, Auguste made his decision.

"Guess I'll stay up a little longer then. I'm not that tired yet."

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think I can take it."

"Auguste, you..." Elaine was about to say something, but it looked like she couldn't find the words she was looking for. "Alright then, as long as you're not pushing yourself."

"I could say the same to you."

Morganna was a little envious of Auguste. He was a man with no stops, someone who, in her perspective, always spoke his mind openly without the need to put up a front. It made him annoying at times when he had nothing good to say, but his honest and straightforward nature was appreciated by everyone around him, be it the late Conrad, Albert, and of course, the members of this party. Morganna could feel that they all trusted him greatly, herself included, and even Henrietta, who tended to be on the receiving end of his teasing. Even when he brought that hi-catalyst back with him during their stay in Iotas Tria and said that they're going to sell it to the highest bidder, no one batted an eye. They were surprised, sure, but no one questioned his motives. They all believed that it was so that the party could turn a profit, just like he said.

Of course, that honest nature of his also got them into trouble later, when he spilled the beans about having the hi-catalyst in his possession. Morganna was pretty sure that they're in the Lightbringers shit list by this point. Still, even then, even after becoming disliked by Albert and Helena, the latter she was sure he had feelings for, Auguste bounced right back the next day as if nothing was ever different. Auguste was strong, he had been the day Morganna met him. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have been able to face that great boar head-on so that she might escape. In the end, they took it out together, but no doubt he had planned to do something about it himself.

"Go on ahead and sleep, we got this," Auguste said to Morganna.

"You must be tired, aren't you? It's been a long day, after all," Elaine added.

"Yeah... Goodnight," Morganna said meekly.

Honestly, she felt like the youngest one in the party at times. She wasn't all that sure about the ages of everyone there, but she believed that Auguste should be about the same age as her. Even so, next to Elaine, he seemed like an adult. The way they talked to one another, the way they compose themselves... Comparing herself with them, she felt so lacking. Even Finn, who she thought of as something like a younger brother of the party, seemed to have outgrown her in these days. He seemed to have received some advice as to his talents and how to grow his abilities at the temple back in Iotas Tria.

Back then, Morganna didn't think that she needed her capabilities graded by others, that she knew herself the best and needed no opinions from someone else. However, at some point, she was beginning to struggle. She was starting to see that she had little idea as to what she was lacking and without that knowledge, she found it difficult to grow. While it's true that she was steadily mastering her fire magic, it also meant that soon, she could be hitting a bottle cap. She had realized that there was only so much she could do with her fire. To make matters worse, her new catalyst, the tool that allowed her to keep up with the rest of the party, the wand made of miller's bran, it wasn't made by her nor was it even her idea. It was Joseph's idea, the idea of a Mystic who seemed to know far more about the Abyssal Arts than even Morganna herself, a witch. No, the truth of the matter was, she wasn't even truly a witch, just a half-arse that thought herself as one, and the conversation with Joseph the other day only made it painfully more obvious.

Leaning her stolen staff by the wall, Morganna crawled into the bed that had been built into the wall. She took off her hat and placed it on top of her face to block off the bright lights of the room. Sure, they'd sleep better with the lights off, but they wouldn't be able to see the danger coming in the dark.

With her face hidden beneath the witch's hat that did not belong to her, Morganna carried her troubled thoughts with her in her slumber.

And thusly, the nightmare begins.

***

End of Chapter 70