We decided on a couple of things.

First of all, we reported, or rather Odar did, everything to the party following us - no idea how exactly he managed to do that. We were instructed to gather the village population, or rather their bodies, in one of the houses and then proceed to follow whatever that was that captured Bert and what probably killed the residents.

It was quite a chore - to break into every single building and to carry each person to the old barn which we “rented”. It was a bit far off, but it was the largest building, so we did not have much choice in the matter.

The three of us split and each worked alone, to make things faster. I borrowed a blade from Bert, a shortsword, to enter each house without burning them to the ground.

I was sure that I would be able to do that even without a weapon, but Odar insisted, so I indulged him.

Bert did the same as me, using another blade that we had in our supplies. I was kind of surprised when he pulled one out of the bag we were given back in the city, because it definitely did not look like it should’ve fit in there.

On the other hand, I didn’t know for sure how Odar managed to get into any of those buildings. When we split, he went to the other side of the village, probably on purpose, and was working faster than either of us. He was most likely using his magic, but I didn’t understand why exactly he did not want us, or maybe just me, to see it.

With the grim task done and the bodies gathered in one place, including the decapitated one, I proposed that we burn this building to the ground, just to make sure that nothing weird happens here. Like for example some stray vine-parasite appearing out of thin air and at best nullifying our work, or at worst creating a trap for the second party.

The proposition was swiftly declined though, because “those were our clues, just in case” and apparently the king wanted to inspect those people himself.

Hoping that this decision won’t bite us in the ass, I dropped the subject, and we decided to follow our quarry.

You probably want to know “how?”, since the trail ended in the old man’s house.

Well, it would seem that it indeed ended here, I even checked again, just to be sure, and confirmed that it still looked like the last place we could trace was indeed that house.

To be exact, a back corner of the building, where the broken down bed was, and where the weird vine that captured Bert was coming out of.

Of course, the first thing we did was to move, or rather, destroy the bed completely and inspect every inch of the floor.

We did not need to be that thorough. After removing the bed, we found that right under it, there was a small hole, maybe the size of one’s finger, in one of the planks, that looked like it was drilled through.

Without even a hint of hesitation Odar pulled at it, revealing a loose plank, or rather a hatch and a large opening, let’s say about two human’s size.

It led into a very steep tunnel, going further away from the village and deeper underground. The shape of it looked rough and strange, like something had drilled its way through the ground and made its way somewhere deep underground. Or worse, came out of there.

-This is strange… - said Odar, looking down into the tunnel. - Have any of you ever seen something like this?

-No. Was this thing made by the thing that caught me?

-Maybe? At this point, what does it matter, we’re gonna go down anyway, right? - I asked, inspecting the earthy walls of the tunnel.

-Are you sure that this is the place? - Bert was not convinced.

-I already said, I checked multiple times. The bed, or rather the planks under the bed if you want me to be precise, were the last place I felt the signal from her. If you have any other ideas, be my guest.

-Ergh…

-Of course we are going down. No one is going to defy the king's orders on my watch. But one thing makes me wonder - mumbled Odar, joining me in the tunnel. - Why did the signal disappear?

-Hell if I know. At first I thought it was just the general lack of anything mana-reliant down here, but…

-I guess it is pretty dead down there.

-Yeah, but there are still roots and shit, right? - said Bert, approaching the wall and touching some roots that were sticking out of it. - Wouldn’t that let us trace her further down?

-Exactly… That’s a bit unsettling.

I focused and started tracking her once more, and, as before, the flame was pointing towards the hatch in the floor, or rather the boards that we removed.

-Does this tunnel look weird in any way to any of you? - I asked, dismissing the spell.

They both focused.

-You are the best at sensing those things, it looks like. I admit, I feel some magic residue in the soil and the wood, but nothing that would be strong enough to disrupt your tracking.

-Yeah - added Odar. - From what I can feel this entrance was indeed made with magic, but that’s about it. Nothing weird, most of the older houses were made like that. While this piece - he pointed at the broken hatch - is obviously new, that’s to be expected.

I nodded.

-In any case, we better move. Whatever the reason, there is a good chance that our target is down there. We should move.

We both agreed, although not without some reservations in Bert’s case. Can’t blame him, no sane person would want to just go down into some random hole made by the monster that just a while ago had you captive.

With that, we started descending into the dark tunnel below the village.

At first I wanted to use fire to light our path underground, but almost immediately decided against it, remembering how our enemy reacted even seeing the small spark that I summoned back in the house. After all, we wanted to at least get a feel for this place before being attacked.

Odar came prepared though. He was one leading our trio, with a small light crystal in his hand. Bert was in the middle and I was closing the rear. Every once in a while, we slowed down to let me get a feel for the surroundings - since I was apparently most proficient in that sort of thing - but every time I felt the exact same: nothing besides the mana residue in the soil.

After a few minutes of walking I realized my mistake. Above the ground, I never noticed it thanks to the plants overwhelming most of everything, but now, deeper underground, I could see that it was not just mana residue: the earth itself was just mana rich.

It was not as potent as some mana sources I’ve already had the pleasure of feeling, but it was definitely stronger than it should’ve been. Was that the reason my tracking was disrupted?

Though that did explain why I was able to straight up draw in the dirt and use it as a piece of the spell in the village - since what we attempted needed an enchanted map, using the infused soil we accidentally made exactly that.

It was nice and all, to have something like that ready at all times, that also seemed like a problem. If back on the surface I was fooled and did not notice the infusion levels of the ground thanks to the plants, why wouldn’t it work like this here as well?

We knew that our enemies had very weak signatures when I used the magic sense. Would I be able to even notice them if they approach? Wouldn’t they just blend in in the current, mana rich, environment?

I want to say no, that I am that good at sensing those things, but let’s be real - I already got fooled before.

I did share this piece of information with my companions, and they both confirmed that they also feel the same, meaning we were literally walking in blindly. Not a good prospect. Especially when you are trying to infiltrate a place that is already wary of your presence.

Nevertheless, we had to continue.

The tunnel, which at first was just a straight line leading away from the village, got steeper and started curving around, deeper underground. The walls, earthy at first, now started being more and more rough, consisting of various kinds of stone that were getting bigger and bigger, to the point where we finally were traveling through a tunnel carved completely in rock. It somewhat reminded me of the passages I had to go through to get out of “the bowl”. It was now obviously clear that the tunnel was made by those monsters themselves and just got widened with usage.

Luckily for us, we at least did not have to crouch down to walk yet, it was just wide enough just for one person to walk at once. I can’t tell how long we walked in silence, listening to the slightest noises, being on guard, until we finally arrived at the spot where the carved tunnel gave way to a natural corridor.

It was also when the deafening silence was broken by a low hum. Very quiet at first, yet easily noticeable after so long with absolute lack of sounds aside our own footsteps.

We exchanged looks and got ready for the unknown.

The tunnel we entered was somewhat more spacious than the one beforehand. Besides that and being rough around the edges, it had a lot of smaller branches coming and going away from it. Some on the ground level, some above our heads, although all of them were too small even for a child to sneak through. Deeper we went, more of those were present, to the point where walls were completely covered by this irregular, almost hive-like pattern.

I swear, in the dim light of the crystal I thought I saw something creeping out of a couple of them. I feel like others noticed that as well, because they were intently observing every nook for the potential ambush. Odar even made the crystal brighter to maybe see a bit more than just a few centimeters in.

I soon realized that it was not just my eyes playing tricks on me - there were definitely some creatures living in those tunnels. Even though I never was able to get a good look at one, I definitely was seeing movement in the holes.

We were walking so slowly that I even started using my magic sense to maybe feel up something more than we were able to see, but what I saw was not what I expected, to the point where I had to squint my eyes painfully as I focused up.

Everything surrounding us was as bright as an open flame.

I had to stifle a groan, because that caught me off guard. Both of my companions noticed my sudden stop and confusion, stopped as well, gazing forward, thinking we got ambushed.

But I didn’t care about that. It was unusual and surprising, true, but what I saw in front of me was even weirder.

I did not groan just because I saw our surroundings. They were bright, right, but in front of us, maybe a hundred meters or so, was a literal sun, something so powerful that it was hard to even look at, nor would it be advisable to do so if you wanted to preserve your sight.

At least I now knew why that corridor was so full of mana. It also explained how exactly the spell that was supposed to locate Melle was not working down here - with that amount of mana any kind of magic would go haywire.

Speaking of - I also realized my mistake. Before, I thought that Odar actually controlled that light crystal to make our surroundings brighter, but nope - it was just the effect of our environment - one look at him and his now disrupted mana was enough to see that he was not the one in control.

-We are getting closer. Something powerful is in front.

I quickly restored my senses to normal.

-Be careful. Don’t use magic if you don’t have to. And stop with that light.

-What’s that supposed to mean? - whispered Bert.

-Just do it quickly and take a look yourself. I mean not just with your eyes - I quickly added when he looked at me confused. - Just don’t look immediately in front.

They gazed at each other, concerned, but as they focused, the concern almost instantly got replaced by surprise and disbelief.

-What in the fuck…

-Exactly my thoughts. Now cut the light, if we go any further we’ll be blinded.

-But… I did…

I now realized that indeed, the crystal he was carrying was dark, but the tunnel was still pretty bright. And the light was coming from…

-Okay now. I know I am repeating myself, but what the fuck - said Bert, facing me.

I was the source of the light.

The crystals embedded within me were shining brightly, almost as bright as the light crystal just a second ago, and that was only because they were being dimmed by my clothes.

-What in the hell is that?

-OH.

That was problematic. While Odar knew somewhat about my current predicament, Bert had absolutely no idea.

-Well, I guess the plan of sneaking in is out the window - muttered Odar, curiously gazing at the half of me that became a shining beacon.

-Huh? What? Can someone explain what the hell?

-Not the time, nor the place.

-Will there be ANY other time?

I guess he was right. We were going to walk into a lair of an unknown creature that is apparently stronger than anything you’d ever seen that is most likely controlling the large group of monsters that zombified the whole village.

-I assume you just can’t turn that off - asked Odar, completely ignoring him.

-Wouldn’t that be easy… - I muttered, scratching my arm and trying to cover the light to the best of my ability.

With no effect, might I add.

-Man, when I agreed to go and look for some escaping slaves I did not think I’d get into this shit…

-They are not slaves! - immediately started protesting Odar, so I had to remind him where we were and shush him.

Not like that mattered in the long run.

-Aha right, whatever - Bert did not sound convinced either. - Anyway, can’t we just let you stay here and go alone?

-And how exactly are you going to defend yourself when attacked? You already forgot how problematic those things are?

-You managed to easily destroy the last one, we should be fine. And I thought we shouldn’t use magic anyway, so what does that even matter?

-I mean that’s true, but what, are you just going to stand there? When it comes to this it’s either get killed by a monster that will probably turn you into a zombie or risk blowing yourself up with your own magic. Which one do you fancy? - I asked, slightly irritated.

-He’s right - agreed with me Odar. - And on the bright side, we’ll have a lot more mana to work with, so it might actually be easier to kill those things.

-True. And I never said that the spell backfiring is a 100% chance, who the hell knows how certain magic would react to an abundance of mana. To be honest, I really can’t picture your magic going haywire. What, you’re going to freeze more? That's a boon, not a problem.

-You actually might be right… - Odar muttered. - I can picture my magic going awry in multiple ways, same with Mor’s fire. But yours… It's perfect.

-Hmm…

-Yeah - I nodded. - And on top of that, you also have that weapon of yours. In the…

I stopped mid sentence.

We were preoccupied with all those revelations, as in me glowing, abundance of mana, the beacon in front of us and all, that we did notice the other source of light in our party.

The bow was glowing as well.

-Ha. I’m not the only problem it seems. Your bow likes to suck on stray mana as well.

-Ah! So THAT’S the enchantment… I knew it felt strange - said Odar under his breath and then added aloud - If that’s the case, he is probably right, there is a good chance it will prove useful.

-Yeah. And since you want to leave me behind, you’d have to leave the bow too. It’s not as a shining beacon as me, but in this darkness it is also easily noticeable.

Bert grumbled something inaudible, but did not part way with his weapon.

-I see we continue then?

Both of us nodded.

Not like I was going to let them leave me behind, I was not going to pass the occasion to inspect whatever that was in front of us, giving this massive aura.

After this exchange we again started moving forward, but this time a lot faster than before. We no longer tried to sneak in - with the two of us glowing that probably would be impossible.

As we were getting closer and closer to that anomalous amalgamation of mana, the humming was getting louder and louder. Annoyingly, my arm also started getting numb, or rather the whole side of my body where crystal was melding with flesh.

Trying to shake that unpleasant feeling I started rubbing it with my other hand, trying to get my feeling back, but I noticed that I was mistaken. It was not like I was losing feeling in my arm, it was just that the crystal was starting to vibrate.

I also noticed that both of my companions were suddenly not in the best shape.

Bert was swaying from side to side, having trouble walking straight, while his bow was constantly getting brighter and brighter, just like me. But that was not the worst part.

The problem was Odar. He, similarly to Bert, had some issues with keeping balance, but in his case it was ten times worse. He was, straight up, walking from wall to wall, leaning on each one every couple meters or so.

He was making a lot of noise too. Every time he stopped at the wall he groaned and mumbled something that sounded like a bunch of swears.

-Well, if stealth was not out of the question already, it definitely is now. Are you both all right? - I asked after yet another series of wall-zigzag.

He did not reply, he was most likely too high and or drunk.

-Too much mana… - said the only other somewhat conscious person. - I don’t think he can walk much further like this…

-I’m not sure you can either… - I replied, looking Bert over. - At least your bow is keeping you somewhat sober…

-Not for long I fear… - he grabbed Odar who almost fell over on some random rock that was on the ground. - What are we even doing here…

-Good question… What, you want to come back?

But before he was able to reply, Odar suddenly spoke up.

-NO. We’re going to shee thish thing till the end if that’sh the last thing I do!

He still was absolutely smashed, but even then he started protesting.

-I guess there’s your answer… - said Bert, letting Odar lean on him, helping him walk. - In any case, how the hell are you still standing straight… this much mana…

-You have help from your bow, I have help from this - I pointed to my glowing bits.

-Handy.

-Pff. Right. It has its downsides.

-Fuck your downsides, help me instead.

And the three of us, like a bunch of drunkards, started staggering forward, leaning on each other, to the source of this bullshit.