The Devil Doctor, who had been concentrating on dissecting a corpse, turned around and frowned.

The Hashashin that had been staying near the laboratory’s door since his arrival a while ago, suddenly dashed outside.

‘An intruder?’

The doctor, Sephron, also sensed a strong magical presence within the underground path outside of his laboratory.

After a momentary hesitation, Sephron chased after the Hashashin.

“Stop!”

The Hashashin had his double-aged thin sword to the intruder’s neck.

“...”

“I’m here to ask for your help.” Spoke an elderly man wearing a long robe and wizardly hat.

Gaffron Gaol didn’t even spare a glance at the Hashashin, his eyes fixated on the Devil Doctor.

“I am Gaffron Gaol, a mage. I’m suffering from Irregular Mana Flow and Mana Deficiency. Both ailments are said to be untreatable, so I’ve come to you for aid, Sir Sephron.”

The Devil Doctor scrutinized Gaffron, his eyes seeing beyond the flesh and focusing on the unstable Mana flow and its low density.

Even then, a sick and old mage shouldn’t have been able to reach this place. This laboratory was isolated from the outside world and surrounded by ancient elven ruins that were fright with all sorts of danger. An elderly and sick mage wouldn’t be able to come here.

“How did you find this place?”

Gaffron slowly extended his hand to his pocket and took out a magical artifact that looked like a glowing blue arrow.

This arrow shook violently and freed itself from Gaffron’s grasp before flying to Sephron: It stopped at a 2m distance from him and then disappeared.

“Put down your blade.” Ordered the Devil Doctor, but the Hashashin didn’t obey. Unfortunately for him, his body was suddenly hit by an invisible force that made him crash into the wall and break a couple of bones.

Although he hastily stood up, the wounds sustained made his movement sluggish and visibly slow. Still, he didn’t retaliate against Sephron, he just stood there and kept glaring at Gaffron Gaol.

“I cannot just let anyone in here, especially not an unknown mage.”

“Of course!” Gaffron broke into a soft smile as he approached the Devil Doctor and put his hands up as if asking to be bound.

A couple of minutes later, Gaffron was led to the heart of the laboratory. He wasn’t imprisoned, but Sephron did warn him not to use any type of spell or else he would kill him.

“I didn’t come here empty-handed, Sir Sephron. Will this be enough?”

Gaffron pulled out a golden ring from his left middle finger and put it on the table.

“This…”

Once he inspected, and eventually used the ring, which was a storage artifact, the Devil Doctor had a look of complete shock on his face.

“Three years of searching and a fortune, I hope they are enough to pay for your help.”

Sephron didn’t respond, he took out the two bodies within the ring. One was a relatively short one… that of a Fire Dwarf.

The second one was even more unexpected. A surprisingly fresh corpse of a Silver Elf.

“The elf… where did you find it??”

“I’m magically bound not to reveal the source. I’m sorry.”

Sephron sighed but didn’t insist. He spent the next half hour inspecting every inch of the two bodies, looking visibly excited by their near unscathed conditions.

“I know how to treat the Irregular Mana Flow, but Mana Deficiency is problematic. It’s different from one patient to the other, and the only way to lessen its effects is to regularly consume high-grade Mana Potions. Still, I will study your body and do some research.”

Sephron stood straight and spoke without looking at the visibly anxious Gaffron.

“I will start working on an Elixir that will facilitate treating the first ailment. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but the Sultan’s Hashashin will not let you leave anytime soon. Even if I were to open the way for you, he’ll eventually find you and kill you.”

“No problem. Thank you for your help, Sir Sephron. You truly are the best healer.”

“I am a Doctor, not a healer.” Snapped back the wrinkly old man as he resumed examining the dead Silver Elf.

“I’m telling you, Arthur! My senses are tingling! There’s something here!”

The group of five had finally reached the base of one of the Rocky Mountains, but apart from small caves that housed some beasts, there were no signs of an underground path.

Most of the day was spent scouting the vicinity and trying to find a hidden entrance. So far, unfortunately, their search bore no fruit.

However, Christopher kept insisting that he was feeling strange and that his senses were alerting him of a ‘treasure’, though the last part was probably made-up.

“If you can sense it, then point us in the right direction. Shouldn’t it be easy?”-Isabella

“Bella! It’s not that easy, okay?! I just… feel something lurking under the sand. Hmm… it’s like that weird feeling you get when you’re being watched.”

“It could be the Devil Doctor.” Charles suggested with a serious expression.

“Didn’t you get [Mana Sensitivity]? It must be heightened by [Magic Amplification]. That allows you to sense magical fluctuations.”-Arthur

“It could be! But I think it’s something else. A lost godly treasure, perhaps? Or forgotten ruins!”-Chris

“We already know that there are ruins beneath the sand. That’s where the Devil Doctor’s laboratory is.”-Isabella.

Looking deflated, Chris sighed,, no longer trying to convince them.

Admittedly, none of them called him a liar, but even if he did sense something, there was nothing they could do about it.

“Okay okay! Gather up everyone, a brilliant idea came to me!”

Not even a minute later, Chris spoke with a loud voice while beckoning the four of them.

Evelyn and Arthur half-heartedly approached him while Isabella and Charles looked pretty intrigued.

“There are ruins beneath us, yes? We don’t know how deep they are, but we can reach them.” Chris grinned and pointed at himself, “I can teleport us there!”

“You don’t know how to properly use it.”

“Then we experiment. I’ll only take you with me, Arthur, and if it fails and we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere, you’ll save my ass!”

“That’s a stupid and impractical plan. Relying on your magical expertise, or lack thereof, is too risky. Also, didn’t you boast about teleporting yourself from a desert to some flying islands? The range of your spell is totally random. In the worst case, you and Master would be teleported to another continent and won’t be able to return.”

“She’s got a point, Chris. Plus, you better save your Mana. We might need to urgently escape and your Teleport spell might be invaluable then.”

“You too? Fine. We’ll continue our slow and excruciating search under the blazing sun, then.” Chris unceremoniously waved his hand and walked away, but Arthur quickly caught up to him.

“I will use the worm host to search under the sand. However, even if I find an accessible place, you all won’t be able to join me that easily. Originally, I didn’t want our group to separate, but we’ve wasted enough time here.”

“Then what? Are we supposed to wait for you on the surface?”

“You’re no children, Chris. You’ll do fine without me. I’ll try to return before the night ends, but if I don't, then you can assume that I’ve met with a problem.”

“...”

After a bit of pondering, Chris nodded once. “You’re a tough bastard, so find that goddamn laboratory, okay? And don’t go charging at this ‘doctor’ on your own. We are a team.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t want you to miss the fun.”

“Exactly.”