The meal was rather short and the conversation between the warriors and Jake continued until the last of the soup was eaten. Then, the men returned to taking care of their personal needs. Whether it was weapons maintenance, bathing, or resting. The men spread out within the cave to handle their business. Tux and Ryn established a timeline to ensure the men rotated through guard shifts and the two frequently walked through the cavern, checking on the warriors both physically and mentally. The day had been long, and they knew their warriors well. The stubborn would wave off sleep and the newer fighters would fail to notice certain imperfections in their gear. The experience of their leaders made up for the shortcomings of the regular rank and file and both Tux and Ryn showed Jake why they were in their positions.

Aside from the Warriors, the healer was an outcast. He had shown a general lack of care towards others, failed to pick up on the social cues, and essentially isolated himself through his actions. Jake had tried to speak with him once or twice but the Oryk's prickly personality made doing so a waste of time. Instead, Jake took some time to handle personal maintenance of his own. He took a quick bath in the flowing river, washed his clothes, and then checked his dagger for any blemishes. He hadn't used it so there was no real need to but Jake wasn't going to trust time. The blade was sharp, clean, and ready to go if he needed it. Even so, Jake utilized a whetstone and carefully ran his blade over the rock a few times to ensure his eyes weren't lying to him.

Then, the boy went to the fissure on the floor. The dark gap made him uneasy. He wasn't able to see the bottom but a gentle breeze was coming from below. There was an opening somewhere within its depths, a connection to a place he could not see. There were no Maedra in the cavern, nor were there any signs of them living in or passing through it. It was odd. An anomaly. Jake would have expected an almost Maudrake-level creature in the space, especially with how dense the mana was in the air. It was strong enough to support a creature of that size for a short time. Just long enough for it to exist and live for a brief period until it ultimately ate through the power within the crystals.

Unless said crystals contained more mana than Jake thought. He couldn't measure the exact amount. He could only guess that it was a lot. For there to be enough to manifest crystallized objects of the fuel source, Jake could only imagine the sheer quantity of it all. Which made him wonder even more as to why the Maedra weren't manifesting within the cave.

Jake stepped away from the fissure in the floor and walked over to one of the larger outcroppings of crystal. He brushed his hand over the smooth surface and shivered as his mana instantly reacted to the contact. There was a soft buzzing in his hand and his mana trembled. The crystal reacted as well. Its bluish-green color shimmered and pulsed as it detected the foreign contact. Jake gripped the crystal and attempted to draw on the mana within it. He could. With just a little tug, Jake's own mana flow began to feed off the object. The boy's eyebrows furrowed as he made the discovery, and he let go, careful to cut the connection.

"There's no reason for them not to be here..." Jake mumbled as he stared at the crystal. If Jake could draw on the power within the object, then the Maedra could certainly drink from it or just outright eat the things.

So where were they?

"Tux, Ryn." Jake called out to the two leaders. In doing so, he gained not only their attention but the eyes of a few other warriors that were awake.

"What's up?" Tux asked as he walked over.

"You said you never came across this before, right?" Jake asked. Tux nodded and then looked at Ryn, who answered verbally to confirm he hadn't either.

"I've only seen mana crystals after we kill the Beasts. I've never seen them natural like this," Ryn said.

"I haven't either. We usually gather crystals from the Beasts directly. To find something like this is unprecedented for us."

"And there are no records of any other team coming across crystal like this?" Jake looked at the crystal outcropping he stood next to, and then up towards the massive one in the ceiling.

"Nope." "Negative."

"I don't like this," Jake said aloud. A few Warriors nearby paused at their work and looked at him. Tux and Ryn exchanged looks.

"The Beasts thrive off natural, untapped, and unfiltered mana. These crystals are the condensed and hardened forms of that mana, but where are they? I can't sense them, I can't smell them, and we obviously haven't been attacked. I don't like that," Jake explained. It was odd that the Maedra weren't here in force. It was an anomaly that bothered him to no end. He appreciated the break in combat and was happy to not have to deal with a Maudrake- but it should be here. Why wasn't it?

"What are you suggesting, then?"

"Either there's something in these crystals keeping the beasts away..." Jake knocked his knuckles against the crystal, causing the mana within it to stir. Then, he looked towards the crack in the floor. "Or something is hunting them, and it's not us."

His words seemed a bit outlandish but there was little other explanation for the absence of the Maedra. The creatures were a prolific thing. They lived in every crevice of this Ravine and thrived anywhere and everywhere loose mana had collected. For them not to be here made absolutely no sense, so there were only two available options. The crystals were acting as deterrents because of some chemical makeup, causing them to work like the Collector crystals from the village, or there was something much bigger, much scarier, nearby. Something that could stand against the Maedra and make eating such a delicious treat too dangerous.

Yir had said the Gods were considering sending a Guardian to the Ravine, but that other woman had said there was no need to do so. Why would she say that? Did she come to the Ravine herself? Had she dispatched something ahead of the Guardian to deal with the Maedra? Jake believed the first guess to be wrong. If she were here, he figured he would know. A woman of her strength would leave plenty of residual mana behind and the Maedra would be in a frenzy to take a bite. Which meant she knew of something he didn't.

Jake had fought two hordes in the tunnel next to the Cavern. For this place to be empty just after those hordes was far too convenient. Whatever was hunting the Maedra had to be close-by still. It could be down the tunnel and the fissure in the floor could be the wrong direction. However, if whatever was down here was hunting the Maedra, there was no need for it to turn around and go back in the direction it had just cleared. Jake had been dealing with the hordes ahead of it, so Jake felt it a good guess that it turned left and went into the gap in the floor. Both to hunt the Maedra further and to avoid potential conflict with Jake and the Oryks behind him.

Of course, that was all one big assumption that relied on the idea that there was something else down here other than Jake that could slaughter the Maedra efficiently and without damaging the surrounding cavern. Jake could only think of one being capable of doing such a thing, and Chul was dead.

"Impossible. We would have encountered such a creature before," Ryn huffed, folding his arms as he stared at Jake. The boy scoffed.

"Would you have? I've reviewed the maps of the tunnels. The progress in those where the Beast have a strong presence is laughable. If I had to guess, this is the furthest from your village your teams have ever reached." Jake raised his eyebrows and spoke flatly as he returned Ryn's stare. The warrior's face stiffened and his muscles tensed. He looked ready to retort when Tux sighed.

"So? What do you plan to do?" Tux said, his own eyes drifting towards the fissure. "Jump down there and try to find it?"

"Yes. This place is secure and I don't sense any of the beasts. The stone wall I made should hold fine and if the beasts do try to get through, you all should have enough time to retreat before they break through. If I don't find anything, I'll come back. I can handle the beasts if they overrun your team so you don't have to wait on me."

"Sounds stupid," Ryn spat. Tux nodded. Jake rolled his eyes.

"I agree. If this creature does exist, why should you chase after it in the first place?" Tux adjusted his posture, shifting his weight onto one leg as he crossed his arms. He wasn't completely dismissing Jake's plan but it was more he wanted Jake to convince him to follow along. The problem was that Jake didn't have much reason to argue for his mini-expedition. The Maedra were being handled, that was a good thing. Beast or not, the Village was safer with it around killing off the one thing threatening them. However, Jake simply didn't like that there was something of that power lurking around. Especially something that could move about so freely.

"Curiosity," Jake said. He walked towards the fissure after his answer.

"That's it?" Ryn called to him. Jake nodded as he knelt beside the split in the stone.

"Whatever it is, if there is something else down here, it's strong, agile, and quick, and it's a potential threat. I would rather be the hunter and go out to find it than stumble on it later, or hear about another team encountering it." Jake conjured up another light ball and tossed it down into the dark. However, this time, it stuck to the wall part of the way down. He lobbed a few more, lighting a path as far down as he could before the lights began to fade. Eventually, though, he started to see the lights pile up. There was a bottom, at least.

"Fair assessment but I can't agree with letting you go alone," Tux spoke calmly. Jake found that also fair. Their kind did everything in large groups. The Maedra was a formidable foe to them and it took several teams just to handle a small force of the creatures. In almost every encounter, the probability of death was extremely high. For them to agree to send Jake out alone would go against everything they trained and prepared for. Even if they had witnessed him decimating so many of the beasts by himself.

Jake also felt uneasy. He was a capable spellcaster, but he had been lucky to not come across any Magic Resistant Maedra up until now. His dagger remained unused and fresh, but what if he came across a horde of the Resistant-types? And if he were by himself? He had trained and honed his magic skills. As a consequence, his blade work had lagged behind. The Fang Technique would likely make up for some shortcomings but it was unreliable and untested in combat.

Waiting was the proper answer here. The safe bet. He lost nothing by waiting and staying behind. Jake clenched his teeth and stared down at the lights, eyeing them warily as he teetered on the idea of just jumping down.

Tux placed a hand on his shoulder and knelt beside him, the warrior's own eye peering down into the fissure.

"There's no need to rush into danger, Jake," he said. His voice was low, full of concern. "I understand your fear and unease over something like that lurking within the tunnels, but I think it unwise to jump headlong into such an unknown. If it is strong enough to handle the Beasts, then it is strong enough to handle you. Don't you think?" The warrior brought up a good point.

If there truly was something within the tunnels skulking around, surviving, killing Maedra. Then whatever it was, Jake wouldn't be able to kill it all by himself. If he had Pharos Squad with him then it wouldn't be a question. On his own? The odds weren't exactly in his favor. There were too many variables, too many possibilities. Magic Resistance was the biggest. If the creature could brush off his magic, then he would be fucked.

Jake let out a sigh and cut off the mana feeding the light balls. They remained in the dark, burning through the mana in their cores, before slowly blinking away one by one. The boy stepped away from the ledge and huffed.

"You're right. I'll wait." Jake had made the rash decision to plunge into a split in the ground before, and that hadn't gone well. Doing it twice with similar circumstances wasn't the most intelligent of decisions to make.

"Sarge! They're here!" From the far side of the cavern, the sentry watching the tunnel called out.

"Good timing," Tux said aloud as he started walking towards it. Jake was on his heels, as was Ryn. The trio stepped into the entryway just as Captain Lin stepped up to meet them.

"You lot are full of surprises today, aren't you?" Captain Lin lauded as he brushed passed them and into the cavern. He stopped a few paces in, his hands meeting his hips as his eye traced over the massive space. "To clear this much tunnel would have taken months, and you did it all in a day. Not only that but this is a fantastic place to set an outpost and expand the village's influence."

Jake clenched his teeth and his hands met behind his back. He felt a little embarrassed to hear that kind of praise. Tux and Ryn were largely unaffected so Jake steadied his emotions and kept himself from getting too excited. Sure, they had made it this far, but there were plenty of worries to come with it.

The reinforcements spilled into the cavern and Captain Lin's forces quickly moved to replace Ryn's and Tux's. The warriors greeted one another with smiles and those who had been lucky enough to come along began to share the experience. The two sentries on the far side were also relieved but the four warriors started chatting rather than swapping instantly.

Along with Captain Lin's warriors, two additional warrior teams, a scout team, a group of four more healers, and a small group of workers entered the stone walls. The quiet cavern quickly became noisy. Jake didn't exactly like that change. It wasn't loud to the point that he feared the Maedra would be tipped off but it was enough to make him glance a few times towards the rip in the floor.

"Sergeant. We're back," a voice called out to Tux from the tail end of the incoming mob. The four warriors they had left behind had tagged along. Tux looked happy to see them.

"No problems?" Tux asked, looking over his men.

"None. We sat in the cold for a bit but Captain Lin came to meet us not long after the Runner left. He didn't like the idea of us being isolated, so he set up a second camp around us until the others showed up," the warrior explained. Tux let out a sigh of relief as the stress tugging on his eye seemed to fade. He placed a hand on the shoulders of two of his warriors and smiled at them all.

"Glad to see you are safe. We're heading back to the village now. You four good to walk?"

"Good to go," was the general answer. Tux nodded and whistled for the attention of his men. Ryn's group was already gathering a few paces away and Ryn was going over their return tasks. The gear scattered around was then quickly gathered, the floor mats retrieved, and the maintenance materials returned to packs. The teams were ready to move in only a few minutes.

"Tux, Ryn," Captain Lin detached himself from the small council of those who would work to establish the outpost and opened his stride so he could speak to the two team leaders. Jake was only a few feet away so he turned to include himself.

"The far tunnel, can it be opened?" He asked. Tux and Ryn immediately looked at Jake, which caused Captain Lin to look at him as well.

"I can open the other side if you'd like. I don't recommend it until whatever you're doing here is complete, though. We didn't clear past here," Jake said.

"He's right. We made it here and then settled in. If he opens up the far tunnel, you all could be attacked," Tux added.

Captain Lin grabbed onto his silvery beard and stroked it slowly, his eye moving from Jake to the far, blocked-off exit. He hummed loudly to himself, blinked a few times, and then nodded.

"Then we'll leave it closed! I can have the Workers clear it later when we're settled in here," Captain Lin grinned and then planted his hands on his waist. He puffed out his chest, inhaled, and Jake prepared himself for a loud speech. "Good work, gentlemen. Head back to the village and enjoy your rest. Workers are inside the tunnel setting Collector crystals and lights in the ceiling, so make sure to give them space. Be careful on your way back."

After addressing the Warriors, he turned to Jake and grinned down at him.

"And you, scout. Well done today. If not for you, we certainly would still be struggling along. I hope you continue to work hard for the village, and I look forward to hearing of your exploits!"

"Thanks," Jake said dryly. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to hear the praise but the fact that the Captain failed to use his name or acknowledge him being a mage bugged him.

"We'll be leaving, then. Thanks, Sir." Tux and Ryn bowed together and then turned to their warriors. "Let's go. No need to wait on the scout! It's friendly territory from here," Tux shouted. His men nodded and began to flow into the tunnel, their legs thumping on the stone as they began the long trip back. Jake stayed behind and made his way to the far side of the cavern. The two sentries standing there looked at him oddly as he approached and stared as Jake placed his hand against the rock. He closed his eyes and then stretched his sensory magic into the tunnel. Before he left, he wanted to give the unchecked tunnel one last look.

He was happy he did.

On the other side, Jake picked up on a disturbance. Something felt off. The mana in the air was far less than he would have expected. He stretched the Sensory spell further and picked up on a small group of Maedra and a few Maudraga. They were moving up the tunnel, headed towards him. The boy pulled his hand away from the wall and immediately knelt on the floor. Mana leaked from his hands, and he fed it into the floor on the far side, preparing to utilize rock magic to reinforce the wall if necessary.

"Go get Captain Lin," Jake spat. The Warriors hesitated, looking at each other blankly and confused. Jake snarled and barked. "GO GET CAPTAIN LIN!"

"O-Okay!" One of the sentries sprinted away from the wall and headed straight for the Captain, who was already looking their way.

Jake kept his Sensory magic trained ahead of him and watched as Maedra after Maedra flowed down the tunnel, approaching the wall he had made. Maudraga lingered at the rear, and they were gathering in number as well. He couldn't sense them preparing any spells just yet but that was only a matter of time. Jake heard hurried footsteps and Captain Lin's voice followed after.

"What's the matter?"

"Beasts. At least thirty Warrior types and around ten Mages," Jake said. He gave a rough estimate with his numbers as counting them all would take too long.

"We don't have the forces for that, Sir." One of the sentries said. Captain Lin glared at him.

"No, but we have a Mage of our own," Captain Lin chuckled. He turned and whistled loudly into the cavern, the piercing noise capturing the attention of the majority of those inside. His warriors in particular perked up. "Tomb Squad, on me!"

Tomb? Jake recognized that name.

The warriors hustled to collect their shields, armor, and weapons. Most were ready but a few had been told to rest. They were geared up in less than two minutes and ready to fight. Captain Lin turned to face his men and slammed his fist against the stone wall. The Maedra on the other side must have heard the impact, as they flinched. Jake clenched his teeth.

"On the other side of this wall is a small horde of Beasts. And I think a little brawl is in order. Anyone disagree?"

A few of the warriors chuckled. One stuffed his helmet over his head and rapped his knuckles against his shield.

"Good!" Captain Lin belted. He stepped away from the wall and towards the cavern. "Everyone! I need your attention!" After calling for his warriors, he already had that. The workers had all stopped their tasks, the other warriors had gathered into their own teams, and the healers seemed uneasy. "I need all non-combatants to the other side of the cavern! Vex squad. Provide a shield wall and protect the civilians. Red team, on me. There are Beasts gathering on the other side of this wall, and we're going to fight them!"

"Captain, they're attacking!" Jake noticed a spike in mana and several of the Maudragas began to glow. Jake triggered his own magic and erected several slabs of stone on the far side of the wall. Their spells triggered and the impacts followed a beat later. The wall and floor shuddered and quaked from the impacts. The howls of Maedra on the far side rumbled as they screeched.

"Move!" Captain Lin belted the order, triggering a mass of controlled chaos within the cavern. The warriors split into their teams. Red team hurried to join Tomb, while Vex began to direct the civilians into the safe tunnel. Materials, tools, and inessential items were abandoned as the non-combatants scrambled to safety. The healers established themselves in the middle of the cavern, splitting the distance between the exit and the enemy to ensure they could retreat quickly if needed.

"Can you drop the wall?" Captain Lin asked.

"I'll do you better," Jake huffed. The Maudraga barrage stuttered, and Jake took advantage. He shattered the crumbling rock slabs he had hastily pushed out of the floor and then used wind magic to turn the stones into projectiles. The Maedra in the front row were pelted by the high-speed stones, some of them injured and crippled. But none were killed. Jake focused and created a fire sigil on the opposite side of the wall. With no clear view, he couldn't aim, but he didn't need to. He would simply saturate the air with his counter.

The Maudraga began their second assault and Jake met their spells with Fire Cones. The sigil he created covered the wall, and he fired off dozens of small projectiles. The explosive runes tore into the Maudraga spells, burrowing into the cores of the spells before exploding. The mixture of powerful mana, fire, and the shock wave tore into the ranks of the Maedra. The Fire Cones that didn't strike Maudraga spells instead hit the Maedra directly, blasting and shredding flesh.

With no way to see what was happening, the Warriors maintained their box formation and stared at the wall. The sounds of the explosions, the screams of the Maedra, and the shaking of the floor made them uneasy. Captain Lin stared at Jake and even chuckled a bit.

"Taking all the glory for yourself?" The Oryk asked. Jake huffed.

"Lightening the load," Jake retorted. While a joke, Captain Lin grunted. There were more threats beyond the barrier than the noises let on.

His spells blew through the initial rows of the Maedra but the Maudraga spells eventually overwhelmed the quantity of Fire Cones. Jake could only produce so many at once, where the Maudraga increased their numbers and fired off a relentless barrage. The Fire Sigil was struck, the mana flow within it disturbed by the impacts, and Jake felt the power of the spell slip. He fired off a final volley before another impact crippled the sigil, shattering it. The battering of the wall began again and Jake began to crumble the stone internally.

"Ready?" Jake asked.

"As ever!" Captain Lin put on his helmet and drew his sword. He took point at the head of his men, beside Jake. "Ready yourselves!" He shouted. The Warriors raised their shields, their grips tensing. Jake took in a long breath. The wall cracked and split, hairline fractures emerging throughout the barrier. He could feel it teeter on the verge of failing.

Before it collapsed, he cut his connection. He stood up and raised his hands at his sides. Powerful gusts of wind churned in front of him, the air twirling and whistling loudly as he gathered as much force as he could muster. Then, he shoved the wind forward, blowing the wall apart and filling the space on the other side with a massive onslaught of stone, a slicing gale, and cloudy dust. The Maudraga spells blew apart from impacting the incoming rock, and the Maedra at the front were struck by the barrage of stone.

"Kill them all!" Captain Lin's powerful voice thundered over the howl of the wind.

Jake grabbed his dagger and plunged into the tunnel, Captain Lin and his Warriors at his back. The boy quickly fed mana into the weapon, igniting the enchantment sigils etched into its makeup. The blade shimmered, a bright orange hue glossing over its edge as Jake fed fire mana into the hilt. His fingers clutched the leather wrappings, and he felt the muscles in his arm tighten as he readied to swing. His left hand raised, mana spilling forth as he filled the air with Stone Breakers. They whistled and the floor cracked as they blew through their targets, clearing a path as he further shattered the Maedra line.

He put wind to his heels and jumped upwards, surging overhead as he locked on to the Maudraga at the rear. He emerged from the dust cloud, his vision clearing and exposing the rotting Mages to his glowering eyes. He clutched his dagger. His eyes widened. His breathing steadied. Mana pulsed at his fingertips, and he could feel his heart thump against his chest. The Maudraga recoiled, their arms turning upwards as the immediate threat came into view.

They were far too slow.

Jake filled the air with Stone Breakers, sending them ahead and piercing multiple Mages as he fell to the ground. The instant his heels hit the shattered stone, his blade went to work. His breath seethed through clenched teeth, and he immediately stepped into his Fang Technique, his body flowing violently as he twisted to avoid a panicked swing from a flustered Maudraga. He twirled and sliced down, his hot blade carving easily through the weak flesh of the creature's arm. The crystallized club of an arm the Maudraga used to cast magic dropped to the ground. By the time it hit, Jake had twisted right and jammed his blade through the creature's chest. Its mana crystal exploded inside its body.

The boy stabbed the creature twice more. Once in the face and once in the throat, and then jumped to the ceiling to avoid another clubbing. He flipped his body so his feet would hit the ceiling, and then kicked downwards. He utilized wind magic to increase his velocity, and he slammed into the next target, his blade leading the way as he speared its chest. He didn't hit the crystal but the boy used his contact with the target to lace its insides with explosive runes. The runes triggered immediately, rattling the Maudraga with tiny explosions from within. The beast's mouth coughed black smoke as the crystal lodged in its core crumbled.

Pushing off, Jake utilized his Sensory magic and created a bubble around himself, giving him full situational awareness of the immediate battle space. He swirled left and fired off a Fire Cone point-blank into the face of another Maudraga, blowing it to pieces. He jerked right, swerved to avoid a swung arm, and then sliced the Maudraga's chest open, exposing its crystal. Jake stepped back and blew it apart with an explosive Fire Cone. His blade crossed with another club but the magic-skewed foe was weaker than its melee-oriented pals. Jake pushed the arm to the side and then sliced it off. Without an arm to protect itself, the Maudraga was fully exposed to Jake's fire magic.

Its lower body dropped to the floor. The upper body completely burnt away.

"Mage!" Captain Lin's voice reached Jake's ears and the boy expanded his Sensory range. As he searched for the Captain, he rolled to avoid a Maudraga spell the creature had fired rather close and then returned the favor with a Stone Breaker.

Captain Lin and his men were steadily carving their way through the Maedra. Jake's initial attacks had thinned the numbers quite a bit so the Oryks were making easy work of the leftovers. Jake moved swiftly to handle the last of the Maudraga, utilizing the frenzy to add to his kill tally. He blocked a spell with a Fire Cone, striking the core of the spell to destabilize it, and then lunged into the face of the casting Maudraga. He grabbed its head and then dove his blade into its chest. He pierced the crystal, twisted to crack it, and then left an explosive rune behind as he pushed his body away from the creature. The torso blew apart, scattering meat and blackened flesh.

Jake isolated the last three Maudraga and targeted them at the same time with Stone Breaker spells. Two were conjuring spells of their own but their bodies blasted apart before they could finish their casting. The last was attempting to fire on the Warriors. It never even saw the Stone Breaker pierce its back.

With the Mages dealt with, Jake turned to the remaining Maedra and jumped at their backs. Slicing and cutting, he carved into the unfocused horde and cut several down in his brief moment of surprise. However, that advantage was short. Noticing the lone target attacking them from behind, a few Maedra turned to meet the new threat. Jake was ready. He parried their heavy arms or sidestepped them, following up with swift casts of Fire Cones to blow open their chests. He sliced through thick fat and shattered crystals. The aggressive Fang Style made moving, dodging, stabbing, and casting all fluid and natural. It was almost unfair.

"Finish them off!" Captain Lin's encouraging words boomed over the noise of the fighting, and the Warriors answered in unison with a powerful chant.

The warriors pushed into the center of the Maedra and then split off into pairs, engaging their foes with violence and overwhelming strength. Tomb squad worked efficiently and mercilessly, slaughtering the remaining Maedra. Their boots crushed the fallen, melting bodies as they advanced into the tunnel without remorse for the dead and rotting corpses beneath them. Jake found himself paired with Captain Lin and watched in admiration as the Captain made easy work of the meaty foes. With every powerful swing of the experienced Warrior, another Maedra either fell or was crippled. Jake used his nimbleness and magic to support the Captain, moving at his back and side to finish the Maedra the Captain neutralized while aiding in covering his blind spots.

Within the mass of flowing flesh, clanging blades and armor, and cries of victory and defeat, Jake found himself smiling.