Lyn and Rayne rush into the forest following the path before slowing their pace as they lose sight of the city gates. Lyn puts the sword onto her back as Rayne stares off into the sky seemingly following something as Lyn stares at her curious about her behavior. Rayne rushes off running off the trail and making her way deeper into the forest.

“Rayne? Rayne, what’re you doing?” Lyn yells out confused.

“I sense it, its forming over here,” Rayne says calmly as she stops and stares at a tree. “And since I’m missing my staff, I’m more in need of those deposits than before.”

Lyn reaches her and the pair look onto a small green crystal growing out of the base of the tree with grass wrapped all around it. It grows slowly before stopping and then glowing bright as Rayne walks towards it.

“A Mana Deposit, those eyes of yours proved handy once again,” Lyn says happily.

Rayne looks back and grins slyly. “Well, we can’t all have Prou like yours. Mine is subtler, but it’s pretty useful in the end, isn’t it?”

“Of course!” Lyn yells out excitedly. “I mean being able to see magic is such a useful skill.”

Rayne sighs. “Listen, I jeep explaining this to you. I am not ‘see magic’ I can view magical trails.”

“Magical trails?”

“You always forget about this stuff since you aren’t a mage and don’t use magic, but this is basic stuff that most children know,” Rayne says lecturing.

Lyn looks away. “Sorry, I just forget about that kind of stuff since it’s not important to me.”

“Well listen up this time, Mana is the source of all magic and even your Prou abilities. It’s like air always present but invisible in most instances.” Rayne says seriously. “When someone casts a magic spell or uses their Prou, then Mana gathers and leaves a trail. This is what my eyes let me witness, tracking the gathering Mana and finding the source of the spell.”

“Yeah, so wouldn’t that mean you can see magic?”

“No. But anyway.” She says turning towards the crystal and plucking it from the ground. “For a refresher what is this?”

“A Mana Deposit. A Mana Deposit is naturally gathered Mana and its color changes depending on what type of Mana is gathered.” Lyn says proudly.

Rayne rolls her eyes. “At least you remembered that part. Anyway, since I don’t have my staff, I’ll need all the Mana Deposits I can get to cast spells.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Hey, can’t we sell these things to make money?”

“Sadly no, they only hold value to a Mage, and even then, they’re pretty volatile if not stored properly.”

“Is that what caused that explosion when we were kids?”

Rayne turns away. “I was seven, and I thought they were pretty, if I had read ahead then I would’ve known what they are.”

“Yeah well, everyone makes mistakes,” Lyn says happily.

“Anyway, which way do we go to this cave?” Rayne asks curiously as Lyn looks around. “It’s not like you dragged me away from home, stole a sword from the city guard, and am on the verge of eviction all to wander around the forest endlessly searching for some vague hope of a treasure in the woods? Because that would be foolish if you did.”

Lyn looks around trying to seem calm and in control of everything. She stares around for any sign of the right direction through the woods.

“Well Lyn, I’m waiting.”

Lyn looks around and notices a beam of light seeming to come from the depths of the forest. Seemingly pulled by an intense draw, she chases after the light with Rayne following quickly. The pair run through the forest dodging tree after tree as the light seems to get brighter for Lyn the closer she gets.

“Lyn. Lyn!” Rayne calls out breaking Lyn from her trance. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, there was this light and…” Lyn says looking around unable to see the light anymore. “Or at least there was one.”

Rayne looks around staring into the air. “Well whatever’s going on around here is odd, there’s a lot of Mana being drawn further ahead.”

“Really?”

“Yes, maybe it’s this treasure you’re looking for.”

Lyn and Rayne walk deeper into the woods and come across the mouth of a large cavern with water dripping from the opening. “Isn’t this the same cave from the other day?” Rayne asks concerned. “Because it looks like that same cavern.”

“I don’t know, something about it seems odd,” Lyn says concerned. She stares towards the mouth and all she sees are bright flashes of light coming from deep within the cavern.

“Well something strange is going on, there’s a lot of Mana being drawn into its depths. This is certainly an oddity, it looks like some Mage might’ve set up some kind of trap inside.”

Lyn steps ahead feeling an odd sensation overcoming her body. “I sense something, something is in here calling me.”

Rayne rushes ahead staring into the cavern and then turning towards Lyn. “Hey Lyn, I don’t know what’s going on. But none of it feels right, we should just leave and head back to town and if possible find another cave.”

“I won’t, everyone around me says that I cannot become an Adventurer. They all call me a loser or that I’m a failure, but I won’t give up here!”

“Lyn.”

Lyn steps forward walking into the cavern as water drips around her as Rayne rushes up to her from behind and the pair walks along. Lyn looks ahead and sees nothing but darkness with an odd shining light coming from the depths of the cave seeming to originate from something but with no clear signs of what it is.

“Lyn, whatever happens, I’m with you,” Rayne says seriously.

“Right,” Lyn says happily.

The pair travels deeper inside as figures crawl along the walls moving towards them. A single eye takes focus on the pair and rushes ahead lashing out with a long rubbery tongue. As the tongue hits Lyn pulls out her sword slicing into the creature’s tongue as she holds the blade close to herself.

“Let’s do our best here Rayne, this is our first Adventure after all.”

“You say that every time,” Rayne says pulling a crystal out of her bag.