While the girls near the door recoiled at the boy’s words, Yuriko hurried up to him and pulled him inside. She took a quick glance down the hallway but didn’t see anything, even after she activated Enhanced Senses on her eyes. The absolute darkness of the underground proved a rather effective barrier to her vision. There was a track of blood though, little droplets that the boy left behind.

“What’s happening?” one of the girls who didn’t shy away asked.

“Wyldling invasion!” the boy gasped. After a second look, Yuriko determined that he wasn’t that badly injured, at least nothing that required more than first aid and Recovery.

“Details, please,” Yuriko asked pointedly. The boy looked at her and seemed to freeze.

“Er… ah..”

Yuriko rolled her eyes, looked around and caught sight of the other Faronner girls and waved at them.

“What’s going on?” Maryn asked, concern and a tinge of fear in her eyes.

“Wyldlings,” Millie replied. “That’s what he said anyway. Oy, kid, what’s the situation and how did you get here?”

The chamber was one of the dozen in the hallway, but all of them were closed from Yuriko’s hasty inspection. A quick recollection of this morning’s path told her that there was only one path from here to the dormitory entrance, hence the boy came through the other way. Did it mean that the tunnels continued on to where the Wild Oak boys took shelter?

“You’re from Agaza…” Yuriko mused. There were no Agaza dormers with them right now. “Were you on duty? What happened?”

“Ah...we…we were attacked. Swarmlings and worse. Squad leader sent me ahead to warn.”

“And the rest of your team?”

“In...in the crossroads, deeper in the tunnels. They’re…they’re holding off the tide. I was sent here to warn…”

Bursts of panicked whispers and shouts came from the girls. Yuriko’s eyes darted to and fro. She was only armed with a single side-blade and few of the other girls even had so much as a belt knife. Millie and Ishika had a combat knife sheathed on their waists. Maryn didn’t even have that.

“We need to help,” Yuriko said firmly.

“What about…? Maryn started.

“Have them barricade inside. Anyone willing to fight, come with me.”

Yuriko stood up and her voice cut through the chatter. Her Animus divided into several strands, already beginning the circulation pattern for her sword dance. Her skin started bleeding off a golden light.

“How? We could barely stand with the door open!” one of the girls yelled, her face blotchy with tears.

“Then stay here and protect yourselves,” Yuriko said quickly. “Survive and grow stronger.”

When they came down into the shelter, she and her friends had entered the one they were directed to. Most of the girls with her were of the same age and, considering the fact that they came from the dormitories, they weren’t from Rumiga City. Was the eastern countryside so safe that they weren’t aware how quickly a raid from the Wyldlings could come?

Yuriko already felt remiss that she didn’t bring her Plasma Caster along or a second side-blade. Well, if there was any fighting it would be in the restrictive tunnels anyway so the Caster would be of limited use.

Millie stood up, dusted her knees and walked up beside Yuriko. The Agazan boy was being tended to by a girl who was using a kerchief to bandage the wound around his arm.

“Can you lead us to your squad?” Yuriko asked him, while she opened the front of her sweater and fished Hunter Kitty out. The tomcat was fast asleep though he woke when her hands grabbed him. “You stay here, Hunter,” she instructed while lowering him to the ground.

He yawned widely, showing off his sharp canines, then sauntered over to a nearby girl to strop his side on.

“I…yes.” He stood up and visibly gulped. “Thank you, miss,” he nodded to the girl who bandaged his arm. His armaments were a side-blade, a collapsible spear, and a Plasma Lancet.

Millie and Ishika looked resolute, though Maryn looked hesitant.

“Why don’t you stay here and keep the others safe?” Yuriko asked.

“I--no, I’ll come with you,” Maryn said quickly.

“Miss Davar, I’ll point you in the right direction. My duty is still to warn the other shelters.”

“Oh, you know me?”

“I…yes, we were in the Elite trials together. Er, we fought in the practicals.” He gave a short bow. “Yamada Raskin, at your service.”

It was good that he regained his composure. Yuriko nodded. “Let’s go.”

In the hallway, the other three girls staggered as soon as the pressure hit them. Yamada’s body started to glow with purple light.

“Use your Field.” He said hastily.

Blue, orange, and silver Animus covered each of the girls. Yamada nodded approvingly though he seemed startled when he saw that Yuriko didn’t use it. Still, her skin glowed gold anyway from the moving Animus.

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“Just follow the hallway down there until you get to a spiralling stairwell, follow it down until you reach the first passageway. Follow that and you’ll reach a crossroad. You should be able to access the stairs via your Academy sigil,” Yamada added. “Please take care.”

“We will.”

They parted ways with Yamada going to a nearby shelter door and knocking. The trail of blood, a droplet every five paces or so, led down the hall. The ceiling panel lights weren’t turning on, and Yuriko could see the density of the ambient Chaos out of the corner of her eyes.

The light panel’s runescript wasn’t really built to take in that much ambient Chaos, she thought. Having started on the Essential Runescript for the Neophyte Scribe, she could recognize some of the runes used. Well, she didn’t have time for a closer look.

They took off at a brisk pace. She wanted to run but knew that the other three would fail to keep up. Maryn was right behind her with Millie at the right and Ishika at the left. Maryn’s bluish Animus was gathered around her hands, swirling like a storm.

A gust of wind blew at them, bringing with it more ambient Chaos. The strange thing was that the wind seemed to come from the walls. A strange feeling washed over her skin, like the sensation of a current much like that of a brook. It didn’t hamper her, but she knew there was a force pushing at her.

The glow around Millie and Ishika wavered like a candle flame in a strong breeze, on the verge of guttering out. Maryn’s was stronger; her light was steady.

Soon enough, they arrived at the end of the hallway, and a heavy door made of yellowed stone barred the way. There was a panel on the left-hand side at the level of Yuriko’s chest. She walked up to it, unpinned Sharom’s sigil from her sleeve and pressed it against the panel. A moment later, the door slid open silently.

The light of their Animus gave them about a couple of paces of clear vision, which was barely enough to cover the wide steps of the stairwell. It spiralled downwards to the right, with a wall on both sides. They hurried down several dozen steps, at which point they found a door that was slightly ajar, barely wide enough for Yuriko to slip past. Maryn and Millie, the bustier girls of the four of them, would have a much harder time doing so.

The panel on this side of the door was dark and unresponsive when Yuriko pressed her sigil on it.

“Tsk, we’ll have to squeeze through.”

She removed her side-blade off her belt, turned sideways and squeezed into the opening. The door was thicker than she was tall, and the sensation of having stone pressing against her from both sides was mildly claustrophobic. Still, she easily managed, until she reached the edge, where she cautiously peeked.

It was clear, thankfully, so she slipped out and called the others.

“It’s safe, come on.”

“I’ll go next,” Ishika said. The other girl was half a head shorter than Yuriko and much more slender so she had no trouble passing. Millie followed, grunting in annoyance. Once she was through, she rubbed her bosom.

“Ow.”

A few moments later, “Help!” a squeak came from the tiny passage.

“Maryn?”

“I’m stuck! Help!”

Yuriko, Ishika, and Millie exchanged glances with the other girl’s eyes twitching in suppressed laughter. Yuriko sighed.

Ishika darted at the space and split inside. Grunting sounds and pained yelps, and a minute later, Ishika came back out with a twisted look in her eye.

“I had to push her back. She really wouldn’t fit.”

“Er, go back to the shelter, Maryn,” Yuriko said.

“I want to help!” she insisted. “Maybe there’s another door further down?”

“I’ll come join you,” Millie said. “My Facet will help me know if there’s danger. By the way,” she addressed Yuriko, “I don’t hear anything from there.” She pointed down the hallway. “This may be the wrong way.”

“Yamada said it was the first door.” Yuriko insisted. “I’ll take a look here first. Wait for us in the stairwell?”

“Sure.”

“Come on, Ishi, let’s look.”

“Only if you stay up front,” the smaller girl said nervously. “I’m not confident I can hold my own with a Plasma Lancet.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover you.”

Millie slipped back through the door. Yuriko looked at the panel on this side. The runescript trail connecting the panel to the door looked scorched.

“I wonder how this happened,” she muttered while touching the runescript with her fingertips. Static leapt from the stone to her nails, making her flinch. There was no pain so she continued tracing the runescript. It was etched into the stone though the depth of the carving wasn’t uniform. The area near the scorch marks was particularly shallow.

“Too much ambient Chaos?” Ishika said.

“I guess.”

Shaking her head, she and Ishika went down the tunnel at a faster pace. A worm of worry gnawed at her stomach. Aside from the Chaos wind, it was too quiet. Before too long they found themselves in a naturally large chamber.

It was several dozen paces wide, and about five paces high and there were at least a dozen tunnels that connected to it. The light panels still worked here and cast a lurid light on a ghastly scene.

There was blood everywhere on the floor. Red and blue spread in an uneven pattern though there were no bodies, nothing whole anyway. Swarmling legs, chunks of carapace, and...was that a human arm?

“Oh, Ancestors!” Ishika gasped as she bent over and threw up. Yuriko swallowed the bile rising up her throat.

The tangle of body parts was at the very centre of the chamber and there were drag marks on the floor. Yuriko skirted around it, looking at the nearby passages. There! Red blood painted a clear trail.

“Yuri…” Ishika said weakly. Yuriko looked back to find the other girl on her knees, her arms trembling. “I can’t…I…”

“I’ll bring you back. Take Millie and Maryn back into the shelter.”

Ishika nodded, tears slowly dripping down her cheek. “How…?”

“Come on. Can you stand?”

Ishika tried, but her knees were too wobbly. Yuriko picked up the other girl wordlessly and ran back along the tunnel. By the time they arrived at the broken door, Ishika was sobbing quietly.

“Maryn? Mills?” Yuriko called.

“Huh, back so soon?” Millie asked through the door.

“We’ve got a situation. Take Ishika back and return to the shelter.”

“What happened?”

“We found a battleground. I intend to look for survivors.”

“Wait! Don’t go alone!”

“Time is of the essence. Take Ishika and return. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Yuriko nudged the other girl to squeeze past the door. Ishika barely managed it but she went through.

“I’m sorry, Yuri…” Ishika mouthed before vanishing from view.

“Don’t worry about it. Mills, I’ll go ahead.”

“Right. Uh, come back safe! Please!” Millie yelled.

“I will.”

With the other girls back to safety, Yuriko ran while cycling the second dance inside her. She had her side-blade in hand, held low at her side. Her senses felt heightened and she could feel every errant breeze and every particle of ambient Chaos bouncing off her skin.

She ran through the chamber and into the tunnel she identified. The lights weren’t working there and the only illumination came from her Animus. The only sounds were her thundering footsteps and the incessant wind.

At least, it was until she heard the distinct clink of claws on stone. A minute twinge of her Animus and she spun on her heel and swept the sword up.

Shlick!

Graahh!

There was a spray of blue blood and the clinking of broken scales, as a clawed hand materialised out of the darkness. A Hunter staggered back clutching the stump of its arm, and in the next second, Yuriko channelled the third dance, and directly beheaded the creature.

Motes of green light rose off the corpse while she swung her blade to fling the droplets of blood off. A few of the motes drifted into her breath and without any fuss, was drawn into her Anima. She barely noticed it as her eyes darted about, and her ears focused on catching the slightest sound. When there was nothing, she stabbed her Animus coated blade into the creature’s chest and dug out its Chaos shard, wrapping it in her kerchief before placing it inside her coat pocket.

Afterwards, she continued down the tunnel, feeling her blood racing in her veins. Ah, she had never felt more alive.