Sometimes I think this whole 'scion of the godlsayer' thing is a useless, heavy burden. I didn't ask for it, but people have expectations. Like I am going to set out on a journey to save the world or something. Hell, given my elements it is more like I am going to conquer the world instead. I can assure you I have no interest in either path. I just want to study my magic and live my life on my own terms.

Excerpt from Aidan's journal.

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Aidan was feeling singled out. Both of his selves were singled out. The heroes were sulking because their bath peeping was denied. Sora was sulking because he got too friendly with Pearl in the bath. Pearl was completely dazed because she discovered a new side of herself. The maids were busy keeping an eye on the pervert heroes and another eye trying to figure out why their princess was aloof. And the guards were too busy trying to keep this dysfunctional party alive. Nobody spoke more than single-word phrases. Skippy was sleeping wrapped around Aidan's neck. The boy was both physically and mentally exhausted for continuously using Earth magic for six hours straight.

At least he got his dry staircase going down and the channel for the water. A stream of filthy water ran on the side of the staircase.

Most of their day went like this. On the second floor, they met larger kobolds and larger slimes of different elements but these monsters were just instant-killed for being a bother and interrupting everyone's sulking. Kazuya's assassinate worked wonders on the first strike.

Aidan couldn't help but pity Pearl. It made sense that the hero summoning ritual would drain the casting princess dry of magic forever. It was not a ritual meant to be cast more than by the same person. Maybe even a failsafe caution built in the ritual. But as a mage that became mundane for a while, he could understand the pain of losing her magic. He almost asked Pearl permission to see into her soul, but he knew that showing her that she lost everything would reopen those wounds. And he would not dare to do another 'healing & bonding session' with Pearl. He vowed to never again take a bath alone with her.

Since he was the best with writing tools, Aidan was responsible for mapping the dungeon. And his Earth affinity allowed him to sense the relative location of the tunnels. He was sure he could find the exit even without the map.

And thus the heroes and princesses party went through the dungeon, sulking, killing and mapping. In this exact order of intensity. At the end of the day, bored was a euphemism for the mood. Aidan checked the map and figured out they had covered the same ground they would in two days at the previous rhythm. A silver lining.

They made camp after Dawn and Aidan cleared a room with their magic. With divides for the several factions in this tagalong party. The maids cooked. Nobody talked. Aidan tried to reach out to talk to Sora but he retreated at the last moment. He was feeling like trash inside. He could fake a conversation with both of his bodies but what the point? Feed on insanity?

They set their bedrolls on the ground and prepared to sleep. Aidan placed his bedroll away from Sora but Dawn's was right next to the beastkin's. He held Skippy in his arms and let his male body slip into unconsciousness.

"Sora," Dawn called out for his companion with a soft, faint voice. She turned around, bashing Dawn in the face with her tail. Aidan felt heavy under the chest as if a weight was attached to the inside of his sternum.

"What?" She answered with an annoyed voice.

"Ah..." His choked. The weight rolled up his neck and lodged itself on his throat. 'Why am I feeling like this? Why can't I talk to Sora?' He found no answer to his questions, but he felt like he couldn't reach Sora even if he stretched his arm. And she was just a few hands away from him.

"If you have nothing to say, I am going to sleep. Today we walked a lot and my feet hurt. Good night, your Highness." She turned her back to Aidan.

"I'm sorry." He was able to squeeze out a hoarse voice past the knot after trying a lot. His arms felt cold as if the blood was unable to reach them. His fear of her reaction increased and he began to hyperventilate. The cold was so intense his hands were shivering.

Sora did not react. She stirred a little after a while but it was more to settle in her bedroll than anything.

"I'm sorry I am such a pathetic, weak person. Good night, Sora." He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. But he was hearing his own heartbeat, pulsing and throbbing inside his chest and head. Through his affinity with the Cavern element, he could feel the water drip in the corridors of this damp cave. He could feel the patter of footsteps on the water puddles on those corridors.

... footsteps?

Aidan jumped out of bed, startling Sora. His sense of balance spun from the sudden change in orientation but he stood up. He grasped for the belt with the rapier thanking inside that everyone slept in armor.

"Ai... Da... Lumina, is something wrong?" Sora asked out loud after almost missing the right name twice.

"" Kazuya stirred Shinji awoke.

"," Shinji asked between a yawn.

[愛だぅみな] (Aida ~umina) ""

""

""

""

Of course, whatever sound was made or not outside was completely drowned by the banter of the heroes. Dawn was fully alert now, and he knew what he heard.

"There is something skulking outside, Sora. I am going to check."

"Don't go, it is dangerous to go alone."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"I need to. I need to do something." 'I need to run away' the coward inside Aidan screamed. "And you know it is hard to find me if I want to."

Dawn cast several spells.

"Shadowbloom Veil."

Shadows erupted from the staff and covered the form of the girl. Soon they became the color of the environment, masking her presence. It had the demerits of stunning him if exposed to bright light and reducing his sight but he had a perfect combo for it.

"Cavesight."

He gained an extra sense of the walls, roof, and floor of the cavern around him. It was, despite the name, more like touch than sight. He was aware of things not belonging to a cave touching it. He could feel the bedrolls against the rock, the immobile guards by the room entrance lying on the ground...

Two dead guards. And the other two were nowhere to be seen.

Dawn saw Sora and the heroes getting ready but didn't wait for them. He glided out of the room they were using without making a sound. He picked boots against the rock floor around a bend in the tunnel. A torch lying on the floor, burning. He moved past the torch toward the hidden figure.

And Shinji came out of the room, sword and polished armor glowing.

"Daylight!"

The sun shone inside the cave tunnel. Shinji saw the two guards and crouched to check their vitals.

"," He asked the immobile guard.

Stunned by the bright light, Aidan could only sense the hidden figure run past him and making a beeline for the kneeling hero's back. And then he sensed several others coming from behind that one.

"" Kazuya yelled a warning a few moments too late.

The hidden person, his orcish heritage visible under the daylight spell reached Shinji's exposed back and pressed something metallic against his neck. A loud sound of iron hitting iron could be heard and Shinji gasped.

"Kazuya, duck!" Sora yelled from inside the room.

An arrow flew past Kazuya to the figure of the half-orc and hit him in the shoulder. Kazuya was going to rush and attack the man when Shinji stood up.

"Protect me from that hero!" The half-orc commanded Shinji.

Kazuya slashed at the half-orc with his katana, but Shinji parried. Aidan could see. Around Shinji's neck an iron band, a slave collar.

The other figures were about to reach and move past Aidan when he recovered from the stunning. He frantically poured mana into his spell formation, pushing his wizardry to finish the glyphs faster.

"Ring of Conflagration!"

Dawn went overboard with the mana powering the spell. Backlash hit her and she burned part of her skin. The shadow veil dismissed when the caster's concentration wavered. The six slavers that were rushing into the entrance of the room they were using were all caught inside the ring. Columns of flame rose up with unbridled fury and singed the cave ceiling several meters above. When they dissipated, six burnt husks crumbled on the ground. Each one of them had a collar that clattered intact on the ground.

Dawn stopped to catch her breath. The red welts in her arms would soon become blisters. She dropped the spell, drew her rapier and was going to help the heroes but something flashed in the corner of her sight. Afraid of the unknown new enemy, Dawn slashed at its general direction and a loud sound metal hitting metal was heard. She turned and in front of her, there was a wolf-kin slaver. Clad in a steel breastplate.

"Curses! Stop fighting back and be a nice princess! I got jewelry for you!" A bald slaver reacted to her attack. He parried the rapier with the collar in his hand.

"You dare attack a princess!" She lunged and tried to stab him. He moved the collar to block once again. Not even a scratch. 'They know the collar is almost indestructible and are skilled at wielding it like a buckler'. Dawn pondered. She kept attacking to keep the wolf-kin to keep him at bay. During their exchange, he kept running his mouth. Dawn began to construct a second circle spell in her mind. Casting in combat was hard.

"Times are changing. We are going to be a force to be reckoned. No longer will your kings and queens be able to stop us from trading everywhere. Look behind you, we are going to get two otherworlders today!"

Like hell she was going to turn. More and more glyphs came into her mind's eye, filling the diagram. She lunged at the slaver and he batted the rapier to a side, closing in to put the collar on Dawn.

The spell finished and she let it loose.

"Stone Spike"

It came from behind the slaver. He noticed the spell but couldn't identify it. He felt danger from behind and jumped to a side. Dawn took a step forward and thrust the rapier at his breastplate. The wolf-kin smirked and decided to let his armor deflect the flimsy girly sword. He was aiming to get her neck after her strike.

To his surprise, he felt a sting in his heart and something pinned his movements. A sharp pain erupted in him and the rapier was pulled out of his chest. It swung and came at his neck.

'Thank you so much, master Gaemon'. Dawn cheered inside. But no time for celebration. She had to help Shinji.

Shinji and Kazuya were busy exchanging blows and the half-orc cackled, tearing out the arrow on his shoulder.

"Kill all of them, my hero slave!" he ordered Shinji.

"" Shinji answered. He was still locking blades with Kazuya. Aidan figured out too late the heroes could understand their language. Otherwise, he would not be following the slaver's commands.

Sora focused on her job and waited. She had no clear shot to the half-orc past the two heroes fighting at the door. She waited for an opportunity to shoot him.  The maids were panicking and covering Pearl behind their bodies. She could see the half-orc slaver gloating behind them.

And suddenly a rapier went through his skull like a hot knife through butter. Dawn sneaked behind the slaver and caught him off guard.

"" Shinji yelled and dropped his sword. He struggled against the slaver's last order.

Kazuya kicked Shinji's katana away from his reach and sheathed his own blades. Reaching out he tried to help.

""

Shinji gagged, the collar shrinking to punish him for his disobedience. He managed to put his fingers under the iron band and pulled. It only made the iron band shrink even more.

"Don't struggle. Don't resist. It will only make it worse. Stop trying to remove it, I need to find the master tool." Dawn cried while searching the slaver. He cursed he couldn't use magic sight in Lumina's body. He didn't even know how it should look like, and the half-orc had a lot of trinkets. "" Her cries fell on empty ears.

Shinji choked, his face becoming purple and bloated.

"" Kazuya tried to strike the collar but it only made it shrink even more. A creaking sound could be heard and Shinji's fingers bent out of shape.

Aidan willed his other body to wake up. It began to stir, groggy. He cursed his sleeping-in habits. It was always hard to get up.

"Skippy! Go there and devour the mana in this collar!" He ordered the dragon.

It flew past Sora and Kazuya and landed next to Shinji. The little dragon opened his mouth and started to suck in wisps and motes of mana from the collar. However, the collar fed on the wearer's mana and Aidan doubted even Astromelicus had half the mana Shinji did.

Shinji eyes were almost popping out. Kazuya was yelling incomprehensibly. Inside the cry of the maids and Pearl could be heard. Sora saw Aidan trying to get up and pulled him up.

Aidan closed Dawn's eyes and willed his male body to run to his side. Kazuya started to bash at the collar in a frenzy. Skippy was devouring a lot of mana, a torrent of motes now flying into his mouth.

"" Dawn yelled at the hero, but Kazuya was not thinking. He didn't even pause his strikes on the collar.

Aidan looked at the half-orc corpse with mana sight and saw magic underneath his iron breastplate. Dawn sliced the straps with the rapier and lifted the breastplate even with eyes closed. Pulling aside the smelly wool padding underneath the armor they found the master tool.

It was a tattoo on the half-orc's chest, keyed to his own unique mana signature and already faded lifeforce. Aidan despaired.

A loud crack echoed in the cavern and Shinji's head dangled. His spine broke.

「伸二」

Kazuya pained cry echoed in the cavern.