I hear strange clicking noises coming from the passage that Darius and the two skeletons are guarding. Instantly, I tense up. I notice the others do too. We remain there in silence for a few seconds that seem to pass in unbearably slow motion. Then Vincent, in a firm voice, breaks the silence:

"Are you ready, Theodore?"

"Yes," he replies, trying to sound confident.

I can see that, despite the potions, he’s still exhausted. From my own experience of running out of mana, it’s a mental fatigue that doesn’t go away until you’ve rested properly.

Still, he can use magic. So, he’ll fight.

Ah… this is when a part of me screams. I want to fight too. I didn’t choose the Aetherblade specialization to just stand around doing nothing. I want to draw my sword, to imbue it with fire. My hands were itching earlier to charge into the horde of mummies with the naga and help it take them down.

I feel like I’m the only one who hasn’t leveled up. Not because I need a lot of experience, but because I’m hardly earning any. What have I done? Raised a dome that didn’t harm a single creature and fought a few mummies with my steel, without channeling the spirit.

I have no idea how many points a mummy gives. Let’s say 4 or 5. Maybe 6... I don’t know. But at those points per mummy, the nearly full bar I need for level 8—which I found out is 1097 experience—feels impossibly far away.

I hear the prince giving instructions, and I force myself to stop wallowing in self-pity and focus on what he’s saying. What lies beyond this opening in the wall isn’t a room but a passageway. Tom and Bob will take the lead again, while the rest of us follow in formation. From what Vincent explains, the traps are his biggest concern.

We enter, and as soon as we notice the floor covered in sand, I completely understand the worry about traps.

At first, the sand is sparse, but as we advance, it accumulates in greater quantities. Tom, with his sword and shield held high, moves forward, followed by Bob, keeping a one-meter distance, both on high alert.

The corridor isn’t long. It’s narrow at first but gradually widens. It ends at a corner, forcing us to turn right, where an intense light is visible. Tom peeks around carefully, his movements slow and calculated, and gestures for us to approach. Once we’re near, he positions himself on one side of the wall while Bob takes the opposite side. Pressed against the walls, they advance together toward the light.

In front of them, a large, illuminated chamber opens up.

Suddenly, the clicking intensifies and echoes, reverberating through the space. Whatever’s causing it is getting closer.

We’ve stopped in the hallway, just at the corner, from where we can observe the chamber. Through the rectangular opening of its doorless entrance, I can see that the sand completely covers the floor. There are columns—only a few, but they’re enormous and scattered throughout the massive chamber. And by massive, I mean the size of a football stadium on Earth, though I won’t be able to confirm until I step inside.

The majesty of the place momentarily stuns us, but the sensation doesn’t last long.

The clicking turns into loud, resonating thuds that put us all on high alert. We see Tom and Bob crouch down, hiding as best they can behind their shields. We remain silent. I feel my muscles tense and my heart racing. Suddenly, a series of quick, forceful bangs shoots adrenaline through me.

A massive claw emerges from one side of the doorless threshold of that enormous chamber. It strikes the wall where Tom stood just a second ago, leaving a deep mark in the stone. Tom has jumped back just in time, and Bob follows suit. Both quickly return to our side, joining the shield formation that Darius and Vincent have just made to protect the rest of us.

I can’t help but think that either Ronan is communicating telepathically with them—highly likely, since he previously relayed to Vincent what Bob had seen—or the two skeletons have developed or remembered their personalities. Or both.

In any case, Ronan approaches Bob and takes the spear his friend carries on his back. The necromancer gestures toward the opening that connects the chamber with the hallway. There, barely visible through the sand being kicked up, we make out enormous legs pressed against the entrance, followed by the body of a giant scorpion trying to push its way in. Its size prevents it from entering the hallway, but that doesn’t stop it. With its claws and tail, it furiously strikes the space where Tom and Bob had been standing, even reaching the ceiling, causing debris to fall.

Stolen novel; please report.

My goodness… how high is the ceiling in that chamber if all I can see of the scorpion is the lowest part of its body, where the legs connect? It’s definitely far higher than the ceilings in any of the rooms we’ve seen so far.

Frustrated by its inability to reach us, the scorpion retreats a few meters. That’s when the mummies begin moving toward us, passing the giant creature as they head out of the chamber.

"Hold the formation!" Vincent shouts.

Theodore readies himself to unleash his signature attack on the mummy horde, awaiting Vincent’s command.

Without wasting time, Vincent raises his sword and casts a wind spell. A powerful slash emanates from his weapon, cutting through the first line of mummies and significantly weakening most of the second. The force of the attack breaks through the enemy's defenses, creating an opportunity that Darius seizes immediately. With a shield bash, he knocks a mummy to the ground, while the rest of us maintain the formation, expertly halting the enemy’s advance.

That spell... it came from his sword just as it could have come from a mage’s staff or bare hands. It’s not channeling; it has nothing to do with what I do with the spirit.

The battle becomes fierce. Though fewer in number than before, the mummies seem more resilient. The fact that the hallway isn't too wide works to our advantage, allowing us to block their attacks and counter with coordinated strikes. Swords slash above and below, while Ronan uses the spear to keep enemies at bay.

I join in too, wielding my sword without channeling. The width of the hallway gives me space to fight. As for my weapon, it’s not very effective; despite my swordsmanship mastery, my lack of strength reduces the impact of my strikes. And Ronan... if he starts racking up kills or assists, he might even earn spear mastery as a gift.

Alistair, meanwhile, runs back through the passage. For a moment, it looks like he’s fleeing, but we all know that’s not the case. When he returns, he’s carrying the oil jar he found earlier.

"No need!" Vincent shouts upon seeing him. "The mummies won’t be a problem."

Despite this, the mummies manage to inflict minor cuts on some of our legs. The shield wall is what protects the rest of our bodies. Noticing this, Mary begins preparing an area healing spell. Ronan observes the situation carefully and gives clear instructions to his skeletons:

"Tom, Bob, hold as long as you can and fall back as soon as Mary casts the spell."

Curious... is he saying it out loud for the rest of us to hear?

Alistair, somewhat frustrated, sets the jar down carefully and readies his mace, prepared to strike as soon as Tom and Bob clear their position.

When Mary completes the spell, a brilliant light envelops the width and much of the length of the hallway. We all feel our strength return, and the minor cuts begin to close. Tom and Bob take the opportunity to retreat behind the formation, covered in white flames emitting black smoke that quickly dissipates. The mummies, incapable of feeling pain, continue their assault, but Alistair stops them with a devastating mace blow, smashing several in one strike.

The fight doesn’t last much longer. Mary’s area healing spell has significantly weakened the mummies, leaving them with little chance. When the last enemy falls, we remain in formation, observing the hallway. Vincent counts at least two giant scorpions, though we can’t currently see them from our position.

"The black smoke..." I address Ronan. "Did the healing hurt Bob and Tom?"

"Do not worry, my lady. They are recovering. They exited the area quickly enough."

An area healing spell that remained active for about a minute. I look at Mary.

The girl is covering her mouth with one hand, horrified that she may have harmed Ronan’s two friends.

I want to know something else, because when I played a bit with her as the protagonist, she didn’t have those levels of magic until at least halfway through the second year.

"Your healing spell, how is it so powerful?"

She looks at me, somewhat confused.

"I don’t know. It wasn’t. But it’s gotten stronger, and I think, when I leveled up, I learned something new too. I haven’t tried casting it yet, but I feel like I could."

It must be terrible not having a system and discovering new spells by listening to your guts. In any case, at least they have the stone slabs and will be able to check everything once we return to the academy.

"That’s great, Mary," the prince praises her.

I can’t help but smile to myself. We’re in the middle of a secret dungeon zone, and here I am, getting emotional over how well everyone treats Mary, the commoner with light magic who’s special because of her kindness. But in the world I come from, good people often suffered, as others saw them as easy prey to exploit. Well, in this world too; but the prince’s group are good people who know how to appreciate a wonderful and innocent young woman like Mary.

She, by the way, blushes at the praise. Then she approaches Ronan, places her hand on his arm, and apologizes for not knowing her spell would harm the undead. Ronan gets flustered and assures her it’s fine. The prince takes the lead, asking us for input on what to do next.

image [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykEUlURr0cOK-o3e7HduZvBKSJ7inpDnDd8WYs9eTJe_yu3pWObb6mvdJJv-vvjzoIIpPLEgBBnhmuUL0Djp7BcfEZu81qMJ8P7L9IKpNq4eWxNvcIxyvQy6vCzq-g8HvqfIkCd41-v6f1O0Ud-9iT4mcm4XC-EEuEA7lNJd9vIy0IzMZlKz9prjG5YQ/s320/Alistair.jpg]