The two young men remained frozen in their spot, carefully watching the golems sleeping in the reservoir.

'No way the sound of the tunnel crumbling didn't wake them up...'

Glenn and Sahro exchanged a gaze, beads of cold sweat slowly running down their faces. After a terrifying long minute without any reactions from the giants, the two finally relaxed. Sahro sighed in relief, letting go of his curved sword's handle. Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows, his hands trembling slightly.

"...Either we're insanely lucky, or they somehow didn't hear us," Glenn whispered, his friend reacting with a slow nod.

"It's probably a mix of these two explanations, in my opinion," replied the Black Heir. Glenn shook his head, clearing it of the adrenaline that had taken control over it, before remembering their goal for coming into this place.

"Have you checked for traces of Maron and his kidnapper's passage?"

Sahro shook his head negatively. Glenn licked his lips, before trying to find hints of where their target went. They were in a gigantic cave, but with the collapsed tunnel behind them and walls on the side, it only left the reservoir filled with golems.

"...This is looking pretty grim for us, Sahro," The young man stated while observing the reservoir. If one didn't know these red shining crystals belonged to the golems, they might have mistaken the place for an incredibly rich ruby mine. There were hundreds of them, stone and Blumar golems mixed in at probably equal rates. From afar, it was hard to tell which types the golems belonged to, but Glenn had no doubt there would be many opponents as hard to fight as the Three-Eyed Blumar Golem they encountered in the quarry.

After all, it seemed like this reservoir was the golem's breeding place or their main home at the very least.

'Golems can breed?' Diamanes asked with incredulity. Glenn's eyebrows rose at the question, but he didn't bother to answer.

Truly, he didn't even want to try and think if that was possible.

"Do you think they went through the golems?" Sahro asked worriedly, his fingers slowly rapping against the pommel of his sword. Glenn grimaced, not seeing any other possibility.

"There's only one way to find out. I don't know about you, but I didn't see any traces of the kidnapper's passage anywhere anyway. Shit, I should have taken Javier with me instead... Fucking useless meathead..." Glenn swore through his teeth. Sahro spat to the side, before making his neck crackle.

"Fuck off, you're as useless as me in tracking stuff!" countered the Black Heir, gulping heavily as he leaned to the edge of the reservoir. Suddenly, as if his instinct had alerted him of some dangerous things, he rotated on his feet, staring at Glenn cautiously. The young man returned him a confused gaze until an understanding smile appeared on his face. He shrugged thoughtlessly before jumping down the reservoir, sliding on the rocky slope.

He landed with a roll, rising silently and throwing a glance at the golems nearby. The closest was only a few dozen meters away. Glenn waited for a few seconds, his right hand tensed up as he readied himself to cast a spell, but thankfully nothing happened. Sahro soon joined him, and the two proceeded to slowly walk amidst the golems, trying to cross the reservoir. The sound of water dripping in the cave echoed at all times, making them only more aware of the sound they were making by stepping on the cold, damp stone ground.

The balls of lights Glenn conjured floated beside them, lighting their way up silently while casting a gentle hue on the sleeping golems. Glenn and Sahro couldn't muster the courage to say a word to each other, making their exploration dreadfully silent.

'...I feel like I'm in a graveyard or something, with how calm this place is,' thought Glenn, speaking indirectly to Diamanes. The sound of the entity smacking its lips echoed through the young man's mind, like the sound of the water dripping in the cave.

'Maybe it is. Maybe it's where each golem at the end of their lives go to rest, their stone skins fated to erode in the inevitability of time...' Diamanes sighed while Glenn listened wordlessly.

'...Since when did you get so philosophical?' He couldn't help but ask, taken aback.

'...I just finished Game of Thrones third season...' replied Diamanes with a mournful tone. Glenn barely restrained himself from chuckling, mustering all of his strength to remain serious.

'Don't worry, there are many seasons left. Think about a certain Exan who'll never have the chance to finish the show!' said Glenn, trying to cheer his friend up. Diamanes sighed, before going back to doing whatever he was doing, which was probably to start the show's fourth season. The corner of Glenn's lips curved upward slightly, the talk having alleviated a bit of the pressure he felt in this dreadful place.

Sahro suddenly stopped in his steps, raising his hand with his palm open. Glenn froze and prepared himself to cast a spell, trying to find whatever the Black Heir had found. Sahro slowly walked around one of the sleeping golems, his boots silently touching the ground at each step. Glenn followed at a snail's pace, trying as best he could to remain stealthy, when he suddenly remembered that he once again had access to Diamanes' powers.

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He flicked his left hand's fingers, casting a Curse of Silence on his boots. He swiftly tested the Curse, tapping his boots on the ground, finding out that it worked exactly as he had intended. Glenn smiled, flicking his fingers at Sahro, casting the Curse upon his friend's boots as well. Sahro suddenly looked at his feet, before turning toward Glenn and flipping a thumbs-up at him. Glenn returned the gesture and quickly joined him in staring at what the Black Heir found.

Hidden behind the golem from the casual onlooker's view were the remnants of a small campfire. Sahro glanced at Glenn, before kneeling and picking up the ashes, rubbing it between his fingers. He nodded slightly and mouthed at Glenn.

"-Still-warm."

Glenn nodded slowly in understanding, before looking at their surroundings. There were no other apparent traces of any human passage, but one thing was for sure. If the kidnappers could light a campfire without the golems smashing them up, that meant they could talk freely. Glenn opened his mouth to communicate this information to Sahro, before closing it again.

For some reason, he still didn't feel comfortable talking around the sleeping golems. It was threading too close to danger in his opinion, and for no reward whatsoever. Besides getting beaten to a pulp, of course.

'I mean, that could be the occasion if Blumar can resist your newfound Third-Circle strength,' Diamanes casually commented, making Glenn sneer gleefully.

'What good would test my spells do to me if I die an hour later to this infinite amount of golem? I'll permit myself this kind of idea when I'm able to safely teleport away or something...Wait, that's a good idea to explore...Can I use Astral Sorcery to somehow teleport...?' Glenn lost himself in his thoughts while Sahro stood back up, wiping the ash off his fingers.

The two continued their exploration of the reservoir, able to proceed much faster thanks to Glenn's Silence Curse. The two had understood long ago that these precautions were seemingly useless, but it didn't matter. It was somehow comforting while assuring them that it wouldn't be because they made too much noise if the golems woke up.

Glenn's magical lights suddenly flickered, making him look up in worry. The orbs of light died down silently one after the other, leaving the two in the complete dark. A pearl of cold sweat slid down Glenn's back as he remembered one time this exact scenario happened.

'Ain't no way I'm fighting a fucking Heart of Darkness again...'

Glenn concentrated Mana in his hand, before whispering a silent Lux. The magical light appeared for a few seconds, flickering weakly, before dispersing once again. Nonetheless, that small window of lighting had given the young man the time to find out why Mana would behave this way here. He had glanced at his feet, half-expecting to find the dark, goo-like liquid he found back in the Heart of Darkness's lair, only to understand that the ground was entirely made up of Blumar.

The transition between the common stone and marble must have happened without them noticing since they were too busy watching the sleeping golems.

'Crap, that means Mana or Aura won't be able to do much here...' Glenn clenched his teeth, before jumping in surprise when a red light lit up right beside him. His heart skipped a beat before he realized the light came from Sahro's sword, covered in the familiar dark-red Aura. The young man frowned, confused.

'With the fight against the Three-Eyed Golem, I thought Aura was also affected by Blumar, but it seems I'm wrong?'

Diamanes coughed lightly, succeeding in gathering Glenn's attention.

'From what I gathered, you're not exactly wrong. I guess that since Sahro is focusing his Aura on his sword, which can be considered a part of his body to an extent, the Blumar doesn't affect it. Your magic, instead, still relies on the surrounding Mana to work, and since that one is disturbed by the Blumar, you can't use it. Perhaps try to light up your eyes or something to see in the dark, I don't know... After all, it does seem like the Silence Curse is still working, even though you're stepping on Blumar currently...' The entity's voice faded away after answering Glenn's doubts.

'This does make some sense...Let me try something...'

Glenn closed his eyes as he focused on Mana in his right hand. It was hard to imagine a way to use Astral Sorcery only to illuminate his surroundings, but there had to be a way to make it work, right? The young man concentrated while his comrade was busy using his lit-up sword to check their surroundings. Sahro frowned when he suddenly found himself in front of an immense Blumar wall. He approached his sword from it, but the Aura flickered and threatened to go out, forcing him to take a step back.

"...A whole wall made out of Blumar...Shit, this would be more than enough to repay our debts with interest and still live rich afterward..." Sahro muttered as he studied the wall curiously, keeping his sword away from it. The Blumar wall seemed to greedily absorb the light it produced, similarly to how Glenn's Blackhole would.

'How interesting... I wonder if I can cut it?' The Black Heir pondered, his fingers wrapping tightly around the hilt of his sword.

In the meanwhile, Glenn was still working on a way to light himself up, struggling immensely to do so.

'What creates light in space? Stars? Should I just try to conjure a fucking star? Isn't that a little too over the top?'

The young man shook his head, before imagining making his right arm glow with the light of the sun. Since the latter kind of star was commonly found in any galaxy, it should work for his Magellanic Clouds. Glenn lit his Mana up while keeping the idea firmly shaped in his head, his eyes flashing open as the flow of his Mana began to slowly move. The young man could feel the energy being consumed away as it fueled the spell, hinting at a potential success. He kept up his focus and concentrated on the Mana for it to go in his right arm.

His limb slowly began to be covered by a golden hue lighting up the entirety of the cave like a true sun. Glenn felt his Mana being devoured away at immense speed and instantly chose to reduce the flow. The hue died down, stabilizing itself to the power of a few classic torches combined. It was much better than the magic lights he conjured with Lux, but it wasn't lighting up the entirety of the cave either. It was a good comprise, and seemed to remain unaffected by the surrounding Blumar.

Sahro turned around to find out that his friend was glowing in the dark. He dispersed his Aura away and sheathed his sword, before rubbing the edge of his nose.

"...You always manage to find the most random solutions, it's crazy..." mumbled the Black Heir, shaking his head. Glenn sneered and looked at their surroundings. He quickly found the immense Blumar wall Sahro discovered but noticed a detail the latter had missed.

This was not a wall.

No, it was a door. An immense door even for the gigantic golems sleeping in the reservoir.

And that door was slightly opened.