Four seconds.

That's how long one cube, with sides the length of one leg, took me to get into the Game Store. Another second went toward positioning myself for the next cube after falling with the prior cube's disappearance.

Each cube differed in size slightly, depending on the consistency of the material I was getting through. Still, they were roughly the same, except for the first one, which was the smallest, with one of its sides approximately the length of one of my arms.

The first cube required getting through the enforced floor. The room, like any vault worth its salt, wasn't merely locked by a black mana stone-enforced door while having regular stone walls, floor, and ceiling. Within the interior was also an enforced black mana stone layer.

After dropping ten cubes into the floor, I turned to my left and began to remove the area there. With each cube's dissolution, a subtle odor of dust and ancient stone hit my nose. These stones had been sitting here for many ages now, untouched.

"I didn't know you were a mage. Could I learn how to do this, too?" Fin asked behind me, having dropped in alongside me.

"This is hardly magic, and not something that can be learned," I replied. "Don't talk. I need to concentrate."

"Peep!"

Leona sounded from Fin's shoulder.

"You too," I said. I had a slew of questions I wanted to ask her, such as how in the world she managed to get captured yet again, but I was never good at multitasking. I couldn't work the wall and talk with her simultaneously. Besides, without the Whispering Necklace, I had to speak aloud.

"Peep!" Leona however, talked into my mind.

Instead of cubes, can you make a cylinder shape? It'd be more stable and easier to crawl through.

I frowned. Her reasoning was sound, though I had yet to attempt it.

I pressed my hands against the wall, and with a blue flash, the wall disappeared, giving way to a cylindrical opening.

"Thanks," I muttered. "Now, please, remain quiet. I need to concentrate."

The scent of ancient stone completely surrounded me as I crawled forward in the dark. It was lucky that neither Fin nor I were claustrophobic because the hole was just large enough for one of us to fit through at a time.

I didn't have the time to obtain the building or city blueprints, even with Micah's resources, so I was working off of elementary math, having identified the typically expected depth of the building found in East Genise of this age and how far I needed to go east to get from here and into one of the neighboring buildings that Ridley was waiting in.

While the exterior of East Genise was constantly changing, with buildings disappearing and appearing overnight, the core base on which the city stood remained the same. The sewage and water system was set up several centuries ago, and nowadays, no one really understood how it all worked. However, as long as the base was left alone and only the top part was changed, everything worked without issues.

I pressed my hands against the stone wall for the thirtieth time, and the wall glowed blue, illuminating the dark cave before disappearing.

It's lucky I haven't hit any collapsable material.

I crawled forward in the dark and pressed my hands against the wall again, suspicious of how small the cylinder appeared this time.

Ah, damn it. I jinxed it.

My fingers felt about, feeling something metal.

"Fin, pass me one of the light stone shards," I called back, sensing the stone placed in my right hand.

I drew the green light stone toward the wall, revealing large horizontal bands of metal, some of which I had inadvertently shaved away during the cylindrical transformation in the Game Store.

At least I didn't breach the metal completely; that would have spelled real trouble.

My eyes refocused on the hoovering blue screen that only I could see.

[ Time remaining: 05:57 ]

Time was slowly ticking away, but I had no choice but to take a slightly longer and more cautious approach.

"We're going to have to take a longer route," I announced." We'll move further downward to avoid hitting these pipes again."

As far as the information about the sewage system was understood, the pipes weren't hidden too deep in the stone base of the city. Beyond that, it wasn't really understood what lay.

I simply needed to dig down more. If we move lower, it should be fine.

I pressed my hands down on the floor, felt it give way, and dropped down. However, as my legs met the lower level, the ground gave way beneath me, with yellow cracks forming where I landed.

Damn it.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I plummeted through the opening, flailing in a futile attempt to seize something, but there was only air. My body finally hit the ground hard. I groaned and rolled over on the cool stone floor, gazing up at the hole I had fallen through.

"Are you alright?" Fin's concerned voice echoed from above, his face obscured by the shadows.

"I'm fine," I called back, pushing myself upright. I surveyed my surroundings—a spacious hallway adorned with massive gray stones for its floor, walls, and ceiling. Embedded within the walls were glowing light stones, casting a mix of yellow and purple illumination.

"Peep!"

Leona descended gracefully after me, her wings unfurling to navigate the expansive hall.

Where is this? I like it. There's so much more space for me to spread my wings than those claustrophobic tunnels.

I stood up, quickly realizing I had seen something similar to this hall before in the previous round.

"Should I come down too?" Fin called out.

"Yes, jump down," I said. "Just be careful. It's a bit of a fall."

However, my warning was unneeded. Fin jumped down and landed with ease.

"Where are we?" Fin repeated Leona's question. His large eyes, with their lengthy eyelashes, looked about in awe. "This place looks ancient."

He inhaled in the air.

"It even smells old," he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper.

How do I get out of here?

I looked between the two ends of the hallway, each turning out of view.

[ Passage Finder (Level 2) Activated ]

I sighed in relief at the blue screen's appearance.

There was a way out.

[ Step 1: Turn right and walk down the hallway. ]

"This way." I motioned Fin to follow.

"Do you know where we are?" Fin asked and ran beside me.

"Somewhat," I replied. "This way should also take us to an exit."

I gazed upward.

This was not the intended plan, but if Ridley could sense Fin's mana, he should have realized we were moving in a different direction from the one we originally discussed.

"What now?" Fin looked toward a fork in the road with three possible openings.

[ Step 2: take the far right path. ]

"This way," I said.

"How do you know where to go?" Fin asked.

"I just do," I replied.

"Is it more of that not-magic of yours?" Fin asked.

"Yes," I replied, motioning him to follow me left at another fork we hit.

[ Time remaining: 00:00 ]

My eyes glanced at the blue screen, which disappeared with the end of the countdown.

Hopefully, Jasper can take manage on his own after our disappearance is noted. He said he'd be fine, but one can never really know.

"Peep!"

Leona fluttered over and sat atop my head.

It was so scary. I really thought I was going to be sold off to that maniac.

I frowned. She meant Elian's father, Lord Vikzhou, winning bidder #12.

However, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. For his son to turn out the way he did, the tree that the apple fell from must have been equally as twisted, if not more.

"How did you end up getting captured anyhow?" I asked.

Fin began explaining, but I wasn't interested in his explanation. I already knew why he was captured yet again. He was a child. He was a child that had the potential to be a great mage, but he was still untrained and not ready.

I was confused about how Leona ended up getting captured, especially since it appeared her captors didn't even realize she was a phoenix. Otherwise, they would have had her sold off separately for a much greater price.

I poked Leona to prompt an answer out of her.

"Peep!"

I was asleep, so I don't know what happened. However, the moment I awoke, it was too late. I had already been captured along with Fin.

I sighed.

Asleep? First, it was food, now sleep?

"How could you sleep?" I whispered. I didn't have a choice but to speak aloud. I could only hope that our footsteps were loud enough that Fin wouldn't hear me.

I was tired. I needed time to digest my lunch. Besides, I had protection. I thought I would be safe.

"Is that a mirror?" Fin called out. "What's it doing here?"

"We'll discuss this issue later," I told Leona.

Given this was now the second time she was captured, we needed a proper action plan so there would never be a third instance.

Fin moved about in front of its reflection. "There's something odd about it."

"It's a magical mirror," I told him. "Walk through it. Confidently. Don't stop or hesitate or else—"

However, I didn't even finish talking before Fin moved forward and disappeared into it.

Damn it.

I quickly followed after him.

I had yet to inspect where it went, so I could not know where he'd end up. Luckily, it transported us to the same place.

CLANK!

"You're here! Where are we?" Fin asked.

I felt him pressed awkwardly against my legs in the dark space, filled with smells of old, worn leather, metal, and dust.

"Peep!"

Leona chirped atop my head, having also safely gone through the portal.

"Ah, this place again?" I muttered.

I reached through the fur coats toward the door and pushed it open. This time, instead of stumbling out, I got out of the wooden closet with some measure of class.

"I do have a front entrance, you know," Lisa's voice sounded ahead.

She sat behind the counter like the last time I had entered, with a pair of heeled black boots raised atop a table. In her left hand was a cup of tea, and in her right, was a book. Long black bangs covered half her thin face.

"Sorry about that," I replied.

"Is this a bookstore?" Fin asked. He came out of the closet after me and did the honors of closing the doors behind us.

"No," Lisa and I both replied at the same time.

Lisa smiled at this.

"This establishment is Lisa's Books and Tea Shop," she explained. "And just so you know, I don't part with any of my books, so you can't buy them. You can order a cup of tea and read a book inside if you want. Or you can leave."

"You're Lisa?" Fin asked and walked over to one of the book stands, inspecting the titles.

"Bingo." She snapped her left finger. "That's right. I'm Lisa. And who might you be, young man?"

"I'm Fin," he replied brightly. "And this is Luca."

"Oh? Is that so?" Lisa smiled broadly. I couldn't see what she was smiling at, however.

"I apologize for the intrusion," I said. I glanced outside and spotted Ridley's unmistakable figure through the grimy shop windows. I motioned for Fin to join me. "We must get going."

Fin put back the book in his hands with great disappointment.

“She had books on magic, you know?” he whispered.

“Peep!”

This Lisa has books that are from my ancestors' memories, in mint condition! I can see why she said she doesn’t sell them.

Leona chimed in as well.

I frowned.

“We can come back another time,” I replied.

I might have lingered in another circumstance, waiting for Ridley to arrive, especially given that I didn't have my needles to protect us from potential threats. However, it seemed Ridley had made swift progress in reaching here.

It's as if Fin had a magnetic pull on the old mage.

"Well, come back if you ever need an ear to talk to or a book to read." Lisa waved goodbye and returned back to her book.

A familiar pungent odor enveloped my senses as we stepped back into the East Genise air. But today was different; the Summer Festival was in full swing, and the usual urban stench was mingled with tempting scents of grilled meat, freshly baked bread, and sizzling vegetables wafting from festival stalls somewhere around the corner.

"How in the world did you end up here?" Ridley inquired.

He met us just as we stepped out of Lisa's Tea and Books. He turned his keen gaze upon me, his gray eyes dissecting me in a manner that felt like he was peering into the depths of my soul.

BOOM!!

However, before I could respond, a large explosion bang filled the blue summer sky.