“Everything is prepared to seal the tunnel. Call them,” the voice of a hooded woman ordered.

Another of those present, a reptilian woman with several scars and light blue skin, activated a device to send a signal. Then, she waited for an answer, but it didn’t arrive. She tried again, but this time there was no response either.

“Shit, something’s happened to them,” she cursed.

“They’re dead,” the hooded woman confirmed, while holding with her hand the necklace she wore around her neck. Two of the pieces hanging on it had been broken.

They all stared at the necklace, which was linked with their life force. Then, they looked at each other.

“We seal the tunnel, now!” demanded another bluish reptilian.

“Maybe, we can get revenge. If they come after us, let the tunnel fall on them,” suggested the hooded woman.

The rest showed a grim smile and nodded, totally in accordance with the plan. Shortly after, they resumed their march, since there was no one to wait for. The young dryad, who was fully sedated, was carried by one of them.

Goldmi had stopped using Camouflage to save energy, as Life Detection wasn’t locating any nearby presence.

As she traversed the tunnel, she used her newly acquired Detect Energy and Detect Mana. Meanwhile, her sister was on the lookout for any sounds or smells that her keen senses might detect.

They advanced slowly through the tunnel, as they tried to make as little noise as possible, and were alert for any ambush. This time, they were facing intelligent beings, who possessed resources and abilities unknown to them.

“There is something a little ahead, maybe a trap. I need to get closer,” informed the elf.

“I don’t hear anything. I don’t think they’re close, but you be careful.”

The elf took several steps forward before using Life Detection once more. Only then, did she deactivate Cyclonic Barrier, as it interfered with Detect Mana.

“It’s a mana trap. It doesn’t seem very complicated to disassemble. The weird thing is that I had also detected energy. Let’s see…”

She frowned when she used Detect Energy. She then went back to using Detect Mana, Detect Energy, and both at the same time. The trap wasn’t very complex. She could understand it quite well, something new for her. It was the first time she had done it consciously, outside the game. But that didn’t mean she could disarm it.

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“Without the pressure of mana, the energy is activated. Without the energy, mana is activated. They should both be deactivated at the same time, but… it’s too dangerous. I don’t know if I can do it. I’m afraid that, if I fail, the roof will fall. Maybe, it’ll fall even disassembling it. They have embedded the mana in the rock. If it disappears, it might fall,” Goldmi explained, frustrated.

“Can’t we just pass without activating it?” asked the feline. She could sense that there was something strange there, but couldn’t visualize the complexity of the trap.

“It’s more than twenty meters, and it’s very dense in some places. If we made one wrong step, tons of rock would fall upon us. The worst part is that the mana is gradually dissipating. In a few minutes, the trap will activate itself. Damn…”

“If only we could fly…” sighed the lynx.

The elf looked at her sister thoughtfully. She hadn’t tried it in a long time, and now her power was far greater than in the past. So she walked over her and hugged her.

“Is something wrong?” the feline was surprised.

But her sister didn’t respond with words, but with deeds. She used Hover to lift them both up. Although the lynx was heavy, at level 45 she had more than enough strength to hold her, if she didn’t resist. The elf verified that she could levitate with both, and landed immediately after. She could lift her, but there was a problem. The mana consumption was very high while carrying the feline.

“It’s dangerous. I don’t know if I can last until the end,” the elf doubted. She wanted to save the young dryad, but she was afraid of risking the life of her sister.

“You would if you were alone, even if it was dangerous. I would too. So we’ll do it together. I’m your sister. You can’t protect me more than yourself,” the feline reproved her.

“But…”

The archer wanted to protest. However, she could feel in her sister’s tone the same that she would have felt the other way around, if the lynx had refused to carry her on her back because of a danger that she was willing to accept. She sighed. She had no choice but to acknowledge her sister’s determination.

Goldmi put in the inventory her armor and weapons, so she was only wearing a light dress and jewelry that reinforced her magical power. She was trying to reduce the weight that she had to bear. After that, she climbed on top of her sister and hugged her with her legs and hands. Then, she cast Hover.

She could feel the mana decreasing rapidly with each inch they advanced. She held tightly to her sister, partly to keep her from falling, but also to feel her close. Her warmth was comforting. It gave her confidence.

She Hovered very cautiously, careful not to touch the walls or the floor, as it could then activate the trap. The elf wished she could go faster, but the spell didn’t allow it. She might be able to speed up by casting Tramontane, Twister, or Wind Push, but was afraid they would activate the trap.

So, she had no choice but to advance inch by inch, meter by meter, while feeling with anguish as the mana pool emptied.

Through Mana Link, the feline transmitted part of hers. She regretted at that moment not having the skill a little higher, because a little more mana could be the difference between life and death. She promised to level it up if they got out of there alive.

They had gone half the way, about ten meters, and she had spent more than half the mana. She gritted her teeth and kept going, Hovering through the trap. Now, they couldn’t go back.

She also regretted not having a mana regeneration potion like the ones made by Eldi. They were of higher quality than the ones she had obtained from Maldoa, perhaps enough to get through the tunnel.

Anyway, there was little use to lamenting. They could only keep moving forward and consuming mana. With three-quarters of the way covered, she barely had 10% left. She was beginning to regret having tried. Of course, if she hadn’t done it, if she hadn’t tried everything possible to save the dryad, she might never have forgiven herself.