Time slowed to a crawl. How had he not seen the woman's movements? Tyrus prided himself on his excellent senses, especially when on high alert. Even then, how did the woman get past his senses unknowingly?

One moment she stood at the doors, and the next thing he knew, her spear stayed leveled at his head. Was it magic? No, he would've sensed her mana if that were true. Whenever magic is utilized, mana is built up and discharged in the air, and his mana sense can pick that up. That meant she closed the gap with her physical abilities alone!

Tyrus tried to activate augmentation in that split second, but he was far too slow, the spear just a finger length away. Not even the others were aware that the woman was already attacking, as they had not reacted in the slightest. Was this it? Had his short life ended here?

Just as the spear tip was about to pierce his eye, an intense pressure abruptly erupted to his side, and the sound of metal clashing rang in his ear. A large figure had suddenly stepped in front of him and blocked the attacker's strike, sending them back a bit from the force. Tyrus recognized the armor in front of him and looked up to see Grant peering over his shoulder, smiling. Dust and rubble coated his face.

"A-Are you alright?" Grant asked, his voice strained.

Tyrus slowly nodded, the phrase 'thank you' stuck in his throat. The man reciprocated and turned back to face the attacker just as she retreated, stopping a far distance away from the group. Her eyes narrowed while she adjusted her stance, her spear pointed at the group.

"I had no idea that assaulting defenseless children was considered part of the duties of a royal knight!" a voice thundered from behind. Tyrus turned his head and saw Reo approaching, placing an arm around him and gesturing towards the woman with a disdainful expression. "How would His Majesty react to the news of his esteemed guardians of Lethos attacking innocent citizens?"

"A citizen?" she said sharply. "That mongrel is no citizens of Lethos, boy. If you wish to protect the enemy of Lethos, then that is your choice to make. And it is by His Majesty's will that we vanquish those who are a threat to his people."

Fiona rushed forward and said, "Woah, you're not about to attack us now, are you? Do you not see who is with us, by chance? The annoying red head next to me is Igneal Lockhart, and this is Grant, son of Royal Knight Geroth! Killing them means incurring their wrath. You don't want to make an enemy out of a family head and your comrade, do you?"

The royal knight squinted past Grant, only noticing Igneal glaring at her, sword ready. Then her eyes landed on Grant's face. She scowled and tightened her grip on her spear. "Is it to my understanding that a Lockhart and a son of a royal knight are collaborating with the Beastfolk?"

"Collaborating?" Fiona asked. "I don't like what you're insinuating there, erm..."

"Royal Knight Othelia," Grant finished.

For a moment, Royal Knight Othelia's grasp of her weapon loosened, and the tiniest bit of a quiver occurred at her lip. Yet just as quickly as she moved, it disappeared, and she was back to staring the group down, though her eyes had grown considerably less intense.

"Right, thank you. I don't like what you're insinuating, Royal Knight Othelia. Tyrus here is our friend and comrade, just as Sir Geroth is to you. Tyrus has no connection with the Beastfolk Kingdom other than his heritage. In fact, he's even a member of the Explorer Guild and cleared by Selena Lockhart herself—Oh, and by Sir Geroth as well. Do you still wish to keep hostilities with this harmless boy even after what you've heard here?"

Tyrus was amazed at how much of a smooth talker Fiona was. Even in the face of someone who could probably kill them all in seconds, she still held her ground and argued with a royal knight's conviction. Not once did her voice falter, or did her body tremble in fear.

Royal Knight Othelia was quiet for a long time, her expression a mask. With how long she had been standing there, it was a wonder whether she would ever move, let alone speak. When it looked like she was going to lower her weapon, her eyes fell on Tyrus again, and her gaze turned as hard as stone, yet softened a tad once she glanced at the others.

The woman sighed and straightened her back. The spear in her hand disappeared, turning into a white light and slinking into her collar, the clinking of jewelry slithering in Tyrus' ears. Once her weapon was out of sight, Tyrus shoulders drooped, and a sigh escaped him. He had not noticed his stiffened muscles until then, and his mind had grown fuzzy from the tense situation.

"I will speak to Branch Leader Selena and Sir Geroth to gauge the authenticity of your claims. If what you've said was a lie, I will personally come for each and every one of you. You have my word."

She did not wait for a response. The woman spun around, heading towards the door, and said: "You will disclose in great detail how you've gotten access to the catacombs and what you are doing here. In meantime, you will follow me to the surface. You will talk as we walk."

By the time she finished, she was already past the door and out of sight, seemingly turning a corner.

"I can't believe a royal knight was about to kill Tyrus in cold blood," Fiona said, wiping sweat off her forehead. "Did you guys see that? She didn't even bat an eye when she saw that he was a Beastfolk and went straight or his head. If you hadn't intervened in the nick of time, Grant, then Tyrus might've died! I couldn't even read her movements at all."

Grant grimaced as he raised his shield. At the center was a see through hole where the spear had struck. "Not only would he had died, but I as well. Without strengthening her body, she was capable of piercing through my shield. It'd be best to avoid getting on her bad side."

"Yeah, no kidding," Reo muttered. "You did a great job calming down that blood-lusted beast, Fiona. Good thinking on using your brother's family name like that."

She shrugged. "It's one of the few useful things he has going on for him. Might as well take advantage while I can. But enough of that, we should get out of here. If she notices that we aren't following her, then she might actually go along with her previous actions. I'll heal our wounds as we walk."

The group was quick to move, and Grant had taken the lead, followed by Fiona, Reo. Tyrus walked ahead a few steps until he noticed Igneal stayed behind, a deep scowl etched on his face as he stared at his bloodied hand.

"They'll leave you behind," Tyrus said, breaking the silence.

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"Did you see her movements?" Igneal asked out of the blue.

Tyrus shook his head. "No, not even a twitch of a muscle or her shifting her feet. By the time she closed the distance was when I realized what just happened."

"...I see."

After that brief exchange, Igneal remained silent as he walked, following the others' footsteps. Tyrus peered over to where he had slain the earth spirit. Its remains were nowhere to be seen, and Tyrus assumed they had been absorbed by the ground like Fiona mentioned before.

Flashes of the battle filled his mind, and he recalled the Shadow Bolt striking the spirit and vanquishing it on one fell swoop. A fight that they struggled with was ended in a snap, and it was from an element he had no experience with. Why was that so? Was it because it was that effective against the spirit or was where something else he hadn't thought of?

"...I should get going," he said as he spun, jogging toward the unsealed door.

***

The new area was much taller and cleaner than the previous. There were no mushrooms that gave the room natural lighting, but more torches that blazed with Illumination, he presumed. No cobweb or slime goo to be seen, and the ceiling was a dome, which was strange to see. The floor was even with no stone sticking out, nor were the walls littered with cracks and crevices. So far, it was just a long tunnel they walked, but he could see a larger room up ahead, and the woman leading the group was approaching it.

"Explain what you are doing in the catacombs," Royal Knight Othelia said.

Grant was the one to step up and explained what the group was doing. He mentioned how they were tasked by the Explorer Guild to go down to the sewers and exterminate pests that ran rampant underneath the city. As he talked, Fiona was busy healing her wounds, a golden light emitting from her palm.

She healed her leg with the missing boot. What used to be gashes that looked as if wolves ravaged her leg were no more, other than the scars previously there. Tyus quietly unlaced his own boot and handed it to her. Fiona stared at him curiously, glanced at her own and figured out what he was trying to do. She thanked him with a smile and put it on. It was probably smaller than what Fiona was used to, but she didn't seem bothered. The floor was extremely chilling against his foot, but he sucked it up and continued walking.

After she was done healing herself, she shuffled over to Igneal and began healing his wounds, particularly his face and where his shirt was missing. He seemed offended at first, but he didn't stop her, nor did he thank her for it. Fiona expected as much and didn't bother to force it out of him or stop healing.

While they were off doing their own thing, Grant said something interesting that answered what everyone was thinking. He and Reo apparently punched through the closed off wall together after Sezor blasted them with fire magic. It took them a long time, but they finally broke through and rushed toward all the noise bouncing off the walls. That would explain why those two were covered in rubble.

Royal Knight Othelia listened with a blank face, though her eyes narrowed slightly at certain parts. Tyrus had his suspicions that the woman didn't trust what Grant was saying and was just waiting for him to mess up so she could have a reason to attack them. But, from what he knew of royal knights, they were a sort that delivered justice. Attacking out of the blue without reason, other than the fact that he was a Beastfolk, didn't seem like their style, until he remembered that relations between Lethos and the Beastfolk Kingdom weren't all that pretty.

As they neared the other side of the tunnel, Fiona had cut in and finished their story, speaking about Scourge, the tunnels, and the earth spirit they just defeated. The royal knight stopped in her tracks and turned.

"You say Scourge has been using underground tunnels created by cave worms for their purposes? And that no one has noticed this until now? Not to mention you defeated an earth spirit that this man named Sezor has unleashed and is why you look like that?"

Fiona gulped. "I know this sounds crazy, but I am not lying in the slightest. You can verify this by accessing the sewers yourself and going through the tunnel we came out of."

The woman crossed her arms and nodded. "Very well. I will send a few guards to investigate. Since you mentioned Scourge, It is safe to assume you aren't dishonest. Sir Grant mentioned this in his report to the Imperial Court. But he failed to mention that a Demi-human, a Beastfolk one at that, was running around the capital."

"Does it matter?" Reo said with an eye roll. "He's not causing any harm, or some spy sent by the neighboring kingdom. Branch Leader Selena made sure of that."

Royal Knight Othelia turned towards him. "Quite the mouth you have there, boy. Didn't your parents teach you to show respect to your superiors?"

Reo opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he noticed Fiona glaring daggers at him. He shut his mouth and motioned for her to take over.

Fiona cleared her throat and said, "That being said, what are you doing down here, if I may ask?"

The woman folded her arms, hardening her gaze. Now that Tyrus had gotten a good look at her, the royal knight was rather pretty. The braiding in her hair looked as if her head had a silver crown on, and the whole white uniform complimented her stern demeanor perfectly. She seemed like the opposite of Sir Geroth.

"The one responsible for the upkeep of the catacombs informed me of a strange noise while I was out patrolling. As per my duties, I found it necessary to investigate the noise. And beyond the door, it was you five that were the culprits. You even claim you battled an earth spirit underground, summoned by the one named Sezor."

"Which is the truth," Fiona added.

"If what you say is true, then how did you defeat it?" the woman asked. "Because of its properties, you three would have been at a severe disadvantage given that you are Elemental Sorcerers. Two of you are frail brats, while the other is possibly an Apprentice Sorcerer. But even that is not enough to save you."

Tyrus kept his mouth shut, trying his best to assume a neutral face. The woman's view of him was bad enough, but knowing that he defeated the spirit with the dark element would surely make things worse. Better to let Fiona do all the talking. She made no mention of what she witnessed and was still adamant about defending him. For all he knew, she probably didn't care in the slightest what he used, only happy that the job was done.

"You underestimate the power of the sorcerers, regardless of age and experience," Fiona said. "Thanks to Tyrus, he was able to pierce through the spirit's rocky exterior with his lightning magic. We capitalized on the opening he created and continued hitting that spot until it died. He might seem frail to you, but he's quite strong for his age—"

Out of nowhere, the royal knight calmly walked towards Tyrus and came to a halt right in front of him. She leaned in; her gaze intense, as if she were searching the depths of his soul. Tyrus instinctively flinched, feeling overwhelmed by her proximity, to the extent that he could feel her breath gently brushing against his face.

"U-Um... Do you need something from me?" Tyrus asked.

She was quiet, and the tension lingered, though not nearly as intense as before. Then she straightened herself and turned, walking off as if nothing ever happened.

Tyrus glanced at the others, who shrugged in return and followed her. What was that all about? What kind of person just walks up to someone, stares into their eyes for no reason, and struts away?

Confused, he chased after the others; the tunnel opening up into a wider space that was very bright, to say the least. Up ahead was another door lined in gold—or at least, appeared to be—this time guarded by two humanoid statues wearing helmets that veiled their faces. They held swords in their hands; the blade positioned downward as if striking the ground itself.

To their right was a set of stairs that climbed upward. The steps were smooth and polished, a far cry from what he had seen in the catacombs. The fact that everything was much nicer and cleaner than before was a good sign, or so he hoped. It didn't take a genius to know that beyond the golden door was the second level of the catacombs Igneal was referring to. A place fit for an emperor and his closest aides.

Tyrus felt sorry for those buried on the first level. For your burial place to be neglected and forgotten over time, after sacrificing your lives for the prosperity of Lethos. After seeing all the scattered bones and rats, if it were Tyrus that was to be buried alongside the others, he'd be angry that no one bothered to maintain his final resting place. As if he was just a means to an end. An after thought.

"What are you standing around there for?" Fiona said, snapping Tyrus back into reality.

With everyone else already climbing the steps, ready to escape the suffocating space, he gave himself a pinch, just to be sure, and then followed suit by climbing after them. The gloomy thoughts that had plagued his mind vanished as the scent of rainwater escalated with each step.