There were a hundred other places Fiona would rather be at, and the catacombs were not one of them. But the allure of earning a reward from the royal knights was too good of an opportunity to pass up!

Not only were the royal knights strong, but their purses held a stockpile of royal sil worth ten times more than the original. As long as they weren't a stingy bunch, then Blue Dawn wouldn't have to worry about expenses for a while. Weapon and armor maintenance were not cheap when it came to explorers. And if sil wasn't the reward, then she'd file a formal complaint toward that scary-looking man. She'd have to do her utmost underground to make sure the reward was worth it.

"Hehe, oop—"

Fiona suppressed her giggling just as she and the royal knights stopped in front of the same door Othelia opened before. She had always been curious about its method of opening, considering the absence of any visible knobs. It seemed likely that it operated via magic, requiring either a spoken command or the use of a specific object to unlock.

Special places like the Imperial Catacombs usually took pride in their security, warding off intruders so that nothing of value was stolen. Valis Academy of Sorcery had such places, one being the restricted section of the academy library, which was protected by a barrier erected from runes. The entrance and exit could only be accessed with a special token granted by a professor or senior students. It was terribly difficult to gain access to the restricted section, as only a handful of students ever stepped foot inside.

Fiona's second guess proved to be correct when Othelia reached into her collar and pulled out an amulet that held Lethos' insignia. A rune engraved onto its surface glowed once the royal knight held it close toward the wheel door. Soon, the cavern rumbled as the door spun to the right, revealing the aftermath of the battle against the earth spirit.

Nessa whistled as she stepped into the rubble infested room. "Wow, this is quite the sight! This is the place where you defeated that earth spirit, right? I wish I was there to see it!"

Fiona looked at her quizzically. "It was not a fun time. In fact, it was a terrible experience for us all involved, Royal Knight Nessa."

"Aw, how cute. You can just call me Nessa. Saying my name alongside my title is a mouthful. There's no need for formalities."

Fiona nodded. "I'll address you informally, then. You can just call me Fiona."

Nessa's face lit up with joy as she bounced around, her arms outstretched. She gracefully hopped from one uplifted stone to the next, her eyes roaming the surroundings curiously. "Say, what appearance did the earth spirit have? Was it a fairy or an animal? It must be something big if it can split the ground in all directions."

"It was a rock golem," Fiona said, watching the royal knight move around rather agilely. "Way taller than my friend with the armor and it moved rather fast for its bulky size. Its body was covered in stone that none of my friends could get through, and its resistance to magic attacks did us no favors. We only defeated it by continuously attacking one spot until its defenses were crippled."

"Sounds like quite the experience," Nessa said, stopping near a crumbling pillar. "You three did well when the odds were stacked against you. Through your description and how battered this place is, it sounded like you fought a tier two spirit. I'm sure you already know why that is."

Fiona gingerly made her way through the debris, positioning herself next to the cheerful Nessa. "It possessed a greater command over the earth element compared to a tier one. And had it been a tier three, I wouldn't be standing here right now, and this entire place would have collapsed."

"Good answer, Fio. You seem like the type to excel in academics. Valis Academy of Sorcerer, correct?"

Fiona nodded. It was true she was doing pretty well as a student at such a prestigious school. Actually, excelling in her academics was the bare minimum Fiona had to accomplish in order to be taken somewhat seriously in the eyes of her family. Since she lacked a fire affinity and red hair even though she was the daughter of the family head, her worth in the family plummeted by the time she awakened as a sorcerer. The memories of her earlier years in Lockhart territory still lingered vividly in her thoughts and skin.

"Come to me, Lithero."

As soon as those words left Nessa's mouth, a burst of mana condensed before her. A green wisp of light emerged from the condensing mana and grew bigger until it took the form of a green-haired fairy that resembled a young boy. His overlapping leaf dress fluttered as it gracefully landed onto Nessa's outstretched palm.

"It's about time you summoned me!" the fairy grumbled, stretching his tiny limbs. "Your Sorcerer Plane is nice, but it's just so stuffy! Why not let me follow you around in the human world instead?"

Nessa giggled. "But then I won't have any mana to spare by the end of the day, and I'll suffer from mana deficiency. You'll drain me dry. And besides, don't I let you guys out from time to time?"

He pouted and slouched his delicate body. "What did you summon me for this time?"

Nessa pointed over at the ruined pillar. "I would like for you to repair this pillar using earth magic. I'm afraid it'll fall over and collapse this place."

"That's all? This will be easy."

The fairy floated up into the air, hovering just inches from the broken pillar. With the flick of his wrist, a wave of dust and rock erupted from the ground and swirled around the pillar. It wrapped the pillar entirely before hardening. The chunks missing from the pillar were filled in until the pillar was repaired entirely, and the fairy slowly descended onto Nessa's shoulder.

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"Great job, Lithy. Think you can do the same for the rest of this place?"

The fairy's head turned left and right, eyeing the damaged state of the catacombs. "Looks like a lot of work."

"I'll treat you to some delicious gemstones and allow you to roam the outside for a while."

Lithy's face perked up up at the offer. "Then leave it to me! I'll fix everything in a flash."

Lithero fluttered away from his master and immediately went to work tidying up the place. With both arms outstretched, overturned stone and rubble moved around, fixing themselves into glaring holes. Chunks of rock descended into the ground, leveling the ground until it was no longer uneven.

"We should leave this job to Lithy and continue further into the catacombs," Nessa said.

Othelia, who had been wandering around and inspecting the place, caught up with the group and nodded. "We should move quickly before any trace of Scourge disappears. If I am not mistaken, then the rune should lie where the dead rest. I will take the lead."

Without waiting for a reply, Othelia walked past Fiona and Nessa, trudging down the winding stairs. Nessa gestured for Fiona to move along, in which she did while the royal knight followed behind. Being wedged between two powerful knights while they traveled underground would have anyone feel safe, but all Fiona felt was dread—and a bit of anger toward a certain someone.

Setting aside her distaste, Fiona guided the group through the catacombs to the best of her ability. Through all the stairs, extra rooms and winding channels, arriving back to the rooms with the coffins were relatively easy. All Fiona had to do was follow where destruction was most prominent, and it was all thanks to that rampaging earth spirit. It was also lucky for them that they didn't have to break through any rock that barred the path forward.

Fortunately, Fiona had no need to conjure up a light source as the glowing mushrooms provided much needed illumination. Most, if not all of the coffins were open, revealing nothing but empty interiors except for a few rusty daggers and split pole arms. Fiona checked each coffin just in case, and was glad to find nothing out of the ordinary.

They eventually settled themselves into another area with coffins. Fiona immediately recognized the place where she activated the supposed rune and jogged over to the entranceway that connected to the first room where they escaped the skeletons briefly.

"This is the spot I stepped on," Fiona pointed out, crouching to get a better view. "Right as I stepped into the next room, all the coffins burst open and the skeletons chased after us. I'm not really sure what triggered it."

"There's only one way to find out," Nessa said, crouching down as well.

In the meantime, Othelia had already gone ahead of the group and went to investigate further along the catacombs. Fiona stayed and watched Nessa eyeball the surrounding ground, her nose practically touching the floor. For a moment, Fiona was worried the small woman would go so far as to even lick the dust-ridden ground by the way her mouth opened and closed.

"Found it," Nessa announced, brushing a finger across the floor.

"Found what?"

"This square block is pressed further into the ground than the others. That means that for the rune to activate, one would have to press this part of the ground with enough force. A hidden switch that most people wouldn't detect unless they had excellent eyes. A nifty trap, might I say. Not only that, but I can feel the presence of a rune here, but it's been erased just recently. Luckily, they did a terrible job of scrubbing it away and left a few traces. Here, let me show you."

Fiona gazed intently at the spot that Nessa was pointing to. Initially, everything seemed perfectly ordinary. However, the longer she looked, the more she noticed a slight unevenness on the surface, as if something sharp had grazed it. Curiously, when Nessa placed her palm on the chipped area, tiny specks of light scattered along the edges, unveiling the faint traces of a rune that had been scratched away.

"Amazing," Fiona whispered.

Out of the three specializations, Conjuration Sorcerers were one of the more fascinating groups compared to the others. Not only could they summon or bind spirits and create magical items with their own mana, but their affinity with runes was also exceptional.

Crafting runes was a specialized skill that only Conjuration Sorcerers possessed, and the majority of them were born with the innate knowledge to create them. Similar to how animals have specific instincts to guide their actions, sorcerers had their own inherent abilities. However, if, by unfortunate circumstances, they were not born with this knowledge, they could still learn the craft and develop the ability to create new runes throughout their lives, albeit at a lesser level than the norm.

Even better was the fact that Conjuration Sorcerers was the leading specialization with the highest salaries! Sometimes it pained Fiona that she was born an Elemental Sorcerer and not a Conjuration Sorcerer. Her life would surely have been much different if that were the case.

"It's an activation rune," Nessa explained, standing up. "A rather simple one, actually. It's not surprising that a rune of this caliber was easily scratched away. The unfortunate news is that I can't trace the mana back to its owner. It's too fragmented for me to follow the mana trail. A line of mana connects both the rune and the sorcerer, but it has been destroyed, leaving me with very little to track."

Fiona wasn't surprised by the situation. It had already been a day since the rune was discovered, providing Scourge with ample time to erase any traces. Although the royal knights promptly responded to the report, there wasn't much they could accomplish if all the evidence had been obliterated. In a worst-case scenario, their efforts would only result in a futile pursuit. Hopefully, the other royal knight would have better luck than their own group.

"Maybe there are other runes lying around?" Fiona suggested.

"Unlikely," Nessa said. "I've been looking around as we walked, and I didn't notice any other runes lying around. This is quite the predicament..."

Arms folded, Nessa stood there with a deep frown on her face, her gaze glued to the ground. For a brief moment, the royal knight stood there quietly, probably contemplating their next course of action.

"How about we—"

Suddenly, coffin lids vibrated as the ground to tremble. Not long after, a boisterous noise coming from the direction Othelia ventured to rattled their ears. After a few seconds have passed, the rumbling ceased, and the sudden commotion left Fiona frozen in shock.

"Lithy!" Nessa yelled at the top of her lungs.

Within ten seconds, the fairy flew in, looking completely exhausted as sweat trickled down his fair skin. "What happened, master? I finished repairing the area like you told me and felt this great tremor that shook the whole place. Is something going on?"

"That's what we're about to find out," Nessa said, spinning on her heels. "Fio, stick close to me, alright? I have a feeling Othelia is probably involved with that noise just now. Either that or she is already investigating alongside the others."

Fiona nodded slowly. She was hoping to finish way before sunset arrived, but that didn't seem to be the case. They might be underground even longer than she initially thought. She felt kind of bad since the others were waiting for her arrival.

Nessa was the first to move, running at a rather fast pace for her size. She wasn't too far ahead, and Fiona was able to match her speed. The fairy Lithero stayed beside his master, and together, the trio traveled through the catacombs, sprinting past the wheel door and into the dug tunnels.