I didn’t have to swim, because thanks to my weight I was just able to walk down the stairs that were leading me further deep under.

I didn’t make it even ten steps before I heard Kon in my head.

-Are you really…

I didn’t even let him finish, I knew well enough what he was going to say.

-Yes, yes, I know. I don’t intend on leaving anyone here, don’t you worry.

-But…

-I am going to be fine, and even if I won’t you can just portal them out of here and leave me behind. I will leave the anchor underwater, right at the end of the corridor so you can get it without an issue.

-What?!

-You heard me. If you don’t want to, you can tell Jack to do it, it’s not far, any regular person that can decently swim would be able to get to it. It’s not like I don’t think you can be trusted - I added, feeling his disappointment. - It’s just I think that there is a decent possibility that either of them would talk you into getting them out of here.

-And what good would that do? - he replied. I couldn’t help but notice his lack of denial. - We still wouldn’t get anywhere…

-You could just stay there, the place is not that bad to stay permanently…

-We wouldn’t just leave the rest back home to fend for themselves! And you’d be stuck here!

-Eh, who knows. And about me being stuck… Well, I’d figure something out, eventually.

As we were talking I reached the end of the corridor, and as promised, I placed the necklace on the ground. It was heavy enough for it not to be swept by the water, not like there was much of a current flowing through. Just in case though, I placed a rock on top of it. There were plenty of those scattered around.

-Done. It won’t swim away. You won’t have trouble finding it, it’s basically in the middle of the path.

-Still…!

-What, what else do you want me to do?

-To not be so reckless! - he suddenly said, surprising me. - You know very well that I am not going to leave you!

-Okay, listen. I know you feel like you are indebted to me for whatever reason you thought of…

-Saving my life!

-That’s debatable but whatever. Anyway, I am going to do whatever I want, and I don’t need you to try and guilt me into going back.

-I am not…

-Okay, are we going to keep bickering like this or what? I want to get going, so I can get out faster.

-I thought you wanted to explore - I couldn’t help but feel a hint of spite in his reply.

-Those are not exclusive to each other. You better keep your eye on those two with you, I can handle myself. And if something happens, I will definitely contact you.

-Actually… that’s a good point… From how far we can talk like this…

-Huh… I don’t know. Iloa, any ideas?

-Nope. It’s strange for me though… Even though you split up, I still can feel both of you the same as before, when you were together in one spot…

-That is strange… Well, no time like the present to find out. I’ll talk to you later, I need to focus right now…

-Hrm.

While I said that I needed to focus, that was a blatant lie. The light that I had with me was not something that I even barely needed to focus on, neither was the path.

Speaking of, it was actually flat and easy to traverse - after the stairs, the corridor I had to travel through was straight and decently large, I’d say a three or four person wide, about two meters tall, and definitely man-made. It was similar to the one we went through to get out of the bowl where MIRE was, albeit smaller. Probably made with magic, hence the regularity and the overall sturdiness: even though it was submerged in salt water, there was no sign of any erosion, it was looking perfectly fine.

After a short time, I found myself at the crossroads and the first sign of some kind of damage to the place.

The spot definitely used to be a fork, splitting three ways, left, right and middle. Both the left and the middle corridor were filled with rubble, or rather a landslide, only the right path was somewhat possible to travel. Even then it was just for a couple of meters further, because that one was also ending with a split, or this time it was a staircase leading up and down, with both of the ways being blocked by loose rocks.

-That doesn’t seem good… - I thought to myself, but I got a reply anyway.

-What doesn’t? Are you alright?

Of course, Kon was still with me, at least mentally.

-Path’s blocked. I didn’t make it very far… looks like a dead end.

-So come back and let’s go! - I could feel him hurrying me.

-Hm… I guess you could, but I think I feel something downstairs - joined in Iloa, quiet till now.

-Hmm?

Indeed, she was right. Just below us and a bit further in, I could feel a small flame of mana. Definitely interesting.

-You are absolutely right. I guess I’ll be staying here a bit longer then.

-I thought you said that the path was blocked!

-Not for long. Iloa, mind giving me a hand?

-Er… sure…? But why do you need me for that? Isn’t that basic…

-Yes, yes, basic crap. But last time I did something like this it did not end well. And I am also curious how good you are with the current state you are in…

-That’s a good question - I felt her pondering. - Okay…

-Isn’t it a bit of a bad place to do some kind of weird experiments…? - pointed out Kon.

-We’ll be fine, it’s not like this is more dangerous than me doing it myself.

-You…

-How do you want to do this? - I asked Iloa, not waiting for the inevitable protests from Kon.

-I can’t really cast anything independently from you… - she replied, deep in thought.

-You could when you interfered during my attempt at bringing Kon back…

-I did, but it was more like me taking partial control of you…

-So can you do that now?

-Wait, you WANT me to take control? - she asked, stunned.

-Why not? It’s not like I don’t trust you, essentially we are bound together whenever we want it or not, so what’s the problem?

-It’s just… I am not sure if I will be able to give you control back… - she finally replied, clearly worried.

-That's it?

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

-What do you mean “that’s it”? That’s kind of a big deal! - Kon butted in.

-Kon, this does not concern you. While I am happy that you feel more comfortable in this new mode of communication, can you at least not interrupt?

-...

I swear I heard some grumbling from him, but besides that he went silent.

-Back to topic, if that’s the only problem you think we’re going to have, then there is no issue. Go ahead.

-Well, if you’re sure, I am not going to complain…

I was not sure what to expect, so I just stood there, holding my non-existing breath with anticipation.

At first, nothing happened, but soon I started feeling a headache, somewhat familiar to the ones I’ve been having a long time ago, when we first merged together. On top of that, my head suddenly started spinning, I started feeling like I was about to black out… and I did.

Or maybe rather white out.

It was a very weird feeling - it was like I was unconscious, yet aware. All my senses were gone, or at least I thought so, because suddenly I started hearing a voice.

-Mor? Mor? Are you okay?

It was Iloa. So she managed to take over, huh? I tried focusing on the sound of the voice, but it was harder than expected. I attempted to speak, or rather to think, get a message to her, that I could hear her, but I could not collect my thoughts. Everything was so blurry and mixed up that I had trouble focusing, especially when I was essentially in a white void.

Actually, that void felt familiar. Wasn’t it the same as when we first connected? I found myself floating in that blank space? But this time, I was not able to see anything else, be it my body or her… if you could call that weird mass back then my body.

What I was able to feel was something else though… I could feel a pull. Just like back then, there was that something, a tiny string that was attached to something further away from me… wait, there was more than one. Two? More?

It was like an invisible spider web stretching through that void, so thin that it was almost not there.

-I said that it was a stupid idea!

It was Kon. At the same time, suddenly one of the threads grew thicker, and I was almost able to see it… or was it my imagination?

-He knew the risk. But he’s not gone… I am still able to feel him… Mor?

When she said that, another string got more distinguishable, and this time, I was able to grab onto it…? It’s hard to explain. I didn’t have any limbs to speak of, yet I definitely felt like I was stretching my arm and grabbing onto a thin rope that immediately wrapped itself around my non-existing fist.

As soon as that happened, I felt a massive pull, like someone had yanked the rope I was holding on with an immense strength, and suddenly I was not in the white void anymore.

I could see again… but this time, it was a bit different. It was not unlike my magic sight before, but this time it was lacking one layer - the basic, physical one - I was just able to see the mana surrounding me.

I tried focusing up, and soon my sight came back fully, with the confusing mix of mana flames and regular shapes of objects around me.

At the same time, I felt myself reeling back, like I was just hit by something.

-Holy shit…

Oh! I managed to say something, or rather think.

-Shit indeed - repeated Iloa in my head. - I see you are conscious. How are you feeling?

-Confused. But besides that, I think I am good.

-Good. So can you move?

As she asked that, I realized that I was now sitting down on the stairs, a bit lower, already behind the landslide that was now completely gone.

-You managed to remove this thing… - I said, standing up.

Or at least I attempted to. The thing is, it was actually pretty hard for me to move, I was a bit sluggish. If I didn’t know better I’d say that it was because I was in the water, but even then, it was harder for me than before. I actually had to lean onto the wall to be able to stand up.

-Whoah… damn, I am a bit woozy.

-No wonder. This exchange was a bit harder than I expected… or rather I should say less mana-efficient than I hoped for. Good thing that we have a lot to spare.

-Mh… yeah…

-Mor! You’re back! - I heard Kon, clearly very relieved to hear my voice.

-Yes, yes, I am OK. Just give me a second to get my bearings…

-You scared us! It’s been too long!

-Too long? - I asked, surprised. - Wait, how long was I unconscious?

-You didn’t realize?

-Well, that’s not that strange - said Iloa. - In my case, it was really, really confusing.

-I asked how long.

-About half an hour, give or take.

-Damn.

-Yeah. But do you feel fine now? And were you aware what was going on here? - she asked.

-Err… no, not really. I heard you both a little bit, but besides that, I felt nothing.

-I guess we shouldn’t be surprised… This magic is very, very funky.

-Speaking of, how do you even know of this magic? - asked Kon.

-What do you mean “know about this magic”? Mor told you already, there is nothing that you can’t do when you know how the magic works.

-Yeah… but still! Didn’t you say that doing things like that can be dangerous? That’s…

-Sure, sure, we are amazing, we know - I interrupted. - By the way, Iloa, what did you use to get rid of the rocks? I can’t see any rubble or anything similar…

-Oh, I just used a little bit of stone melding. I basically melted them and got them out of our way. I did make the floor a bit uneven, though.

And true, at the top of the stairs, where the landslide used to be, there was now a round bump in the floor, just at the wall.

-You used heat or nah?

-Nope. I am pretty sure that this body would be fine with it, but I don’t know about the guys upstairs, so I decided to not risk boiling the water. They would be scared shitless.

-I can’t say that you were conserving mana. No wonder I felt weak after getting back…

-Don’t be a wuss, we have plenty of mana and even more ways to recover it. Don’t you feel fine already?

She was right. While the water was relatively weak in terms of mana infusion, there was a lot of it and enough for me to refill, especially when I was completely submerged in it and even filled with it.

-Well, I guess so. Let’s move then.

The stairs leading down were also in a pretty decent condition, and considering the fact that they not so long ago were buried under a pile of rocks, that seemed a bit strange. When you think about it, I also didn’t notice any place that the rocks were from… I mean, it had to be some kind of avalanche? But there was no sign of any holes or anything that would say that the ceiling or a wall collapsed, the corridor was completely spotless and flat.

-Hey, you said you melded the loose rocks into the floor, right?

-Yeah?

-Did you fix the ceiling too?

-Ceiling? Nope. If I would, you’d definitely notice. Besides that it didn’t look damaged…

She stopped, realizing what that meant.

-Where the hell did this blockade come from then?

That was a very good question.

-Did someone do this on purpose? Blocking the way?

-That’s possible… But that would mean that they had to use some kind of earth magic to actually conjure and create those rocks…

-True… And since everything is underwater, it’s hard to tell if this thing was made with magic or not - she agreed with me and confirmed what I was suspicious of. - Like this corridor… But why would they just leave it like this? Not just completely block the way? To make it look like an accident?

-Most likely - I nodded. - And since not a lot of people know how to actually detect magic, no one would be wiser, especially after a while soaking in water…

-True. If we can’t tell, I doubt anyone would.

-Now the real question: what the hell was so important here to warrant that much effort? Since the landslide was fake, I don’t doubt that this flooding is too.

-We are about to find out. Whatever magical is in there, it’s close.

She was right. After the stairs ended, we walked onto what seemed like some kind of a cellar, or maybe a dungeon. I couldn't really tell because the door was not there anymore, although the only remaining thing, the hinges, were pretty thick.

-Metal. And no rust - I pointed out.

-So whatever happened here couldn’t be that long ago…

-Now I am even more interested.

Behind the broken door was a large room. And it was still equipped, mostly that is.

The furniture, or maybe rather equipment was made completely out of stone. It sort of reminded me of Melle’s home appliances in design, although this time from a different material.

And those were definitely not just some home furniture.

In the middle of the room, there was a large slab of stone, I’d say a table, or maybe more like an altar. It was large enough for at least two people to lie on it.

The walls were stacked with empty shelves, besides the wall opposite to the entrance. That one had another doorway with a missing door, and that was also where I was feeling the mana from.

As I got closer, I noticed that the set of hinges at that wall was even thicker than the one at the entrance. Those also looked bent and destroyed, like something had torn the doors out of its frame.

-Whatever someone was keeping here apparently didn’t like it very much - I pointed out, inspecting the hinge.

-Not exactly… They are bent the other way, are they not? - she pointed out. - And aren’t those scorch marks?

She was right. I didn’t notice before in the darkness, but as soon as I let my orb fly closer, I immediately realized that those hinges were not bent by force, someone had used fire to heat them up and that way opened this room.

-What the hell is this place? - I was wondering, peeking inside the other room.

It was small, and, obviously, a cell.

Barren, tiny and with only a singular bed. Not even a bed, just a singular flat slab of stone in the corner, not that different from the one in the middle of the other room, although a bit lower to the floor.

And on it, there was laying a nice and clean skeleton.