Ali and his companions were first shown their sleeping quarters. They found themselves in a room about the size of their storeroom dug out beneath the store. While Aok provided them as much as he could, no one would be foolish to call this place comfortable. This was made worse with the supplies they had to share the room with. Food, medicine and other crates took up about three quarters of the space, leaving the four of them with just enough space to lie down side by side.

I wonder how much space Aok, Lorn and Minya get…

Shortly after having the thought, Ali and the others was led to Aok’s sleeping space which wasn’t much better. According to the man, digging into the stone beneath Naeleph had been a daunting task given how few earth element users they had. Even then, the effort took a lot of time and what they saw was the hard work that accumulated over a decade. There were also priorities and living comfortably underground wasn't very high on the list.

A decade? Has Aok been anticipating this that far back?

“I suggest you all get some rest for now,” said Aok. “I must meet with the other leaders as we formulate a plan moving forward. Last I heard, some of the factions are making a move as early as tonight.”

Everyone watched Aok disappear around a tunnel corner before they went to their respective rooms. For Ali and his companion, the challenge was finding space for their few belongings. There wasn’t exactly any extra storage space, at least not at the moment. Once they went through more of the food, they could free up space. However, none of them wanted to see a situation where they would be stuck underground for an incredibly long time. Ali personally had enough of being trapped underground, especially when so little time had passed since his little adventure in the cult member base.

“What do you think happens now?” asked Kurata.

The teenager had been fidgety all day and Ali didn’t blame him. They went from going about their lives to hiding underground very quickly with hardly any transition. No one could adjust that quickly, not even them with all that they had gone through.

“Lorn mentioned guerilla warfare so it looks like we will need to get familiar with the tunnels beneath the slums," said Belen. "Aok will probably let us know how we are deployed. We might even be split up so our side can better use our abilities.”

At this moment, Ali still found it incredible that such a large tunnel network was established without anyone outside the slums being any wiser. He had been sleeping on the floor and never noticed anything. As he learned shortly after reaching the depths, everyone in the slums were included in this. All the people they made deliveries to and passed by were residing somewhere underground. By being excluded from the rest of the city, these people had banded together to ensure their own prosperity. Now, they gathered underground as they fought to maintain their lives, at least to some extent.

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There’s no way the other factions would accept this. They will surely launch attacks until they destroy these tunnels that have been dug out right under their noses.

While his companions shared what they gathered about the place, Ali asked Tian to secretly scout out the tunnels. There were plenty of poorly lit passageways which should allow the air serpent to move around undetected or at least be harder to detect. He knew that Aok probably wanted them to wait but he wanted to prepare as much as he could before combat took place. The more familiar he was with the tunnels, the higher the chance of survival for him and his companions.

Of course you didn’t bother include me!

Ali watched as Mika ran right up to him. He checked with the lightning mink who admitted that Miniya was quite worried with the newest development. Therefore, she asked Mika to aid Ali until they were out of the mess they were in. To stay safe, the little girl would stay by Lorn's side.

Alright, you and Tian will go in different directions and report on what you discovered once you return. I will hopefully map out the place with your help.

Not trusting his skills in drawing, the teenager took out one of the wood blocks he received from Ryu. He originally intended on training on his own but, with the kidnapping and dealing with a toad dragon, his original plan never came to fruition. At least with the wood block, he could be certain he could carve something discernable by others.

What should I do then?

Qeday’s question caught Ali slightly off guard. The whelp couldn’t go invisible like the other two and had no combat skills to speak of. Until the two of them trained more, she would serve more as a liability in combat.

For now, we can focus on teamwork. We need to get better so we can contribute to combat when it inevitably happens. We can leave the scouting to the other two for now.

But I’m no good at combat! You saw how terrible I was. There’s no way I can get as good as Tian or Mike!

Ali was worried that the friendly match Qeday had with the other two summonees might have destroyed her confidence. At first glance, the gap between them was massive, similar to a veteran and an ordinary civilian. Yet, Ali was fully aware of his origins. He had nothing too and slowly got stronger. While he couldn’t exactly state that he was anywhere among the most powerful beings, he felt he was proof that enough hard work could pay off.

Don’t worry, Qeday! While Tian and Mika are busy scouting the tunnels, you and I will train non stop until you realize your hidden potential. You will eventually realize that you are capable of greater things, just now isn’t that time.

Secretly, Ali hoped Qeday would become a lot stronger once she became an actual dragon, though he wasn't sure how that she would achieve the become the dragon part.