Barely ten minutes after Illya got back to his feet, Kieran casually walked through the dark winding tunnel once more. He felt considerably less afraid, and the tunnel no longer seemed so endless since his first journey through here. He attributed this to the siblings being here to keep him company and watch both his front and back.

A strong sense of confidence filled his limbs after having survived another life-or-death battle with little to no injury, at least nothing a little mana wouldn’t smooth over in little time.

Illya delicately walked beside him, surprisingly catlike in the way each of his soft steps barely disturbed the small stones literring the underground path.

If Kieran hadn't seen the patch of missing and charred doublet on the Elnari man's tall back, he wouldn't have guessed the orcs had tortured him mere hours ago.

Using the leftover remnants of the dead berserker's axe, Illya fashioned himself a makeshift spear which he was adamant would be more practical than the hatchet he had destroyed. Spear in hand, Illya kept a close watch on the tunnel ahead as they made their way through the dimly lit tunnel.

Kieran was only partly surprised to hear from his new friend that the Elnari had far greater audiovisual capabilities than typical mammals, let alone humans. With this as the fulcrum, Illya’s insisted he alone be allowed to take the more prominent position whenever the path narrowed ahead.

Once again, Kieran mentally ticked off another similarity these people shared with the Elves he knew so well from works of fiction. Kieran considered the plausibility of those original stories about elves being based on these Elnari or whether it happened to be just pure chance. Little did he know that the vast and powerful system rarely allowed for such an unlikely, pure coincidence.

Neaila followed close behind, raising one of the blazing torches up high to light the way ahead for the two men in such a way as to not blind their vision.

She actually impressed Kieran a little by taking the initiative to volunteer her helpful role considering she and Illya hadn't even asked the brave non-fighter to assist in any form.

The plan the three of them quickly agreed on consisted of pure improvisation, more a guideline than a solid plan. Illya strongly suggested they focus on safety first and escape second since they did not know the route to the world above nor how many enemies truly remained in this winding ancient tunnel system. Kieran couldn't think of anything better in the short time they prepared so he just nodded his approval and went along with it, eager to keep moving.

"It's not much further now" Kieran informed them in a hushed voice as the dark tunnel curved sharply to the right. Once they cleared the bend they all saw the distant glow of an opening that he had already warned them would be there. The large hall filled with rubble, and most likely more orcs, loomed ahead.

With the hopeful assumption that the group of orcs remained unaware of the prisoner escape in progress, Illya had suggested they simply run away as fast as possible if confronted with the unknown dangers the Fire Mage in charge posed to the group. Kieran, having zero real-world experience with mages, just nodded along again in trust.

"Remember, caution" Illya whispered vigilantly as he briefly peered back at Kieran and then Neaila in turn.

The three of them grew closer and closer to the tunnel exit and Kieran felt a growing anticipation of what lay ahead with each small stone he scraped his toes on. With his new allies, however, he felt nowhere near as bad as his first time through this dark tunnel

Before he even thought to mention the possible risk of the torchlight, the tunnel exit around them darkened slightly. Neaila lowered the flame to the ground behind them and Kieran nodded at her prudent action.

She's definitely more than just a spoiled noble brat, that's becoming clearer and clearer for sure.

The light of the great hall sporadically bathed the walls with shadows as much as it did shards of light. And as they stepped out into the vast depth of the dungeon’s main room Kieran's worry stuck in his throat. He swung his head left and right, anxiety created imagined enemies amongst the small mounds of stone rubble and architectural debris with every step they took away from the tunnel.

"Fascinating" Neaila whispered from behind him, she was scrutinising a large slab of stone with various patterns and carvings Kieran couldn't begin to understand.

"These designs, they are incredibly old" Her hands gently caressed the engravings as if she were worried she might further damage them.

"Pre-collapse?" Illya wondered barely aloud, not elaborating for Kieran's sake.

"No, brother. This degradation, and solar map…I…I think it might just be pre‐Kingdom" she whispered back with uncertainty and received a startled stare from Illya in reply as he carefully stepped over to examine the piece too.

"This place may be truly ancient, and far beyond our people's knowledge, but how have we never heard of something such as this existing in the Viridian before" With a quick turn he met Kieran’s eyes seriously.

"Kieran, have your people ever seen or used diagrams such as this before?"

Giving up on keeping watch, he finally joined the siblings to examine the weird alien carvings on the car-sized slabs of rubble.

The memory of what loomed just over the distant ridge of fallen stone and pillars still filled him with an uneasiness he couldn't let go of.

“Erm, no” he admitted as he began to look over the stone tapestry. “Not a familiar letter or number in sight.”

"But seriously guys, are you sure now is the time?" He protested.

"I'm not really into archaeology at the best of times, you see, let alone with murderous orcs potentially hiding anywhere" he said in a low hiss, hands gesticulating at the hall around them.

"Kieran, you don't understand" Neaila chimed in, trying to keep her voice low. "These diagrams might predate even the oldest Elnari language or architectural design our people have used." Neaila was both thrilled and now irritated at his dismissal of what she considered a magnificent find.

"which means it has to be many millions of years old at the very least"

The number was far bigger than he expected. "Damn, okay that's old" He had no choice but to admit.

"older than the pyramids, and even those most ancient monoliths, so no, I really doubt anyone from earth would understand a–" The confident denial froze in his throat until he swallowed it down. A collection of shapes and symbols at the very edge of an especially large chunk of ceiling caught his eye like nothing else.

Vast diagrams and scriptures covered the house-sized section of stone in a wide, arcing circular arrangement that he guessed had to be etched by lasers or diamonds with how perfectly smooth and crisp each line appeared to his eyes. There were many small circles of various sizes arrayed in a concentric layering of orbiting rings. He thought they might be planets with small moons orbiting them perhaps, but as he followed these orbiting rings to their center found this part obscured by a thick layer of dust.

Kieran stepped forward, driven to move by sheer curiosity as he wiped the smooth stone clean with his forearm. Now he could see the innermost ring of the many varying orbits. At the very core of it lay a dark thick band much larger in scale than any of the planets or moons he saw on the outer regions. Within the dark thick band of obsidian black stone, the unknown artist had carved the surprisingly vague outline of a man.

This humanoid outline sat in what Kieran thought looked just like a full lotus position, reminiscent of yogis. He frowned, not thinking he'd stumbled upon some ancient hippy teachings but perhaps something utterly incomprehensible.

"What is it?" Neaila breathed from just behind his ear, unable to contain her own curiosity.

As Kieran leaned in closer to the stone he could see the most finely etched lines crisscrossed on the man's torso where they then extended out past the thick band and intersected with all the orbiting circles themselves. A shaky finger traced one of these lines out past the fourth layer of orbiting worlds, unable to clearly follow it with his eyes in the poor light.

The almost imperceptible line continued to the very edge of the large depiction into empty space, it only stopped at a small character neatly scratched into the surface.

"I think I know this symbol" he murmured out loud without thinking. The strange glyph looked very similar to Chinese characters, with some of the harsh and simplistic angular lines of Nordic runes.

What the fuck?

"I…I saw writing just like this when that system announcement window first appeared. " Excitement crept into his voice as he spoke a little louder so the siblings could hear him.

"The System quickly translated them to bloody English for me, but I definitely saw them just before they changed and they were exactly like this one."

"Incredible" Illya gasped, joining Neaila directly behind Kieran as he also examined the writing more closely.

"So this might be an original language of the system? or perhaps that of whoever created it?"

"Wait a second." Neaila's tone shifted from intrigue to outright confusion.

"What's…Bloody English?" She rolled the word awkwardly in her mouth, garnering a stifled snort from Kieran.

“Hey, why is that funny? I'm just asking a fair question!” She stomped her foot in frustration.

The young lady couldn't understand why Kieran rested his whole face in the palm of his hand to stifle another cackle. To him, her voice had taken on that comical London twang of someone from a Dicken's novel and he genuinely couldn't hold himself back.

Despite previously insisting that grave danger might be hiding in every shadow and nook of the great hall. Kieran actually found himself now equally curious about the mysterious origins of these complex carvings and reliefs.

Wide eyes and curious fingertips meandered across the giant wall-like slabs which they assumed once formed a tapestry on the expansive crumbling ceiling.

Neaila grumbled about their lack of writing equipment, wanting to record the majority of the texts whilst Illya shuffled back and forth still trying to glean some small insight into the meaning of the pictograms.

Kieran, however, glumly checked his phone's battery once again.

Nope, still dead. Damnit…

There was a sense of disappointment, but he was also aware that a high-resolution camera from Earth may just set him up for a long-winded explanation about light and electricity that they definitely didn't have time for. Not that he thought they had time for some amateur archaeological exploration, either.

Wanting to leave more by the second, the strange feeling in his that this was somehow important stilled his doubts as he looked about at the various fractured pictures carved into the stone.

Upon further examination of the huge diagram–the one with the strange orbiting planets–he gradually pieced together a vague mental composite of the over-arching theme that began at the most preserved piece.

A great being, maybe a man? He guessed from the outline alone.

He's sitting at the center of a huge planetary arrangement, but to what end, what significance was this? Were they a god maybe?

It wasn't until he physically touched the depiction of the man at the center that he truly gained some sense of wonder for what this once majestic tapestry may hold.

On contact, he felt a tingle that told him there was actually mana within the stone. A cold sensation rippled from the top of his finger, and then across his entire hand like lightning. Without even thinking, he attempted to breathe this strange mana deeper into his body, assuming it would be just like the rest.

Another type of mana, huh? It feels…different though.

The influx of biting cold instead of soothing warmth was perplexing to him right away, and Kieran tried to focus on the strange sensations he could feel. The erratic nature of this energy seemed wholly different to the mana he'd discovered up until this point.

Kieran would describe mana as being similar to water in the way it flowed and comfortably spread out to fill whatever vessel held it, fanning out in a strange osmosis effect. This new strange energy on the other hand would not simply flow as space allowed, it existed completely outside of his ability to rationalise and could only be described as chaotic.

Once it rushed into his body the bitingly cold energy immediately escaped his ability to lock it down with his will.

What the hell? It’s not mana?

He found himself unable to manipulate the currents of intangible power in the same way as he could with mana. The power began to writhe violently and prickling pain blossomed in his whole arm suddenly.

A small fear crept into his mind when the itch turned into a mild burning pain inside his veins, he tried to push it back out but found it still wouldn't respond to his thoughts.

Kieran next tried to steady his breathing, but the pain continued to radiate through his arm and into the rest of his body and his internal mana was thrown into turmoil. He felt as if the chaotic energy was consuming him from the inside out, bit by tiny bit.

"I can't control it," he said, his voice strained. "It's too much."

Illya looked at him with concern, eyes scanning his body for any visible signs of injury. Neaila, on the other hand, focused directly on the strange energy that had taken hold of Kieran with eyes that glowed a brighter shade of green suddenly.

"It's not mana," she said, her voice low and serious. "It's something else entirely. Something…different, but powerful."

Kieran could feel the fear growing inside of him, but he tried to push it aside. He couldn't let this energy consume him. He had to find a way to control it.

He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, trying to calm his racing heart. Slowly, he reached out with his mind, searching for a way to manipulate the chaotic energy that was coursing through his veins.

At first, he felt nothing but pain and confusion. But then, something shifted within him. A small flicker of control pulsed with each erratic breath he took.

He focused on that flicker, drawing on it with all his willpower and the waves of mana dancing irregularly through his body. He tried to mould the chaotic energy, to shape it into something he could control, but it would not respond. Kieran lacked the understanding to manipulate it, let alone force it from his body.

With each breath, he fought against the tendrils of strange power, came a feeling of understanding, like standing before a tidal wave his mind knew would kill him, but his instincts screamed for him to hold fast, to brace himself.

He had absolutely no idea what to do next until a phantom thought took life in the foreground of his mind. Unable to control and direct the chaotic energy, perhaps he might instead contain it.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Contain it within the mana?

The idea came from seemingly nowhere, but he went with it, regardless. Steady breaths drove his mana into a frenzied motion. With his troubled mind pushing anxiously, the mana flowed inwards toward his very center like waves against the shore. Slowly, each breath and the mana that followed worked to quarantine the strange energy toward a single point inside his chest. Each random outbreak of the energy trying to escape his clutch caused a new wave of agony to jolt out, but he didn’t stop pushing as hard as he could.

Face drenched with sweat, Kieran fell to his knees without even realising his legs had given out beneath him, but still, he did not relinquish control. Instead, he relentlessly continued driving more mana into himself with the bellows of his lungs. Gradually refilling spaces where entire swathes of mana seemed to mysteriously vanish on contact with this new energy.

If he stopped fighting, he would surely die. The energy would ravage his heart and kill him–this much was clear from the pain alone. And with a renewed sense of desperation, he forced his lungs to pull deeper, to breathe in as much of the mana in the air as he possibly could. The dramatically increased density of power inside him worked tirelessly against the chaotic tendrils of foreign energy that less consistently consumed his mana. The pain began to fade within time, tendrils of dark power all but crushed before his never-ending struggle.

Almost there! he told himself, still unwilling to take a step off the gas and risk coming entirely undone. A few more breaths and the strange energy started to visibly calm finally. Kieran focused on his body, curious why the pain had completely faded. As he tried to feel and sense deeper into himself uncertainty sparked in his mind, he quite clearly felt a small speck of ‘something’ just below the center of his chest, right where he had been condensing the energy to contain it.

Another handful of breaths later and his frenzied mana subsided back to its natural gentle flow, allowing the heat to fade out and his heartbeat to slow down.

Where the mana naturally diffused back out from his chest, it left behind a thin sphere of mana he hadn't been aware of. This small little ball buzzed with a strong current of energy, and as he focused on it further he realised that a terrifyingly strange black bead happened to be firmly locked in the very middle of his chest, without a hint of movement.

“Phew, I think it’s over” he trailed off in a whisper, eyes drifting over the worried faces of his friends, right before he fell face-first to the floor with a sickening thud.

Instead of the void of death, that peaceful and endless lake of darkness welcomed him once more in the depths of his mind.

The lack of light was not a concern since there was nothing here but him and the water he calmly rested upon.

Jesus, what is this damn place?

Is this in my head or real? I seriously can’t tell...

The realisation that he must have lost consciousness struck him as he again floated in undisturbed comfort upon the surface. Aimlessly drifting, the bodily sensations of the water caressing him and the buoyancy of his body told him he really existed here now, and that this place was completely real. Not just a dreamlike illusion in his mind.

"You're almost home child" a gentle whisper echoed to him from all around.

“Oi, who the hell is that?” his voice rang out with annoyance.

"Find the path. " a man’s soft plea reached Kieran through new ripples in the water.

"We’re waiting for you…" Several whispers came together. A sense of urgency and confusion washed over him.

“Who’s waiting for me? And why do I need to find a path?”

Like a path on the map maybe?

Before he could ask more questions, the whispers faded away and the ripples calmed down.

Kieran opened his eyes suddenly to find himself back in the dimly lit hall with Neaila and Illya’s faces plastered with fear and concern.

"Kieran? Kieran? Are you okay?" asked Neaila, shaking his hand in hers from where she knelt beside him.

He blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. As though he were waking up from a deep sleep, his thoughts trailing behind his consciousness, he felt so fatigued and disoriented, but thankfully the pain was gone without a trace.

"I think so," he replied weakly.

Illya was there too, and the man gave him a firm pat on the back and a smile of relief.

"What happened to me?" Kieran asked, still a bit dazed.

"It looked like you were in a lot of pain," said Illya, concern etched on his face. "We thought we were going to lose you there for a moment."

A deep breath filled him and he reached up to feel his heartbeat. He remembered the strange energy that had entered his body, and the excruciating pain in his chest that followed.

I was in that weird place again. It was definitely more than just a dream or illusion…what the fuck is happening.

"It was like nothing I've ever seen or experienced before," he said slowly to them both.

"I felt like my whole body was being attacked from the inside, but I eventually stopped it."

Neaila patted his hand reassuringly. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now," she said. "And we're here for you if anything like that happens again, just…please don't touch any more weird carvings yeah?."

Kieran nodded, grateful for their support. He knew that something big was happening, something beyond his current understanding. But he also knew that he couldn't do this alone. He was so glad he had Neaila and Illya by his side.

Standing up slowly, his heart beat steadily again, pumping away noisily but without any strain. Something subtly changed in his body after that painful experience, but other than a strong awareness of that cold lifeless bead beside his heart, Kieran had no idea what was going on. He only hoped the weird energy wouldn't act up again or he seriously might just die next time.

To say he was concerned would be an understatement, but quickly the sense of worry he felt was overridden by his much stronger need to exit this place before something finally managed to kill him.

'The Path?'

'The sage?'

Nah, I'm getting ‘The Fuck’ out of here! He resolved.

"I don't know what's going on but honestly I'm done with shit trying to kill me” He looked to Neila and Illya in turn with a meaningful smile.

“So if it's okay with you guys, can we just get–"

A clap of thunder resounded out so loudly beside them that all three practically leapt out of their skin.

"Oh, now what the hell is it?” agitation spoke for him at the sudden jump scare.

Turning to the source of the awful sound, all three of them watched as a great vertical fissure spread upwards through the tallest slab, loudly tearing its way across the entire surface before spreading outwards from the center in a sudden series of weblike ruptures with accompanying cracking sounds.

With a deafening boom, the huge slab of alien historical recordings collapsed into what looked to be near enough a thousand pieces. Giant chunks of rock tumbled down in a cacophony of smashing stones and scraping shards that formed another familiar pile of rubble.

"Kieran, watch out" Illya warned loudly.

The young man pulled both Kieran and his sister away just in time to avoid being struck by the archaeological avalanche of grey debris that tumbled down noisily around them.

The dust has barely began to settle when Neaila all but yelled "Great mother! what did you do?" over the echoing rumble. Her face bore a look of outrage at the unexpected loss of precious historical findings, the remains of which now lay shattered beyond repair.

“Whaaat? I barely even touched the thing” Kieran protested as he found his feet again.

"Neaila please, for all we know it may have crumbled at a mere sneeze let alone us just lightly grazing it with a finger" Illya stepped up as he fanned away the dust cloud in his face.

"It seemed to react to his touch and not ours though, which I find peculiar, perhaps it is due to your race?" he pondered as he stared at the remains of the once magnificent carvings.

"Are you adamant you're feeling okay?" those marine-like eyes carried a great deal of worry from what Kieran could tell.

"Yeah..yeah, I think I'm fine, thanks, mate. Just fed up with this shit" he gestured to the rocks all over the place, and throughout the hall in general.

"I still think you should have been more careful, what if the other Orcs heard that?" Neaila chimed in again with annoyance, apparently forgetting her delicately caring grasp on his hand mere moments before.

Reason told him she had a good point though, so he opened his mouth to retort another defence and dismiss her jabs, but a low-pitched bugle roared out from somewhere nearby, and the single warning note echoed in every direction throughout the hall and tunnels.

"Oh come ooooon" Kieran groaned at the unfairness of the universe.

"Let us make haste, they may know where we are now" Illya commanded, his serious composure returned in full as he turned and began to briskly walk away through the meandering piles of rubble.

"Now!" He barked back when he saw them both still not following.

Neaila rolled her eyes at Kieran, then hurried to keep up with Illya. He followed her quickly, without even a glance behind them all. Left in their dust, the remaining shard bearing the outline of the mysterious man shone with a faint violet iridescence before suddenly blinking out of existence.

Their small group cautiously cleared every corner on their way, ensuring no orcs waited ahead, hidden behind a random mound in ambush. The three of them methodically darted from the safety of one shadowed hill of rubble to another until they neared the passage Kieran had originally come from. There, they had to wait behind the crumbling stump of a great pillar to avoid an orc patrol that almost stumbled directly upon them.

Thankfully the Elnari’s long ears really weren't just for show, Illya and Neaila heard them approach seconds before Kieran did.

That was close…

A quick pat on the shoulder from Illya and they were off again. It only took them a few more minutes to stealthily traverse the outer edge of the gigantic hall's dark boundary, it felt longer to him since they hadn't spoken a word the whole time they were moving and their only sign of progress amongst the hills and valleys of stone was the ceiling above. Illya used some basic hand gestures and nods to silently direct them both from the front and surprisingly, Neaila kept up without a single bit of trouble nor any complaints.

A deep sigh of relief escaped all three of them once they reached the wall on the far side of the hall to find a gaping dark tunnel before them. Kieran was sure the others were just as nervous as him about where it led, but he was confident it would be their exit to safety.

“It has to be this way guys, there's no other way to go” Kieran whispered hopefully, risking a smile.

“Then we go together, and we don't stop no matter what blocks our path” Illya announced resolutely whilst taking the lead once more, makeshift spear at the ready.

Kieran held their rear, letting Neaila stay in the safest positioned spot within their little gang of escapees as they carefully shuffled their way through the new unexplored tunnel. Kieran noted that this passage was far larger than the other two, and seemed to be sloped upwards slightly.

Yeah, this has to be the way out, thank fuck.

He allowed himself to feel some joy as he sensed they were finally approaching the exit, he was so ready to go home.

First thing i’ll do is have a nice long bath, then maybe an extra shower if they have those too, i’ve never felt so gross before.

The trio continued at a steady pace, occasionally stopping at Illya’s signal so he could listen for Orcs up ahead, but they never heard a thing. It wasn't until they had made some distance from the hall that Kieran realized the danger wasn't in front of them, it was already behind.

A bellowing horn blew in the deep tunnels behind them, from the delayed echoes he guessed maybe a few hundred metres back.

They’re not that far, how?

“Shit, Illya, we need to move” Kieran hissed ahead.

“Astute observation, my friend” Illya's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Kieran couldn’t see his face in the darkness of the tunnel, but he guessed the man was smirking at him.

“Let us keep up the pace, we have enough distance already that we should be fine if we do not slow”

“Okay, sorry, ignore me. Let's just crack on”

Kieran trudged ever onward, impressed Neaila hadn't slowed down yet, but circumstance wouldn't allow him to be as casually calm as Illya sounded. This shitty place always hit him with a new surprise when he thought he was safe.

Maybe a minute later, the gradient of the ascending tunnel had risen slightly, allowing Kieran a slither of hope that they were almost free. Another roaring horn swiftly quenched the small spark of hope, this one blown within the tunnel and nearly directly behind them. That didn’t sound far at all, but how?

“Illya, I think they’re getting closer?” Kieran groaned loudly as he started to pick up his pace a little more.

“They are” His friend confirmed.

“Neaila? Are you able to–”

“I can manage” she cut him off stubbornly “Just lead the way, brother”

Kieran noticed the strain in her voice. Clearly, she'd been hiding how difficult this all was for her.

Another booming blast rang out behind them, more clearly this time.

Fewer echoes, it's even closer. What the hell?

“Guys, we need to run, now!” Kieran urged with a tinge of fear in his voice.

“Neaila, give it your best, but know that if you fall down, I WILL carry you” he threatened.

“Don’t you dare!” she huffed back in outrage. “I’m a maiden, and I am fully capable of running on my own”

Her protest caused Illya to chuckle breathily from the front before calling back “Just focus on running and maintaining your stamina. This is not the time for jokes you two”

“Roger Roger, Captain” Kieran robotically chirped, not mentioning that his thighs and ankles already burned a little–This incline was no joke.

Their progress was slow but steady, with Illya occasionally coming to a stop to listen for any signs of danger ahead. Kieran couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for his fellow Elnari, who despite being tortured and then exhausted from the skill backlash, had still managed to navigate their way through the orc-infested halls with so much ease. Supposedly Kieran had done way more than just help the man recover, but he couldn't fully understand the implications of what Illya suggested had happened.

As they hurried on, the surrounding darkness grew thicker and the air became increasingly stale. Kieran wondered how much longer they would have to endure this before reaching the surface.

Just as he began to lose hope, a faint glimmer of light appeared ahead of them, bouncing off the walls. The trio quickened their pace, all three of their hearts pounding with anticipation.

“Stop!” Illya commanded suddenly from in front.

Kieran slowed just in time to bump lightly into Neaila’s back. She cleared her throat to let him know she was not pleased, so he awkwardly apologised and took a hurried step back.

“I think there's something up ahead” Illya warned from the front, his vague outline visible from a subtle ambient light that leaked from the tunnel ahead.

“Let us proceed with caution. Hopefully, we gained enough distance from the Orcs by now” Illya led on slowly. Kieran was extra careful not to bump into Neaila again, lest she justifyingly berate him from following a tad too close to her.

Mere moments later, they approached a sharp turn. The source of light grew stronger as it reflected off the jagged walls. Turning the corner, Kieran almost collided with Neaila again when she and Illya suddenly stopped before him.

“Guys, what’s–” Kieran started to complain about them stopping so quickly again. The words lodged in his mouth as Kieran struggled to behold the incredible sight that had likewise frozen his companions. “What the hell is that” he breathed out in awe.

A radiant white light filled the tunnel before them, his eyes quickly adjusted to the bright light but he couldn't quite comprehend the giant luminescent oval-shaped disc of undulating light that floated before them, almost as large as the tunnel ahead from floor to ceiling.

Looking closer, he noticed flickering black tendrils that writhed in and out of the strange creation that he could instantly tell was magical in nature.

The iridescent whites and blacks were almost hypnotic to watch, but quickly he realised the thing was blocking off the entire path forward.

Blocking off their only escape…

Is it a dead end?

“Guys? Seriously, what is that? What do we do?” Kieran panicked out loud. “Is it a trap?”

They still didn’t answer.

He reached out to shake Neaila out of her stupor when Illya turned back with a smile, the cheerful shock clear in his voice as he spoke “Kieran, that my friend, is a portal. Heaven’s above, a real-life portal! I honestly thought we'd never see the day, sister hah!”

“Great Mother, this could be our way out!” Neaila exclaimed with a genuine fascination that filled her wondrous smile.

“Wait, like a dimensional portal? or wormhole? Can we just go through it that easily?” Kieran felt a tad apprehensive about magical travel through random holes in reality, to say the least.

“Oh most definitely, usually it just requires a one-time activation that should be good for an hour or so. With a source of mana proportional to the travel distance I imagine. I can do it myself, but if you wouldn't mind doing that thing you did to my brother to help support me and expedite things?” Neaila replied confidently. Kieran once more wondered how this noble young woman always seemed to know everything about magic. Ugh, more questions for later then.

“Okay, fine let's hurry, it doesn't sound like we have long before those fuckers get here. Lead the way, Magical Princess,” Kieran gestured with a mocking bow.

Neaila reacted with gaping shock, her eyes went wide, then shot to her brother and back again.

“How did you know?” She exclaimed, eventually looking down at the ground and fiddling with her hands.

Oh crap, I was right? So not just generic nobility, but an actual fucking princess?

Then that means Illya is a prince, and their father and uncle…oh shit, that can't be good.

“Hah...” he awkwardly scratched his head, trying to avoid matching her awkwardness with his smile.

“I was actually just joking. Ya know, busting your chops” he said. To which Illya demonstrated the most regal of facepalms from behind his sister.

“But…erm, yeah, no biggy. We can talk about all that stuff later, okay? Just tell me what exactly you need me to do...Your Highness” he added with a cheeky wink.