Kaila released her hold on Servan’s other arm and scooted over so that she sat between the two of them. “Mister Servan,” she said. Her voice was hoarse from not being used after a long stretch of crying. “What did you mean when you said danger beast?”
It was Alistar who answered, despite his tears. “You know this, Kaila. Danger beasts. They’re giant animals.”
Servan burst out laughing. “Giant animals, he says.”
“That’s not right?”
“A danger beast is a creature that has naturally absorbed high amounts of magical energy. They eventually undergo a slight transformation, like changing colour or growing larger, so I guess you’re half right.” He scratched at the side of his head. “There are two ways that a creature might make such a transformation. The first occurs in species with natural longevity, like the broad turtles of the eastern sea that live for hundreds of years. Over long periods of time, they’d naturally absorb more natural energy than, say, a wolf that lives for twenty years. If they take in more than a certain amount, it forces a change.
“The second method happens when a creature finds itself in an area with high concentrations of natural magical energy. If they remain there for too long, then they’ll also undergo a transformation, a more violent sort than the ones that happen over time.”
“What sorts of places have high concentrations of natural magical energy?” Alistar asked, carefully sounding out the words.
“Usually around natural land formations.” When Alistar responded with a look of confusion, Servan continued. “Places like mountains and certain areas within canyons. Hmm… Try seeing it this way, what do you think would’ve gathered more natural energy throughout its lifetime, a single tree, or a single mountain? The mountain, of course, as it’s been around since the beginning of time, and is incomparably larger than any tree you’ll find out there.
“For tens of thousands of years, mountains have been absorbing natural energy. All the while, that concentrated energy has been slowly sinking inward, drawn toward the mountain’s heart. When natural energy accumulates faster than it sinks, magic crystals form as a means of expelling excess energy. Think of it as nature’s way to avoid magical discharges that could lead to natural disasters. I had a good friend that once owned a mine, and he taught me all about it.”
Alistar had only recently learned the value of a thousand, which equated to ten hundreds. To have tens of thousands—his head spun as he tried to comprehend the lifespan of a mountain.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a good number of danger beasts deep in the lower sections of this very mountain. Come to think of it, if someone forgot to seal off the entrance to the lower tunnels, then that would explain how that cave lizard got up here.”
Servan didn’t miss the worried look that Alistar and Kaila shared after hearing his words.
“You kids…” He was at a loss.
“W-what happens if a person absorbs too much energy?” Kaila asked quickly, an obvious attempt to curb the conversation in another direction.
“Y—yeah,” added Alistar, “do they also change?”
“Humans are affected differently,” Servan sighed, standing up and brushing himself off. “Any number of things could happen. A strange sickness might take you, or you could risk losing your mind. I don’t really know much about it, since it’s not often that people are exposed to high amounts of magical energy.”
Servan beckoned for them to follow as he started to make his way back toward the Resident Cavern.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“We’re returning together?” Kaila asked, as she and Alistar scrambled after him.
“I don’t think you should stray far from the Resident Cavern from now on,” Servan said slowly. “We don’t know how many cave lizards might have migrated over to the upper floors, so it would be best if you remained close to the others.”
The incident with the cave lizard still fresh in their minds, they quickly agreed. Although he enjoyed wandering freely more than anything, Alistar was scared at the thought of encountering another one of those creatures.
Pride in his father swelled within him. To think that he and his uncle had killed one of those lizards with only their pickaxes.
They followed Servan in silence, first to the lit section of the current tunnel and then farther along to the Long Tunnel. After walking for fifteen minutes or so, Servan stopped and detoured down a seemingly random tunnel that was no longer in use, sparsely lit with well-spaced lanterns.
After a while, Servan paused and turned to face them. He looked conflicted, his lips pursed in thought as he considered how to voice whatever concerns occupied his mind.
The sounds of metal clanking against rock had returned.
Servan took a steady breath and spoke each of their names, resting his hands on their shoulders and crouching down to face them directly. “I want you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you. When I set out to meet you today, I did so with sombre news. After today, I won’t be able to meet with you any longer. Although you might not like it, this is unavoidable.”
Alistar and Kaila immediately raised a storm of protest, but Servan cut them off by applying pressure to their shoulders and speaking out sternly. “Hush, now. This isn’t what I want either, you must understand.”
He stood with a drawn out sigh, walking along the tunnel wall and then crouching down. He lowered his hands to the ground and closed his eyes, remaining silent for a moment before exhaling calmly and going quiet from focus.
Dry cracking sounds filled the air as the smooth wall of the tunnel began to shiver and quake. A small tear opened up where the wall met the floor, and the tiny compartment slowly took on a rectangular shape.
It wasn’t long before the rigid sounds of shifting earth and rock died off, at which point Servan removed his hands from the ground. His shoulders slumped from exhaustion, small beads of sweat gathering on his brow. He had also fashioned a knobby protrusion about an arm’s length above the small compartment.
“I’ll continue supplying you guys with food, every other day, as I have been. I’ll leave it here early in the morning. Wait until you see me return to the Resident Cavern, then come here and retrieve it.”
They could only nod at his words.
“Also, after today there’ll be no more exploring the unlit sections of the mines. The lower levels are also forbidden. Is this understood?”
Alistar wasn’t sure how he should feel about the sudden influx of restrictions. He had never seen Servan so serious. There were no traces of the easy-going attitude that Alistar had come to appreciate, no sign of the sibling-like leniency that set Servan apart from all of the other guards. No, Servan wasn’t like that. Deep down, Alistar knew that Servan cared for him, just as he cared for Kaila and his family.
Servan was a good person. He had come all the way from his homeland to work in these desolate mines just so he could see Alistar’s father. He wasn’t ordering Alistar as a guard to a slave, but as one friend to another.
Whether it was his silence or his face that gave it away, Servan picked up on some of Alistar’s unease.
“If I were to let something happen to you two, I could never face Rodei, Kaisus, or Shail in the high heavens.”
Following that, he apologized for springing this upon them all of a sudden. He knew that it would be unpleasant for them to have to stick close to the Resident Cavern, and to relinquish most of the little freedom that they had.
He looks so sad.
The frown he wore was one that had become common in recent weeks. Something was bothering him, Alistar was sure of it. Just when he thought to question Servan about his troubles, the young man bid them farewell and took a separate route back.
With Servan gone, they continued on their way.
Alistar was nervous about going back to the Resident Cavern so early in the workday. Since the arrival of the new guards, he and Kaila had maintained a low profile, and luckily had not been subjected to the whims of their overseers.
Kaila assured him that everything would be fine and that they would only stick around the cavern for a minute at most. They would head to the eastern exit to seek out their families, who were in the fifty-third tunnel of the upper floor’s eastern section.
Even with Kaila’s reassurance, Alistar was unable to subdue a feeling of foreboding that weighed down upon his chest like lead in water. Nothing good ever followed this feeling.