"...But where on earth am I?" Connor habitually glanced around, not seeing anything familiar, only endless forests.
"Probably some godforsaken place," Connor muttered to himself.
It wasn't that uncommon, not everyone was as learned as his teacher, one of the most knowledgeable in the kingdom.
Connor continued gazing at the night sky, quickly orienting himself and identifying east, west, north and south. Though he didn't know his exact location, considering Viscount Reed's territory was in the southwest of the kingdom, heading northeast towards the capital made sense.
Five minutes into his journey, a neatly dressed youth appeared in his view.
A youth? Connor's heart stirred as he smiled and approached.
The youth ahead had a proportional build and steady gait, seemingly quite well-bred. Connor felt he had found a savior and hastened his pace.
Having seen the teleportation circle activate, Murphy was also puzzled why it had opened on its own. Taking in the man before him, he nodded in understanding.
Though not fully grasping the situation, since the man had been transported here, at least Murphy's home hadn't been robbed.
The disheveled man in night clothes smiled as he came over. Only now did Murphy notice his unkempt, dog-gnawed hair.
Wondering if it was Buster's doing, Murphy maintained his friendly smile.
"Excuse me, lad. Which way to the nearest town from here?" Too preoccupied to consider why a youth was alone in the wilderness, Connor went ahead and asked.
Murphy pointed northeast behind him, "That way, there's a town in half an hour."
True to his word, after some distance northeast Connor arrived at the highest city of the Stone Golem—Endless Caverns.
Having received the desired answer, Connor bid the youth farewell and continued down the forest path.
The path wasn't very narrow, about two meters across, with the overhead branches neatly trimmed. The well-trodden earth gave a strange sense of prosperity.
But Connor paid no heed, focused only on confirming his location and completing his task or regretfully returning to the capital.
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Suddenly, the dim night sky flashed like summer lightning, illuminating the forest for an instant.
Connor whipped around towards the light source in the gap between the trees—a teleportation circle!
The escaped youth gasped for breath, shocked at his proximity to the unfathomable mage.
That youth...Connor instantly thought of the boy who gave him directions. High-level mages were famously temperamental, killing a passing youth meant nothing in the wilderness.
Calming himself, Connor lacked the capability or ethics to attempt a rescue.
Best press on. Connor quickened his pace despite himself. The town was just ahead, he just had to get there...
Finally, after a knoll he saw a massive—cave entrance.
"Wha-what's going on? Am I in the Dwarven Kingdom?" Connor gaped, dumbfounded. Why was there a cave ahead? Faint firelight flickered within, could this be the town the youth spoke of?
Bracing himself, Connor felt something amiss as he entered the cave. Dwarves averaging one meter tall had no need for a four-meter high ceiling. Then he heard heavy breathing—from above his head.
Reflexively, Connor withdrew his hand from the cave wall he was leaning on. The wall shifted before him.
The young assassin looked up. In the dim light, two rows of red eyes pinned him in place. Whirling to flee, his legs failed him and he collapsed.
Connor was suddenly paralyzed, his mind blanking briefly before he desperately crawled for the exit.
Regressing to infancy, the youth strained towards the teleportation circle.
"Let me go back! I'll do anything, even die! I don't want to die here!" Connor thrashed in panic, snot and tears covering his face.
But his crawling was no match for the Stone Golems. A rocky hand scooped Connor off the ground, lifting him before the two rows of bloodshot eyes. Dawn's light illuminated the creatures' ashen bodies. Their eyes blinked in turn as they spoke haltingly, "Human, interesting."
Past hope, Connor weakly demanded, "Kill me if you want, but my teacher will avenge me!"
"Don't understand," the Stone Golem said regretfully in its stilted speech, "Language, human, still learning."
The Golems' huge stone feet trod the forest floor, one hand clutching Connor while the other pushed aside overhanging branches along the path.
Seeing this, Connor finally grasped the path's origins, though not his own fate.
Shortly after, Connor found himself placed on the teleportation circle he arrived in.
"Human, circle, activate," the Golem ordered in its plodding fashion.
Are they letting me go? Hope rekindled in Connor's heart, but...
"I can't...I can't do it..." he whimpered, channeling his remaining power into the circle, producing only faint glow.
"Human, useless," the Golem mocked as Connor confirmed.
It bent down, channeling power from outside the circle. Bewildered, Connor disappeared in a flash of light.
Greyrock turned back towards the caves. Fortunately he had found the human instead of his kin, or it might have been kept as a pet.
Connor reappeared in the nightmarish basement, only its layout differed from before.
Pale fire burned in a large brazier in the corner. The former walls were now open space. The troublesome girl and a steady middle-aged man flanked the stone stairs on either side.
At the top of the nine stone steps sat a high-backed chair. The youth who gave him directions earlier now lounged there, an amused smile playing on his lips as he regarded Connor.