Part 1

- DINO'S POV -

"How many more times do I have to fucking ask?! Can you please stop rushing in so aggressively against them?" Raphael shouted, grabbing his brother's shirt's collar in a fit of rage.

Lucas shook him off and pushed him away only to fail in that attempt and give time for him to grab his collar once again. Lucas shouted his excuses. The same as the past two days. It wasn't that he didn't understand, he simply didn't wish to listen. Hence Raphael's fit of rage.

"Shouldn't we stop them somehow?" I said faintly as I sat on the severed arm of a stone golem and chewed on a piece of smokey-red jerky.

"We've already tried yesterday, my lord-" Replied Dominik with a heavy sigh as he sat next to me and busied himself with cleaning his sword "- Plus, sir Raphael is not wrong, sir Lucas is being way too aggressive against the golems"

"Even so, isn't thanks to him that we are proceeding at a faster rate than the first day?" I argued.

"That may be so but try to look at it from sir Raphael's perspective. Because of his brother's aggressiveness, he is forced to shed his position as a mage and take a more physically active role, consuming not only more mana but also stamina. Not to mention the costs in mana that come from shielding sir Lucas when he is out of position and mending the group's wounds when the fight ends... It shames me to say it, but we've put a lot of weight on his shoulders, my lord" Plainly and calmly replied Dominik.

"...Then why hasn't he complained?" I retorted after a good minute of thinking.

"Because the one walking at the head can't be seen wobbling" Dominik's deep voice seemed more solemn than ever as he looked, with eyes gleaming with faint hints of respect and sadness, at the two brothers now walking in a circle with their fists up and ready to fight.

"Are you implying that he's something like our leader, Dominik?" I asked. I didn't mean to but my voice expressed more of my distaste for that statement in my tone than I would've wanted.

"I'm not just implying, my lord-" Replied Dominik in a somewhat scolding tone "- I'm saying that's what we did. Though wordlessly, we've put sir Raphael in the position of a leader. Ever since the illusion maze we've been depending on sir Raphael's decisions, if you think about it. And, while you may not like it, the pace of our days has been set by him. He's able to warn us of approaching enemies, he's smart enough to figure out traps and puzzles, because of his magic he's able to look at the battle as a whole and aid every member when necessary, not to mention the power he holds and the orders he gives are both of a formidable degree. Something rare even among the more experienced military officers"

"Still... it irks me, somehow, the fact that he, a commoner, is performing the role that should belong to a noble"I spat out, clicking my tongue right after once I realized how stupid and childish my words sounded.

"My lord, if you wish to set yourself as the leader, you are free to voice your complaints. I will follow you no matter what. Though, if my opinion counts, I'd advise against it"

"Do you think I'm not suited?" I asked, masking as best as I could the growing jealousy for the young man called Raphael.

"As of now, yes-" Dominik replied and, after noticing the look of surprise on my face, he bowed before continuing "- while my lord has been trained to be a leading figure in the future, he lacks the necessary experience. Would you not agree? Books are certainly necessary, to set the base that is, but experiencing the real thing is what really forms a person. Other than a few subjugations of low-tier monsters, my lord, you've no experience in this field...Books can teach you politics, affairs and commerce, which I'm sure you surpass the two brothers by heaps and bounds in, but leading a group of people through unexplored caves with death looming at every single corner and every single step is a totally different thing... Those two have been working as adventurers for years. While I'm sure they haven't done anything as risky as this, the repetition of jobs upon jobs and quests upon quests must've formed their character, rendering them more suited for things like this. Sir Raphael especially seems to be quite the attentive type in that regard. My lord, would you rather hire a knight who's been sharpening his sword through countless small battles or one who boasts about participating in a great one without offering proof of it?"

"...You do make a point, Domin-" I tried to say before Dominik pulled me closer, just in time to dodge Lucas' body flying across the hallway and slamming on the wall behind me. I could see the rage building up in his eyes even behind the veil of smoke.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!-" Lucas shouted, unsheathing his sword and menacingly look at his brother now standing atop a golem "- Can't I train new stuff like you do just because "I don't know how to use magic", uh?"

"Don't you dare insult our mother!" Raphael shouted, unsheathing his sword in return and dashing at full speed toward his brother.

Their swords clashed, just a few times, but it was enough to understand the difference between the two. Raphael was rapidly overwhelmed. Though his strength was astonishing for a mage, Lucas possessed a greater amount and more ability to boot. Only when the first flicker of magic shone on Raphael's palm did Dominik intervene. He grabbed both brothers by the neck, taking full advantage of his bigger build, and forced them onto the ground. With their cheeks kissing the stone they could do naught but hiss at each other. So they stayed there, an immovable triangle, until both of them calmed down and stopped squirming along with the river of hissing and curses.

It then took us a great effort to unwind the situation and make the two brothers reconcile. It wasn't new for them to quarrel, but to unsheathe their swords... We decided it would be wiser to put a stop to this situation from escalating further by laying down some boundaries and officially raising Raphael on the pedestal of the leader. Not much was said against it.

In a day's time, a gate finally appeared at the end of the hallway. One made of solid bluish-green-like metal, as high as the ceiling and unadorned. There were no runes inscribed on it, no depictions of battles, it was the simple union of two thick slabs of metal. It had been a three and a half days journey in a straight line to reach the end of the hallway. It seemed impossible to have walked that much ground but one of Raphael's theories seemed to shed light on that matter. He said that he couldn't sense anything beyond the four surfaces composing the hallway, no earth, rock, water or creature. Nothing at all except some kind of rustle, a disturbance, he said. His theory was that the hallway was clad in a spell, either an illusory one or an outstanding spell involving the concept of space. Nothing much was known about the topic of space, not even for a studied mage like Raphael, but it seemed the most plausible option.

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It was with mixed feelings that I crossed over the gate. Behind me was a certainty, the never-ending hallway filled with golems. In front of me was the unknown. The possibility of it being something even scarier than the hallway felt almost like a certainty as soon as my eyes bathed in a sea of blue light, almost blinding me.

- RAPHAEL BLUESCALE'S POV -

My sight instantly vanished, blinded by the sudden change of intensity of the light. My eyes had adjusted to the dim blue light of the hallway, furthermore, I had slightly enhanced my vision by pulsing small quantities of mana in my eyes in order to see further ahead than the rest. Then, the deep blue sea of light that submerged me was like a wave of burning pain that was etched in the far back of my brain. It took me several minutes to readjust to the light and some more for the headache that was numbing my thoughts to dim.

Finally, I was able to take in my surrounding. Due to the intense light, I suspected that we had stumbled across another cave similar to the one with the temple. Yet I was sorely wrong. A forked tunnel opened up after the metal gate. Its surfaces were smooth, bluish-green in color, with old and crumbling gray columns and reflecting surfaces like mirrors sprawled all over the place.

I felt every hair on my body chill. The unnatural mixture between tunnels of naked rock and structures of human nature gave me an ominous feeling that forced me to magically scout our surroundings. Without picking up any life signals I exhaled in relief. My companions too were shocked. Dino was still holding his hands in front of his eyes while Dominik's were nothing more than tiny slits of white. Lucas seemed to be the one who adapted most rapidly and was now clumsily tending to the others.

"Should we keep the same strategy?" Dominik asked once everyone had regained their sight and taken a small break.

"The tunnel seems smaller than the hallway, not to mention that the walls are much closer. I think we should walk in line instead of randomly positioning ourselves like before" Lucas proposed.

After our heated discussion, he seemed to come to terms with his overly aggressive nature and reckless mannerism. While he did not apologize- as I knew he wouldn't do- he seemed to reflect on his behavior and became more attentive to his surroundings. I was elated about it at first but soon came to realize how much he had depended on my judgment in the past years. His recklessness was partially my fault.

"Either Dominik or Lucas on front and back while I and Dino will stay in the middle. I'll worry about scouting. Dino, you'll be my other pair of eyes and are in charge of my protection when needed. Lucas and Dominik, you are vanguard and rearguard. I'm sure you know what that implies" I replied in the most authoritarian tone possible. It was something I had done ever since the merge of our two groups- giving orders that is- but ever since I was nominated leader, the weight of my orders felt heavier than ever.

"I'll take the front-" Proposed Dominik taking a step forward "- With my sword having a longer reach, the front should be where I'm most needed"

"Then, I guess I'll be the rearguard" Continued Lucas.

"Ehm, Raphael-" Hesitantly asked Dino "- what do you mean when you say that I'll be "in charge of your protection"?I'm quite sure you are stronger than me so I don't see in what kind of occasion I would protect you"

"There are certain spells that require a longer incantation or preparation, during which I'm completely undefended. I don't believe there will be a need for them but it never hurts to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, am I right?" I explained.

"As pessimistic as always I see-" Sneered my brother with a faint, playful smirk on his face "- That's why you can't get yourself a girlfriend!"

"Don't I already have a fiancé...Unlike someone else?" I replied with the same tone, sporting a wide grin.

"HA!-" He shouted, jumping and rudely pointing at me at the same time "- You admitted it! FINALLY! Hahaha, if only Sora was here to hear you! Who would've guessed it, even the stone-cold Raphael actually sees Sora as his fiancé, eh?"

"J-just shut up, alright?!-" I replied, turning my face away and beginning to walk toward the fork of the tunnel. My face slightly redder than a second before "- What are you guys waiting for? On march!"

I could hear all four of them laugh as I rapidly put some distance between us. When had I even started to consider Sora as my real fiancé and not some plot of our two families?

Exploring the tunnels was surprisingly difficult. The first hurdle was that the terrain was uneven, with bumps and rocks littering the floor, making it more stamina-consuming to walk long distances. It was also disorienting how the tunnels would go up, down, one across the other and again. Dead ends were something we met quite often. Not to mention that there was no way for us to differentiate one portion of a tunnel from the other. It all seemed the same. The same bluish-green rock, the same grey columns, the same chiseled floor. It was confusing.

To prevent walking the same path two or more times, we began to mark certain columns every once in a while or scratch the walls of a fork to signal which path we had taken already. Unfortunately, this idea came a little too late so for the first five hours of exploration we just walked in circles, consuming precious energy.

During those five hours, I focused mainly on searching for mana signals, something that would make its presence known. Anything. Yet it all seemed fruitless as I could feel nothing. It was as if the four of us were the only guests of that ancient tunnel system. I wasn't sure how to process that information. On one hand, it meant that there we no enemies to fight, but on the other, it meant that we had gone far deeper into the labyrinth than anyone had ever been. We were getting further and further from our objective.

As those thoughts clawed and scratched the back of my mind like an irksome headache, my mana signal caught something. Something so distant and feeble that I doubted if I had actually caught something rather than it being just my imagination. Thus we walked towards it.

The tunnels dug deeper and deeper toward the core of the earth. It was hot and the smell of sweat and grim filled our nostrils with that acrid, pungent scent of men. One of the topics of discussion was whether our smell would attract or repel animals.

To everyone's displeasure, the discussion was abruptly put to a halt by a sudden movement of my hand. I had raised my clutched fist while my elbow bent at 90°. It was a signal to call for silence and the cease of any movement.

"What's happening?" Whispered Dino beside me, loud enough to be heard only by Lucas and Dominik.

"There's something ahead, probably after that corner... I don't know how many, it's just...many" I replied, cold sweat beading my forehead.

"How could you not notice, Raph?" Asked Lucas more surprised than I was.

"I don't know, fuck! They are just so...feeble and frail that I couldn't pick them up until now... What do you want to do?" I replied with my frustration seeping into my words.

"You are the leader, you chose" Plainly answered Dominik.

"No, no, you don't understand. This isn't something I can just choose on my own, you know? We are talking about a hundred or more of whatever those things are. They could be innocent little rats or an army of sleeping golems- I have no clue! You have to decide with me! I don't want to feel your lives on my conscience"

There was a moment of silence in which everyone seemed to think carefully about my words. Even the usually straightforward and action-oriented Lucas felt the need to stop and think. Even putting his ear on the ground in hopes to catch on to the vibrations of possible steps.

Minutes passed before an answer was delivered, almost in unison.

"Then-" I said after taking in their opinions "- We are going in!"

Thus, with swords unsheathed, we walked beyond the corner.