"Fascinating", Fengari whispered softly as she looked at her new, tiny body.

<"No talking here">, Cale admonished her immediately.

Silently, he hopped across the forest floor with his small body, followed by Fengari. Carefully, they darted across the ground and approached the coast, so that Cale could hear the sound of the waves. The further they went, the more Thormods they encountered. In the distance, a hill rose up, dotted with scattered trees. Olivia had told him that there were always guards there who kept watch over the landscape. Therefore, Cale approached them with caution. However, they were not given any attention, so the two were able to move on unhindered. A few dozen Thormods were on the surface, all with weapons in their hands. Cale also spotted some students and warriors talking to the others. Cale would have loved to listen to what they had to say, but he had another goal.

The Thormod they were looking for, Ezzedin, was not here. Either he was out on the plains or he was in the city itself, which turned Cale's stomach. He had hoped that his worst suspicion would not come true, but now he stood here and had to make a decision.

Would he go into their cave or would they stay safe?

He had asked himself this question more than once, but even though he didn't want to, he already had the answer. He darted past the Thormods' feet at a rapid pace and headed for the cliffs that could be seen in the distance. Somewhere around here, there had to be a way for the Thormods to get from inside the city to the surface. According to his mother, it was a large hole that led directly to the harbor, and only when Cale was really close to the sea did he realize what she was talking about. A hole a good 10 meters wide dug a hollow in the stony ground, and dozens of Thormods emerged from it.

It looked like the entrance to death.

Hesitantly, he hopped past the Thormods toward the hole when he suddenly sensed Chioni's mana. He stopped abruptly and looked in the direction from which this feeling came. Fengari had also noticed it and even took a few steps in that direction, but stopped hesitantly. It was not the Thormod they had been searching for. His mana was mixed with other mana that Cale could not identify. Also, this man was also a warrior and looked completely different from the Thormod they were hunting.

With one last scrutinizing glance over the surface, Cale strode toward the hole and went to the spot where the Thormods were emerging. When he cautiously peered inside, he saw only the rough sea below him and later realized that the path naturally dug into the right wall. Several hundred Thormods were below him, building something that looked almost like ships. The rock was flattened on the left and right sides so that the Thormods could easily walk and work on it. Water splashed regularly onto these surfaces, but no one seemed to mind getting wet. That was probably one of the reasons why they were always lightly clothed.

The Thormods were a folk who lived in and on the water.

Fengari appeared next to Cale and seemed to ask him with her eyes if they were going to go in there now. Without a response, Cale climbed along the path and fought his way through the crowds, who did not notice who was invading their home. Cale looked with curious eyes at the huge cave, which was nothing like what he had expected. It was like a four-story house carved in stone, and everywhere he looked, there were paths between the rocks. The waves were so loud that it was difficult to hear the Thormods' conversations, and the smell of dead fish was everywhere. Only when Cale entered deeper did he discover that thousands upon thousands of fish lay on the ground in the pit below him, being gutted by the Thormods. Some students stood guard at the cave entrance to the sea and seemed to be watching out for ships passing by unexpectedly and discovering them.

When Cale reached the lowest level, he had to pause for a moment to take in his surroundings. He had expected a kind of military camp, but the more he saw, the more their city resembled a large fishing village. Behind them, the water bored deep into the rock underground. He couldn't see the end of it, as it was pitch black and only small sources of light illuminated the way. At first, Cale wondered if the Thormods had developed luminous crystals, but that couldn't be. As Cale slowly moved into the depths, he realized that these light sources were small, glowing fish. He had never seen anything like it before. He knew of insects that could produce light, but this was the first time he had seen this species of fish. Where did they come from, and how had the Thormods caught so many of them?

Once again, a Thormod with Chioni's mana emerged from one of the tunnels, prompting Fengari and Cale to move in his direction. Cale already sensed that he was not the Thormod they were looking for, but he wanted to see for himself. Unobtrusively and blending into the darkness, the two followed the strange Thormod and climbed one floor up the sloping field wall. They hurried quietly after him and noticed how he paused briefly, said something to another Thormod, and then crossed a bridge to the other side of the strait. When he paused for a moment in front of the light, Cale realized that this man was a warrior. Sighing inwardly, he stopped and looked around. The cave was huge and crisscrossed by dozens of tunnels. How could they find Thormod without Cale having to use his mana?

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Fengari hopped past him and followed the warrior, causing Cale to look at her in irritation. He didn't know where to start his search, so he followed the one who seemed to have an idea. Fengari ran silently behind Thormod and followed him for several minutes through all kinds of alleys. For a while, Cale could hardly sense any Thormod and saw almost nothing, until a few minutes later a whole group of Thormod came into his field of vision. Two of them carried Chioni's mana, but again mixed with other mana and far too little.

<How many are there?>

The Thormod they had been following headed toward one of these two Thormods, giving Cale and Fengari the opportunity to look at their faces. As expected, they were not their target, but still not entirely useless.

"Where is Ezzedin?", the warrior they had been following for some time asked quietly. The other Thormod just shrugged and called over another Thormod who could answer the question.

"He couln't get mana from the dragon since the day before yesterday and is trying to figure out why", explained the other Thormod, which brought a grin to Cale's face. They finally had a useful lead and were getting dangerously close to their goal. "If you're looking for him, try his bunker."

"That idiot", muttered the Thormod, who was also looking for Ezzedin, annoyed, and thanked him for the information. With quick steps, he then climbed some steep steps and navigated his way through a corridor of paths from which faint light emanated. Excited, Cale and Fengari followed the Thormod and found themselves in an area that was completely deserted. Not a single Thormod was anywhere near them except for two. The Thormod in front of them and a Thormod who carried a large amount of Chioni's mana within him.

With an energetic blow, the Thormod tore aside a kind of cloth and entered the brightly lit room where the other Thormod was. Surprised, the latter looked up and loosened his position, which almost looked as if he were meditating.

"Uncle?"

"What do you think you're doing? Have you forgotten that you were supposed to go hunting today? What do you think would have happened if I hadn't covered for you just now? Guos is furious."

"Sorry, I didn't notice what time it was."

"Ezzedin, you're not a child anymore. I can't keep cleaning up after you."

"I know", replied Thormod with a shameful look. The two mice stood at the entrance to the room, protected by the darkness and their lack of presence.

"Forget about the dragon. That was a really dangerous thing to do anyway."

"But it worked!"

"Worked or not, you could have ended up on the front line. Don't forget that. You saw what happened to Nodiavi."

"She's considered missing, not dead", Thormod tried to defend himself.

"Only you believe that. Everyone knows she's dead, otherwise we would have heard from her by now."

"Maybe she didn't want to return home defeated?"

"That's not like Nodiavi, and you know it. So stop this nonsense and concentrate on your work. Nothing good will come of attracting the chairman's attention."

"Yes, Uncle", Ezzedin muttered, reluctantly getting to his feet. Cale immediately realized that Ezzedin intended to follow Thormod, which was not what he had hoped for. Cale had actually wanted to wait for Thormod to leave them alone, but that didn't seem to be happening. When his uncle pulled aside the cloth at the entrance to the room, Cale was forced to act.

He suddenly let go of all inhibitions and simultaneously created two barriers in the bodies of the two Thormods before conjuring up a strong gust of wind and hurling the two men back into the room. A moment later, he created a sound barrier that completely enclosed the room and chained the Thormods to the wall.

"Uncle!", the Thormod cried desperately, looking at the man whose face was contorted with pain. He immediately tried to free himself from the grip as Cale and Fengari stepped into the light. Irritated, the uncle looked at the two small creatures from whom the magic had emanated.

"Rats?"

"How rude", Fengari commented mockingly, letting her gaze fall on the younger Thormod. "So this is the Thormod who steals Chioni's mana."

"That's Ezzedin, yes", Cale explained, letting a small amount of mana slip out into the corridors. Without any background noise, he didn't want to risk Thormods approaching their location unnoticed.

"And the other one?"

"No idea", Cale confessed.

<"Two dead Thormods will attract more attention than just one, right?">

<"Yes.">

<"What should we do now?">

<"I'm still thinking about it", Cale replied, slightly annoyed.

He had actually only planned to kill Ezzedin, presumably by suffocation or some other less obvious means. But killing two Thormods like that could no longer be dismissed as an unfortunate coincidence. For a moment, he considered using the uncle to kill Ezzedin with his weapon and then staging a suicide, but that also seemed implausible to him. He didn't know how well known the two Thormods were and whether others would really believe that the uncle was capable of such a thing.

"Who are you?", the uncle asked, obviously trying to cast mana, but failing. He frantically tried to free his arms from the rock-hard grip, but even with sheer strength, he didn't get very far.

"Well, what do you think?" Fengari replied defiantly, causing both Thormods to fall into shock. "If you're going to mess with us, then you'll have to deal with the..."

<"Fengari">, Cale interrupted abruptly. <"Don't talk to them.">

<"Why not? Since we're already here, we might as well gather some information, right?">

"Uncle... I...", Ezzedin stammered fearfully, causing Cale to turn back to him.

"I warned you. Over and over again. Look what you've done", his uncle retorted, turning his gaze back to the rats. "Please forgive us. My nephew is still young and acted on his own despite my warning. I'm sure you know the problem of watching over curious children who don't know any boundaries."

At that statement, Cale began to laugh so hard that his stomach hurt.

Thormod was seriously trying to talk his way out of the situation. Of all things, Cale really hadn't expected that. Talk? After everything the Thormods would do in the future?

<"I hope you're not planning on letting them go">, Fengari said indignantly.

<"Over my dead body.">

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