They say that the older you are, the wiser you get. Yet, who could have seen such betrayal coming even at thousands of years old?

Yasa and her group, along with Kai and Onyx, walked carefully through the forest. The Obborik's fur was once again a clean shade of white, and Kai's hair turned from grey to silver. He sneezed a couple of times but didn't get any sicker than that. They once again wore their dried-up, usual clothes.

Although their steps were slow, and their muscles still ached, they more or less completely recovered after a night's rest. Kai replenished his mana reserves in the morning by absorbing a couple of leftover mana plants, and felt more or less ready to begin his training. The cold breeze hit his bare face as he decided against wearing his mask, considering all of them knew his identity.

Lutha held a crystal in his hands, which he used to light up the way. Kai's concentration was mostly on the training exercise Lutha recommended. Spread the mana into a thread and follow the wind. Let the wind guide your mana, attach yourself to it. Those were his instructions, but doing it was easier said than done. Kai's brows furrowed as he tried to send a thread of mana into the wind, but every time he attempted to do so, the connection would break.

What's the point of having so much control when I can't even control it when it's thin? I thought I was pretty good at it… He lamented over his situation, but couldn't cry too much about it. Kai knew that he lacked any sort of fundamentals, both in magic and swordsmanship, but especially with magic. Luckily though, Lutha offered his help, and Kai didn't need to think about how skilled the man was with magic.

Although he didn't cast any spells, he used mana as a thread to wrap around people to both kill and restrain, and Kai knew that such a thing wasn't any less difficult than casting Double Phoenix Destruction on a large scale. The amount of control required was extraordinary. Kai guessed that Lutha's magic proficiency was higher than his by at least a few ranks.

Despite that, he believed that he could reach such a level as well; it just took time. He trained as they walked and remained vigilant. Much to his surprise, they weren't attacked by any more gobelins, and the way to Lustra proved to be smoother than anticipated.

Did they only have an ambush set up at the entrance, or was it a coincidence? Kai thought as anxiety muddied his thoughts. Either way, they were able to call for reinforcements extremely fast, or… I killed all of the gobelins within the area. But that shouldn't be the case.

But the truth was clear, there weren't any more gobelins around. Speculating about why that was the case was useless, as they would soon get an answer upon entering Lustra.

The vegetation didn't lessen as they approached, but it became less natural. A stone path began to get revealed beneath the vegetation, with minor signs of human occupation becoming more frequent. Abandoned and broken carts and carriages overrun by vines and grass. Bags and other tools littered the ground, becoming part of the natural environment of the forest.

A broken tower, once tall and mighty, signaled their entrance within the city's perimeter. The tower, once made of white marble, was now nothing more than ruins, and whoever was unlucky enough to stand guard at the time became a shattered corpse. The skeleton still wore the tattered clothes of the city guards - a light set of armor meant to protect against blunt attacks - and an empty sheath tied to its waist.

The group watched the derelict sight with a sense of uneasiness. Part of the clothes were ripped apart, and some bones were missing. That man didn't die an easy death… Kai thought, pitying him. However, they didn't stop, as that was the first watchtower of many, and they could only imagine the damage done to the rest.

However, the fact that they found it meant that they approached their destination. For Kai, that meant finding a piece of his soul. That thought alone was enough to make his stomach fill with anxiety. He didn't know whether it would give him more insight into who he was, or change his current self completely.

Thinking about the consequences did little good, though, as, regardless of the outcome, he wanted to be whole.

The forest's tall trees and vegetation cast a shadow in their path, making it so they barely saw a couple of meters in front of them. Why is there so much vegetation if his area was a road not so long ago? Do the trees here grow at an absurdly fast pace? Kai questioned himself, but he doubted his question would be answered. He feared what hid within the shadows more than the shadows themselves.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. The wind blew past him, carrying a burning, charred smell. A shiver ran down Kai's spine, but he steeled his nerves and created a mana thread. Sending it out, he wrapped it around the breeze, relying on the air current to carry it instead of having to control that himself. In theory, that should allow him to spread his sense over a large area without exerting much effort, in practice, however…

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The mana thread snapped after stretching too thin, sending a brief jolt through Kai's mana veins. Fuck… this is so much more difficult than I thought.

However, he persevered. After learning of this technique, he realised that his previous way of scanning his environment was both ineffective and dangerous. Sending large amounts of mana into a large area told anyone who wanted to harm him his exact position, and gave him very little insight because of the sheer amount of information he had to go through. Using the thread method allowed him to use far less mana and get selective information.

If I can get ten mana threads around me at all times, not only would that improve my control, it would also allow me to have a 360-degree vision. I wonder if Lutha thought of that. He glanced at the man, who led the way with the light crystal. His footsteps were cautious but confident. Kai looked at him with newfound respect.

At first Lutha appeared to be a weirdo obsessed with wolves, but that must be because of his childhood. Fighting and seeing monsters every day must be exhausting. I bet he recognized that Onyx is an Obborik at first glance, but didn't say anything.

Such a thought scared Kai, as he wasn't sure if it was obvious or if Lutha just had keen eyes. Either way, he realised that Onyx needed a better disguise, and he did too. Being known as the guy with a max and a giant white wolf would become tiring after a while. Too bad disguise magic is a Three Star Core rank spell, but… maybe I could cast it as a Two Star as well? I need to test it once I make that step!

However, as he trained his control and got lost within his head, Onyx's thoughts echoed in his head.

Brower, I found something

What is it?

Hole

"Hole?" Kai blurted out loud without intending to, making the rest of the group turn to him.

"Hole? What are you talking about?" Yasa asked, stopping in her tracks.

Crap… Kai wasn't sure whether or not to divulge that he could communicate with Onyx in such a weird way. Hdeyoshi told him that Mana Companions were a thing once upon a time, but whether or not they were looked well upon was another matter. Even so, he had no other way to explain that he knew of the existence of a suspicious hole.

"I think… there's a hole somewhere around here. It might be worth looking at."

"Huh? How do you even know that?" Yasa asked, and even Lutha looked at him with skepticism. As for the burly man, he didn't even glance in Kai's direction. It was almost as if Kai didn't even exist within his senses.

"I… uh…"

"Onyx told you, isn't that right?" Lutha's question rocked Kai, and his face reddened upon realising that he wasn't that good at hiding even that. "You two are mana bonded… Fascinating. I have never seen man and beast bonded before."

"You… know about that?" Kai asked, his desire to hide it completely vanishing, replaced by the hope of being able to learn more about it.

"I do, but I am afraid my knowledge of such a thing is limited solely to the basics," Lutha said with a tinge of disappointment.

"I still want to know!" Kai said before remembering why this subject was brought up to begin with. "But I think we'd better check out what that hole is about."

"Right…" Yasa said with a voice filled with as much enthusiasm as water in the desert. Regardless, they followed Kai's lead toward Onyx's location.

The hole was located near the main road but somewhat deep in the forest. Soon, Kai saw Onyx's white fluff stick through the thick bushes and hurried on over through the tall grass.

The Obborik barked them in greeting and pointed toward the hole with his snout. At first, Kai had expected a small burrow, maybe a rodent's or rabbit's nest, but upon seeing what Onyx had discovered, his jaw had all but dropped.

A large tunnel wide enough to fit three normal-sized gobelins standing one next to the other appeared within his crimson pupils. Most of it was hidden by grass, flowers, and twigs, yet a small portion remained visible. "Did you find it like this?" Kai asked Onyx, who shook his fur.

I found a weird smell and dug.

Kai nodded and got closer, pulling away the weeds and whatever else had grown over the entrance. "This must be how they traveled to us. A small group detected us, and they used these tunnels to come and go unnoticed."

"This is… so there is a chance that a large network of tunnels exists underneath our feet right now?" Yasa helped Kai uncover it, then stared at it with as much shock as she did wonder.

"How long do you think they stretch?" Lutha asked, giving them a better look with the light crystal.

"It's hard to say… but if they had enough time to set up one underneath Lustra and the forest… then there's a high chance they can go even further than that. Nivero? Belvic? This is, this could be a huge discovery." She glanced at Onyx with an approving look, but decided against reaching out to pet him.

"What do we do now?" The burly man asked, towering over the three of them.

"I-" Yasa hesitated. "We need to investigate further and give a concrete report to the Office."

Lutha looked at the hole, gulping, then asked with slight apprehension. "What if we end up surrounded again?"

Yasa took a moment, her gaze switching between the hole and Lutha, then to Kai and the ground. Kai knew that retreating now would be the best course of action; however, he didn't want to give up on finding his piece of soul and the sword technique. He didn't want to risk the lives of others for his selfish goal either. If she decides to go back, I will push on forward by myself. There is no other choice, I have to pick up the piece of my soul, even if it's dangerous.

With his resolve steeled, he waited patiently for Yasa's decision. Though he didn't have to wait long as the woman gave the Obborik one last look before saying, "We will continue our advance to Lustra with even more caution than before and flee at the first sight of danger."

"I think we have enough information to provide the Office with now, though." Lutha contested as he looked at the tunnels with apprehension. "Should we risk going to the city itself when its fate is already clear?"

"I need to see it with my own two eyes," Yasa replied firmly, leaving no more room for discussion. "Let's go."

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