“?elare! I know you're here somewhere. It's time for me to reveal something vital to you.”

  The old man’s words linger in the air for a few long seconds, before a low voice rings out from what seems to be several different directions at once.

  “He is no longer here. If you leave silently, I will allow you to live.”

  Furrowing his brow, the old man raises his wooden staff. A pattern reminiscent of vines snakes from the base of the staff to the tip, the dark green lines becoming denser closer to the top. At the very tip of the staff, a bud sprouts. The bud grows, and after two seconds, dark blue petals can be seen blooming. By the fifth second, the tip of the staff has become an elegant flower, as big as a human head. The petals pulse with brilliant light, and in front of the old man, space seems to distort.

  He lurches forward and reaches into the distorting air, his hand finding purchase on the blond hair of a certain young man who was not there before.

  “Learned a new trick, ?elare?”

  A meek voice replies, “Yes, Elder. I apologise if it was out of place, I was just so excited to test it properly.”

  The Elder shakes his head, sighing.

  “We can discuss this later. For now, I need you to come with me.”

  ?elare nods and promptly stops talking. Following the Elder, they pass by a few houses and tents. They arrive at the gaping mouth of a cave, ?elare frowning as the Elder enters.

  “Do you desire for me to follow you in? You have forbidden anyone from entering here.”

  The Elder nods.

  “Provide us with some visibility."

  ?elare holds his hands out in front of him, and they begin to emit a soft yellow light.

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  As they continue in, the cave begins narrowing slowly and slopes downward until it is only a little taller and wider than the average person. The Elder has to duck slightly as he walks, but ?elare has no issue.

  After nearly five minutes of walking, the passageway comes to an end. The Elder crouches down to a pile of rubble, clearing it to reveal a plain wooden trapdoor. It appears old, being covered in a great many scratches and gashes, with a small metal handle. Opening it, he climbs down to a spiral staircase carved into the stone. ?elare follows.

  After a minute of descent, ?elare speaks up for the first time in the cave, a sweat on his brow.

  “I am running a little low on mana. Will we reach the destination within five minutes?”

  The Elder replies, “Yes. Within two, probably.” ?elare nods in response, and they continue in silence.

  After another minute, ?elare notices something odd. The atmosphere, which is usually in a state of low magical density, has become ever so slightly denser. Not only that, but he can sense trace amounts of a huge variety of magic, from fire element to even some forms of mental energy.

  This becomes more prevalent as they descend, until they finally reach the bottom of the staircase. It opens up into a vast room. A foul odour is emitted from it, akin to rotting flesh, but the room is too long for ?elare’s limited light to reveal anything. There is no visible furniture or any other sign of humans either, just stone. Before entering, the Elder speaks.

  “Prepare yourself. This will be a lot to handle.”

  ?elare stares at the Elder, nodding after a few seconds of eye contact. They step through.

  Entering the room, the saturation of magic increases nearly threefold, enough to make even the Elder grimace. ?elare himself is forced to cut off his light magic and lean on the nearest wall. He can feel all the mana in his body stirring as if it wants to escape to the far side of the room. He hears the Elder’s voice.

  “Focus! Stand up straight or you will faint and be consumed.”

  Heeding the advice, he stops leaning on the wall and takes deep breaths. He closes his eyes and attempts to stabilise his mana by forcing it in the opposite direction of the pull. After some time, he opens his eyes again and utters, “I've got it. I'm alright now.”

  The Elder, who ?elare has just learned was right next to him the whole time, nods.

  “It only gets more intense as we continue onward, but it is fortunately not much farther. Do not create light until I tell you to.”

  The Elder doesn't wait for a response as he walks away, trackable only by his footsteps in the pitch black. ?elare follows, appreciating his great hearing, until the steps cease. The source of the pull on his mana is clearly on the ground directly in front of them, and he hears the Elder speak.

  “Light.”

  ?elare fights the pull on his mana. He barely manages to maintain control over it, creating enough leeway to convert some of it to light element, which he emits from his hands. They glow with a dim light, just enough to reveal a creature on the floor.