"Let me get this straight, you guys found me unconscious in the tunnel, and you brought me here. Am I right to assume this?"
The man with the red eyes nodded, "Pretty much. I got to say, you're very heavy."
The man with the white hair shook his head, "Ron, you don't say those kinds of things to people."
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Shiro, all I'm saying is that he should lay off the food for a bit."
"Don't listen to him. This idiot doesn't know what he is saying. If anything, I believe you could use a bit more weight." Shiro observed William's arms. His face went pale once he realized what he unconsciously blurted out. "Did I say you needed to gain weight? Sorry, I meant to say you're perfect as it is."
William wryly smiled, "Well, I can't lie, I am scrawny, regardless of all the weapon making that I do." The blacksmith squished his barely existent bicep and frowned at what little he had, "Wait, that's beside the point! We need to continue the conversation, or at this rate, we won't get anything set up straight."
"Well, it was hella weird. We were following the light inside the tunnel when all of a sudden the blacksmith, William Jaeger, appeared before us on the floor. It was like a ghost story come to life."
"Although I don't share the same sentiment as what happened, it was quite a shock. I thought maybe you had collapsed from exhaustion, master William."
"I thought you were dead."
The blacksmith thought he was lucky to be found alive. He could've died of blood loss if it weren't for them. "I see... I was actually attacked by a serpent."
Ron leaned closer, "A serpent? Really?!"
William nodded, "It was massive and super strong too. I was running back outside when the ceiling collapsed, and I got hit by a rock."
The red-eyed man scoffed, "That's hard to believe."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Well, you see, master Jaeger, there was nothing of the sort."
"When we found you, everything else was intact. The path wasn't blocked."
"That can't be... the tunnel had collapsed. Didn't you feel the earthquake?"
Both men looked at each other confused, "No sir, not really."
Could William have imagined everything in the tunnel? For all he knew, the tunnel was a complete mystery. It could all just be illusions playing tricks on them.
--That wouldn't make sense. If that were the case, I wouldn't have died.
"Still, it would explain how you hit your head. It was pretty damaged. A gross site to look at for sure."
"You don't have to say everything that comes to your head."
William touched his head and didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, "Then, how was it fixed? It feels fine to me."
The white-haired man smirked, "You will need to thank these potions that we got here." He took out a vial containing green liquid, "We got these a while ago from a traveling pixie. She gave it to us after showing her a good time."
"Hm? You guys are some sort of escort?"
Shiro's face turned bright red, "Please mister Jaeger! I would like you to get your mind out of the gutter. We just showed her around Aoba. That's all!"
William knew potions and elixirs came from the island, Floris, where the pixies reside. He'd seen vials of potions before, but never used them. He never gave them much thought in his merchant days. They were still new to the market and hard to find.
William dropped a cold sweat. To think he felt his head perfectly intact. He regrets not noticing the great potential this product had.
The man shook his head. His merchant hand was creeping into his mind, but the blacksmith knew it wasn't the time to think about numbers, "It's amazing what just a little vial of potion can do." He grabbed the vial from Shiro's hand and inspected it.
"Yep, just a gross looking green liquid."
"You had best be grateful! Those bad boys are very special, you see."
The blacksmith raised an eyebrow, "They are?"
"It apparently has a high dosage of mana imbued in the mix. However, it could all be a sham. The pixie was a little roundabout with the specifics."
"A sketchy pixie, really?"
"If you'd seen her, you would've understood."
"She said it was capable of bringing anyone from the brink of death. I didn't believe it until we tested it on that head of yours."
"You used something so valuable as this on me? Why?"
"Well, it was that or let you die."
The blacksmith proceeded to bow, "I can't thank you enough. I'm in your debt."
If he were in their shoes, he would've surely thought about it twice before using the potions on them. For that, he was very grateful. He could tell these men had good values.
"Wait, you mentioned that you were from Aoba. What brings you guys here?"
Both men looked at each other and grinned,
"We left the village to become mercenaries."
"How's that been?"
Shiro wryly smiled, "This is actually our first day. We left early in the morning. We're going to be traveling around for a while."
"Is there any reason you guys became mercenaries?"
"We had reached a stalemate with our strength. We thought in order to grow stronger we had to leave the village and see what the world had in store for us."
"It was evident after the mess that happened yesterday at the merchant's guild."
William recalled a certain merchant mentioning something important happening around yesterday. Although he wasn't present, he wondered what could have been discussed in the room, "What happened last night?"
"A man had snuck into the merchant's guild. He was too strong for any of us to take him down. He even managed to outmatch the great warrior."
"Still, all that trouble just to steal a carriage. What a crazy guy."
"What!?"
"Is there something wrong, master Jaeger?"
The blacksmith cleared his throat, "Nothing, I'm just very impressed by this particular individual haha..."
—That idiot!
"Yeah, he might have gotten the better of me, but next time I'll beat the bastard!"
—Get in line pal.
"I see, everybody seems to be trying to find a better version of themselves."
"Well, if it wasn't for that drive, we wouldn't have found you collapsed in the tunnel."
"You got that right... still, are you sure you didn't see any sign of it collapsing?"
"Not at all. That tunnel seemed perfectly intact."
If what they said is true, then could it be that the serpent had cleared up the path? Even so, why were none of his companions back from the fight? Where was—
"Nicolas! Did you see Nicolas?!"
"Who?"
The blacksmith stood up and put both of his hands on Ron's shoulders, "A young golden blonde boy! Where is he?!"
The red-eyed man took the blacksmith's hands off him, "Woah, calm down dude."
"Mister Jaeger, please stand down. The potion is still in effect, closing your wounds. If you move too much, the wounds in your head will reopen!"
The blacksmith gritted his teeth, "I won't calm down! His life is in danger!"
"We're not disregarding the life of your friend, blacksmith, but acting crazy isn't going to solve anything."
The blacksmith's eyes widened. Realizing his actions, he let go of the red-eyed man, "Yeah, I believe you're right. I did the same thing to Olivia too. I should learn to control myself better. I apologize."
Shiro sighed with relief, "Wow, I'm amazed by you, Ron. This is the first time I've heard you say something intelligent."
The red-eyed man crossed his arms, "Hey! I say intelligent stuff all the time."
Shiro snorts, "Yeah, and pigs can fly."
"So, you say you didn't see a young man lying beside me?"
Shiro thought for a second, "No. You were alone when we found you, Mister Jaeger. There wasn't anybody else as far as I can recall."
"He's too reckless, I have to find him before anything happens. What time is it?
"It's about to be nighttime."
—This is bad. I slept for too long.
If memory served him right, it was close to nighttime when the beasts showed up. That would be a problem not only in the search for the young man, but in getting out of the situation alive. He was out of time. Without Sebastian and Olivia around, he was in need of extra arms to tackle the beasts.
"You mentioned that you guys are mercenaries, right?"
"Heh, that's right!"
The man looked at the two big swords at the corner of the tent,
"Then, I would like to hire you."
The two men looked at each other and jumped from excitement with their fists in the air.
"You hear that, Ron? Our first mercenary request!"
"Helping him was beneficial after all!" Ron said with a smirk.
William wryly smiled, "You two are a very odd duo, you know that?"
Shiro shrugged his shoulders, "We've been told."
***
The trio stood in front of the Serpent's Path entrance. William was sure getting tired of looking at it. He wondered if he would ever get to see the other side. The blacksmith took a deep breath as he braced himself for what was yet to come.
Shiro inspected it, "Hmm... Doesn't this look like the entrance to a tomb?"
Shiro wasn't the only one who thought about it. William had the same thought the first time he stepped into the tunnel. While walking inside, the atmosphere certainly felt like it.
The red-eyed mercenary put his hands on his hips, "We have to be careful with the traps then."
"Ron, is it me or are you shaking?" Shiro shook his hands, imitating Ron.
Ron pushes Shiro's shoulder, "Stop it with your dumb jokes, pal. It ain't funny."
The white-haired man laughed, "Please Ron, you're such a chicken."
The red-eyed man scoffed, "I am not!"
One could see one of the blacksmith's eyebrows twitch as the two mercenaries tested his patience. Compared to the usual duo that was around him, these two tended to act rather like,
"Say, how old are you two?"
""Nineteen.""
"I'm the oldest?!"
William's eyes opened wide. He fell on his knees looking rather defeated.
—Why is it that I'm always the oldest?! Even the butler looks younger than me!
The red-eyed man crouched and patted the blacksmith's back, "Don't worry, Jaeger. Leave the fighting to the young folk." he said with a smirk.
He looked at the other mercenary who was giving him a reassuring smile. William sighed, "Great, I feel so secure by you young lot."
Shiro whispered to his companion, "Hey, next time be more careful talking about age with the elderly. They will start to feel old."
The blacksmith quickly rose up from his position, "I'm only 25!"
The red-eyed man whispered back, "There it is, the quarter life crisis."
"Whispering is useless, I can hear you!"
"Alright then. Let's stop joking around, isn't it about time we went inside? The moon is up." he said, pointing at the sky.
The white-haired man smirked, "After you, brave fellow."
William noticed Ron had stopped shaking. Maybe this little banter was a ploy on Shiro's part to calm Ron's nerves. It was successful. Ron noticed it himself. He smiled at his comrade, thankful that he had someone he could count on.
"I suppose I should take the first step, considering I'm the strongest of all."
"Yeah, yeah. Go check the dark and scary tunnel, oh powerful one."
Ron walked slowly to the entrance, "Dark and scary… yeah right, I'm not afraid—" he was jumped scared by a sudden sound only to find out it was Shiro who had stepped on a branch.
"Oops, my bad. Hey, can you hurry up? We don't have all night."
The red-eyed man stomped his feet, "I'm getting there, geez."
Shiro and William observed Ron as they waited for him to give the all clear signal, "Say, how did you know about this place?"
Apparently, the serpent's path was only knowledgeable to the Drakon tribe, and it was secluded enough to not be found by regular people. William wondered how outsiders, like the two mercenaries, could stumble into such a place.
"Hm? Oh, we just walked into it?"
"Walked into it?"
"We were just exploring. We thought climbing the mountain would be good exercise. We just happened to find it on the way. We're just lucky that way."
"I wouldn't call that lucky."
"If not for that, we wouldn't have found you, and you could have, most likely, died."
"I guess you're right. So, my safety will revolve around luck. That's reassuring."
The mercenary shook his head, "Don't worry mister Jaeger, we'll cover your front and back."
"We need to work on the way you phrase things."
"All right guys, everything seems--eh?"
"Is something wrong?"
"I think you guys should see this."
The two men ran next to Ron, both of their breaths caught at the site. What they were witnessing was not the one usual guiding torch in the darkness,
"All of them…"
All the torches inside the serpent's path were lit. Not only that, there were multiple paths for them to go through the tunnel.
"What the hell is this?!"
"I don't remember seeing this the first time we went inside. Has there always been multiple paths?"
"Not only that, all the torches are on. We tried doing that last time, and they didn't light up at the same time."
William gritted his teeth, "We're being fooled by this place. All this time… it was tricking us!"
It all made sense to William. All those hours running through the tunnel were actually him going around a maze. The inconsistency of time that it would take him was proof of it. The torch mechanism was set to make people walk around endlessly through the tunnel.
The trio walked inside the tunnel to a now visible open area where it had six paths for them to take.
The blacksmith gritted his teeth, "I don't understand… why is it revealing itself now?"
"Well, let's view this shitty tunnel as a villain. Villains divulge their plans in certain situations. Do you know when that situation is?'
"I don't know. Is it when they're faced with certain death?"
Shiro shook his head, "Nope." he reached for his pocket and took out a red orb.
Both mercenaries turned to the entrance and the red-eyed man unsheathed the big sword from his back, "When they think they've already won."
William looked at what the young men were facing. To his surprise, the entrance was packed with Jawers.
***
The growls of big Jawers filled the trio's ears. They left a trail of poisonous drool as its mouth watered, fantasizing about its fangs hitting the men's skin. They were eager to feast on the flesh and blood, leaving nothing but the bones of their prey.
The blacksmith clicked his tongue, "Again, so many of them..."
The creatures blocked the entrance. The blacksmith could see from the back that more were arriving by the second. He remembered the overwhelming numbers of these creatures the last time around, and it appeared this time was no exception.
"What are these ugly things?"
"Isn't it called a Jawer? A pretty strong one by the looks of it."
William's eyes opened wide, "Do you know about them?"
Shiro cocked his head, "Them?"
"--Now it's not the time. Man, I'm getting excited. Let's hit it!"
The red-eyed mercenary who was scared of stepping into the dark tunnel was no more. It was like something inside him unlocked. He charged towards the herd of beasts with his giant sword. He leaped into the air, landing behind his group of opponents. With a grin that slightly showed his teeth, he cut down the poisonous monsters with a swing of his sword. Its bodies disappeared in thin air.
"That's what I'm talking about! Take that you--!" When he thought he had made a dent in the group he had taken out, they were immediately replaced by another group.
Ron grunted, "There's no end to them. How are you doing over there?"
"I'm doing okay." Shiro answered as he swung around his sword at the beasts. He had followed Ron to the herd but, compared to the red-eyed man, Shiro was less experienced in terms of fighting. He could barely keep up, his stamina was inferior to Ron's. "I may not be as strong as you, but I have a companion that will fill the gap in my strength. I think it is about time for introductions." He threw a glowing red orb into the air, "Come on out!"
In the air, the red orb shined bright. It was engulfed in flames and spits of fire were shot at the beasts surrounding the men. The Jawers took a step back from attacking as they waited for the orb's next move. The flames dispersed and what was revealed was a furry creature.
It crossed its arms, "Shiro, you should have released me sooner. Look at this mess."
The blacksmith stared at it in amusement, "Woah, what is it?"
It floated towards William. No matter how you looked at it, the creature looked like an ordinary squirrel. "Greetings, my name is Ratatoskr."
The white-haired mercenary approached it and patted its head, "My little companion."
The creature was taken aback, "Little?!"
"I think I've heard of them before. It's a spirit, right?"
The spirit nodded, "Right on the mark."
"You won't last long though, since it's almost getting late. Better hurry up."
The spirit nodded, "Hmph, just leave it to me, son. I'll take care of these lowlife pests."
The spirit circled the group of Jawers while shooting them with fireballs. In another group, it uses its mana to replicate a floor of lava, melting the enemies on sight. Then it flew high towards the center of the pack and spun around, unleashing scorching flames from its little paws. It was going so fast around the herd that William could barely keep track.
"You're a nasty looking one. Go back to that grotesque swamp you came from."
One could tell the little spirit was experienced in battle and one thing is for certain, it wasn't an ordinary squirrel. It was a strange sight to see. A tiny creature floating in the air, releasing high amounts of flames. It seemed to be enjoying its time taking them down as well. Its eyes gleamed with a desire for bloodlust.
"Come on Ron. I got your back."
The mercenary duo were no exception to the spectacle of power shown in battle. The two complemented each other. They kept their backs covered without slowing down a beat.
"What the hell am I doing?" The blacksmith murmured to himself.
He could only observe the fight from a safe distance. He didn't have a weapon to participate in the fight, so he didn't want to get in the way when everyone was doing their best. Regardless, he felt utterly useless in this situation. He got a sense of déjà vu. Doesn't this situation look all too similar?
The image of Nicolas came to his mind, "I can't let it happen again."
One thing was certain. William didn't know if he would get a third chance at life. For all he knew, it could've been a sort of divine error on the Dragon's part. He wasn't going to let anyone die again. Not on his watch.
He needed to think of something to get rid of the Jawers. The blacksmith looked at his hands, "Maybe… should I use it? No, not yet" he immediately shook his head at the thought.
He looked at his new companions. They seemed to be wearing themselves out. By what the white-haired mercenary implied, it seemed like the spirit didn't have that much time either before it had to go back into its orb. If William could just find a way to get themselves out of their current predicament.
The blacksmith looked around for his options. Then, he noticed he had six. If they weren't able to get rid of the monsters, then, how about getting away from them?
"I think I have a plan. This is a maze, right? I say we should lose them!"
"You mean to tug our tails and run?" Ron blocked the Jawer's claws with his sword. The impact slightly pushed him back, and the beast kept pushing forward, "Are you insane? We're going to get swarmed if we do that!" Ron, irritated, threw back the Jawer that was sticking to his sword. He didn't realize he had sent it to Shiro's direction.
The white-haired mercenary saw the flying creature coming and dodged it in time, "Hey! What gives?!"
After noticing there was a disagreement taking place, Shiro knew he had to get to the two men before it got messy between their different opinions. The judgment of his mercenary companion would get clouded and that has always proven to bring them trouble, "Hey pal, can you cover for us?"
The spirit who was fighting beside him sighed. He understood why Shiro was asking. He hadn't been with the mercenary duo for long, but he'd already been through the experience enough times to know the hot-headed Ron was at it again with his usual antics, "Jeez, what would you kids do without me?"
The white-haired mercenary chuckled, "We'd be meat for these beasts."
The spirit wryly smiled, "You should not say that so lightly… Alright, just leave it to me!"
"Thanks. Just keep them busy for a moment while we sort this thing out."
"I guess I'll have to take out the big guns."
The spirit turned to the beasts and put his paws together, "Protect!" It unleashed what appeared to be a small barrier surrounding the three men. "It won't last too long, but it's enough time for you kids to make a plan."
The red-eyed mercenary was already preparing himself to butt-heads with the blacksmith. William, on the other hand, didn't disagree with him. Avoiding attacks in an enclosed space was going to be difficult, but it was their only option.
"There's no other choice. They keep piling up the more you take out. If we don't do this, you'll get exhausted and that's what they're waiting for to finish us off."
"If we head inside, they'll swarm us both ways!" He exclaimed, frustratingly digging his sword into the ground.
"That's impossible. It would take them days to get to the other side if it wasn't along the serpent's path."
There was a possibility of the Jawers spreading to ambush them from the entrance and the exit, but the possibility was very low. The serpent's path was located in the dragon's mountain, one of the biggest in the country. It would take them days to climb towards the other side, let alone go around it. The only way the creatures were going to get to them was through the entrance. The only liability was its numbers.
"The only way we can deal with the number of these creatures is by choosing a path for each of us."
"What are you implying?"
William had been in this situation before, and he was certain of it. Splitting the numbers for each person would give them a higher probability of survival. William had been chased by the creatures before, and he was able to outrun them. If he was able to do so, then he was sure the men could do the same. The blacksmith thought that, for them, it would be a walk in the park.
"I'm saying if we split up it would be easier for us to deal with them."
"You can't be serious?"
"-- Mister Jaeger, let's say we split up and go along different paths, what then? What are we going to do about the Jawer?"
"Shiro, you keep saying "the Jawer" as if it's just one."
"Because it is. It's just one using its mana to multiply. We need to find the original one and get rid of it. That's what we've been trying to do, but it doesn't seem to be inside the tunnel with us."
William was at a loss for words. He was filled with rage at the thought of being played by one measly creature hidden in the shadows.
"Another thing is that they're drawn by mana. If they're here, then that means there's something powerful inside this tunnel."
"I see."
With this new information, William had a theory that he wanted to test out. It's a gamble, but, if he was right about it, it would be of big help.
"If that's the case. I'm going to serve as a decoy."
"Mister Jaeger, are you crazy?!"
"What if they attack us? What the hell are we supposed to do?"
The man shook his head, "They won't. I'm certain of it. I have a plan."
"You think I'm just going to accept that shitty plan?!"
The blacksmith looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Yes."
Neither of the two men possess any magical powers. If the Jawers are drawn to mana, they will pay no mind to them and instead focus on William.
—Although having a spirit in the mix could potentially threaten Shiro's life, but, the spirit is strong, it will take good care of him.
The red-eyed mercenary gritted his teeth, "It's suicide! No money is worth it!"
"Calm down, Ron. That's all that we got. Money or not, we need to get out of this mess."
"Sorry to bother you kids, but the barrier is about to wear off!"
The red-eyed mercenary gritted his teeth. He slowly approached the blacksmith and poked him in the chest. Their faces were inches away from each other. Looking directly into his eyes, he said, "Just so you know, your death will be on you."
"That's enough, Ron! We decided to pick this job!"
The mercenary looked at the white-haired man and scoffed, "Can't you see? It's clear there are things he's hiding from us. He's so desperate to reach the kid that he'll throw us to hell for it without a second thought."
The blacksmith caught the mercenary by the collar, "What the hell did you say?!"
"You heard me. You knew that if you told us everything we wouldn't take the job. I bet you knew about these fuckers too."
"What?" Shiro was in disbelief, "Mister Jaeger, if you had told us, we could've come up with a better plan. Why didn't you trust us?"
The blacksmith couldn't deny it. William thought the men would've backed out from the job. He took advantage of their innocence and tricked them into coming along with him.
The blacksmith couldn't look at the white-haired man in the eyes. He knew what he had done was wrong. It was just like the conversation he had with Nicolas. The young man wanted to rely on him, but he couldn't do it. Only he knew what would happen. He couldn't pass the burden on to someone else. This was the consequence of not trusting the people that were willing to extend their hands to help him.
"I'm sorry."
Shiro clicked his tongue. "I don't believe that you are... Let's go along with his plan, but only because we have no other choice."
Ron walked to his companion and extended his hand, "Come on pal. Let's find that little fucker." he said with a grin.
Shiro nodded and pulled Ron's hand to give him a hug. Ron's eyes widened. With a smile he patted Shiro's head, "There, there… We'll make it out f this. We'll be legends for killing that thing."
"But, what if you die?"
"Why am I the one who has to die!?" Ron sighed, "Let's promise each other something. If one of us dies, the other has to become stronger for both of us. Got it?"
Shiro nodded with a smile, "Got it."
"Alright kids, the barrier is off! It's up to you guys."
The squirrel spirit shone and returned to the orb it had come from. "Thank you." said Shiro. It was clear the spirit had over exerted itself by surpassing from the appointed time of their contract.
"Well," Ron said to William, "Get to it."
William really felt sorry about their circumstances, but it was evident that his actions weren't convincing the duo. All that was left to do was for him to call out to the beast. At least that way they can make it out alive.
Even if they leave William behind.
"--What the hell?!"
Just like that, all the attention was towards the blacksmith. The mercenaries didn't know what he did, but they believed what William said was true because all the Jawers were focused on him.
"Goodbye fellas!" William said as he sprinted off to one of the paths. All the Jawer copies followed him. Fighting for who gets to be the first to taste the blacksmith's flesh.
"Mister Jaeger… What are you?"
"There's no time to get distracted, Shiro. Let's move."
The odd duo and the blacksmith went their separate paths.