The two landed near the cliffside and leapt up the side with ease. She took out a large magestone much to his surprise and handed it to him, "Do you know how to cultivate magic herbs?"
Malleus nodded, "That should not be a problem. It's rather simple."
"All right." Lotus instructed, "Then, I will start by gathering the mana around us right now. Grow the Lanternblossoms away from one another as dispersed as the magic stones in the mine. If you cover the entire cliffside with it, I will continue to call you a toddler for the next six months."
"I'm not a kid." Malleus huffed in annoyance.
"Then stop acting like one." Lotus said as she hid their presence with her array, "All right. I will begin now."
Lotus immediately began focusing on the spiritual energy around her and drew them close to the cliffside where sunlight touches. Utilizing this chance, Malleus saw the opportunity to use his powers with the magic stone in his hand. In less than five second Lanternblossoms began to appear in places difficult to be discovered as reached down to pick one up. Examining the plant, she nodded, "This is good. It's full of mana as well. As expected, you have certainly mastered the simple magic spells just fine."
Malleus grumbled in dismay, "When will you stop treating me like a child?"
"Who knows." Lotus stuck her tongue out before she leapt off the cliff and made her way back to the dwarves' cottage. Just as she did, a loud cry cried out much to their surprise!
"Woah! WAAAAHHHHH!"
Lotus spun her head to the direction of the cry and frowned, "That sounds like Kalim? Did he get himself into trouble again?"
"Let's go take a look." Malleus said with a curious look as he made his way to the cry stealthily.
Treading softly and smoothly through the brush, they finally found themselves before the very same swamp where the sports clubs last fought against Coach Vargas. From the trees afar, they saw Kalim stuck knee-deep into the muddy swamp!
"So, there was a swamp nearby." Malleus muttered, "Let's go. Dormleader Asim should be able to handle this."
"No, he won't." Lotus frowned, "At least, not by himself."
"He won't?" Draconia looked to her in bewilderment.
"Kalim is an active child. He's not as bright as the others, yet his determination and open-minded thinking makes up for that." Lotus explained as she watched the dilemma from afar, "Yet, right now, he does not have Jamil with him and he is sheltered and protected since young due to the fact that he is the heir of his country's biggest and richest company. Therefore, he does not have the knowledge of how to save himself from this swamp."
Seeing the trail from around the swamp, she found one that led up to the cliffside where they had been. It was an area with a tree that had been attacked and blocked the road. Looking at the trail, it looked to have been created by a person rather than an animal.
"Yet, all he has to do is just walk out of the swamp." Malleus responded with a look of confusion.
"For a fae, perhaps you have a way, but, for humans who does not have experience with the wilderness or fight against the elements, they are weak and less knowledgeable of what can and can't be done in this situation." Lotus explained, "More importantly, this swamp is not simple. It's a quicksand swamp. For you, it's easy. However, for Kalim, just one more will drag him down further and further. Looks like Kalim took the trail the sports team made during the last camp and slipped. I recall the sports team struggling against Coach Vargas at their final challenge. Looks like Kalim was unlucky and walked down that path. They had used water magic back then too."
"I think this is where Kalim fell." Jade's voice sounded from nearby.
"HEEEEYYY!!!!" Kalim cried out flailing as he did so much to their surprise.
"KALIM! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Cater's voice called out.
"His voice is coming from the swamp..." Jade noted as he pushed aside a branch blocking their way and came upon the scene with a surprised look, "What's this now?"
"Hey, guys!" Kalim cried out with a wide smile as he waved, "Sorry to scare you. I'm okay!"
"This does not look good for them." Malleus frowned with confusion as they watched him flail so carefreely and the others looked on with a laugh, "He will not be able to escape if he keeps doing this."
Grim and Yuu came into the clearing as Grim laughed at him, "Wahahahaha! Having a nice dip, are ya? You're waist-deep in swamp water!"
"Oh good, the swamp must've broken his fall." Cater sighed in relief, "Hold on, we're coming to get you!"
"No," Jade grasped his arm just in time, "don't go near him."
"What?" Cater looked to him in bewilderment.
"Ack, I'm sinking!" Kalim cried out in horror.
"Calm down." Lotus pulled him back from raising his magic stone, "Jade and the others are here. Jade has hiked these mountains for a long time and Lilia should know what to do- Eh, where's Lilia?"
"It looks like he left the group." Malleus hummed as he continued, "Maybe he went to catch the catfish."
"That makes sense." Lotus nodded yet hummed in contemplation, "Not a bad choice dividing the labor that way. However... I feel like that might not have been completely the case here..."
"Observe." Jade pointed out calmly to the grass surrounding Kalim, "When Kalim moves, the grass around him sways as well, all the way down to its roots. Which means the ground's not solid. The is no ordinary swamp- It's a bottomless swamp that's like quicksand."
"Oh, no!" Cater gasped in horror as he looked around desperately, "We need to find something for him to grab onto! There's gotta be rope or some vines around!"
"Kalim, don't move." Jade warned him, "The more you struggle, the deeper it'll pull you in."
"That's easy for you to say!" Kalim cried out in alarm upon realizing he was sinking in deeper and deeper in a panic.
"Panicking won't help." Jade reminded him calmly, "Stary calm and listen to me. I'll tell you a story."
"A story?" Malleus questioned curiously.
"Once upon a time, in a place much like this, there was a mountain climber who found himself in a bottomless swamp. He called for help, but no one was there. So he just kept getting dragged deeper and deeper into the swamp. Now, this mountain climber was quite strong, but he still couldn't pull himself out. So, with nothing to grab onto, and no idea how to properly handle the situation, he sank all the way into the muck."
They waited for him to continue only for there to be silence as Cater realized that was actually the end, "... That's it?! Nobody rescues him? It's just a bad ending? Way to freak me out, dude!"
"I was trying to illustrate the dangers of this kind of swamp to help you calm down." Jade explained.
"Well, congratulations. You did the opposite!" Cater shouted in a panic.
Suddenly, the familiar chime could be heard as a wood fairy came out of nowhere before them! Cater cried out in disbelief and horror, "Oh great, now we've got fairies too!"
Jade hummed to himself before opening his mouth, "Hm, we haven't started a fire or anything... Maybe they remember our faces from the last time we fought. I thought we'd have more time to figure this out, but we may need to hurry things along."
He shouted to the Scarabia student stuck in the swamp, "Kalim! Lean all the way back ad spread your arms out! You want your entire body touching the swamp water! It'll be muddy, but the more surface area you have touching the water, the harder it is for you to sink."
"Okay!" Kalim shouted back rather hyped and did as he was told.
"Yuu and Grim, I need you to help Kalim keep his cool." Jade instructed the two duo calmly as Cater already began firing at the fairy with fire magic.
"Uh, sure!" Grim nodded obediently with an alarmed look across his face.
"Kalim, stay calm!" Yuu reminded the Scarabia student as he also tried to stay calm as well.
"Let's get these fairies out of here." Jade began to utilize a little bit of his own magic, "We wouldn't want them to interfere with our rescue. Then, we'll find some vines and haul Kalim out. And, watch where you step, If we get stuck in there, we'll be up a creek, as it were."
"Yikes!" Cater lept away from the swamp upon realizing he was just a step closer to the swamp edge, "I really gotta watch out."
"I'm a merman, but not even I could save someone once the swamp has claimed them." Jade reminded them, "We must stay calm and take things one at a time."
"Jade, could you PLEASE dial back the doomsaying?" Cater begged Jade nervously.
Watching the group start fighting back the fairies as Yuu and Grim watched after Kalim with nervousness across their faces, Lotus opened her mouth in a whisper, "Malleus, you should go find Lilia. I understand he is well-versed with the steps to take in these situations, but it would be best to make sure that he is reminded of the dangers of these parts. He made that animal trail to trick them, right? Since he's your retainer, I hope you can give him a verbal warning."
"That would be all right. However, what do you plan to do?" Malleus questioned curiously, "Your people are going to obstruct them even now?"
"Naturally, I have to go and restrain them now. Since I am an assistant, it is not unusual for me to be out there. You, on the otherhand, is a different matter. They still think you've gone missing." Lotus frowned, "Honestly, they should be helping Kalim in this matter. If they wanted to educate the group on the steps to take, the steps have already been done. They should be helping right now. Not fighting back... What could've happened..."
With that, she leapt out from the trees and across the swamp before landing between the two of them just as magic was launched on opposing sides, "ENOUGH!"