Just as the adventurers were approaching Lucas on top of the hill, they found that he had already left. There was nothing else to go on, besides the fact that the mystery individual was accompanied by an overweight dog. With no hopes of striking a conversation about what had transpired, the adventurers instead began to inspect the bloodied corpses of the more than ten thousand monsters. Examining the bodies, they found traces of Earth mana in the gaping holes aimed at vital parts of the monsters' bodies. Many of the monsters also had scars from, surprisingly, other monsters. One War Boar had multiple scratches, presumed to be caused by an Albino Leopard. This indicated that there was possibly a violent scuffle between the monsters which resulted in the injuries. But still, all of the monsters were found to have wounds caused by other species, almost as if they were intentionally fighting each other to the death.
"Damn, I'm beat. We may have gone too overboard, and went way off the objective. I thought we were only supposed to hold them off for ten minutes? Why did we slaughter them all?" Kenneth's voice was raspy, tired from the massive spell.
"Fuck, that was mainly your doing, little bro. I was thinking you would prepare a spell that would help us escape since the time was almost up, but I didn't expect you to do that." Lucas replied, also exhausted.
"Take some mana crystals, there's enough for you and Tyrone to replenish your mana up to about halfway. Hopefully Lena has finished the hole. Looks like another wave of monsters are approaching this place. I'm not sure if we'll be able to fend them off like last time. My mana's about to run out." (Kenneth)
"Fuck, does that thing have a time limit?" Lucas was referring to Kenneth's "Mind Link".
"Well, I can keep it going for at most four hours, if I don't use magic spells. That's why I take frequent breaks to take a nap at certain hours so I don't damage myself. Maybe the time limit will be extended when I get stronger." (Kenneth)
After running for a few minutes they had finally arrived at the mana anomaly, and they found Lena there, sitting down on the grass, eating sandwiches. From the looks of it, she had finished the hole already long before the trio came back.
"Glad to see your doing well. We had to fight ten thousand worth of monsters back there." (Lucas)
"Ah! Well... I'm sorry but I couldn't resist taking a little break. Want some sandwiches, Tyrone? (Lena)
"Woof!"
"It's all good. We managed to massacre all of them. Although I do feel kinda drowsy. Let me take a nap. You guys should too. We'll enter the hole when we're all rested up." (Kenneth)
"Guess we won't be getting home tonight. See you tomorrow, Mom." (Lena)
"Well, you might not be able to tell, it's still in the afternoon. The object blocking the sun is still obscuring our view." (Kenneth)
"What is that anyway? Why did the monsters go crazy and why did the metal suddenly become easier to cut?" (Lena)
"I speculate that the "mana anomaly" was the metallic structure itself. It's probably made from metal that was enchanted by Reinforce, a buff that has similar effects to Fortification, which is used to increase one's defense, except this one is used on objects, like the structure. The Reinforce was very much stronger than Light Beam, drastically increasing the time needed to pierce through it. As for why it suddenly became easier, it's most likely related to the rumbling that happened in the sky. I believe the rumbling had something that jammed all magical structures. It's probably didn't have any affect on Lena and our magic, because it was only directed to shut down magical structures. But the noise itself was enough to awaken many monsters." (Kenneth)
"That seems credible. Alright. Time to take a nap. I'll keep watch until later on in the night, then we'll switch and enter the hole in the morning." Lena said to Lucas.
"Alright alrigh-" Lucas doesn't even finish his sentence as he falls to the ground and begins snoring. Tyrone snuggles up towards Lucas and also soon falls asleep.
"Well goodnight, Kenneth." (Lena)
"You too."
Early Morning.
The object blocking the sun had somehow disappeared while they were sleeping, and now the sun was rising in it's morning glory. Nothing was obstructing the light, allowing the warm air to hit the squad's faces.
After they woke up, they began to eat some packed food and then prepared to enter the hole.
"This certainly is big. Lucas can fit through easily." Kenneth said as he examined the almost three meter wide hole.
Descending through, they found themselves in a dark room. The light from the sun pierced through the hole, allowing a portion of the room to be lit, showing a blurry, translucent, cylindrical shape of glass that had shiny green liquid. Inside was a frail little girl floating, scrunched up in a fetal position. The girl had delicate features, and straight white hair.
"Is the girl inside, naked?" (Lucas)
"That's the first thing that comes into your mind? Not why there is a girl in here in the first place?" Kenneth rebuked Lucas.
"I wonder how long she's been here. Should we open the glass to see?" Lena looks over to a big red button, which was definitely screaming "Press Me!".
"Don't touch anything without knowing what it does. Hell, the button might even cause a huge explosion if we don't do things care- goddammit Tyrone." Kenneth sighed, disappointed.
"Woof!" Tyrone barks excitedly, almost like as if he's saying "I couldn't resist!".
"Just gotta hope for the best, ay little brother?" (Lucas)
A loud alarm is heard, loud enough that it could possibly be heard from outside. The front of the glass opens like a door, and the green liquid rushes out like a flood. The girl falls onto the ground. And then she suddenly stands up, albeit slowly. The girl is revealed to have a petite body, and she reaches just below Lena's shoulders, making her at least a head taller than Kenneth.
"Hey, my eyes aren't playing tricks on me right? Is the girl moving?" (Lena)
With slow, delicate movements, the girl begins to slowly walk towards Lena and Lucas. She reaches her hand towards the both of them, and slowly mutters,
"Why is there another one with you three? I sense another magic, different from you two. And it's converging.... right here." She points at their foreheads.