Dungeon (Part 3)
The world was spinning. I think my head is, too.
I can't believe what I head.
'We'll get rid of Lilith if she doesn't produce results.'
'What? No!'
'Soleil is the proper heir! You're trying to take her position away for a talentless brat you just took in?! I knew you were soft Bellemore but this is just ridiculous!'
'Damn you, woman! I will not let you decide the mechanics of my house. Lilith will be an heir whether you like it or not!'
No. no. no no no no no no no no no.
Not our Lili. Don't take our Lili away from us.
Duke Bellemore Aurelia was fighting with his daughter Isabelle about the rights of the house that one night at the corridor.
No. I won't let her.
But what can I do? I'm nothing compared to her.
"Nessa?" A soft hand reached for my cheek. It was the warmest touch I've ever received and calm orange eyes looked at me with worry.
Our blessing. The angel of our life, Lilith.
"Are you okay? You look pale. Let's go to the clinic, maybe you're sick…" She tried to drag me to the infirmary but I stopped her.
"Lili, why… why do you think your magic hasn't awakened yet?" I asked carefully.
From the way she usually talk about magic, it doesn't look like she's interested about it but she was knowledgeable.
There was something else she studied more than anyone else ever since stepping into this house. People. Her eyes would linger from person to person and ask details about their lives.
It was a talent in dealing with current affairs and gaining information materials, connections, and a platform base inside this strict world.
"Nessa… I thought it was okay if I didn't focus on magic? You said you were going to protect me, didn't you?" Lili backed away. I'm hurting her.
I know that but… if I can't get the answer that I need to hear then she'll be pushed away by the adults.
"Lili, listen to me. Magic is beautiful, right? You said it before too. Don't you want to learn magic so you can create beautiful things?"
Oh dear.
This child was only a year younger than me but she was still a child. Or maybe I was too adult. We were raised differently outside this house after all.
A seven-years old Lilith wouldn't be able to understand even if I explain to her what happens. "Lili. Do you not want to awaken your magic? I-I can help you. This big sister will help you, I promise."
She started tearing up. "I-I'm sowry. Lili doesn't know ma-mag-magic!"
I sighed and hugged her. "It's okay, Lili. I promise I won't let anyone take you away. I promise so please stop crying." I comforted the small child.
She was smaller than the other heirs.
It was clear that she was mistreated at her previous house but we weren't told of how she got here nor where she actually came from.
She was just adopted. The ginger hair and eyes that resembles the Aurelia Household was the only indicator that she was of Aurelia blood.
A blessed child with no inkling of magic until now.
Frankly and logically speaking, it was ridiculous. She didn't seem to have an ounce of magic in her.
"But Lili can you promise me one thing?"
She softly nodded while her face was buried to her hands.
"If something makes you sad, can you promise me that you'll turn to magic?"
"Sad? But I won't be sad! Lili has Sister Nessa and Brother Khiel and Brother Hanz and Brother Rouge. Even Sister Ingrid and Sister Soleil is there!"
I flinched at her name. Soleil Aurelia.
She was the same age as Sister Ingrid Zarosa.
Soleil and I never got to be close. She was always busy with successor studies and hangs out with Sister Ingrid more.
However she got even busier when Lilith entered the Heir House of the Aurelia Family. The Heir House was the first mirror palace of their land, it is the main place that heirs will have to live in from seven to twelve years old to study the true history and learn practical magic.
It had been two years since Lilith entered here before she was even qualified, and everyone immediately loved her.
"Please promise me, Lilith." I begged.
"O-okay. I promise."
It'll be okay. I can create a gap. There is more time.
Just as I didn't let anyone take Lilith away from us no matter the means. I wanted to do it for Tabitha too. But… why.
Why couldn't I move?
"TABITHAAAA!!!"
Khiel's piercing shout echoed and the headmasters were in chaos too. Everyone was frantic.
What happened? Where is she?
Bang! "Ugh!" I spat out blood. Khiel was leaking mana from all over the place, his intensifying green eyes glared at me.
"Why didn't you move?!" He growled. I don't know.
Ugh. His wings was pushing me hard on the stone wall. The others tried to stop him but I know full well that no one could do so.
She was just there. Why…
"I-I don't know."
I was at a loss for words. "You could've used that binding magic from before! It could've hold him!"
My mind tried to find excuses like berating him but I knew that he was blaming himself too. We couldn't do anything.
"You did it for Lilith. Why can't you do the same for her?!" Khiel was crying and he was grinding his teeth as he talk.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
My mouth opened to apologize but a mana-bound roar reverberated the air and caused everyone to collapse in pain.
"Stop it. She's strong and smart. Trust her, you idiots!" Instructor Lyka pulled us by the collar on each of her hand.
Her words were calm but even she looked like she wanted to cry.
Were they close to her?
What was Tabitha Obiel to all these other people too? Even the fake Lilith looked like she was about to collapse in shock.
I couldn't talk the entire time we continued to climb up.
Before we knew it, the anxiety had reached at its peak when a day had passed and there were no signs of the final stage.
"I'll continue to move." The headmasters nodded at Rakhiel's words and followed him. Of course, I did too.
It had been a day since her kidnapping.
We couldn't just sit still. We couldn't sleep either so we continued to fight and bleed.
"E-Excuse me headmasters?" An instructor called everyone's attention. We stopped moving forwards and looked back.
Ah.
The others looked tired. They were panting already and it looks like they wouldn't be able to last long if they continued with our pace.
"I understand. Student Rakhiel and Student Lanessa. We will take a short break." Was all the Headmaster Weiss said to him before we continued to move forward.
"Yes. We all should take a rest. After the short rest, a small team will advance at a faster pace. Is that fine with you, Rakhiel?" Even Instructor Pedrio had a cold look on him but his tone remained concerned and respectful. Khiel nodded before sitting far from the team.
I approached Mariah. "You should stay with them Mariah. We need powerful mages to protect the other students." She nodded and pointed to Khiel before leaving.
I knew what she meant. 'Deal with him'.
Next would be… Nevermind. I didn't need to tell Polisha instructions as she will stick to that fake Lilith either way and I don't really want to talk to her right now.
I sighed and changed my target.
Khiel only focused his eyes at the ground and used his sword to write something on the ground. Just like my state, we didn't talk unless needed.
He was still leaking mana from his eyes. Khiel is probably trying to exert his mana to see through a distance or maybe his emotions are getting the best of him to the point that he can't control his own storage.
"We're still a long way to go." He muttered.
Ugh. I felt guilty but I didn't know what to say. I clenched my fists and before I knew it, my feet had dragged me next to him.
I didn't have to apologize. We were mature enough to realize that we're in a situation where anything could happen.
Mature enough to know that it was no one's fault.
"Khiel…"
He remained silent.
If I didn't know him for so long I might have felt offended but I knew better than most that he's probably processing everything that happened.
How to get to our goal faster. How to efficiently take down the monsters in our way. How to deal with the demon when we reach him.
How to get out of here and rescue Tabitha.
And how to apologize to me.
I wasn't any different.
"Do you remember that time? When we had to chase her down when she escaped?" He finally turn to me and the mana leak subsided.
He's the only other person who knows who I was talking about.
It happened during our first crime.
It was an eventful day. A day of sin. Something that can't be erased and forgiven. The day to which the main heirs' lives had changed.
There was no way we'll forget about murdering Soleil Aurelia.
"Our joint chasing strategy which gave birth to my binding magic and your fusion wings… Shouldn't we use it efficiently now?"
He stood up after what I said. "I… okay." Was all he could muster out and we headed towards the headmaster to explain our plan.
"Okay. Let's do it." The four of them said in unison.
Khiel and I glanced at each other. It was that easy? The plan was actually borderline reckless.
"We were actually planning to propose that plan to you too. I understand that her friends are concerned about her but the two of you felt beyond that, right? Plus…" Instructor Weiss explained.
"Plus! We really care about Tabitha too. So we need to get her as fast as we can." It was Instructor Pedrio who finished, his smile finally came back before moving away to explain the plan to others.
What he said was the truth. We didn't have to use lie detection magic to know that. There was warmth in their eyes that I've never seen before.
When they were tending to the injured students. When they were reassuring the students. They didn't have the same warmth.
As I thought, there was something about Tabitha that makes someone feel refreshed and warm.
She didn't even have that kind of disposition nor acted that way. Tabitha was as logical as Lilith, as kind as Rakhiel, as polite as Hanz and as dependable as Rouge.
Truthfully, she even had a worse temper than I did.
"Let's go then. Lanessa." Rakhiel's serious voice dragged me back to reality.
The Grand Headmaster who was also as silent as Khiel since Tabitha's disappearance finally opened his mouth. It had been awhile since his eyes turned back to human. "Let's do it. Climb on my back."
After saying that, we moved far back.
Red, thick, smoke-like mana leaked out of him and an ear-shattering roar shook the whole area. Massive scaly claws moved out from the smoke.
The dragon stood as high as ten meters from the ground, wait no, if I'm not wrong he was larger than earlier. The principal was at least twenty meters high.
"Let's climb." Instructor Weiss assisted me on the back of the dragon. "Goal One, student Lanessa will locate the highest point. Goal Two, student Rakhiel will do a quick reconnaissance at the top with Instructor Lyka."
"Understood." Khiel replied.
"My apologies. It seems this plane draws out my innate power and caused my original size to come out. I can't fly up because of how small the space is."
"Understood." Was all I said before placing my hand on the dragon principal's back. "[Death is the beginning]…"
Once I started the chant, a large magic circle covered his whole back. "[Death will follow my will]…"
The circle started giving off a 'whirring' sound and shined in an ominous, intense pink color. "[Come forth my bind]…"
I didn't have the time to feel embarrassed about my incantation. "[Riverwhisp]!" Vines immediately shot out up above in a pressurized motion while water were also spilling out of the magic circle.
Riverwhisp is a magic spell that summons deep water spirits through a medium and if they send consent to your spell, it would come out in a catalyst.
Vines for example was abundant and easily manipulated.
It only continued going up without stopping.
[Mana Manipulation: Location Tracker: Tabitha Obiel]. I felt my eyes burning up as the two spells joined together.
Just like this, it was how we hunted down Soleil Aurelia in the woods that night. The crime that could never be forgotten nor forgiven, was being used as a leverage to this day.
I felt the dragon flinch at the ongoing magic and as I was at the center of the seaweeds, vines or anything that was stretchable from the ocean, no one was near me to tell me what was going on inside.
[Warning! Riverwhisp had reached fifty meters high.]
"[Don't… stop]." I bit my lips as I poured a command to the spell with my own mana.
And everything stopped.
[Reached the end. Tabitha Obiel's Location: Floor 83 out of 100].
"Ha…" Shit. I didn't know I made extra efforts I shouldn't have. Anyways I have the answer.
"[Re-track until Floor 83]… Khiel! Fly!"
I couldn't see anything but green however I could feel the tremendous energy that launched upwards. Yes. Just like this.
We killed someone.
And we're using this to help someone right now.
It was ridiculous. I wanted to laugh and cry.
Everything went to flames for us after that. Tabitha was being taken away just as we took Soleil away from the people who loved her. Lilith was one of those.
And I didn't feel any guilt.