"So…what do we do now?", the three were pretty deep in an infested mine filled with monsters. It wasn't only Steel Spiders as the Demonic Bear demonstrated. Robert was tired enough to go to sleep, but he wanted to leave the cave first. While Liam looked a bit less lost, as he was slowly gathering himself again. Lucas looked the most relaxed, he changed drastically from a single nap, which made Robert uneasy.
"For now, we need to get out of here. If we're healed we need to clear out this shit mine and we'll go back.", Lucas was already planning on how to effectively finish his task.
"You still want to clear this mine? Why would you even think that?", Robert on the other hand wasn't interested in the slightest to continue in this mess.
'I guess he's got a point, we don't even know if we can heal these before we go back in.'
'We'll figure something out, it looks like the blood has been removed, we should be capable of fixing that.'
"He can't, he signed that life contract, so he has to follow the orders of the lord. This time he was ordered to clear out this mine while protecting you. He doesn't have a choice."
"Shit, I forgot, fine, we'll work together to do this then. But first, I want to sleep, you need your hands fixed and you need to get yourself together."
'Are you being lectured by a kid, c'mon Liam', Liam was still shocked of the loss of his group, but his own life was still on the line, he needed to survive.
"You're right, I still have a family to worry about. Let's go, Lucas, are you going to be okay with those hands."
"I already said yes, I just need to figure out what exactly happened to them."
"It looked like you used dark magic.", that statement caused the room to chill. Dark magic was taboo, using it was forbidden. "Didn't you hear, I was barely conscious during the fight, if I used it, it would've been unconsciously, I don't know how to use dark magic."
"Don't lie to me, you said you remember the feeling and motions as well. Show me."
'You already screwed up, did you forget what you said?'
'No , I panicked, that's all. But Robert has a point, I think we should show them, they are trustworthy.'
'What are you talking about, nobody is trustworthy, no one, not a single person should be trusted!'
'Yeah, yeah, trust me.'
"You're right, I shouldn't hide it from you two. I can use dark magic. Venion has taught me the beginner rune and a few supporting runes. I don't know any actual offensive spells."
"So Liam was right, Venion is a traitor.", Robert seemed angry, even disappointed in the reality of the situation.
"Huh, what do you mean?", Lucas on the other hand didn't understand what was happening, Robert's reaction was a lot different from the one he expected.
"I told him everything you told me, he knows about the experiments."
"Yes, I know that the only reason I can use magic is because of you. I am sorry for what you've been through and extremely grateful at the same time."
"Don't worry about it, it's in the past, I'm glad you think about it in that way.", 'If not for those experiments we wouldn't have been capable of using magic as well. Not that it justifies it in any way.'
The group decided to leave the cave, for now. Liam didn't mind fighting against the monsters that killed his friends and Robert felt like he had to help Lucas. On their way back Robert thought back at what Lucas said before. "Lucas, when you woke up you said that those beasts do have intelligence, care to explain?"
"Sure, it's quite simple really. How do we summon spells?"
"Be reciting runes and hand signs, what about it? Are you saying that those beasts know hand signs? Don't be ridiculous."
"They just don't need it."
"Huh? How does that make any sense?"
"Do you remember Venion mentioned that there was something as Advanced Magic? It has the same basis as Classic Magic, but there is one big difference. Advanced Magic is done by pure willpower and mental stability. Runes are still the basics for every spell, but saying them aloud is unnecessary. Just thinking of them in the correct order can create the spells."
"What? How did you know? Did Venion tell you that?"
"Nope, but that's what I think. I have seen the Steel Spiders use magic without any signs or words, so what else could it be?"
"I can understand a Demonic Bear having some form of intelligence, it is one of the stronger monsters in the area, bordering Rank 1, but a Steel Spider? Also, how did you come to the conclusion it had to be willpower?"
"All these questions, I'm still tired from what happened you know?"
"Shut it, I had to stay awake to protect you so tell me."
"Fine, Venion taught me body strengthening with magic. That requires pure willpower to create results, but it can only do simple things as it is without any runes. So what would happen if you could use runes for that? I think that's Advanced Magic."
"I see, so that means that most monsters could use magic or something? Why haven't we seen that with the spiders then?"
"I said that they had intelligence, not that they had immense willpower. The bear was smart enough to focus on the fight and some runes, the spiders didn't have enough brainpower to do both."
After a few more questions and answers, Robert gained a pretty good insight into how magic was intertwined with monsters. They didn't find any obstacles on their way outside, 'Seems like all the monsters are hiding somewhere.'
They picked a random building before laying down to sleep. They couldn't care less about what time of day it was, being awake for so long and fighting for so long they needed the rest. Lucas didn't immediately go to sleep in order to figure out what to do with his hands.