The black amalgam speartip wedged into the crack between the iron trapdoor and granite floor. Leif added more of his weight against the impromptu lever, but the heavy slab of metal did not move.
"Raed, I don't understand, can't you transmute the door?" Leif asked while straining against the door.
"I don't know what's on the other side. Performing the transmutation wrong can result in toxic byproducts," Raed answered.
Then all that was left to do was try harder, Leif concluded, as he continued applying pressure to the sealed entrance.
Kaiti had uncovered the location of the underground dungeon where Marcus's group held their victims. It was covered by one of the shoddier tents.
Not one of the first places anyone would look, Raed thought. He wouldn't admit it to her face, but he was glad that he had Kaiti with him this time.
The cover to the prison entrance had been removed after they confirmed its location. That revealed the sturdy iron trapdoor and the durable granite floor that hid under the tent.
It was odd, though, Raed thought. A group of bandits that couldn't even stitch together proper equipment or shelter shouldn't have the resources to hide such an elaborate structure in the forest. Either the structure had always existed and the bandits moved in, or someone with far more resources built it. If it was the latter case, then Raed wondered how deep the involvement between sponsor and bandits went.
"Raed," Leif's exerted voiced called out, "it would be very helpful if you helped!"
"Huh? Right, sorry." Raed broke out of his thoughts and took a step to the trapdoor.
Tara stepped between Raed and the iron trapdoor. "I'll go, Master," she said in a monotonic voice.
"Huh?"
Tara turned her head around slightly to look at Raed's eyes out of the corner of her right eye. "Do not strain yourself, Master. My body will be sufficient for this task."
"Ok, if that's what you want to do, go ahead," Raed said.
"Understood. Thank you for your approval, Master," Tara said.
Raed had many, many questions about what just occurred, but he kept them to himself, as they had far more important matters at hand.
Tara wrapped her small gloved hands over the spear shaft and pressed down on it with Leif. Observing the two, Raed thought he saw the similarities in their personalities.
While the two youngsters worked to pry free the sealed door, the alchemist and vulpine demoness conversed.
"That's a very well-constructed door," Raed remarked.
Next to him, a blue-clothed female demon stood and watched the two young humans struggle with the heavy metal trapdoor. "You noticed that too?" She replied.
"Did you see anything in Marcus's mind about who built this?"
"Fuzzy images, no faces. The voices were unfamiliar too," Kaiti said.
"Do you think those were bandits?"
"No, not bandits, I can be sure about that."
"How do you know?"
"Their hands were clean and they wore jewelry."
"You recognized the jewelry but not the faces?" Raed asked with incredulity.
Kaiti explained, "They're that demon's memories. I can access them but I can't decide what he chooses to remember. And I think it's clear what that trash was fixated on."
Raed nodded. "That's not surprising now that I know how it works. It's pretty scary that ability you know? I always thought you could alter my memories and make me think I'm a monkey or something."
"I'm not a succubus, you know," Kaiti said with a dour look on her face. "But anyway, the jewelry. I think I can reproduce the patterns, but I'm not familiar with your human symbols."
"Do you think you could do that when we have somewhere quiet to sit and discuss this? I'll bring some paper and a pen."
"Sure, I'm willing to do that."
"You sound awfully eager to volunteer your help here," Raed commented. "Is there something more to this? The cult?"
"Not entirely," Kaiti said. "It's something that I want to investigate, but this time it's personal, and not in a cult-related way."
"Is non-cult personal more or less than the cult personal?"
Kaiti rolled her eyes at Raed. She looked at the door that had opened a small crack, making Leif redouble his efforts while Tara did her best to hang off of the shaft. Her feet were off the ground and only the very tips of her toes brushed the marble floor.
"Did you know that Tiryui sang at my sister's wedding?" Kaiti asked.
"No, I did not. What a small world," Raed said.
Less than two meters away, Leif called to Raed, "Can you help me, Raed? Tara's too short to touch the ground and her body weight doesn't help much!"
Tara's facial expression did not change but her irritation could be felt. "My fifty kilograms is plenty sufficient for this task," she asserted.
"Yeah, I'll help," Raed said. He turned to Kaiti. "Nice talk," he said, "but duty calls. Let's finish this after we rescue your wedding singer?"
He didn't wait for Kaiti to correct him with "My sister's wedding singer!".
Raed grabbed the spear shaft with his gloved hands and added his weight and effort into the lever.
The door raised another three millimeters off the floor revealing a visible space that led to darkness.
"Kaiti, can you put a rock or something in this space?" Raed said.
"I'm guarding the prisoner," she replied, pointing at the bound and prone Marcus, who was breathing pained shallow breaths.
"Of course you are," Raed said under his breath. He turned to Tara, who was hanging on with all her might. Her feet were able to touch the ground now, but she still had to stand on tiptoe.
"Tara, can you let go and get a rock to wedge into the space?" Raed asked.
"Affirmative, Master." Tara let go and picked up a nearby rectangular rock. She placed it between the iron door and marble floor so that the space they had just worked so hard to create would be maintained.
"Alright, Leif, I'll keep the pressure on the spear, can you and Tara try to lift up the door?"
Leif nodded. He released his grip on the spear and squatted down. He slipped his gloved fingers under the five-millimeter gap between door and floor. On the opposite side of the trapdoor, Tara also put her hands under the door.
"On three," Raed said. Leif and Tara nodded. "One, two, three!"
Raed pushed down as hard as he could against the improvised lever that was Leif's black metal spear. Down next to the floor, Leif lifted with all his might and Tara gave the best she could offer. With a lot of spent energy and sore muscles, the door broke free of its lock, and snapped open. All three people who tried to open the door fell to the ground with the sudden release.
The open entrance was two meters by two meters, and a steel ladder descended into the darkness below.
"Who wants to go first?" Raed asked.
Leif stared into the inky blackness. "It's dark," he said.
Tara peered into the abyssal gloom. "No light," she said.
A bright blue light hovered above the opening. The three humans turned their heads to Kaiti, who used a hand to guide the blue light.
"Well?" She said."That light won't last forever."
"I'll go," Leif volunteered. He climbed into the hole and the blue light followed him down. Raed followed after him. He stopped Tara before she could follow.
"Watch the demons," Raed whispered to her. She nodded, and stood watchful at the unsealed entryway.
Once Leif and Raed reached the bottom of the ladder, their eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Kaiti's glowing blue orb floated next to Leif's shoulder, lighting the surroundings.
The hallway was wide enough to fit Leif and Raed side-by-side. The walls were made with polished marble bricks and the floor was made of smooth marble. Whoever made the dungeon had a lot of money, Raed thought.
Iron torch sconces jutted out from the walls every three meters. If Raed had ever wondered whether Kaiti's foxfire could light torches, those questions were answered when the blue magical light flitted to each sconce and lit every torch with orange chemical light.
The now bright underground hallway stretched twenty meters in one direction. With no other paths, the two men walked along until they reached the end, and a T-intersection. At each side were identical wooden doors. In contrast to the remarkable marble walls and floor, the doors were made of a flimsy soft wood.
"I'll take the right and you take the left?" Raed suggested.
"Ok," Leif agreed.
The doors opened without resistance when Raed and Leif pushed on them.
Raed entered through his door, on the right, first. He saw shadowy outlines of a cot, a bed, and a table. An unlit lamp rested on the table. Something red and shiny was on the table next to the lamp. Apart from those objects, Raed could not see any further details. Kaiti's foxfire had followed Leif into the other room.
On the left side, Leif entered with the blue foxfire illuminating his surroundings. It flew to a torch and the ignited fire banished the darkness, revealing the 7 meter by 7 meter room.
In the middle of the cubic room was an iron cage. A bowl of food and water mixed in one lay on the floor next to the bars. A small hole was dug into the floor inside the cage that served as waste collection. Sitting in the center of the cell on the hard, cold marble floor, was Tiryui.
"Raed, over here!" Leif called out.
Raed ran over to the other room and spotted the cage and its inhabitant.
Tiryui's clothes were intact but dirty. Her hair was messy and she had dirt and mud over her legs. Her purple demonic aura was faint to the point where it was almost non-existent.
"Tiryui!" Leif called to the captive.
She lifted her head slowly, weakly. Her lips were dry and cracked, and her eyes had dark bags under them. Still, when she saw Leif, she gave a small smile.
"Raed, catch!" Leif tossed his spear to Raed. The young apprentice smith with both his hands free, grabbed the iron bars. "Stay there, don't move until I say it's safe," he told the captured demoness.
Iron was a familiar metal to Leif. He had years, nearly decades, of working its every form. This cage was no obstacle. Without even needing to close his eyes, Leif decomposed the iron bars, leaving a gaping space and warped metal bars where the locked door once was.
Leif stepped through the opening. He reached out to Tiryui, who grasped it as he pulled her to her feet. She stumbled, and Leif caught her by the shoulder.
"I'm...glad that you're alive," the straw-haired young apprentice said. "And I'm sorry I left you."
Tiryui gave a light stroke of Leif's cheek in response.
"Come on, let's get back up to the surface," Raed suggested.
"Agreed," Leif said. He knelt in front of Tiryui. "I'll carry you on my back. Hold on tight," he said.
Tiryui wrapped her arms over Leif's shoulders. Her skin was warm but her hold was feeble.
The trip back to the surface was quiet. Leif walked ahead and climbed the ladder, being careful not to let Tiryui hit anything on the way up.
Raed walked behind in silence, memorizing the details in the underground chamber. When he reached the ladder, he too ascended back to ground level.
Kaiti rushed to Tiryui when she saw her emerge from the tunnel on Leif's back.
"Yui!" The blue-clothed demon screamed, placing a gentle hand over Tiryui's head.
With some of her strength returning with the fresh outside air and under the natural light, Tiryui whispered in Leif's ear, "Thank you for saving me."
Tara walked up to Raed when he climbed out. "Master, the male demon appears to be dying."
Tiryui looked over Leif's shoulder at where Tara pointed. She recognized Marcus. "Leif, please put me down."
The young apprentice smith lowered himself until Tiryui could get off safely. She walked closer to Marcus until she was a few meters away and standing over the demon.
Tiryui looked at Marcus's flailing body with apathy as he struggled to breathe and lost control of his limbs. With a series of final violent jerks, the demon bandit spent his last actions in life.
The guild card pinged.
[Quest: Marauding Demon Threat]
[Objectives: Slay the demons (3/3)]
[Rewards Granted: 300 lei]
[Choose your 3 class-specific uncommon crafting materials]
Success. Finally, the first quest completed since rejoining the adventuring world!
Raed put his guild card away.
Tiryui looked at the fresh corpse on the floor.
"Is the one that killed my son also dead?" She asked Raed.
"Yes. He had it much worse too, though I think his death was quicker," Raed replied.
"Good," Tiryui said.
"I also retrieved this." Raed held out a shiny red orb.
Tiryui gasped. "Thats!"
"Your son's core. I found it down there in the room across from where they had you locked up. I picked it up because I wasn't sure if you'd need it for a funeral or the sort."
Tiryui looked at the glossy red globe in Raed's hand. In a steady voice, she said, "No. Chaibi's gone. His remains won't bring him back."
"Then would you mind if I use it to complete a quest?" Raed asked tactlessly.
Tiryui shook her head.
That was good enough for permission. Raed wordlessly scanned the core until a confirmation sound came through. He looked at the objectives of his tracked quest.
[Quest: Demon in the Woods]
[Objectives: Slay/capture the demon (1/1)]
[Rewards Granted: 5 lei]
It worked. He was gaining momentum. Only one left.
The sky was beginning to show the orange hue of sunset and they were still deep in the forest.
"Let's get out of here," Raed suggested.
"I couldn't agree more," Kaiti replied. "I'll be taking Yui with me now," she said while still holding onto the demoness.
"Hold on a moment, Kaiti." Raed called out.
The blue-clothed demon stopped. "Is there something you wish to discuss? We can wait until tomorrow, I need to get Yui to a safe place so she can rest."
"Your camp is hours away by foot and she's in no condition to travel through magical array," Raed said.
"That's true," Kaiti conceded, "then do you have a better suggestion? We can't very well enter an inn and request a room for two demons."
"I have a place in mind," Raed said.