After walking for seven minutes, Vale stumbled upon a massive cavern. Inside, he found a rectangular room that measured 5 by 15 square meters. To Vale's surprise, the room was immaculate. Every wall was flat and smooth, and the roof was adorned with glowing crystal balls. The crystals illuminated the room, rendering Vale's magic techniques unnecessary.
The appearance of this room inside a cave indicated that the cave was made by humans. Especially with the presence of a magic circle that trapped them here, it also explained that this cave might be related to a magus.
Vale reconsidered that the map they obtained showed this location. Could this place be related to the dimension fragments of the place they are in now?
"Where did the academy get these dimension fragments from?" Vale whispered. He had a certain suspicion, but the truth couldn't be confirmed yet. However, if his suspicion was correct, then Frida was also in danger.
Suddenly, the cave began to tremble, and Vale and Brenda immediately assumed alert positions. To their horror, they noticed that the entrance had vanished.
"The entrance!" Vale dashed towards the spot where the entrance should have been. He pounded on the cave wall, which now covered the opening.
In response, a magic circle appeared on the wall, and a force hurled Vale back several feet.
"Are you okay?" Brenda asked.
"I think so. But it looks like we're trapped," Vale replied, eyeing the sealed entrance.
Vale didn't expect the entrance to disappear out of thin air. The existence of the magic circle also made him unable to destroy the wall that closed the exit.
With no means of escape, Vale realized that they couldn't count on Frida's help. But, based on Vale assumption, Frida would face trouble too. Even if she could get here, then all Frida would see from the outside was a dead end. It was unlikely that she could assist them.
"But how do we get out?" Brenda asked, looking around the room. She began to freak out, imagining that the two of them would be trapped here forever. Brenda immediately shook her head trying to dispel negative thoughts.
The space had transformed into a spacious sealed chamber. Besides the wall blocking the entrance, there were no other exits.
"If we examine the room carefully, I'm sure we'll find something," Vale said. "Brenda, check the walls, surfaces, and ceiling for any clues. Maybe there's a hidden magic circle."
Vale's words made Brenda's mood a little light. She must not give up here, there must be other ways out.
Vale and Brenda searched every inch of the room, methodically scouring for any possible leads. Eventually, after 30 minutes of tireless searching, Brenda finally found a clue. She then cried out happily, "Look! I found something!"
Vale raced over to her and found a slender line that extended across the entire wall and even the ceiling.
"That's strange. I didn't notice it earlier," Vale muttered, puzzled.
He traced the line with his finger, but there were no magic circles to be found. It was only when Brenda stumbled upon it that he noticed the line.
"I think some sort of magic is interfering with our perception, making it difficult to spot things," Vale said. "How did you manage to find it?"
Brenda shook her head. "I don't know. It just appeared out of thin air."
"Never mind," Vale said, noticing that there were four dormant magic circles on the floor. He approached one and attempted to activate it.
The magic circle drew out mana from Vale's body, emitting a soft yellow light. However, when Vale tried to activate the other three, he failed.
Vale surrendered and stood up. "Brenda, attempt to activate that magical circle," he said.
The girl from the noble family nodded and approached one of the inactive magical circles. Brenda touched it, and like Vale before her, she successfully activated one of the circles. However, she was unable to activate the remaining two circles.
"It appears that only one person can activate a magical circle. In that case, it seems we'll have to wait here for a while," Vale said, his face resigned. Vale and Brenda had searched the entire room for clues, but they had only found these four magical circles.
Vale hoped Frida would find them soon.
***
"Is it still far?" Frida muttered to herself as she walked through the dark cave.
Eight minutes had passed since Frida parted ways with Vale and Brenda, and she had yet to encounter anything significant. The cave she walked through remained dark and narrow, and Frida began to doubt the accuracy of the map.
"I'm curious if the two of them are okay?"
"I wonder if they're okay," Frida worried about Vale and Brenda's safety. She had already decided that both of them would join the organization she planned to create.
Based on their previous conversations, Frida agreed with Vale's notion that Brenda's talent might have been suppressed or hidden by her parents. Therefore, she felt that there was a way to resurrect Brenda's talent.
Frida's thoughts were interrupted when she saw a bright light at the end of the cave. She narrowed her eyes and studied the light source carefully.
As she approached the light source, Frida noticed a glowing cave filled with luminous stones. She stopped in her tracks and gasped in amazement.
"Wait, if I'm not mistaken, that'sā" Frida's eyes focused on a stone about the size of her hand floating in the center of the room.
"A magic radiation stone of black-level quality!" Frida breathed deeply. Even for a noble student like her, a magic radiation stone of black-level quality was extremely valuable.
Frida approached the magic radiation stone cautiously, without compromising her vigilance. As she drew closer, her breathing became increasingly erratic.
When she was about to grab the magic radiation stone, a blue barrier appeared, protecting the stone. Frida's eyes widened, and she scanned her surroundings warily. Her instincts were correct. In the next second, she heard a rumbling sound in the distance. Dozens of strange monsters appeared, converging on her all at once.
Frida gripped her sword tightly and muttered to herself, "I should have known this was just a trap."