"Are you alright?" Arthur asked Jonah, whose gait had been wobbly since he had blown off the Ropeser. The end-result was alright, but the method was questionable. Furthermore, he felt no mana from the weak-looking man.
"Yes, just a bit of mana deprivation."
"From that single attack?"
"It's a skill, Boss. You can't judge me for that." Jonah protested and all Arthur could do was nod. His eyes sharpened as he felt Jonah misstep a place and the trap got activated.
Without a pause, Arthur pulled him down as he raised his hand. The arrows that were fired from the walls made clinking sounds as they were deflected off his barrier.
"Holy Sweet Alera," Jonah muttered in fear as he nodded at Arthur gratefully. "Thank you, Boss."
"Don't mention it. Can you walk?"
"Yes, yes." Jonah rose hurriedly. "What is this place?" He asked as he looked around cautiously.
"I don't know, but it's filled with runic traps. The amount that we have dodged easily exceeds a hundred." Arthur shrugged.
"A… hundred?" Jonah gulped with fear. "Maybe we should go back?" His voice was trembling.
"I told you that you can stay if you want to." Arthur frowned. "It was you who decided to stay, saying that it's alright even if you die."
"T-that was a figure of speech." Jonah raffled his hair as he sighed.
"As long as I'm here, the traps aren't an issue. Follow my lead if you want. If you still want to go back, I'll lead you until the door."
Seeing that Arthur was still being considerate to him, Jonah coughed in embarrassment. He then shook his head and slapped his cheeks.
"I'm sorry, let's keep going."
Arthur nodded in approval and kept leading the way. It was a few minutes later that they arrived at a locked door. On the door, nine squares glowed with bright light. In a three-by-three arrangement, the columns had the number 15 at each end.
"Oh, I know this one. Our math teacher taught us that in high school." Jonah said to Arthur's confusion. He then saw Jonah walk toward the door and start writing numbers. 9, 5, 1. Then he saw Jonah try to write the other numbers in a way that every column totaled fifteen while not using a number twice.
"Is it a riddle?" Arthur muttered. Given that he had skipped most of his high school and the last of his middle-school, there were a lot of things he didn't know. Things like math and history were a complete mystery to him.
"Yes, it's easy! Oh, I fucked up." The moment Jonah's sentence ended; the whole structure began to shake as a door opened in the ceiling.
Issuing a low screech, a monster fell from the ceiling toward the two. Arthur pulled Jonah's collar and the two rolled away as the monster that was a humanoid falcon landed in the place they were standing at. Its talons dug through the brick ground as it glared at the two intruders.
"Jonah, if you do anything again, I'll kill you myself. Now get the hell up." Arthur said through gritted teeth as he looked at the monster.
It was a middle-high-tier monster like the Undead Juan. However, this one was a flying monster called the Falkgen. Its ability to fly would be troublesome.
"I had nothing to do with it, Boss!" Jonah said in protestation but Arthur ignored him. The monster was glaring at them with its large yellow eyes waiting for an opening.
As the tension rose, Arthur realized that he can't kill this monster unless he showed a part of his strength. With that in mind, Arthur picked up Jonah as he began running away.
"Wait- Wait! Boss! What are you doing! I can run on my own!" Jonah wiggled on Arthur's shoulder and Arthur had the mind to knock him out.
If not for the fact that he didn't wish to be discovered by Jerano, he would have killed the monster using everything he had. This way, he can level up.
Arthur turned toward the monster and used his Restrain rune. The monster struggled for a few moments giving Arthur a good lead before it broke the restrain using wind magic.
Using the runes for protection, Arthur began escaping from the Falkgen. The monster flapped its wings and began its pursuit after the two.
As he was running, Arthur heard a sniffing. He frowned and turned to Jonah who was quieter than earlier.
"Are you crying?"
"No! Boss, I'm so sorry. I'm so useless." He sniffed again. He was crying. "I wanted to be useful, I swear."
Arthur sighed in his mind. Even though he said he would ditch Jonah if the need arose, he wasn't at that stage yet. Jonah might have thought that he couldn't handle the Falkgen. However, Jonah seemed to be thinking of things differently.
"You're not useless," Arthur said as he triggered a trap to hinder the monster. "I want you to listen to me, alright? When we get to the door, use your ability to bait the monster outside. I'll make sure we lure him. Do you have enough mana?"
"Yes! Yes!" Jonah wiped his eyes and nodded. Arthur smiled as he saw the door getting closer to them.
"Prepare yourself. Three," Arthur passed through the door and turned to hide beside it. "Two," He used his Stealth Rune on both of them. "One! Go!" Jonah's doppelganger appeared and began running deeper into the corridor.
However, Arthur's eyes widened when he saw what had appeared. A doppelganger of himself also appeared carrying Jonah. They waited for a few seconds before the Falkgen passed them.
Arthur hurriedly slipped inside as he closed the door and locked it using runes. Seeming to have realized it a tad too late, the Falkgen began attacking the door in hopes to open it.
"You… can make clones of other people as well?" Arthur asked with amazement as he turned to Jonah who was lying on the ground.
However, Jonah didn't answer. Arthur frowned and flipped him and saw his red-colored face like a tomato. He was breathing heavily and his skin was scorching hot.
'He had gone beyond his limits.' Arthur sighed. It seems his ability was still at its early stages. Arthur picked him up and traveled through the corridor again and stood by the door.
He had the mind of solving the riddle, which wasn't hard, to begin with. However, he placed Jonah on the ground instead and used his heal rune.
He disguised his usage of rune by also injecting some of his mana into Jonah. Usually, that was dangerous as different types of mana would clash against each other and cause internal damage.
Arthur's mana was different, however. It was the source of every mana out there so it was a great supplement. After a few moments and twenty points of mana being drained, Jonah woke up.
"Cleo?" He opened his eyes weakly as he called out. Arthur shook his head and answered.
"No, it's Alexie."
Jonah nodded as he tried to get up. He looked around in confusion.
"Where is the Falkgen?" He asked.
"Locked outside. Sadly, we're also locked inside. That's why we need to keep moving forward. Do you think you can solve it for me?"
"No, Boss, I…" Jonah shook his head. "I'm sorry. I was stupid. You don't even know me, yet I keep dragging you down."
"You're not dragging me down. Didn't you just save me? Now shut up and open the door." Arthur said with a smile.
He had seen Jonah's character in a few instances. The first one being the time he came back to pull Arthur away from the flames. The second one was when he tried to share his knowledge with Arthur. The third is when he overdid it to allow them to flee.
Allowing himself to be vulnerable in front of others was something not even Arthur can do. On top of all, this guy's ability had a huge potential to it. It might be weak now, but it would be stronger in the future.
"Alright, Boss." Jonah nodded in resolution and opened the door. This time, he didn't make any mistake and the door opened easily.
"Good job, Jonah." Arthur punched his arm lightly and Jonah laughed in embarrassment. "Now, keep following me like earlier."
The two resumed their exploration as Arthur wondered what was stored inside this place. Since it was left by Jerano college, it must be a part of the exam.
What Arthur didn't know was that this place was the secret chambers of Jerano College that only a few people had access to. The reason that it was here was the fact that this place was the safest for it and also the most remote.
Not in a million years would Jerano think that there would be a student capable of unlocking the runic door. Arthur's curiosity made him try to venture into one of the most secretive places in the world.
Mistletoe members would have been proud if they knew.