Daylight filtered through the mine entrance. Too bright after so long in darkness, he didn’t exit, his eyes would need time to adjust to the harsh change.
He stopped several meters from the exit, keeping to the shadows. His beasts tensed, detecting something they couldn’t fully identify.
The silence was unnatural. Not even the wind seemed to dare blow.
‘Too easy,’ his training screamed warnings. An academy doesn’t evacuate its mines without reason. Doesn’t leave its entrances unguarded for students to do foolish things.
The hydra’s core weighed next to many others in his bag, a constant reminder of his partial failure.
The egg remained lost, stolen by some fortunate thief who had stumbled upon his experiment.
‘Should go back,’ he considered while studying the entrance. The mission was clear: find and secure specific beast cores. The egg was extra, and he could obtain it again.
But pride…
He had spent months preparing everything. Finding the right hydra, manipulating it to this vein, waiting for the egg to form. All ruined because he grew overconfident, because he hadn’t considered someone else might find such a small vein.
‘The mission,’ he reminded himself. ‘Focus on the mission.’
The core was enough. He could find another hydra. The depths were full of them, with time and patience…
‘But the thief is here,’ a voice whispered in his mind. ‘Close. With my egg.’
His beasts stirred restlessly, sensing his inner conflict.
‘Return,’ his training insisted. ‘Something is wrong. Go back and plan better.’
He took one step back, determined to retreat.
Then another.
‘It’s the right thing,’ he thought. ‘The sensible thing.’
He turned toward the protective darkness of the tunnels.
And then…
“To hell with it,” he muttered, turning sharply. “Nobody steals from me!”
He took a step toward the light.
The massive fireball consumed him instantly.
♢♢♢♢
The shelter was an impressive structure located behind the academy. Spacious chambers connected by well-lit tunnels now housed dozens of confused and nervous students.
“Min!” Taro waved his arms upon seeing his friend. “Over here!”
Min approached. “Anyone know what’s happening?”
Ren watched as Luna was immediately surrounded by the two noble girls who always accompanied her. A second group of nobles joined them, exchanging quick whispers before dispersing as if they had never spoken.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Taro began, his voice adopting a conspiratorial tone. “All this is because of Ren’s mad scientist experiments.”
“What?” Min blinked in confusion.
“Think about it!” Taro raised an accusing finger toward Ren. “Our room always smells like death and strange processing products!”
“That’s because of the cultivation…” Ren began.
“The mushrooms in his hair glow unnaturally!”
“They’re naturally luminescent…”
“And today he went down to the depths!” Taro was on a roll. “He must have activated some ancient device! The mine must be glowing right now, about to explode!”
Liu arrived just in time to hear the last part. “What’s going to explode?”
“The mine!” Taro grabbed Liu by the shoulders. “Ren accidentally filled it with strange fungi! Soon we’ll have giant mutant worms emerging everywhere!”
“The worms are already quite big on their own…” Ren murmured.
“Bigger!” Taro insisted. “With tentacles! And light rays!”
Min tried to contain his laughter. “Light rays?”
“It’s the only explanation!” Taro began walking in circles. “Why else would they evacuate the entire academy?”
Ren searched for Luna with his gaze, but she and her companions had disappeared into the crowd.
“And that’s not all!” Taro continued his theory. “The fungi will ally with the worms! They’ll create an underground empire!”
“Taro…” Min tried to interrupt.
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed, as if finding the idea entertaining.
“See!” Taro pointed at the mushrooms. “They’re communicating! Planning their revolution!”
“If beasts were going to start a revolution,” Min said thoughtfully, “don’t you think mushrooms and worms… such weak beasts would be the last ones to do it?”
Liu pinched the bridge of his nose. “How did we get to this?”
“Taro, you don’t need to invent ridiculous things to avoid telling them about the hydra because Lin already knows, and I didn’t do anything to make them shelter us, also that’s not what I meant by lying… But if it makes you feel better,” Ren smiled, “when the fungi take control, I’ll name you minister of conspiracy theories.”
“Ha!” Taro raised his fist triumphantly.
♢♢♢♢
Luna observed the crowd from an elevated corner of the shelter.
A gold rank Yino agent, here, in Yano territory. The news transmitted through her handmaidens had left the group of cousins unsettled.
‘Have they discovered us?’ her eyes moved among the students, evaluating. Her position at the academy was delicate, direct niece of the king but pretending to be just another noble.
Several meters away, Princess Larissa pretended to be absorbed in a book. Her handmaidens and other cousin surrounded her, maintaining the image of a young noble studying even during a crisis. But her mind worked furiously.
‘The underground labyrinth,’ Larissa thought while turning a page she wasn’t reading. The tunnels between Yino and Yano were an intricate system of passages and beasts.
To enter from the other kingdom unseen, they would have to start very deep… gold or platinum rank depth.
It was supposed to be impossible to navigate there without a precise map. And the maps… the maps were jealously guarded.
Liora stayed close to Larissa while talking with a group of students. Her thoughts, however, were far from her current task.
‘A gold rank resource,’ she calculated while smiling at the students. Yino wouldn’t waste such a valuable asset on a simple mission. Agents of that level were scarce, precious. Sending one so deep into enemy territory…
Luna noticed a subtle signal from one of her handmaidens. Her eyes moved briefly toward Larissa, who had received a similar signal from her own group. Liora, without turning, moved a finger in a practiced pattern.
‘What are they searching for?’ Luna returned to her thoughts. The agent had been in the depths, fighting a hydra. Why risk so much for a beast that, though rare, wasn’t particularly powerful?
Larissa softly closed her book. ‘How did they find a path? Did a traitor give them an accurate map?’ the question ate at her. The tunnels changed constantly, beasts altered routes, new passages formed while others collapsed. Even with a map, it was an extremely difficult task.
Liora finished talking with the students. ‘Why now?’ she wondered while pretending to check a list. The tension between Yino and Yano had always been present, but this… This was a significant escalation.
The three cousins maintained their positions, separated but connected by their similar thoughts. Their handmaidens moved between them, exchanging signals so subtle they seemed casual, a book changed hands, a handkerchief folded in a certain way, a brooch adjusted in a specific pattern.
Luna thought about compromised security. Larissa considered the treaty implications. Liora evaluated the political consequences.
None looked directly at the others.
Their beasts remained semi-manifested, each synchronized with its tamer but also alert to the others’ signals. Luna’s shadow wolf, Larissa’s Will-o’-the-wisp spirit, and Liora’s mineral light fairy, all part of the silent communication network they had perfected.
The final question resonated in all three minds, though none expressed it:
What if the real target wasn’t the hydra at all?