Matt and Ray walked in the darkness. Math flinched a bit but he still continued.
By sheer luck they found Lily collapsed on the ground, unconscious. They glanced at each other and unanimously decided to sit down and wait.
Their journey from the original place wasn't long but they were attacked many times. It felt as though there was a certain regularity in the time.
As they rested Matt regained much of his colour. He was slowly healing.
The time slowly passed. They didn't know how long it had been. Finally, Ray, who had long noticed Matt's hesitation, asked, "What are you worried about?"
Matt didn't answer immediately. He looked around, as if he was unsure how to word his thoughts then with a bit of difficulty he said,
"Ray...about what we heard. I find it hard to believe."
'Ah… I knew this topic is going to come up again.' Ray smiled for an unknown reason. Then in thought, he scratched his chin and said his 'theory'.
"I also find it difficult to accept. Think about it, if all the Dragon Elders had been killed, shouldn't the outside world have gotten information. Like even if they made sure that it does not go out, the Dragons' Kingdom would be in great chaos and despair. But I know nothing like that ever happening in history."
"You are right… That makes sense. Ha… maybe the old Dragon had gone senile."
Matt looked better. The wound in his leg was slowly healing because of the potion. The both of them continued talking. It was small talk.
Matt sometimes told me about his other adventurers, sometimes it was Ray. They were like old friends meeting again after a long time.
Then Lily finally woke up. She was groggy and had a slight headache.
"Where am I!? What happened!? It's too dark"
Just like before, only after Lily had calmed down, they approached her.
"Its us Ray and Matt."
Lily was baffled as soon as she woke up. The scenery was unfamiliar. It was completely dark as though her eyes were closed. But as a quality of the archer she calmed down quite fast.
Then she saw a figure with pair of glowing dark blue eyes and another slightly shorter figure approaching. She had a lot of questions to ask, but then she saw Matt's wounded leg.
"Guys, what happened?! You are injured!"
"Ha...long story. First let's find somewhere safe. Be alert, we get attacked if we move."
Lily nodded.
As they walked Matt told her about the attacking monster silhouettes and their guess on the time interval.
And sure enough, when the expected attack timing came so did the faint silhouettes. This time, Ray was acting as the leader because only he had enhanced vision and could actually see the attacks.
This arrangement had emerged naturally without any debate or votes.
But Matt's limping was getting worse. He flinched at each step.
'They need to rest. They wont be able to hold on for long.' Ray thought grimly as he glanced at his team.
"Halt. I see something, like an opening in the wall. We may get attacked."
Ray's eyes glowed brighter as he looked intently. They readied their weapons and approached the opening in the wall. As they entered, they felt lighter and more relaxed.
The glow in Ray's eyes dimmed. He slowly turned towards Lily and Matt. All of them were feeling better. It felt like an oppressive force was lifted.
Looking around, Ray said, "It looks like a small room. Hmm? My vision is not hindered any more. The fog does not reach here?"
There was surprise in Ray's voice. And this surprise was also shared by Matt and Lily.
"How is this possible? It feels made to be safe..." Matt was next to voice his concern.
"Do you mean that this is man-made? Like...it is some place actually still working? Not a ruin?" Lily's question left everyone in thought.
There was a short silence.
"That's not possible! The doors, the walls, the monsters. Everything about this place was a typical ruin, including the treasure. Moreover there are also monsters attacking us even now." Matt said still in deep thought.
"I don't know...maybe we were magically teleported. But let's rest here for now. As far as I can see it's safe."
Ray provided his hint.
They sat down in silence, their back against the wall. It was only 15 minutes or so when Ray got up.
"You guys rest here. I will go find the others."
"Shouldn't you also rest? You're pushing yourself too much."
Matt was worried about Ray. From the start Ray had not gotten a proper rest.
"Don't worry I am mostly fine. Finding the group takes priority now."
***
After leaving Matt and Lily, Ray ventured back along the perimeter. He continued for a long time.
'Haa...I have lost count of how many attacks have happened. Has it been forty-minutes?'
Ray thought as he walked with his sword in his hand.
Then he finally saw two figures also walking around the perimeter. He decided to slowly approach them but as he walked closer he saw another silhouette attacking from his back.
Sii-ik!!
The two figures were alarmed by the sound.
'Now I was sure that they were Kyle and Tidlen.' Ray thought seriously.
"Guys, don't attack. It's me Ray."
***
They had started heading to the 'room', it had been only a small while, but then they were attacked.
A looming figure appeared at the back of the group, hiding in the shadows, lunging forward. This was not a surprise.
The surprise was that they had also been attacked from the front. This was different from their previous habits.
"Are they...learning?" Tidlen asked with both horror and interest in his voice.
"Come on, let's keep moving. Be more alert." Kyle said, jolting Tidlen out of his daze.
The attacks continued leaving the three battered and tired. Each attack slowly increased in danger. Kyle even wondered if this was a exhaustion tactic.
After another of continuous walking, they finally reached the 'room'.
"Guys, it me, Kyle. Do not attack." Kyle slowly stepped forward to enter the opening in the wall.
Then they saw Lily and Matt.
But the moment they saw Ray, he was attacked by Lily.
It wasn't that dangerous after all she was using an arrow as a knife. Ray instantly grabbed the arrow and pushed her back.
"Why are you attacking me, Lily?!"
Ray spoke seeing that she was bruised all over.
"Thank God…It's the real you this time. I …am …very sorry"
Lily was out of air.
Ray didn't answer. He looked at Matt, who was resting in a corner. Matt looked better.
He slowly entered, following Kyle.
"What is this place? I feel relaxed just by entering." Kyle was the first to ask.
'She spoke very less along the way. She must have felt very uncomfortable with no time to adjust. After all she had just become an S rank due to that mana.'
Ray thought as he looked at Kyle's relaxed face.
"We don't know, but it's safe here. The fog is also absent, that's why we feel better inside." Matt explained.
As soon as he heard Matt, Tidlen tried to use fire magic.
He succeeded.
Everyone was delighted. They could finally see properly!
Holding the small flame in the middle of his hand, Tidlen asked for everybody's bottles. He could refill them using water magic.
"Let's first rest everyone. We shall take turns keeping watch"
Kyle was back to being the leader and everyone was glad.
"I'll do it. I have been resting."
Matt volunteered to be the first.
"Lily, what did you mean then? When you said that it was the 'real' me 'this time'?"
Ray turned to Lily as he sat down.
"Ah…yes. We heard your voice before. It was the monsters. They attacked us, but thankfully couldn't come inside. That's why I mistook you for the monsters. I am sorry."
Matt also nodded.
"What!!"
Tidlen was astonished.
"Its fine, nothing happened to us." Matt said as he glanced at Lily.
Everyone fell in deep thought.
"Let's rest first. We are in no condition to think rationally at this point."
Kyle was right.
'First Anudrix' s message, then this fog, now creatures capable of intelligence. If I am correct, I think we are in a lab. If not, the lab.
'We need rest.'
[To be continued]