Hours go by in meditation, with only the murmurs of the caravan to serve as background noise.
Breath by breath Valthar converts the mana into the green energy, the energy ring solidifies slightly.
"Suns up, can you feel any foxes in the clearing?" Lionel says with a tap on his shoulder.
As Valthar opens his eyes he sees a small group around, the people who would be going to the surface.
With a nod Valthar shifts his attention to the energy sense, in moments he feels every living thing in the clearing and the forest around.
"No animals in the clearing, however there are a handful of foxes west of us, I'd say a bit more than a kilometer away, they feel calm and safe, but alert."
Valthar hid nothing, a move he came to regret a moment later.
"You can tell all that from down here?." The caravan's cook commented, her tone filled with skepticism. "Lionel, can we really trust the fallen noble?"
Valthar side eyes the woman but doesn't take her comment personally, it is clear to him that most members of the caravan feel more like the caravan's cook than like Lionel or Hector.
Nobles weren't known for keeping a low profile and commoners wronged by their actions were a dime a dozen anywhere in the Empire.
Thankfully Lionel didn't show any doubt, a confidence much appreciated 200 meters underground.
"Yes Rose, we can trust him, he was the one who warned of the shadow foxes attack plus I've seen the way he talks to the farm boy." Lionel nods at Hector. "Might have been a noble, but Valthar is one of the good ones."
As they heard the leader the group visibly relaxed.
It had only been a couple days but the cold food, darkness and the constant fear of a shadow fox phasing through the walls had already started to scratch at their sanity.
So the prospect of a decent hot meal warmed their hearts.
With confirmation from Lionel the team got ready for departure.
Aside from Valthar there were nine others gathered, five being D ranked knights (Lionel included), while the others were more varied in their tasks on the caravan.
The one who grabbed Valthar's attention the most being the metal mage, the woman had dark circles around her eyes and ragged breath.
Though there were four decently leveled mages in the caravan the mana needed to clear the air for 30 plus people was not low, demanding constant effort from each of them.
Then a confusing sight entered Valthar's eyes.
The knights all squatted and the other caravan members got up on their backs.
A moment later Lionel squats in front of Valthar. "Come up and hold tight."
Valthar is confused to say the least, but with other's examples he followed along in silence.
"Open the path Amber." Lionel tells the metal mage, to which the woman starts to mumble fast.
While she prepares the earth spell.
Normally any mage worth their salt did not rely on incantations or voice components.
In this case however the spell she intended to cast was from an element only related to her affinity, so mumbling served as a crutch so the spell won't fizzle out.
Wasting mana on failed spells here was a no no.
"Dig Earth!" Amber soon shouted loudly as she pointed her hand to the ceiling.
Mana shot up at fast speed as the metal coat of the room opened for the spell to pass.
In seconds a tunnel with the radius of a person opened as earth and stone were condensed into tunnel walls by the spell.
Looking up Valthar's could see a small and faint amount of light in the distance, a testament to how far they were from the surface.
His eyes shined as he saw the magical display, with mana work that would have taken weeks by hand was done in seconds.
One day he too hoped to do such miracles… hopefully this energy would be his solution.
As he daydreamed, the first knight positioned himself under the opening.
Slowly the man squatted before cycling mana through their muscles and jumping.
Soon the next one positioned himself under the opening.
"What you think Rose? Can I reach the top in one jump?" The knight joked with the caravan's cook on his back.
"Stop John. If you make me faint you're gonna be eating water and tree bark till we're back in the city." She slapped the back of his head lightly.
Seeing John flash a naughty smile Lionel stepped in before he did something really dumb.
"Don't do it John, we have recruits with us and you're the one paying for the healer once they go deaf because you sonic boomed the caravan."
John chuckled at the idea, but jumped silently like the first knight.
Soon the other two leaped out as well leaving Lionel to position himself under the tunnel.
"Hold tight." The caravan leader said lightly before he too reinforced his body with mana and lept up.
In a single move they flew a few meters up before Lionel's feet touched the walls and pushed them further up again.
Once they reached the surface they were met with a scene of destruction.
The grass was either withered or crushed as dirt itself bore countless claw marks everywhere.
Pieces of tents could be seen everywhere and the smell of rot had already started to spread from the bodies of the shadow foxes that died that night.
A shiver climbs up Valthar's spine, he knew the Outlands were dangerous but only now as he saw what might have been his grave could he understand what danger truly was.
The group is already on their way to the toppled wagons when Lionel places Valthar on the ground, beside the fully asleep Amber.
How can she even sleep in a place like this?
Valthar stared at her in shock, even on the waggons he had trouble falling asleep much less on the ground amidst such chaos.
"She's the one who worked the hardest in the last few days, setting up the metal room demanded a lot." Lionel commented from the side.
Then he took the whistle from his collar and handed it to Valthar.
"If you feel the foxes approach, blow it, even if it's a single one."
With a nod Valthar closes his eyes and connects himself to the life forms all around.
In moments a myriad of green lights light up in his energy sense and he feels his ring pulse with a small urge to call for them.
Valthar however pushes away the thought, last time he let his body call the lights he fainted for days.
Once we're going back down I'll try it again.
He silently makes the decision, in hands he clutches the whistle and in his mind he focuses on the handful of foxes.