Page 18

Small Victories

I let out a shaky breath, the adrenaline slowly ebbing from my system.

Now that the immediate danger had passed, I became acutely aware of the dank, musty smell of the cave and the cold, rough stone pressing against my back.

A quick glance around revealed that the others looked as rattled as I felt - except for Kuro, who still sat motionless where Kai had placed him, staring blankly at the cavern wall.

With a sigh, I forced myself up. “Let me look at him,” I said, stepping up to them both. “I didn’t get to finish healing his wound.”

Kai nodded, pulling at Kuro’s armor. Once he’d managed to expose a bit more of Kuro’s chest, I was shocked to find the wound almost totally sealed up. There were still hints of a scab, but no real scar tissue at all.

“I’ll be damned,” I muttered. “It… Well, it worked a lot better than I thought.”

“See?” Kai smiled, giving me a nudge. “I knew you were a good cleric. You just gotta have some faith in yourself.”

I nodded, unable to stop the grin on my face. “I wish I could do something for him,” I said, gesturing to Kuro who was sitting stock still and staring into the darkness. “I’m not sure my magic can heal shock.”

“He’ll be okay. He just needs some time,” Kai nodded, pushing Kuro’s armor back into place. He patted Kuro on the shoulder. “You did really good out there Kuro. We won today because of you.”

“D-damn… damn r-right,” he muttered back, some semblance of sanity coming back to him .

Kai pulled out his canteen. “Can you drink some water for me?”

He helped Kuro take a few small swigs as I watched.

Most of it spilled down his chin, but something about the sensation seemed to bring him back a little more each time.

Within a minute or so, his eyes were moving around the cave, and he seemed a bit less stiff.

I knew a man like Kuro wouldn’t stay down for long.

But I was surprised he went down at all.

I guess it just went to show me that maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.

Being face to face with death brought out a side of him I hadn’t expected.

“Fourteen fangs,” Rhia said, pulling our attention away from Kuro. “That’s how many I managed to take from the kobold.”

“That should get us enough to have a decent meal tonight and put a little away for later,” Kai nodded, giving her a big smile.

“You did really good.” He glanced over at Mira, hiding in Rhia’s shadow.

“And you did too. Without you, those kobolds definitely would’ve picked up our scent trail and overwhelmed us again.

” He just beamed as he held his arms out wide. “We’re becoming a real team!”

I couldn’t help but smile at Kai’s enthusiasm, even as exhaustion began to settle into my bones. The cave suddenly felt oppressive, the darkness pressing in on all sides.

“We should get moving,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. “I don’t want to be here if those kobolds decide to come back with reinforcements.”

Rhia nodded, her dark eyes scanning the cavern. “Agreed. We’re too exposed here.”

Kai helped Kuro to his feet, the red-haired knight swaying slightly but managing to stand on his own. “I’m fine,” he muttered, brushing off Kai’s steadying hand. “Let’s just get out of this damn hole.”

As we gathered our belongings, Mira timidly approached me, her blue hair falling across her face. “Um, I... I could try a small light spell,” she offered. “It doesn’t take much mana.”

“Good idea,” Kai nodded. “That way we don’t trip over each other on the way out.”

Mira lifted her wand, chanting a small string of words under her breath. In a moment the tip of her wand lit up, flooding the cavern with a dull blue light. However, the moment it did, everyone in the party gasped.

There, running through one wall in a rich vein of sparkles, were thousands of tiny mana crystals clinging to the stone.

“Holy...” Kuro whispered, his eyes widening as he took in the sight.

I stepped closer to the wall, my fingers trembling as I reached out to touch the glittering crystals. They were cool to the touch, pulsing with a faint energy that sent tingles through my fingertips. It was the same sensation I felt when I cast a healing spell.

“This... this is incredible,” I breathed. “These could be worth a fair bit of money.”

Kai nodded, his expression a mix of awe and caution.

“You’re right. And the vein runs further back into the cave.

” He craned his neck, trying to see where the sparkles ended.

But from where I was standing, they just kept going.

“This place must be untouched,” he said.

“If anyone found out about these crystals so close to the city…”

“We’d have every adventurer and their mother crawling through these caves,” Rhia finished, her normally stoic face betraying a hint of excitement.

Mira’s eyes were wide, her wand trembling slightly in her hand. “I-I’ve never seen so many in one place before. The ones we mined with Sky were sporadic. But these… there’s just so many…”

“But remember what happened last time,” I added. “The earth elemental… I don’t want to repeat that again.”

I shuddered at the memory of our last encounter with an earth elemental.

The ground had shaken violently, the elemental phasing out of the wall as if it were made of water.

Then the chase… the near-death experiences…

we’d barely escaped with our lives. I didn’t want to chance another encounter like that.

“You’re right,” Kai said, his expression growing serious. “We need to be careful. But we can’t just leave this here either. It could be a game-changer for us.”

Kuro, seemingly reinvigorated by the prospect of wealth, stumbled forward. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s start digging!”

“Hold on,” Rhia said, placing a firm hand on Kuro’s shoulder. “We’re in no condition to start mining right now. We need to rest, regroup, and come back prepared.”

I nodded in agreement. “Plus, we don’t know what else might be lurking in these caves.

” Another thought struck me. “And if a bunch of newbies like us came into town with sacks full of crystals, people would start asking questions. They’d start following us.

” I turned my gaze to Kai. “Wouldn’t it be better if we came back here every day and took just a handful or two?

Not enough to rouse suspicion, but enough to make sure we didn’t starve? ”

Kai nodded slowly, his brow furrowed in thought.

“You’re right. We need to be smart about this.

” He turned to address the group. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do.

We’ll each take a small handful now - just enough to cover our expenses for a few days.

Then we’ll seal off this section of the cave and come back in shifts. ”

“Seal it off?” Kuro scoffed. “How the hell are we supposed to do that?”

Mira stepped forward timidly. “I... I might be able to help with that. My third spell is for a small illusion. It’s not very strong, but it could make this section of wall look like solid rock to anyone passing by. At least, anyone like us. Stronger mages would see right through it.”

“That’s perfect, Mira,” Kai said with an encouraging smile. “Good thinking. And if we can save up enough money, we’ll buy you another skill from the mage guild so you can cast stronger illusions to keep it safe.”

Mira blushed, but with a nod, began working on the illusion.

The rest of us carefully extracted small handfuls of crystals from the vein.

The tiny shards tinkled softly as they fell into our pouches.

Something about Mira’s light spell made them glow, and it caused them to begin casting eerie shadows on the cave walls.

It was beautiful, but strange. Whatever world I came from originally, it definitely didn’t have glowing crystals either.

“Remember,” Kai whispered, “we take only what we need. No more.”

I nodded, forcing myself to stop after grabbing just a modest amount. Despite my own words, the temptation to take more was strong, but I knew Kai was right. We couldn’t risk drawing attention. That would only lead to trouble, and we were too weak and too inexperienced to handle much more of that.

Once we had each collected our share, Mira completed her illusion spell. We all stepped back to the mouth of the cave and watched as the shimmering vein of crystals slowly faded from view, replaced by what appeared to be solid, unremarkable stone.

“It’s not perfect,” Mira said softly, “but it should fool most people.”

“It’s amazing,” Kai said.

I nodded in agreement, impressed by Mira’s handiwork. “It really is. You did great, Mira.”

Kai clapped her gently on the shoulder. “Excellent work. Now, let’s get out of here before anything else decides to show up.”

I felt my spirits lift as we stepped out of the cave back into the sunlight of midday.

It was a welcome sight after the cold and dark of the cave.

I shivered for a moment, feeling the heat of the sun warm my skin.

All traces of the kobolds were gone. From the looks of things, they never even passed in front of the cave.

“Where are we?” I asked, shielding my eyes as I looked up at the canopy above us. Beams of sunlight poked through, dappling the forest floor. “Anyone know which way Selas is?”

“I’ll find out,” Rhia replied.

Before anyone could say anything, she took off running toward the nearest tree.

With a leap, she grabbed a lower branch, swung herself back and forth twice, and used the momentum to catapult herself to higher branches.

I watched from below in amazement as she scaled the tree at an alarming pace, as if it were nothing.

“She’s like a monkey,” Kuro muttered next to me. “A damn tough monkey.”

At least he respected someone in the group. I knew it was never going to be me.