Chapter 48: Pawning Off Affections

When we awoke in the morning, Grock was gone, and the rock moved just enough for us to leave. As everyone was getting ready to go, Jill came over to talk to me. She held a neutral expression, so I didn't think anything was wrong.

"Hey, so everything past here we are on our own, no map."

"I mean that's was the plan, to begin with. We knew we would have to explore once we got here to find what room the souls are in, right?"

"Do you remember what that old lady had said yesterday? The one Maxine and I had been talking with?"

"Hmm? The one that talked about the tree on the third level, and then also talked about," but I didn't finish and let the last part trail off.

Even with its seriousness, Jill started to giggle like a little girl at the last part of my statement.

"What are you laughing about?" Maxine asked as she walked over to join Jill and me.

When Maxine got close to Jill, she received whispers from a cupped hand, and I got to watch Maxine's adorable face go from a questioning frown to a laugh hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. This laugh drew the rest of the girls in, and they all started to laugh, not even knowing what the joke was.

After everyone settled down, I looked back at Jill. At the look, Jill started explaining what she had meant by asking me about the woman. According to that lady, there were at least three levels and maybe more.

"Now, the reason why I'm worried is that I had Sasha and Mikota go take a look around, and what they found might completely derail our plans since we have lost most of our supplies."

Mikota and Sasha were Dark and Light users, and their magic could bend light and darkness around them. This combination allowed them to create an illusion around them, making them invisible to the naked eye, and only another Dark user would be able to see through this trick. That made Sasha and Mikota a perfect team for this type of job.

"What do you mean what you say that it could derail us?" I questioned Jill.

"We found an entrance in the center of the broken down ruins of the mansion that stood here before. It was a door into the ground, but when we went down to look, it turned out to be a maze, but we didn't go in very far."

Sasha had spoken up to explain their findings, rather than Jill giving me a second-hand account. That was a problem, and I looked to Maxine, asking her to check what we have for food supplies. After rifling through the three out of six-packs left from last night's retreat, Maxine determined we could last for a week if we stretched the food we had.

"So, now we are all left with a choice. Do we turn back to Shadeholm, through the swamp and forest, then returning with fresh supplies? Or do we push forward?" I looked at each girl, one by one, as I spoke.

There was some uneasy shifting until Jill spoke up.

"I will go with you. We have been together for a long time now, and we have come so far."

"You know I will follow you to the fiery abyss and back!" Sasha said with passion.

"When I met you behind the auction house, I never imagined a life like this, but I go where you go," reflected Maxine with a smile on her face.

"I go where Jill goes." Was all Mikota would add.

"Both of us are here for you," Kyrina and Kyrin answered together, split-faced.

That was it after that, our three packs on, the six of us filed out of the cave. In the light of the morning, we could see portions of brick walls left standing. The scene was hardly worth describing. Sasha led us to the clean and smooth metal doors.

"That doesn't make much sense. This door should be rusted and decays like the rest of the place."

"That's what we thought too, but even the hinges have grease on them. That has to mean someone or thing is taking care of the place," Mikota explained.

We all headed down, and I found the place gave me a bit of nostalgia. It was similar to the dungeon I had met Victoria in. I unconsciously looked at Kyrin with his light plate and sword.

This place wasn't exactly like the other dungeon, so maybe...

"Kyrin!" I yelled at him because he was ten meters ahead of us, and he stopped turning around to look back at me.

"What is it?"

"Remember when you tried to cook us? And how you melted through the walls?"

"Umm, yes?"

"Well, I want you to try that again here, but this time Maxine and Sasha will lend you their power as well."

Kyrin looked at me with a puzzled expression, but Sasha and Maxine took hold of him. The girls led him, and we all followed them to the first turn. Now in position, Sasha and Maxine stood close together directly behind Kyrin, then he raised his hand.

Kyrin first created a jet of fire that coned out into a giant orange flame. Next, Maxine poured in her Wind magic, and the flame tightened to a powerful blue torch, and even at this point, the wall had started to meltdown. I hugged the closest person to me in excitement, which was Mikota, and she tried desperately to move away from me, but then to my surprise, Mikota stopped resisting and relaxed but not hugging me back.

I wanted to be more shocked and enjoy the moment, but the addition of Sasha's Light magic snapped everyone's attention forward. I felt the heat in waves ten-meters back, and the roar was like a jet engine. I even heard a "WOAH!" from Kyrin as he stepped forward, blasting through walls like paper.

For Mikota, the heat was too much. She had started to shake and sweat while clutching at my chest. So I quickly turned and moved her back and away from the heat.

Mikota's weight started pushing into me as she panted, so I picked her up before she could pass out. I called Jill, and she ran over. She began to use her Water magic to soothe and cool the panting Mikota in my arms.

"Is she going to be ok?" I asked Jill with a worried expression, but Jill just smiled at me and pointed down while also backing away out of sight.

As I looked down in my arms, Mikota curled in an adorable pose. Her face pressed into my chest and shirt, in a place the leather armor didn't cover. Mikota pulled her face away for a second to look up at me and make eye contact, and a blush started to burn in her face, but she buried in back into my chest.

I could see what Jill was doing, pawning off Mikota's affection onto me. I could hardly be mad at Jill, with the adorable woman in my arms. I turn to the sound of Jill, calling me.

"They found the next level!" Jill said excitedly.

I knew she had been the most worried about everyone's safety, and it was good to see the smile on her beautiful face. I tried to put Mikota down, but she gripped my shirt, and I relented. I followed Jill towards the small lights that had replaced the roaring torch, and the place felt overly quiet.

"Good Job, everyone! This advantage was exactly what we needed. This method cut the time we thought it would take down a lot."

"What do you think will be down there?" Mikota asked from my arms.

"Monsters!" everyone else said at the same time, and then we all started to laugh.

"We didn't see any up here, so it's only logical that they would be below because something made that noise last night," Kyrin explained.

We all walked down a set of stairs, and below was a room with a single door. We looked around the room quickly, but there wasn't anything in it besides and a couple of empty wooden barrels. Everyone prepared themselves for the expected fight, but I kept Mikota in my arms, able to use my magic without needing my hands.

Considering what our abilities could do together, just having my face uncovered was more than enough. Sasha and Kyrin approached the door and opened it partway to try and get a look inside. The door slammed shut, and both of them threw their shoulders into the door.

Suddenly the sounds of the dead cried out, and I felt a shiver run through Mikota.

"How bad is it?" I asked them, coming forward to help brace the door with my magic, but before I could do anything, the door exploded with pressure.