Somewhere far above them, two girls ran side by side through the tunnels. The girl in front had a sword in hand, and a cold, aloof face. She seemed to radiate an air of confidence; however, her messy appearance and frayed white hair revealed a different story. She was not as calm as she seemed. Using her free hand, she dragged along the other girl. This girl was the stark opposite, having a fearful look. Every shadow and noise made her squeal like a cornered mouse. The smallest push could have given her a heart attack. This unlikely pair was Lady Kalasena and Yuna. They had somehow woken up next to each other, separated from everyone else, including Lady Kalasena's two maids. Thankfully, Yuna had her wand with her, so she could use a simple fireball spell for lighting. That was how they travelled.
To be honest, Yuna was in a daze. She could not really understand what happened. The last several hours were a haze. From entering the Mordrigan Peaks and fighting those powerful monsters to experiencing a cave-in and finally being dragged along by a Grand Lady… It was all so absurd that she had a difficult time accepting this was real. Not even the wildest storyteller could make a fable as ridiculous as this. But despite her attempts to wake up, the nightmare carried on. These dark and cold tunnels were real, no matter how much she denied it. Her spell flickered in and out, due to her unstable emotions. That was when Lady Kalasena squeezed her hand. That tiny, familiar human warmth comforted her, and her spell stabilized.
From beginning to end, they never said a word to each other. One was the Solitary Wind, who embodied the principle of 'speech is silver, and silence is gold'. The other was an equally introverted girl, whose friends could be counted on one hand alone. They were possibly the worst combination. As they walked, Yuna stared at Lady Kalasena's back. She wanted to say something, to ask where they were going or what their plans were, but the words stuck to her throat. Nothing came out. Perhaps, the Grand Lady sensed her gaze, because she turned to look at Yuna. Her eyes shimmered with an unknown emotion. Like Yuna, she said nothing and her face was expressionless, which made the air slightly menacing. Except it was exactly because they were so similar that Yuna felt like she could understand this gaze. Was it quizzical? Curiosity? Or Lady Kalasena was worried about her? How unexpected.
Yuna gathered her courage, and through a shaky voice, she muttered, "Thank… Thank you."
The lady blinked her eyes, seemingly in confusion.
"For that… I mean… Where are we-" Her composure wilted under Lady Kalasena's intense gaze.
"…We need to hurry," she stated flatly.
"Huh?"
Instead of answering, she dragged Yuna along again with much greater intensity. Although Lady Kalasena might look dainty and frail like a pampered princess, she was a genuine Perception Realm Novice. Her body could burst out with extraordinary power when necessary! When she tugged on Yuna's arm, the latter almost felt her shoulder pop out. The sudden force made her shriek. Despite her resistance, Lady Kalasena casually overpowered her. She was forced to go wherever the lady wanted, as her torchbearer. When she opened her mouth to protest, she saw the lady's serious face and closed her mouth. Lady Kalasena must have a reason for acting like this. Very soon, she understood why. The sounds of a battle travelled to them. Somebody was fighting ahead! They quickly sped up.
When they arrived, they saw an Arcane Knight fighting two insects. The man bled heavily from one arm, as he casted spell after spell with the other arm. As a Magic Circle formed, tens of light arrows appeared, and shot towards the bugs. They were very eye-catching in the dark tunnel. The bugs did not do anything to avoid the rain of arrows, letting it harmlessly strike their hardened backs. They scurried in to finish the knight off.
It was right then that Lady Kalasena charged in with her sword. She was very mindful of the insects' mandibles and silk projectiles, moving in a zigzag pattern. Her swift movements created afterimages that confused the two bugs. Using that opportunity, she struck with her sword. Ding! It bounced off like it hit a metal sheet. She had expected this, so she was not too surprised. Nonetheless, for an insect to repel her sword that easily, it did make her uncomfortable. The lady hurriedly changed her strategy from slashes to stabs. While this might have been her first time fighting these bugs and she could not wield Martial Energy, she had observed Benedict and Shirley's battle. She knew what worked and what did not. Her actions were smooth and elegant, revealing her plentiful training, as she probed for an opening.
Yuna helped the Arcane Knight, who dropped to his knees. His expression was pale, and his breath was haggard. His body felt limp like a noodle. The man must have overexerted his Core to ward off the two bugs. The left side of his body was also covered in blood, making for a gruesome sight. Yuna nearly fainted when she noticed. She forced her eyes away to see how Lady Kalasena fared. To be honest, she hoped that Lady Kalasena could win herself, because she was not very confident in her combat ability. She would rather not fight, if given the choice. Sadly, that did not seem possible.
The Grand Lady dashed to the opposite side of the bugs and stabbed at their joints. Her strike was blindingly fast, like a bolt of lightning, except she misjudged how short the bugs were. She could not leverage enough force! Her opponent whipped her with its tail, and she blocked the attack with her sword. As she was pushed back, her face was especially cold. The second insect spun around and lunged at her with its mandibles. Unwilling to block those mandibles with her sword, Lady Kalasena retreated to reposition herself.
Although her form was good, she was trained against human opponents, not bugs. They were short, had eight legs, sharp mandibles, steel-like armor on their backs, and the ability to release piercing silk at high speed… It was completely different from fighting a human being. This rendered her training useless. And in fact, it did more than that, because her motions, which she repeated over countless hours, had imprinted themselves on her bones. She instinctively tried to use her normal strategies, even if they were wrong here. Her training did more harm than good. Of course, the root problem came from the lack of combat experience, since it made her overly reliant on her training. This inflexibility was what created this situation.
"I'm fine. Go help her," the Arcane Knight coughed. He saw that Lady Kalasena was losing.
Yuna bit her lip and hesitated. Since the very start, she had been using a bright fireball spell to provide illumination for Lady Kalasena's battle. It did dim and flicker from time to time, but when she concentrated, it was completely stable. She was a natural prodigy, having graduated as a high-ranking Peak Gaseous Fog Arcanist from the university after all. This much was trivial for her. The issue was with double casting. Elizabeth and Freon might have learned how to do it, but double casting was still an extremely rare and advanced ability for Arcanists. Even most of the Ten Dawns, including Ten Dawn Nassandra, were unable to perform it. Yuna could not do it either, so she had to be selective on which spells to cast. At the minimum, it should not impede Lady Kalasena. Providing light was a requirement.
That was hard, because her specialty was water-type spells. She looked to the Arcane Knight for advice, except he was already unconscious. What now? Yuna was lost. Ahead, Lady Kalasena continued to struggle against the bugs. The Grand Lady was making no progress in her fight. In between her swordplay, she gave Yuna a certain scornful gaze, as if she asked why Yuna was not contributing. This was not the time to sit and watch. Yuna knew that, but… what could she do? She squeezed her eyes closed. She was not like Elizabeth or Shirley. She was not a fighter. Her combat experience was nearly zero. Anytime there was a battle, someone else saved her. She never did anything herself. Yes, just like that time… when people attacked Freon's home. Shirley and Freon fought to protect her, and what did she do? In the end, the only thing she managed to do was get taken hostage and attacked from behind. A cumbersome burden. That was how Yuna would describe herself. What could she do?