Shadows of the Past
Xi Mu was startled, and her instinct to take the initiative over the years made her almost rush out.
But just as she took a step forward, she keenly noticed that the gaze was not directed at all of them, but only at one of them.
Sorens.
The brown-haired boy quickly noticed this and felt his breathing pause for a brief moment. All sorts of panicked words like "Why", "No way", "Are they going to just push me out like this?" flashed through his mind. He didn't know where his thoughts turned to, but suddenly an idea came to him. He searched all over his body and suddenly took out a pendant with flame and hammer patterns.
He raised the pendant with trembling hands and faced the bloody face. Although he tried to say something, his upper and lower teeth kept fighting because of fear, and he stammered and couldn't utter a word.
But the head that was trying to move towards them paused its stiff movements after seeing the pendant, and then seemed to lose interest in them, and was pressed back into the sphere by the other struggling and squirming bodies.
Seeing that the twisted giant ball began to move forward in another direction with difficulty, Morina was extremely curious, but was afraid that speaking would attract the other party's attention again, so she simply patted Ximu and Sorens on the body and activated the magic of "telepathy".
This is a very common spell among adventurers. Simple physical contact can establish a brief mental connection between each other, allowing teammates who are caught in a tight battle and have no time to split up to communicate directly with each other silently and quickly through mental power. It is very suitable for secretly plotting in front of the enemy.
However, there were only three of them before, and they had always faced monsters with simple or confused minds, so they had never used it much.
"...What was that? Why did it just take a look and then leave?"
Morina was really curious and asked quickly.
"It's a temporary pass to the workshop... I just gave it a try, but I didn't expect it to actually work."
Perhaps he was too frightened, the fear on Sorens' face gradually faded away. Although he answered normally, his expression was blank and a little abnormal.
The work in the workshop is hard and the environment is hot and stuffy. Even if students want to volunteer, not many choose to come here.
Among those students from commoner backgrounds, Sorens was considered to be very hardworking. The person in charge of the forging department felt that since he came here so often, it would be troublesome for him to go through the formal application process every time, so he simply secured a special approval quota for him, allowing him to work directly in the workshop without having to go through the formal application process one by one.
He was a middle-aged man with a serious face. When he slapped the pendant into Sorens's hand, the force was so strong that people even wondered if he was angry.
"Hahaha, angry? That's impossible! Old Ferran likes you the most. You're hardworking and diligent. If you weren't determined to become a magician, I think he would have asked the dean for you and let you change your career to become a craftsman!"
After work, the craftsmen who knew each other joked about this, and said that when it came to the allocation of credits and resources, Old Feren was ruthless to others, but he was just "good, good" and "give, give, give" to him. It was just that it was not obvious on the surface, as he mostly used better things to subsidize him in a roundabout way, for fear that others would envy him and bring him trouble.
"How could this happen...how, how could it be..."
Without any warning, Sorens suddenly burst into tears. Afraid of making too much noise, he could only cover his mouth and sob patiently for a few times.
Ximu and Molina were both stunned, and it took them a moment to react.
——The head who noticed them just now might be someone Sorens once knew.
The two girls were speechless for a moment. No matter how much they comforted him, it seemed futile. Morina could only pat his shoulder and cast a calming spell on him, hoping that he would calm down as soon as possible.
Ximu had been observing the movements of the spherical monster, and only when he saw that it was indeed moving to another place little by little did he breathe a sigh of relief.
“…Can we leave now?”
At this time, such words really sound inhumane.
But they are not here to mourn the dead. Instead of spending time on grief, it is better to resolve the situation here as soon as possible and let these twisted beings return to where they belong.
Ximu's question awakened the grieving boy. With the soothing spell of Morina, he calmed down as quickly as possible and hurriedly wiped away the tears on his face.
"S-Sorry, it's all my fault..."
"Hang up the pendant."
Ignoring Sorens's flustered apology, Ximu ignored Morina's less-than-approving look, raised his chin, and motioned him to display the pendant directly in the most conspicuous place.
If nothing unexpected happens, the monsters here should all be transformed from the workshop personnel trapped here... If this pendant symbolizes the "rationality" of appearing in the workshop, then perhaps they can pass through most of the less confidential places more easily.
As expected, when they slowly emerged from the other side of the stone tablet, several pairs of eyes on the distant ball of flesh and blood turned sharply - but after seeing the temporary pass hanging on Sorens' chest, they all turned their gazes away and focused back on their own affairs.
"Great, it works."
Morena was very happy that she didn't have to fight with this monster that looked difficult to kill. Before the "telepathy" time was over, she quickly shook Sorens' arm to share her joy.
Sorens was actually happy, feeling that he had finally shown some practical usefulness.
But he had just been heartbroken, and watching the teacher who once took care of him turn into part of the monster and slowly move away, he felt complicated at this moment, and even his smile looked a little bitter.
"Let's go now."
Although the stone paths ahead are not narrow, they are suspended above the mine after all. It would be quite troublesome if other monsters blocked them while passing through.
Hearing Ximu's urging in a calm tone, the two people behind nodded and took a few quick steps to catch up.
The chapel dedicated to the god of fire is the largest of all the stone platforms and also serves as a hub connecting all the stone bridges leading to various places.
After they stepped onto the main passage, Xi Mu turned his head to look at the bottomless mine below, suddenly reached out and picked up a small piece of stone from the bridge railing with his bare hands, and tentatively threw it out of the bridge.
Stones mixed with debris fell all the way down, and then suddenly seemed to collide with something invisible. After a flash of magic wave, it suddenly stopped in mid-air.
"Is this the protective magic that prevents falls?"
Ximu confirmed with Sorens, who, having recovered from the shock of her crushing the stone with his bare hands, nodded hurriedly, "Ah, yes...it seems it hasn't lost its effect."
That's not bad.
If a fight had to happen on the bridge and Morina or Sorens were swept away, this magic could block it and at least buy her some time to rescue them.
"Can people move normally on it?"
"That won't work... I heard that to facilitate rescue, the magic has spider web properties that will stick anything that falls on it to the spot."
So that's why. No wonder even the debris beside the stone is lying there motionless...
He had anticipated the special terrain here in advance. When Ximu was about to move forward, he was suddenly attracted by some strange light spots that were moving slightly in the mine below.
"What is that?"
The other two people clung to the bridge and looked down in the direction she pointed, but they only saw a deep pit.
Seeing that they all looked at him with confused eyes, Ximu could only concentrate and look carefully, even using magic to strengthen his vision range -
I see.
In a mine that was unknown how deep, something was constantly shaking and glowing faintly.
Is it ore?
But how can the ore move?
Wait... that looks like a basket?
Is there someone carrying a basket of ore and chiseling on the rock wall?
But because the distance was so far, no matter how amazing Xi Mu's eyesight was, he couldn't see clearly a place that was so far and so deep.
After informing his teammates of his discovery, Sorens pondered for a moment and murmured uncertainly, "Could it be... the miners working down there?"
This is indeed a reasonable guess, but to be honest, anyone who can persist in working in such a difficult place must be an abnormal person.
They talked as they walked, and before they knew it, they arrived at the chapel dedicated to the god of fire.
Because there are no seats, this area looks particularly spacious, and the spectacular flame statues run through almost all floors, casting their shadows on all the kneeling people.
In addition to them, there were a few scattered human figures kneeling under the statue.
But these people's heads were shattered and their limbs melted. Even if they sensed their approach, they could only move slightly. There was no way to piece together a complete and usable body. They looked the same as the last people in the dormitory area and teaching building.
Perhaps infected by Sorens's crying before, Molina stopped Ximu who wanted to take action directly and chose to directly liberate them.
"I really need to drink a bottle of potion this time."
The tired girl smiled and gulped down the magic potion, glancing to the side as she drank.
Seeing Ximu was also looking over there, Sorens realized it belatedly and turned his head, and immediately met a pair of eyes on the stone bridge not far away.
A scream almost came out of his mouth, Ximu immediately covered his mouth, but pushed him forward a little.
The boy was terrified, but when he saw the spherical monster, which was much smaller than before and made no sound, no wonder he was suddenly noticed when it was so close, retract his gaze and slowly walked away while struggling for the right to move, he realized that she was showing them her pass.
Many pairs of eyes looked over, then one by one lost interest in them.
After the usually carefree Morina gradually got used to this kind of visual stimulation, she even waved to them politely, as if she and Ximu had really followed Sorens to visit the workshop.
"This is great! It's much better than before when magic suddenly flew towards me wherever I went."
really.
Having a reasonable and legal guide on this trip really saved them a lot of trouble.
Thinking of this, Ximu's attitude towards Sorens softened a bit, and his tone became as gentle as possible.
"...Are we going to take this route next?"
Seeing the stern girl actually come to confirm with him, the boy was flattered. He quickly stepped forward and took the initiative to lead the way for them: "Yes, this is it - after turning into that corridor, you will find the forging area and gem processing area."
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