Judging by the mountains that were shone onto by the distant sun that slowly emerged on the horizon, Midas and the others were now positioned north of the flat peaks that surrounded the city. The carriage was halted right in front of a landslide; rubble and rock were scattered in front of them; the dim sunlight of the morning made the destruction of the region in front of them much easier to see.
Between pine trees and dark green grass, a barren basin of stone stretched out right in front of his feet; the rocky ground sloped—the remains of a landslide that had already happened multiple days ago, with people being trapped under the mass of rock inside, possibly people Midas knew.
The idea of Graf really entering another ruin just wasn't adding up to him; he was a salesman and interested in potentially hidden riches underground, yet he already knew how dangerous these corridors could become, having witnessed their dangers with Midas as they fought against the creature.
The actual position of it also spoke against Graf entering the ruins in front of him; they had no real reason to go further north than the Luvious Forest—heading towards the university was his main priority after all. He never stated any other reason as to why he would want to go back to the water kingdom, besides possibly being able to sell goods from the south.
Ivydas's voice stopped sounding from behind Midas; besides spontaneous chirping, her proud tone was the only thing filling the emptiness of the surrounding forest. Her club members dimly glanced up at their leader, some clearly tired from the lengthy trip—the four of them curling up around a dwindling flame that remained flickering between the burnt logs of the campfire.
Eventually stepping towards the youth that stood right on the edge of the landslide, she shortly mustered his stern gaze— to their right was the edge of the plateau; the northern end of the surrounding forest was barely visible from this height, most likely going to be replaced with unending mounds of grasslands once Midas ventured out of there.
"So? Are you anxious about your first ever mission...?"
"Maybe, I'm not entirely sure; I just have a lot of things to think about at the moment... I did explore a ruin before, but I'm sure this one will be much larger... plus, the possibility of it collapsing once more feels dreadening."
"I guess I can understand... The thought of potentially losing everything you are able to call your own sounds much less grave when being part of a group; the fact that all of them are willingly putting their lives on the line to help others makes leading this club much easier."
Her soft smile was only directed towards herself; Midas awed dimly at her, unable to reply back to her, as his expression froze. Sighing to himself, he mirrored her sunken head, looking down on the gravel plain—not only he, but all of them, including Patriq, would be risking everything once they somehow failed or fell victim to another collapse; thinking about that only had a reverse effect on him.
"Go bring your friend now; we're going inside."
Raising his head, he noticed her more focused expression—her eyes already set for the entrance that lay exposed in front of them. Complying without any other word, he turned away, stepping toward the halted ride, peeking inside of it to be met by the dull eyes of the staff-wielding boy. Nudging with his head to come outside, Midas was able to make him stand up and follow—eventually catching up to the others.
Compared to last time, light wasn't an issue at the moment—four of them held a candle in their hand, illuminating just enough for them to not run straight into a wall. Barely having walked into the exposed hallway that led inside of a rock front, the group was met with sets of stairs leading downwards.
Water managed to drip through cracks in the ceiling, eventually ending up on the second floor; another long walkway presented itself in front of them. Unlike the ruin he walked through in the northern desert, the walls were barren—only bricks met his gaze, darkened by the moisture, some overgrown with mosses that had an easy time flourishing in the forgotten halls.
"The territory of the water kingdom is riddled with ruins, especially with walkways like this one... Some say these used to span whole entire continents, connecting large underground communities, their long paths walked by many old folk that lived in here."
"Is this one of these communities...? There are surely more floors down here..."
The ground was riddled with puddles and spongy growth; lichen was clinging to the dark walls that were dimly lit up by the candles they brought with them. Midas's neck stiffened slightly as he felt a cold droplet of water hit his neck area that wasn't covered by his coat, looking forward into the dark that slowly gave way under their candlelight.
"We can't be entirely sure; some reach much further into the ground than others... having more floors would increase the chance of a collapse, of course."
The tall student that wielded the hammer eventually stopped in front of them, turning back to the others to get more orders. In front of them were two dark doorways, each of them leading either left or right—possibly entrances to rooms in which missing people were awaiting help. Freezing for a moment, Ivyda raised her right hand to gesture towards the right door.
"What's with the other door...?"
Midas whispered as Ivyda began to walk, making her turn with a relaxed expression, glancing behind her to look into the stern view of Midas; only one of the four remained beside her, holding onto one of the candles.
"We can't risk splitting up now. We don't know how far this ruin really goes or what lives inside of it. We will come back to it once we're done with the right side; don't worry..."
Her carefree tone made Midas somewhat clench his teeth, his eyes sunk to the glistening tiles of stone that shone in the faint light of the candles. Patriq remained beside him, silently mustering his expression from behind.
"We don't know how long they have been stuck inside here; they might freeze to death... especially if dangerous things lurk here."
"So...? Do you want me to risk my members to potentially retrieve survivors...?"
Looking up at her as she met his gaze with a lingering glance, the youth relaxed his clenching left hand, loosening his fingers as he turned to the aloof expression of Patriq—his relaxed eyes also set on only Midas, as if he awaited his decision. The slim chance of Grafs squad really being stuck inside of the ruins was still too great for him to risk; Midas owed a lot to Graf and the others for getting him out of the desert—something he needed to pay back in some way.
"I will go with him. Just us two... there won't be any need to risk your already trained members for my doing."
"What if your friend dies in the process...?"
"I will join the knighthood then."
His words formed a lump in his throat; her sharp glare eventually turned into a genuinely concerned frown; her raised voice was testing the youth's will to truly go after what he set himself as a goal. Groaning flatly, she eventually retrieved a spare metal cup and candle from her tiny bag. Midas was able to see the surprised face of the student that held onto the already lit candle as it lit up the spare one she handed over to him.
"Go then. If you're unable to advance further, just join us on the right side... or wait here—you probably won't do so anyway..."
Making the other member leave the hall with her, Midas was the only one that was capable of lighting up the walls around them; their voices grew more distant as she left the two of them behind. The falling water droplets resounded against the walls as they hit the floor; the ruin grew much quieter now.
Quietly exchanging glances with Patriq, the two of them headed towards the left doorframe, instantly met with a much broader room—its floor narrow, only winding along the sides of the walls that made up the space. In its middle seemed to be a large hole; loose stone bricks hung off, mere moments away from falling down into the dark that lingered beneath them.
This served as clear evidence that this ruin is more than just a pathway, clearly going much deeper than Ivyda liked to anticipate—the kind of underground community that was built to shelter a grand mass of people who roamed these spaces a long time ago. Taking a breather of dampened air, Midas found himself eventually standing at the exit of the somewhat collapsed room—Patriq followed closely, already looking at what remained in front of them.
Slowly making his advance through a short corridor that seemingly connected two different rooms together, Midas's stern eyes looked at not only the damp floor but also the moss-covered walls of the tight space—the dim orange light eventually made his eyes widen, shining onto a motionless hand that rested on the floor.
Alarmed, Midas placed the tiny light in Patriq's hands, gesturing to step closer to the body that lay out flat in front of the two with his left hand. Slowly, Midas turned around the limp body—noticing the cold skin of the motionless person, he clutched his teeth. His eyes soon formed an alarmed reaction as he noticed that Hayas's unconscious head rested on his left palm.
"Damn it."
Midas uttered to himself at the sight; the mute boy eventually crouched beside him, his plain expression only briefly glancing over Hayas closed lids before raising up to meet Midas bitter expression.