‎"Hey Talia... Talia..."

‎Lucian stared at Talia in puzzlement. Ever since her fight with Emily ended, Talia had been slightly absent-minded.

‎Lucian glanced at her one last time before turning away.

‎" It's probably the shock of losing working on her nerves."

‎Lucian frowned slightly, his gaze shifting to the unassuming dark-haired girl.

‎Emily sat next to Samantha and Cassius. The trio was discussing something in hushed tones with smiles on their faces.

‎It was hard to think that the two had even fought just a while back.

‎Cassius's face became animated in the middle of his narration then the three burst into laughter.

‎Lucian smiled wryly at the sight. He inched closer, taking a seat.

‎" That was quite surprising," he thought somberly.

‎" I didn't think she'd be able to pull it off."

‎Lucian was not the only one scrutinizing Emily.

‎Cassius occasionally stole furtive glances at her from time to time.

‎" What was that feeling?"

‎Towards the end of the sparring match, he'd felt an ominous feeling of dread.

‎The sensation had been so overwhelming that it clouded his mind and even his ability to think properly.

‎" Is it one of her powers? Does she have a thought manipulation ability as well!?"

‎Cassius shook his head, trying to quell the multitude of thoughts clamoring for attention in his head.

‎Talia, meanwhile, replayed the sequence of the fight in her mind several times, each time coming back to the same conclusion.

‎She warily stole a glance at Emily.

‎The green-eyed girl was laughing lightly, seemingly at a joke Samantha had made.

‎Lucian grinned as well.

‎Everything had gone well up until the point when she'd almost won the match.

‎That's when everything had gone horribly wrong.

‎The changes had been subtle at first, so much so that she hadn't initially paid attention to them, but then she'd felt it.

‎First, the unease, the uncanny feeling that something was terribly wrong, even though she was the one winning.

‎A gut feeling of sorts.

‎As Talia stared down at the Talented, that's when she noticed the seemingly small, unimportant, but glaring things.

‎Emily was calm, too calm in fact. She wasn't bothered at all by the blade placed on her throat.

‎ That was the first telltale sign.

‎In most cases, when human beings were cornered. They either despaired or fought back, but not her.

‎She remained crouched on the ground, like she was in control of the situation.

‎And that infuriated Talia to no end.

‎" Why aren't you reacting?"

‎Talia prided herself on her ability to read others like open books. It was one of her most valuable skills.

‎But Emily, Lucian, and even Morgan eluded her.

‎So many things had been hiding right under her nose, and she'd never noticed.

‎Despite the flood of fury that threatened to overwhelm her at the time, Talia remained calm, staring at Emily with a wicked smile.

‎Then, in the next moment, she saw it.

‎Standing just behind Emily, obscured in the darkness of her shadow.

‎A wraith, a powerful and ancient one from the power it emanated.

‎The wraith stirred, piercing her with a cold, dark gaze.

‎In the next moment, an eerie and disturbing thing happened.

‎The wraith smiled at her, its maw revealing several tenebrous rows of jagged fangs and equally unfathomable darkness.

‎Talia trembled slightly, subconsciously taking a step back.

‎ Emily slowly raised her head, locking eyes with Talia.

‎Behind the whites of their eyes, a hint of darkness flickered, causing Talia to gasp.

‎" What was that? What is that?"

‎Talia stole a furtive glance at the others, noting the bewildered looks on each of their faces.

‎Talia came to a startling realization.

‎" They can't see what I'm seeing."

‎Emily stared at her with a blank expression on her face.

‎Behind her, the wraith raised its thumb and slowly swiped it across its neck

‎Despite the lack of words, Talia got the message loud and clear.

‎" I should surrender..."

‎Emily slowly rose from the ground and nonchalantly walked towards her.

‎Even now, the memory of that lifeless stare was embedded firmly in her memory.

‎Talia turned to Emily, staring at her with an inscrutable expression on her face.

‎" Just who is she?"

‎

‎" There's something I'd like to share with all of you," Morgan announced after they'd all settled down.

‎A few moments later, the others stared at him in disbelief.

‎Even Talia scrutinized him in a stunned silence.

‎Lucian fixed him with an incredulous stare. He opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything audible. After a long silence, he spoke first.

‎" A what?! "

‎" A city," he said, smiling in amusement at the look of disbelief on their faces. The group stared at him with similar looks of shock. It was comical, really.

‎Everyone gathered here had fallen through a crack in the mountain, and miraculously, we're all still alive, but somehow they still managed to look dumbfounded at the announcement of a city beneath the one they were currently in.

‎"Priceless..." Morgan chuckled.

‎

‎"We discovered it a while back, around the time that I discovered my powers," Emily continued.

‎" It's just beneath the city; it's probably a lost civilization as well. At least that's what we think, if not a completely different world."

‎Cassius pulled on his dreadlocks dramatically, feverishly rubbing his head.

‎" Wait a minute, what do you mean, world?"

‎Tevsmike in Morgan's face grew wider.

‎"I'm glad you asked. That place had a sky of its own..."

‎Lucian groaned, palming his face.

‎" But that doesn't even make sense...a sky under the ground?"

‎Emily smiled softly.

‎" Which is why we speculated that it could be an entirely different world..."

‎Amanda glanced at Samantha, the two locking eyes for an awkward moment.

‎After a brief silence, Talia nodded, getting the gist of things.

‎"So basically you're asking if we'll agree to go with you? Right ?"

‎Morgan nodded curtly then shrugged, leaning back into a more comfortable position.

‎" It's up to you, the choice is yours."

‎ His lips curled up into a wicked smile.

‎" Of course, the journey won't be without its perils, but then again, this whole place has been quite dangerous up to this point."

‎His voice took on a darker and colder edge.

‎ "So I can't promise you anything." He let out a weary sigh, staring at the dark ceiling.

‎" But there is also the chance that we could die out there, so you have to choose wisely."

‎As a matter of fact, Morgan suspected the creatures below would even be far more dreadful than the Bretnar and the Kravenar.

‎ But they really didn't have much in the way of options.

‎After scouring the ancient city for days, they'd failed to find any mechanism that would return them to the surface.

‎And from what Lucian and the others had shared, going back was suicidal.

‎" Well, we don't have much of a choice now, do we?" Cassius said, his eyes gleaming faintly.

‎He folded his arms across his chest.

‎"Lucian told me if we were able to stumble upon the technology of an ancient civilization, we'd have a way of making it back in one piece."

‎Cassiua stared at them somberly, his eyes awash in the light of the hall.

‎"And here we are... no tech yet, no way home. We'll have to make the journey." A few moments later, Samantha hesitantly raised her hand.

‎Morgan glanced at her in amusement, then nodded.

‎" If I may, could you teach me how to fight, like you did for Emily?"

‎Samantha nervously bunched her fists together, staring at the ground.

‎"For most of the journey, I've been dead weight, and frankly, I'm quite tired of that. I want to be able to fight too."

‎Lucian chuckled lightly, nodding at her.

‎" I don't know whether to be amused or offended that you asked Morgan and not me, but frankly, I think it's a good call on your part."

‎Morgan face-palmed, shaking his head slightly.

‎"Ah...that will be even more work...crap.."

‎Eventually, he nodded.

‎ " Fine then. I agree."

‎Samantha smiled enthusiastically, pumping her fists into the air.

‎"We'll take a few days off and prepare. I must warn you, the result depends mostly on your talent and consistency. I'll teach you what I can, then the rest will be up to you."

‎He paused, one of his more recent memories surfacing in his subconscious.

‎" There is one other thing..."

‎His expression darkened at the memory.

‎"The last time we ventured out there, we ran into a creature I call the Bretnar King."

‎Lucian and the rest stared at him in curiosity.

‎"It took us some time to get around it, and frankly, I wasn't able to kill it off at the time."

‎Cassius stared at him intently, a spark of interest flickering through his eyes.

‎" This creature, what's it like?"

‎Morgan thought for a while before replying.

" It's larger than the rest of the Bretnar, stronger and faster too."

Cassius grinned carelessly.

" Sounds like a piece of cake."

" Oh, I forgot to mention, it was able to keep up with me. Its speed...is what makes it significantly much more dangerous."

Lucian clapped his hands together.

‎" Right! After we're done training, I think we should take care of it first, then proceed. But while we're on the subject, all this talk and sparring has made me work up a considerable appetite."

‎

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