“It’s so unfair…” Claus mumbled under his breath, dragging out a long sigh, while at the same time, Nari and Otto were cheering in unison about how incredible Lily was, their voices and claps loud enough to drown out the mage’s complaints.

  Lily giggled, almost blushing as she took a bigger bite of the monster’s tender meat. “You guys are awesome too,” she muttered with a mouthful, “and that fire spell was sooo strong!”

  Claus was slightly taken aback by the sudden compliment, blushing right back at the little spider. “T-thanks,” he mumbled under his breath.

  “You should thank Nari for that, bro,” Otto chuckled, jokingly slapping his head. “She boosted the hell of your spell!” he exclaimed, giving everyone a cheeky wink. “Riiight?”

  “Yeah, that’s r-right… thanks,” the mage whispered, attempting a sincere smile, but only able to give an awkward one to the golden-haired girl, who just hastily nodded back a couple of times while trying not to burst into a laugh.

  Yeah, that’s true. Nari’s definitely much stronger than she lets on, Lily thought as she looked at the girl, convinced that she vastly outclassed her fellow party members, starting with the speed with which she cast spells compared to Claus, especially given how much she boosted the mage’s power all on her own.

  “Oh…” Otto suddenly spoke up, biting his lip. “It’s even later than I thought,” he said, looking around himself as he got up. “We'd better go to sleep if we want to wake up early.”

  Huh? How does he know if it’s actually late? Lily wondered. “What? How?” she asked, trying to finish the last piece of meat in a single bite.

  “Uh…” He scratched his temples, looking at the little spider with furrowed eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, how do you know what time it is?” she replied.

  “Oh! That’s easy, just look around,” he said, turning with open arms and pointing at the shiny rocks that hung from the ceiling, covered the walls, and even grew directly from the ground. “These are natural formations that we call Mana Crystals, and as the name suggests, they’re basically rocks imbued with mana from which one can gather Mana Shards.” He took a big breath before continuing his explanation. “They have many uses—especially in crafting and trading—but they’re also quite helpful underground. When they shine bright, it means it’s daylight outside, and when they start to dim like this, it means that evening is approaching.”

  “So that’s what it was,” Lily blurted out, thinking back to when she noticed the rocks slowly getting dimmer, or after she escaped the basilisk, when they shone so brightly that a tiny portion of the cave looked blue. “Wait… do the colors have a meaning?”

  “The… colors? You mean to tell me that you’ve seen other colours other than these white ones?!” Otto blurted out, his jaw on the floor.

  Lily simply nodded back, unsure of why he looked so surprised.

  “T-that’s the amount of mana they contain! It’s basically their rarity; depending on the color, the value changes!” Otto explained, slowly inching closer toward the little spider. “Which ones have you seen?”

  “Uhhh, give me a sec…” Lily mumbled under her breath, trying to recall all the ones she had found. “Well, I’ve seen green, blue…” Otto’s eyes widened on the spot, “and…”

  “AND?!” the whole group exclaimed.

  The little spider took a step back. “Y-yeah?” she muttered. “I’ve seen some blue ones turn purple,” she added, fidgeting with her forelimbs. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought they were making fun of her, but it was clear they were genuinely shocked by her statement. “What’s going on?”

  “Kyaaa!!!” Nari shrieked, her eyes glowing like a million lights. “Those are very rare and valuable!” she exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear. “We could buy enough snacks to last us at least a month with just a couple of shards, and…” She stopped.

  “And… what?” Claus suddenly spoke up, prompting the golden-haired girl to look down.

  Without looking up, she cleared her throat once and replied softly. “Uh, it would be cool to see one in person, I guess…”

  “You had me at snacks,” Lily cheered loudly. “I could take you there now if you’d like,” she added, giving the golden-haired girl a mischievous look, like children who know they’re about to make trouble.

  Nari immediately returned the look, but before she could nod in agreement, Otto interrupted their plans. “It’s already getting late, and tomorrow morning I’d like to return to the city; we’ve been away long enough,” he said in a stern tone.

  Both girls frowned at him but nodded, knowing he was right. They were both tired anyway, and the risk of getting into another fight was something Lily wasn’t willing to take if she wasn’t at full strength, especially if she had someone else to worry about.

  “Follow me,” Lily instructed everyone, leading the way toward the base she had prepared for the night.

  Once they reached the lair, Claus had some complaints and was the last one to be pulled up by Lily, mostly about feeling pretty uncomfortable sleeping so high up. But he hastily changed his mind when his brother reminded him about the crawling critters that marched around the cave at night.

  “You know what, fine…” the mage mumbled under his breath as a chill ran down his spine, all because he imagined an insect crawling all over his face while he slept.

  “That’s the spirit,” Lily replied, shooting a web toward him and wrapping it around his waist. “Hold on tight,” she yelled, only to pull him up as if he were dead weight a moment later, all while he cried out that he hated heights with every fiber of his being.

  “Just close your eyes!” Otto yelled, trying to calm his brother, but to no avail, as the mage cried even louder. “You’re almost here, stop making all that noise, or you’ll alert someone… or something!”

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  But the only thing Claus could focus on was his deep, intense fear, so anything they tried to say flew right past him.

  “Claus! Open your eyes!” Otto exclaimed, shaking his brother as he spoke. “You’re fine,” he added, shaking him again, with no result.

  “I’m gonna die!” Claus shrieked with his eyes closed, not listening to a word anyone else said.

  “You’re not gonna die, you’re safe here,” Nari said, trying to reassure the frightened guy.

  “I’m gonna fall, then I’m gonna die!!!” the mage yelled again. “Then some monster will—” Suddenly, Lily cut him off with one of her webs, using it as adhesive tape for his loud mouth. “Mhmmm,” he tried to scream anyway, but only made faint whines.

  “Hey, you’re fine!” Lily exclaimed, gently slapping him, using as little strength as possible, but she knocked him out cold anyway. “Whoops… sorry.”

  “Thanks,” Otto replied, facepalming himself. “At least we’ll be able to sleep.”

  “Let me just…” Lily carefully removed the web from the mage’s face and wrapped him in a thicker cocoon to keep him warm at night. “He should be fine like this,” she said, making two makeshift blankets from webs for the other two humans. “Here, use these.”

  “Whoa, it’s sooo soft,” Nari cheered as she trailed her fingers on the silky material, feeling its warmth. “Thank you so much!”

  “Yeah, thank you…” Otto agreed, side-eyeing his knocked-out brother.

  Otto was the first one to fall asleep, followed promptly by Lily, while Nari stared at the ceiling in silence. “Ugh…” she sighed, shifting to her left side, trying to find a more comfortable position and hopefully fall asleep.

  It was only after one too many times she switched positions, and the crystals right outside the lair began to glow with a more intense light, that she finally managed to rest, though it only lasted for a bit.

  The moment the little spider opened one eye, an annoyed Claus greeted her gaze, staring daggers at her; needless to say, he was utterly pissed.

  “You knocked me out,” he mumbled under his breath, his tone immensely angered, yet for some reason sniffling as he spoke.

  Lily stood up, her eyes opening and closing at different times. “I’m sorry, you were—“ She froze on the spot, a weird smell invading her senses. “What the hell…”

  “It’s your fault,” Claus whispered again, only this time his voice cracked in the middle of the sentence as he rolled on the ground.

  “AAAh!!!” Lily shrieked once she noticed flames slowly spreading around her lair, thankfully being slowed down by the high resistance of her skill. “Water Bolt,” she chanted toward the ceiling, causing the water bubble to burst and rain down the moment it made contact with a hanging White Mana Crystal, causing everyone to wake up in a frenzy.

  “Kyaaa!” Nari cried out, looking around herself in shock.

  Otto sat up and called for his shield, which materialized in his hand like magic. “W-what’s going on? Who’s attacking—“ He slowly got quieter the more he realized what was happening, “us…”

  “It’s okay, I’ve got it under control,” Lily said as her skill easily overpowered the flames and put a stop to the fire, drenching everyone in water as a result. “Everyone okay?”

  Nari and Otto promptly replied with a nod, but Claus now suddenly stood motionless, as if they couldn’t notice him if he didn’t make any moves.

  “What happened?” Nari looked at Lily for an answer.

  “Ugh… no idea,” the little spider replied, scratching her forehead. “Claus was the only one already—“ She shut herself up with a loud gasp, turning toward the mage.

  “Claus,” Otto called for him, “know anything about it?” His voice grew deeper with every word, but not a single sound came out of the mage’s mouth.

  “Look…” Nari pointed at the burnt spots on the webs around Claus’s hands, slowly crawling toward him, then took a deep breath once she inspected him more carefully.

  But just as the mage was about to speak, she slapped the shit out of him, so loudly that it echoed. “I’m sooorry…” Claus whined, trying to roll away from Nari, who looked like she was about to self-combust even though she was drenched in water.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” The golden-haired girl grabbed him by his ear. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  She’s like a monster now, Lily thought to herself, shocked by how such a bubbly girl could possess such a frightening aura. “We’re all okay, that’s what matters…” she mumbled under her breath, laughing awkwardly, “riiight?”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Nari retorted, clenching her fist.

  “Pleaseee, I’m really sorry!” Claus cried out, begging for forgiveness. “I was just trying to free myself, I didn’t mean to start a fire!” he added, looking at his brother.

  “You’re on your own this time,” Otto replied, raising his hands and gulping loudly. “She scares me…” he whispered, covering his mouth.

  “Whoa, guys, look!” Lily blurted out, catching everyone’s attention. “Am I imagining things, or is that crystal changing colours?” She pointed toward the ceiling, right where her Water Bolt had hit.

  “I can’t believe my eyes…” Nari mumbled under her breath. “It’s beautiful,” she added, staring at the white crystal slowly turning into a greenish tint.

  “I don’t understand…” Lily said. “Could anyone explain what’s going on?”

  “The crystal’s evolving,” the warrior promptly answered, wholly mesmerized. “I’ve never seen it in person, because it only happens after a long time of absorbing mana,” he explained.

  “Oh, so we’re lucky, then!” the little spider cheered.

  “Yeah, that or…” Nari whispered so quietly that only Lily was able to hear her.

  “Can anyone please free me? I’m getting kinda cold over here with all these wet webs,” the mage said, rolling toward the little spider as he spoke, and before he could reach her, she effortlessly slashed the webs, freeing him in one single swipe. “Thanks… a-and, uh… sorry for the fire,” he muttered.

  “It’s okay,” Lily replied. “I’m also sorry for knocking you out. I really didn’t mean to do that.”

  “Well, I’d like to collect some shards from that Green Mana Crystal, then we should probably go down and dry ourselves with a nice fire before heading back to Dunkel,” Otto suggested, making his shield disappear into nothingness, only to summon a mining pick.

  “How does he do that?” the little spider asked Nari, who seemed to be deep in thought.

  “Everyone can summon items from their inventory with a flick of their fingers and stash them away just as easily,” she replied, not taking her sights from the bright green crystal, watching as Otto tried to reach it with his brother’s help.

  “Ah, I see,” the little spider said. “That’s neat, it kinda makes me wish I also had one.” And just like that, a new translucent window appeared in front of her. Huh? What’s this? Lily thought, wondering if anyone else could see it. “Inventory…” she whispered, reading the label on top of it.

  “What?” Nari asked, completely unaware.

  “N-nothing,” she replied. She can’t see it, Lily thought.

  “You know, there are stories about mages that possess the ability to overload the crystals with their own mana and speed up the evolution…” Nari suddenly told her. “People say that they’re destined to become something greater.” She bit her lower lip, “I wonder if monsters are the same…”