"This is the spot?"

  Mika looked at me for an answer, and I in turn looked at Finn who was the first in our group to have discovered it. The elf nodded and gestured towards one of the extinguished torches adorning the walls of storage room beneath the main campus building.

  Why we were here in the first place a few hours before curfew had to do with what Finn had told me last night after I came back from the library.

  Compared to the rest, he could cover more ground before reaching the limit and get yanked back in the direction of his memento. Because of this, I had given him the task of scouting the campus.

  Originally just some random errand I've sent him on because I felt bad for leaving him behind all day. Never even told him to spy on anything or anyone in particular, but when he saw Zefer walking by, he decided to follow him not thinking much of it. He had little very little expectations, and none of them involved Zefer leading him to a secret path underneath campus.

  "Zefer! Dungeon! Now!"

  Those were the exact words that he used to describe the situation to me last night. And probably the first time I ever heard him speak in a flustered and excessively succinct manner.

  It took a bit of effort to calm him down and asked if he could elaborate further. He was only able to explore the first section of the dungeon, as to delve any deeper and follow Zefer would require him to push past the limits of his corporeal body. Which was impossible as far as I was aware.

  I then recounted everything that I've just heard to Mika when he returned later that night. He put it on hold for the night and now back in the present, we were standing by a large hole on the wall that had slid opened when we twisted the correct mounted torch upside down.

  "You got everything in order?"

  I looked to my side and back to make sure that everyone was present with me for this. Once I've confirmed it, I turned back to Mika and nodded.

  "I mean, it's not like we couldn't just open a portal back if need be."

  "Sure," he shrugged. "But the camera has a limited amount of charges, and the quartermaster gets real pissy if you burn through those quickly."

  He pulled out a pair of flashlight and handed one of them to me. But even the strong light emitted from these were not enough to reach the bottom of the stairway. He casually began his descent and I hesitantly followed in tow. A few steps down and I could hear the heavy false walls sliding back into place behind us, sealing the path.

  As curious as I was to look around, these steps were very steep and I rather not get myself immobilized from a flight of stairs. So I kept shining my flashlight down and paid close attention to where I was stepping onto.

  Eventually we reached the bottom, and only then did I shine my flashlight around and everywhere but found nothing of significance. No murals painted on the ceilings, no statues or earthenware that could help determine which period this place was built in. The only real indication of its old age were the stone bricks that formed the structure which had eroded over the years.

  Like Finn had explained last night, this section mainly consisted of this long and wide corridor which would ultimately lead to spacious room where the entrance to next level was. As we walked deeper, we often times came across different rooms of varied size. All lacking doors with a few exceptions having iron bars to block off the entrance, but either way it allowed us to peer inside even though we only past them by.

  And much like everything else I've seen in this section, it was sparsely filled and overall boring to look at. So by the time we reach the end of it, all I could think of was... Wow, that was underwhelming! Not only as a dungeon, but in general this place just sucked.

  Or maybe Zefer had already ransacked this place clean, who knows?

  "Sure this is the right path?" I asked Finn, and he vehemently nodded.

  "I know it doesn't look like it, but he definitely went in there last night."

  When I first heard about it, I was expecting a proper entrance with a sculpted arch and two gargoyles guarding it or something else to that extent. But this was legitimately just a large hole on the wall that was crudely dug out by whatever it was that came from the tunnel on the other end.

  "It's probably a beast or a monster, right?"

  "No shit sherlock," Mika quipped. "And my money's on those pesky kobolds."

  I was about to put his confidence to the test but then I heard it. A faint clinking sound reverberating through the tunnels. The kobolds I was familiar with were often known for digging complex underground cave systems and their love for ores and other shiny crap they would dig out, so that distinct sound was a dead giveaway.

  But just to make sure, I was about to step forward and listen more closely when Mika stopped me before I could even plant my foot down. Tightly gripping my arm then roughly yanked me back.

  "Woah, you almost killed both of us there."

  The contrast between his casual tone and the alarming statement was rather unnerving. If this was a joke, it was one made in poor taste. My heart felt like it jumped to a thousand beats per minute when from his sudden act earlier, and knowing I could've died didn't make it any better.

  And maybe he saw the growing sense of skepticism present on my expression as he shone the flashlight down at the ground. The light bounced back on a small metallic object that was protruding off the rough surface.

  "Is that...?"

  "A landmine? Yeah," he shrugged. "And I don't know about you, but I didn't kill demons left and right for years just to die to a landmine."

  "I-I'm sorry... But there was no way I could've known it was there."

  "Wait wait wait! Say that last part again?"

  "I... t-there was no way I could've known it was there?"

  He searched my face with a bewildered look on his own; almost disgusted even. And he had that kind of reaction for me not being able to see clearly in the dark!? Just how high of an expectation did he have of me?

  Either that or being able to do so was just common sense to him. If so, his idea of common sense is very flawed.

  "Place your hand on that wall there."

  "What?"

  "Just do it."

  I followed the direction of his index finger with a sigh and stuck my hand out to touch it like he had ordered. But as I moved my arm just an inch closer, Finn stepped in and possessed me. And in a shrill voice he shouted,

  "Are you trying to get her killed!?"

  "I was gonna step in before you did," Mika casually brushed it off. "But now I gotta ask, all those time she narrowly avoided traps. That was all you and your fellow... dead buddies?"

  Evelynn kicked Finn out and answered in his stead.

  "We're not buddies!"

  "That's not an answer to my question. And is that seriously what you're hung up on?"

  A sentiment from him that I actually agreed with.

  I willed my left arm and freed it from her control. Which I then used to deliver a light smack to her cheek... or I guessed my own. Done in order to bring Evelynn back to her senses and stay on topic, because I needed to know why he almost got me killed for the second time in short span of time.

  "Hey! Quit it!"

  Of course she couldn't catch a hint... Thank Caldwell for figuring it out and forcefully took the reins of my body away from her.

  "Yes," Caldwell answered. "The limits of the human body is something not even the hero of Mistveil is exempt from."

  "Okay..." A smile crept onto his face. There was a look of revelation in his eyes, as if he was slowly piecing it all together. "Doesn't explain how you can see it."

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  "To put it simply, us spirits are more sensitive to those that are intangible. So traps that are magical by nature, or consists of a material that exude mana, we can sense it."

  "Can I speak to the host again now?"

  There was a slight pause from Caldwell before he handed the reins back to me. First thing I did was look up at Mika expectantly. For even a sliver of understanding—and though unlikely to come from him—also an apology.

  "S-so...? What do you have to say?"

  "Obviously, that they're full of shit."

  An exasperated sigh escaped my lips, though I wasn't as disappointed as I should be. From the back I could hear Evelynn shouting profanities at the top of her incorporeal lungs. And it was only thanks to the combined effort of both Finn and Caldwell that she didn't jumped in and possessed me already. But they also made no further attempts to discourage her words or refute them.

  They could put on as many layers of this calm and collected facade as they wanted, but their silence spoke volumes. Because she—as crude as her words may be—had more or less encapsulate their frustration at Mika's dismissive remark.

  Except for Phae. Who... Yeah, I wasn't even surprised that she found humor in all this.

  "You really pissed them off. Least you could do is elaborate further."

  "Right... I guess I should've specified what they got wrong. And it's that you can and should be able to sense mana."

  "Yeah, of course you'd... Wait, I can!?"

  "I wanna say "duh", but it's pretty understandable if you haven't learn how from that world you were summoned to. And all I can say for now is that it isn't some superhuman feat, at least not the basics."

  For now? Screw that! He couldn't present half of the story and expected me not to get curious to hear the rest.

  But I quickly understood why he was holding it off. The faint clanking sound that had been accompanying us in the background had gone silent, replaced by a thundering march that grew stronger by the second.

  I covered my mouth in shame. Realizing too late that I've caught the kobolds' attention back when I shouted in surprise. I muttered an apology, but Mika brushed it off.

  "They're stupid enough to run into their own traps while trying to get to us, but I'd prefer if we can keep this whole tunnel from collapsing."

  "So what's the plan?"

  He pulled out a cylindrical tool the size of a large screwdriver and jammed it into the ground below. A yellow light flickered at the pommel followed by a low beep. The interval in between grew faster and faster until a powerful shockwave shook the ground coming from said tool.

  "There," he huffed as he leaned down to pulled it out and stuffed it back inside his coat. "That took care of the traps. Now it's just easy pickings."

  The small army of kobolds turned up from the corner, brandishing their assortment of crude weaponry and raised them in the air as they charged.

  "I'll handle this," Karin confidently said as she stepped forward.

  From the posture and mannerisms alone, I could already tell that it wasn't really her in control. But it was hard to ignore the changes in her mana. That distinct feel it had, which was characteristically warm and prevalent like sunlight, was overwritten with something more violent and untamed like a roaring flame.

  She put her hands up and quickly materialized a magic circle which conjured a powerful blast of heat enough to engulf the entire tunnel from top to bottom. And although its force was able to send the kobolds staggering back, the spell did no damage whatsoever thanks to the scales covering their body.

  "Not much of a thinker, are you sparky?"

  "Fuckin—! That's it, you asked for this!"

  Karin, or whoever was possessing her now, ignored the kobolds and directed all that anger that should've been reserved for the tiny gremlins gunning for our necks towards me instead.

  Her upper body then lurched forward, as if the air had been knocked out of her. And her mana was overwritten once more, to something gentle and soothing like a soft breeze.

  "Focus on the enemy," they said. Not to me, but towards the empty space on the other side. Try as hard as I might, the only thing I'd be able to see was a giant blob of mana. Specifically three of them.

  They faced her body back towards the tunnel and stretched her arms forward. Materializing a bow and a handful of arrows made of wind, then shot them one by one in quick succession. Easily piercing through their scales and took a few at the front out.

  But those at the back were a clever bunch. Using their fallen comrades as shields against the arrows.

  Unlike the previous ghost that inhabited her body, this one was quick to notice the ineffectiveness of his attacks and called for a switch.

  "Caldwell!"

  Her body jolted once then a second time almost immediately after the first. This one's mana is so dense that I felt intense pressure just being near them.

  "Nope, my turn," they chuckled while cracking her knuckles.

  The kobolds threw aside the corpses turned shields and lunged at her with their weapons poised. The ghost pulled her arm back, directing and condensing the mana within it to strengthened it. The muscles underneath swelled unnaturally, stretching the fabric of her sleeve taut.

  Then with the speed and force of an arrow let loose, they swung her arm forward and knocked away all three kobolds who had lunged first. Knocked them so hard that the tunnel shook a little as the three crashed onto its walls.

  "So what? Nothin' collapsed," they said nonchalantly to the other spirits. Tearing their attention away from the remaining kobolds who hadn't stopped their push.

  Had I not pulled my handgun out and fired a shot in time, they would've gotten her a nasty gash from a jagged blade at best. Or worse, gotten her killed.

  "You know, I'm starting to see why you lot couldn't kill the demon lord."

  A different spirit took control of her body before the previous one could reply. The last of the bunch.

  "Apologies for the amateurish display," they bowed while speaking in courteous manner. But they changed their tone into something more boisterous after they stood back upright. "But now let me present to you our true might."

  They produced a sword the inside of her blazer, then calmly walked towards the incoming horde.

  His mana was akin to that of a raging torrent, seemingly flowed endlessly and escaping through every cervices on her body. But then he took his stance before the enemy and took a deep breath. The once violent mana flow stilled like the surface of a pond.

  "Come."

  The kobolds let out a grating, high-pitched roar as they charged ahead. Only to be thwarted by the overpowering swing of the broad sword which their flimsy gear cannot withstand the force of. And with those out of the way, the frontlines were taken out with ease.

  The following rows opted for a different tactic. Their eyes were still on the prize of course, but instead of the entire row lunging at the same time, those heavily armored threw themselves as bait while the more nimble of their group split off to flank the back.

  And I would've given them the props for kicking their single brain cell into overdrive, had they factored me into their plan. Frankly, I was quite insulted. I was just as much of a threat, you know?

  Bang! Bang!

  I fired two shots that hit the two flankers directly in the head. The spirit stopped and turned her head at me.

  "Don't mind me," I said. "Just keep mowing them down and I'll watch your back."

  "I am thankful for you assistance!"

  With our combined efforts, it didn't take us very long to eliminate the entirety of the kobolds at the tunnel. After which the spirit left her body and Karin took control over her own body back. Collapsing onto the ground rear-side first in exhaustion as she did so, like she had just run a marathon.

  "This place's a mess..." she huffed out.

  "As long as it isn't collapsed, I don't really care."

  That look of disbelief on her face as I shrugged... I was familiar with it. She must've thought that my nonchalance meant that I was being carelessly optimistic about the situation.

  "Loosen up a bit. I got it covered."

  I pulled out a small cube—or "edit tool" as I called it—and set it to smooth out the damages before placing it on the ground. The small crater on the wall from when those kobolds was thrown at it, the shallow cuts along the rocks from the broadsword, and blood splatters was magically erased in a matter of seconds. Well, it was magic after all.

  Though it had its limits, mainly that it couldn't fill in the cracks or cuts, only erase. So certain parts of the room might seem smaller for someone with a keen eyesight and photographic memory, but I doubt Zefer had either of those traits.

  "And the corpses?"

  "Arrange them in a pile," I ordered while already moving to drag the first one to a corner. "Come on. Get off your lazy butt and help me."

  She let out a heavy sighed and begrudgingly stood up to help me. We separated their gears from the corpses and stacked the latter into a pyramid shape. Then I slapped a talisman onto the pile and with a snap of my fingers, a large flame engulfed their bodies and didn't leave a single trace behind.

  "Now for the loot..."

  The words died in my throat when I turned around only to find her standing so far behind with her back against the wall as if she had been cornered by authorities.

  "What are you doing?"

  "N-nothing! Just... Don't want to get caught up in the flames, you know," she reasoned. Followed by an awkward chuckle.

  "Fair enough. That fire will burn any organic material it came into contact with until there's nothing left."

  But the fear she exhibited not only through her actions, but also visible in the subtle changes in the mana she exude pointed towards something far more irrational than taking a simple precaution.

  "Have you heard? Mana inside a living being is linked to their consciousness. It changes based on one's intentions or emotions. Take for example... fear."

  I stepped forward, barely outside her personal space, just to study her expression a bit more closely. And to get a small whiff so that I could confirm my suspicions.

  "The mana that's secreted in that state smells absolutely putrid."

  I made sure to emphasized each syllable as I spelled out the last few words. Her expression shifted from anger at the sudden proximity, into shock at the subtle jab.

  "Relax," I said as I retreated back. "I won't judge you for it. Just that if we're going to be working together, then I should at least understand your weaknesses, right?"

  Her tensed shoulders began to relax, though there was still a hint of hesitance that seeped through her expression. Maybe it was embarrassment, or it could be that talking about it would unearth some unpleasant memories. Honestly, it wouldn't make much of a difference if she told me or not. I had already started to piece the puzzle together, but I'd still prefer it if she came forward herself.

  "I-I... I'm not good around... flames."

  I figured as much...

  The answer she gave out was already good enough for me, but she went on a little bit farther. All the while scratching the back of her left shoulder.

  "Something small like a match or candles I can handle. But anything big and combust so suddenly... I'd tensed up almost immediately and then cower away."

  I waited to see whether she would have anything more to say, and it looked like she did, but sealed her lips tight before anything could slip out.

  "Alright then... As I was saying about the loot..."

  We pushed them all into a portal to HQ. I never knew how he recycled all this crap, nor had I bother to ask. It was such a simple process after all, don't think about it and just dump them all.

  "Now that's all taken care off," I paused to pull my sleeved down and check the time on my wristband. "I'd say we got around two hours before lights out, and probably a few more minutes after that until Zefer shows up."

  "And we're just going to sit here?"

  "I was planning to, until I found out you can't sense mana. So now we're gonna fix that."

  I picked up the edit tool then paced around the circular room before the tunnel until it can get a good scan of the architectural design. That took a few laps, but now it should be able to mimic its design. So I placed it down next to a random wall and let it do its work, shooting out a thin laser from its side to a carve an entirely brand new chamber which was going to take a while.

  "Okay..." I dusted my hands off then turned to her. "Let's look for some more grunts to kill."