Chapter 28 – Strong Convictions

After collecting all the cores from the spiders’ corpses, Asterios and Miria resumed their exploration. There weren’t many threats on their path. Weak monsters such as Evil Centipedes, Murder Hornets, Choker Flowers, Bullsnails or more Jungle Spiders, couldn’t stand a chance against Miria’s swift movements and fierce attacks.

In most scenarios, she successfully garnered the attention of all enemies and fought them while receiving clear and precise instructions from Asterios, who was watching carefully from the sidelines. They both could feel their cooperation getting better and better with each encounter. Having his help was like having eyes on the back of her head. Without even mentioning various supportive magic that Ast sometimes cast on her, mostly to let Miria familiarize herself with their effects since enemies they faced didn’t require her to go all out.

With more battle experience, she started realizing how different and easier it was to fight while being connected to another person. Miria did live through a fair deal of battles, be it with monsters, wild beasts or even their own kin as they often challenged each other, but the difference was clear as a day. 

No amount of trained cooperation between team members could achieve this level of non-vocal communication. Sometimes, she felt like it was actually Asterios who moved her body with his warning, faster than her brain could react. And the constant connection to his mana reserves strengthened her a lot. Depending on the distance between them, she could refill her own energy pool through their link or even draw directly from his reserves. It was a slow process, but really helpful with Ast’s unimaginable mana capacity. There was a way to speed it up though…

Miria pulled her sword out of the body of a large Bullsnail while slightly panting. When not lying dead on the ground, it reached up to her chest. Those monsters were often where inexperienced newbies met their demise or underwent their first major loss. No one would expect a snail to be able to rush at them with the speed of a running dog. Much less it having the strength that could crush bones into dust.

She glanced around the small battlefield. Five more corpses surrounded her. Few of them mutilated into almost unrecognizable levels. Her ear twitched as Asterios grazed over it with his hand while trying to pick a shattered fragment of the snail’s shell out of her hair.

“Well done. Much better than the last time. You are a fast learner,” he praised her for the performance.

Miria’s tail danced happily. “It’s nothing. I have the best instructor by my side,” she responded with a compliment of her own.

“With such a great pupil it is obvious that I will do my best, right? How is your mana?”

She glanced to the side with a faint blush. “Around three fifths after this battle.”

Ast’s right hand appeared on her cheek and lifted her chin a little bit. Miria closed her eyes, fully aware of what was going to happen next. Soon, she felt the familiar, warm sensation as her lips came in contact with those of her master. She shivered a little from the tingly feeling accompanying the transfer of spiritual energy.

Every time her mana reserves went under seventy or sixty-five percent, they would replenish them as soon as possible and as fast as possible, which of course was through the method they discovered during their training together. A mana-filled kiss. 

Miria opened her eyes again just to see Asterios slowly backing away. “Not… yet…” she whispered while looking straight at him with a pleading expression.

Asterios smiled. He knew pretty well that it was a lie and her energy was back at its full capacity, but he couldn’t just ignore such a request from the cute girl in front of his eyes and he pulled Miria closer by her waist, joining their lips once more. 

He decided to punish his partner a little for not being honest and started gently making his way into Miria’s mouth with his tongue while hugging her with his arms embracing her waist. She didn’t fight back and let him gently prod her own tongue, leaving the lead of this short dance to Asterios.

She understood that he saw through her right away and ended the kiss on her own, not wanting to impose on her master’s kindness too much.

“Thank you...” 

They stayed close for a minute more, staring into each other’s eyes, completely ignoring the carnage all around them. Asterios finally broke the silence with a soft chuckle. “So… can you let me go now?”

Miria looked at him slightly confused. “But, I’m not holding you, Master.”

It was true. She still had her blades in both of her hands hanging down on her sides. Asterios was the one with his arms around her. He showed a playful grin and skipped down with his eyes for a moment, quickly returning back to her face. 

Miria followed his gaze and instantly blushed much more fervently than when he was about to kiss her. Her tail was tightly coiled around Asterios’s right forearm like a Constrictor Snake squeezing its long-hunted prey. Miria quickly loosened and unravelled it back behind her legs. She didn’t even notice when it happened.

Asterios patted the head of the almost steaming from embarrassment panthergirl and went past her to start collecting magical cores. He knew very well after the time they spent together that she was losing control over her tail whenever she felt good or really happy, letting it coil around his arms involuntarily. It was an adorable quirk, extremely befitting Miria’s shy personality in his eyes.

They walked around the floor for two more hours, exploring a wide number of corridors, tunnels and chambers, taking every given opportunity to fight. Their main goal was to experience battles. And to figure out what they were lacking. Asterios wanted to fight alongside Miria in a more serious environment so that they could gather information on what role his next summon should fulfil. 

Arriving at another crossroad, Asterios looked around and the way they came from. He placed his hand on the nearby wall, focusing for a moment, and started heading towards the left path. Miria’s curiosity finally grew to the extreme. She was sure that he sensed it long ago but just wanted for her to properly ask. She caught up to him before they left the intersection.

“Ummm…”

Asterios stopped and glanced at her. “Yes?”

“How come we are deep underground and still can see clearly like in a shaded forest outside?”

He crossed his arms over his chest with a smile. “Good question. Any ideas?”

Miria pouted. She was asking specifically because she didn’t know and he almost always redirected her questions back at her. But, she still started racking her brain for a possible answer. After three minutes she let out a dejected sigh and shook her head.

“I don’t know…”

Ast came closer and brushed through her hair. “Remember, magic is the answer to almost any question. Anyway, it’s what I explained to you not so long ago. Dungeons sometimes take a ‘style’. This one is clearly acting like a forest or a jungle. That includes the brightness of the interiors. As stupid as this may sound, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, all emit light. Magical one. Weird, right?”

He could see how surprising that information was to her just by Miria’s expression. It was to be expected. What sane person would come up with such an answer? But that was reality.

“That’s so mysterious…” she commented while examining a clearly not-shining piece of earthen wall. “Then… I have one more question… We are going all around this floor in a different direction almost every time, for something like four hours now. You said that the map doesn’t cover auxiliary areas, so, doesn’t Master need to make one for us to not get lost when trying to return?”

Asterios nodded in an approving manner. “Another very good one. However, I was expecting you to bring this up much earlier as this is quite a crucial matter, don’t you think? What if I just completely forgot and was wandering around without a certain path back?”

Miria’s ears dropped a little. “Right. You should always question your teammate when in any doubt. I’m sorry.”

He began scratching behind them playfully, bringing those fluffy treasures back up again. “Exactly. But, don’t worry, we are here to learn. Mistakes are important steps in that process. So, what could be the answer here?”

She again didn’t have any good ideas, besides assuming that Asterios might have memorized every single turn they took. But no matter how smart he was, that would require an insanely good memory. She knew he had it better than a lot of people, but she also was sure Ast wouldn’t risk leading them astray by chance he got it wrong. One bad move and they would be completely lost. Miria decided to go with the safest answer.

“Magic?”

Asterios chuckled while caressing her head. “You really catch on quick. Okay, come here.” He walked back to the only wall in the intersection and glanced at Miria. “See anything special?”

She looked all over it, but nothing notable could be seen. Ast placed his hand on the surface and soon, a dark crimson sigil appeared a bit on the side to where he touched.

“This is often called Mark of the Lost, even though it’s not specifically an ability or a spell. This is just a trace of my mana imbued onto this point via the visible sigil. Place your hand over it and send a wave of energy into it.” He pointed at the glowing mark.

Miria did just as he told her and at the very moment she released her mana, she felt like the sigil in front of her eyes just flashed brightly in her mind. It didn’t change visually though. Then, five seconds later, she experienced another flash from the path they previously came from. Then another further away. And another. And another. Until the flashes started being too weak to follow them. Noticing that she turned her head towards the sources, Miria glanced back at Asterios.

“Get it now? It’s like a spider’s web. You pull a string at any point and the tremors will travel to all other joints.” He smiled.

“Woah… such an amazing use of mana… I didn’t know Summoners could do things like this,” she said with pure amazement in her eyes.

Asterios chuckled. “How much do you know about Summoners?”

“Only what you told me up until now, Master. As I said before, any magic besides simple strengthening is rare amongst our kind.”

“Well then, this exact technique comes from the arsenal of Talisman Masters. Summoners are in fact magicians that build their profession by taking a lot of things from other schools of magic. As you know, your usual Mage uses chanting and magical circles to cast spells. The idea of incorporating sigils for Summoners’ magic is taken from Talisman Masters’ use of visual markings on paper called talismans to retain and control mana in a certain spot, and also to reduce the casting time. Another one would be Spiritualists. They specialize in controlling the spiritual energy inside themselves and others. A lot of supportive techniques we use on our contracted beasts are similar to their spells. To some extent, even the contract part was inspired by some Spiritualists techniques to link two people for some time. Naturally, each of those schools of magic is way stronger in their respective fields if they were to compete with Summoners. Talisman Master's sigils will almost always trample on the Summoner's ones,” Asterios explained.

“Doesn’t this mean that Summoners have to learn like three times more stuff than the other users of magic?” Miria asked.

“Spot on observation. That’s why there aren’t that many Summoners compared to other magic users. There's like only one notable academy and you already know it. Personally, I think people should learn about other kinds of magic anyway since everything is working on the same principle in the end. Spiritual energy, mana in other words.”

“I see. Master is even more incredible than I thought!” Miria started staring at Ast with newfound respect. He just smiled at the girl brimming with enthusiasm towards him.

Miria’s ear twitched and she shot her gaze to the side, instantly turning her expression into a serious one. “A scream. I think a Human one. It only reached my ears because of how high it was.”

They looked at each other and nodded, instantly breaking into a run. Miria took the front like usual. She also had the best abilities to follow any other sounds that could come at them. Still, even though she could run much faster than Asterios, she kept the exact distance they set between themselves before so that she could instantly jump back and protect him.

A minute later, the corridor started widening even more and they could see an entrance to some chamber. Miria reached it first and stopped. They both could hear sounds of battle from a bit further already. Asterios soon caught up to her and stood by Miria’s side at the beginning of the room. Or rather a cave. The interior was very irregular, similar to those of a natural cavern with flat ground.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhglhglhgh...!”

Just as he laid his eyes on the center of it, a blond-haired girl wearing priestly robes had been impaled into her stomach by a huge scorpion’s tail. Its venom started working instantly due to the critical wound and she started vomiting blood. Two seconds later she was already gone. No chances of survival. Not with a venomous spike the size of a fist right into the belly.

“Kelly! Shit, shit, shit, shit!”

There were three monsters surrounding a party of four. Now actually three. A woman with a black ponytail, judging by her movements a Martial Artist, was fending off one enemy with her fists and kicks while dodging. A few meters behind her back, a girl in magician’s robes was lying on the ground and spasming with a blank expression and her staff on the side. She was the owner of the scream that Miria heard in the first place. 

Trying to defend her, a boy with short, brown hair, wielding a longsword, most likely a Warrior, was trying his best to push back another scorpion at his front. Judging by his expression, he was on the verge of breaking down. He was the one who called the name of the deceased healer. The scorpion who took out their Priestess somewhere in the middle of them, most likely while she was casting something to help her injured friend, was now beginning to walk towards the boy from behind.

Asterios glanced at Miria who was observing the battlefield with her utmost attention, focusing on the new enemies they hadn’t yet faced. She had her blades ready but didn’t make a move.

~I’d have bet you would instantly jump to save her,~ he pointed out mentally.

He was sure that Miria should have been able to prevent the girl’s death. She saw the situation a bit earlier than him. With her speed, it was definitely enough to react. She could have also mentally requested a boost while he was still running.

Miria turned her serious face to him, still keeping eye on the battlefield.

~I am Master’s familiar. Now also someone lucky enough to call herself Master’s mate too. As much as I want to help them, I have my own priorities and Master’s safety is the highest one. We Beastkin always place our family in the first spot, no matter the situation. I will not take action that could endanger Master’s life on my own, even if that means watching from the sidelines as others die.~

He could feel the weight and intensity behind her words. There was no hesitation. She could very well kill for him. Asterios instantly understood that this was the way their people were raised, to treasure their families over anything else. He could guess that almost no one would blame others for making hard decisions to protect their loved ones. Miria might have been an incredibly shy and timid girl when it came to social interactions, but she was a strong warrior at the core. Living and dying by their people’s code.

Some might have viewed such beliefs as selfish and cruel, but Asterios couldn’t stop a smile forming on his lips. He knew he was exactly the same when it came to his mother. And now, also to her.

He stepped closer and pulled Miria into his embrace, stealing her lips with a soft and gentle kiss. They parted very quickly. It was just a peck, but Miria’s eyes widened to the brim. A smile much wider than his rose on her face. Even though it was one of their many kisses, she never felt so much love from it before. Not in this intensity. Aimed straight at her. As a girl. She could barely hold back her tears of happiness. It was very intoxicating. But...

“Aim for the stingers.”

*BOOM*

The next second, she was gone, leaving behind only a loud thump in the air where she stood. No matter how strongly Miria steeled herself, Asterios could still catch a glimpse of sadness somewhere on the sidelines of her mind and drew a Haste sigil on her back while he kissed those beautiful lips. Three King Scorpions were not even worthy of being called an appetizer for his beloved partner. He would not let Miria feel sad because of a few trashy monsters. And she instantly understood his intentions. Their connection grew again.