n

n

n

"… progresses swiftly. We should be able to finish the main hall within the next three days.

" Irea reported, momentarily stopping her hand. Yet, as soon as her lips stopped moving, she stuffed her mouth full of the simple, unsavory gruel that made up most of their current rations.

n

"That means, we are finally able to go explore,

" Layn smiled. As much as he wanted to make use of the insane treasure just beside his new camp, securing the camp itself came with the priority.

n

"Are you really going to just leave us all and go out on your own?

" Irea asked after taking her time to chew on the grubby gruel.

n

"The source of the local monsters is in that ancient facility,

" Layn answered, shaking his shoulders.

"That's why I'm pressing everyone to build a refugee with those bricks,

" Layn added only to grab the nearby mug and wet his throat with the water. After so many days in the desert, only a single barrel of beer remained.

nBut it wasn't there just for Layn to enjoy himself a little. It was left for the special occasion that hopefully would come soon.

n

"And what if those bricks of yours won't be able to stop the monsters? What if we won't be able to stop them?

" Irea inquired, clearly unhappy with Layn's plans for the future.

n

"Dear, I know that those are the things to be worried about,

" Layn's voice turned silent, proving that he didn't want everyone to hear about his own struggles.

"But that's the best we can do. Make sure to be as prepared as we can and the bet that our luck won't be awful,

" Tom said before shaking his shoulders.

n

"Isn't that a little…

" Irea paused for a moment, looking for the right word,

"risky? I mean, I don't think I need to fear any monsters at my current strength, but I can't say the same about some of the mercenaries.

" Irea raised her own cup towards the rest of the crowd slowly munching on their food in the other areas of the huge, brick building they built over the past three days.

n

"I know. There are still three that won't be able to take the monster on alone, while one more could be unlucky enough to get into a dangerous situation.

" Layn summed up Irea's worries, pinpointing every single weak member of their small group.

n

"So you knew?

" Irea asked, surprised by Layn's observations.

n

"Yeah. I'm the one teaching them after all,

" the archmage said, shaking his shoulders.

nOut in nowhere, there were rarely any enjoyments that could lift the spirits of Layn's mercenaries. Filling their entire schedule with work, work and even more work could only last them so long. At some point, their pent-up exhaustion and stress would make them act out, putting the entirety of Layn's plan at risk.

nAs such, Layn, the leader of the entire expedition, had no other way but to provide entertainment for his people.

nAnd what else could Layn offer in the middle of the green sea of grass if not knowledge?

nIn the end, they camped by the shore of this lake for nearly an entire week already. And every time the daily work would be concluded, the entire group would gather around Layn and listen to his teachings about the basics of magic. In order to keep them entertained, Layn had no other choice but to involve parts of his interpretation of cultivation as it was something that the mercenaries were likely to be more interested in.

nYet, even after a week of training, Layn could only count on barely more than half of his mercenaries. With Irea being the special case as his direct follower and partner from a while ago, actually, only three mercenaries were capable of fighting the monsters all on their own.

nAnd it just so happened, that one of them started as the absolute weakest in the group of mercenaries that remained after the deserters ditched. In fact, he was the second weakest before that, only advancing to the last spot when a man hiding his heavy injury decided to leave.

n

"Don't tell me,

" Irea suddenly said after a few long moments of complete silence.

n'She is looking at my face… I guess I gave away my thoughts like that,' Layn thought, before nodding his head.

n

"Yeah. I'm going to teach them how to absorb energy from the monsters.

" Layn said only to bite his lips later.

"I know it's not ideal, but those kinds of trials are something that everyone needs to go through in their life.

"

nLayn had a fair share of drastic and often unpleasant memories. From his first two years in the academy, through the several occasions when he went so far to deal with his troubles and enemies, that he started to doubt his own humanity, all the way to the moments when he questioned the logic in his continued life.

nLayn managed to emerge stronger from each of those trials, not because he was overly worried and cautious about them, but because of his determination to reach his goals. It was this determination that pushed him through what others could consider hell incarnated.

nAnd now, he wanted his mercenaries to gain a part of the same determination. This time, however, rather than trying to make their own place in the world with their efforts alone, Layn was willing to give them the path, the method, and the reward as long as they fulfilled a simple mission of his.

nTo survive while he will be away.

n

"I…I understand,

" Irea lowered her head. It was clear that she wasn't convinced about Layn's plans but decided not to bother him about that.

"Can you just promise you will hurry up?

" she asked, gently biting on her own lips.

"I can't promise I won't try to save them if a need arises,

" she added in a low tone, trying to not alert anyone about Layn's plans.

n

"I will try to be back as soon as possible, that I can promise,

" Layn said as he reached forward and patted Irea's head. Even though they were in the middle of nothing, this was the utmost intimacy that they could share without upsetting everyone else in the camp.

n

"Mkay…

" Enjoying the head pat, Irea only moaned slightly in response.

n

"Well, I will be going then. I hope you will manage the lesson today,

" Layn rubbed Irea's head for a little longer, before standing up from the primitive stool he made from a set of three bricks. A moment later, he was already approaching the shore while eyeing one of the primitive rafts that the mercenaries constructed to move around more freely.

n

"I guess it will be the water element today?

" Layn asked himself as he boarded the raft. It was resting on the dry sands where the waves of the lakes didn't reach even once in the entire week since they came to this place.

n

"Raise,

" Layn turned his eyes to the water of the lake before constructing a simple levitation spell. A spell that affected a tiny cube of water.

n'Right, there was a principle like that,' Before he could smash his raft with a concentrated blast of compressed water to push it on the water, Layn suddenly recalled certain phenomena.

nAnd with a small smile on his face, Layn turned the cube of water into a shape exactly the same as its bottom.

n'One could float an entire warship with a single cup of water… As long as one could create a perfect container where the water would spread thin enough to float the entire ship!' Layn thought about that odd principle, before adding motion to the water.

nAnd surprisingly enough, the raft moved forward, gliding through the air as it would through the water!

nFrom then on, the rest of the job was pretty simple. Layn manipulated small guts of wind while near the shore only to switch to the bursts of condensed water when the land disappeared from his view.

n'Dang, I didn't realize how vast this lake is,' Layn thought to himself when he could no longer see any trace of land no matter which direction he would look like. 'At least the trail of magic is pretty solid,' he added in his thoughts, following the only clue that could get him closer to the core of the entire monster-production facility.

n

"ROAR!

" Just as Layn noticed that he appeared right above his destination, an intense growl of a monster entered his ears.

nLayn jumped with all his strength, reinforcing his jump with levitation, floating, and acceleration. The massive mouth of the monster closed just an inch away from his shoe-lacking legs, swallowing the entirety of Layn's raft in a single gulp.

n

"God, you are ugly,

" Layn said under his nose as the jaws of the insanely huge alligator clamped down..

"But since you are here, the core needs to be somewhere close!

" Layn shouted to encourage himself before ignoring the monster altogether, surrounding himself with the most powerful barrier he could conjure and diving headfirst into the water.

n