Chapter Ten: A Hundred Yards Beneath the Ground (Part 1)

“Should we split up?” Lelira hesitated, looking at the three nearly identical paths ahead. “I think it’s better to stay together. With more people around…” As she spoke, she felt a gaze on her and blushed slightly.
“I really don’t know what those guys are digging for!” Allen complained irritably, then turned to Scott. “So… how do we divide into teams, Scott?”
“Actually, I’d prefer to leave this place…” Scott paused, glanced around the dim surroundings, and lowered his head. “It might be my imagination, but I felt like someone was spying on us just now… Did you feel it too, Sos?” Compared to the slow-witted Allen, Scott trusted Jiang Zhe’s senses more.
“I felt the same…” Jiang Zhe nodded, adding jokingly, “Maybe the master isn’t very welcoming to us…”
“Hey!” Allen smiled oddly, reached out to touch the stones on the tunnel wall, and said nonchalantly, “Guys, are you being too sensitive? I don’t feel anything at all.” He looked at Lisa beside him. Understanding his meaning, Lisa shook her head and asked confusedly, “Was someone really spying on us just now, Scott, Allen?”
“I didn’t feel anything either…” Dia said softly. As soon as she finished speaking, Ravia, who was standing by the fork in the path, said calmly, “If that’s really the case, I’d like to see what kind of tricks that ‘master’ is up to!”
“Alright then,” Scott said after thinking for a moment, pushing up his glasses. “Let’s divide into three teams. If we encounter danger, we’ll retreat. If all else fails, we’ll go back the way we came. Is that okay?”
“What kind of danger could there be?” Allen asked with a smile.
“Hmph,” Scott snorted lightly, glanced at his companions, and mused, “Ravia and Sos in one team, Allen and Lisa in another. The rest—Senior Dia, me, and… Lelira in the final team. Any objections?”
“Hm?” Ravia’s impatience turned into slight panic. Pointing at Jiang Zhe, she said helplessly, “I… him? Why should I be in his team? I disagree!”
“Perfect…” Jiang Zhe, who hadn’t felt uncomfortable before, muttered irritably.
But even though it was just a mutter, Ravia clearly heard it. Her face flushed with anger as she said, “What did you say?”
“I said perfect. Do you want me to repeat it?”
“You!”

“Alright, alright,” Scott said with a wry smile, trying to defuse the situation and explain, “Ravia, both you and Thos learn fire-based blue magic. You’re good at restraint, defense, and support, but your magic lacks power in terms of damage. Thos, on the other hand, has strong magical damage capabilities but is weak in defense and restraint. With you there to support him, I think you can handle most of the problems that arise. So, I think it’s best if the two of you form a team…”
“So what…?” Ravia still muttered unhappily, but her tone was much weaker than before.
“Lisa and Allen will be one team. Lisa’s summoning magic is enough to hold back enemies, and Allen… well, the rest is obvious…”
“Hey! At least say something! Why are you skipping me?” Allen had been hoping Scott would praise his strengths, as it was extremely difficult to get any compliments from him. To his disappointment, Scott skipped him after taking a deep breath, which left Allen very upset.
“Shut up!” Scott snapped irritably, then continued as Allen grumbled to himself, “As for the rest, Lelirra learns illusions. Although I know a few curse spells, their damage is insufficient, and my defense is also weak. So we need Sister Dia to join our team—after all, she’s very proficient in water-based magic…”
“Thank you for the compliment. I think I still don’t know everything well enough…” Dia was a bit embarrassed by Scott’s praise.
Scott smiled slightly and said to Ravia, “Does that make sense now, Ravia?”
“…” Ravia nodded hesitantly.
“What about you, Thos?”
“Hmph!” Jiang Zhe made a few grunting sounds.
“Heh,” Scott smiled slightly and said, “Then it’s settled! Ravia and Thos, go to the left fork. Allen and Lisa, go to the right. We’ll go in the middle. If you encounter any danger, shout loudly. I think the caves here are connected somewhere… Does anyone have any questions? If not…” He snapped his fingers to signal it was time to go.
“To the right, huh…” Allen glanced at the tunnel on the right, turned to Lisa, and gave her a knightly bow, saying gently, “Please follow behind me, beautiful lady…”

“Giggle,” Lisa whispered with a smile, giving Lavia a slightly embarrassed glance before waving and saying, “Avi, let’s go in first…”
“Mm!”
“Then we’ll go in too, Thos!” As Scott spoke, Lelira had already walked up to him. Seeing this, Scott turned to Dia and said, “Senior Dia?”
“Oh!” Dia walked over. As she passed by Jiang Zhe, she said softly with a hint of concern, “Be careful, Thos!”
“Mm!”
The seven children split into three groups. Five of them entered different paths one after another, leaving only Jiang Zhe and Lavia behind.
Having to be in a group with this girl? Jiang Zhe sighed inwardly.
To be honest, he preferred to be in a group with the gentle Dia rather than this infuriatingly strong girl. But what Scott said made sense—her support could make his magic more effective.
“Let’s go!” Saying this, Jiang Zhe headed toward the path. When he reached the entrance of the cave, he turned back and saw Lavia standing there, lost in thought. He called out in confusion, “Hey!”
“Hm?” Lavia, who had been deep in thought, snapped back to reality, looking a bit flustered. “Wh… what?”
“Sigh…” Jiang Zhe let out a long sigh and glared at Lavia, saying irritably, “What’s the matter with you? Even if you hate me that much, it doesn’t have to be this extreme. Come on!”
“Mind your own business!” Lavia muttered under her breath, huffing as she walked into the left tunnel.
How annoying!
Shaking his head, Jiang Zhe followed reluctantly.
It was very quiet in the tunnel. Since neither of them spoke, the only sound was the occasional rolling of small stones they accidentally disturbed. Other than that, the tunnel was eerily silent.
This oppressive atmosphere made Lavia feel extremely uncomfortable. Hesitantly, she said softly, “Are… are you there?”
“…” Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes helplessly, thinking, I’m right next to you. How can you not see me?
Actually, he understood that the girl was just trying to start a conversation. No matter how strong she seemed usually, being in a dark and quiet place still made her feel some fear of the unknown—something inevitable.
But though he understood, it was obvious that Jiang Zhe didn’t want to talk. It wasn’t out of dislike for the girl, but rather out of a sense of wanting to watch a joke play out.
He wanted to see if this stubborn girl would soften up a little in such an environment…

But Jiang Zhe was disappointed. For a long time after that, the girl didn’t speak again, which surprised him. Was she really that strong? Out of curiosity, he glanced at his companion and called softly, “Ravia?”
“What?” Surprisingly, the girl replied almost immediately, clearly uneasy.
Ha!
Trying hard to suppress his laughter, Jiang Zhe coughed and said, “Aren’t you scared?”
“I’m not scared!” the girl replied firmly.
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Hehe…”
“What’s so funny?”
“If I had asked this normally, you probably wouldn’t have answered me, right?”
“You!” The girl’s face flushed with embarrassment and anger. She stopped in her tracks and said, somewhat angrily and excitedly, “Fine! I’m scared. Are you satisfied now?”
Looking at the agitated girl, Jiang Zhe was at a loss. He hadn’t expected a joking remark to cause such a fuss. With a sheepish smile, he said earnestly, “I was just joking…”
“…” The girl fell silent and continued walking.
After walking a while longer, Jiang Zhe heard the girl’s soft voice beside him.
“You’re laughing at me in your heart, right? You’re actually scared but pretending not to be…”
“Heh,” Jiang Zhe smiled slightly and glanced at the girl ahead of him, saying earnestly, “You’re very brave…”
The girl stopped again, turned around, and frowned. “Laugh if you want to. You don’t need to say such things…” As she spoke, she froze when she saw the boy’s sincere and earnest eyes.
“To face uncertainty and fear while pretending to be fearless, not avoiding the danger ahead—that’s courage in itself. There’s not much difference between being brave and pretending to be brave…”
Ravia stared at the boy beside her in astonishment. After a long while, she smiled sweetly for the first time.
“That’s the most satisfying thing I’ve heard from you since I met you… Thank you, Sos!”
“…” Clearly, Jiang Zhe was stunned by Ravia’s sweet smile. In his memory, she never smiled at all—well, except for a sneer.
“What’s wrong?” Ravia was puzzled by his daze.
“Uh… nothing. It’s the first time I’ve seen you smile. I wasn’t expecting it…”
“You!” Ravia was clearly annoyed. Frowning, she said, “Can’t you talk without annoying me? I can’t believe that was said by you…”

“Hey, it wasn’t on purpose! I really didn’t realize it!”
Strangely, with this incident, the distance between the two of them gradually disappeared…
“Sos, actually, you’re not that annoying after all…”
“Hmph, I’m not very happy to accept such ‘compliments’ from you!”
“Giggle! Well… Um, I just realized today that besides being lazy, arrogant, conceited, and selfish, you do have a few good qualities…”
“Hey, is that considered a compliment?!”, Jiang Zhe was speechless.
“It’s true, I promise…” The girl nodded earnestly.
Shaking his head, Jiang Zhe said helplessly, “Alright, then better not compliment me anymore!”
“Hey! I really am complimenting you…”
“I thank you!”
“You!” Raviya felt a sense of frustration, but strangely, she wasn’t very angry now; she was just dissatisfied with the boy’s tone. “You’re so annoying!” As she spoke, she looked at the boy’s face in the dim light of the fireball and asked hesitantly, “Um… Do you really hate me?”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe was stunned and asked, “Why do you ask?”
“Do you?” The girl pressed further, but after asking, she answered herself, “I guess so… I can tell!”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhe felt a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head and said sheepishly, “Well… I don’t really hate you either. It’s just that sometimes I don’t like you very much… I feel your personality is more like a boy’s…”
Upon hearing the word “like,” the girl’s face turned red. Thankfully, the light in the tunnel was dim.
“My personality? Actually, I wasn’t like this when I was little. I used to cry a lot… Don’t laugh, or I’ll get angry! Um… I was very timid as a child. Then my grandfather taught me that courage is a person’s greatest asset. Those without courage won’t achieve much… I don’t like feeling underestimated…”
“Your grandfather?” Jiang Zhe turned his head curiously and recalled, “I remember your grandfather was a duke, right? Amazing!”
“Yeah,” Raviya nodded proudly, “In Altak, no one doesn’t know my grandfather. The people of Altak respect him greatly. If I had to choose, I want to become someone like my grandfather—honest, brave, and respected…”
“A female duke?” Jiang Zhe said with a teasing smile.

But surprisingly, the smile vanished from Lavia’s face. She shook her head and said in a complex tone, “Although my grandfather loves me very much, in Altak, women cannot inherit titles. They are destined to become…” She glanced at the boy beside her and said self-mockingly, “I remember you, Thos, are a commoner, right?”
“Hey, so what?”
“Don’t misunderstand,” the girl shook her head earnestly. “I just mean, there’s nothing wrong with being a commoner. Thos, at least you have freedom, while the nobles… the nobles aren’t as wonderful as you think. If I could choose, I’d rather…” As she spoke, she suddenly felt the tunnel beside her become empty. After looking up, she realized they had left the tunnel and entered a spacious area.
Judging from the hoes, carts, and other items scattered around, this place must have been a mining site in the past—no doubt about it. But…
“Crack!” Lavia felt as if she had stepped on something. When she looked down, she trembled all over.
It was a pale skeleton…
And with that crack, a low “woofing” sound came from somewhere around them, like the growl of wild beasts.
“…” Frowning, Jiang Zhe raised his right hand. About three to five seconds later, two fireballs were cast. He controlled the fireballs to move along the inner walls of the spacious cave. The light from the fireballs revealed some not-so-nice ‘things’…
In the distance, clinging to the cave walls, were werewolves… no! Those soulless werewolf puppets were gathered together, staring at Jiang Zhe and the others with hostile eyes. There were about thirty to fifty of them!
“It seems we’ve won the lottery…” Feeling a twitch in his eye corner, Jiang Zhe whispered, “Be careful, Lavia!”
Unusually, Lavia seemed very docile.
“Mm!”