Argent lay still upon the floor, each breath he took filling the left side of his body with pain. It was excruciating, and yet, it was the sign of his triumphant outcome over the toxic curse previously festering in his leg. The strain and shock of the ordeal made it difficult for him to keep his eyes open as power and fatigue coursed through him in equal measure, making him feel heavy.

Regrettably, he knew that he did not have the luxury of allowing the sensation to take him, fighting against the lull of unconscious sleep as he forced his eyelids fully open. To lapse into comfortable oblivion was certainly tempting, but the world energy filling his core from the reversal of the hex swelled within. It needed to be used, and he couldn’t afford to waste the opportunity. With some amount of struggle he raised his right side hand, letting his mind touch the aether.

“Move away, Julie.”

“Ah, okay!”

[Kai Mirroring]--[Firebolt]. The art shifted in its form the same way it had when facing the amorphous mass of wolves at the mouth of the Faewitch’s lair, manifesting as an amplified variation of [Manabolt] and blasting outwards from his palm. Several bursts of raw arcane force tore through the hatch above and ripped it to splinters, allowing light to filter down into the cellar. The illumination was faint, sourced only by a handful of candles on the floor above, but when compared to the prior darkness Argent’s eyes adjusted quickly and gratefully to the subtle glow.

With the issue of an escape route resolved, next was the consideration of how to reach it. It was well above his reach even if he were in peak physical condition, some ten feet overhead by his approximate estimation, and there were no signs of an obvious ladder or tool that could be used to access it. He toyed with the idea of using [Web] to create a direct line to the floor above that could perhaps be tangled with boards or other objects from the cellar to provide a crude ladder of some sort, but the more he thought about it, the more he doubted he would be able to climb something like that in his condition.

Granted, he wasn’t sure he could climb anything in his condition, but a haphazard mess of webbing and junk would likely be difficult for Julie as well. Looking around the cellar now that it was a little more visible, he noted that it appeared to be used mainly for wines and ciders. Most of the shelves were fitted with segments for holding bottles and small kegs, though in the far back there was a taller piece lined with books.

Pushing the shelving units around to use as a ladder seemed to be the most viable option, but Argent questioned how heavy the things were. They looked to be made of dense wood and were slightly dampened by their time underground, something which would only add to their weight.

Gritting his teeth, Argent prepared himself mentally to attempt sitting up. There was no way of knowing what was doable and what wasn’t until he verified how much mobility he actually had. His swollen body ached in protest, an uncomfortable squelching sensation gushing between his muscles as they bent.

Halfway through the motion he could barely stand it anymore, grunting in discomfort and falling flat on his back as his head hit the earth with a muted ‘thump’. Julie had been watching him silently until that moment, at which point she began fussing over him again and moved to support his head.

“You need to be more careful.”

“I thought I could make it.”

“You were half-dead from a curse less than an hour ago, and now you’ve gone and turned yourself purple. Explain the thought process in that.”

She chided, poking him in his puffed up tricep and causing the alchemist to wince. He didn’t really have a good answer for her, knowing that claiming he had no other choice wouldn’t go very far. Argent had learned the justification of ‘Operational Necessity’ never went down well with medical practitioners, so he kept his mouth shut.

“If you’re done trying to maim yourself, let me help you up.”

“Thanks.”

Even with Julie’s assistance, standing was a struggle. The girl was tough for her size but still quite small, and Argent’s damaged extremities were just shy of being dead weight. He could barely move or control them more than a twitch, and they burned unpleasantly at the slightest pressure. Nursing his balance on his right foot, Argent managed to lean himself up against the nearest shelf with Julie under an arm. Pressing his shoulder into it stiffly, he gave it a few rough shoves as best he could manage, finding it to be even heavier than he’d feared.

There was no way he was moving it. One look at Julie struggling to support him fully made it clear that she wouldn’t be, either. The hurdle infront of them had seemed so manageable for a brief moment, but now loomed higher than before. Taunting them, the open hatch hung in the air above like a key on the outer wall of a jail. Just within sight, but well out of reach. His thought process stalled in that moment, drifting into dismay as the situation weighed upon him. He really hadn’t thought this through. Using [Kai Mirroring] had been done on an instinct, something he realized had been happening ever since he learned it.

Did the art itself come with some sort of intuition on how and when to use it? If it did, he sure wished it would give him some guidance on what the hell to do next. As the disgruntled thought lingered in his mind, the world around them reverberated again, something far in the distance slamming the ground with such force that it caused the shelves to tremble. Glass clanked against wood as bottles vibrated in their spaces, causing Julie to let out a small yelp of fright.

“What.. is that?”

“I’m not sure.. An earthquake?”

He knew it wasn’t despite his own words, but couldn’t think of another way to gloss over the question. Julie shook her head immediately.

“We never get quakes this side of the emerald spine.”

“..Ah.”

“Besides, that feels close.”

“..Yeah, it does.”

Julie didn’t seem to like the hesitance in his replies, giving him a stern glare.

“Don’t try and baby me, if you know something, say so.”

“I honestly don’t, but..”

“But?”

“But I'm pretty sure whatever it is isn’t good.”

The two stood in silence for a moment after that. It wasn’t as though they both didn’t know it already, but it was one of those things that was daunting to think about directly. Stuck here in a hole in the ground with no real knowledge of the situation, assuming the worst could lead down some extremely wild paths. Not wanting Julie to get lost too far down that sort of paranoia, Argent cleared his throat and patted her on the shoulders.

“Can you help me over to that bookshelf?”

Julie nodded, and carefully helped the crippled alchemist gimp his way over to the far wall where the books were housed. Up close, the piece of carpentry looked suspiciously high quality and out of place compared to the shelves full of bottles and barrels. The books were leather bound and embossed with fine silver patterns and lettering. The look of it all set off bells in Argent’s head, a glimmer of hope flaring up inside him as he shifted his weight off Julie and onto the shelf itself. Awkwardly moving himself around it using the individual shelves as supports, he employed every trap and secret finding technique he could think of.

Instructor Suran’s lessons were something he had only ever participated in on a surface level, spending most of the time observing Gauge as the rogue carried them through the assignments and exercises, but he did his best to mimic the motions. As many times as his injured body would allow him to do so, Argent combed over the shelf with focused intent. There had to be something. Shoving his hands along the wall behind the shelf, he cursed as he felt nothing but smooth stonework.

His frustration was beaten out only by his inability to support his own weight, as he slid forward and fell against the bookshelf, hitting his face. He cursed under his breath as the impact struck him on the bridge of his nose, twinging painfully as he swiped a stack of books off the shelf in anger. Of course there was nothing behind them. Releasing still more obscenities as he let himself fall to his knees, Argent raised a hand to rub his face. Once the pain subsided, he took a slow breath and leaned his forehead against the shelf, only gently this time.. Staring absently at the ground.

Amongst the books he had shoved onto the ground was a small candle. He reached down and picked it up, signing the cardinal command for [Kindle]. The small flame flickered to life with a warm glow, brightening the area around them substantially. The silver text along the spine of the books caught the gleam of the candle with a reddish-orange glimmer, and Argent’s eyes widened. Slowly he reached out to pick one of them up.

“...Julie?”

“Huh?”

“Are you religious?”

“Uhm.. Our town has never really had a church, but.. My father was a forester. He taught us to respect the spirits..”

Argent couldn’t contain his smile.

“Perfect.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re going to get us out of here.”

***

“Tch.. How are these outsiders not dead yet?”

The half-elf hissed, his sunken face stained with streaks of dried blood where the crimson seeped from his eyes, bloodshot and filled with spite as he watched the conflict raging throughout the town from a safely concealed distance. In front of him, a scrying art filled the air with a shimmering visage of the transpiring battle.

Izadura and Kotomi were putting up far more of a fight than he would have liked. He cursed the day they had showed up in the village a few weeks back, wondering how they had caught word of their village in the first place. He had suppressed all the contract papers that had come acrost his desk, and yet two separate teams had come in from Tenebris. From that damned academy. How had it happened? It didn't make any sense.

He watched with absolute contempt as the Kyotan warrior spun around the mutated frame of the Elder in a wide kick, knocking the golem-esque figure backwards as several whips of water curled around its neck and dragged it to the earth. The creature flailed and roared, kicking up chunks of earth until it broke free. It chased Kotomi through the air with a mighty leap, looking as though it were about to snatch her up and crush her before suddenly she vanished; appearing as a sword in Izadura's hands as he cut off one of the Elder's legs from beneath.

“Why am I not surprised the old man is useless, even as a weapon?”

Lauteo Shaiye, or ‘Teo’ as the Town of Thrylld had come to call him, had not been lying about his family ties to the forest. They had lived and operated here for generations, adapting to the changes in the landscape and to the town itself. He loved working the fields and orchards, he loved pruning and nourishing the trees. He loved caring for each blossom as the spring warmth coaxed them out of their buds. He loved everything about the forest around them… More than he ever loved the town. And far more than he cared for the people in it.

With the edge of a long knife he cut a pattern into the earth, a circle of runes etched into the topsoil amongst the tufts of grass. As the shapes were completed, he held an arm over their center and brought the blade to his skin. Cutting a long slash along his forearm, he allowed the blood to drip into the runes. They soaked the liquid away greedily.

“Mandu imoya ne labahk– Wal kor pesha qa aman’sa sindo.”

The circle took upon itself a powerful light, shining from the inside as it absorbed the blood. Somewhere in the distance, the monstrosity which was the Elder roared at a volume that shook the buildings around it. Lauteo smiled coldly, his arm dripping with red.

“Cry as you like, I’ll get my use out of you yet..”

***

Power swept through the cellar in a shimmer of green, raw life force hovering on the air like small orbs of coloured light as a voice echoed through the dark.

"Most beloved of the Forest Spirits, she who watches every leaf; Flutter and dance upon the supple earth, and grant my voice the power to guide and grow-- Nhara's Embrace, descend upon this humble soil~"

Julie clasped her hands before her chest as she spoke the words of the rite, eyes closed, her hair shifting as though lifted by winds. The lights gathered around her hands, pooling into an orb that shone brighter as each separate speckle of life joined in. Vines surged forward from beneath the deep earth, fresh and green and tangled with roots.

As the girl opened her eyes, they followed her gaze. Rolling and twisting in a wild bloom, flowers bursting in a myriad of colours as the vines traced the walls and covered the cellar. They formed upwards towards the wooden flooring above, pushing boards aside and creating an even larger opening than Argent’s manabolts had as they led upwards in a sprawl and continued to engulf the entirety of the structure.

Argent watched in awe as the powers of nature answered Julie’s calls of supplication, the ancient prayer fresh on her lips until the moment the overgrowth stopped. As she lowered her hands, a smile fixed itself on her face. She looked truly happy, as though all the troubles of their situation had melted away. There was no fatigue there either, no signs of casting drain.

“Argent, did you see? Did you see that?!”

She positively beamed, sweeping down to pick up the book he had given her. Rites of Avalos: Lesser Deities & Guardians. She held it tightly against her chest as she rushed over to him, bouncing in place on the pads of her feet.

“I did it, it worked! I used arts!”

The alchemist had to smile back at her infectious enthusiasm, though he still shook his head.

“No, not arts. That was something called a rite.”

Julie didn’t seem to understand, but also didn’t seem to care. Too excited by the outcome of her chant to be concerned by the technicalities.

“It was amazing! Did you feel all those tiny spirits? Could you hear them?”

This time it was Argent who didn’t understand. Certainly, he had seen the visible results and the overall effects of the rite as it spread acrost the cellar, but there had been nothing to hear other than shifting wood and earth.

“No? What were they saying?”

“They were singing!”

“..I see.”

Julie sighed happily, looking around at flowers. As her eyes turned back to Argent, she noticed his injuries, and flinched as though seeing the swelling for the first time. Reality came back to her and she tucked the book under her arm, quickly beginning to climb the tangle of vines upwards to reach the floor above.

“You wait here, the last thing I need is you falling off a wall.”

Argent had nothing to dispute that. Even if he was uncomfortable letting Julie be the one to venture out, it wasn’t as though he could do anything to protect her anyway.

“What’s up there? Do you recognize anything?”

“I.. I think this is.. Teo’s house? I’m not sure. It’s a part I've never been in before.”

“Teo?”

“There’s a lot of weird bottles and.. Strange blue stones.. Oh!”

“Julie??”

There was no response at first. Just long enough to make Argent begin to feel stressed out, before the girl’s head popped over the side of the opening above. She held her hand out and dropped several small objects down onto Argent, who struggled to catch them as they hit his chest.

“Take all of those~”

She commanded, as the alchemist looked over the items. They seemed benign enough, though he could not readily identify them. He began to unstop the bottles, looking up at Julie curiously.

“What are they?”

“Medicines.”

Julie paused, frowning as though realizing something. Argent had a bottle halfway in his mouth when he noticed the look on her face, hesitating a moment before swallowing. The shift in tempo made him cough a little bit as part of the first bit went down the wrong tube, causing his trachea to spasm uncomfortably.

“W-what? What is it? Do I keep drinking?”

“Yes, drink all of them, they’re good medicines.”

“What’s the problem then?”

“..They’re the medicines Eophi has been making for the Elder..”

Argent stared up at Julie, the warmth of regenerative salve seeping up through his bones. Was the elder sick? He didn’t remember that. Thinking back to their meeting though, he remembered the way the older man had coughed and swayed. The way Teo had been right at his shoulder as though looking after him.

“..Teo was supposed to be managing the Elder’s treatment, wasn’t he.”

Julie nodded her head.

“But if all the medicine is here..”

Julie nodded her head again. Argent opened another few bottles, swallowing them quickly. Things were starting to make sense again. The pieces were coming together… But the truths they revealed did not provide any comfort.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry for accusing your sister. She isn’t the bloodlink..”

He said pointedly, cursing his own lack of judgment. He wondered what it was about Eophi that had put Gauge on alert, but was forced to admit he had let that single sentiment cloud his perception… But it didn’t matter. He hadn’t been awake to do anything, anyway. Leaving those regrets in the past, he grasped the last bottle of medicine and stared into the glossy liquid inside. Focusing on it, he tried to harness its properties as distinctly as he had done with the hex venom. He saw it without seeing it, the aspects of the solution realized within his head. He picked them apart and analyzed them, finding their design.

Harnessing the rest of the pooled energy left behind from the surge that had left him damaged in the first place, he siphoned it into the mixture as he poured it into his mouth. [Enhance Reaction] interacted with it at a cellular level, heightening the regenerative response. With any luck, it would bring him back into this fight. Because it was still a fight. He just hadn’t realized it until then.

“We have to find Teo.”