Truth be told, Aediva wasn’t exactly thinking when she jumped off the tunnel’s exit and launched herself to the side of the monster’s head. Well, one of its heads. Little did she know it would also knock out the other head. Talk about some lucky dropkick.

“Did you just fucking drop-kicked the dog monster?!” Eden shouted in disbelief. Aediva scratched the back of her head.

“I wasn’t thinking. Guess I did. Nice save, huh?” she said with a smirk. Arthur let out a long sigh.

“I… I’m tired” he said.

Despite their new discovery, they are all too tired to even do anything. It feels as if lifting a finger is a bit too much at that point.

“Yeah… Me too” Eden said, looking at his wand and remembering the horrifying experience of facing the monster alone. He shivered, noticing Aediva looking at her surrounding in silence. Her face impassive yet her eyes sparkling with the gleaming stones around her. Arthur and Eden looked at each other, grinning at each other right after.

“Yo, Aediva. First time seeing magic stones?” Eden asked with a wide grin on his face.

“It is quite a beautiful sight. I wasn’t expecting there would be a cavern full of untouched magic stones. I supposed with this, you’ll not be expelled huh, Eden?” Arthur said. Eden glanced at Arthur.

“You’re back to talking like that again. Damn, that creeps me out” Eden said. Arthur looks taken aback.

“Eh? What do you mean by-- Never mind that. We should get some of these stones and get out of here quickly. That Orthrus might be awake anytime soon” the blond teenage said. Eden nodded and looked around, noticing the pickaxe he used earlier. It only served to remind him of the unpleasant encounter earlier.

“Oi, Aediva! Think you can mine these stones for me?” Eden asked the girl who had been completely silent. Hearing her name, Aediva turned to look at the one calling and she immediately looked unamused.

“You’re the one whose supposed to bring the stones back. I’m not doing work for you unless you pay me for my labor. Just so you know, saving you earlier is not for free” Aediva said. Eden hissed.

“Damn, you don’t have to go completely bonkers because of some joke. Fine, I’ll do it myself” Eden said, picking up the slimy pickaxe. He shivered in disgust.

“I’m gonna take a loong bath tonight” he said.

“Why aren’t you using magic to extract these stones. To be honest, they looked like normal gems to me” Aediva suddenly asked, probably have been holding her curiosity since earlier. Arthur who returned with a pickaxe looked at Aediva, reaching out another pickaxe to her.

“Ah, I forgot you’re without magic. Strange, can’t you really feel the mana inside the stones?” Arthur asked Aediva back. The girl shook her head.

“I see. Well, to explain simply. These aren’t normal gems. It is mana - a magical fuel of sorts, condensed until it is crystalized. It does share a lot of the properties of a normal gemstone. Except magic stones are more potent and therefore, a lot more useful for mages” Arthur explained. Aediva nodded her head.

“Oh~ that’s interesting. Say, how much does these stones sell?” Aediva asked, eyes shining bright. Arthur looked at Aediva with a bewildered look.

“W-well… It won’t sell much if it’s not fixed by a magic jeweller. Magic stones will only have a real price after it’s processed. Even if you sell every stone in this cavern, it’s probably not that much to all your debts” Arthur said. The smile on Aediva’s face disappeared as she looked at Arthur with a disappointed look.

“D-Don’t look at me like that! Even actual diamonds are the same don’t you think so? It’s expensive but the actual price comes with age. It’s the same as magic stones!” Arthur explained. Aediva pouted.

“Then why the hell did the Headmaster say, it’s going to help me a lot if that brat over there finds a magic stone?” she asked, pointing at Eden.

“Huh?!” Eden barked at her.

“The headmaster said that? You didn’t tell me that earlier before we went into the mines” Arthur said, baffled.

“I thought it wouldn’t matter” Aediva said, eyes drifting away to the side. Arthur raised his eyebrow.

“Were you actually thinking of selling the whole cavern’s worth of magic stones…?” he guessed and it made Aediva turned completely silent.

“... Let’s mine these useless rocks then” she sighed before going to a cluster of red magic stones and hitting them with her pickaxe. Eden jabbed at Arthur’s side.

“Look what you’ve done” he said to Arthur.

“Actually this is all your fault in the first place…” Arthur sighed.

“Tch. Shut it, prince-wannabe” Eden hissed. Arthur’s eyebrow twitched.

“Well, excuse me for being a formal prick. Would you prefer me to talk shit to you instead?” Arthur said, completely changing his tone. Eden looked at the blond wide-eyes and smirked.

“Huh?! You wanna go?” he said.

“Don’t try me. You’ll regret it” Arthur said, facing Eden with a grim expression.

They are about ready to throw down punches at each other when they felt a familiar tremble in the ground. For a moment, they thought it was Aediva picking at the stones but then they noticed it was not in tandem to her action. Moreover it sounded like…

A monster’s rumble…

The two boys looked to the side and to their horror, the Orthrus stirred.

“Aediva!!!” they shouted for the woman who looked back and immediately she felt the rush of her adrenaline yet again.

“GAH!”

Aediva found herself flung to the side away from the two boys within the first few minutes of their second round of fight with the creature named Orthrus - the two-headed hound. Fatigue proves to be their one main weakness and it was even more taxing to fight in that state. It bodes danger to their lives all the same even if they’re not tired.

They’re just a bunch of kids - two freshmen who barely know how to use magic properly and a girl who could not use magic. Even with her strength which the two had no idea of its extent, could last so long until she collapsed from fatigue. It’s not like she could just dropkick the monster again like she did before.

“Ugh... How tough is this dog?!” Eden shouted, thoroughly frustrated. He glanced at Aediva who was shakily trying to get back up. Panic took him by surprise when he sees Aediva throwing up blood and she pants tiredly.

“Eden! Watch out!” Arthur shouted, pushing Eden out of the way and as if it was not enough, Arthur too, was flung away towards the stones nearby. The sword strapped to his waist fell to the ground as he dropped to the ground, groaning in pain.

“Arthur!” Eden screamed, horrified. He only watched as the monster’s paw was hovering above him.

“Eden! Move your damn legs dammit!” Hearing the voice, Eden snapped out of his stupor and dodged the incoming paw that almost squashed him like he would to a bug. He raised his wand and fire volleys upon volleys towards the monster and to his joy, one hit its eye and made it reeled back from the pain.

“Arthur! C’mon buddy. Don’t you die just yet” Eden said as soon as he reached the blond, grabbing his arm and slinging it around his neck. Eden groaned as he pulled Arthur to his feet as his dorm-mate tried to hold on to his consciousness. Eden gritted his teeth when one of Orthrus’s heads looked his way and the other followed suit.

“Dammit… I’m so not ready to die right here, right now. I’m gonna sue that damn headmaster for this” Eden said, glaring at the monster. It’s not that big like a giant but it feels like it was enough to cause fear in his system.

Just when it was about to charge towards Eden and Arthur, it immediately reeled back when something hit its face which turned out to be a piece of wood.

“Oi! You wanna wrestle doggie? Come on! Let me wrestle you!” Aediva shouted. Eden and Arthur almost didn’t believe the level of bravery the girl is displaying. Blood was dripping from the wound on her head - splotches of red painting her white t-shirt. Her jumpsuit torn from being clawed by the hound when she fought it earlier. For someone who could not use magic, it was almost too reckless.

“... Aediva… The sword…” Arthur said, wincing in his every breath. Eden looked at Arthur, pointing at the sword on the ground not far off.

“That sword?” Eden asked.

“Give it to her” Arthur said. Eden set Arthur down and ran towards the sword - taking advantage that Aediva is effectively distracted the monster for them. He took the sword that’s surprisingly quite heavy and looked at Aediva.

‘It’s do or never’ he screamed to himself as he flung the sword towards Aediva - almost panicking when the sword flew out of its scabbard but the silver-eyed girl easily evaded the incoming sword and caught the sword’s hilt mid-air.

Slash!

She swung the sword and easily grazed one of the Orthrus’ faces. She gripped the handle firmly and took a stance.

The monster howled, enough to shake the whole cavern.