The Cave

"Hey… wouldn't the trouble be saved if we killed the one that was sleeping instead of this?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Guys?"

When Aranea pointed that out, she cocked her head to the side, curious as to why the three of them suddenly went quiet. She then furrowed her brows, sighing at the same time as she remembered the other Catoblepas that was sleeping.

"If the other Catoblepas was sleeping, then Leonel and I could have focused with ease. Elenea wouldn't have used a lot of her mana, and Zann would not attack the beast much with his sword and—"

"Enough!"

Zann interrupted, running his hand through his hair frustratingly as he did not realize that they could kill the one that was sleeping instead.

"Just… enough."

He then walked off ahead, Aranea, raising a brow at him as she watched his back, feeling irritated at the same time.

"What's with him? Just because we overlooked something in the plan, he goes all tsun-tsun again?"

"Well..."

Elenea scratched the back of her head, letting out an embarrassed laugh as she realized she overlooked the other possibilities of the plan as well.

"We did work hard and learned the limits of our powers. That's the good thing, right?"

"Oh, true," Aranea commented, Leonel, nodding in agreement as he felt ashamed of overlooking another possibility, too.

"At least we took it down and finished our ordeal," he added, heaving a small sigh at the same time. "Let's follow Zann. Come on."

The three of them now caught up to Zann who was somewhat stomping his feet as he continued onward to where the other Catoblepas is. His hands at the side turned into tight fists as his mind wandered off, thinking about what happened earlier and what Aranea had said.

'Why did I overlook that situation? I think I was overthinking about the process—not thinking that we have to use our brains, too, for an easier method…'

The four of them felt tired as they continued walking. Even though they realized when the task was done that they could have opted for an easier method, they still felt proud that they have defeated a Catoblepas who was awake and in range.

"Hey."

Aranea called out to them when she remembered the Catoblepas they killed.

"Don't you feel bad that we killed a beast? Like what they say, the biggest creatures are actually the softest ones."

Hearing this, Zann stopped in his tracks as he turned his body to look at her, raising a brow at the same time.

"So, you feel bad that we killed a Catoblepas because you think it is a big softie?"

Aranea shrugged, "Well, yeah! I felt bad when I heard it groaning in pain when it was about to die."

Zann let out a scoff, finding her reasoning funny and stupid.

"That beast was about to stomp on you—us! If you feel bad, you'd rather get hurt badly then because you feel sad for them? Then be the guest. I'd fight for survival."

Zann then continued walking, Aranea, rolling her eyes on his back as the three of them continued to follow him.

"Oh, sorry for being loving towards animals," she said sarcastically, Zann, scoffing once more as a chuckle came out from him before he spoke.

"I wonder if you meet a ruthless Behemoth, you could still say this about gigantic beasts."

"I…"

Aranea did not know how to reply. With Elenea and Leonel tired, they only wanted to walk and listen to their conversation, the two finding it amazing how Aranea and Zann could keep at it at talking and being irritated at each other.

"Oh, jeez! There are big beasts who are softies, and big beasts who are ruthless as you said!"

Zann rolled his eyes, "Whatever," he replied, Aranea, narrowing her eyes at him as it only occurred now of her curiosity on where they are heading.

"Where are we going, Tsun-Tsun?"

"To the cave that I told you—" Zann quickly turned his head to look at Aranea, "Will you stop calling me that!?"

Aranea laughed out loud, holding her stomach as she found it fun teasing Zann. Leonel and Elenea, however, felt their head throbbing as they continued to walk, finding Aranea's energy amazing.

'How can she be this lively after such tiring work?' both of them thought, the two of them remaining quiet as they found it tiring to even reply and chime in to their conversation.

As they continued walking, the four of them were surprised when suddenly, a man appeared right in front of them from the sky, the twins shouting out loud as they hugged each other, the sight of a person dropping from the sky in a black cloak unusual to them.

"Aaaah!"

"Girls, girls, calm down!" Professor Grisham said in between laughs, putting down his hood at the same time. "It's me! Professor Grisham!"

The twins sighed in relief as Leonel cocked his head to the side in wonder, curious as to why Professor Grisham is here.

However, the three were later on then surprised to see Zann's excited look on his face, a wide smile appearing on his face which was different from his teasing smile—or proud, confident smile that he showed them.

"Professor Grisham!"

Zann greeted him, running towards him as if looking like a child greeting his father who just came home.

"We did it! We defeated the Catoblepas!"

Professor Grisham nodded at him, patting his shoulder as a smile appeared on his face.

"I know. The four of you did well! You helped protect your Summoner and her sister—you guys worked together to take down one hell of a beast. I saw it from the spheric ball Professor Samuela had set up. Well done!"

The other three smiled, thanking the professor's compliment at the same time.

"Thank you, Professor Grisham."

The professor nodded, gesturing for their leave.

"Well, want to teleport outside now? You're the first four who completed the ordeals."

"Oh!"

Zann shook his head, making the professor furrow his brows in wonder.

"I was thinking if we could explore the cave that was being guarded by the herd of Catoblepas?" he asked, the Professor's eyes twinkling as if it were stars.

"Oh, right, right! I almost forgot about the cave!"

With the professor's excitement, he then walked on ahead, the four of them following as the twins looked at each other, curious.

"What could be in that cave, Professor Grisham?" Elenea asked, the professor answering the young lady's query.

"Well, it is unknown—but what we know is that there might be a rare magical item inside! With the other Catoblepas asleep, I think we should take this opportunity to explore and see, don't you think?"

"I see," Leonel chimed in, "Is the cave big for exploration?"

Zann shook his head and answered, "No. It's as big as the falls, so the professors believe that the item is found in the middle of the sphere-shaped cave."

"Oh! This makes the hard work all the more exciting, don't you?" Aranea reacted, Elenea's curiosity also piqued as she nodded in agreement.

"With this said, I can't help but think what kind of magical item we'd see!"

Hearing the students' enthusiasm and curiosity, Professor Grisham couldn't help but nod in agreement as he liked the interest they were displaying.

"Then off we go exploring before we head out, then!"