17 Spearmaster

The spear moved on its own in his arms as his legs started to move. His movements were surreal, ethereal, yet swift, dancing with the spear as if it were his beloved woman. Each of his movements felt choreographed to be the finest. There was no flaw, no unwanted movement, only the spear and Warden against the world. Warden didn't know how long it lasted, but by the time he finished, he was already breathless. The familiar depravity clawed at his heart, yet his lips curved in a delighted smile.

"Wow," Xiv said, wordless, completely amazed. Even Liam, who had a broader prospect of the world, wore a stunned expression as well. "I was about to join," he said, sighing. "But I'm afraid I won't last more than a couple of your moves." He gestured towards Xiv, "Both of us will look like amateurs in front of a Master such as you."

Warden himself was surprised to the core. The spear certainly gave him a far more intense familiarity than a sword, making him question why he possessed a sword instead of a spear. Perhaps he wanted to become familiar with the sword as well before his memory failed him.

"Anyway, the reason I came to seek you out," Liam said. "Warden, we planned on departing tomorrow. Whether my message reached the academy or not, I believe we stand a higher chance of helping against the beast tide after reaching the nearest town."

Warden nodded, even though he would have liked them to stay until the reinforcements arrived.

"Did you do anything suspicious on your scouting?" Liam asked, curious.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." He shrugged. "Only a bunch of dire wolves."

"Hmm, perhaps the source is in some obscure place hidden from our eyes," Liam said, causing Warden to raise an eyebrow. "The source, isn't that what you went looking for?"

Warden nodded after a little consideration, having a little idea of what he was talking about.

"Lower-ranked dungeons aren't usually this hard to find," Liam complained. "Following the dire wolves won't help either, as dungeon-born creatures don't tend to return to the dungeon once they are out."

Dungeon. Warden immediately knew what they were. An enclosed private realm that fostered monsters and demonic creatures.

"D-dungeon," Xiv stuttered. "What? How!? Aren't the demonic creatures supposed to stay inside the dungeon?"

"That is true." Finding Warden not answering, Liam said again, "However, if any dungeon is left for a long amount of time, it tends to become unstable and throw you its creatures and the volatile energy, which is harmful to normal people and animals."

That was a big problem, but shouldn't people be able to sense the foulness in the air if a dungeon was nearby? Warden wanted to let Xiv ask the question, but the teen wasn't thinking straight to come up with a question like that.

"Hopefully, the dungeon isn't too unstable that it would overflow completely before the reinforcements arrive."

*** 

Late at night, Warden couldn't sleep as thoughts of the dungeon revelation played in his mind. Supposedly, people and animals living near a dungeon would become sick already if the dungeon was unstable enough to burst. Even though that was relieving, Warden couldn't help but wander out of his chamber in the middle of the night.

The village lay in complete silence, with a few howls of foxes and wolves coming from the wilderness. Even though there weren't any full moons, the sky was lit with four sickle-shaped moons, enlightening the night enough for Warden to make out his surroundings.

Wandering aimlessly for a few minutes, he picked up some disturbance ahead. No normal disturbance, but rather a stir in the air, as if someone was using magical power to manipulate elements. He didn't know if it was natural to feel such things, but that didn't stop him from following his senses towards the disturbance.

He found the culprits of the disturbance out in the open in the centre of the village, near the well. It was two women and a bunny. Well, rather two girls, too young to be women. Warden recognized both of them, Kiara and Onia. It looked like the fire mage was trying to help the girl with water power in wielding magic, but from outside, it didn't look like she was doing that great of a job.

As Warden didn't intend to hide his movements, both of them noticed him immediately, their expressions changing to something odd as they exchanged glances wordlessly. The bunny, however, wasn't so silent. Cupcake squeaked and came leaping into his arms in delight.

"Don't worry about me," he said, trying to ease them off. "Do what you were doing."

Warden was about to leave, but Kiara called after him.

"Ahh!" Well, it was more like an ecstatic squeak than a call, but it managed to make him turn back to them.

Warden looked at her wide eyes, unsure what she was trying to say. Kiara had pursed his lips immediately, looking down.

Warden's eyes turned to the bunny in his arm, "Right, Cupcake." he downed the bunny on the ground and pushed her towards the owner. "Come on."

The bunny was more intelligent than any of the creatures Warden met in this place. She leapt with the same enthusiasm into the arms of her owner and nestled in her lap.

"Umm!" Warden was ready to leave, but Kiara called him again. "Can you help her?"

She pointed towards the lass—a year younger than Xiv—and the youngest member of the village who awakened a class.

"She needs some advice in her casting," Kiara continued, getting his attention, "which I'm unable to provide."

Warden raised his eyebrows, unsure how he could help them. "I have seen you manipulating water brilliantly to put off the fire."

"But they aren't helpful in a fight," Onia said, clasping her palm into a fist.

"Water isn't the best element for combat, is it?" Warden's words seemed to darken her expression even more. In the end, he could only oblige, even though he didn't know if he could help. "Cast your most powerful spell for me to see first."