The Mage

An upward incline led to a higher floor, leading directly into the next chamber—one that reeked of death. 

"Ah," Emma made a quiet sound upon walking in, looking down as a squelching sound met her step. 

Blake looked around; the room was lengthy, with its stone walls housing the corpses of rat-faced humanoids. 

"Kobolds," Emma discerned, looking at one of the dead fiends. 

The unlucky kobolds all had the same wounds; their bodies were burnt and blasted, along with parts of the room being left charred. 

"This looks recent," Blake said, lightly tapping his foot against one of the burned fiends. 

"…Are you thinking we're not alone here?" Emma asked. 

"This mountain is popular with adventurers, right? Might be the case," he said. 

BOOM

Without warning, an explosion emitted from somewhere nearby, causing even the room they stood in to rumble as dust cascaded down. 

"What was that–?!" Emma let out. 

"Sounded like an explosion," Blake remarked, looking up at the ceiling as dust scattered. "Felt like one too." 

It came from the passageway directly forward, leading Blake to run towards it as the archer begrudgingly followed. 

"This isn't left, ya know!" Emma yelled out from behind. 

He ignored the worried words of his companion as he sprinted down the corridor, slowing down as he neared the next room. Slowly, he drew his sword as he peeked into the chamber. The scent of smoke met his nose quickly, with the heat of embers still in the air causing him to recoil. 

The room was squared off, with much of the old stone left charred; plentiful smoke rose from the burnt corpses of the fiends that laid there, yet something else caught his eye more than that. 

"Pah–!" Emma let out, accidentally bumping face first into the swordsman's back in her run. "What're you doin'?!" 

Blake raised his hand to gesture for the girl to be quiet as he slowly walked into the room, keeping his hand ready by his sword. 

Standing in the center of the room was somebody in an illustrious, velvet cloak that was decorated with star-like patterns. They wore a comically large wizard hat of a somewhat darker shade, making it difficult to discern their height as their back was turned. 

As he slowly approached with his companion right behind him, making not a single sound as if closing in on an elusive deer–crunch. Both adventurers froze and looked down, seeing that the archer's boot had unintentionally befallen a wooden stick. 

"You–" Blake began to say. 

Before he could reprimand his clumsy partner, a light met his eyes as he looked forward once more to find that the stranger was now facing them. He still couldn't get a good look at them, as the pale staff they wielded conjured a bright orb of fire, pointed straight towards them. 

"--Shit!" Blake let out. 

Just as the fireball was released in their direction, he grabbed hold of the girl before jumping to the side. They both landed on the ground as the flaming sphere made contact with the back wall–BOOM. 

The impact erupted into a fiery explosion, tossing embers in every direction. It was a careless act of magic, forcing him to get up quickly before another spell could be tossed their way. 

He finally got a look at the mage; a girl of tan skin and messy, dark-blue hair of a curly texture, of which blocked her eyes. 

'Can she not see us? That we're not fiends?!' He thought. 

Before the reckless mage could send another fireball, he yelled out to her, "We're not monsters, you damn idiot!" 

[Hypnosis successful.] 

[EXP: +10] [52/175]

The convincing words were enough as the elemental fury that gathered in the scarlet-cloaked girl's staff was dispersed. 

"Huh? You're not–wait, I almost turned you to coal, then!" The wizard hat-wearing girl remarked with a soft, nasally voice in both shock and embarrassment. 

Emma got back up with a huff, "Yeah, you almost did!"

"Seriously, talk about trigger happy," Blake mumbled. 

The reckless mage stood before the two, bowing down multiple times to apologize, causing her hat to begin falling from her head. She caught it, fixing it as she straightened herself out to look up at the young man. 

"I'm Vivian…I'm a silver-ranked adventurer, sorry for thinking you were kobolds…" The mage apologized. 

Blake watched as she adjusted her bangs, revealing her puppy-like eyes that held a crimson tint to them, making it hard to stay mad. 

"You really came here alone? Good grief," Emma said with a sigh, folding her arms over her chest. 

"Weren't you?" Blake reminded his companion. "Either way, it looks like you've managed pretty well on your own." 

Vivian stood herself back up, nervously fiddling with her white-wooded staff that was almost her height, "Well, you see…I've been lost here a couple days now. That last attack was actually the last of my mana…" 

"You look a bit pale. Wait, did you not bring any supplies with you?" Blake asked, noticing the lack of a bag with the mage. 

"I did, well, it's just…" Vivian answered. "It got stolen by kobolds yesterday then—well…I blasted them, and my bag…" 

The clumsiness of the mage couldn't be understated as Blake began realizing just how uncoordinated silver ranks must be. 

"Well, I guess we can spare some of ours," Blake offered. 

"Wait, really?! I mean—you really don't have to," Vivian bashfully said, averting her gaze. 

Emma shrugged her shoulders, "Adventurers have to look out for one another." 

Before settling down for a meal, they moved on together into the left passageway into a room not filled with smoke and burnt fiends. Fortunately, the next chamber seemed to be specifically built for such reprieve. 

It held a single fountain in its center, resembling a praying priestess with clear, crisp water running. 

"Think this water is good?" Blake asked, setting down his bag as he knelt down to search through it. 

"It's probably from a spring in the mountain. I bet it's delicious," Emma answered. 

Though before they could even confirm the safety of the fountain, like a dog in the summer, the mage had already leaned over and began drinking from it. 

"No hesitation, huh?" Blake remarked. 

"…Well, she's been roaming around for a day without any water. She's probably expended a lot of mana, so her body is dehydrated, most likely," Emma remarked. 

After properly soaking her face, the thirsty mage lifted her head with a satisfied exhale. 

"You're correct, err…" Vivian began to say. 

"Emma," the archer gave her name. 

"Oh, I'm Blake," he decided to tag his introduction along. 

The mage nodded her head and wiped her mouth as she sat back up, "I just about hit my limit on mana. As you may know, mana affects one's natural bodily energies and functions." 

It was a handy bit of information as he extended a sausage link to the mage, only to pull it back as she tried to accept it. 

"—Ah?" Vivian looked at him, confused why the offer was rescinded. 

"I'll let you into my party and let you use our supplies on one condition," Blake said. 

"Yeah?" Vivian gulped. 

"I'd like to learn some magic," he said.