From the rear lines, the adults kept their distance, careful not to disrupt the rhythm at the front. Still, it was hard to stay quiet while watching what was happening.

The three kids, Ludger, Viola, and Freyra, were advancing through one of the most dangerous labyrinths like they’d trained for it all their lives. Every motion was measured, every strike deliberate. They weren’t reckless, weren’t panicked, they were composed.

The latest golem had barely fallen before the next one began stirring farther ahead, but none of the three hesitated. Ludger called out minor adjustments, his voice low and steady, while Viola and Freyra shifted positions in perfect sync. The two frontliners blocked, countered, and pressed forward with unnerving precision, moving like extensions of one plan instead of three people.

The adults watching from behind exchanged quiet glances, whispering under their breath as they trailed through the corridor after them.

“Those three are just kids…” one of the Ironhand soldiers muttered. “How the hell are they handling those things like veterans?”

“Not even veterans fight that clean,” another whispered back. “Look at the timing, they’re reading each other’s moves without signals.”

Even Rathen, who’d seen more chaos than most men could stomach, found himself watching in silence for a while before he leaned toward Lucius. “You sure you don’t want to jump in? They’re making us look bad.”

Lucius gave a tight smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “If I joined them now,” he said, “I’d just get in the way.”

It wasn’t false modesty. He’d seen how easily they moved together, Viola’s Overdrive weaving with Freyra’s explosive rage, both centered around Ludger’s flawless mana control and timing. He’d sparred with them before. He knew exactly how wide the gap was.

Arslan, watching from a little farther back, crossed his arms. The corners of his mouth tugged upward into a rare, proud smile. “That’s my son, and my daughter” he said quietly, half to himself.

Kharnek let out a booming laugh beside him, voice echoing through the corridor. “Ha! And that’s my daughter! You see that? Together they could break through a wall of steel!”

Arslan nodded, though his expression was more subdued. “They’re reckless,” he said, though there was pride in his tone. “But they make it work.”

Kharnek grinned wide. “Reckless? No. That’s called heart. They’re warriors. The kind you don’t find twice in one generation.”

Even Cor, usually quiet and unreadable, found himself mumbling something under his breath. “The coordination… that’s not training alone. Ludger is reading their movements and adjusting accordingly thanks to his Mana Flow and the pressure they put on their feet with Seismic Sense. That told him when they were about to act.

Not far from him, Varik watched without expression, but his eyes had narrowed slightly. His gauntleted hands folded behind his back as he followed the fight in silence.

When the golem fell to Ludger’s next precise Mana Bolt, Varik finally spoke, his tone low. “Those children aren’t normal.”

Lucius turned toward him slightly. “They’re just talented,” he said carefully.

Varik’s gaze didn’t shift from the battlefield. “Talent doesn’t explain it. They’re fighting constructs designed to overwhelm trained battlemages, and winning with coordination most military units can’t match. No fear. No hesitation.”

He tilted his head slightly, watching as Viola and Freyra exchanged a brief smirk after cutting down the next golem. “They fight like people who’ve done this for years.”

Lucius didn’t respond. There was no point arguing, it was true. Ludger and his companions weren’t ordinary prodigies. They were something else entirely.

As the group pushed deeper into the labyrinth, the adults fell back into step, letting the kids take the lead. None of them wanted to disturb the rhythm that was working so well. But even in their silence, one thought lingered in every mind present—spoken or not.

Those kids weren’t supposed to exist. And yet, here they were, turning one of the Empire’s deadliest ruins into their training ground.

Ludger knew exactly what he was doing.

The others saw him as calm and methodical, always in control, but that control wasn’t just for efficiency. It was deliberate. Every fight in the labyrinth was a lesson, and he wasn’t about to let Viola and Freyra walk out of here thinking they were invincible.

When the next runic golem came stomping through the misty corridor, its chest plates gleaming with fresh etchings of mana, Ludger stepped back. He could already feel the rhythm of the battle forming in his mind, the angles, the weak points, the timing of its barrages. He could end it in a few seconds if he wanted.

Instead, he exhaled quietly and said, “You two handle this one.”

Viola turned her head. “What?”

“I’m low on mana,” Ludger said, tone flat and believable. “I’ll back you up if it goes south, but this one’s yours.”

Freyra’s eyes lit up instantly. “Finally! He admits he’s tired!”

Viola smirked. “Fine. Don’t regret it when we do better without you.”

He didn’t answer. Just crossed his arms and stepped back, letting them move forward.

The golem’s arms began to shift, one glowing with a buildup of compressed energy, the other tightening its grip around its spear. The faint hum of magic filled the corridor, reverberating through the stone.

“Here it comes,” Viola muttered.

The golem fired first, a tight spread of mana bolts that streaked toward them like rapid-fire arrows. Freyra dashed ahead, axes whirling to deflect the first few shots, but one clipped her shoulder. The impact spun her halfway around, and she snarled, teeth bared.

Viola moved in to cover her, her sword flashing as she knocked away the next barrage. The golem lunged immediately afterward, spear thrusting with brutal mechanical speed. Viola barely dodged the first strike, twisting aside, but the next swept across horizontally.

She blocked, boots skidding backward through the slippery floor. The impact rattled her bones, even with Overdrive humming under her skin.

“Freyra!” she shouted.

“On it!”

The northerner slammed into the golem’s side, both axes striking low. Sparks erupted, one blade biting through the leg joint, but the machine didn’t buckle. It just pivoted, its spear thrusting again, point-first at Freyra’s chest.

She crossed her axes in a desperate block, the force driving her backward several meters. Her breath hitched; she was strong, but it was stronger.

Viola darted forward, trying to intercept, but the golem switched targets mid-motion, firing a single mana bolt directly at her. She barely managed to raise her sword in time, when the blast hit, it tore the weapon from her hands, sending it spinning through the air before clattering across the floor.

For a heartbeat, both girls were off balance. From the back, Ludger stayed silent, arms still crossed, watching closely. He could feel their mana fluctuations, uneven, frantic, pushing the limits of their endurance. Good, he thought. They need to feel it.

The golem lunged again. Freyra gritted her teeth, jumped forward, and tackled the damn thing. Her axes hooked around its arm as she slammed her knee into its side. The impact jarred her whole body, but it was enough to make the golem’s next thrust go wide.

Viola snatched her sword from the ground in the same instant, spinning on her heel. Overdrive flared through her body, golden veins of mana sparking under her skin. She didn’t hesitate.

With a sharp breath, she surged forward, blade trailing sparks across the wet floor. The golem turned toward her, palm ports glowing, but she was already there.

Her sword cut in a single, clean diagonal arc. The blade sliced through the golem’s neck joint, shearing metal and conduit in one motion. The creature froze mid-attack, a single glowing spark flickering where its head had been. Then it collapsed, water splashing high as it fell.

The echo of the strike lingered. Viola stood panting, the tip of her sword still humming from the mana charge. Freyra leaned on one knee beside her, breathing hard but grinning.

From the back, Ludger finally stepped forward, expression unreadable.

“Not bad,” he said simply.

Viola shot him a glare. “You weren’t really out of mana, were you?”

Ludger’s lips twitched into a faint smirk. “Who knows.”

Freyra barked a laugh between breaths. “You moron.”

“Recovered moron,” Ludger corrected, stepping past them to inspect the fallen golem.

Viola sheathed her sword with a sharp motion but couldn’t hide the small, satisfied grin that tugged at her mouth. Even exhausted, even frustrated, victory earned the hard way tasted better than any easy win. Ludger knew that. And now, so did they.

With the final golem of the zone defeated and its metallic body cooling in the shallow water, Arslan signaled the others forward. “That’s enough training for the kids,” he said. “We’ll take the lead again.”

Ludger didn’t argue. He let his father, Kharnek, and Rathen step past him to reclaim the front of the formation, then turned his attention to patching up what damage had been done.

He knelt beside Viola first, a faint green glow pulsing from his hands as Healing Touch mended the shallow cuts along her arm. “You’re lucky that thing didn’t cut deeper,” he muttered.

She smirked, flexing her fingers. “You’re lucky I didn’t hit you for pretending to be out of mana.”

“Maybe next time,” he said dryly.

He moved on to Freyra, whose knuckles were raw from blocking mana blasts with her axes. The healing light spread over her skin, sealing bruises and closing tiny cuts. She grunted something that sounded like “thanks,” though she tried to make it sound annoyed.

Once both girls were in fighting shape again, Ludger straightened up, glancing toward Lucius, who was unfolding a partially torn map.

Lucius traced the ink lines with his finger, matching them to the corridors they’d just cleared. “According to this, we’re nearly at the end of the first zone,” he said. “If the pattern holds, there should be a major gate ahead that leads into the second.”

Ludger leaned over his shoulder, scanning the markings. “So we’ll take a peek and then pull back?”

Lucius nodded. “Exactly. We confirm what’s ahead, mark it, and retreat to plan. We’re not overextending today.”

Ludger exhaled slowly. “Good. Because this is taking a while.” He folded his arms, tone pragmatic. “At some point, we’ll have to deal with the problems outside too. The bridge still isn’t finished, and that thing in the water isn’t going to stay quiet forever.”

Lucius’s jaw tightened slightly. The reminder wasn’t pleasant. “Right,” he said. “The sea monster.”

He paused for a moment, staring at the map as though it might offer answers. It didn’t. “I don’t even know how to handle something that size,” he admitted finally, his voice quieter. “If it can sink ships that easily, magic cannons won’t do much.”

Ludger nodded, eyes narrowing in thought. “Then we’ll need a different approach. One problem at a time.”

He glanced down the long corridor ahead, where the walls curved slightly before disappearing into shadow. “Let’s see what’s waiting for us next.”

Arslan raised a hand, signaling the formation forward again, his voice steady and commanding. “Stay sharp. The end of one zone usually means the beginning of something worse.”

They advanced, boots echoing softly through the labyrinth, aware that the deeper they went, the closer they came not only to the secrets buried within, but to the problems waiting above the waves.

The group finally reached what could only be the entrance to the second zone.

The last corridor opened into a wide chamber, its air heavy with moisture and the faint tang of salt. From the far end, a sloping passage stretched downward—smooth stone, slick with condensation, the faint shimmer of mana crystals barely lighting the way. It wasn’t just dark down there—it was thick, the kind of darkness that swallowed sound and light both.

The deeper they peered, the more they could hear it: the slow, rhythmic surge of water moving below. Not waves crashing, but something more deliberate—steady, pulsing, like the breath of something vast sleeping in the depths.

Kharnek whistled low, his voice echoing against the walls. “That’s a long way down.”

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