The little wooden canoe that the Goblin wanted to use was very small to have all of us on board. So instead, she decided to take us one by one. Starting with Aurelia.

 

As soon as they made their way through the dark blue water of the lake, a part of the light that protected us from the darkness left with them.

 

“Hold on, do not move,” Darthmage said. “I want to test something,”

 

“Hmm? Test what?” I asked.

 

“This is not the time to play Hero,” Elly said.

 

“Noooo is not like that,” Darthmage said. However, despite what he had said, he immediately jumped into the mist.

 

“WAIT!” Elly shouted.

 

Darthmage was swallowed by the dark mist, completely vanishing from our sight. I forcefully had to keep Elly from jumping into the mist chasing after her childhood friend.

 

Seconds latter, Darthmage appeared again, as the darkness that had swallowed him expanded all around him like a balloon. Creating a new bubble of light.

 

“See, that is why illumination magic does not dispel the darkness. The miasma itself is avoiding us. Like how oil avoids water. Yet, we are pushed together due to the confinement of space within the tower,” Darthmage said. “So if we stay at arm’s length of one another - we can maximize our visibility,”

 

‘Bruh,’

 

Elly was quick to give Darthmage a good hit to the head. But there was no fixing for that moron.

 

As Darthmage cried out in pain, a candle light began to haunt us from the distance. Due to the mist, only a deformed flame dancing in the dark could be seen. But as it got closer, we could see the silhouette of the guardian and her little canoe.

 

Her golden eyes, glowed in the dark. I stared at her uncompromising green skin and pondered how would a skin like that would feel to the touch.

 

The guardian noticed that I was looking at her and walked up to me as soon as her feet touched the ground.

 

She stood close, eye to eye. I was unsure if that meant that I was short or she was tall.

 

“Who is next?” The Guardian asked. It had taken her a whole ten minutes to do the trip back and forth, and it was easy to tell that she was slightly winded. Aurelia probably weighted a lot.

 

“I should be last, it would be rude if the ladies did not go first,” Darthmage said.

 

‘Noooooooo why is he looking at me like that.’

 

“Berry, if you really want, I can go next” Elly said.

 

“Huh? I didn’t say anything,”

 

“Hurry. This is around the time that the spiders go out looking for food,” The Guardian said.

 

“Fine, I will go next,” I said.

 

I boarded the little canoe and the guardian, placing the lamp in between us, began pulling us into the lake with help of her paddle. Slowly but surely, we began to drift away into the lake.

 

Darthmage and Elly waved at me as the guardian and I vanished into the darkness.

 

It did not take long for the guardian and I to be alone. She did not speak a single word. Instead, she just did her job. The only sound breaking the monotone silence was the sound of water as the little goblin rowed the water with the paddle.

 

“Guardian, you never introduced yourself, and it is bothering me a great lot,” I said.

 

“Introduce myself?” She asked.

 

“Yes. You know. Your name,”

 

The guardian glared at me with confusion. There was silence as she stopped rowing. It seemed like she was trying to collect her thoughts.

 

“You seem like a nice person,” The goblin said. “So I will warn. Never. Ever. Trust a witch,”

 

The guardian refused to elaborate further until we reached out the other side of the lake. There, I could hear as she whispered her name slightly embarrassed.

 

“No’ohr,” The Guardian said.

 

She quickly turned around and began to row her little canoe away. I watched as the lamp and her silhouette vanished out of sight.

 

“Damn, I forgot how hard it was to see,” I said. “Aurelia, if you are there, say something!”

 

No one answered.

 

“Aurelia, that is not cool. Say something!”

 

There was no response.

 

Then. Cat-sized spiders began to appear out of the fog.

 

‘Bruh’

 

I kicked the spiders and my boots got tainted with green goo. The EXP that I got by murdering the insects was insignificant.

 

The fight only lasted a few minutes. It seems like I was only attacked by a passing by marauding band of spiders.

 

Then, just as the fight was over, Aurelia appeared out of the darkness.

 

“Ah, Berry. There you are. I was waiting for you,” Aurelia said. No bubble appeared around her, instead, she walked into my bubble of light.

 

“Where were you at?” I asked.

 

“I was right here. But it is hard to see with this mist,” Aurelia said.

 

“I called out for you,”

 

“I guess I did not hear you. The miasma, it is quite thick. But now that we are reunited, it is time to continue deeper into tower,”

 

“Wait. But the guide is not here yet,” I said. “And the rest of our party is still lagging behind,”

 

“That is not an issue. I know where to look,”

 

“But… your pouch, it looks quite full. If Darthmage was here we could carry more mutagens,” I said.

 

“No need. I have found something even more valuable than the mutagens,”

 

“What, where?” I asked.

 

“Do you not feel it? Shhh, pay attention,” Aurelia said, almost whispering. “The core. It is still alive. See?”

 

I felt nothing.

 

“Come on, let’s go,” Aurelia said.

 

“Wait, please,” I said. It was never a good idea to get separated during a quest.

 

“Fine, if you wish to wait, then wait. I shall reach the core. I will meet you back in the outside,” Aurelia said. She did not seem angry but still stormed out into the mist.

 

I attempted to stop her, but no matter how fast I sprinted, she was nowhere… nowhere at all.

 

I quickly returned back to the shore only to see Elly being dropped off. A very winded No’ohr waved at me.

 

“Ah you are still alive, great. Stay put until I come back,” No’ohr.

 

“Why did you not tell me anything about the spiders!” I yelled.

 

“If you think spiders are a threat, then I am sorry for you, just wait until you see a dragon or a mantis,” she said. Then waiting no further, No’ohr began paddling away from our sight.

 

Elly did not wait long to ask. “Where is your friend at?”

 

“Eh… well, you see… she ran off! She rambled something about a core being alive,”

 

“Huh? Let’s wait for Arty before we proceed, it should only take a few minutes.

 

“Darthmage?” I said.

 

“Arty,” Elly responded.

 

“So Darthmage,”

 

“Nooo Berry, you are very nice to entertain his delusion, but at some point he has to accept who he is,” Elly said.

 

‘Bruh… if only you knew how bad things truly were,’

 

“S-sure,” I said. “Speaking of the devil…”

 

Darthmage jumped out of the canoe with the paddle at hand. No’ohr was pretty flustered. For once someone had helped her getting her little boat to the other side.

 

What the little goblin did not see is that, Darthmage did not do so out of heroism or duty. But instead, he got that canoe the hell out of the lake, because he couldn’t bear the fact that he was all alone with a cute girl in a near confined space.

 

I glared at Elly then coughed before staring at Darthmage straight on the eyes. “So it seems there is a problem… you see, Aurelia is gone.”

 

“Oh? Tell me more,” Darthmage said. He attempted to assume his heroic pose. But lost balance as No’ohr forcefully took the paddle out of his hands.

 

I made my best to keep a poker face.