"Brittanya! Snap out of it!"

Jaegar shook Brittanya as he held her by her shoulders. She was still sitting on the ground, so Jaegar had to crouch down and reach her.

"H-huh…?"

Brittanya seemed to return to her senses. She looked around and then looked at Jaegar.

"What happened to you?"

Jaegar let out a sigh as he kept his gaze on Brittanya.

"I… I just remembered… something."

Brittanya broke her gaze from Jaegar and looked away to her side.

"What are you even doing here?! And why are you wearing those clothes?! We all know you can't use magic so you're useless against that monster! Just get out of here, you pathetic pretender!"

The male mage with brown hair who called out to Brittanya earlier shouted once again. He glared fiercely at Brittanya. She then looked him in the eyes and suddenly remembered who it was.

"Frix…? Is that you…?"

Brittanya stared at the male mage for a while.

"Yeah, it's me! Who's a REAL mage! Not like you, you—"

Before Frix could finish talking, Kryllo stood in front of him, effectively blocking his sight of Brittanya. Kryllo looked down at Frix and then lightly kicked him in his ribs.

"The heck was that for?! D-don't you see I'm injured already?!"

Frix then shouted as he glared up at Kryllo.

"Take all… of it… back…"

Kryllo kept staring at the male mage. Frix then looked around him and saw Alecsia standing near Brittanya and Jaegar.

"Take what back? That she's a pretender? That's just the truth! Don't blame me if you got duped by that woman! And your healer should just heal me already! What is she just standing there for?!"

Frix answered back to Kryllo before he turned his attention to Alecsia and pointed at her.

"Heal you?! I couldn't care less if you died there. Especially after everything you've just spouted about Brittanya."

Alecsia clicked her tongue and turned her head away.

"But isn't that supposed to be your job? Maybe that Healer of Death moniker was fitting…"

Leonze glanced sideways at Alecsia beside him.

"Did you say something?!"

Alecsia then glared at Leonze.

"N-no… Nothing of importance…"

Leonze forced a laughter as he slightly backed away from Alecsia.

"Hey! Stop joking around and heal me already—"

Frix then suddenly grunted and grabbed his injured arm. He wasn't able to talk any further as he endured silently with his injuries.

Jaegar then focused back at Brittanya as he continued to hold her by the shoulders.

"It seems that the dragon rumor was true. What was that guy talking about you being useless against that dragon?"

Jaegar lowered his voice to the point only he and Brittanya could hear it.

"It's been said that only magic could hurt dragons… Well, that's what we were taught back at the Mage Academy…"

Brittanya had her head facing the ground. She also talked in a hushed voice.

"What's the problem, then? You're the greatest mage, aren’t you?"

Jaegar smirked as he looked at Brittanya. She then raised her head and looked at Jaegar. Her eyes widened when she heard what Jaegar said. The tears she was holding back suddenly fell down her cheeks.

"But… I…"

"Don't you want to show up these guys? To me, you're a lot stronger than any of these mages here. You've just got to go and prove it."

Jaegar looked into her eyes. Brittanya then wiped her tears using her arm and then nodded at Jaegar.

"You're right. I'll get rid of that dragon by myself!"

Brittanya suddenly talked loudly. Everyone in the near vicinity all looked at Brittanya's direction. Jaegar closed his eyes and smirked again. She then quickly got up and started to walk toward the cave-like opening.

"If that's what you want to do, then we'll just watch. Let's go."

Jaegar then also got up and followed after Brittanya.

"Y-you're delusional! Someone like you who couldn't get into the Mage Academy can't do anything against that monstrous dragon!"

Frix gritted his teeth as he glared at Brittanya's back. She then stopped walking and looked back at Frix.

"I know it sucks that you'll end up behind me as usual. Well, it’s inevitable since I'm the greatest mage alive!"

Brittanya smiled at him and then walked ahead toward the huge opening again.

---

The party entered the opening to a somewhat dark cave. There were several noises coming inside. Some were from rocks getting crushed, others were from people screaming and shouting. But the most notable noise was the loud growling coming from the creature deep inside the cavern.

Brittanya walked a few steps ahead the rest of the party. Leonze held a portable torch with him. The torch could be lit and relit anytime by using even a small fire. He also had a device with him that produced small sparks to start a fire. He used that device to light the torch.

The noises became louder the deeper they walked inside the cave. Just a few steps ahead of them, they saw some light that was coming from a small fire. The party hurriedly walked toward the light source. There was a group of adventurers hiding behind a large rock.

"Finally, someone else came after us! Hey, you guys! Please help those still facing the dragon deep inside this cavern."

A female warrior with long black hair and some light armor waved at the party. She was crouching while tending to an unconscious female mage with short blond hair. The mage was lying on the ground.  

There was also a male mage with short red hair who was peeking over the large rock, looking at the direction of the deeper part of the cave.

"What's happening here? Can you tell us the situation?"

Brittanya walked closer toward the female warrior.

"Ah, another mage! Please help them! They need someone who could use magic!"

The female warrior pleaded as she looked up at Brittanya.

"I guess we should tell them the situation first."

The male mage got down from the large rock and faced toward Brittanya and the others.

"So, is t-there really a d-dragon inside?"

Leonze looked at the male mage while shaking in his boots.

"We've scouted this place for a few days before entering it. A lot of us got hurt in the process. Some even sacrificed their lives just to get some intel… When we ascertained what we were up against, we called a larger group comprised of more mages for backup. That was because… it really is a dragon."

The male mage furrowed his eyebrows as he sternly looked back at Leonze.

"What made it so dangerous…?"

Alecsia then interjected as she looked at the deeper and darker part of the cave.

"When people first started to investigate inside, they couldn't go too far due to some strong winds. Along with the wind, big rocks from stalactites were also flying toward the adventurers. The dragon seemed like it could sense whenever someone entered the cave. For a long time, no one was able to see what the monster actually was. Well, until our group."

The male mage stared at the ground as he recounted the past events.

"What did you do?"

Jaegar looked at the mage in front of him.

"We walked near the walls of the caves in a line. There was a line for both sides of the walls. The one walking in front was a knight and a warrior. They shielded those who were behind them. We got further and further inside, slowly but surely. Of course, there were still casualties. When we reached this large rock, we used it as cover. We got closer and saw the dragon eventually. We realized that we couldn't beat it, so we retreated to this rock and arranged for mage reinforcements."

The male mage then crouched down on the ground and let out a huge sigh.

"And the group that's facing the dragon right now. How long have they been there?"

Jaegar kept his gaze on the male mage.

"They just went there earlier. But some have been wounded and injured already. Like Yannika over here."

The male mage pointed at the unconscious female mage. When Brittanya heard the mage's name, she immediately looked at Yannika. Brittanya clenched her fists as she stared at Yannika's motionless body.

"Her injuries aren't serious, she just got knocked back by the strong gust of wind from the dragon's wings. We had to retreat to save her… I don't know how the others are doing right now…"

The female warrior clutched her pants as she stared at Yannika.

"Then there's no time to waste. I'll have to defeat that dragon now—"

"B-brittanya… Is that… you…?"

Yannika slowly opened her eyes as she heard Brittanya talk. She looked up and tried to reach out toward Brittanya, who started to walk away.

"Yes… It's me…"

Brittanya forced a smile as she turned around to look back at Yannika.

"Please don't go there… It's dangerous… Especially for someone… who can't use magic… Please just run away…"

Yannika fell unconscious once again, as her hand dropped to the ground.