In the dead of night, Lee tossed yet another failed attempt to the side as he reached for something else to practice with. When he placed his hand down, he felt around, trying to find whatever was next. After a few seconds of fruitless searching, he gazed down and saw that he had gone through all his items.

Looking toward the discard pile, Lee saw it was piled high and slightly toppled over. The casualties of his experiments were most of Em’s ‘precious’ items—basically, her junk.

While he figured they weren’t high enough quality to hold an enchantment, they were still good for practice. Even if all his tries were on good quality items and tools, they would also be in the pile, as Lee had failed every time.

As it turned out, while Lee could read and understand the language of enchanting, he couldn’t actually see what he was writing out. To him, it looked like he was scribbling ‘Sharpness’ with mana. To others, it looked like a complicated glyph. This was obviously causing issues, as Lee couldn’t really tell where he was messing up and didn’t completely understand where he was going wrong.

He wasn’t the deftest hand when it came to writing and signatures, but he never thought he would see the day when he was ashamed of his handwriting. Or, in this case, mana writing.

Failure after failure, trash becomes slightly magical trash. That’s how Lee spent the night up until now.

Lee put the enchanting hook and wand back into its box and stored it in his Hidden Cache. While it would be a lie to say that he wasn’t disappointed in his enchanting talent, he understood that not everything would be easy at the start.

Lee laid down and then looked up into the night sky, slightly nervous and anxious about his squad's trek into the depths tomorrow morning.

He had failed them. Not a single item with an enchantment for them to use. All of his efforts lay useless next to him, and not a single one would help them in their delve.

For a moment, Lee thought about going back on his word and going down with them. Shaking his head, he quickly discarded that idea, as it wasn’t his responsibility. His goal of spreading healing would be cut short if he died.

The only thing he could do was get stronger. Strong enough so that nobody would die in his presence, no matter the cause.

Jeremy stood over Lee’s slumbering form as he debated whether to wake him up or not. He side-eyed the pile of failed enchantments, sighed, and then turned away. They would be back later in the day, and he could tell Lee about how the enchantments weren’t necessary.

He tried his best. He thought as he rounded up everyone else to head toward the mining camp.

Their delve was scheduled, and they were going to do their best. Thankfully, Em was coming along with them. While she wasn’t technically a member of the military and required to help, she wanted to join them of her own volition. He wasn't going to say no to that.

He wasn’t as afraid of her as some of the others, but he was wary, not because of her monstrous appearance, but more so because she was a high level. With but a thought or murderous impulse, she could kill him where he stands, and he could do little to nothing about it.

Right here, right now, he wasn’t a noble. The fake title that protected him throughout his childhood and early adult life had become useless outside his city. Monsters don’t care about who you are, only what you are. These statues won’t care if they kill a noble or not, so why does it matter right now?

Recently, it had dawned on him how useless being a noble was.

Lee could be a noble if he asked. If only he asked, the kingdom would grant him whatever fake title he wished. They would more than likely kick out another noble to give their land to him as well—anything to appease the miracle healer.

But Lee didn’t want to be one. He wanted to be a normal person.

“A normal person…” Jeremy mumbled with a small despondent laugh.

Jeremy had heard some of the commoners in Felispar mumble about how they wished they could have been a noble. Those people had a better chance at becoming a noble than Lee had to be ‘normal.’

Lee’s status was locked in stone the moment he learned to heal. Everyone who interacts with him will attempt to treat him like a normal person, but it will be an act of appeasement. Fake personalities and motives untold.

As Jeremy checked his gear again, Kendri walked up in front of him, casting a shadow over his crouched form. Looking up, he saw the grim and angry face of a man who had previously lost everything.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Jeremy spoke with disinterest. “Can I help you, Kendri?”

Kendri’s face didn’t change, but what he said caused Jeremy to pause. “We’re useless.”

Jeremy slowly rose as he stared into Kendri’s eyes, searching for context. “In what way.”

“We won’t accomplish a damn thing down there. Em will do everything and we are along for the ride. Even if we wanted to—which we don’t—we wouldn’t be able to destroy a single statue ourselves. We aren’t going down there for treasure. We are going down there because it’s our responsibility. If we die, who’s fault is it?”

Jeremy pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “You’re correct, and it would be our fault.”

Kendri shook his head. “No. It would be the kingdom’s fault for making us to something we are incapable of.”

Kendri sneered, then turned away, speaking over his shoulder. “I wonder which noble made the decision for this to be our responsibility. Oh, it was you, wasn’t it? Nobody in this village knows what we’re responsible for; thanks for letting them know.”

Jeremy’s face reddened with anger, and without thinking, he spoke to Kendri’s back. “If things go badly, don’t run away and leave us to die. Doing that once in your life is already enough.”

Kendri paused, but instead of growing angry like Jeremy had thought, he slumped his shoulders and ignored the comment. Jeremy watched him leave, then sullenly grabbed his gear.

Belgrate and Meriah were waiting near the village, packed and ready to go. Kooco sat on Meriah’s head and cooed while patting the sides of her head. They were both nervous, he could tell.

Jeremy watched as they fiddled with their gear. Belgrate, being a pugilist, didn’t use any weapons. But, he repeatedly straightened his uniform in his nerves. Meriah half-sheathed and unsheathed her daggers rapidly as she murmured to Kooco. Jeremy didn’t say anything to them, as he was anxious himself. Kendri strode past him with his spear, completely ignoring his presence, as he joined the others.

Jeremy waited for Em, but after a few minutes without sign of her, he left for the mining camp with his squad in tow. They had a schedule, and if they were late, got canceled, and the kingdom found out. They would throw a fit.

As he walked through the tiny village of Lopus, he felt the anxiousness grow within his chest. If Em were a no-show, they would legitimately be useless. On that, Kendri was correct.

As they approached the mining camp, Jeremy noticed that it was hastily abandoned. Minecarts filled with stone and ore were left on the railways exiting the large, gaping cave entrance, which sloped into the ground. The small shacks for the workers around the place had their doors left open, and pieces of parchment whisked away across the ground from the wind. Pickaxes, shovels, and other tools were dropped to the ground haphazardly.

The apparent rush to leave this area was concerning. Jeremy learned during the meeting that it took a week or two for the statues to run rampant. If that was the case, why was the area abandoned so quickly?

Thankfully, he spotted Em when they arrived. The slight amount of anxious and nervous energy invading his being faded away.

She was scuttling to and fro, eagerly watching the entrance for them. When she spotted them, she grinned and speed scuttled up to him. As she loomed above them all, she spoke with utmost confidence. “I’ve been waiting for your timely arrival. Shall we get started?”

Jeremy swallowed to wet his suddenly dry throat as he had a thought.

She’s excited…

Having never interacted with Em previously, only some small talk here or there, Jeremy never really thought about how she would act without Lee around. To his knowledge, she was willingly locked indoors in Breye. Since then, she had never been away from Lee’s side.

Jeremy shook his head, coming back into the moment. “Yes. Let’s get going…”

Before he could take a step forward to lead the way, Em turned and launched herself toward the mineshaft entrance.

Jeremy stood shocked at her speed as Meriah spoke. “She left us behind…”

Kooco chirped a series of affirmations, if Jeremy was to guess, as he speed-walked after her.

Entering the gaping cave entrance was an unsettling experience. The early morning light faded away in but a few steps, leaving them in pitch-black darkness. Thankfully, they had some time to prepare.

Meriah lit a torch and held it aloft, lighting their immediate surroundings and revealing the glinting metallic form of Em standing not but a few feet away. Her pale white skin, grin, and ruby-red eyes sent a shiver down Jeremy's spine.

The torchlight flickered across her eyes as she spoke with a little too much excitement. “Time for adventure!”