"Something is moving," Reith murmured, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear him.

Elder Fox, who had been accustomed to so many battles and clashes, instead activated his gauntlets.

He was a body-type cultivator, and his techniques focused on hand-to-hand combat, which was why he always carried his gauntlets around wherever he went.

Before anyone could speak, a hiss rolled out from the shadows.

Two shapes slid from the darkness with a slow, deliberate rhythm.

At first Reith thought they were mountain snakes, but as they slithered into the lantern glow, he saw slick bodies ending in clawed limbs. Their eyes gleamed pale blue, reflecting the dim light.

"Tunnel wraiths," Cassia breathed, and she drew her small dagger with a steady hand.

Max cursed under his breath and shifted to guard Milly and Cassia. His Hana core was rotating, glowing faintly as it prepared to fire in the next breath.

Reith's body tingled with Hana energy. Amongst them all, he was the most excited, especially because this was the first time he would be able to test out his new moves against real enemies.

The creatures moved with deliberate grace, their scales scraping across the stone floor and walls. The sound sent a chill through the chamber.

"Back against the wall," Elder Fox ordered. "Do not give them room, or they will slip into the stone and snatch at you with those sharp claws."

Tia pushed Milly behind her and drew a short dagger from her sleeve. She stood ready with a grim look on her face.

Her eyes flickered to Elder Fox for a brief moment. He was the one who had led them here.

If anything happened to Milly, she would not hesitate to kill him.

The first beast lunged. Cassia met it with a quick slash, but the blade glanced off its scales. The second darted toward Reith, yet Max was already prepared. He fired a ball of fire toward the wraith, trapping it in what looked like a cage of flame.

"Get back, boy," he called at Reith as he began to work, ensuring that the cage was shrinking inch by inch.

Seeing that it had no escape, the second wraith screeched wildly, as though calling its brother for help.

Hearing the pained cries from his kin, the first and larger tunnel wraith dodged Cassia's hit and moved to reach its brother.

"Leave it to me," Reith said. He was already ahead, gathering Hana energy around himself.

After focusing and shaping the energy into a ball, he looked at the tunnel wraith. In a flash, the ball of Hana transformed into a long lightning rod, whipping itself toward the creature and striking its flank.

A sharp squeal filled the chamber. The wraith recoiled, its claws scraping sparks from the stones. It looked like it wanted to dig back into the tunnel.

But that was only what everyone thought.

Much to their surprise, the wraith sprang forward again. This time Reith shifted, letting the Hana coil into a whip. He cracked it across the beast's head, and it collapsed with a dull thud, smoke rising from the wound.

Meanwhile, Max pressed the other wraith back, clenching his fist and reducing the space between the bars of the fire cage until the creature was forced still.

It was not long before the wraith burned into a crisp and turned to ashes.

When the first creature tried to retreat toward the pit, Reith snapped his whip once more. The crack echoed off the walls. The wraith fell still at last.

Silence settled over the chamber, broken only by the steady drip of water from somewhere above.

Milly peeked out from behind Tia, her eyes filled with a proud gaze.

"I taught you quite well," she said to Reith.

He nodded, though his heart still raced. "And you have my thanks. I thought I was about to die."

The gauntlet man examined the fallen creatures with a wary expression. "They could be scouts, like what we faced the other time. If there are two, there may be more hiding nearby."

Max wiped his blade on a torn cloth. "Tunnel wraiths are rare in the Azure Region since they are not fans of the water. I would have loved to harvest a few things, but we barely have time. We need to leave here quickly."

They left the bodies where they lay and pressed deeper. The tunnel sloped downward until the air grew warmer and damp. Strange roots hung from cracks, each giving off a faint pulse that beat like a hidden heart.

Reith looked at them through his Hana sight, and his eyes widened. Those roots were laced with bright green Hana lines, which meant they had to be highly valuable.

The group reached a narrow bridge over a black channel. On the far side, the passage before them opened to what looked like bright daylight spilling through a jagged gap.

"We are close," the gauntlet man said, his voice steady but alert.

Cassia frowned. "It looks too easy. If I were laying an ambush, this is where I would wait." She was an assassin, and this felt like some sort of trap, yet her sharpened senses were not picking anything.

As if on cue, a voice called from above. "Hold where you are."

Figures stepped into view along a rocky ledge, their weapons aimed at the travelers. They wore clothes dyed in gray and green, the colors of House Vhal.

The group stiffened. Tia moved subtly, placing herself between the princess and the threat while trying to push her back to safety.

A tall man with a scarred cheek spoke in a commanding tone. "That is some fine cloth material for people creeping through tunnels like thieves. Explain yourselves."

Max raised his hands slowly. "We are escorting a caravan," he lied smoothly. "Our employer feared the streets, so we were sent to scout the lower area and find out if it is suitable."

Walking forward, he looked directly at the officer who had spoken. "But we need to get back and tell him that this place is a very bad route. The tunnel wraiths here almost killed us." Max turned on his charm so well that even people in his group almost believed the story.

The scarred man seemed deep in thought. "So that is where the noise was coming from. You could have asked our guards to lead you safely across," he said with a small smile.

Then his eyes swept over the group, lingering on Milly despite the hood. With a sharp glare, he pointed at her.

"That is not a merchant's cloak."

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