CHAPTER 98: AN EYE IN THE STONE

"I can’t contact any of them!" Leila’s voice cracks. She’s gripping her phone so tight her knuckles are white. Her face is pale, and she’s close to tears.

"Sweetheart, calm down. The fact that they’re all gone means they’re together. They have each other." Maurice holds her tightly.

"Lei, Maurice is right. Please don’t think the worst. I can’t contact Liam either. I’m sure he’s with them," Miranda tries to soothe Leila.

"Aunt Leila, my brother disappears like this all the time. No notes, no messages. Just—poof. Sometimes for days. And he always comes back." Claudia adds gently.

The four of them are at Montrose Estate.

It all started a few hours ago, when Leila decided to look for Julian. She knew Arthur, Thea, and Liam had gone out; Maurice saw them leave in Arthur’s car.

So Leila and Maurice went ahead to dinner.

Later, she realized she hadn’t seen Julian since he left for the lab that morning.

She tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail. At first, she didn’t worry; Julian could protect himself.

But as the clock crept closer to midnight, and she still couldn’t reach any of her children, her worry grew.

By 2 a.m., she panicked.

She woke Maurice and called Miranda, who immediately came with Claudia.

"You can’t contact Liam either?" Leila asks Miranda.

Her best friend shakes her head. "Like Claudia said, he does this, Lei. Don’t worry."

Leila turns to Maurice. "Is there a report of a rogue dungeon in Arvion again?"

Maurice shakes his head. "Not that I know of."

Seeing her expression, he adds, "I’ll go check," and goes to get his tab.

Miranda shifts closer and takes Leila into her arms.

"Hey, it’s okay. Believe in your children. Remember what Arthur did when he was eleven?" Miranda gently rubs her friend’s back, soothing her.

Leila swallows and closes her eyes, trying hard to calm down.

"I remember, Mir. Of course I do. How can I forget? But this brings back memories of Thea before her coma."

She starts crying again. "I’m afraid something happened to her again."

"Ssh. Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. Ssh, Lei."

Maurice returns shortly, tab in hand.

"Well?" Leila asks, sniffling.

His face says everything. "I can’t track any of them."

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While Leila and the others are worrying themselves sick, Julian is sleeping like a baby, with Maeve also sleeping soundly not far from him.

Arthur and Liam, meanwhile, are meditating under Aldriana’s watch.

They finished their very basic Magic Theory 101 earlier and are now eager to try feeling the mana that is supposedly everywhere in the dungeon.

Aldriana is half meditating, half sleeping. She wants to knock out completely, but she doesn’t want to leave her students unattended. And she’s cursing inwardly at these two idiots who are so enthusiastic about learning magic that they chose to meditate instead of sleeping.

Argh! I guess this is my own fault for telling them they have high resonance. Aldriana curses herself.

But I wasn’t lying. They do have high resonance. It’s amazing.

She opens her eyes and looks toward where Julian and Maeve are sleeping.

Should I check theirs too? Just to get a better grasp? But... how is it that the residents have high magic resonance, while there’s almost no mana?

Aldriana can’t figure it out, and she’s far too sleepy to care.

She glares at Arthur and Liam. There’s Idiot One and Idiot Two.

Rustle.

Aldriana yawns wide. This is not happening. I really need to sleep.

Rustle. Rustle.

She stretches her neck and shoulders, trying to wake her muscles.

Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.

She snaps her head toward the noise. It’s outside.

She scans the area with her mana and catches something strange. A lump of mana... and it’s... moving?!

She gets up silently and walks toward the cave entrance, keeping her senses locked onto that shifting blob of energy.

When she reaches the barrier, she slips through it like it’s nothing. It was never there to stop her.

Outside, without any light orbs, the world is nearly pitch black, but Aldriana sees the mana shape perfectly. She moves closer, stops about four meters away, and flicks her hand.

The mana lump lifts off the ground and floats slowly toward her.

Soon, Aldriana can see it with her eyes.

She stares at it in disbelief. No wonder I detected a lump of mana.

It’s a human-sized lump made of many heartstones. Which instantly rings alarms in her head.

Heartstones are not supposed to show up before the Dungeon King is defeated. What’s going on?

Aldriana slows the heartstone lump’s movement.

Hm, it’s not possible. This lump of heartstones radiates heat from the inside, as if... NO WAY!

Aldriana immediately brings it closer and summons a small light orb to see better.

The lump hovers in front of her. She examines it inch by inch.

And when she reaches one side, she jerks backward, gasping loudly.

A human eye is staring right at her!

What in the actual hell?!

That eye moves, following her... and blinks.

Then a tear slips out of the corner.

Aldriana immediately scans the heartstones with higher magic. And she cannot believe it. There is a human inside the heartstones. But the human and the heartstones are fused together. It’s impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.

"How is this possible... and who did this to you?"

"Hey! Can you hear me? Can you understand me?" Aldriana tries to communicate.

"Blink once if you can hear me."

Blink.

"I’m going to ask again. I don’t want it to be a coincidence. Blink twice if you don’t know who I am."

Blink. Blink.

"Oh my god! It— it— it’s impossible! How is— how did this happen?!"

The barrier only blocks physical threats; it doesn’t mute sound.

Arthur, hearing Aldriana’s shocked gasp and her rising panic, opens his eyes. He glances to his side. Liam is still deep in meditation, completely gone to the world.

Arthur scans the cave. No Aldriana. Then he hears her voice near the entrance:

"Hey, blink once for yes and twice for no."

Arthur gets up fast. Who is she talking to? He checks Julian — still sleeping soundly near Maeve.

The voice is definitely coming from the entrance.

Arthur moves lightly but cautiously toward it.

"Can you breathe?" he hears her ask.

Arthur spots Aldriana’s silhouette and quickens his steps.

Then—

BANG!

He slams straight into the barrier.

Aldriana jumps and whips around. "Are you okay? What are you doing? You know there’s a shield here, right?"

Arthur is rubbing his forehead, eyes watering... until he finally sees what’s floating in front of her.

His jaw drops.

"What is that?"

"Yes, that’s what I’m trying to find out. Come here." She flicks her hand, dropping the barrier.

Arthur steps beside her and gets a clear view of the thing.

A lump of fused heartstones.

A human eye embedded inside it.

Blinking at them. Crying.