Ikku looked at Carla, still bewildered by what she had just done.
"Carla… does that mean you…"
"Yes, Ikku," she replied with a smile. "I finally feel ready. Well… if you still want me, of course…"
"Of course I do," Ikku exclaimed. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
He took her in his arms. Around them, the world seemed to slow; the moment felt fragile and theirs alone. But it was soon interrupted by Ilia, who approached by stepping over the bodies lying on the ground.
"Really sorry to spoil your moment," he said, embarrassed. "But I think the others are waiting."
"He's right," Ikku said. "Carla, can you walk?"
"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry," she answered.
"All right, then let's go."
They quickly rejoined Kenny and Yumé, who had used the lull to free the captured slaves. Emotion still hung in the air.
"What was that?" Kenny asked, still in shock.
"A mantra," Carla replied.
"Yeah, I guessed that," Kenny said. "But where did you learn it? I don't see any mantra scrolls on you."
"No need," Carla said, showing a thin wooden bracelet on her wrist. "It's made from Yggdrasil wood. And the Nexus archives are full of lessons and explanations about mantras."
Ikku, worried about the slaves, spoke up.
"What do we do for them?"
"They don't seem hurt, and the bandits can't harm them anymore. They should be able to return home," Kenny said.
One of the freed slaves stepped forward, bowed, and couldn't stop his tears from falling.
"Thank you so much for what you did. We will never forget this."
"It's nothing," Yumé replied softly. "Do you live far from here?"
"In the village of Bova," the young man said. "It's near Saymar… I mean Mekira now. Bova refused to be absorbed by Mekira, so King Riku sent slave hunters into our village. I don't even know if returning home is a good idea… maybe it would be safer to accept Mekira's offer."
Ikku shook his head, certain of his advice.
"You don't need to do that. Saymar has become an independent province again. Go there, look for the LVD quarter, and tell them you come from Ikku. Tell them your story; they'll help you."
The young man looked relieved, almost incredulous.
"Really?" he said. "All right, we'll go right away, thank you so much! What are your names?"
"I'm Ikku. She's Carla. The big one is Kenny; the other is Yumé; and he's Ilia."
"We will never forget your names," the young man said, his voice trembling.
They shared the food they had, then the group set off toward Saymar.
"Now, where to next?" Ikku asked Ilia. Ilia pointed calmly toward an opening in the rock.
"You see that cave? That's the path to my home."
"That's it?" Kenny asked, surprised.
"The route is very long," Ilia explained. "It will take at least a month of walking. There are special fruits that only grow in this cave, some creatures, and underground springs."
"Let's go!" Ikku shouted, excited.
They entered the throat of the earth. Soon daylight no longer reached them and darkness swallowed them. The air grew cooler and denser; the echo of their steps rang on the damp stone.
"We didn't think about that," Carla murmured.
"I did," Kenny replied. "Yumé"
"Okay, I got it," Yumé said.
Yumé raised two fingers that glowed like a small torch.
"Good idea," Ikku said.
"Don't do that!" Ilia shouted.
Before they could understand why, a swarm of bats dove at them. Panicked, Yumé cut his power and threw himself to the ground; the others followed. The racket lasted a moment, then silence returned. They all stood up, shaken but unharmed.
"Okay, anyone got another idea?" Kenny asked, regaining his composure.
"Ilia?" Ikku said.
"It's simple," Ilia answered. "Use Karma."
"Karma?" Kenny repeated.
"Yes. What you call spiritual energy. Extend it and use it as a second skin. That way you'll know exactly where you're stepping."
Ilia spread his energy. They all felt it: a soft presence, an expanded awareness covering a radius of six to seven meters around him. He walked with confidence, avoiding each pebble and stalactite without effort.
"You see?" he said. "It's well within your reach."
They tried to imitate the technique. Ikku could barely extend his energy two meters. Carla managed about the same. Yumé had more success and reached four meters; Kenny fell between them at three meters.
"This is much harder than I imagined," Carla admitted.
"Yeah," Kenny agreed.
"You're doing well," Ilia reassured them.
They continued. After five minutes, exhaustion pinned them again, the exercise was more taxing than they'd expected.
Ikku panted, breath short.
"Ilia… ha… ha… can you… ha… ha… stay in that… state… without problem?"
"Of course," Ilia replied. "The Topura clan lives underground. There's so little light that subterranean creatures hardly use sight; they've honed their other senses. To survive, we sharpened our perceptions, and Karma is the sense we developed most."
"You mean anyone of you can do that?" Kenny asked, out of breath.
"Exactly. But I saw you fight; I saw your skill. Don't worry, you'll get used to it quickly."
"Yeah… we'll see about that," Yumé said skeptically.
Their pace settled: ten minutes walking, five minutes rest. After an hour they needed a full hour's break. At that rate, Kenny made a grim calculation.
"At this speed, it'll take us well over a month to get there," he said.
"We're off to a bad start," Ikku admitted. "The brigands were the only problem, right?"
"Not really," Ilia replied. "We've entered the underground realm. There are many dangerous creatures."
"Oh? What kind of creatures?" Yumé asked.
Ilia couldn't finish. He felt something approaching and stood up suddenly.
"Like these," he said in a low voice. "Dograma, underground gorillas. Be very careful. It's better to flee."
"Flee?" Ikku repeated. "And what, miss out on the fun? I'm used to wild beasts."
"Yes, but the problem is we can't see anything," Carla said, panic rising in her voice.
"Then we have no choice," Kenny said. "We'll have to use Ilia's technique to defend ourselves."
"But we can't hold it for more than five minutes," Yumé warned.
"Then either we beat them in under five minutes, or we get better."
"There they are!" Ilia announced.
The ground trembled slightly; in the darkness massive shapes formed and a deep rumble filled the cave. The fight was about to begin.