AN HOUR LATER
ALEXANDER
The rest of the market trip was almost boring. Almost as Scarlet had found proper healing supplies, Noa had bought enough knives to start a small war, Rosalia had silently selected ammunition and black gloves without explaining why, and Isabella had sohow managed to buy travel cloaks that were both practical and, according to her, "emotionally inspiring." I had the lantern, A normal lantern, A blessedly normal, useful, non cursed lantern. I was holding onto that fact with both hands.
"Is this enough?"Scarlet asked, looking over the supplies.
"Enough for what?"I muttered.
"Surviving."She smiled softly.
"You all keep using that word like the cave is going to eat us."I stared at her.
"It might."Noa adjusted her pack.
Rosalia stepped beside , checking the weight of her gun once more."That is not reassuring."
"Then we shoot it."She said.
"That is not how caves work." I sighed.
"It should be."She added.
I almost had a reply for that, but Isabella waved a hand in front of my face before I could.
"Co on! Crystal Caverns are waiting!"Isabella said happily.
"That sentence feels like a warning."I said.
"It is!"Isabella nodded.
"Of course it is."I sighed.
We left the city just after noon. The road out was long, mostly quiet, and blessedly free of disaster for exactly twenty-seven minutes. After that, Isabella started talking about "travel snacks," Scarlet started actually planning travel snacks, Noa started calculating how many snacks could be used as ergency rations, and Rosalia quietly asked whether snacks counted as morale support. I was beginning to suspect the answer was yes. Then the road changed. We were walking along a narrow stretch between rocky hills when the system suddenly flickered in the corner of my vision.
"DING."The system reached us again.
"No."I stopped walking.
Everyone looked at instantly.
"Master?"Scarlet tilted her head.
A translucent marker appeared above the road ahead. Not a map, not exactly. A symbol, a fractured line splitting into two directions. The symbol hovered in the air like soone had carved a warning into reality itself.
"What is that?"I stared at it.
"A route split marker."Noa narrowed her eyes.
Michael’s hidden guards, who had been trailing far enough back to pretend they were not trailing us, imdiately went rigid. One of them whispered, just loud enough for to hear.
"That is not on the guild route map."He said.
"That ans there is a branching path nearby."The other swallowed hard.
"Ooh! Secret route?"Isabella leaned forward eagerly.
"No."The guard said instantly. "Absolutely not."
"It feels wrong."Rosalia’s expression changed slightly.
"The symbol is new," Noa said. "It wasn’t here before."
I looked from the symbol to the road and back again.
The path ahead was cracked in two directions now. One side was the main road toward the Crystal caverns. The other vanished between jagged stones and a narrow pass that should not have been there.
"I hate hidden roads."I rubbed my face.
"Because they usually lead to trouble."Scarlet glanced at .
"Because they always lead to trouble."I nodded.
"Probability of anomaly is high."The sword in my head humd softly.
"I DIDN’T ASK YOU."I sighed.
The route split symbol pulsed once, then, from sowhere deeper in the narrow pass, I heard it. A whimper, soft, broken. Almost human. I froze because everyone else heard it too. Noa’s hand moved to her weapon, Rosalia raised her gun slightly, Scarlet’s light sharpened. Isabella looked excited and worried at the sa ti, which was sohow the worst possible expression combination.
"That is not supposed to be there."The hidden guard behind us went pale.
I stared at the dark pass and very carefully, I took one step toward it.
"Alexander."Scarlet warned softly.
"I know."I said.
The whimper ca again closer this ti.
"I really hate that I always hear crying in places I shouldn’t enter."I swallowed.
"If it is dangerous, I shoot first."Rosalia moved beside .
"I know."I said.
The split road symbol flickered again and the path on the right vanished entirely. Leaving only the narrow dark passage ahead. I exhaled slowly.
"Well." I muttered. "That looks like a terrible idea."
"So naturally you are going to walk into it."Noa gave a flat look.
I looked at the dark path, then at the Crystal Caverns in the distance, then back at the symbol. The whimper echoed again, I tightened my grip on the lantern.
"Yeah."I said and stepped forward.
The broken road kept narrowing until it felt less like a path and more like a cut in reality. I stepped forward with the lantern raised, light shaking slightly in my hand. The air was wrong here, like it forgot how to stay still. Behind , I could hear the others moving carefully, boots scraping stone, weapons half raised.
"Stay close."Scarlet said quietly.
"I am already regretting this."I muttered.
The guard behind us suddenly stopped.
"No, no, no..."He whispered. "This is not possible."
"What now?"I turned slightly.
He was staring into the darkness ahead, face draining of color.
"That marker... it shouldn’t stabilize this deep."He said.
The split road symbol flickered above us again, then sharpened like it had locked onto sothing. Then the whimper ca again, but this ti it stopped being distant. It was right in front of and sothing dropped from the dark. A shape landed on the stone without sound, black feathers, wrong silhouette. Like a raven drawn by soone who only saw it once in a nightmare. It tilted its head.
"That is not a natural creature!"The guard made a choking sound.
"Ooh, bird?"Isabella asked.
"No."Noa said flatly. "That is not a bird."
The creature stepped closer, then it looked at and walked straight up my arm like gravity had decided I belonged to it. It settled on my shoulder and it rubbed its beak against my cheek.
"Why is everything choosing today?"I froze.
"That is an A-rank anomaly signature... I have seen reports... that thing should not approach humans!"The guard took a step back.
"It is not attacking."Scarlet’s light flickered slightly.
"It is bonding."Noa said slowly.
The system suddenly snapped into existence in my vision. A translucent panel unfolded in front of .
"Monster identification complete. Aiko, type: raven based anomaly. Rank: A-rank. Status: resonance bond initiated. Effect: enhanced perception in darkness. Compatibility: user synchronization increasing."The system explained.
"You have got to be kidding ."I stared at it.
The bird chirped softly against my cheek like it approved of the ssage.
"That thing just chose you!"The guard suddenly pointed at .
"I DID NOT APPLY FOR THIS."I sighed.
Rosalia stepped closer, watching the creature carefully.
"It is calm near you."She said.
"That is not comforting!"I groaned.
"It seems protective."Scarlet tilted her head.
"That is how problems begin."Noa narrowed her eyes.
"That is going to escalate. That ALWAYS escalates."The guard backed up again.
"Level increase detected. USER LEVEL: 7 to 8."The system flickered again.
The bird flapped once, then settled again like it had done sothing normal. I just stood there.
"I gained a level from being head butted by a nightmare raven."I groaned.
"That is amazing!"Isabella clapped.
"It is NOT amazing!"I gasped in annoyance.
"It chose you."Rosalia’s gaze softened slightly.
"I am writing a full report. I am writing FIVE reports. I am writing my resignation."The guard looked like he wanted to quit his job in real ti.
The broken road behind us creaked again, the path ahead deepened into darkness, and Aiko stayed on my shoulder as it had always been there. Completely satisfied and completely permanent. It seems that we just got a new companion without even asking for it, and it will be a new part of our troubles, is it?
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