"What's wrong with me? More like what's wrong with you! Are you really willing to live all your life on the sidelines, letting others risk their lives for you? Back at the academy, the three of us stood through thick and thin, but now I'm just a dead weight.
"What if something happens to one of them because I'm not strong enough to be of help?"
"It would be nobody's fault but the Odi's. They were the monsters that…"
"Really? Blaming dead people for our own incompetence? Would you be able to say such words if something happens to Professor Yondra or would you blame her teammates for letting her die?" Quylla cut Rainer short, making him turn pale at the idea.
"I would blame her teammates." He admitted after a second.
"Great. At least we're on the same page about you being a coward."
"I'm not a coward! You have no idea what I had to endure at the Black Griffon just to survive my fourth year during Balkor's attack, not to mention the mana poisoning and the hazing from my peers.
"I choose the academic career because I was sick and tired of fighting. I choose Forgemastering because it's a challenge with yourself rather than others. Does that make me a coward?" He asked.
"No." Quylla replied with a warm smile.
"That makes you a coward who dares patting himself on the back!" Just like her mother, she would always caress before landing a death blow. "Cry me a river, I've survived the same events you speak of, and if it wasn't for Nalear's betrayal, I would be able to fight alongside them instead of being this…."
Quylla waved at herself, unable to express the self-loathe she felt. After attempting at Jirni's life and killing Yurial, she had refused to learn offensive spells because she felt guilty for being still alive while so many had died that day.
Because she was afraid that another Nalear would come and force her to hurt the people she loved again. Yet after Phloria almost died in her arms, after seeing Lith and Phloria risk their lives time and time again to protect her, Quylla had changed her mind.
She wasn't angry at Rainer so much as at herself. Quylla was so harsh with him only because he had made her same choices. She had focused solely on Healing and Forgemastering for the same reasons Rainer did.
"Oh Gods, I'm so sorry. I forgot you are from the White Griffon." Rainer said, realizing his blunder.
"I'll accept your apologies only if you accept mine." Quylla replied. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you, it's just that before this trip, I've never realized how helpless I am and it's driving me crazy."
She apologized to him again before turning around and entering the women's quarters. Rainer stood there for a while, unable to stop thinking about Professor Yondra.
'She is the only family I have ever had and she has supported me during my academy years. How can I be happy to be left behind after she had almost died for saving me from that fungus? How can I be so relaxed despite the fact that she might not return from Kulah? Maybe Quylla is reckless, but I'm really an idiot.'
***
The following day, the Professors, Lith, and Phloria entered the first building together, leaving all the soldiers and the Assistants behind the protection of the arrays.
Since the Weapon Research Center, the second building, had collapsed, Phloria had decided it was best to clear at least one facility before splitting the group again. Now that the pseudo-Balor was dead, nothing stopped them from moving forward.
Behind the door, there was the usual metal corridor. A huge plaque was hung above the entrance and several doors led inside what looked like hospital rooms. Part of the walls was comprised of reinforced glass panels that allowed the group to look inside.
"What's written on the plaque?" Lith asked.
"Body Modification Center." Professor Gaakhu replied, grimacing in disgust.
While the Professors scanned the corridor for traps and arrays, Lith used Life Vision to search for any life force. His sight was partially blinded by the mana coursing through the building, but he was quite confident they were alone.
Each room had a single bed and was quite spacious. It would have put the White Griffon VIP ward to shame if the beds didn't have multiple means of restraint and the inner walls weren't heavily padded.
Lith used Invigoration on the nearest wall, to confirm his hypothesis.
'Each wall is half a meter (16.5 feet) thick and enchanted to be soundproof. There is no offensive spell nor array. This must be a psychiatric ward of sorts.' He thought.
"Something is off." Professor Yondra said. "This is too clean to be a place for members of the 'lesser races', I mean only one bed per room?"
"Agreed." Ellkas said. "The lack of safety measures is disturbing too. The paddings usually are to protect the patient from themselves and the Odi do not strike me as caring."
The corridor was U shaped, ending with an administrative office and a reinforced door with no signs. Half of the team run through the files in the office while the rest examined the door.
"Judging from its position and the size of the nearby room, the door must lead downstairs." Phloria said. Once again, disabling the arrays only required to pull the plug, but a password was still required to safely open the door.
"No bets this time." Morok said. "One mistake and we'll have more Golems on our tail and another collapsed building once we defeat them."
"It's worse than that. There are more arrays on the other side of the door. Triggering them might be even worse than Golems."
Lith used Invigoration on the door, even spotting the cable fueling them. He sent a stand of mana as thin as a hair through the door, having care of moving it slow and easy as he looked out for alarms.
Unfortunately, the arrays on the other side completely sealed the door, blocking even light, sound, and mana. As soon as the spirit magic strand touched them, Lith felt their power change.
He had been delicate enough that the defensive system had mistaken his mana for an energy fluctuation and was trying to restore the balance. Lith made the strand disappear and everything returned to normal.
He then focused on the holographic pad and much to his surprise, he could see how the mana composing each letter was linked to a specific quadrant of the display.
Most of them went straight for a single relay, whereas a few of them were connected to two different relays.
'The good news is that I know what characters the password is made of, the bad news is that I have no idea about their order, if they have to be repeated, and more importantly how the heck I can share the information with the others.' He thought.
The metal cylinders of the lock were also connected to the arrays on both sides of the door, making it impossible to move them by force.
Lith was out of options, and due to the limited space, only two people could examine the door at once without their spells interfering with each other. He left his spot to Neshal, letting her coordinate her efforts with Yondra's.
He beckoned Phloria to come close and conjured a Hush spell to not be overheard.
"Good gods! Get a room already! There's plenty of beds and the doors aren't locked. I checked." Morok said.
