The scene almost seemed to hide an elaborate ploy, but the randomness of the holes gave off a different vibe. It felt strange how only the regions that the Niqols didn't keep in check by their methods had been affected by that strange phenomenon. Still, those cavities and cracks didn't reveal any specific pattern or shape.
Khan didn't feel confident enough in his knowledge of the Niqols' species to come up with a failproof conclusion. He let his mind remain open to every possibility as he tried his best to memorize the scenes witnessed from high in the sky.
Doku picked the cubical item meant to communicate with his companions and gave precise orders. Khan didn't have one of those, but he was in the backlines of the group, so Snow could simply follow along.
The Aduns descended until they could hover above their destination and inspect the area from a safe position. The flowers shown by Doku's items were still there, and the same went for the pinkish ones, but the Niqols in the lead brought the group outside of that region instead of landing.
Doku made the group perform a complete inspection of the surrounding regions to see how far the strange phenomenon stretched. Khan didn't need a communicator to confirm that the presence of the holes was unexpected. The Niqols even corroborated his guess once the team landed outside the areas affected by that strange damage.
"It clearly is the result of animals that live underground," Doku announced once everyone landed in the uneven plain covered by short grass that stood before one of the damaged lands around the target.
Doku was quite easygoing inside the academy. He even organized most of the parties and took care of producing the pink drinks, but no one would ever describe him as unreliable. The Niqols was able to retain his noble aura even when he was sleeping drunk on the ground.
That feature only intensified during a mission. Doku could appear serious without causing any tension in his underlings. He had a peculiar character, but he was suitable for his role as a squad leader.
"Monsters?" Khan asked as everyone stared at the holes in the distance.
"That's unclear," Doku stated before turning toward Khan. "Do you mind taking care of the frontlines?"
"No problem," Khan announced while performing a few squats to warm up his legs.
"Zeliha, how is your sensitivity to mana today?" Doku continued while glancing at a short female Niqols at his side.
The girl appeared younger than her peers. She was short, her figure was thin, and her body had yet to develop fully. Her white hair was longer than her companions and almost reached her knees. It managed to stay away from her seemingly distracted gaze only because she combed it into multiple braids and tied some of them into a ponytail.
"[Best in The Pure Trees]," Zeliha proudly exclaimed as her gaze continued to wander.
Khan inspected the skinny girl before shooting a curious gaze toward Doku. He had understood her words. He only wanted to confirm that she was telling the truth.
"She is a genius when it comes to sensitivity to mana," Doku quickly explained. "She is so good that the professors threw her into the second year even if her control had yet to touch the proper requirements. Though she is good there too now."
"[Isn't the human going to slow me down]?" Zaliha asked without ever focusing on her companions.
"[That's a funny choice of words]," Doku laughed before realizing that Khan didn't get those last words. "She is honored to work with you."
Doku wasn't even trying to hide his lie, but Khan limited himself to reveal a reassuring smile. He knew that his presence there could appear strange for some Niqols, especially in a mission so connected to their culture. The possible dangers ahead only intensified their worries, and the rumors about Khan's feats weren't enough to quell them.
Khan could feel relatively certain that the professors had sent only noteworthy figures in the mission after learning about Zeliha. That decision sounded reasonable with the daylight getting closer, but the team remained small.
Doku didn't need to give the exact order, but Khan and Zeliha understood their task right away. The two of them would make the perfect scouting pair if they managed to work together. Khan's speed and Zeliha's sensitivity to mana would allow them to take care and sense threats before eventual encirclements happened.
Liiza didn't like that Doku had assigned that dangerous role to Khan again. She trusted his prowess and battle experience, but he would still be the first to face eventual threats. Nevertheless, her feelings didn't appear on her face, and she directly took her position in the backlines without needing orders.
Liiza's ice was the deadliest weapon among the students of the academy, but she needed to prepare to cast it. She already knew that Doku would put her in the backlines to make sure that the others would have the chance to buy time for her if the situation required it.
The other Niqols created a line that connected Khan and Zeliha to Liiza. Doku and the last student in the second year took their place right behind the frontlines. The boy's name was Bashir. He was tall and slender, his face featured caved in cheeks and sharp edges, and his hands were on a sheathed short sword at his side.
Azni and the other two students in the first year were right in front of Liiza. They would be the last line of defense in case the group ended up requiring her ice. Khan knew the other two Niqols as Elbek and Asyat, and he felt pleasantly surprised to see that calm and concentration filled their eyes in that situation.
Khan had known Elbek and Asyat during one of Doku's parties, and their condition during the event wouldn't normally make him trust them when it came to a battle. Yet, they appeared confident in their abilities, and their presence confirmed that their feeling wasn't a pretense.
The distribution between the years in the academy didn't describe the actual battle prowess of the students. It only defined their level of expertise in the three major fields connected to mana, which was the very reason behind those mixed teams.
The group advanced until they reached the ground started featuring those cavities, cracks, and holes. Most of them were too narrow for Khan and the others, and a quick inspection revealed that they led deep underground. Their actual depth was impossible to understand from the surface, but Doku kept his companions focused on a simple study of the area for now.
"[The Ugu didn't cause this]," Asyat whispered. "[I can think of a few species that live underground, but some tunnels too narrow for most of them. I bet we are against worms or creatures with a similar size]."
"[Why did they avoid the flowery plain]?" Doku asked. "[It doesn't make sense to ignore that spot. It should be their target even]."
"[Maybe they don't like the numbing properties of the flowers]," Asyat replied.
"[Why did they even set their lair here then]?" Doku responded. "[They can easily dig a home somewhere else]."
"[How should I even know]?" Asyat complained.
"[Your tribe studies the fauna for a living]!" Doku exclaimed.
"[We have yet to learn how to talk with animals]!" Asyat snorted. "[We don't even know which mutations have affected this species. How am I supposed to come up with a general overview of its behavior]?"
Khan paid attention to the conversation between the boy and the girl, but he only managed to gain a vague understanding of the discussed topics. The Niqols found it hard to talk about the various species through human words, so they preferred to use their language and translate for Khan once they reached a conclusion.
"[I only want you to tell me if the path ahead is safe]," Doku explained. "[We are strong enough to face a monster or two, but I don't want to send us into a place without escape routes]."
Asyat hesitated to give an answer. Her tribe had instructed her about the general behavior of the various species on Nitis, but that knowledge became unreliable when the mutation came into play. Everything about a Tainted animal could change once it developed new features and abilities.
"[We should be safe on the surface]," Asyat eventually stated. "[This species didn't eat the flowers, which probably means that it's using them. I can't guess anything more than this]."
Doku didn't appear satisfied about that vague answer, and Khan understood why after Bashir gave him a brief summary of the conversation.
The issue was with the unclear behavior of the species that had dug those tunnels. The group couldn't understand the purpose behind that lair when the most valuable resource in the area was still intact. When they thought about it, Khan and the others couldn't even determine whether the Tainted animals were still in those lands.
The mission would have been easier to approach if the target weren't in such a troublesome position. Yet, the pinkish flowers were right at the center of the only intact area, and regions filled with holes and tunnels occupied its surroundings. That strange layout could end up being a trap that would leave the group with no way out.
Doku had the last word on the matter. It was his role to decide if the mission appeared too dangerous for his group. Asyat's lines continued to resound in his mind as he thought about the situation, and a conclusion eventually became clear.
"Let's be quick about it," Doku ordered in the human language. "We'll leave the roots underground and collect only the flowers before leaving the area as fast as we can."
"The roots are the most valuable part of the flowers," Bashir complained.
"I know that, okay?" Doku scoffed. "But I won't put us at risk. Our lives are more important than a single batch."
Khan could almost hear the words that the Niqols decided not to say. Normally, the presence of an unknown danger would force the group to reconsider the mission and contact their superiors to determine how to handle the situation.
However, time was short due to the incoming daylight. Khan could guess that the Niqols were trying to accumulate materials useful in medical fields before the unavoidable crisis, and that forced them to be more reckless.
The incoming daylight was the only reason why Doku had even considered continuing the mission. He didn't want to charge blindly toward the flowery plain, but the settlements near the academy might suffer from a shortage of meds during the crisis if his group didn't seize that batch now.
Picking only the flowers and leaving the roots behind wasn't an ideal solution, but it could cover part of the required materials while reducing the dangers connected to the mission. After all, the underground world might not notice their actions until it was too late if they only seized half of each plant.
The Niqols quickly understood Doku's reasons, but none of them could find the right words for Khan. They found themselves unable to justify their decision without talking about the daylight. Luckily for them, Khan played along.
"It's better if we hurry, isn't it?" Khan chuckled, showing a smile that revealed no flaws.
Relief filled his companions when they saw that he didn't need other explanations. Still, Doku and Azni felt bad about keeping Khan in the dark. As for Liiza, she felt as if daggers were stabbing her heart when she saw how perfect Khan's pretense was. She couldn't help but suffer when she realized how used her boyfriend was to lying.
Of course, Liiza, Doku, and Azni didn't reveal anything, and the same went for their expressions. The group could soon proceed forward and pick up their pace as they ran through the uneven and cracked plain while paying attention to their surroundings.
The regions featuring holes and tunnels were deadly silent. The noise created by the group's faint steps resembled thunder that disrupted the silence, but nothing reacted to those sounds.
The group could sprint through those areas in less than an hour and reach the flowery plain safely. Khan and the others had silently decided not to speak to limit their noise to the minimum, and they had all seen the area at least once, so they could move toward their pink targets without uttering words.
The tension that had fallen among the group intensified when they reached the pinkish flowers, and that feeling only grew stronger when they started to rip them in half. Khan and the others expected something to happen whenever their actions generated rustling noises, but everything continued to remain still.
Bashir, Elbek, and Azni had large backpacks behind their backs that their companions didn't hesitate to fill with the torn pistils. There were only eight of them on the scene, and the hill was quite big, but they managed to gather everything in no time.
The hill appeared barren after the students completed their work. Torn stems continued to come out of the dark ground, and the absence of the pink color filled the area with a depressing feeling.
The group didn't waste time on that scene. They turned toward their landing spot and started sprinting as soon as they collected everything.
The tension that had accumulated in their minds started to fade as they left the intact area and returned among the holes, cracks, and cavities. It was only a matter of minutes before they could reach safe areas again and return to the academy. Some of them even started thinking about the party that would come that night.
However, something began to move under them, and Zaliha didn't hesitate to warn everyone about that. Multiple faint presences had suddenly appeared in the range of her senses, but they felt strangely weak.
Doku gave the order to keep running. He didn't care how weak that potential threat was. It was better to face it outside its lair. Still, the group didn't have the chance to get too far before an earthquake started filling those areas.
The ground shook violently and made some of the Niqols falter. Zaliha even risked falling as her foothold grew unstable, but Khan promptly grabbed her arm and helped her regaining some balance.
Similar scenes happened behind Khan. The Niqols were helping each other to get far away from the holes that the earthquake was expanding, but everything became pointless when fissures reached their position.
The surface remained in one piece for less than a second before it completely shattered and revealed multiple tunnels of various sizes and shapes. Most of them were too narrow for Khan and the Niqols, but they also crumbled once the group landed on them.
****
Author's notes: I need a bit for the second. Two hours should be enough.
