The sight of the frostbite that spread out onto Hayas's arms made Midas's expression darken; had he at least tried to support them instead of staying in the back, he could've easily prevented that injury the three of them stared at. Silently, Midas was forced to grieve about his failure—his sunken eyes only able to look at Haya as he flashed his teeth in lingering pain, mirroring Patriq's constant silence as they watched him bear the pain.
Ivyda eventually came up to them—already having grasped Midas by the shoulder as he made him turn to her, seemingly desperate to know what had happened before she arrived in the room. Before speaking, she turned to Haya—her glance suggesting she knew his origin just by taking a look at his dampened clothing.
"Do you want to give me an explanation for all of this?"
Her somewhat feisty tone made Midas flinch; her grasp tightened softly around his shoulder, making the grin on her lips feel even less genuine. His eyes showed dim panic, realizing the fact he now had to be responsible for his risky plan. Eventually, he began to speak—still unable to tell if she truly felt anger. Briefly glancing over the other club members as they examined the remains of the golem, the pieces of rock making out its head were laid out onto the shallow water.
"Once we parted ways, it didn't take long for me to find him inside the ruin... his name is Haya, and he's someone I knew from before I came to the water kingdom. It didn't take long before the three of us then headed into the ruin again; having him by our side helped out on finding the right way to where possibly other trapped people reside."
"So... you found this thing in front of you—knowing your only job was to only find and rescue people—and still opted to fight against it?"
Her expression grimmed slightly, also furrowing her brows—her lips slightly trembling in frustration that slowly seemed to build up inside of her. Midas's eyes widened at her tone, almost sounding concerned in some way as she stared right into him.
"What choice did we have... without Graf, getting through this land is hard for us. Shouldn't you understand that if you speak this language...? We tried to fight against it because we wanted to, not because we were forced by Midas."
"Exactly. I owe Graf a lot, not only for the fact that he brought me to the border but also fed us and gave us housing to spend the night in. This might be a personal matter, but I didn't want to wait and hope any longer."
Midas's voice was firm; his expression grew more serious as he and Haya stared the blonde girl down, making her eventually drop her arm. Sighing to herself instead of insisting on fighting with them, she loosely turned around the hall—only able to see the other club members, as they seemed to be the only other people beside them.
"Well... so where is he?"
"Right there, I tried to open the door with force, but then this stone being came crashing down from the roof. It seems to be locked somehow, and I wasn't able to hear anyone from the inside."
Hayas short description made Ivyda nod slowly, watching the youth as his hands glided across the muddy stone bricks, eventually halting right at the door that was built into the wall. The two of them followed Haya as he scanned the curved walls of the circular room; upon seeing him halt in his step, Midas came closer to the door that seamlessly blended into the wall.
"There's no ledge or handle... how did he open this?"
"Whoever this was clearly knew the place... even went out of his way to light up this room."
Midas's remark about the door made Hayas's face look even more bitter. Taking a short time to watch him struggle, the youth joined him as he halted right in front of the door; his bandaged hand reached out to the slimy stones as Midas placed his palm on them.
"Not sure if that might work, but I will try."
It didn't take long before Midas's stone activated; without having much time to react, his eyes widened slightly at the amount of mana that was consumed out of his palm. The rotten growth parted up as the door began to shift into the wall, eventually opening its sides as they slid apart, hiding in the walls that made up the ruin.
The connecting hall that stretched out in front of them wasn't long, yet it was much darker, as there were only two sets of candles lit inside engravings that were hulled into the sides of the room. Midas noticed elongated compartments that were built inside of the rock, holding rotten remains of metal and bone inside of them.
The youth eventually widened his eyes as Haya grabbed his shoulder in disbelief; the two of them watched with gaping mouths as an old-looking man with a balding head and untended facial hair appeared. Grafs tired expression dimly softened as his eyes fell on the both of them, his lips parted—yet he was unable to speak any word as he saw Midas stand in front of him. The youth he was forced to leave behind now stood in front of him, in much better shape than he had thought as well.
Seeing Graf step slowly towards him as he looked up at his relieved face made Midas realize how tired the skin under his eyes looked. Without any words spoken, the man grasped Midas's shoulders—whoever he was at this moment gravely differed from the salesman he met after Almas's death. Without the two of them, Midas would most likely have suffered as a slave, mining away in the quarry until he died of malnutrition or thirst.
"You live..."
"I do; forgive me for forcing you to decide back then."
"No... I ask for forgiveness; I didn't want you to see me like this. There I am trying my best to rescue a child, only for it to rescue me and do a better job at it instead."
The flat tone of his voice concerned Midas slightly. Graf seemed desperate—clearly not fearing the fact he might have been crushed by the collapse or possibly fall victim to whatever might reside around here. The roar Haya mentioned still lingered in the back of Midas's head; the chance of it being struck down by Ivyda and the others was not enough to make him forget Hayas's words.
"Why come down here anyway? Did you lack the money to finance the in-room...?"
"No, it's something of greater importance. This exact room was the place I found my dagger in—the one I carried while we travelled through the dunes... I promised my wife to bring one like it with me once I come back home. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I'm of northern origin, the people of the southern lands prohibited me from entering any ruin that remained on the surface."
Ivyda watched as she leaned against the open doorframe, crossing her arms as she kept a keen glance on not only Midas but also the bald man that walked down the hall with him. Unable to tell why he would go to such lengths only to meet an unshaven plunderer with mudded trousers. Eventually turning to her members as they found interest in the unlit path the three of them walked into.
The mentioning of Graf's dagger recalled a memory he had buried in his head a seemingly long time ago, as if a whole great sun cycle had passed after the events in the shama rift that parted their ways. Staring into the tiny flame that burnt down the candle made him remember the blazing woods Midas was trapped inside of, a corridor of flames he slowly got pushed into—just the thought of potentially having to walk through the mountains again sent shivers down his spine.
"Unfortunately for me, however, once the structure collapsed, I was forced to go further downwards to finally find a fitting blade for her. I already knew Haya would refuse my idea, so I let him go eventually. He has someone to protect after all, just like I did—which is why I remained inside to go deeper into the ruin. Once I managed to open the door with the stone I use to control my ride, the door shut in on me, so I remained inside until the screaming came to an end."
The three of them halted their steps eventually as they looked onto a wrapped object that rested in one of the compartments built into the stone. A rough cloth formed around the handle and blade of the sword—grasped by Graf's shaky hands as he held it out in front of them.
"It's dirty; I definitely have to give it a cleaning once we finally get out of here—"
"Screaming?"
Midas sputtered with alarmed eyes, stepping closer to the bald man who glanced up at him with raised brows. Even Haya, who remained quiet for most of the time, was surprised by Midas suddenly interrupting his words. Eventually being joined by Ivyda as her members already looked through the compartments of the hallway.
"The right side of the ruin leads to a deeper congestion of halls and pathways. It's quite rare to come by, but some ruins that are able to be entered on the surface connect to these grand underground structures. The screaming most likely originated from something that lurked in these greater ruins—I personally never entered one, and going inside of them unprepared can get costly... not only in gear but mostly in manpower."
"If you ask me, I advise you to never try exploring these... It's not worth the hassle—those who are lucky enough to find some usable scraps out of one from the uncountable amount of rooms they connect to are just too low for it to truly pay off."
"Huh, now I'm intrigued... If a scavenger like you tells me about its dangers, it makes me want to see for myself what truly awaits me down there."
Her tease left Graf cold, his tired expression almost lifeless as he stared into her confident grin—his wrinkles made him look much older than the young woman in front of him. His words sounded genuine, slightly laced with fear even, as he slowly glanced down to the weapon again.
"It might not be a dagger—but I'm sure she will like a sword as well..."
"Yeah. I can rest a bit easier now—in the end, it's like all my problems solved themselves."
Midas and Graf briefly glanced towards each other, the youth already yearning for fresh air as he now had no reason to stay underground. His expression mirrored Patriq's as he yawned at them once they stepped out of the short walkway—the fight left the three boys exhausted.