Eros’ bloody hands were still tightly glued to the dragon’s scales as they ran deeper into the cave. It wasn’t a smooth ride and he felt some of his internal organs get displaced along the way.

While he could have let go, he felt this was a faster and safer way to get by.

After all, no creature would be stupid enough to stand in the way of a dragon.

After a while the flames went out, although he was almost naked at this point with nothing but his underwear, which had miraculously survived, to cover up his indecency.

His skin was also a shade of bright red as he had nearly been cooked a few minutes ago.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel—literally. A wave of relief flowed through him as he felt his torment was finally over.

He could make out a blue flame in the distance as they drew closer and closer to it. He figured that was Lain and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Other than that, though, there was only a wall at what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, and from the looks of it the dragon was planning on running straight into it.

Noticing this, Eros cursed under his breath and finally released his grip from the colossal creature.

He tumbled over the scales and rolled onto the ground—if his bones hadn’t broken yet, then that had sealed the deal. Eros felt multiple things crack within him as he groaned painfully, holding his bleeding hand as it was going to fall off.

After a moment or two of unadulterated agony, he finally gathered the strength he needed to get to his feet.

He couldn’t be bothered by his current indecency; in fact, what bothered him more was the fact that he looked like a piece of meat that had been taken off the fire too soon.

It’ll fade away, he told himself calmly, trying to stabilise himself.

The dragon was still running, and soon enough, as Eros had predicted, it ran into the wall. However, instead of stopping, the mythical creature went through it, leaving Eros stunned for a moment.

Before he could process what was happening, he felt a pair of eyes on him.

He shifted his gaze slightly and found Lain who was a few meters away from the wall staring at him with a weird look.

"You—what are you doing here? What happened to you?" She asked wide-eyed.

Eros couldn’t be more relieved to see her. Everything that had happened in the last few hours felt so surreal. So, seeing someone he knew was more refreshing than anything.

It took a while, but Eros was able to explain everything to her in the end. Her face underwent a variety of expressions as she heard about his experience.

She ended up laughing when he explained his encounter with the dragon.

"You really think that’s a dragon?"

"Isn’t it?" Eros frowned.

Lain laughed when she heard his response then shook her head.

"Not at all. If that thing were a dragon, then we’d most likely both be dead. Creatures of the mythical class aren’t something humans are supposed to fight against."

"Mythical class? Are those real?" Eros asked with a slight frown.

Lain gave him a weird look then seemed to remember something that made her sigh. "You should really get into an academy. It’ll save you from ignorance."

Eros rolled his eyes. "I’m just curious."

"Well now isn’t the time," she turned to the wall that the dragon had phased through and only then did Eros notice it. It was the same as the one at the entrance: a black wall which seemed to steal all the lights and its surface as smooth as ice.

"We need to find a way out of here, and fast," Lain spoke with such an urgency that Eros couldn’t help but tense up

"Otherwise?"

She looked at him for a second. "Otherwise we’ll be trapped here forever."

Eros frowned, he hadn’t expected the situation to be that dire.

"You have an idea on how to do that?"

Lain didn’t answer immediately. She ran her fingers across the surface of the wall as her brain worked hard to figure out a way out.

"Step back," she muttered. And before Eros could even begin to comprehend the command, her red hair began glowing with a crimson light.

Without needing further warnings, he immediately stepped back, watching from a distance what she planned on doing.

Lain stretched out her hand and an orb of fire formed in it.

Eros had seen this move before, and he knew not to be too close to the epicentre of attack prompting him to shift even further away.

The already cold cave grew even colder and the rocks gained a blue hue.

Eros shivered slightly from the distance as the place grew increasingly colder. As time went on Lain’s attack grew increasingly more powerful.

Then something more surprising happened just when the orb of flames turned completely blue and she was about to launch it.

The wall gave way.

Perhaps out of fear of complete annihilation, the barricade made of unknown obsidian-like material fell apart like liquid metal.

Lain’s mouth stood slightly agape as her attack no longer had a target. In the end, she clicked her tongue and dispersed the heat back to the surroundings.

A wave of heat slammed Eros right in the face, but even that could do nothing to reduce his surprise.

With the temperature back to normal, albeit still a little cold, he moved towards Lain.

"What happened?" From the surprised look on her face though, he guessed she had no idea either.

"I don’t know. It just-— opened."

"Well... that’s a good thing, right?"

"I guess so."

"Come on, we can’t afford to waste any more time."

Eros and Lain went into the now open area side by side.

What they met, however, wasn’t what they expected. Upon entry multiple torches hanging on the wall lit up, illuminating the area. This light revealed what looked to be an overly large hall made with an archaic design. On its own, it was definitely a magnificent sight, what got both Lain’s and Eros’ attention was what stood in the middle of the hall.

On a small platform, barely higher than the average human, a large transparent orb sat comfortably on the platform.

At a glance, it looked to be filled with something that Eros couldn’t place as liquid, but also couldn’t call a gas.

’Liquid Darkness,’ the words popped in his mind, but the more he stared, the more he felt that was a perfectly fitting description.