A cold wind pa.s.ses through, the group s.h.i.+vers as they're walking down the cluttered stone ground. The other side of the pathway is smooth, they could slide through there, but Tokaya told them not to since they don't know what to expect down at the bottom.

"Brrr, so cold" said Chika.

Tokaya only glanced at her. She kept the focus on her surrounding, and keeping search of hidden pathways or something that might be coming, that's... sneaking on them. Because Chika kept complaining, she took the torch off of her hand. None of them seems scared of the darkness. Their lines of sight is also not reaching very far.

Talking about distance, it hasn't been long since they left the camp. The path from there was straightforward, they saw a rail on the said before coming down here, and then they decided to follow it since there is no other path, at least none where they can see them.

Clever as always, Tenko balanced her polearm stance with one hand while the other is holding the torch. After a while, they arrived at the bottom. "Phew" Chika breathes a sigh of relief and sat down to recover her stamina.

Tokaya gave the torch back and then walked to Tenko, she's eyeing the surrounding area, trying to catch a glimpse outside the fire. With a bit of time, her eyes adapted to it and then saw many sparkling things in the area.

"Tenko" called out Tokaya.

"Mm?"

"Did you notice it?"

"…"

Tokaya glanced around and then said, "This is supposed to be a mine, but there's no one here. Had there been one, they should've probably set up a light or something."

"Maybe this world don't have access to that kind of thing?"

"No, that can't be. Looking at the kingdom alone, it's easy to tell that they have already pa.s.sed that. At least, we should've seen a torch or something, but we didn't."

"So, this place is…"

Tokaya nodded, and gazed at Tenko, "Mm, abandoned."

"Since there is a monster outside, that's really the case, huh. All right, I'll be careful."

Tokaya nodded once again and regroup to the other three.

It is not necessary for the group to take a break for their stamina to replenish. If they're just slowly walking, it will still regenerate, but it would be faster if they're not moving. Thus, Tokaya decided that whenever someone low on stamina, they all would take a short break to replenish them until they are ready to go.

"You're okay?" Anko asked.

Chika nodded, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm not used to this at all."

"Need a rub?"

"No really, I'm fine" sighing, "Once I level up, I'm going to add points to my stamina."

"Yeah, guess we need that."

Arriving at the group, Tokaya asked them to get ready, and soon after, they did.

With Tenko in the lead, they're somewhat calmed. Especially with all the darkness surrounding them. At the bottom of the mine, the s.p.a.ce is wide open than it seems. And because of that, they are a little bit more tense than usual.

[Kusanagi Tenko lv. 0]

HP: 75/75 / MP: 365/400 / SP: 114/125 ~ FP: 68%

Tenko's FP is decent enough in numbers, but her eyes tell otherwise, and she knows that her body too… is a bit exhausted. It is undoubtedly true for the others, they indeed push themselves too hard this time, and deep down inside… they're all sleepy and tired.

Tenko shook her head, mumbling to herself, "Stay focused."

After a while, exploring all the surrounding, they found 3 pathways leading to unknown places. Anko, without a thought asked if they should split up, but Tokaya denied the idea right away. It is risky for anyone to go in their own way, especially at their current state.

Tokaya decided for them to stick together like always.

They literally found nothing from the surrounding area and then decided to go the path on the left. Nothing much happens in the narrow slope of the tunnel, it is quite different than the other two pathways. They thought that it must be a place different than for the purpose of mining, or maybe some sort of discovery where people looking for something to mine.

After a while, still nothing, but then Tenko was stumbled upon something.

"Ngh"

She fell.

Tokaya's eyes widened and quickly rushed towards her. "Wait, Kinko!" Chika yelled, but Tokaya ignored her.

Tenko tries to lift her body up, but it felts so heavy. "Hey, hey, are you okay?" asked Tokaya.

She a.s.sisted Tenko back up, "T-Thank you. I'm sorry, I should've been more careful."

"…" Tokaya looked at her and quickly noticed that, Tenko's eyes indicate that she's tired. Tokaya pondered in her thought with a heavy heart, 'Did I make another mistake? Maybe we shouldn't have explored the mine and just sleep, we could've taken turns guarding the camp too just in case if something comes…' her lips trembled, 'Why… why all these things come to mind when something goes wrong! Why can't I—'

Tenko closed her eyes for a moment, frowning her brows, and sighed. She said, "I'm fine, K. Come on, we should keep moving."

"No wait, we should—"

Tenko shockingly shoves her hand away, Tokaya's chest tightened in an instant.

"Ah, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I just, really, don't worry about me. I'm totally fine."

Tenko doesn't want anyone to worry about her, hence why she's unconsciously did that. Tokaya knew this, it has happened before they came to this world, but it still hurts nonetheless.

The other two catch up to them. As Tenko grabbed her torch, she saw something on the ground. Some sort of blue liquid, it's sticky and very uncomfortable to touch, but she did it.

Tenko pounds her forehead a bit, trying to stay awake, and then said, "Something is here, at the end of this… there might be something… waiting for us."

The group's face turned sour, Tokaya suggested, "Let's turn back."

Tenko's eyes widened, "No we can still do it."

"You've already exhausted yourself, Tenko."

"No! I-I can still—"

Tokaya grabbed her clothes and then slammed her to the wall.

*Bam*

"We're all tired, Tenko! If you can't do it, then just say it! We're worried about you, but you should worry about us too! You want us to fight with that kind of monster again in this state?? We're all about to pa.s.s out, Tenko. This is not about you, can't you understand that?!"

Tenko was speechless, she glanced at the other two and they avoided her. Turning her eyes back to Tokaya, she saw her face hardened, and it is not all just anger that showed.

Tenko glanced down with a clenched fist, all she wants is to help her, but she didn't realize her action did the opposites.

Tokaya sighed to the side and let her uniform go. After a paused, she nodded as she says, "We'll go back. Once we've got enough sleep, then we'll continue."

She took the Torch on Tenko's hand and then walked away, pa.s.sing the other two.

Anko and Chika felt somewhat awkward and saddened by the whole thing, they went and comfort Tenko. She nodded as if saying she's okay, but the two pretty much know that she's not. The three then went to catch up with Tokaya with pain shared inside their chests.

…