After Ikuy disappeared in the mirror, its broken surface repaired itself and the broken pieces flew back together, as if nothing ever happened. Well, except the damage done to the hall, which seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.
"I'm so glad, Master…"
"What for?"
"That this bitch is gone, for one… But also that you chose me!"
"You know that a decision requires more than one option, right?"
"You had many options! The thing clearly stated it hated me, thus killing me would gain sympathy with it!"
"I guess I chose you then, yes."
"Thank you!"
"…You're welcome… Now we should get out of here."
"Right behind you!"
At the end of the hall seemed to be a large gate, which they tried to get to, but were cut off by the ceiling collapsing.
"Great…"
"Let's just go back up, Master!"
"That's where the salamander thingy is…"
"I'll kill it this time, let's hurry!"
"…"
They hurried back the spiral stairs, Yamato took one last look over his shoulder at the mirror, before Yuki grabbed his hand and flew him up as fast as she could, leaving it behind buried under piles of rocks. Now back at the square hallway, they walked towards the exit where the salamander was most likely still waiting for them.
"I wonder… Is the salamander somewhat of a guardian? Maybe to guard this place? Though, I find it hard to believe no one ever found it before besides us… It wasn't that well hidden after all. Or maybe it usually hides, but sensing someone as strong as Yuki made it react. That seems the most plausible to me. Besides that… I was really interested in that mirror… It's a shame I won't be able to study it further. And with Ikuy gone, my only chance to learn about its true nature might be gone forever. But I can't say I regret pushing her. She was a danger do both myself and Yuki, and everything coming from her cannot be trusted, especially after she was on the verge of being back in the mirror. Desperation can make one promise all kinds of things that one has no possibility to actually fulfill. That is something everyone should keep in mind when making deals with people in desperate situations. Though, promises are risks even with normal people, so I guess you can never be absolutely sure. Ah, trust, the most important aspect of socializing."
They had now reached the end of the hallway, and with it the exit which they entered through. However, it seemed as though there were trees covering the exit now, which Yuki thought were not there when they entered. But maybe she just did not notice them since they flew in quickly while trying to evade the salamander. As Yuki was about to take a look outside, she hit her head at something she could not see. Upon closer inspection, she realized what it was just in time to rush back and get in front of Yamato. The just now open cave entrance just turned out to be tue salamander sitting on top of it while being invisible. It threw the trees off its body which it seemed to have placed on itself to camouflage the entrance and itself, and let out another agonizing roar, though Yuki was prepared this time and used her barrier before it could affect them at all. She then charged outside and pushed it on its back as she rammed it from below, though it quickly turned back again and covered the entrance again, with Yamato still inside. Yuki was hovering above it, running out of patience with this creature and was on the verge of fireing everything she had at it. But them she realized what it was doing. It used Yamato as human shield, by positioning itself between Yuki and him. Meaning it remembers that they were two, and understands that only one left, and even got from their previous fight that she won't hurt Yamato. Yamato got it too, and found it fascinating. It became even more interesting when it shot an ocean of fire into the air at Yuki, which was covering everything in its path up to a kilometer in flames that spread across the sky. Though Yuki blocked it, there was a surprising amount of force behind the attack, which she was not sure if she could hold out for repeated attacks. It then hit with its tail on the ground, and with each strike lightning would strike from the ground. Yuki has trouble dodging the nearly instantaneous attacks and could not get closer either. Luckily Yamato's mana was slowly returning, which he used to fly out of the cave and land behind it.
"Yuki, your sword, now!"
Though slightly taken aback, she threw her sword to him with little hesitation and he catched it out of the air. However him yelling turned attention to him, and the salamander was now right infront of him, and his mana was still heavily limited. He would probably not be able to fly, but he had enough for one thing. He lit the tip of the sword on fire.
"Master, be careful!"
She was about to rush towards him, but Yamato stopped her. She reluctantly stopped but was ready to launch a hyper precision strike if necessary, which would have enough force to destroy a continent, but as the name indicates focused on a single small area. Even if it did not kill the salamander, it would give her time to get him if everything went smooth, which was not guaranteed.
Yamato swung the sword slowly around, at which the salamander just tilted its head, which Yamato copied. Even more confused, the salamander was about to roar at him but Yamato took out a small shard of the mirror, which he had previously taken from when they were floating in the air when Yuki and Ikuy were fighting. He let go of it and hit it as hard as he could with the sword, which created a loud piercing sound, as both the sword and the shard were indestructible, which seemed to stop the salamander from roaring. Yamato then moved the sword in a circle around his head, while watching the salamander's eyes follow the burning tip of the sword and its pupils began to dilate. He moved the sword slower and slower, placing it before his face before extinguishing the flame and having the salamander focus on his eyes instead as he took the sword away and put it to the ground. Now as Yamato tilted his head, the salamander was copying him, tilting his head in the same direction and staring right into his eyes. Yamato crouched down a little and took a step closer, after which the salamander went lower with its head and let out a clicking sound which sounded a little like creaking wood, which Yamato was able to somewhat imitate by picking snatching two small rocks of the ground and quickly smashing them together, which he was able to do since he was crouched down, without making many movements. He slowly extended his hand to the salamander's head, which did not even back off and just let Yamato touch it without resistance. To his surprise, it shrinked down to the size of a regular salamander and climbed up his hand and sat in his palm. Looking at him intensely. Yamato was quite experienced with pets by now, thanks to a certain someone, so he guessed it wanted attention or food, but since it ate a couple of people earlier it was probably the first option. Yamato extended his finger to it, which it immediately climbed on. Before climbing a view times around his arm in circles it got on his head and nestled in his hair where it turned invisible.
"Now, kill it, Master, before it lays eggs!"
"No way, I want to keep it."
"Wha- Why?! Did you see what it can do?!"
"I saw what you can do."
"…Fair enough. But you already have me! I can do anything that slimy amphibian can!"
"It's actually not slimy at all. It's skin is soft and dry. Since I found it here, I'm gonna call it Iky, after Ikuy."
"At least name it after me!"
"Ikuy is just your name backwards…"
"I guess… Fine! I will tolerate its presence for now!"
"We can go back now, I got more than enough out of this trip."
"I got way too little out of this date… But as long as you are happy…"
And so they went back to the city Lunis, it was already getting dark when they were back at their dorms and Yuki insisted on getting a containment for Iky as soon as possible, as she promised to kill it if it climbed on top of her while she was sleeping. She would also kill it if it prevented her from cuddling or advancing otherwise, which Yamato told her was not gonna happen but she just stared at Iky with the look she gave people before she killed them. Yamato wondered if it was jealousy or just hatred for the creature, though it was probably both. So they bought a glas cage which seemed big enough and now everyone was happy. Yuki's mood improved drastically due what happened at night, though she would still try to convince him to get rid of it at all costs.
Though Yamato was already on another topic, regarding the mirror. Mayhe he would need to go into the school's library and try to find information about either the mirror or the prophecy, or preferably both, as he was quite curious about those. Professor Reed did say everyone could borrow books with the permission of a teacher, which should not be too hard to get. If that would not get him anywhere, he could go take a look around the city as well, maybe someone native to this world could help him out. Especially legends and myths were often considered common knowledge but hard to learn as an outsider just from books, so maybe that was even necessary. Either way, he would spend the entirety of tomorrow regarding this issue, if nothing came in between.