"How did you wind up being in a party with them?" Bane asked. It was the first question that came to mind when he initially came upon the scene. There was a clear contrast in the quality of the people at that party.
Liora continued to light the way forward, her bright aura reflecting off the marble walls of the rooms. "The Gods' Church trains followers in the ways of light and healing magic. It's a separate entity from guilds. But to allow healers like me to learn the ways of the dungeon, the bishops assign us to parties. I seemed to be unlucky and joined a party full of nefarious individuals," she explained, sighing with a small frown as she continued forward.
Bane slowly nodded. "I see..." He wasn't familiar with the procedures for training healers or supporters in the dungeon, so her explanation was insightful.
"Do you mind if I ask a question?" Liora said.
"Nope, go ahead," Bane answered, tilting his head to look at her. He found himself momentarily distracted by her bouncing blond hair. She had a pep in her step that was surprising, considering what she had just been through.
"Mr. Bane, can you see in the dark?" Finally, when Liora asked her question, she looked directly at him. Bane noticed her emerald-green eyes, which were accentuated by her aura reflecting off them.
Bane contemplated how to respond as they walked in silence for a moment. He thought back to every time he had entered a scene with someone else. He never carried a light source, so it was obvious he could see in the dark. "Yeah, I can," Bane answered, figuring there was no harm in sharing that.
"Wow... I've only heard that dungeon enemies and animals have night vision," Liora said, her emerald eyes glistening as they continued forward. She was clearly excited to witness such a rare ability.
"I'm sure others have it too," Bane said, trying to downplay her excitement. He let Liora calm herself down, and once she seemed to return to a normal state, Bane prepared to ask another question.
However, from ahead came the metallic crunch of a boot. So far, on their return journey, they had not encountered anyone or any enemies. It seemed their luck was running out.
At the metallic whirring of Bane's katana being unsheathed, Liora tensed up and squinted to investigate the next room. "Is there something there?" she asked, glancing between the room and Bane several times.
Bane nodded slowly. "Yes, one second." It appeared to be a normal shadow armor figure with a sword in hand. Quietly, Bane moved forward, his footsteps silent. He sneaked up and assassinated the shadow armor. Emerging from the pitch-black room, he motioned to Liora.
"It's dead," Bane said.
"Okay," she replied, catching up to him. With the two of them back together and the threat dealt with, Bane readied himself to ask his question.
"If you don't mind sharing, how did you learn magic?" Bane inquired, hoping to learn more himself someday. There was so much untapped potential in the field of magic.
"I can share; it's not like it's a secret. Do you know anything about magic?" Liora asked, trying to establish a baseline of knowledge. She didn't want to bore him with information he already knew.
Bane smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I don't know anything," he answered, which was met with doubt from Liora.
"You don't know anything about magic, mana, anything?" At the mention of mana, Bane internally nodded, not wanting to reveal that he knew about it. His skill, Speed Boost, which he had received, used mana in exchange for a short burst of speed.
"No, I don't," Bane lied, feeling somewhat guilty but eager for more knowledge.
"Hm... Okay," Liora said, still clearly suspicious but willing to share. "Well, at the Gods' Church, we follow a regimen of prayer and readings. Though you could probably achieve the same effects with just readings, the One on High doesn't seem to answer our prayers, and all our progress comes from studying," she explained with a sigh.
"What did you read?" Bane asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. He was already learning a lot.
"Scriptures, scrolls, but mainly grimoires. The Gods' Church has tons of them. With printing magic becoming more available, the library probably has some too," she explained. Bane recalled seeing a section for magic at the library, though he hadn't looked too closely. He made a mental note to check it out later.
"I see. Then, one last question: can anyone learn magic?" he asked, perhaps the most important question of their entire conversation. All other questions would be meaningless if he was unable to learn it.
Liora shrugged slightly at this. "Scholars have studied for years to try and answer that question, but it's just a case of some people being able to use it and others not. The only way people find out is by getting their hands on a grimoire and trying to use the spells within," she answered.
"I see," Bane replied. They continued walking and soon ascended to the sixth floor. With no bosses to fight on the way up, the journey wasn't too bad. This was where they started to run into others again. Liora mentioned she felt safe enough to continue her ascent alone, but with the quest still unclaimed, the two of them pressed on together.
Liora eventually broke the silence with another question. "What faction are you a member of?" Back to her usual self, she kept her eyes fixed on the path ahead.
"The Eir faction. She's a relatively new goddess. She was the only one who would take me," Bane shared, as if it were a distant memory.
"Hm... Eir? Yeah, I haven't heard of her before."
"Why do you ask? Just curious?" Bane inquired, wondering why the question had come up so suddenly.
Liora hesitated but answered anyway. "I'm looking to leave the church. It's about time for me to do so anyway. I'm either going to go into nursing at one of the hospitals in Gren or join a faction. So, I was just seeing if the Eir faction might be something I'd enjoy."
'Oh my, good luck getting in with Eir the way she is,' Bane thought, but he stayed optimistic in his response. "Well, healers are in demand everywhere. You seem highly skilled as well, so I'm sure you'll be successful wherever you go." He didn't comment further about Eir and let the conversation fade.
As they ascended to the fifth floor, Bane remained on alert, as did Liora. Both walked with keen eyes, watching out for mimics. With Bane's danger sense, he was able to maneuver around all the would-be mimics, but the fourth floor was going to be another challenge.
Weeping angels were easily Bane's least favorite enemy in the dungeon thus far. Just before they entered the fourth floor, Liora shared her opinion.
"I don't like weeping angels," Liora said unprompted. "They aren't too strong, but their speed is terrifying," she added, shivering.
"Yeah, I agree. We can handle it, though. Just stay alert, and it'll be smooth sailing," Bane reassured her with a smile. He didn't notice, but Liora's eyes sparkled.
'I feel safe with him...' Liora thought as they safely made their way through the fourth floor. Bane easily dealt with the few weeping angels that attempted to attack them, and Liora was able to provide support without issue.
After reaching the stairs to ascend to the third floor, Bane let out a sigh of relief. "Well, we did it. Should be smooth sailing from here."
"Yeah..." Liora said as the two of them trudged up the stairs. With only Liora's jagged breath filling the air, Bane broke the silence when they reached the top.
"How do you do that? Is it a spell?" Bane asked, gesturing toward Liora.
"The light?" Liora asked, as the glow around her brightened and then dimmed in response. Bane nodded.
"Mana is invisible and can be used to coat weapons, objects, and other things to reinforce them. The light is just my mana surrounding my body after I cast a light spell. After doing it enough times, it becomes a subconscious task, like breathing," she explained, manipulating her mana to form shapes of light and send beams in different directions.
Bane was in awe, amazed by the light display. Seeing his reaction, Liora was happy she could do something to make Bane react that way. With his questions answered, they ascended to the second floor and eventually the first, where Liora finally let her light spell fade away in the torch-lit pathways.
Once they reached the main room of the first floor, which was flooded with people, the quest was finally able to be claimed.
"Thank you for that," Liora said, bowing deeply. With his mind free of the stresses of the dungeon, Bane noted her charming figure. As she bowed, her chest was partially exposed, and Bane chuckled internally. 'So much for a woman of the church.'
"Of course. Thank you for teaching me all that stuff about magic," Bane replied. The two of them ascended and split off as they reached the surface. Bane was thankful that Luna was nowhere to be found.