"My goodness! Is there not an end to them? Are we almost at the Mountain, big bro? I'm getting close to my limit." Hearing Lucy, I grabbed hold of a massive elephant skeleton and tossed it forward, knocking several other skeletons and giving me a brief respite as we quickly covered a small distance. "We should be. Also, just think of this as training; from my decade of experience, mages grow the most when pushed to their limit. I'm sure once we return home, you'll notice a difference in yourself."
Glancing behind me, I faintly smiled and raised my thumb at Lucy, who cracked her whip, leaving behind a hole within the skull of a smaller-sized skeleton, killing it. "Wow, that's awesome, big bro! I just hope I don't DIE before then!" Rolling my eyes, my focus returned to in front of me as I continued to carve a path, getting ever closer to the mountain. "Who in Fiore can kill you with me here? I can only think of 3 people, though there might be a few more." "Ha, as reassuring as that is, big bro, you might've just raised my death flag." "Your what?" "Just focus on getting us out of here, big bro."
With Cana pressuring me, I released a low grumble as I continued to do what I've been doing; several more minutes passed, and after destroying a few hundred more skeletons, we finally reached the side of the mountain. However, although we'd reached the mountain, the skeletons were still swarming us, though with our backs against the mountain, we only had to cover three sides. "Haa, I-I can't anymore; I'm pooped!" Lucy promptly fell to the ground in fatigue, Taurus's figure began to faintly flash, signifying she'd practically exhausted herself of magic.
"Be careful, Lucy! Protect your boobs!" "Just leave if you're going to leave, dammit!" Growling in annoyance, I grabbed a skeleton by the skull and threw it at the vanishing Taurus, who fortunately transformed into a glitter of lights, causing me to scoff as I quickly picked up Lucy onto my back. "Ugh, my head is killing me!" "You've just overexhausted yourself; take it easy for now. Cana, I've got the left and front, you take the right; we'll slowly traverse the perimeter of the mountain." "Got it, but what are we looking for?" "A cave, most likely, but anything that seems out of place!"
With Cana taking the lead, our pace was slower than compared to me, but it was still steady, and with us not having to worry about attacks from behind, it eased our minds a little. Minutes ticked by as we slowly circled the perimeter of the mountain, coming across nothing of interest while exhaustion began to set in, causing Cana to more efficiently use her magic. "Tsk, dammit, I'm not finding anything, big bro! Did they hide the entrance!?" "If they did so with magic, I would've found it; if they did so with natural means, then it's possible I could've missed it, but I'd bet my arm otherwise."
Grunting in annoyance, Cana continued to push forward while I occasionally filled her body with my magic, enhancing her body and easing her exhaustion somewhat; however, since I needed to be constantly touching her for it to work, the moment would only last for several seconds while my magic faded from her body. "Oi, Cana, I can hear water! It's probably the contaminated river! Just keep pushing, we're getting closer!" "Ugh, e-easier said than done!"
Seeing Cana pretty much at her limit, I figured I'd have to carry her and Lucy and charge our way through, only for the person I've been carrying on my back to tap my cheek. "Let me help." Glancing at Lucy, I gave her a skeptical look as my eyes flashed across her exhausted figure before quickly nodding. Now wasn't the time to shelter them; if they wanted to grow, they'd need to experience hardships and push past their limits.
Setting Lucy down, she grabbed her whip and quickly reached Cana, standing beside her, as the two more quickly dealt with the skeletons, nearly doubling our speed. "Ah, I-I see the river!" "J-Just keep pushing Lucy!" As if they'd just been injected with a shot of adrenaline, the two increased their output, releasing their remaining strength as they carved a path towards the river.
Once we arrived at the river's bank, we looked upstream, only to see it was coming from out of a cave, causing Lucy and Cana to dash toward it while I covered them from behind. Leaping into the cave as if their lives depended on it, I faintly chuckled and enhanced my left arm slightly before swinging it backwards, hitting a skeleton and destroying its skull while its body was broken down into tiny pieces, transforming into shrapnel that killed every skeleton in our immediate surroundings.
As I stepped into the cave, the skeletons that were rushing me suddenly stopped, and just like when we first left the sea of bones, the skeletons collapsed into the ground, prompting my two siblings to finally heave a sigh of relief. "Haa, thank fuck! I-I need a drink." "Y-You got one for me?"
"Cana." Squatting beside Cana, who had just reached into her secret stash, her cleavage, revealing a test tube, though when she raised her head and saw me, she reluctantly pushed it back between her breasts. Nodding in satisfaction, I dragged the two exhausted women to the side of the cave and placed them beside me as I wrapped my arms around their waist, earning a perverted comment from Cana.
"To take advantage of us when we're vulnerable, I didn't expect this from you, big bro! Haa, seeing as I can't do anything, just make it quick." Placing her hand atop my own, Cana leaned into my embrace and rested her head onto my shoulder, only for her to squeal when I pinched her stomach. "This is merely more comfortable than placing my hands on your back." Snorting, I filled Cana and Lucy's bodies with my magic, enhancing their physique and the recovery of their stamina.
I would've preferred to save my magic, but if the one who controls death were in this cave, Lucy and Cana wouldn't be able to flee in their current state. "My body feels warm; is this how you always feel?" Glancing up at me in curiosity, I nodded, causing Lucy to suddenly hit the wall beside her, leaving a small dent while she grabbed her hand in pain. "W-Why did it hurt? Isn't your magic enhancing my physical body?"
Lucy's little stunt caused both Cana and me to chuckle as she clearly didn't understand the basis of how Indestructible magic worked. "Big bro says enhancing, but it's more like multiplying, and tell me, Lucy, what's 1 * 5? 5." "Urgh, y-you don't need to mock my lack of strength, Cana!" "I wasn't mocking, just giving you an analogy." Although Cana said that, her smirk said otherwise.
"If it makes you feel better, I'm like a 2." "So you're essentially twice as strong as me?" "More like three times, at least when enhanced by Indestructible magic." As if to prove her point, Cana smashed her hand against the cave, leaving behind a deep imprint, and to top it all off, she didn't seem to be in pain. "I-I'm confused."
"The stronger you physically are, the greater your body can be enhanced; it's an exponential growth." "That. That's ridiculously powerful." "It's Ancient magic for a reason. Anyway, focus on recovering, we're not done yet."
After that, the cave descended into silence, Lucy and Cana focused on recovering while I was pushing my senses to their limits, though just like always, it's been for naught as I turned up empty-handed. 'Am I overthinking things? How come I haven't sensed a single living presence this whole time.' It was genuinely beginning to irritate me, but the fact that I couldn't sense even the slightest hint of unease or danger was confusing me. 'Even if I can't find out if something or someone was watching us, I should at least feel something is off, but I don't even feel that!'
I was seriously starting to question if this place belonged to the one who controls death and not someone else who just happened to stumble across this magic, though it just seemed too unlikely to happen, so I continued to rule it out. After an hour passed, Lucy and Cana had recovered their stamina; as for their magic, it wasn't full, but they had plenty to fight with.
"I'm taking the lead now; follow close." Standing up, the three of us walked alongside the riverbank, heading deeper into the cave that held a nauseating stench, one even more potent than outside, though we had long-since gotten accustomed to it. After several minutes of walking, I lowered to the ground while gesturing to Lucy and Cana to be quiet. "I can hear talking, but only one voice."
Continuing down the cave, a few minutes later, we came to a cavern, prompting us to hide on either side as we cautiously looked in, only to see a large tarp covering something, but our focus was drawn to the man leaning against the table, talking to himself.