Diamond Catch

Just as Caspian was starting to pant, just as Claire was getting ready to float him up, the rats fell. 

After about three minutes, their bodies vanished, each dropping a dagger. This hundred percent drop rate is the reason the mice field is so popular. 

" I will take all these daggers. There are no objections right ? " Caspian asked flippantly. 

Zayne and she nodded. After all, they monopolized the mobs, so they have to give up the elites. Moreover, killing them was all Caspian. 

" I will take the rest of the drops from the dungeon. If you don't want to stay here, that's alright by us, Caspian. " Claire told him. 

Caspian very much wanted to stay just to stake his claim on her, but he had a turtle to feed. A very young, and very voracious turtle. His pet should be very hungry by now. So, he can not stay here any more. Moreover, the hunt for golden mice is like searching for the needle in straw. 

" Alright. I have things to do anyway. If you think you are in danger, leave him to his own fate and escape by yourself. " Caspian said, gesturing to Zayne. 

She did not respond. 

Caspian pouted when he realized Claire would not humor him by agreeing. After that, he scoffed at Zayne provocatively, then vanished from the dungeon. 

Claire did not rush to find the golden mouse. 

Instead, she experimented with the sickle, cutting the wheat stalks, collecting the straw bundles, using a variation of sickle, shift and float. 

Then, she nodded at Zayne, indicating he should start. 

A small line of fire extended from underneath Zayne, elongating into a long line, along with the stone walls of the dungeon. Unlike other dungeons, there are no boss rooms in most open dungeons. The bosses are always hiding in plain sight. 

As the dungeon was encircled in fire, and the fire started concentrating towards the center, the boss monsters who were afraid of the fire traveled to the center. 

Only, unlike the expected single flash, there were two flashes, one gold streak, another a far thinner and smaller brilliant white streak. 

Zayne, who was a little surprised, yet stable, immediately guided a fireball to the golden mouse's eyes. Only, it jumped up, avoiding the fire ball. After numerous such attempts, Zayne stopped with the fireballs. He simply let the golden mice jump, this time around, Claire, who had been concentrating her all on sensing the golden mouse sensed it clearly. She caught it using the float. She shifted the mice to Zayne's fire ball, which transformed into a fire needle that became even more sinister, with red light glinting off it's tip. 

The redlight flew straight to the golden mouse's heart, killing it. 

Numerous lights came out from the mouse, the smaller ones going to Claire. The larger ones went to Zayne. 

They both closed their eyes. The fire circle around the center is still maintained at a foot high. Claire looked at her own innerworld. There's no great change. 

" I received super senses. " Zayne said wondrously, as if he still could not believe it. 

" It doesn't look like I received anything specific. " Claire said, frowning. However, she has seen the lights entering herself. So she must have gained something ?!

Claire closed her eyes, sharpened her perception. Looking only for a magic source, and nothing else. As she concentrated, she could feel it… that hyperdimension where everything is a nothing and nothing is everything ! 

She could see the souls near her.

The blazing star of immense energy that was Zayne, who burned so bright, it scalded her senses… then the faint pulse, that was so small, yet, strong and fluid.. .like a swirling glass sand… each a transparent sand granule is a small word mimicking an inner world.. Like a map of a thousand worlds .. or a miniature universe, at the same time, like a thin membrane of a bubble, that only displayed a mirror image. She felt it would burst at a touch. It flitted around in her senses, just within reach, but never easy to catch. 

Claire focused her all on this existence, then, retrieved her adamantine dagger slowly. 

Zayne, who was watching Claire from outside, was freaking out. The adamantine dagger rose from Claire's pocket, and started swirling atop her head. Zayne did not want to disturb her, at the same time, he feared that the dagger would hurt Claire. 

At this time, the dager flew at an incredible speed, and pierced a white light that jumped up from the middle of fire accurately. 

There was a loud 'thunk' then, the shining body fell down. 

Zayne walked near to watch the creature. It was still persisting, but its death was near. He could tell. 

As expected, the body vanished from in front of him, and a skill entered Claire's body. 

[ Mirror eyes ] 

[ Your eyes can see all mana and material flow as long as you will it. ] 

She looked at the drop she retrieved from where the diamond mouse fell. It was a round bead. She did not know how to use it at the moment, but she will try to find it later. 

She used the mirror eyes skill. 

As soon as she turned it on, she could see Zayne's inner world. It's full of fire, with a gigantic white sun, and oscillating moons of various hues, all of them made of only fire. Then there was the smaller debris, which looked like asteroids. They comprised various different elements, such as space, magic, life, healing … and various others. These are just enough to identify him as a human, but not enough to even use a single spell. 

Perhaps his senses are the only skill he could use apart from the fire he held in his hand at the moment. 

" Did you receive what you wanted ? " Zayne asked. 

Claire nodded, then they left the dungeon.

The days passed peacefully. Unlike what she expected, the escaped criminal did not come back with a vendetta.

Neither did the police come back with a scheme that oppressed her more effectively. 

Yet, as the day passed, a strange restlessness entered Claire. It's the feeling of impending doom.. ! 

Now that she is back, Claire focused on getting the mana activated for all the children, not just Robin. 

The second day, she took Brea out, taking her to the altar of Gaia, who is the ruler of life. Unlike her, almost all the children in the house belonged to a single speciality. Brea's is vitality, healing, fire and magic. 

Credence and prudence each are for a mix of metal, space, lava and fire. 

Dearest Dolce is a storm mage, controlling lighting, wind , water and fire. 

They all possess fire in one form or another, and the type of fire they possess is complementary to the kind of ability they possess. 

However, Brea is the only one who activated her powers for now. Despite Caspian saying it's not dangerous to the development of children, she decided to do it a little later. 

On the second day, Claire decided to build a secret base in the D-island. If ever she needed to run away, there won't be a better destination. Moreover, with her powers, living on the Island is not a big deal at all. 

As such, She and Zayne headed out to chop bamboo for their hut. 

Percy and his two friends followed them all the way to the mountain. 

" What is it ? " she asked rudely, when they changed places for the third time, and Percy followed along loitering behind them. 

Percy shuffled awkwardly once more. Then, all of a sudden, his face hardened in determination. 

He bowed to her, bending ninety degrees at the waist. 

" I am sorry for the inconvenience I caused you. " he apologized with all of his sincerity. 

" Sorry for what ? " Claire snarked. 

" We never meant to go to the police … rather, we never thought the police even entered into the slum area of the base. It's just that the base boards were regulars of the store. They liked the grilled fish we made very much. It seems they asked my uncle for the ingredients, so that they could buy straight from the source. I told my uncle, thinking I was going to bring you new business. Who could guess ! Instead of bringing business, we brought you a disaster ! I never knew my uncle was this type of man. To think he would betray a fellow comrade so easily for little money ! " Percy vomited out, all the words in his heart, looking at her sadly. 

Claire looked down at him helplessly. 

" So, what are you saying ? Because it's not you who caused us harm, forgive you ? " she asked. 

Zayne stood still behind her. 

" I … " Percy stumbled. It seems the scenario did not go like this in his mind. 

" I will buy any stock you have left over, or pay any compensation you think is necessary. " Percy told her, looking resolute. 

Only, this resolute look pissed off Claire all the more.