"Milo, thank you so much!"
Troy struggled to stand up and bowed to his companion as a sign of gratitude.
Milo smiled and shook his head while handing a pill to him.
"This will help to heal your wounds. Focus on recover while I gather the bodies of these worms, we will move as soon as you are better."
Troy took the pill and sat back on the ground.
Milo had a rank 4 body and was older than him, he wouldn't object anything he said.
A few hours passed in which the two nobles quietly cultivated to refill their centers of power.
"Time to go, I'm worried about the others."
Milo ordered and Troy followed without complaints.
"This place is strange, I never knew magical beasts could set so many traps in such a short amount of time."
Troy said, describing the events that led him to that situation.
"It is indeed strange. I was only attacked once and then I didn't find any trace of the magical beasts. They must have been focusing you the whole time since they understood that you are one of the weakest of our group. Luckily, I noticed your spell with my investigative technique, otherwise I would still be wandering aimlessly in one of the tunnels."
Troy lowered his head listening to those words, he couldn't help but feel useless.
Milo put a hand over his shoulder and smiled warmly to him.
"You did well. You are still young but your character is already this strong, I'm sure you'll become a powerful cultivator in the future. If Manuel was in your place, he wouldn't have lasted this much."
Troy nodded at that praise and lifted his head.
"What do we do now?"
Milo smiled again and pointed toward the deeper part of the lair.
"Lord Daniel has surely gone for the core of the lair. I believe that if we follow the movements of the beasts, we will find him."
"What about Phoebe and Manuel?"
"Phoebe is not a problem, she is strong, she can take care of any number of rank 3 beasts. As for Manuel…"
Milo's eyes became cold as he spoke.
"If he dies here, his uselessness will be finally shown to the world."
Troy's expression became complex after hearing those words.
"What is it?"
Milo noticed that change in his companion and asked that.
"Milo, I know that you don't really like him due to the events in the academy-"
"Damn right! He bragged so much about matching Daniel's cultivation speed and then he lost to a brat with common origins. He disgraced the whole noble society with his actions."
Milo snorted, interrupting Troy's phrase.
"I was there, Milo. I was in his class. That guy, Vance, he is a ruthless man. If the Professors didn't intervene during the fight, Manuel would have died there."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I saw him fight every week, Milo. He is honestly the strongest fighter I've ever seen, it was as if he was born with a saber in his hands."
Troy was in the Grayshade class with Noah and June and the real-battle course was one of the most attended ones.
The students there had seen Noah's ability with his weapons, that's why they had never suspected about him having cheated in the entrance test.
"Stronger than Daniel?"
Milo's eyebrows arched as he asked that question.
Yet, Troy immediately shook his head.
"No, no. He is even younger than me, he can't match Lord Daniel's centers of power. I'm just saying, you shouldn't be so hard on Manuel. In that battle, he did his best but Vance has been simply too strong. Also, I think he was even holding back."
"Holding back?"
At that moment, Milo was really surprised.
He despised Manuel for his defeat against a commoner but he had never imagined that the difference in power would have been so large.
"Yes. You probably don't know but it seems that no one is aware of his aptitude. He simply uses his martial art and his puppet every time. I don't believe that, in three years in the academy, he didn't buy a single spell for his element."
Milo fell deep in thought.
He knew some rumors about Noah but they were mostly linked to his battle with Manuel.
Also, Noah was from a younger generation, the heirs of the noble families wouldn't be so interested in someone that young.
"What kind of cultivator is he?"
Milo broke the silence to ask that question.
"Aloof, a true loner. He didn't speak much and he often isolated himself in his lodgings. He seemed to care only about his cultivation and he didn't seem to care about girls until he started to live together with his sparring partner. I have to say that they make a scary couple."
Milo ignored the last part of Troy's explanation and focused on one particular aspect.
"Do you think that it would be worth investing in him?"
Troy was slightly surprised by that question but then he understood what his companion meant.
"Yes, I don't see him becoming weak all of sudden and he would need someone that finances him. I believe we should try to rope him, he will be a huge asset in the Cause."
Milo nodded before turning his gaze toward on side of the tunnel.
"I will consult with Lord Daniel about this, now we should deal with the worms."
As soon as he finished his phrase, many holes appeared in the rocky wall and fifty or so worms came out of them.
There were few rank 3 beasts at that time, with the majority of them being in the second rank.
"It seems that we are getting close!"
Milo shouted.
Meanwhile, in another part of the lair.
Daniel walked calmly in one of the tunnels.
A white orb was on his shoulder which illuminated the area.
Daniel didn't need that light to see but the orb was useful to attract the worms and detect their movements from behind the walls.
'What is this?'
He thought, stopping when he arrived in a large area full of dark-red puddles.