Novaris. Sax. 905. AGC.

  Nodel. Waning Crescent ??. Day 25.

  Did the party feel bad while eating breakfast early in the morning? Yes, yes, they did. The original plan was to rest for a couple of hours, regenerate mana, and then go deal with the whole cave incident. However, after slogging through the forest with an unconscious werewolf and feeling like absolute shit. The party had decided upon another course of action. It had been an easier decision to make than they would have liked. However, it was one of those things where they found the problem slightly out of sight, so it was out of mind.

  After all, they had their werewolf relatively safe in the exercise room. And once they had eaten, taken a shower, and the day had caught up with them, none of them wanted to go back out. Especially not during the night, when things could get even more dangerous. Naturally, there had been an argument with Rose and Jasmine, who argued that the party should do everything possible to help the victims. However, the other three had made good points on the safety of the team, and the fact that other monsters likely knew the cave belonged to aberrations, so they wouldn’t go near. Finally, Alyx had silently brought an additional problem to the two ladies. The gnome had reminded them that Jasmine had to refill, which was one of the reasons Lili was arguing against going. Upon hearing that particular piece of information, which the two ladies had seemingly forgotten about, they had dropped the matter.

  Still, the team wanted to help those victims, so they were having a hurried breakfast. Heck, Tesilim hadn't even summoned Drex. The day before, he had been too tired and drained of mana to do it properly, and then he had fallen asleep. And now that they were about to head out, it was better that he didn't summon the drake since it would cost them even more time.

  The last thing the party did before leaving was check on the werewolf, who was still passed out. Sadly, Tesilim couldn't leave things with sentient souls inside, which was an odd requirement. He could leave beasts and monsters inside his tree house when it was not in tree house form, but not sapient creatures. It didn't make sense. Still, those were the rules, so they couldn't do much about it and had to leave the tree behind.

  Traveling to the nearest guard tower would take the team about half a day. However, considering the current situation, they were going to push themselves and move at full speed. It would mean they would have to take some breaks during their run, but they had to do it. The breaks would help them keep up with their mana expenditure, since at full speed, they would be burning quite a lot. This was especially true for Lili and Jasmine, though more so for Jasmine, who, during their last break, took a particularly long bathroom break to recharge.

  Normally, they wouldn't have cared about recharging, but they all knew that as soon as they reached the guard tower and reported on the situation, the day would become much longer. The guard would likely ask them to take them back to the cave, which would mean another half a day's travel.

  One thing the party was thankful for regarding travel time was that they had enough time to discuss what they would say.

  “We need to have our story together; there's a good chance they will interrogate us separately, just to confirm everything,” Lili started as they got into the rhythm of travel.

  “Seriously? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?” Tesilim questioned, surprised that things would go that far, and annoyed that he was still spitting out lyrics.

  “Actually, no, at least not when it comes to things involving victims of such gruesome experiments. They need to ensure it was actually aberrations and not us trying to get away with something. Additionally, the involvement of aberrations complicates the situation. It wouldn’t be the first time people have been lured into traps by other mind control victims,” Alyx explained.

  “Whoa, okay, I mean, I knew they could do that, since they did it on Earth, but for some reason, I figure you guys had early countermeasures to detect that,” Tesilim said, disturbed that such a magically advanced planet was still at the mercy of the aberrations.

  “There are measures to detect things like that, but they differ in how they actually work. Also, it depends on the power of the aberration doing the magic. Some weak D or C Rank aberrations Mind Magic can be easily spotted. Even at B Rank, it is possible. However, things begin getting much harder after A Rank,” Rose said matter-of-factly.

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  “Also, from what we read, there are aberrations that have managed to infiltrate normal societies through all sorts of detection systems. The Eldritch Gods have access to magic that resembles that of our gods; they can create souls, fake souls, but for many, it's hard to tell,” Jasmine continued, showing that she had done plenty of research on the topic.

  “Alright, I am convinced, so what's our story going to be?” Tesilim asked with another line from the song.

  “We will keep it simple. First Tesilim, you don’t talk; we don’t want the guards asking more questions. Second, we say that we were out here training then…”

  It was a straightforward explanation and largely based on the truth. Thankfully, as he was told, truth-telling magic could still be circumvented, depending on its strength and on exactly what the person was asked. Their story would start with the fact that they were out training, which was partially true. They had taken the quest out so far into the woods not only to help Juniper but also to get some good training in. From there, they would continue that Lili had felt some of the drones, which was true. Then, after she had felt a drone, the team had decided to investigate.

  Killing the drone to begin their investigation brought more drones, which only heightened the team's suspicion. Then, from there, they had been attacked by a large pack of shifter hounds, which they had followed. That was when they found the cave and saw that it was being guarded. Worried that some sort of aberration attack was being set up, they investigated and found the thinman, a large party of aberrations, and the victims. The fight had broken out from there, and they had barely won. From there, they had retreated to get some rest and had departed to the guard tower, and well, that was the story. Additionally, if someone asked Tesilim a question and he had to respond, he would say that, due to the thinman, something had happened to his brain, and he was still recuperating, which was partially true.

  Anyways, the party made it to the guard tower a bit after noon. The tower resembled the one they had previously visited, tall and thick, constructed of stone and wood. They explained the situation at the guard tower, and things quickly devolved.

  Tesilim found himself in yet another interrogation room, with a glowing ritual circle on the wall. The guard in the city's uniform sat across the table from him. Not like it mattered since their equipment wasn't taken from them, and the whole thing was voluntary. A crucial thing that everyone had forgotten was that they were part of the Adventurers Guild, so they couldn't just be thrown in jail for whatever suspicions the guard might have. However, the guards wouldn't help them unless they actually underwent a truth test, so the party decided to do so. Of course, without them taking their equipment, they still had their telepathy rings, which meant they could easily communicate with each other.

  That very thing showed another problem with dealing with aberrations. You could have all the magic to detect them you wanted, but at the end of the day, people were not perfect. And though he hadn't seen any on Earth, he was sure that on his new planet, there were plenty of people who were willing to work with aberrations for whatever reason. Luckily, the guard didn't seem to be in league with the aberrations. He just wasn't the smartest.

  “So, what you’re saying is that your singing started after the aberration fight?”

  “Yes,” Tesilim replied with a single word of the song.

  “Was it magic that caused you to start singing?

  “Yes.”

  “And, you weren’t singing before the aberration fight?”

  “No.”

  “Are you in league with aberrations?”

  “No.”

  “Are you lying about being in league with the aberrations? Wait, never mind, you already answered that.”

  “Are there victims still in the cave where you fought the aberrations?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you leave the victims alive?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were you involved in the experiment the victims were experiencing?”

  “No.”

  Finally, after about 30 minutes of inane interrogation, they were all taken to see the guard captain. They had all basically been asked the same questions, though, and in the end, it was decided that the guard would help them. So, after hashing out further details with the guard captain, a message was sent to the city, and the party left with a large contingent of guards.

  The party and the contingent of guards arrived at the cave as the sun was beginning to set, finding that one, Tesilim, could speak normally again, and, more importantly, that the cave was as the party had left it. No further aberrations or monsters making it their home.

  Leaving several guards at the entrance, the rest headed inside to ensure it was safe. And just like Tesilim and Rose had done, some of the guards emptied their stomachs once they saw the creations inside. Others, however, were just angry, while others were hardened veterans who had seen sights like it before.

  As for the creations, they were walking around aimlessly. A few sputtered words as they walked around, but the eyes and expressions of their humanoid faces were blank.

  The guards secured the cave and its residents, putting them to sleep with magic. They then placed the victims in special floating discs and began the track back to the tower. There, they would meet more people from the city and have the victims returned to Wildwood. Now, the party had been allowed to leave and go back to their camp, but they had declined. They were aware of Jasmine’s condition, and though they felt relatively confident keeping her safe during the day, they didn't want to risk the travel to their tree at night, even if the twins assured them it would be fine. Therefore, the decision was made to head to the guard tower, spend the night, and return to the tree in the morning.