The mana inside the cave was being sucked inward with ferocious intensity, like an enormous, invisible vortex. The very air trembled, pressure steadily rising.
Noa, filled with astonishment, turned toward X.
"What could this be?"
A trace of fear mixed into X's voice:
"I don't know… but one thing is certain: we must not stay here. Whatever it is, it can kill us without effort."
Noa walked calmly to the wall, stretched one leg out, folded the other beneath him, and sat on the ground. A faint smile appeared.
"It would kill us? That would be interesting."
X lost his temper and shouted:
"What are you doing, you idiot?! Get up right now!"
Noa slowly began unwrapping the bandages on his right arm. In a perfectly calm tone he said to X:
"I'm not leaving. More precisely… I cannot leave."
X's anger flared even higher; he roared:
"Why can't you?! Are you scared?!"
