The colossal shadow

The Goblin Shaman began drawing on the ground with a small twig. Before long, he had drawn a circle, with a few extra corners added to it.

Torches filled the canyon outside the Goblin Nest, leaving no corner unlit. As the sky grew darker and moonlight began spilling down, the entire canyon remained brightly illuminated.

With nothing else to do, all four members of Kana's Squad watched the Goblin Shaman. Behind him stood a little Goblin. Perhaps it was just their imagination, but all four thought this Goblin looked rather handsome.

Of course, he was not handsome compared to a human. Compared to the surrounding Goblins, though, his appearance was somewhat less disgusting!

Now the little Goblin followed behind the old shaman, deepening the faint lines he drew into shallow grooves.

The old shaman's drawing did not look so simple, however. He had left a large empty space in the middle of the circle and now began drawing an inner ring. After the little Goblin widened it, the gap between it and the outer ring was exactly one finger wide. It was remarkably precise.

But to Dean and Kana, those almost perfectly precise lines blurred together. They could barely make them out.

After all, their magic was only at level one. Being able to see the general situation down in the canyon was already good enough. Wanting an even clearer view would have been far too greedy.

"Dean, do you know what kind of magic circle that is?" Kana asked uneasily. Even this rough outline was already about twenty meters in diameter. A magic circle that large would be terrifying no matter what spell it produced. At least for them, and for a little place like Blue Town, it would be a disaster.

"Just look at that old shaman. He's probably only just started drawing it. How am I supposed to tell what kind of magic circle it is from this little bit?" Dean rolled his eyes.

He knew Kana was simply too nervous. After all, who could stay calm after seeing such a huge magic circle?

"This magic circle... I'd guess it's at the intermediate level. Since the old shaman doesn't have enough mana himself, he can only rely on various magical items to produce an intermediate spell, something above beginner-level magic," Dean mused.

That was the most basic magical knowledge, and Dean certainly had enough judgment to figure that much out. Anything more specific was beyond him, though. His experience was limited, and this exceeded his understanding by far too much.

Even the Infinite Eye would not tell him the specific details of this magic circle. Intermediate magic required a level-four Mage to cast, which meant Dean would have to reach at least the strength of a level-three Mage to obtain that information.

"I think we should get some sleep first. It'll take a few more hours to finish drawing that magic circle. Even after that, the old shaman will have to go through a lot of steps before he can complete the spell. At the earliest, it won't be ready until tomorrow morning." Dean yawned, although it was not particularly late yet.

Hearing Dean say that, the other three settled down. Rather than worry pointlessly here, they might as well follow his example and get a good night's sleep. They would know the result first thing in the morning.

When Yanxi saw Dean lie straight down, she stopped worrying so much. She took out a little blanket and covered him, then wrapped herself in another blanket and happily lay down.

"Ah, Yanxi really does care about her big brother Dean. Once we get back, I'll buy you some candy!" Dean stretched comfortably as he spoke. The little girl was simply too thoughtful.

Lamore gathered his robes around him and lay down on a branch. Half his blood was elven, after all, and he had a strong affinity with nature.

The great tree he lay in draped its leaves directly over him. His priest's robe was already warm enough, and with the leaves covering him too, he could not have been more comfortable.

"Well... fine, fine. Let's sleep first. Tomorrow's problems can wait until tomorrow!" Seeing her three companions lie down within seconds, Kana wondered why she was still fussing about. She might as well lie down and sleep too.

Perhaps chasing the Goblins during the day had exhausted them too much, for all four soon began drifting into dreams.

But just as the four were about to fall asleep—

"How are we going to get out of this damned place tomorrow?" Lamore suddenly asked.

"The same way we came in, of course. After trying out this magic circle, those Goblins will have to fight their way out, won't they?" Dean answered groggily, then fell asleep without waiting for Lamore to say anything else.

"That's true!" Lamore thought it over and decided that did seem to be the case. His head tilted to one side, and he fell asleep again.

But while the two boys had fallen asleep, Lamore's question had jolted Yanxi and Kana awake. After giving it a little thought, the two girls found themselves unable to sleep.

Little did the sleeping Lamore know that the hot-tempered Kana had already cursed him a hundred times! As for Yanxi, that gentle, well-behaved girl could never say anything as awful as a curse.

The night passed peacefully and quietly, without incident. The Goblins did not wander about either. They all seemed to be guarding the old shaman.

"Hey, Kana, wake up. Kana, there's a good show to watch!" Dean nudged her, but she was sleeping soundly. Even after several pushes, he could not wake her.

Not only did Kana remain asleep, she curled into a ball and clutched her little blanket tightly.

Yanxi was already awake and carefully washing up with what little water remained. Lamore and Dean did not bother with that; they casually freshened up and left it at that.

After washing, however, Lamore began preening as he combed his long emerald-green hair. It was his essential daily ritual.

"Dean, why are you being so gentle? Think about how our captain tore down your... house?" Lamore made his snide remarks from the side.

"If I'm not gentle, I'm afraid our little princess will throw me straight down into the canyon once she wakes up!" Dean said darkly.

Beside him, Yanxi nodded vigorously. It really was hard to say. If Kana's explosive temper combined with her anger at being woken up, whatever happened would hardly be any better than being thrown into the canyon!

Before long, Kana finally woke up. In the meantime, Lamore had wisely stopped bringing it up. After all, he was afraid she would throw him down there too.

"Just before I woke up, I think I felt a chill. Was someone plotting against me?" Kana asked casually as she ate breakfast.

"No, no, Kana, you're overthinking it. Go on and eat. This breakfast is pretty good." Yanxi hurried over with a smile and quickly took a bite of her dry rations. They were too hard, though, and she could only chew through them bit by bit with a strained smile.

The shaman had finished drawing the magic circle, and the little Goblin had dug all the lines into shallow grooves. Then the "soup" Kana had seen the Goblins cooking yesterday was poured into the magic circle.

Looking down from above the canyon, they could vaguely make out a colossal figure roaring within the magic circle!

(End of chapter)