How did we end up like this? I couldn't get that question out of my head.

  It all began when we obtained the king's permission to explore the mana caves; it was necessary and dangerous, which is why they sent me as the commander, my experience as an adventurer and warrior would help. We knew about the existence of mana beasts and even the possibility of great mana beasts; it was a challenge before my retirement, it would help my kingdom and at the same time, I would have one last adventure.

  The first thing upon arrival would be to find and destroy the kobold village that had been known for a long time to inhabit these caves and that was extremely hostile towards humans, like all of their kind.

  It was not clear how long they had been here, only that it was after the great war against those monsters, which almost led to the extinction of humanity, or at least that's what the few remaining accounts say, since everything was lost and they had to start practically from scratch.

  But, anyway, those lizards were the first obstacle; individually they are not a challenge, but their strength lies in fighting in groups, so we caught one and, without it realizing, we placed a tracking spell on it. This fool led us to their nest without even realizing it.

  The village, if it could be called that, was very simple and had no strong defenses, so we launched a shock and immediate force attack; we didn't even give them time to defend themselves, although we had some casualties.

  The truth is, they weren't a challenge; and before the battle ended, I withdrew, I was expecting something better. Unfortunately, the village leader supposedly appeared after I left, and although they defeated him, they did so with several soldiers. Moreover, he supposedly weakened himself beforehand, as he had released a large amount of his mana, but he didn't launch any attacks; it was strange, but, additionally, according to the soldiers, he was physically different from the other kobolds. So, I was curious to see that supposed leader; some accounts said that these lizards were stronger before.

  Upon arriving, I knew that what this kobold tried to do was defend the eggs of its brood, and yes, it was physically different, as it was larger; moreover, it had more pronounced scales and horns, but what intrigued me was the spell that, according to the soldiers present, it cast. If it wasn't an attack, what was it?

  In the end, even though I wasn't the one who finished off this kobold, I told my soldiers to take its mana core; it might have some use or at least serve as a paperweight. At that moment, we spotted another kobold. What a survivor! I thought. He was furious, growling and roaring when we discovered him thanks to a hidden magic barrier. I decided to chase him with a group of soldiers; I expected him to fight, but he just fled. At one point, he stopped and picked up several things; apparently, he was now carrying some young ones with him. What a disappointment! He won't fight, I thought, but we still had to kill him and those little ones. In the end, we cornered him, and that's when he started to fight; he wasn't stupid, he led us to a small, dark place, but with a location spell, he became completely visible.

  While fighting, he unleashed fireballs and knew how to move despite his wounds. I then decided to personally end his life, and that's where the scoundrel set a trap for us. I don't know what spell it was, but he literally exploded, and with the small size of the cave, it made the flames more focused and concentrated due to the lack of space. If it weren't for my mana armor, I would have died like my soldiers; however, I didn't come out unscathed. To my shame, I was left with burns that forced me to retreat to the capital for treatment. In the end, only a few soldiers and adventurers remained whom I entrusted with the mission to explore the caves, kill everything they saw and that was within their reach, and report what they couldn't.

  Several months passed like this, and although the only report that caught my attention was from an adventurer who said he encountered some kobold hatchlings and that they killed his companion and almost killed him, it only caught my attention because I wondered if they were the same hatchlings the lizard that hurt me had carried, or if it was just a coincidence.

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  Unfortunately, the high command decided to withdraw the expedition due to a political issue with the neighboring kingdom. I was frustrated, I had failed; however, after several months, I was given a new opportunity. Apparently, the mana core we brought from the kobold leader exhibited a strange mana poisoning that, in short, could only be explained by exposure to a large mana source, that is, a mineral deposit not described until today. It was a great opportunity and risk that the kingdom decided to take. They sent me only with soldiers to locate, confirm, and secure that site at all costs; we had to go better prepared and we took our time for it.

  Upon arrival, we encountered one of those legendary creatures, a great serpent, right at the entrance, in an open space to test the long-range crossbows. The beast possessed great mana and knew how to use it, and it surprised us by being able to locate and destroy the crossbows.

  Then I realized it was worth facing her, and to my surprise, she had intelligence and even a spell of speech, but I was careless during my attack and once again almost died due to my recklessness. In the end, I focused better on my mission and not on my whims; we wore her down and I served as a decoy for another soldier to deliver a fatal blow. I decided to take his mana core; it had brought me luck before with that kobold's core. About what she said or spoke, it didn't matter much; she was just a beast who doesn't understand how the world works, although it's curious how she seemed to be friends with the kobold from whom we snatched the core. Good thing we got rid of both of them; imagine if these beasts started working together. But the mission had to continue.

  The core led us to another great threat, a large arachnid, similar in strength to the serpent and with many offspring supporting it; however, we had it cornered and were close to finding the deposit, but then a kobold appeared and started to change everything.

  This kobold not only seemed allied with the great arachnid, but he also appeared to be quite clever by the way he attacked. I then thought that maybe I could make him understand that we only wanted the deposit and thus spare ourselves from inconveniences, but of course, I was naive to think that this stupid lizard would understand me.

  Finally, I tried to threaten him one last time, showing him that we had already killed the great serpent or whatever that beast called itself, but out of nowhere, he got furious and tried to attack me. Although he was skilled, I thought I had him with my last attack, and even though I know I hit him, something didn't feel right; it was as if he had counterattacked with the sword, I had tried to kill him with before; no! That had to be impossible.

  Immediately, I set those thoughts aside and focused on the battle that was still ahead. So, I told the soldiers to corner the spider to attack it with the only mana crossbow we managed to repair. We almost had it when a series of strange events occurred.

  The first was that, out of nowhere, the caverns trembled and then a miasma field appeared, which anyone would know is not natural. It covered everything; the amount of mana required to perform such a feat should have made it impossible, but the most concerning part was that we only had our magic barrier and our armors to repel it, but both would be insufficient to return to the surface. But, without time to process what was happening, a second event occurred: behind us, other creatures began to attack us, and right where we had come from, they blocked our only exit. Where did they come from and why are they attacking us now? Was it the miasma field? It just hasn't appeared. Is it a trap by these creatures? So, they do work together! We must inform them at all costs about what is happening here; the site is the least important thing right now, and even our lives take a back seat as long as someone manages to report this.

  I told my soldiers to attack our main threat, which was that spider, with the crossbow; then we would see what to do with the other creatures, and when I thought we would finish it off, the third event occurred: I saw it approaching with my sword in its claws. It was that kobold; he should be dead! but what was truly impossible was seeing him attack the magic barrier and my sword releasing his attack. Of course, this attack wouldn't break the magic barrier, but how was he doing that? And suddenly, I don't know what that kobold did, but my sword exploded into an immense fireball that the magic barrier barely withstood. At that moment, more creatures appeared; it turned into a fight to the death. It was as if the entire cave was attacking us.

  We used the crossbow and I ordered the soldiers with the best armor to go out and fight, while we figured out how to reinforce the magic barrier. At that moment, I saw that the giant arachnid was still alive and was trying to protect that kobold who had been thrown by the explosion. I ordered them to attack her and that kobold with the crossbow. I don't know why, but I suspect that this lizard might be the one responsible for all this, although I don't know how. However, I know that it was capable of something impossible and, therefore, must be eliminated.