HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. Except "Sorry."

  Jiehong stared daggers at him. He breathed in, slowly out; but not as he should to encourage his body to calm down. He was practically hyperventilating, his anger so furious.

  "I don't know what came over me. I just thought, 'hey, I'm the leader, I should take point on the combat because it's the most dangerous.' That whole deal. I wasn't thinking it through. I got full of myself. I thought, 'hey, Jie will have my back, I can take a risk.' That clearly wasn't the right move. I am so sorry. I will make better decisions..."

  Putting an end to him grinding his teeth, Jiehong told him, "Fine. But seriously... that was scary, Zan. You could've died."

  "I know. I see that know. Shet! ...my heart won't stop pounding!" he said, hoping to change the subject and muddle his brother's anger.

  Thankfully, Jie took his re-direction, and said, "Your heart?! MY heart won't stop pounding. Phew! I mean -- SHET!"

  Sharing in a troubled but much-welcome gallows' laugh, a laugh reserved only for those who have seen the possibility of death and dashed to safety, he immediately felt closer to his brother.

  "Shall we continue?" Jie asked.

  "I guess but... MAC, are we getting close upon the first of those cores you were talking about? Or whatever it was called. You said we needed to repair something to restore defensive functionality. We have got to be getting close to one by now..." he asked.

  With a simple beep then words, MAC said, "With fewer fae-constructs in the structure, my reading ability has improved in its own functionality. I cannot pinpoint where the damaged core is, but you are close to its general vicinity."

  "Thanks, MAC," he said with a groan. To Jiehong, he said, "Well. We're close. What more do we need?"

  Jiehong waited until they were at the next door before responding. "I wouldn't mind getting somewhere. We've had to put a lot of effort into clearing out this bunker and for what? Nothing, so far. We haven't discovered even a single damaged core, but we have discovered four different fae-constructs. If this density holds, we are going to be fighting these freaks all day, every day, for at least a week!"

  "I'm aware... vaguely... but what can we do?" he told his brother.

  "Nothing. I guess. Except pave forward. And forward..."

  The passage they stood before was on their lefthand side upon their initial entry. Beyond, was room twenty-five.

  They entered, him happy he did not need to unlock anymore doors, and emerged into a short, unassuming hallway. Finding no threats, they moved into room twenty-six, and then twenty-seven beyond. Each were empty. Devoid of anything even remotely interesting.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  To turn into the next door -- the twenty-nineth -- they turned left and entered into another plain-Jane hallway. Slightly longer than the previous few rooms they visited, at the end of this curt corridor, they found only one other passage leading deeper into the base. To the left once more, they passed through and entered room thirty.

  "Lordy-lou on a kazoo! It goes on and on..." Jiehong groaned as they walked and walked. "How long have we been in here, anyway?"

  Consulting his HUD, he looked at the clock functionality. After some mental calculations he arrived at the answer: "Three hours or so. Why? If you're angling for a break, I think we can manage that... I am getting hungry... how about this next room and then we call it?"

  Jiehong glanced over to the next doorway. "I love it. Let's stop cooling our heels and get in there, then!"

  He approached the door but found it locked. Of course, he told himself. It's locked -- what he saw next would've made him spit out his tea had he been drinking any. What did he find so deplorable about the passage? The door's required mana threshold, it was a ten! A full ten!

  "You look upset," Jie said.

  "It's the door. It demands ten mana from us..."

  "Shet-on-a-bet that's a lot!"

  Silence prevailed for a while as they thought about what they wanted to do. There wasn't any reason to go back, not with a core suspiciously close to them. And yet, a ten? That would drain both of them down to the wire. They each would be exhausted by the time they satiated the door.

  But he held his hand out regardless. What other choice did they have? He channeled magic. His brother joined him. "Steady breathing, Jie. Start low, go slow. Don't feel like you have to push everything out like you're taking a dump. Okay?"

  Calmly, and after a moment, Jie replied, "I know. I remember from the last time you lectured me, bud."

  "Okay. That's good, then. I just want to make sure. It takes practice -- as you know!"

  An awkwardness existed for a moment. He felt weird for how he talked to his brother, Of course, his brother would know how 'it takes practice.' Jiehong was the one who taught him basic spells back in the day! As leader, though, he was learning how he couldn't stand back and let people make mistakes. He had to be active and take a direct role in the machinations of his team. His Order.

  In the future, he decided, he would take a less condescending tone. He felt his best course of action, then, was to continue imbuing the door with its energy. Looking at the door, the number reached three a few heartbeats ago and was quickly climbing to four. Reaching four, however, they felt the sudden need to divest from the door. They pulled their hands. He couldn't speak for his brother, but he felt something like a tingly, partially numb feeling spread over his hand.

  "Ouch! Ouch..." he muttered as he rubbed his hand and restored feeling into the parts of it not in pain.

  Huffing, the situation forced them to rest. With each passing moment their hands weren't on the door, he felt health return to his body. Gradually, his hands returned to normal, and he could resume feeding the door.

  The process repeated. They would channel magic into the door; retract their hands; then rest; then return to channeling magic into the door.

  With each iteration they felt weaker. This was to be expected, of course, as such prolonged magic drain, as he learned during the 'airship battle,' held diminishing returns. Still, by the time the door neared nine-point-five, they were truly tuckered. His breathing intensified. Channeling even enough magic to increase the door by a tenth of a percent, between the two of them, took effort. "I-I think -- shet, almost there, Jie. We're almost there!"