The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

While the rest of the group was experiencing nothing more than a gentle relaxation and widening of their spiritual pathways, two corporeal individuals were dealing with something far more involved.

In the case of one prince, he was experiencing what Luca had very lightly referred to as ”scattering.”

Now, to most people, scattering implied dispersing. Drifting apart. Bits going in different directions.

Unfortunately for him, this was not that.

For Xavier, it felt closer to intense magnetism. From everywhere. Pulling, tugging, insisting, as if the water itself had developed opinions about where every part of him should belong.

He had felt hints of it while they were traveling. A strange resistance. A faint sense of being stretched thin. But the moment they entered the clear waters, Xavier was almost certain he saw his life flash before his eyes.

In fairness to Luca, he had warned him.

Very specifically, too.

Unlike his normal warnings, Luca seemed to be very direct this time around. This time, his wife had been clear: do not try this in the concentrated spiritual water lake.

At the time, Xavier had thought it odd. But then he remembered.

The prince who was once asked about his pain tolerance by the same little chipmunk remembered how he nearly died right after promising to take responsibility.

Had his tolerance been even slightly lower, they would have held the record for the shortest marriage in Imperial history.

What hours? It would have been mere minutes. And it wouldn’t have been an assination but a willing prince who actually agreed to it.

Everything would have ended before it began. Worse, he could have pulled Luca with him because at that time, they were already tied together.

Xavier shook his head and tried to focus. He anchored the warning firmly into his mind. Never. Ever. Enter the lake in this form.

As they continued deeper, thankfully without the inconvenience of breathing, the pull only intensified. The pressure grew stranger. Less painful and more insistent, as though something unseen was trying to split him up so he would stay.

His fingers tightened around Luca’s hand. It wasn’t as if they could truly touch flesh, but the contact was still comforting, grounding him as their spiritual pathways remained linked while everything else tugged at him.

Then his grip tightened further.

This time, Xavier pulled sharply, panic slipping through his composure as a sense of wrongness settled in his chest. Something was pulling him back. Hard.

Luca turned at once, worry flickering across his face before recognition dawned.

Oh.

The prince didn’t need to hear anything but his wife’s expression showed familiarity.

Xavier felt it then. The unmistakable sensation of being called back. His eyes widened because wait. Why was that happening?

Moreover, how could he stop it?

Luca moved closer without letting go, lifting his free hand to cradle Xavier’s head before gently resting their foreheads together.

The pull surged and it felt as if the contact with his wife was the only thing keeping him there.

But instead of panicking like him, Luca simply smiled.

It was small. Reassuring. The kind of smile that said everything was exactly as it should be.

’It’s alright,’ came the thought, warm and steady, settling directly into Xavier’s mind. ’It just means you’re heading back.’

Xavier frowned, heart racing.

’Don’t fight it,’ Luca added gently.

The prince swallowed and forced himself to loosen his grip, though instinct screamed at him to do the opposite.

’What about you?’ he pushed back, the question sharp with concern.

Luca’s smile didn’t waver.

’I’ll return soon too,’ he answered easily. ’I just want to check what we came to see. Then I’ll come back. Just like you.’

Xavier reached out, alarm flaring.

He wanted to tell Luca to come with him. Now. Together. They could look later. They could do this properly next time. Now that they already knew where to look, they could return safely.

But before the words could form, and before he could come to terms with the fact that he didn’t even make it to the destination to protect his wife, the world went dark.

Everything vanished.

And when Xavier woke up, breath rushing back into his lungs, one overwhelming emotion surfaced first.

Annoyance.

Deep, sharp, thoroughly offended annoyance.

At himself.

__

Meanwhile, Luca meant it when he said he would just check it out a bit before returning.

He really did.

He just didn’t want their effort to go to waste. And more importantly, what if whatever he found turned out to be important? Wouldn’t it be a shame to delay it?

That would be inefficient.

Especially when, not long after Xavier was pulled away, Luca finally noticed what he had somehow missed before.

If he still had access to D-29, he might have asked the little system to scan the surroundings. Unfortunately, he had already tried earlier and received no response at all.

Then again, when he used to do this back in Tesseris, he had always done it alone. Back then, he did not even know D-29 existed.

It would be fine.

They could always return later. And if his guess was right, they might have to return anyway.

With that thought in mind, Luca continued deeper into the water.

Then he stopped.

”!!!”

Luca nearly gasped.

Right ahead of him was a barrier. That much he expected and recognized immediately. But what caught his attention was what stood just before it.

Tall strands of what seemed like leaves swayed gently in the water.

”!!!”

Oh!

OH!

Not just one kind, either.

Some were long and ribbon-like. Others were thicker, branching out in soft fronds. A few clung closer to the rocks below, shorter and denser, growing in clusters.

Edible seaweed.

His eyes widened as he floated there, staring.

No wonder it was new to him. The plants were only peeking out from the very edge of the barrier, as if only part of them had managed to push through. In fact, they were likely caught during the last expansion. And once they did, they simply grew.

Life, after all, would normally try to find ways.

Luca’s thoughts raced.

The waters they had now suddenly made a lot more sense. The strange mix of fish species. Fresh water and salt water ones.

Sure enough, the body of water they had been using all along was actually an estuary?

If that was the case, then these seaweeds could only mean one thing.

They might have access to saltwater.

Actual saltwater sea.

Wow.

Luca felt his excitement spike.

Carefully, he ventured lower, heading toward what he believed to be part of the sea floor. And just when he thought he had already found the most interesting thing down here, he froze again.

Because there was more.

Something even more interesting sat further below, waiting quietly.

The little explorer was right. This was not something that could be postponed.

He was absolutely going to fetch everyone once he returned.

Maybe had D-29 been there, the little system would have been able to call his Host’s attention. But since the manager wasn’t, then one could only wish for the best.

Hopefully, the excited dungeon owner would also remember that while he was surveying the area with the clear and practical eyes of a money-grubber, he had also spotted something else.

A large rock.

And embedded into it, unmistakably, was a panel of metal.