At least she didn't have to spell it out word for word; it wasn't clear if Nita had the patience for that in her current state.

/It's harder to empathize with something over your own pain, when you can't feel it feeling that pain alongside you./

Or just to make time for it, but that was a little too complex for her to articulate at the moment. Add in there being so many people that most just didn't keep track of each other... fortunately, there's a subject change.

"It's not responsive to digging? What kind of material is it?"

Nita was better with plants than rocks, but earth should still be earth; even magical materials should have had some degree of responsiveness, unless it was a straight-up stasis spell instead of a shield...

"I think I'd like to see those tunnels, either way."