Chapter 176

I stood still, looking at the out-of-control rainbow fire, my mind running wild as I tried to process what happened when Carla hugged me hysterically. Understandable, considering she had watched her patrol decimated, her allies escape to abandon her, her best friend lost in great peril.

“Help her,” she gasped as she tried to swallow her cries.

Although I understood her concerns, sympathized with that even, I didn’t have the time to cater to them in the middle of such an emergency. I put on her shoulder, calming her magically with a Biomancy trick.

[-43 Mana]

I simply didn’t have the luxury of doing it otherwise.

Then, I started speaking to her, bringing the full weight of my charisma to bear. “Carla, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened. That’s the only way I could help Aviada,” I said.

I wanted her to talk, because the fire was giving me a bad feeling, making me afraid of poking it. I would still do that, ultimately. I had no intention of abandoning Aviada, especially since I could still feel her companion node as I walked closer to the fire, but it was muted.

Like there was a curtain between us, preventing me from sensing her properly.

Unfortunately, I was under time pressure, because I had no idea what caused that muting effect, which meant I had no idea just how long Aviada would continue to maintain her state of living.

Yet, I waited for Carla to start speaking before taking an action, because it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the fire was extraordinary. It was burning trees, which was rather ordinary for fire. Burning the stones and earth underneath, less ordinary.

Instantly destroying the detection spell that I tried to use to see if there was a living creature, even more unexpected.

“I don’t know,” she murmured, her voice slurring slightly as the calming spell worked on her mind. “We were patrolling when a large fire falcon ambushed us, killing two of the members immediately. It was at least Class Twenty, maybe even stronger. Yet Aviada managed to defend us, if only barely. If the others supported her, maybe we could have...”

“Focus on what happened, we need to save her,” I reminded her. “Did something extraordinary happen? What happened to the beast.”

“I don’t know,” Carla gasped. “It looked like the beast was about to win, but then the glow appeared around Aviada, and she somehow killed the beast in a slash... But as the slash hit, the fire suddenly exploded in all those colors.”

It was probably my fault I decided even as I started to flare my mana again. The fire was too extraordinary to be created by just a monster, at least by a monster that Aviada could resist alone.

To extinguish the fire, my first reflex was to use water magic, which was the opposite element of the fire, which would allow me to suppress it, forming my mana into a huge water wave...

[-1690 Mana]

Only to fail spectacularly.

The moment the wave came in contact with the fire, an explosion occurred as I felt my mana being wrenched out of control, and similar chaos of color spread into the water. “Fuck,” I murmured as the fire flared even worse, threatening to burn us to cinders even in the distance, forcing me to shield us with a spell.

Luckily, the indirect heat didn’t create the same effect.

I was ready to pull back to find an answer, when the water wave rose as well, almost conscious as it slammed against the fire, making my eyes widen in shock.

Something extraordinary was going on.

I watched as the fire and water entangled, fighting violently, threatening to create a disaster, their rainbow colors cycling faster and faster. Unfortunately, the fight was not equal, and the water, despite the elemental advantage, looked like it was about to lose the fight.

So, I decided to reinforce it with another wave.

[-952 Mana]

It was time to go back.

[Level: 32 Experience: 499110 / 528000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 4523 / 6528 Mana: 4981 / 8000 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Master Craft [77/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (0/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 22/26]

[Helga - Level 22/26]