—Aidan—
Lightning flashed in front of Aidan’s eyes, followed by a sprawling wall of fire that engulfed everything in his sight. The boom of thunder gave way to the sound of the motel collapsing.
Blood trickled from his ear and his hair singed as the fire roared for what felt like an eternity.
The flash-fire finally ended, revealing a pillar of burnt wood. The ent’s ashen body broke apart under its own weight and fell in a heap.
Aidan’s knees wanted to give out and moving closer felt like sticking his head in an oven, but he forced himself to stumble toward the massive pile of rubble where he’d last seen Ki and Cassie.
—Ki—
“”
“”
They held each other tightly inside the shell of ice, their breath visible and intermingling. A frozen droplet of blood landed on Cassie’s face and broke apart.
Ki, trying to hide her face, shifted uncomfortably on top of Cassie.
Ki’s last-ditch effort to protect Cassie required her to sacrifice the coat. On its own, that was fine; however, that meant she was totally defenseless in other respects.
Out of the corner of her vision, Ki confirmed the glimmering, cracked ice she’d made was still intact.
“You okay?” Ki said, between labored breaths.
“…Yyeah,” Cassie slurred.
Ki had boxed enough to know a concussion when she saw it.
“Your pupils are dilated.”
Cassie breathed out more cold air. “Maybe it’s because you're close.”
“Huh?”
“Nothingg.”
More rubble fell on top of them, cracking the ice and interrupting the moment. Luckily, they had already constructed a second line of defense.
“D—” Cassie blinked heavily, “did my shield go off?”
“Yeah, no way my magic alone was good enough to stop Aidan’s attack,” Ki laid her head against Cassie’s shoulder, “looks like you saved me, again.”
Cassie’s unfocused eyes looked around. “We’re pretty close.”
“Wait!” Ki realized that Cassie hadn’t shielded her own body. Even worse, their embrace was Cassie’s trench coat.
Ki tried to push away, but they were too encased.
Cassie hugged her tighter. “Ish like an ice pack!”
“I’m sorry…” Ki said, feeling Cassie’s body heat slowly dissipating.
Cassie attempted to look Ki in the eyes, “Yer fine, I’m not gonna be a lil’ bitch and cry about some cold.”
Both of the women closed their eyes and tried to conserve energy.
———
“”
Ten minutes later, Ki and Cassie’s breathing had only grown weaker, and the condensation inside their bubble was frozen solid.
Rays of light pierced the veil of darkness.
Ki kept her eyes closed.
She heard the sound of ice breaking, and reflexively held on to Cassie—until something metal raised her in the air.
Ki snuck a peak and caught sight of the knight carrying Cassie.
—?
She closed her eyes again.
The entire situation was so overwhelming that Ki didn’t question anything else until she’d been laid down on the grass.
A deer girl laid red, rune-covered pages on both of them. Kossetsu took his gloves off and did a visual inspection.
Aidan kneeled and said, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
Ki sputtered out a laugh. “Try again.”
“…Are you o—Why’d you do that, you idiot!?”
She managed to smile. “Seemed like a good idea at the time. I knew it’d be strong, but wow. That huge explosion your secret potential or something?”
“That was a one-time thing,” Aidan said, fighting through his own exhaustion and pulling hair out of Ki’s way.
“I’m going to do a certified Ki classic and lose consciousness,” she lost her lighthearted tone, “can you kee…”
———
Ki found herself inside a sleeping bag. She attempted to carefully undo a paper ribbon that’d been tied around the frozen zipper, but both broke on contact.
…
Outside, an unfamiliar voice said, “I think it’s only fair we get the trophy.”
“I mean…” Aidan began.
Ki heaved herself upwards.
She exited the tent and took in the meticulously laid out camp.
.
Ki said, “Everything ok…?”
Aidan and Kossetsu rushed over.
Ki put her hands in front of her body. “I’m still really cold.”
Aidan hugged Ki anyway. “.”
She let him hold her for a while longer, then stepped back.
“Is Cassie—?”
“She’s going to be okay. Everyone’s going to be ok!” Kossetsu said.
She caught sight of Myrah, who returned a weak smile.
“… I heard something about a trophy?”
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Aidan rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, the guy with the sword—Song—says they deserve what the ent thing left behind”
“Even though you destroyed it?”
“Something about resource allocation,” Aidan replied, shrugging.
“Oh.”
She appraised the athletic man with the sheathed, hovering blade.
—
“Oh,” Ki repeated, her attention captured by a mask of ice on the ground.
She blinked, and it appeared in her hands.
Aidan gave her a questioning glance. “Do you see something?”
She looked over the “mask”. When she blinked again, it disappeared.
Ki walked over to Song, adding a confident sway to hide her limp.
She passed a tent where Ben was asking Cassie questions.
Ki pictured Cassie’s standoff with Reyback.
She looked internally, finding her imaginary “lake” hauntingly peaceful—and frozen. In response to a chilling wind, Ki loosened her body and made the temperature around her plunge further than ever before.
“Heard something about a trophy,” she said, stepping into Song’s personal space.
Song stood his ground. “That’s correct, miss. You all had excellent timing, but it was not necessary—we had the ability able to handle it ourselves. Furthermore, without us, your friends would not be alive. Since we expended the most resources, we deserve the reward.”
He continued, “don’t worry, we’ll credit you for the assist.”
—— —— ——
Ki said, “I have a counterproposal.”
“Yes?”
The nearby fire sputtered out.
“You go fuck yourself.”
Song tilted his head. “Excuse me?”
The sudden rush of adrenaline was exhilarating. “You heard me. Go. Fuck. Yourself.”
Static-like buzzing filled the air as raw willpower manifested and collided. Ki’s blue aura flashed gold; Song’s lavender aura darkened into a deep purple.
He stepped closer. “You’d be wise to mind your tongue.”
“Yeah? You’d be wise to understand throwing bodies at a problem doesn’t equal solving it. Aidan, a member of party, clearly did the most work. Dungeon rules.”
Song smirked. “Have you even been in a dungeon? You keep what you can protect.”
Ki replied with a contemptuous smirk of her own, making Aidan step back in surprise.
“Funny. I didn’t see you when we got here—what were you protecting?” Ki leaned in and whispered, “big talk from a side-character.”
Song reached for his sword.
Blue energy gleamed in Ki’s hands.
“ENOUGH!” Ben bellowed.
“Under my authority as an Association Master, I will be confiscating everything related to this incident. Until further notice, neither of you have a claim.”
Song stepped back, but kept his eyes on Ki. “Fine. This matter isn’t settled, though.”
“Agreed.”
Song plucked his sheathed blade out of the air. “Let's settle this during the First Gate’s fighting tournament—assuming Mr. Orthos will be finished about ten and a half weeks from now. For my guild, it’ll be a great capstone: winning a tournament after taking down a Titan will make our superiority clear.”
Ki crossed her arms. “Deal. Try not to die in the meantime.”
Song shot back, “You should take a look at yourself before saying that.”
Ki let out killing intent that brushed against Song’s aura before flickering out.
One of only two people to notice Ki’s outburst, Song’s hand twitched.
She responded in kind.
Allos’s voice boomed, “Listen to the Association Master!”
The plate-mailed (minus a gauntlet) knight made his way into the middle of the camp and helped Ben separate the sides.
Xia, coming from the same direction as Allos, met up with Ki and the others.
She said, “Um, is everything ok?”
Ben opened the flap to Cassie’s tent. “Yeah. We are leaving.”
Cassie, assisted by Ben, passed by Ki without a word.
———
At the front of the truck, Ben said to Sigurd, “Thank you, young man.”
“No problem. I didn’t push it the whole way; once I got it outside of mana interference range, the engine basically fixed itself.”
The others, plus Maria, loaded the injured into the back.
Maria said, “Kossetsu, right? Thank you, that ent’s magic was mingling with Charon—I don’t know if we’d have been able to save him. Nayeli would normally be thanking you in person, but she didn’t want to leave Charon’s side.”
Kossetsu helped Myrah into the truck’s front seat. “I’m glad I could help. Hopefully things are better when we meet again.”
He added, “Don’t sell yourself short. You helped everyone just as much.”
Maria smiled and left.
Myrah motioned to the back. “I’m happy to sit with the others. You’ve earned a comfortable seat.”
“No worries,” Kossetsu took his mask off, “Myrah… I was out of line.”
Myrah cupped his cheeks. “So was I. I don’t say it enough, but I’m proud of you. Keep following your heart.”
He nodded and turned around—right into Xia.
“My bad!” She said, laughing nervously and looking away.
“No, no, my bad.” Kossetsu finished putting his mask on and followed her to the back of the truck, but stopped short.
Xia leaned in. “Ko?”
“I don’t think I want to leave my patient yet.”
“Wow, you’re a real doctor, huh?”
“Maybe…”
“If you’re going, I’ll come with you!”
Xia caught Ben’s attention. He said in a strained voice, “You’ll be coming back.”
“Ki said—”
“I don’t care what she said.”
Xia searched for assistance, but Ki was barely present.
Kossetsu rubbed her shoulder. “Hey, it’s cool, I’ll be back soon.”
Looking at Kossetsu’s ungloved hand, she said, “Fine…”
She climbed aboard, making sure to make as much noise as possible.
“Since Sigurd is going back, he can keep you company,” Ben got into the truck, “don’t walk back on your own. Too many things are becoming unpredictable.”
Kossetsu put his hood up. “Ok, I’ll see you later.”
Ki side-eyed Kossetsu, then climbed onto the truck bed. One last time, she locked eyes with Song.
“See you soon.”
—Xia—
Xia tapped her foot impatiently, fiddling with the bandages around her hands. “Are you sure?”
Ben kept reading his newspaper.
She rolled over and draped herself over the couch’s arm rest. “Are you SURE we don’t need to check on him?”
Ben flipped a page. “He’ll be fine.”
It had been twenty-four hours since they’d returned to the inn. Everyone (besides Aiden, who’d wandered off) had headed straight to their rooms. Since then, Cassie was the only one to leave—and that was only to grab food.
Ki hadn’t left at all.
The only person Xia had to talk to was Ben, who lectured her for an hour, then spent most of his time checking in on Myrah or in his study.
Twenty-four hours of torture.
She thought of Cassie and Ki secluding themselves in their rooms.
To top it all off, Kossetsu had DEFINITELY flirted with her, and then immediately wandered off with strangers.
“I’m going to spend some time in my study. If any of our ‘visitors’ make an appearance, let them know a friend of mine will be stopping by soon to help investigate the area. If they are up for it, they are welcome to help.”
“Can I help?”
Ben gave her a terse look.
“Kidding! I’ll help from here.”
She closed her eyes after Ben left, hoping to doze off.
Creaking floorboards grabbed her attention. She pretended to sleep, hoping to build on her stealth experience from the previous day.
Someone lightly knocked on a door.
“Hey, Cassie?” Ki whispered.
No response. Ki knocked again.
“Yeah—I’m coming.”
Cassie yawned and opened the door, “My head is still killing me. What is it?”
“…”
“You good?” Cassie asked.
Ki said, “…I was planning on asking you that.”
After an awkward silence, she continued, “I think we need to add a week to the training. We need more time.”
Cassie said, “Fine by me. Anything else?”
Ki seemed to rack her brain for ways to continue the conversation. “Any thoughts on training strategies?”
“I’m gonna do some solo training for a while.”
Silence.
“Ok.”
Ki went outside.
———
The next afternoon, everyone except Kossetsu (still away) and Myrah (still exhausted) gathered at the banquet table. They made occasional small talk, but mainly just ate.
Ki said, “What kind of quest rating would you give the big ent?”
Ben thought for a moment and sighed. “I wouldn’t post it as a quest in the first place. The ‘ent’ came to the mortal world and attempted complex rituals, summoned reinforcements, and itself during battle. I would call for an Emergency Subjugation Order.”
Ki’s eyes perked up. “What type of quest is that?”
“It’s an urgent for every adventurer within a certain area; instructions are sent directly via licenses. In practice, it's only used for rampaging devils or—” Ben cleared his throat, “adventurers.”
Ki said, “It would help to know how we stack up.”
Ben pursed his lips. “With such a large fight, precisely gauging that isn’t worthwhile, if not impossible. However, I will say I am fairly certain no mortal was at a two-star level, and I can no mortal was at three or higher.”
“And we have to figure out why,” Cassie said, picking at her nails.
“For now, yes”
Ki muttered, “Sounds about right.”
Aidan coughed and said to Ki, “Hey, sorry about the coat.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for, you carried us through that fight. I should be the one apologizing.”
Ki set her fork down and turned to Ben, “Sorry about the coat. I was really honored to wear it.”
Ben began, “Actually—”
Cassie cut him off, “You can have mine.”
He tried again. “Actually—”
“That’s ok,” Ki stood up and grabbed her backpack, “I’m going for a walk.”
Ben closed his eyes. Xia recognized it wasn’t out of frustration; he was searching through his version of security cameras. The “security cameras” were called wards—autonomous ritual magic given specific activation conditions.
“Looks like she is going to miss Amelia by a few minutes. Although, based on where Ki’s going…”
—Cassie—
Three hours later, Cassie was in the garden, drinking an extremely bitter green tea. She wasn’t the biggest fan, but Ben said it would help with her recovery.
Cassie’s focus wasn’t only on her own health; she muttered, “I can’t believe she even beat me in recovering.”
Ben entered the garden and placed a pot of tea on a small table. “Did you say something?”
“I was thinking about how we had four healers: you, Kossetsu, and the two other girls. That’s quite the ratio. Too bad the healing wasn’t completely even.”
“Neither were the injuries, and brain injuries require a soft touch. Realistically, a lot of the exhaustion you’re feeling is magic-based. If we went a cure-all type route, there’s a chance you would lose potential progress.”
Ben continued, “Don’t discount the progress you’ve made already. You survived a massive strike from a monster far above your level. If that had happened a week ago, you would've died instantly.”
Cassie drank the rest of the tea.
She set the cup down. “Speaking of the large fight, what did the other group say their guild was going to be called?”
“Prunus Mune,” Ben refilled Cassie’s tea, “and no, I don’t know what that means.”
She reluctantly accepted his challenge and drank. “So if that dwarf…”
“Sigurd.”
“So if Sigurd joins up with them, they would only need two more members and a guild master. You think he will?”
“I’ve seen enough people like Song to know he’ll convince Sigurd to join.”
“Damn, I’ll have to wait almost three months to see how strong he is.”
Immediately after Ben filled their feeder, two hummingbirds started fighting for the sugar water.
“Are you sure you’d want him around?” Ben asked.
“What? Why wouldn’t I? He would be a good challenge.”
Ben said, “Hm. Why wouldn’t you want a challenge? That’s a good question.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes.
“Whatever.”
Ben tilted his head and played with a ring on his right hand. He leaned forward and closed his eyes. “I’m surprised you didn’t go with Amelia and Aidan.”
“I’ve got my own plans—”
The ring started glowing orange.
Ben breathed in sharply and started ripping flowers from the ground.
“Cassie, take Xia and go to the forge,” he crushed an array of different petals and sprinkled them into the pot, “when you’re inside, close the door and both of you drink this. Do not leave until I specifically tell you to. If anyone you don’t know opens the door, go for the kill without question.”
“What about everyone else??”
“Myrah’s current magical output won’t be noticed, and everyone else is outside my sight range. .”
“Something worse than the ent?”
“”
She took Ben’s fifteen-second creation and went inside. Luckily, Xia was still wandering around in a circle—again.
“U-um??”
“Follow me. Now.”
Xia complied.
When they arrived, Cassie immediately locked the windowless forge’s entrance.
She summoned her bat as glowing wards covered the walls and illuminated the interior.
Ending Song
