The group moved quickly, boots crunching against moss and twigs as they followed the trail back toward the portal. As they followed Julien's lead, they nervously talked among themselves.
He kept them at a steady pace, but not too fast. Most of them were already beginning to feel tired, walking double the speed they had left the portal from. He could feel it in their steps and their posture. But even then, something felt… wrong.
The light was changing.
He noticed it first when a patch of sunlight spilled through the trees, brighter than it should've been. It was too bright, piercing, even.
Damn it. I feel a headache coming. Why is it so intense?
A few steps later, Mina shielded her eyes. "Is it just me, or… is it getting hard to see?"
"It's not just you," Zain said, glancing up. "That's not normal sunlight."
Jenna squinted ahead. "It's like the sun is blasting us with rays."
Julien's gaze swept the path ahead, trying to sense for hostiles, but the entire forest felt blurred, like everything was underwater. The usual elemental traces were drowned beneath the light--he couldn't even detect any elemental mana around.
The gate is distorting. Pure mana is becoming visible to the naked eye. Another thing that just shouldn't happen in a D-tier.
He reached up briefly and rubbed his eyes. It wasn't blinding yet, but it made thinking harder. It felt like walking through light fog. Things weren't difficult to see, but not as easy as they were supposed to be.
Behind him, someone stumbled.
"Sorry," Harin said quickly, brushing dirt from her pants. "I tripped. Didn't see a tree root."
"No problem," Mina said. "Just keep your head low. We're almost--" She didn't finish.
Julien's head turned sharply as he felt it. A presence. Something was running, and their footsteps sounded too light to be a monster. So it had to be…
A person.
The bushes to their left burst open barely a second after he finished the thought. A student barreled out, blood down one arm, gasping for air. A younger girl, one he'd seen outside the gate while preparations were being made.
"Help-!" she choked. "It's--they're still back there--! Ray--we tried, but--!"
Julien caught her before she fell over. "What happened?"
Her eyes were wide, unfocused. "It wasn't supposed to be real. But it's--it's like the Named from the books--"
So it's not just here. Gate Amplification really had begun across the entire field.
He set the girl gently on the ground. "Jenna, can you heal her?"
Jenna nodded. She knelt beside the girl, a soft blue glow lighting her palm. But the wound didn't close.
"She's still bleeding," she murmured, frowning. "The skill's not activating properly."
Her skill's not working…? Could the loss of control over skills be a side effect of the amplification?
The girl coughed again, weakly. "Ray told us to run. He tried to hold it back, but--he couldn't stop it. I was the only one fast enough… I can't believe I just left them…"
"Where are they?" Julien asked gently.
"About half a mile that way," she said, shakily pointing to where she'd come from.
He stood.
Alec looked up at once. "Wait. Where are you going?"
"I have to go help them," Julien responded immediately.
The group tensed up. "You're not taking us?" Jenna asked.
"No." He met her eyes. "It's too dangerous."
"But--" Mina started, but he raised a hand.
"I don't want any of you to get hurt." That stopped them.
"I've seen what this kind of thing can turn into," he added, gentler now. "If there's something worse out there--and there probably is--you shouldn't be anywhere near it."
They all looked like they wanted to argue.
"Just find somewhere to hide," he continued. "Jenna, keep trying. The rest of you, stay on the lookout for monsters." He turned, already getting ready to move.
Behind him, the group was filled with silence.
"I still don't think you should go alone, even if you are strong," little Julien protested.
"It's not up for debate. It'll be one less thing for me to worry about."
Jenna's healing glow flickered uncertainly on her palm. "What if something happens to you?"
"It won't," Julien said. "But if it does, at least the rest of you will be safe. I've fought things like this before. You haven't."
They didn't answer. Even Karis, who usually spoke with confidence, stayed quiet.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, taking a step away. "Until then, just protect each other."
The students exchanged uncertain glances, but in the end, they let him go.
The forest grew quieter as Julien moved alone, the sound of his footsteps muffled by thick moss. The light was still too bright, caused by the mana materialising just enough to see.
Come on, come on. Faster!
Half a mile. Maybe less, if the girl was disoriented. But the bumpy terrain was slowing him down, and he couldn't afford to burn too much stamina. Ian's body was built for casting, not sprinting through hills and trees.
I'll have to use that mobility skill.
[Heatstep]. He'd only used it for the first time against the Petra. He hadn't enjoyed it, the way it pulled at his balance, the way it threw his weight forward faster than he could easily catch it. But it worked. And right now, speed mattered more than comfort.
He sighed and disappeared in a sharp flicker of red. Then reappeared again, half a dozen strides farther along the path.
It's faster, but it'll consume more mana… Mana Level.
[Mana: 24870/31000]
I'm still drained from [Conjuring]. That spell burns through reserves like nothing else.
…Basically, I've got two choices. Mana or physical exhaustion. Not the worst odds I've ever faced in a battle, but still not good.
He heard a booming crash in the distance.
That sounds bad. I think I'll just take my chances with mana. I need to save Ray and his group.
Ray.
Julien had never met him in the past. He knew him from Ian's memories, of course, but over the past few days, the guy had been easy to get along with. Sarcastic. Loud. Strangely dependable. He joked a lot, but could be serious when necessary. There was no doubt in his mind that Ray had really thrown himself into danger to protect the kids.
Just like Julien did.
Please be okay, he thought, gathering mana again.
[Heatstep Activated]
Red light scattered, and he vanished down the path.
The next blast rattled the trees. Julien felt it before he heard it--a burst of force that shuddered through the soil. He pushed forward, blinking through the haze of light until he reached a sharp ridge overlooking a small basin of crushed earth.
There…!
Through the shine, he saw a tall figure--probably Ray--standing in the middle of the wreckage, red streaming from one shoulder. His breathing was ragged, and his iron spear was twisted weirdly at the edges. But he was still up, still fighting.
And across from him loomed the thing that had caused it.
It wasn't huge, barely taller than Ray, but the little he could make out was grotesque. Its long limbs and flashing green scales that caught the light in bursts were painful to look at. A slit of a mouth opened along its chest, white steam bleeding from it, vanishing almost instantly into the air. The details refused to hold still in his vision, like the creature was both there and not--too clear and not clear enough.
Julien felt the heat from here. Not from fire, but from decay. It had to be acidic gas. Corrosive, dense, and no doubt lethal to skin and steel alike.
The system pinged once in his vision.
[Named Identified: Effluence (Lv. 77)]
[Elemental Weakness: Fire]
Perfect. A weakness to fire. Thank the gods--but Effluences and their acid are strong against metal element users. Ray is probably struggling.
Ray lunged forward again, swinging his spear in a tight arc, but the Effluence's clawed arm intercepted the blow. Sparks flew as metal clashed with the shell. Then a burst of steam lashed out from its chest and struck Ray's side. He stumbled with a strangled gasp, barely keeping upright.
Julien decided not to wait for a dramatic entrance. He hurriedly stepped forward onto the ridge and raised a hand, ready to cast.
"Fiery Cascade!"
Several burning blue fire arrows screamed down like a comet. The arrows hit the Effluence square in the back, but the aftershock threw off his vision. The raw mana around them caught the fire's glow and magnified the burst like a mirror. For a painful second, he couldn't see anything at all.
The monster shrieked. Smoke poured from its shoulder. Once Julien's vision came back, he saw Ray turning, waving through the heat. He grinned.
"You beautiful bastard," he gasped. "Took you long enough!"
Julien leapt down beside him, flames crackling faintly in his wake. "I had to walk," he said. "I don't exactly have many movement skills, do I?"
Ray barked a short laugh, wincing as he shifted his stance. "I'll buy you a drink after this. You've got the frontline."
"I figured," Julien said, his gaze already locked on the monster.
Ray braced his spear again. "Got any of those big spells left?"
Julien's hand glowed faintly as he drew in more mana. "Enough."
The Effluence reeled, turning sharply. Its chest slits hissed again, releasing another bout of steam that warped the air around it. Julien raised a quick flame barrier, a thin flickering sheet just wide enough to shield them from the blast.
The acid hissed against the fire, neutralizing in an explosion of smoke. Julien coughed once, his eyes watering.
Ray didn't flinch. "You always block like that?"
"I'm improvising," Julien replied, already shaping his next spell.
The monster didn't wait. It lunged low, sweeping its clawed limbs across the dirt. Its speed was terrifying for something that size, like it had no weight at all. Julien dodged to the side, grabbed Ray's shoulder, and dragged him with.
They hit the ground hard just before the claw tore through the air they'd been standing in.
Ray grunted. "I had that, you know."
"Sure, you did," he said. "But forget about that. We need to force it to split its attention."
Ray nodded and broke off to the right, his spear trailing sparks as he let his elemental ability fully activate. Thin metal shards detached from the shaft and floated behind him--a skill Julien didn't recognize, but clearly Ray's own.
Good distraction. The thing won't be really hurt too badly by metal, but the shards are still useful.
The monster followed Ray's movement for a second too long. Julien fired.
A precise, high-speed flame bolt struck the Effluence near the base of its skull. The blast didn't pierce deep, but it forced the thing's head to jerk sideways.
Ray seized the opening. He dashed in, and rammed the spear upward beneath one of the creature's arm joints. The weapon scraped through thinly, causing a black liquid to ooze from the wound.
Julien could feel the fight settling into that dangerous middle stage. It's not surprised anymore. It's adapting.
The steam bursts became shorter and more controlled. The Effluence moved every few seconds, rotating slightly so its core was never exposed for long. Its steps grew sharper, aimed to corner them one at a time.
Julien's fingers twitched. He was thinking three spells ahead. Every spell burned through mana, but if they didn't keep up pressure, someone was going to die.
[Orange Pulse].
A circular burst erupted outward from his palm, momentarily pushing the monster back. Julien used the chance to reposition.
"I'm gonna need you to create a bigger opening," he called to Ray.
Ray, breathless and still bleeding, grinned. "Was hoping you'd say that."
The Effluence shifted again, but this time, it wasn't retreating. It was about to attack, hard.