A split second later, several streaks of green light tore through the fog.
The first sword struck the spear from the undead soldier’s hand. Two more then swept across its knees, severing both legs and sending its body crashing into the dirt.
The other soldier raised its axe in response, trying to get to Rian and stop him. But two more swords sliced through its wrist and pierced through its ribs at the same time, tearing the monster core straight out of its back.
The sickly green energy inside its skull vanished, as it dropped onto the ground in a heap of bones.
And before the other soldier could drag itself any closer, all five swords unleashed a barrage of attacks, piercing through any opening in its rusted armor they could.
It was like watching something get put in the blender.
And just a few seconds later, the monster was nothing more than just bone meal for the trees. The entire fight lasted around fifteen seconds or so, if that could even be called a fight.
Rian dismissed the wind swords, before pausing to catch a small break. He hadn’t been intentionally holding his breath, but controlling the swords manually took a lot more out of him than Rian initially thought.
[Estimated Lifespan: 1 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes.]
’Two hours for that kind of power? That’s not bad at all. Using Sylpheed’s power is definitely more efficient than casting basic spells.’
Quickly and quietly, Rian brought the two monster cores toward his palm and tucked them in his cloak while his teammates were still processing what just happened.
[Lifeforce Synthesis Lv. MAX — Activated]
[One hour has been added to your Lifespan]
[One hour has been added to your Lifespan]
[Estimated Lifespan: 2 days, 1 hour, 29 minutes.]
’Not bad, the cores paid for my power. Still...this isn’t as efficient as I had initially hoped...’
Rian managed to pocket the depleted cores before turning his head up, only to see all three of his teammates staring at him.
"What?"
Julius’s mouth was wide open.
"I knew you were heralded as a genius," he admitted. "You always understood magic books the moment I brought them to you. But I didn’t know you could do something like this..."
"They were only 2-Star monsters," Rian shrugged, pointing at Marie. "You guys could’ve taken them out as well."
Marie returned from the remains of the Undead Mage, sheathing her sword as she approached. Unlike the others, her golden eyes remained fixed on the currents surrounding Rian.
"That was Wind Magic."
"Clearly."
"But last night, you used Dark Magic."
"Something like that."
"You said that before too." Marie pointed toward him accusingly. "Do you have two affinities?"
Both Julius and Eliza looked toward him again, eyes overflowing with curiosity. Rian released an annoyed sigh.
"It’s complicated."
But before Marie could speak, Julius suddenly chimed in. "It is...how is it that your two affinities have no relation to each other?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well usually, when someone develops a second affinity, it would be closely related to their first," the prince explained.
"For example, those with a Water affinity would usually awaken an Ice affinity. In that same vein, someone with Wind affinity would be inclined to the Lightning affinity..."
Rian never bothered with things like that, but never in his life did he expect for the fact to backfire on him like this. From Julius, of all people, as well.
Looking toward the distant fog, he decided to change the subject. "Look, if we keep going that way, we should reach the abandoned chapel soon. That’s where we overheard the other team talking about the Bone Hound from before."
Eliza suddenly stiffened. "We—we’re really planning to hunt down a 3-Star monster?!"
"Not yet," Rian shook his head. "Here’s the plan."
He bent down, using a nearby stick to draw in the soft mud underneath their boots. "Marie, since you’re capable of hunting, hunt around the chapel area and collect as many cores as possible."
"Then," Rian continued. "Eliza will be in charge of mapping out the abandoned chapel as well as locate danger and planting traps there. Julius, you’ll be her bodyguard, make sure nothing happens to her."
Marie nodded, but brought up a complaint immediately. "That’s well and good, but why do we have to set up traps?"
Rian tossed the stick away and dusted off his hands. "Obviously so no other team even thinks of going close to our prey."
"Isn’t that quite lowly..." the blue-haired girl frowned.
"Beats losing out on a 3-Star core."
"And what are you going to do?" Marie asked.
"Me?" a smug grin appeared on Rian’s face. "I’m gonna cull the surrounding area until it’s undead-free."
"Really?"
"Yeah, so we don’t have another hassle tomorrow," he nodded. "Meet at the abandoned chapel in two hours. If you encounter anything you can’t handle, activate the communication function on your bracelets and call me."
Julius still appeared uncertain. "Are you sure you’ll be alright alone?"
"I’ll be better than alright."
Without waiting for any further objections, Rian turned around and disappeared deeper into the Dead Woods.
Behind him, Marie headed toward the chapel’s outer burial grounds. Eliza began unpacking the equipment needed to map the area, while Julius remained beside her as instructed.
Once enough distance separated them, Rian’s smug expression gradually disappeared.
In truth, he couldn’t have cared less if another group stole the Bone Hound. In fact, he would be happy if they did.
The monster’s 3-Star core was valuable, but not enough to justify wasting this much effort preventing someone else from reaching it.
The traps were meant for something else entirely.
Rian needed to see what Eliza could construct and how her inventions functioned. Once she finished preparing the chapel, he intended to steal one of the smaller traps and place it near the transportation mirror’s mana reservoir.
If anyone attempted to remove the cores powering the mirror, the trap would expose them.
More importantly, it would help narrow down Rian’s two main suspects.
Marie’s Abyssal Eyes allowed her to notice even the smallest changes in her surroundings. A concealed tripwire or pressure mechanism would probably stand out to her immediately.
Eliza, meanwhile, would naturally recognize a trap she had built herself.
If the reservoir was emptied without the trap activating, then either of them could have noticed and avoided it. However, if the trap activated while both girls were accounted for...
’Then neither of them could be the traitor.’
Of course, there was still another possibility.
What if nobody attempted to steal the cores?
The original plot had already changed considerably. Rian was alive, Orion was no longer recognized as the Academy’s Hero, and Marie had joined a completely different group.
Perhaps the incident wouldn’t happen at all.
Rian reached into his pocket and stared at the depleted mana core in his hand, the smug smile returning to him once more.
"Then I’ll steal them myself."
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