Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 45 –

“Just put everything in here,” said Terry. He held open a bag and placed all the mana cores he had picked up inside. “I’ll ask the Guardians to divide the contribution points equally among all of our accounts.”

“Wait, you were the one that paid for the scrolls,” objected Elena.

“I’ve already said that I would like to keep the inscription base materials from the inscribed constructs,” said Terry.

“That does not seem as if it would cover the scrolls,” objected Siling.

“Yeah, Auntie told me that these materials are worth something but not that valuable,” said Lori. “Auntie said that there are plenty of aspiring crafters preparing and selling them to finance their rune studies.”

“Yeah, but—” Terry started.

“You also shelled out the contribution points for the other safeguards that your uncle recommended,” interrupted Miguel.

“Yeah, but I was the one that wanted to do the dungeon work to begin with,” said Terry. “I chose this.”

“And we all decided to join,” said Jorg. “We chose this.”

“Yeah, but—” Terry frowned.

“Yeah, but nooo,” interrupted Siling.

“I still have the other safeguards,” said Terry. “They’re still with me. They haven’t been used up.”

“The scrolls though,” reminded Elena.

“Yeah, but—” Terry frowned again.

“““Yeah, but no.””” Gellath, Siling, and Lori exclaimed in unison.

“The scrolls were on discount anyway,” said Terry.

“““Yeah, but no.””” The whole group chorused and chuckled afterwards.

“I…” Terry shook his head. “I could keep a few of the fire-aspected cores, I guess. The Guardians have not specifically asked for those… But…”

“““Yeah, but no.”””

Under everyone’s observant eyes, Terry picked a few fire-aspected monster cores for himself. Afterwards, he took the filled bag and led the way to the Guardian reception.

“What was this about long-term plans?” Terry looked from Miguel to Elena. “And spellwork?”

“Oh right, how is your practice going?” Siling asked Elena.

Terry sneakily retrieved a few water- and metal-aspected mana cores from his storage item and added them to those in the bag for sale. These had been gifted to him by Matteo and Sigille in the past.

“So and so,” replied Elena. “Now that I am spending more time at home instead of the training grounds, I see more progress than in the past.”

“Focus helps,” muttered Jorg.

“And? When can we go hunting?” asked Miguel with a grin.

“That might take a while,” replied Elena and giggled. “Even longer until I would be able to compete with Grumpy.”

“How is your current success rate for the first iteration of the Detect Life spell?” asked Siling.

“Only one out of ten casts succeeds,” said Elena. “But it’s something.”

“That’s already good considering how much trouble you had with your mana control,” praised Siling.

Elena smiled. “The spell actually works a lot better than the other blood-aspected spells I’ve tried to learn before. I feel like the blood-aspected attack spells somehow rile up my own mana and make it harder to concentrate.”

“I think that’s a known phenomenon with certain spell structures and aspects,” remarked Terry. “Supposedly, there’s also one where the spell’s nature clashes with the caster’s.”

“Oh, so deep inside, our Elena is a big softie?” interjected Jorg in a teasing tone.

Elena rolled her eyes.

“Elena and I can pummel you a bit in the next spar to see how soft your insides can get,” suggested Lori.

Jorg shook his head exaggeratedly, which caused Elena to snort.

“Perhaps you can talk to a butcher first,” said Gellath. “There are some special hammers for that sort of meat preparation.”

“Oy, whose friend are you?” Jorg gasped.

“Yours,” said Gellath. “Plural. Which frees me up to take the side that is more entertaining.”

“How far is the reach of that version of the Detect Life spell?” asked Miguel.

“Only one or two arm-lengths,” replied Elena.

“Your arms or my arms?” interjected Gellath with a raised eyebrow.

“My arms.” Elena chuckled.

“Neat,” muttered Miguel.

“That’s already good, isn’t it?” remarked Lori.

“I think so too,” said Terry. “That already gives you a chance to defend against an opponent that is otherwise invisible.”

“I find it very hard to pick a replacement for Grumpy because I am way too used to the convenience of life sense,” said Siling. “At some point, it would be nice to capture a stronger flying soul though.”

Miguel gasped with pointed exasperation.

Siling snickered and then turned to Elena. “Perhaps, we can establish some shared custody duties for the insatiable hunter.”

“I’ll hand the cores over,” said Terry and accelerated for the last few steps. He registered their names and then presented the bag with its contents for the Guardians to assess.

While the first Guardian was examining the cores and preparing the reward registration, another person approached from behind. The woman looked over the registered names and then turned to Terry.

“You are Terry?” asked the woman.

“Uhh, yes.” Terry searched his memory for someone matching the tall woman with short blond hair and three dark scars on her cheek.

“I am Tamar, from Arcana City’s Guardian management.” The woman introduced herself. “I have a nominated mission for you and I hope that you can accept it immediately. It is urgent.”

Terry’s mouth stood slightly agape at the unexpected request. Lori and Jorg had immediately stepped forward to stand with Terry. The others were only half a step behind.

“We have received an emergency signal from some of our Guardians that were returning from a longer instruction course,” explained Tamar. “With the barrier gone, the mana has changed, which means that we have more to worry about than simply what is spilling into our borders from the Wastes.”

Terry tried his best to follow the train of thought. “Aspect beings?”

“Yes, exactly,” confirmed Tamar. “A group appears to have spawned right in the path between two dimensional gates. The mana measurements from the area indicate elementals but it’s not to a point that we can justify pulling back Guardians from the frontline. The need there is still more pressing.”

Terry furrowed his brow. “What types of elementals?”

“Only aspects from the core system,” replied Tamar. “We have an expert from the Guild whom we can contact, but they are currently dealing with a much larger demon army. We need someone to buy time. Unfortunately, we don’t have many local Guardians that are experienced in fighting aspect beings.

“In fact, among the Guardians still inside the city, yours is currently the only name with recorded practical experience.” Tamar searched Terry’s expression. “I can find other Guardians to accompany you but I need someone there that knows his way around elementals. I need you to move there as quickly as possible. As soon as your team has gathered, we can provide you with a group transfer scroll that gets you into the area.”

Terry subconsciously nodded.

“What kind of instruction course was it?” Siling asked with an ashen face.

“Are you a group?” asked Tamar.

“Yes,” replied Siling.

“If Terry goes, then we go too,” stressed Lori.

“Got it.” Tamar scanned the registered names and checked their course and mission record. “The quicker the team is set, the better.” Tamar looked at Siling. “It was a team leader course.”

Siling exhaled a sharp breath.

“Wait, Tiana?” exclaimed Elena. “I…”

“I’m willing to depart immediately,” said Terry decisively.

Everyone except Elena stepped forward as well and Elena’s face contorted in a conflicted grimace.

“You need to care for your dad,” said Lori warmly. “Thank you for joining us in the dungeon.”

“Elementals are problematic opponents for your skillset,” interjected Tamar and Terry nodded.

Elena bit her lip and then shook her head. “I still have time.” She looked at Tamar. “Can you send someone to my home to make sure my dad is okay?”

“Of course,” replied Tamar. “If you are sure that you want to go, I’ll take care of it.”

“Do you have some magic weapons that we can borrow?” asked Terry. “Aspected with fire and lightning. Enchantments would be better.” He glanced at Elena. “Imprints that can be easily ignited with little mana control are fine. Inscriptions only if they do not require too much mana to activate.” He glanced at Miguel. “Aspected arrows would help a lot, too.” Terry glanced at the bag. “And we might need a few of the cores back. The water-aspected ones, please.”

“Hand them back, but don’t subtract them from the total for the reward.” Tamar said to the employee that was appraising the cores. Afterwards, she gestured at Terry and the others. “I’ll have someone show you the weapons we can supply. We’ll also provide you with healing items.”

***

Terry’s group appeared in a deserted area near the grassy plains of Thundervalley.

“Should I send out Grumpy?” asked Siling.

“No,” replied Terry. “We need to go that way.” He pointed. “I can sense elemental mana. Also…” Terry checked his own Guardian card. “Since Tiana is in the group, we can also track them with our cards.”

Terry first made sure that his link with Matteo was set to ask Matteo for help.

Next, he looked at Siling. “Be very careful with summoning soul spirits. If there are air elementals, then a bloody frogmouth would not be safe in the sky. If you use the wiremoss tarantula, then only as a mount and keep it away from— you know all that.” Terry stopped himself when remembering whom he was talking to. “I would go with the purplemist lynx since that has the best offensive and defensive setup to deal with the elementals. The jumpscare cuttlefish could be an option against water elementals but probably fits better to evacuate people or keep someone airborne.”

“Let’s go but not faster than a jog,” said Terry. He glanced at Siling. “Slow enough for your floating ability and the cuttlefish to keep up.” He looked at everyone. “Do not exhaust your stamina or mana. We need to arrive ready for combat, even if that means arriving slightly later.”

Terry looked at Gellath. “Your equipment is heavier than Miguel’s. You’re with me again.” This time, Gellath did not crack any jokes when climbing onto Terry’s back.

Siling summoned her purplemist lynx soul and her jumpscare cuttlefish soul. The latter immediately wrapped itself around Miguel.

“Let’s go!” said Terry and jogged forward. “Mana sight on my hand.”

[We should be able to handle the corporeal types without too many problems,] signed Terry with finger runes. He did not want to disrupt his breathing. [We can obstruct those. Even a rock elemental would be fine. The bigger trouble comes with the ethereal lines. Keep your distance from anything that does not look completely solid.]

[Physical attacks on their own are nearly useless, unless you can disrupt the central mana formation in one go,] continued Terry. [It is much more efficient to disrupt the formation with mana. If there is an opposite mana aspect, then all the better.]

[But keep in mind that the elemental’s mana may overpower whatever attack you throw at it. If you are dealing with a water elemental, then lightning works better than fire even though water is paired against fire. Unless your fire aspect literally contains more mana than the elemental, the water aspect will evaporate the fire before it can reach the formation. Lightning works better.]

[Lightning against water. Earth against lightning. Fire or lightning against ice. Poison or fire – including coldfire – against nature. Water or ice against fire but that requires a blast of sufficient intensity and don’t count on arrows to reach the formation. If these don’t work, then earth is the fallback. Let me deal with the fire elementals or we can try to bury them under earth. Nature, air, or ice against earth elementals. Brute force against the more sturdy variants.]

Terry glanced at Lori to his side. [No going underground if any earth elementals are present. There are some variants of earth elementals called mud elementals that would be problematic down there. Furthermore, some earth elementals are able to move the earth forcefully and you might get crushed.]

“What is—?” Siling exclaimed and gasped.

There was a corpse on the ground in front of them. Half of the dead woman’s face was burned off.

“This confirms the presence of fire elementals,” said Terry gravely. He let Gellath to the ground and examined the corpse. “She’s wearing armor. Could be one of the Guardians. Perhaps they tried to send a messenger? Or she was just an unfortunate passerby.”

“Hurgh!” Gellath puked on the ground.

Terry looked up and saw the distraught faces among his companions.

When did I grow numb to sights and stench like this?

“We need to move,” stressed Terry.

“B-but…” Jorg stammered. “Is it okay to just leave her here?”

“If this was the Wasted Zone, then we would need to burn her corpse,” said Terry. The shocked expression on Jorg’s face told Terry that this was not what Jorg had meant. “Uhm, we can’t afford to bury her. We have no way to take the body with us. We could search her for her Guardian card, but that would also mean that her body can’t be located with her signal afterwards.”

“And we don’t have the time,” stressed Lori. Her expression was dark and her eyes were glued to the face of the deceased woman.

“Let’s go,” said Elena shakily. “I want to find Tiana.”

Terry nodded. He took Gellath on his back and ignored the bad breath that was exhaled near his face. They proceeded on their run towards the elementals. The sky was getting darker and they soon saw traces of battle flash in the distance.

“There seem to be multiple groups.” Siling was skipping with her active floating ability to increase her speed and catch up with Terry.

“Mhmh…” Terry frowned. He had sensed the same and it worried him.

The fact that worried him even more was that he did not sense Tiana’s mana signature. He tried to persuade himself that it was just another case of him mistakenly remembering their mana signatures relative to his own. Or due to the change in perception that came with his improved mana sense.

[Four major factions,] signed Terry. [The biggest are fire and earth. Water and ice seem to be nearly eradicated. Lightning seems to hang in the background.]

Which is very troubling…

Terry scowled at the possible implications of lightning elementals staying out of the factions’ conflict.

Terry slowed down. “Lori, raise some fortifications. If any of the elementals get close, try to bury them. Gellath, you’ll stay behind the fortifications as a healer.

“Elena, Jorg, you focus on evacuating the Guardians and get them behind our fortifications. Do not engage the elementals in combat. If required, you can perform first aid, Jorg, but conserve your mana. Your priority is to get them to Gellath.

“Lori, you can receive the evacuated people from Elena and Jorg half-way, but don’t get too close to the battle. Your first priority is maintaining the fortifications. We don’t know how long we need to hold out. Only engage the enemies to lure them away again.

“Miguel, use the rope arrow attachments I gave you to block or tie up any corporeal elementals. Against rock elementals, the nets that have not been reinforced should work too. Do not get close. Keep them away from our fortifications. Especially the earth elementals.

“Calam, your job is to assist Elena, Jorg, and Miguel. Your jump spells are great for quick mobility but too rough for evacuating the wounded. Even better though, your Kinetic Push is perfect to clear the area from elementals. If anything is in the way or getting too close to the fortifications, push them back.

“Siling, I need you to do several things. Please ensure that Elena and Jorg are always under Haste. You and the purplemist lynx can also act as a first offensive line against the ethereal elementals. If there are any grievous wounds that require quicker or additional healing support, we will be counting on you too.”

Terry took a deep breath and looked over everyone’s expressions to see if there were any questions or objections. Everyone was nodding with grim and determined eyes.

“I’ll try to whittle down the fire elementals and draw them further away from any survivors if possible,” said Terry. “Then I’ll see if I can bait the earth elementals to go after the lightning faction.”

Otherwise, the lightning faction will become a huge problem…

***

Terry rushed forward and channeled mana into the mana sublimator that was aimed at the fire elemental.

An intense blast of water-aspected mana hit the elemental and infiltrated the protective crystal layer around its central mana formation. The crystal dropped to the ground.

Terry was already dashing to the next elemental while reloading the mana sublimator. He examined the elemental’s central formation in his mana sight.

This one does not seem to have a crystal yet…

Terry unleashed a layered disruption discharge and took a breather to focus on his mana sense and get an overview of the situation. So far, their plan had worked and they had nearly gotten everyone back behind their fortifications. Despite their success, Terry was scowling. They had not found Tiana yet.

The remaining fire elementals are entangled with the earth elementals and don’t pay attention to our location…

“I’ll scout the next group,” shouted Terry while signing the same for those paying attention in mana sight.

Terry clenched his fists. This scouting meant getting closer to the lightning elementals. He dashed forward until he spotted several bodies on the ground. They were still emitting weak mana signatures.

Terry hurriedly ripped a healing scroll in half. He uncorked a prepared potion to deal with any potential mana corruption and brought it to the lips of the first woman before moving to the next person.

“T-Tiana…” The woman’s eyes were wide open and she exhaled weakly. “Save her…”

Terry’s stomach plummeted.

Another man was pulling himself up to his knees. “Thanks for the healing, we can hold out. Tiana is still back there. She tried to draw them away. The lightning elementals… Please…”

Terry retrieved some more healing items and a Mass Banish Fatigue scroll. He ripped the scroll in half and placed the other healing items on the ground. “Take care of each other.” He pointed towards his companions. “We have set up fortifications back there. Stick to the left side and move in an arc to avoid the remaining elementals. Do not pick any fights. Hurry there and hunker down together with our team.”

Terry clenched his teeth, exchanged the monster core in the mana sublimator and then darted towards the group of lightning elementals.

***

Terry was assaulted by lightning abilities as soon as he approached the group. He dodged frantically while transfixing a few tertium slabs for some much needed protection.

He did not see any other corpses but his mana sense was filled with lightning-aspected signatures.

Wait.

Terry focused on the mana signatures at the center of the lightning elementals.

“NO!” Terry’s mind went ablaze and he charged forward.

The lightning-aspected mana signature in the center contained traces of another mana signature – as if two mana signatures were mingled into one. The weaker mana signature was unaspected.

Terry grit his teeth when a lightning bolt hit him straight in the back. He circulated his mana the way that Sigille had instructed him after his spar with Matteo to prevent his own mana from being disturbed. Afterwards, he used a burst technique to accelerate in an unpredictable manner.

Several lightning elementals blocked Terry’s path and unleashed spherical lightning blasts.

Terry air-jumped into the sky and then dropped down right at the center of the elementals. His eyes became bloodshot when he saw the unconscious figure of Tiana.

Demon…

Terry forcefully shook his head.

Focus.

He transfixed the mana sublimator and circulated mana into the inscription. An intense blast of air-aspected mana killed the lightning elementals closest to him.

“I refuse to believe that you would surrender your mind that easily.” Terry used a healing scroll and pressed a pill into her mouth to alleviate her mana corruption.

Terry clenched his teeth and then rolled Tiana’s body onto his shoulders. Her left arm and left leg were now around his neck. He burst his mana and bolted away with Tiana in tow.

They said that Tiana attempted to draw the lightning elementals away…

Terry ran toward the side opposite to the one he had pointed out to the survivors earlier. He hoped that he could draw some of the other factions in to deal with the lightning elementals.

Unfortunately, the lightning elementals were faster than him. Terry transfixed two pearls near his chest and leaned back while holding Tiana firmly. He used his feet to unleash a double discharge towards the lightning elementals and their attacks. He quickly reoriented himself and stepped into the air in order to get more room to maneuver and dodge.

Fortunately, not all of the lightning elementals were capable of following him into the sky. While Terry was running upwards, he retrieved a rope from his storage bracelet and tied Tiana to himself. After his hands were free again, Terry reloaded and fired the mana sublimator. He allowed the recoil to move himself further up into the sky.

*Bzz!* “Hrgh!” Terry was flooded with lightning from Tiana’s body. He bit his tongue to maintain consciousness and hurriedly circulated his mana the way that Sigille had shown him for his resistance training.

“Hahh…” Terry cursed inwardly. Perhaps stepping into the air was not the best idea. One shock away from going splat.

Terry shook his head forcefully.

Focus.

He reloaded the mana sublimator but placed it back into his storage bracelet. Terry ran to the location he had picked earlier. A position that had the other elemental factions between their fortifications and himself.

*Bzzzzt!* “Ahrg!” Terry’s eyes bulged and he felt as if his insides were boiling. “Crap…”

“Damn it,” cursed Terry when he saw that there was no way for him to get back to the ground without running into even more lightning elementals. The lightning faction was following his every step. Those that were unable to fly were always right below him.

“T-Terry?” Tiana’s weak and dazed voice came from Terry’s right side. “Y-you… The others…”

“I already healed the ones you were with,” said Terry. “You successfully bought them time.”

“I…” Tiana sounded as if she was only half-awake. “No wait, I can feel—” She sounded terrified. “I got possessed. Terry, if you’re real, you need to run! Let me down!”

“Screw that,” spat Terry. He involuntarily recalled Sigille’s last words to him.

“We have a way to take care of it,” said Terry while running. Please hurry, Whaka Matteo.

“That’s a lie!” muttered Tiana. “I know there is no cure for possession…”

“I don’t like lying, remember?” retorted Terry firmly.

Wishful thinking on the other hand… I really hope Matteo can suppress the possession…

“T-Terry, please let me down,” pleaded Tiana. “I don’t want to hurt y— AARGHH!”

*BZZZT* An intense lightning discharge assaulted Terry from Tiana’s body. Terry instinctively circulated his mana the way that Sigille had instructed him. Only this time, he also burst his mana in addition. After the shock abated, Terry spat a mouthful of blood.

“Ugh…” Terry coughed. “Barely even tickles…”

So much for lying…

Terry realized that Tiana was unconscious again and continued to run silently. Over the next few minutes, he got shocked repeatedly – both from Tiana and from the lightning elementals. Finally, he managed to draw the lightning elementals towards the other factions and a chaotic fight broke out immediately.

Terry kept his distance while using every one of his suitable mana cores to decrease the number of flying lightning elementals. He did not dare to use too many discharges while Tiana was electrocuting him every few breaths.

He downed a health potion and slowly circled towards the location of their fortifications. Instead of entering the fortifications, Terry kept some distance. He placed a foldable tertium cube on the ground and placed Tiana on top of it. He folded the sides so that the only open location was towards him. He worriedly watched the lightning mana that had invaded her mana signature.

“What is going on?” Elena had run over.

Jorg was right behind her with another dark-haired woman whom Terry recognized as the first survivor that had spoken about Tiana.

“Is that—?” Elena paled.

“How is she?” asked the dark-haired woman with a frantic voice.

“Does she need healing?” asked Jorg. His face was ashen as well.

“Is…” Elena shook her head. “No, my mana sense is just bad, right? Can’t be.”

“Whaka Matteo might still be able to help,” said Terry gloomily. “Don’t get too close. The lightning elemental that has possessed her might lash out at any moment.”

“That’s also why I can’t take her to the fortifications.” Terry bit his lower lip. “That and the fact that the other lightning elementals are instinctively attracted to a demon of their kind.”

“She’s not a demon!” spat Elena.

Terry looked at her with sympathy. “I have no way to prevent this, Elena. Whaka Matteo might be the only person in the world who can.”

“It’s our fault,” wailed the woman. “We should not have let her go. We should not have—”

“Stop that,” barked Terry. “This isn’t over yet. That kind of stuff can come after we are all back home. For now, we need to keep the lightning elementals away from her and ensure that everyone stays alive until Matteo arrives.”

“I’ll ask Gellath to come here,” said Elena. “Perhaps his Calming Waters spell can help her resist a bit longer.”

Terry nodded. “Can’t hurt.”

The spell cured several abnormal mental conditions as long as they were mana-induced. Gellath had learned the spell after his experience in the dungeon, which included both the fear ability from the grievance toads as well as a berserk patient. Elena was now very disciplined in avoiding bursts, but this spell would allow her to do so in emergencies. It could mitigate the berserk effect of her blood-aspected mana and jolt a person from a state of frenzy.

Probably won’t help much either, thought Terry while trying not to frown. Most likely, the spell would simply alleviate the symptoms temporarily without tackling the root cause. The condition would return as soon as the spell’s effect wore off.

“Do you need healing?” Jorg asked Terry. “Your face looks… painful.”

“Huh?” Terry blurted out.

“Lichtenberg scars,” mumbled the dark-haired woman with a grimace. “Probably not just the face.”

“Oh, right, I got hit by some lightning,” said Terry dismissively. “I’m fine. I’ll recover.”

***

Purple lightning cracked in the sky and impacted on the ground. All the fighting elementals stopped in their tracks.

In the next moment, dozens of human-shaped elementals led by a purple lightning figure rushed from the location where the lightning bolt had impacted. They quickly overwhelmed and consumed all the hostile elementals.

Behind the human-shaped elementals, Matteo stepped out of the crater where the purple lightning bolt had impacted. He looked for Terry and dashed towards his location.

“Whaka Terry!” Matteo stopped in his tracks when he saw the person on the ground.

“Can you help her?” asked Terry.

Matteo narrowed his eyes and muttered without certainty. “I can try.” He kneeled down and rested a hand on Tiana’s forehead. Several human-shaped lightning elementals of various colors surrounded the tertium cube.

“But I can’t guarantee anything,” mumbled Matteo. “If she has any family, you should inform them.”

“I can do this while moving,” said Matteo. “Her lightning does not hurt me. Get your things together and prepare to depart.”

***

At some point in the night, a giant of a man rushed into the hospital room. “Tiana!”

“Shh!” Siling shushed him. “She’s asleep.”

“No, I’m not.” Tiana slowly opened her eyes. “Not anymore.” Tiana smiled warmly at her brother.

Chadwick walked to the bed and took his sister’s hand.

“Crap, we’re too late,” grumbled Lori. “I told you we should not both go to buy snacks. Now she woke up again.”

“Uhh…” Jorg scratched his cheek. “I did not expect her brother to be so fast.”

“It’s alright,” said Tiana weakly. “I don’t feel like sleeping.”

“Are you…?” Chadwick’s lower lip trembled when he sensed his sister’s mana signature.

“I don’t know,” replied Tiana. “I nearly was, though.”

“I…” Chadwick’s eyes were filled with tears. “I don’t know what to do. There must be something we can do.”

“My friends have already done something,” said Tiana with a faint smile. “I don’t quite understand what, but it has kept me conscious so far… Despite being… possessed.”

Chadwick flinched when he heard the term ‘possessed.’

“I heard that Terry led a team to extract you from the elementals,” said Chadwick.

“Yup, we were the team.” Siling waved and then made a victory sign with her fingers for Chadwick. “All the usual suspects, only missing one Tiana, so we picked her up.”

“Thank you all,” said Chadwick heartfeltly.

“Terry had to leave for the after mission report,” said Siling. “But he should be back soon. He’s cloaking his mana signature again, but I can already sense his life signature.”

“Matteo is currently with another person that has the same, uhhh, problem,” said Jorg. “He’ll be right over.”

“Matteo?” Chadwick raised an eyebrow. “That friend of Terry’s with the weird mana signature?”

“Cousin,” said Lori. “Matteo is our cousin.”

Chadwick caressed Tiana’s hand softly. “You’re strong. You’ll…” He bit his lips. He had never heard of a possession being cured. Not even the magic sovereigns were capable of that.

“Sorry for worrying you,” muttered Tiana and lowered eyes.

“No, mana, no.” Chadwick bent down with tears in his eyes. He kissed his sister on the forehead. “Do not apologize to me, of all people. I’m your brother, remember? We’ll find a way to—” He turned to Siling and the others. “Did they say what will happen from now on?”

“We’ll have to do some resistance training with her.” Matteo stepped into the room. “Lightning and mental resistance. Spirit resistance may help too.”

Chadwick furrowed his brow. “What does that…?” He bit his lip. “Is that still…?”

“I can suppress the elemental,” said Matteo firmly. “If I do that regularly until she herself is ready to suppress it and win the upper hand for good, then she’ll stay in control.”

“I’ve never…” Chadwick glanced back at his sister with a pained expression. Afterwards, he looked back at Matteo. “...heard of something like this.”

“You are currently looking at a specimen,” said Matteo with a wry smile. “Only my mind is a lot more crowded than hers.”

Chadwick blinked dazedly while his thoughts tried to catch up. “You? Your mana signature is weird but…”

“Yeah…” Matteo shrugged. “Long story, but yes. I’ve been possessed by elementals for more than ten years. Although, I’ve only recently won the battle for my mind once and for all.”

“Hopefully, yours won’t take as long.” Matteo approached Tiana’s bed. “Here, for you.” Matteo handed over a necklace.

“Uhm, thanks?” Tiana still felt groggy and she did not know how to react to the unexpected gift.

“It’s an artifact that protects against mind interference,” explained Matteo. “Until the battle has been settled, your mind will be unstable and you should take protective measures. This one was gifted to me in the past, but you have a better use for it. It’s the strongest artifact in that area that I know of.”

“Uhh, I…” Tiana was overwhelmed. She glanced at her brother. “Can I accept this?”

“You are a friend of Whaka Terry,” stressed Matteo. “You stood with him in that dungeon. If it wasn’t for you, I might have never gotten a chance to meet my little cousin. If you feel hesitant, you can feel free to return it to me after you have reconquered your mind.”

“Also here.” Matteo handed over a dagger. “This dagger has the heartseeker inscription. I’ve instructed the hospital to prepare these inscriptions for those that have been possessed by elementals. Your emotions are affecting the power of the elementals. Until you have won the battle, it is wise to prepare a way to moderate or suppress some of your emotions.”

Tiana grabbed the dagger and nodded.

“Can she…” Chadwick swallowed heavily. “Can she truly be saved?”

“I can’t make any guarantees,” admitted Matteo. “But as long as she refuses to yield her mind…” He lowered his gaze in reminiscence. He thought of all the times that Sigille had ordered him to never yield his mind to anyone. “Yes.”

“Uhh?” Matteo felt himself pulled into a bear hug. His feet suddenly dangled in the air because Chadwick was more than a head taller than him.

“Thank you,” said Chadwick, who was hugging him tightly. “Thank you so much.”

“Uhm…” Matteo was not used to this kind of treatment. “Sure.”

Finally, Chadwick let Matteo down again. He turned to Tiana. “Did you hear that?” He grabbed Tiana’s hand again. “I can instruct you with lightning resistance training. My superiors will understand. Unless you don’t want to spend so much time with your brother?”

“I could not wish for anything better.” Tiana patted her brother’s other hand. “Thank you.”

“There he is,” exclaimed Siling. “What took you so long to get from the ground floor to here?”

Terry stepped into the room and swallowed the chocolate he had been chewing. “Uhh, I bought some chocolate for Tiana.”

Siling snorted amusedly.

“How about the scar treatment?” asked Lori. “It really looks painful.” The fern-like scars from all the lightning impacts were still visible on Terry’s skin.

“Later?” Terry held his nape. “I have barely eaten anything since breakfast and the scars would heal on their own thanks to mana anyway, so uhh, priorities?”

“Right, right, sweets before healing, some priorities,” chided Siling sarcastically. She quickly broke out in a chuckle. “I hope you brought enough sweets to appease our worries at least.”

“Of course,” said Terry with a grin.

“Huh?” Before Terry knew what happened, his feet were dangling in the air while he was being hugged by Chadwick.

***