Assimilate All Talents-Chapter 391 - 390: New Plan

A few miles away from the massive explosion, a herd of tri-horn deer were leisurely drinking from the riverbank. Their peaceful atmosphere was shattered by the sudden and deafening blast that shook the trees violently. Though startled, the deer initially believed themselves safe due to the distance, until the air around them began to twist and warp unnaturally.

Spooked by this phenomenon, the herd instinctively used [Leap] to jump across the wide river, then broke into a sprint as they dashed into the woods, fleeing from the unknown threat. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

The warping air intensified as purple streaks of spatial energy crackled in the air. With a loud snap, space tore open, ejecting Reena, Jendar, Simina, and Brandle from the rupture. The four elves were flung directly into the river, pursued by a blast of fire. More flames poured from the rift, but the spatial tear collapsed under the pressure of the intense heat.

Reena was the first to leap from the frigid water and land safely on the riverbank. She looked herself over and was relieved to find she was mostly unharmed, her clothes were slightly burnt and torn, but she had survived. Both relieved and excited, she shouted triumphantly, "We're alive! Haha! I'm the best!"

Just before Brandle's spell exploded, Reena had managed to pull all four of them through a spatial rift at the last second. With no time to set a proper destination, the rift spat them out several miles away by sheer luck. They were incredibly fortunate not to have ended up underground or high above the sky. The rift was so hastily formed that the spatial tunnel was incomplete, had they not been A-Rankers, their bodies might have been crushed or torn apart by the rampant space forces within.

Jendar emerged next, dragging himself onto the bank. He was a bit more burned but still in much better shape compared to his earlier solo fight against Sol. He forced himself to his feet and, after confirming Reena was safe, turned back to search for Simina and Brandle.

He quickly spotted Simina floating on the water, injured but overall fine as well. Relief washed over him, until he saw she was carrying Brandle, whose body was covered in severe burns.

"Brandle!"

Jendar dove back into the water and helped Simina pull him to shore. Being closest to the blast, Brandle had suffered the worst injuries. Yet, even so, they counted themselves extremely lucky.

"[Radiance of Life]!"

Simina conjured an orb of light that descended upon Brandle's chest, flooding him with healing energy. His wounds began to rapidly mend, burns vanished, raw flesh reformed, and even the worst injuries that had nearly reached the bone were completely restored.

In seconds, Brandle was fully healed. But when he didn't wake up, Simina's expression grew tense. It didn't take her long to find the cause.

"He's suffering from mana overdraft." She said to Jendar. "He must have used what little mana he had left to shield us from the blast."

Jendar nodded and retrieved a mana potion from his spatial ring. "Here. He should wake up once he absorbs this."

"Yes, but that's not the only concern." Simina replied. "There's residual fire mana from the spell still burning inside him. If he regains mana too quickly, it'll feed the flame instead, and it'll burn him from the inside. My healing magic can't quell it either as its his own mana causing it. I can only delay its external effects."

As if to prove her point, a small flame flared on Brandle's chest. Though no larger than a finger, it singed his skin, impressive given his A-Rank constitution. Simina quickly cast another [Radiance of Life], extinguishing the flame and healing the new burn.

Reena leaned over, her face pale with worry. "What do we do then? He can't wake up if he just keeps losing all the mana he gets... It's like he has a Mana Spill."

The very word made her shiver. Mana Spill was incurable, especially terrifying for mages. To learn that every spell from then on would bring them closer to death was a nightmare.

Simina shook her head and offered a reassuring smile. "It's not Mana Spill. It only mimics the symptoms. If he were awake, Brandle could handle it himself. Since he's not, we need a fire or water mage to help neutralize the remaining mana inside him."

Jendar nodded in agreement. He wasn't a magical expert, but Simina's logic made sense, and he trusted her judgment without question.

"Then that's what we'll do." He said, turning to Reena. "Open a gate to Yggmasera. Heimlen should be there, and he can extract the fire magic from Brandle."

"Got it!" Reena said, casting "[Gateway]!"

A stable portal formed in front of them, a sharp contrast to the unstable rift from earlier. Jendar gently lifted Brandle and passed him to Simina.

"Watch over him." He said. "Don't let those flames return. Find Heimlen as soon as you can."

Simina took Brandle and asked, "You're not coming?"

He shook his head. "No. We're not."

"We're?" Reena blinked, surprised. Jendar had insisted earlier that she stay out of the fight.

Simina's eyes widened, she understood his intent immediately. "You can't be serious! You didn't stand a chance alone. Even with all four of us, we were still defeated! We should report this to the council and return better prepared."

"You're right." Jendar said, surprisingly. "Report it to the council. But we need to stay and track him. I'll follow his trail, and Reena will handle teleportation, and later, reinforcement."

Simina narrowed her eyes but quickly saw she couldn't change his mind. His stubbornness was notorious, but in this case, she understood it might be the best option.

She sighed. "Letting that human out of sight is too dangerous... Fine. But be careful. I won't be around to heal you if you get hurt. Reena, please take care of him."

"Will do!" Reena said with a peace sign.

Simina gave them a final smile and stepped through the portal with Brandle in her arms.

The moment the portal closed, Jendar turned back to business. "Reena, can you take us back to where the explosion occurred? I should be able to track him from there."

"Well... I can." She nodded, but hesitated. "But... do we really have to stop him? Didn't he say he just wanted to pass through the Great Forest?"

"You have a good heart, Reena." Jendar said, gently patting her head. "But you can't trust what a human says. Even if he is going to the Sapphire Scales Alliance, a human that powerful roaming the Great Forest unchecked is too big a threat. And think about it, if he had no ill intentions, why is he sneaking around in secret? Why didn't he inform the human kingdom? Or us? Don't forget, he stole that map from the adventurer's guild too. Does that sound like something a good person would do?"

"No... only bad people steal." She admitted, having forgotten about the report of the stolen map.

"Exactly. And we will do everything in our power to stop bad humans. And for that, I—no, we need your help. You're our best shot at stopping him right now."

Reena nodded along, until that last part. She blinked, then took a step back. "Wait, me?!"

"Yes. Do you remember the Speaker's gift?"

Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant.

"I– I do. But it's really hard to understand. I've got most of it down, but I'm not sure I'm ready to—"

Jendar interrupted gently. "Reena. It's okay. I know it's a big responsibility. But today, you showed me that you are ready to be a Guardian."

"Really?!" Her jaw dropped. What had started as a desire to prove her maturity had somehow... worked.

He nodded. "And being a Guardian means doing things like this. While I track him, use this time to prepare, and when the moment comes, strike. Can you do that?"

"Absolutely! No time to waste! [Gateway]!"

Now fully motivated, Reena opened a new portal. The two stepped through, returning to the epicenter of the explosion, ready to begin the search.