(“I can't say I'm exactly unpleased by this turn of events.”) Daniel thought as he looked into the darkness. They had escaped him but he was pretty confident he had escaped as well.

He lay on the floor with his head pointing in the direction the trail of blood led. Of course, his oasis was surrounded by darkness and the blonde woman had run in a different direction to enter the darkness. But he still had enough space between the darkness and himself that he was confident he could hear any initial sneak attacks.

He was very grateful for the break their retreat had provided.

(“Lord I must thank you for your generosity with these trials but, and I do hope this isn't too blasphemous of me to say, I do wish I wasn't placed in these trials in the first place.”)

He now had some time to think. His wounds ached but not having to constantly turn his head every which way, with new wounds in his body every time he misjudged something made these moments worth their weight in gold.

The best thing was the fact he could feel parts of his body slowly healing. It would be invisible to the naked eye, but his wounds had stopped bleeding. The healing wasn't outrageous to the point he'd be back in tip-top shape within an hour but without it, he wasn't sure he'd even have the strength to continue fighting as he did.

But he didn't recall such an effect from the divine powder. All it was supposed to do was grant him increased power and maybe initial healing. What was causing this?

“Hmm.” He reached into his pocket and felt a few of the cubes he created from his men. Now, he was educated enough to know taking two substances that had positive effects on your body wasn't exactly a recipe for success. In most cases, nothing would happen but it wasn't uncommon that certain remedies or medicines didn't play well when taken together. But he had good reason to doubt such a situation would occur.

(“Our lord needs these for her return to power. I've never seen it myself but I assume she consumes them… and if my thoughts are correct, I believe this divine powder is created by our lord. And based on what happened to Saito, I'd dare say, it makes our being closer to our lord.”)

He placed one of the few remaining crystals in his mouth and felt a unique sensation wash over his body. It was thanks to those women retreating he could use this time to test out a theory.

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The pain he felt in some parts of his body was relieved, though the damage caused by Tina still remained, a greater, more dense form of mana poured into his body. The powder had allowed his body to make better use of the cubes than in his original form.

(“Wow, it seems I wasn't spewing pain-based drivel after all.”)

He continued wearing a neutral expression but he moved far more lively than earlier.

He quickly pushed himself back up and looked on in the darkness. He moved his body and although it was nothing like it was several hours ago, he could now move at the pace of a healthy, let's say, child instead of a sickly one.

“Hmmm.” He wanted to engage with the darkness and fully rid it but he had no interest in having multiple knives thrown at him. He didn't have to use his new technique to stop them but it was far more convenient when dealing with multiple projectiles than waiting for them to get in his range. They were more likely to strike his blindspots if operated like that, as his focus would be on them for much longer than needed.

He stood and looked into the darkness, with both hands at his side, torch still in hand.

(“The powder won't last forever. But that doesn't mean it will lose its efficacy within the hour. Five minutes. If they don't attack in five minutes, I'll be the one to initiate combat.”)

Without a hitch, he began counting the seconds in his head.

----------------------------------------

They didn't know why the young boy had passively kept quiet all this time but decided not to question this blessing. They used the time wisely to patch up any wounds and discussed the aspects of his magic they had noticed.

“So he had a range he could stop things and he can keep doing that? And that's different from the current technique he's using? Ugh, what a pain in the ass.” Tina said as she stood quite healthy.

Elizabeth knew this wasn't the time to be stingy with her power and fully healed Tina and Agatha. She made sure to pretend her healing wasn't as potent as it was and told them their wounds were still delicate. She also knew, Tina at least, would disregard her warning, and fight at full capacity.

“Right, so make sure to adjust your approach accordingly.” Elizabeth calmly added as she leaned against Agatha for support.

“Damn, he really had it out for you. if only your magic could heal your wounds too.”

“Like I said, he did far more damage to my leg than Tina's. (It's a good thing we were in the dark.)” Elizabeth said, turning her attention to the now-standing Daniel.

“It seems we've rested long enough. Nora.”

“I've already handed over what I could find on her,” Nora said.

“Good. Let's focus on overwhelming him from a range.” Elizabeth said.